The first of four...

We had our Christmas just the three (and 1/2) of us last night! This is the first of four Christmas celebrations that we have! We will be driving to Mississippi on Wednesday to spend a week with all our families which we are looking forward to especially MV who ask everyday if we are going to Mississippi since I told her that we were going for Christmas! This is her first Christmas that she is really into it, and is excited about every part! Last night after opening her gifts she said, "Thank you Mommy and Daddy" and gave us both hugs without either one of us asking her to do so! We were very proud of her for that, and it was one of those sweet parenting moments that make you feel soooo good!! Mary Varner is such a sweet and gentle little spirit that can light up a room just by entering it! We are so blessed to have her in our lives, and thank the Lord everyday that He picked us to be her parents!!

This morning on her new "spit and sin" as she calls it


"Tinkerbell" movie for the trip to Mississippi

Finally some boiled peanuts--- I have been craving them for months now!!





Thanks Papa Doc and Kay Kay for the kitchen!!

The next American Idol winner...

MV LOVES to sing!! She can remember parts to songs or entire ones sometimes just from hearing it once. Anyway, the other day was a cold, rainy day and we were playing around singing different songs. I got out the camera to catch some on video thinking that she would play "shy" once she saw it like she usually does, but not this time! She performed for the camera and she was so proud of herself. I picked out my two favorites from the numerous ones I tooked. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did!!

"Jingle Bells"


"Amazing Grace"

Santa

Jim and I took Mary Varner to see Santa on Saturday. We went to the Bass Pro Shop that had a WONDERFUL setup with all kinds of activities for the kids and very realistic looking reindeer and all! I highly recommend going if you have one where you live!! Anyway, I did not know what she was going to do this year because last year she cried and would not have anything to do with Santa. This year she got in his lap without any tears, but as you can see in the picture, she looked like she had seen a ghost!! She sat very still and would not look at him! When Santa asked," Little girl, what do you want for Christmas?" She replied, "presents", and quickly got down from his lap!! The whole way home she keep saying how Santa talked to her. "He talked Mommy"!! I guess she did not realize that he was a real person until he started talking to her.

21 week update

I went to the doctor today and everything looks great with our baby girl! (yes, Mimi, it is still a girl). It is always such a wonderful sight to see your little miracle moving around and to hear the doctor say that everything looks healthy!!

As for the little princess in our house right now, she is keeping us laughing everyday with the stuff that she is saying! Some examples are:

1) While Jim was putting her to bed the other night, MV said "What's dat smell in my nose", Jim said "I do not know?", and MV said in return, "stinky in daddy's mouth". I guess Jim had some bad breath!!
2) After watching a little 30 minute video the other day about Jesus' birth and Christmas, I asked MV who was Jesus' mother was and she correctly answered Mary and then when I asked who his daddy was (thinking she was going to say God or even Joseph), she blurted out Jonah. I think she may have her stories a little mixed up!!
3) I do not know if I should laugh or cry about this one- Last night, while I was cooking dinner, MV ran up behind me and hugged me from behind. After I said thank you for the hug, she looked up at me with this puzzled look and asked, " momma, you have baby in your booty?", I said, "No, it is just big and round like my belly"-- Children are just too honest sometimes!!!

Bye, Bye Paci

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving week! We went to Mississippi last week and returned home to have Thanksgiving here at home this year! We enjoyed not traveling for once on a holiday- it was kinda nice!!

The main event in our house this week is MV saying goodbye to her paci. She only used it when she was sleeping, but we gave them to the "pacifier fairy" yesterday. I got this idea from the show "Super Nanny". The way it works is you get a bag and let them decorate the bag, and then you go around and collect all the pacis in the bag. After you collect them all, you put the bag in the mailbox (or some other location), and the pacifier fairy comes and gets them to take to all the new babies that need them. In return for giving up the pacis, the fairy leaves a prize in the bag that the pacis were in. O.K., I know you are thinking that this is a crazy idea, but it WORKED!!!! MV was very excited throughout the decorating, finding, and even putting them in the mailbox stage of the event. She did have a hard time at nap yesterday (crying alot), but last night she went right to sleep without a peep and slept until 6:45 this morning(her normal time)!!! The pacifier fairy left her a Tinkerbell doll as her prize and she LOVES it and even slept with it last night. Here are some pictures from our farewell ceremony yesterday. I am sooo proud of her and this really makes me realize how big she is getting!!

