Meeting Maggie

On Saturday afternoon, Abby Jane and I went up to Chattanooga to meet the newest addition to our family! Jake was a bit under the weather at the end of last week, so he stayed home with Blythe and Joy.

Maggie is DARLING!!! Here she is with her mama...

It was such a treat to get to lay eyes on that precious 12-day-old, and I even got to hold that little baby for a while! There's just something amazing about such a brand new baby!

Abby Jane was thrilled about getting to see Maggie, but I think playing with Katie and Ian and their toys ended up being a little more exciting (thus no pics of her and Maggie). Katie is taking to being a big sister like a duck to water (they had been to a festival that morning where the face painting took place!)...

When All Three Cry...

I sing "Jesus Loves Me."

Really loudly.

It's not for my girls' benefit.

It's for mine.

The words are truly profound...

"Jesus love ME [mom inadequate to meet all my kids' needs]

"This I KNOW

For the Bible tells me so.

[My] Little ones to Him belong

They [and their mama] are weak

But He is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! For the Bible tells me so."

Yesterday, I sang the song once or twice. I should have known it would be one of those days when Jake snagged this picture at 7:45 a.m. of me drying my hair IN THE KITCHEN so I can unload the dishwasher, monitor AJG's breakfast and try to stave off the twins from their oatmeal for another few minutes while preventing my hair from giving into Atlanta humidity. (Do you see all three girls? In the spirit of brutal honesty, I didn't even crop down this photo to keep from showing you my junky rental kitchen in fully-not-cleaned up-from-morning-dishes glory!)

I have heard a lot of praise from folks recently who read this blog- I thought I would throw in a dash of reality so you didn't all think that every moment in our home is baking cookies, painting, and picnics! There's a LOT of that- God is good- but I do sing "Jesus Loves Me" a few times a week.

Because I need to hear it.

Today has been every bit as smooth and lovely as yesterday was not. But it's still nice to know that Jesus loves me. And you!

Weekend Recap

Friday night was leaving the little ladies here with Ken and Sandy while Jake and I went down to Auburn for a great evening of hearing what the Lord is doing through Crusade on campus and overseas, as well as some ways Jake and I are incredibly excited about being involved. We had an extra hour before the dinner began in which we soaked in that heaven which is Auburn in the spring.

Saturday was a precious day of being with dear friends for both Jake and I. Jake went back down to Auburn and had a great time taking Abby Jane to our sweet friend Kirkley's fabulous 3rd birthday party! I was there in spirit- it sounded like and looked like a fantastic time.

Then they went and took in A-Day, making a stop at the Farmhouse crawfish boil before going on to the game for a little while!! Here is the girl on their way home- notice the change in wardrobe post massive water spill...

On Saturday afternoon, I left the twins with Sandy and went to celebrate a bachelorette afternoon and evening for my dear friend Michelle, who's getting married in two weeks! It was a sweet time with sweet girls and a fabulous dinner at Two Urban Licks!

Three of my Loves...

And my Joy was on my hip!

The next 36 hours will include two separate trips to our favorite place in the world (not that it needs to be said, but yes, Auburn!!!) and a bachelorette afternoon and evening for my dear friend Michelle!

Have a wonderful weekend yourself!

First Haircut!

I know, I know, most of your kids have been getting haircuts since before their 1st birthday, but today we had our first! Here is before, when we were still talking a BIG game about how brave she was going to be...

This is how it actually turned out...

Donny has been cutting the Gross family hair since Jake was in elementary school, and he was very kind while doing a fabulous job on our girl! All five of us were there,

and we were delighted to be joined by Bop Bop!

Here is the after shot!

And another that I took during our yummy lunch at my favorite Cartersville cafe!

I think it's Abby Jane's favorite, too- she got to see two trains going through downtown while we were there!

And Baby makes nine...

Grandchildren on my side of the family! My big sister Jodi had her third and last yesterday, a precious baby girl! She weighed in at 8 lb 6 oz... and that was at 12 days early! Name TBA. The boys were slightly disappointed that she is a "she"- there are now six girls to the three boys...

Mother's Day Idea

On the Saturday before Mother's Day, we're doing the 2010 Walk for Hope to raise money for the Hope Center. I'm asking that my Mother's Day gift from Jake and the girls (other than the pure delight of being their wife and mama!) be a donation to the Hope Center, and we're going to do the same for our moms (surprise, mamas!)

When the idea crossed my mind earlier this week, I was really impacted by the idea of "giving up" my Mother's Day gift in order to give towards someone else getting to be a a mama and have their own Mother's Day. I'm excited to get to be our church's liason for the event, and I got to share my idea with the congregation this morning!

So here's the challenge: give to a crisis pregnancy center for your or your mom's Mother's Day- I would be so honored if you were to support me, or give to your local crisis pregnancy center. The idea is to honor moms, and how better to honor them than to contribute towards a ministry that is striving to help more ladies become a mom by saving their babies' lives?