This is when I got a new AWESOME camera

So there are about a billion more pictures than ever before!  I love it, love it, love it, and can't thank mom and dad for the most amazing Christmas present ever!

Can you tell I couldn't wait to even get to Grandmomma's to start taking pictures!  

Grandmomma reading the Christmas story from the Bible!  A favorite tradition, including Jesus Birthday Cake! 

We love Uncle Christian and Auntie Kristin! 

And I couldn't wait to hug that sweet Bella after five long months!

Claire playing Grandmomma's ukelele from her childhood.  So sad I didn't get any shots of Bella, because she has been taking ukelele lessons in Hawaii.

These are pics from one of our BEST family vacations EVER... Wildnerness at the Smokies... It's an indoor waterpark, perfect for Christmas time and for a momma with a new camera!

 

Sisters reading books in their matching pjs!

 

Tea party with Grandmomma on the trampoline.

 

Oh how I love family game night!

 This officially puts me in 2012!  Sorry for the lack of actual blogging in this post, but there were so many cute pictures!

Until next time...

I used to spend my Spring Breaks on the beach with wine coolers and a crop top...

I now prefer the stay-cation with my girls!  Yes, it's September and I'm just now posting about Spring Break, but bear with us.  I will get there. 


We had a great Spring Break Visit with Bella!  She was able to meet her new cousin Asher (although I can't seem to find any pictures of that?) and spend a lot of time outside since it hadn't yet reached the inferno that is Summer in the South.

But we did have to take this picture in front of our neighbor's house because we didn't have any pretty flowers.  Oh well, we do the best we can!

 

We'll keep trucking along until we get back up to the present day.  Right now we are gutting the guest bathroom and trying to get it finished before Claire's second birthday party (which is in less than a month! AHHH!).  One day, I'll be sane again.  Hopefully.

Where the heck have we been?

Well, I'm glad you asked.  Although it may not look like it due to my lack of posting, the truth is, we have been very busy here in the McGlothin Family Nest! 

Let's see, since Christmas Bella, Claire and I had dinner with her mom (Julie) and sister (Arabelle).  It was something that I never thought in a million years would ever come to fruition, but before they flew back to Hawaii in early-January, they came to our house and we shared a meal (sans Luke, he was traveling on business).  It turns out that as women and mothers, Julie and I actually have a lot in common.  And I think it was awesome for Bella to see us in the same room having a civil conversation using inside voices that is not taking place in a courtroom.  (Yes, people.  I am human and my emotions have gotten the best of me in the past.  I'm not proud of those moments, but I think we can all agree that they happen to everyone.  Everyone that is human.)

But, I made spaghetti and she brought some blue cake.  We jumped on the trampoline and worked puzzles.  There was a gingerbread house craft planned should things have been so awkward that we needed some activity alternative to speaking, but we never ended up doing it because Bella, Claire and Arabelle were having so much fun together and no police had been called due to neighbor complaints of battery taking place over at the McGlothins.  (I kid, sort of.)

All in all, it was a great way to start out the New Year!  In all the fun, this is the only picture I grabbed.

More to come...  Lots more... I have like eight months to cover before I can get back into the present day.

First Day of First Grade!

This was acutally last Monday, but we just got these pictures from her mom.  She loves her new class and her new teacher!  She is reading chapter books now, and we are just so proud of her.

I love the way she smiles and those adorable pigtails with her backpack on!

It's hard to believe she will be SEVEN this year... in just a few months actually.  Before we know it, Claire will be in first grade!  But I can't even think about that right now.

Hope you have a great weekend with people you love!

The Worst Day & The Best Day

This is a little long-winded, but please bear with me.  The ending is wonderful!

So Friday was really emotional.  Grammie passed away.  I was thinking about being strong and not breaking down at work.  (You know how awkward it is when people you kinda know come up and ask if you're ok?  No, I'm not ok, my Grammie just died and I don't want to be here anymore.)

I was thinking about all of my training classes I have scheduled next week and who will teach them when I am gone.  I was thinking about how much I hate funerals.  I was thinking about how much I love the 23rd Psalm, but would I feel differently about it once I read it at Grammie's funeral?  All of these thoughts and emotions were flooding my mind.  I was thinking about all of the things I had to take care of.  Who would take care of me?

I busted up a meeting my boss was having (really I just knocked on the door, but it still felt rude) and told her what had happened.  I had been keeping my boss up to date on what was happening with Grammie and that she may be passing sometime soon.  She told me to go home early, be with my family, and not to worry about a thing.  I felt so blessed to be with a company who cares about people and takes care of their own.  I really felt taken care of.