Decorating her bag



Hunting for pacis





Taking them to the mailbox





Showing off her Tinkerbell doll

4th and 4th game

Elizabeth tagged me on the 4th and 4th game! The way this works is to 1. open your picture folder 2. go to the 4th folder, and 3. open the 4th picture and explain what is going on in this picture and why it is important to you. O.K. so here I go...




This is a picture of MV with Jim playing on our bed which they do almost every night before bath! I love seeing the two of them playing together and MV LOVES her daddy!! He is a wonderful daddy!!

I tag : Rena, Erika, and Nikki

Sweet conversations...

Last night when I was putting MV to bed, we sang "Jesus loves me" just like we have every night since she was born, and after we finished the song the conversation went like this:
MV looking up at me: "Mommy, you Jesus?"
Me: NO!, I am not Jesus. Jesus is in heaven with God.
MV: "Me go see him too?"
Me: "You will see him one day if you believe in Him"
MV: "Noah and the ark too?"
Me: "Yes, Noah and the ark will be there too."
MV: " You hold my hand Mommy"
Me: "Of course I will hold your hand."

I still have a smile on my face as I remember this precious conversation and many more as my little girl is growing up!!

Baby's first photos

Here is our 2nd little princess! I love the one where she has both arms up- it remind me of how MV used to sleep when she was a newborn with both arms up above her head! Sorry for the quality (we do not have a scanner).

"For You have formed my inward parts; You have covered me in my mother's womb." Psalm 139:13

The results are in....

We are having a GIRL!!! That's right Mary Varner is going to have a little sister to grow up with! The ultrasound was great and also showed that the blood around the baby was completely gone!!! Thanks for all the prayers, and we thank God for this wonderful gift.

My growing belly!

Here is a picture of my ever so growing belly! I am 16 weeks today, and go for my next dr. appt. on Thurs. I hope to start posting more belly pics in the future as it gets bigger and bigger!!!

Fall Fun!

We had a fun weekend this weekend! Jim's parents, Grandaddy and Nana, came to visit us for the weekend. We went to the Pumpkin Patch on Saturday, and had a great time! Mary Varner picked out her pumpkin which was one of the smallest ones there, but that is the one she wanted (yes, she stayed dry all week). They had a bouncy house, face painting, and a small scale petting zoo also. As you can see in the pictures it was a really fun time for all of us!

Ultrasound results

We had an ultrasound done today and it did show that the bleeding around the baby is the same which is good (not getting any bigger)! The baby would not cooperate at all with trying to see if it is a boy or girl. Its legs were crossed the entire time and we even tried having me drink cold water to try and get the baby to move. Anyway, my regular dr. appt is next Thurs., and they are going to try again then! This is a very stubborn child. We may have our hands full!!!

Did someone say cupcakes?

Well, I bribed my child with cupcakes. Yes, I told MV on Tuesday that if she stayed dry and did not have any accidents for 3 full days then I would take her to get a cupcake. I did not really believe that she would actually remember from day to day or even hold me to it, but boy was I wrong!! Almost every time she went to the bathroom for those three days she would say that she was going to get a cupcake. At first she wanted a purple cupcake (which I did not know how I was going to pull that off), but thankfully by Thursday (the 2nd day) she changed it to an orange cupcake which was perfect with Halloween stuff around right now. So yes, she did it!! She went 3 full days (and continues today) to be accident free!! I took her to the bakery to pick out her cupcake on Friday after nap, and of course they did not have just one orange cupcake all by itself. The only ones that they had were the mini cupcake package with about 3 orange and 3 brown ones. So, we ended up with more cupcakes than I originally planned on, but she ate one orange and one brown and was VERY excited the entire time. She even sang the phrase "cupcake party" over and over the whole time we were in the store and while she was eating the cupcakes. Anyway, this week I told her if she goes 5 full days then we will get a real pumpkin for her to have at the house. I took the easy way out because we plan on getting one anyway. I just hope she does it or else we may not be able to get one this year. I have faith that she will! I am SO proud of her. Here are some pictures and a little video from the bakery and the actual "cupcake party" at home.
Looking at all the yummy choices
Picking out the perfect ones
Ahhh.. so good

Boy or Girl????