So, while driving home, I call my in-laws (oh, they are so wonderful) and they agreed to keep Claire Friday night so that I could go to the movies with Luke and Bella rather than be stuck at home with the baby.  I just didn't want to be a home.  I didn't want to be alone.  I wasn't sure what the night had in store but, my in-laws took care of me, like they always do.

I arrive home and took a shower.  It just felt like the right thing to do.  To wash away all of those tears, or at least to stand in the shower and cry where it didn't matter because my face was already soaking wet.  But it did make me feel better.  I watched a few minutes of last week's episode of The Bachelorette (it's a guilty pleasure of mine although this season is a bit disappointing), folded a load of clean clothes and got dressed.

Luke called and said Bella's friend couldn't join us at the movies so we would meet at McDonald's, grab a bite to eat and all go to the movies together.  When we arrived at the Golden Arches, Bella asked me if we could go next door to LifeWay and get her a new Bible. 

Of course, was my first thought.  New Bibles are amazing!  Feeling the crisp pages, waiting to be christened with notes and late nights with flashlights under the covers because the story is just that good.  New Bible it is.  Let's throw down these chicken nuggets, set the correct time on Bella's new Shrek watch from her Happy Mean, and head next door to LifeWay and get this girl a Bible.

And then Bella says, "Well Momma Gigi.  Don't you want to know why I want a new Bible?"  And I reply, "Because the Bible you have has little lambs on it and it's really for babies."  And with her sweet smile she says "Nope."  "Well then, why?" I asked.  And then she gets real shy and tells Luke that he needs to tell me.  Ok, the suspense is killing me.  Did Claire color in her Bible?  Did she lose it?  What?

And Luke utters the best words I could ever imagine.  "Momma Gigi, Bella asked Jesus to come into her heart because she wants to live with Him and be a Christian!"  I started to cry.  My sweet girl had been saved.  She got real uncomfortable, but I reassured her that these were the happiest of tears.

Because every night I pray.  Not for a pay raise or a bigger house.  I have full faith that He will take care of us.  I pray nightly that Luke and I will raise Godly children.  That they will know the Lord and His great love.  For my oldest, this prayer had just been answered.

Luke later explained to me how this had come about.  He was telling her that I may be sad because my Grammie had died and gone to Heaven.  She wanted to know more about Heaven and why Jesus came to Earth.  And her questions just kept coming, so Luke sat with her for about half an hour and answered them.  He told her that Grammie went to Heaven because she was a Christian, and that only Christians go to Heaven. 

To make a long story short, she asked her Daddy how she could become a Christian so that she would go to Heaven too.  And so, in the middle of a parking lot, he led her in a prayer to ask Jesus to come into her heart.  My worst day had just become my best day. 

I can't tell you the joy I feel right now, knowing that Bella had found the Lord.  I'm almost crying as I write this.  And I know Grammie would be elated that her death had brought one of her great-grandchildren to salvation.

We may be sparse on posts this week as Claire and I travel to Huntsville for the services.  And then next week, Bella will be with her mom and I will be travelling for work in North Dakota, so probably not much time to write then either. 

But I cannot express how deeply appreciative I am for all of your thoughts and prayers.  They mean the world to me.  You are not strangers whom I have never met that live in far away cities, you are now my friends, and I am so thankful for the support you have provided my family and I.  Really, you will never know the depths of my gratitude.

And as my friend Alysha so perfectly quoted, "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted." Matthew 5:4

Life is Good!

I can't tell you how wonderful it feels to come home to my girls, who are exhausted from a long day of playing in the sun, ready for me to make dinner, partake in some dancing and snuggle up after a bath for a good movie. 
That is living.

With a little prep work Sunday night and some help from my wonderful mother-in-law, I pulled off dinner before 8:00 at night.  And it was even tasty!

And then for some dancing (with Claire in her new outfit that big sister brought from Hawaii).

And lots of laughing...

And now Claire is tired and Bella is telling me that she is thirsty!

And while I'm usually wary of bathtime pictures, this one was pretty safe.

After Claire went down and I won a round of Wii bowling, we packed our new backpacks for two days at Grandmomma's house and it was off to bed to watch Marley & Me.  While I am exhausted as well, I could get used to this.  Just my girls being together and my family complete.

My Family is Together Again

I love when my girls, Luke and I are all together.  It just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  I feel like all is right with the world.  I feel whole.  Luke has his daughter.  Claire has her sister.  I have my family, and nothing can compare to this feeling.