Just a heads up that we have an ultrasound on Monday to check on the bleeding situation around the baby and my dr. said that if the baby cooperates that we MIGHT find out if it is a boy or girl!! The main thing is to please pray that the bleeding has gone away and if we get a little bonus information then that will be exciting too!!!

Such a big girl...

Well, the past week has been very busy! The newest activity around here is potty training. Yes, I feel like I am living at the potty. MV loves to go ALL the time and even wants to sit on her potty while watching Mickey Mouse every morning when she wakes up. She has been showing interest here and there for a few months now, but Sunday she woke up from nap with a dry diaper and told us that she needed to go to the potty, so from then on we have been going. She is averaging 2-3 accidents a day, but so far today we have stayed dry even after a trip to the park and library. Right now while we are at home she is in "big girl panties", and when we go to MMO, or other outings we are in a pull-ups. I am very proud of her because she did go to the potty once at MMO yesterday, and today I took her at the library and she went. Anyway, enough about the potty, but as you know (if you gone through this)that it feels like it consumes your entire life!!

In her big girl panties!!


On another note, I did take some cute pictures of MV playing at the park today with her two little friends. She is so brave now and goes down all the big curvy and tunnel slides without me talking her through it. I can not believe how fast she is growing up!!!


Fun on the big curvy slide



Trying to climb the wall

Mary Varner loves Madison!

Sayings

I do not have new pictures this week (sorry mom), but I have some funny/cute things that Mary Varner has said this week that I would like to post so that I will not forget them later!

#1: While in the bathtub, I am rinsing her hair and she looks up at me and says, "look it's raining in my hair."
#2: We are still practicing the potty thing (some days are better than others). Well the other day she went poo poo which is a VERY big deal for us. She was so excited and when she stood up and looked at it she said, "not a banana?" in a very questioning type voice.
#3: The other day she had this sticker from library on her hand and was playing around putting on different parts of her body on the way home when all the sudden she lets out this frustrating grunt type noise and says, "Mommy help", and I said,
"help with what?", she responded, "my sticker stuck."
#4: For the last couple of weeks we have been telling MV to be careful and not kick or push on mommy's belly because there is a baby in it. Last night during her bath, I told her to turn around so that I could wash her belly and she responded, "there is a baby in it" and started rubbing her stomach:)
#5: A few weeks ago, we were in the grocery store when I started to feel like I was going to get sick ( the meat dept.would always set my morning sickness off). Anyway, I rolled the cart to the back of the store and quietly took my 2 year old out of the cart and walked into the bathroom. The feeling passed so we quietly came out and loaded back up in the cart. Well, MV calls any bathroom a poo poo potty. I do not know why but she does, and the entire remainder of my grocery trip she would announce to everyone that we passed in the aisle and even the checkout lady that, "Mommy poo poo potty" over and over until they would finally respond back to her!!

12 week update...

Today marks my first day in the second trimester (12 weeks and 1 day)! I had a Dr. appt today and everything looks great. It was a little scary at first because they could not find the baby's heartbeat with the doppler thing, and they ordered an ultrasound to be done. The ultrasound showed a wonderful little heartbeat and I saw the baby move its tiny little arms and legs!!! My heart was beating soooo hard for those 10 minutes or so before the ultrasound, but since I had MV with me (yes, the lady at MMO was sick today so it was cancelled), I kept my mind occupied with making sure she did not tear up the exam room literally:) I am going to try and scan the ultrasound pic at the store (we do not have a scanner),and post it another day! On a side note I am feeling MUCH better now and have not gotten sick in almost 2 weeks now. Actually, I was only sick this time for about 3 weeks! Much better than the first time. Maybe that means this one is a boy. My Dr. said that we MIGHT see boy or girl at my next appt.if it is not too early. We have to do another ultrasound because there is some bleeding around the baby that they are monitoring. He says that it is nothing to be too concerned about now that I am out of the first trimester, but I am not allowed to do any type of exercising except for casual walking for now. Stay tuned for more updates from my next appt., and please pray that this bleeding will go away by then.

Family Fun Weekend!!

This past weekend John, Rena, and Ben came down for a long weekend visit! We had a great time hanging out at the beach, eating out and grilling in, and shopping the outlets! I am so mad at myself for not getting more pictures, but I forgot my camera most of the weekend and then I was VERY busy keeping up with MV who was VERY excited and a little on the hyper side from all the company. She asked this morning where John, Rena, and Ben were and last night when I told her daddy was on his way home from work she said, "and John"? Needless to say, she misses them VERY much!!! If you want to see some good beach pictures go to Rena and John's blog at elderjr.blogspot.com. She took lots of great pictures over the weekend!

Princess for the day...

On Saturday morning, MV woke up and immediately put on her new princess crown, earrings, necklace, and ring that John, Rena and Ben gave her for her birthday. Although she has worn it before for a few minutes at a time, this time was different. She wore it ALL day (except for nap), even on a stroll around the neighborhood! I took these pictures throughout the day of her wearing her princess attire.
First thing when she woke up:

Riding on Daddy's shoulders later in the afternoon:
And last but not least, I got her on video saying her "God is great,God is good" blessing in no other but her beautiful princess crown and earrings...

Camo cousins

These are some pictures I forgot to post last week that I took in Mississippi. One day we all (Elder Family) went to the hunting cabin and had fun eating lunch and hanging out while the Elder guys put up a new deer stand. Anyway, we dressed the kids in camo as requested by their daddys for the occasion. I am sure that this will be common cabin attire in the future also!!

Singing to Mrs. Potato Head...

I am really excited about being able to put video on my blog now since Rena helped me figure out that my camera had a video option!! I took this video yesterday of MV singing "Jesus loves me", to her Mrs. Potato Head toy that she just got for her birthday from her little friend, Madison! She sang the entire song with only me helping her one time! She has been doing this at night before bed, but any other time when I would ask her to sing it she wouldn't. Anyway, I got it on video!! Excuse the moving around so much but I was trying to keep the camera on her as much as possible. You may get a little dizzy watching it, maybe I will get better with practice. Oh, and if you are wondering what she has on her ears, those are Mrs. Potato's earrings that MV wanted to wear, of course!!

Birthday Party!

While we were in Mississippi last weekend we celebrated Mary Varner's birthday! We invited the family over for some cupcakes and ice cream. Mary Varner especially enjoyed the cupcakes! Actually, I think she ate close to 3 of them. She snuck one in before we could get her candle lit and then commented "this is just aweful" which is one of her new phrases. Anyway, as you can see from the numerous pictures (I actually cut out alot of them), she wanted to play with all of her presents immediately, and wore/carried most of them around with her the entire afternoon! It was so much fun to see her enjoying her birthday so much!

Happy Birthday!!!

Happy birthday Mary Varner! At 7:35p.m. two years ago you came into our lives, and changed us forever! We can not believe that in these two short years how much you have grown and changed, and we are looking forward to what you are going to do in this next year! We thank the Lord everyday for you, and we pray that your relationship with Him will grow everyday, and that you will know Jesus early in life! You are an amazing little girl, and we are very proud to be your daddy and mamma! Love you bunches!


September 4, 2006


1st Birthday



2nd Birthday

Mary Varner's new shirt...

Mary Varner is so excited to model her new T-shirt that says that she is going to be a big sister!!! That's right, we are expecting our second baby on April 12th! We went to the doctor today, and got to see the little miracle and we could even see and hear its little heartbeat!! I am 8 weeks and a few days along, and yes the sickness is starting to kick in. We are so thankful to God for this wonderful gift!

Also, we just got back from a long trip to Mississippi where we also celebrated Mary Varner's 2nd birthday! I will be uploading those pics soon!

Playmate!!

Mary Varner LOVES to play with her daddy! I tell myself that the reason she enjoys playing with him so much is because she gets bored playing with me all day, so when daddy gets home- It is playtime!!! She loves to pull all the pillows from our bed onto the floor and play with them! These are some pictures of her playing with daddy and the pillows! She also had this wash cloth that she kept putting on Jim's head and after many attempts at arranging it she finally said "pifit", and walked off. I am worried that we may have a little perfectionist on our hands!!!

Working hard to get it just right!!



"pifit"



Having a blast playing on the bed with daddy!