Bella brought Claire some gifts from Hawaii but she was more interested in the paper than the bath time book!

And Bella got her big surprise... a cell phone.  Yes, she's only six-and-a-half and we bought her a cell phone, but don't judge unless the only visitation you have with a child is over the phone for more than forty-four weeks out of the year.  And now she looks sixteen laying on her bedroom floor, talking on the cell phone.

And after Claire's bath, it was time for a bedtime story.  Bella is an excellent reader and loves bedtime stories.  Claire, on the other hand, is not so sure.

We are gearing up for a busy week.  Jessica (my sister-in-law and nanny), her daughter Camille (who is two), Bella and Claire have lots of fun things planned for today.  Tomorrow the girls will go to Tuscaloosa to spend Tuesday with Grandmomma, Grandbarry, Auntie Bethany, Unclue Joshua and cousin Liam (who is one).  I am so excited that my girls will have time with cousins, aunts and uncles.  I grew up so far from any extended family and always felt that those who lived closer to each other had a special bond that I simply didn't share in.

A slumber party is in store at my in-laws for Tuesday night, and then Wendesday after work I'll pick up the girls (we do a meet in the middle thing).  We'll grab a quick dinner and then head to church.  Bella loves Highlands, and she is really excited that since promotion Sunday (when the kids move to the next grade level) was last week, she in no longer in the Clubhouse (Kindergarten) but now she is in Highlands Kids (1st-5th grade).  And who wouldn't be pumped about going from a Bible Adventure cartoon to a live teen worship band and being with "the big kids" ??

Hope you had a great weekend, and check back with us later in the week for more fun times with the girls!

One Week

Seven short days from now, this angel will come to spend nearly two months with her Daddy, little sister and I.

Just another reason I am so pumped for Summer.  Can you argue with me?

The Title of Mom

I've been "celebrating" Mother's Day for two years now since Luke and I got married, and I hence became a step-mom to the most amazing little girl I have ever met.  No really, Bella is amazing.  She is so well-adjusted, especially given the six times she's moved in her less than seven years of life, and the back and forth that visitation spanning 5,000 miles can be.  She is loving, kind, caring, helpful, spirited...

And of course, ridiculously beautiful. I mean, she looks exactly like her daddy.  Except with longer hair and a dress.

But a co-worker said to me that this is actually the first Mother's Day that I "pushed" for.  It made me laugh.  I mean really hard.  I wasn't trying to be rude, but I have never thought of Bella in any different way than I do Claire.  Sure, Bella gets spoiled because we see her so rarely.  We eat popsicles in the bathtub and get extra chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream when she's already had dessert.  But whose to say I won't spoil Claire the same way.  Life's too short and one can never have too much ice cream.  They are equal in my eyes.

Now, don't get me wrong. Luke and I knew very well that welcoming Claire into our family would be very different than what we have with Bella.  I mean, we wouldn't be sending her to another family for 44 weeks out of the year.  But these girls are my world.

Yes, one calls me Momma Gigi and the other Mama, but I wished and prayed for both of my girls.  And yes, I call them my "girls" rather than my "daughters" just so Bella's mother doesn't have a fit.  But I think of them the same.  I love them the same.  So this Mother's Day is really no different to me, and some people don't understand why.

But all that matters is they love me.  They show me with kisses, snuggles, smiles and the beautiful blue eyes of their father.  But on Friday they showed me with these...

The picture I took of the note was too fuzzy (see honey, I really do need a new camera) so here's what it said: "Dear Mommy, Happy Mother's Day from your girls.  We love you! From Bella and Claire." 

And when I called Luke to thank him, he pretended he had no idea what I was talking about, that they really must have been from the girls because he certainly didn't order them.  I love you babe, but I'm on to you.

I cleared some room on my desk because when they first arrived, I was on the phone with a client (trying not to squee with delight and attention) and it looked like this...

And this is what it usually looks like.  Headset, check.  Diet coke, check.  Cell phone, highlighter, pink coupon binder, check.  Pictures of my girls, a Bella orginal coloring and my prized $0.03 Publix recepit for $45.39 worth of groceries, check.  This is my life.  They are my life.

So, no I do not think of this Mother's Day as my first.  And I can't wait for the many more to come.  It means I am a mom, and I love that title more than anything else.  Happy Mother's Day to my own wonderful mom, grandmothers, my mother-in-law and all of the other mommas out there!