Natalie & Kennedy's First Birthday!!!

Saturday afternoon, we celebrated Natalie and Kennedy's first year with our family. We decided not to do anything big, but just wanted our families around us, so we gathered at Mimi and Grandad's house and had a sweet little party. Joel's grandparents were also there, so that was very special as well! The girls wore pink tu-tus and bibs that Mimi embroidered with a cupcake and their name. My parents were not able to travel due to my mom's recent hip replacement surgery, so we plan to go down to Georgia next weekend, and will celebrate Christmas and birthdays with them.
As I wrote in the Birthdays post, Natalie Joy & Kennedy Faith have been one of the greatest joys in our lives! We are amazed watching them grow and learn every day and love being their mama and dada. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, sweet daughters!

Family picture Caroline helping open presents :)

Yay, we like it!

Ooooh, what could it be?!?

Mama and Kennedy

the girls definitely enjoyed their cupcakes, but didn't get nearly as messy

as I expected!

this picture reminds me of my Pappy - with the pointed finger

Mmm, chocolate!

Oh boy, I like this stuff!

Daddy and Natalie

Ken and Auntie Em

Showing the Christmas tree to Kennedy

Mama and Natbug

Kennedy looking at her books

Check out the bib my Mimi made me!

Trying to get a good pic of her in the tu-tu... she just wanted to jump off the bed!

Monkey face cupcakes

Birthday Princess balloon and hat

the table and decorations

I have to give 100% credit to Joel for making these cupcakes -

he did an incredible job and they turned out super cute!!!

the Birthday mug that I grew up with

When it was your birthday, you got to drink out of this all day

I am carrying on the tradition of birthday mugs

These were given to me by my god sister, Christy, and I love them!

the Birthday plate I made a few years ago to keep with the tradition of all things birthday on your Birthday!

Let there be lights!

Joel loves to decorate the outside of our house and yard for Christmas. And of course, it gets bigger and better each year. I really appreciate the time and energy he gives to make our house look AWESOME!!! And he has so much fun doing it. We have icicle lights, lights on the bushes, lights going up the trees, homemade stars, snoopy, the grinch, rope lights on the driveway, and new this year - Joel & my homemade Christmas tree! Here are some pictures of our house, all lit up! ;-)

the tree Joel & I designed and made ourselves

Our pretty house

People even drive by slowly to look at it!

Ooooh... Ahhhh

Hot Cocoa with Marshmallows

Lately, after the girls go to bed, Joel will build a fire in the fireplace and we'll have a cup of hot chocolate with the mini marshmallows. It is completely wonderful. I cherish those times, just us... So even as I write this now, that is what we are enjoying. I cannot believe it's the week of Christmas! It has been a busy month, but really fun too. I will have to write more on all of that later, because I know you really want to see the latest pictures of our little sweeties!

the girls with Mimi
Mimi sewed and monogrammed these teal corduroy outfits

with the girls initial on them

both girls looked so beautiful in them

My mom (Nana) bought these cute reindeer hats for the girls... adorable!

They went out dressed like this to Cracker Barrel, and we got so many comments :)

Natalie looking cute

She likes playing with my cell phone

Kennedy trying on Daddy's hat

How do I look, Dad?

Daddy and his daughters

Ken

If you think I'm cute, you should see my twin!

Oh, and here she is!!!

K playing with her kitchen

In this picture, Kennedy looks so much like Joel!

Peek-a-boo, is Natalie home?!?!?

Birthdays

It was our girls first birthday yesterday... I can hardly believe it! What an awesome, adventurous, challenging, sweet, fun, amazing, exciting, silly, and memorable year it has been!!! Natalie and Kennedy are truly one of God's most precious gifts to Joel & I. They are one of the many miracles that have taken place in our lives and we are incredibly grateful each day for the privilege to be their parents!!!
Of course, Joel and I had to reflect on that special day, December 17th, that we went in for our routine doctor appointment, only to be told by Dr. Yu, "Let's have some babies today!" We were giddy with excitement and could not wait to meet our daughters. The entire thing went so smooth and I knew that God had gone before us and covered the whole place and each person and we felt so peaceful. At 9:24 p.m. Natalie Joy was born and one minute later, her sister Kennedy Faith joined us. It was so fast and so wonderful. One great blessing was that even though they were four weeks early, and little over 4 1/2 pounds each, they were healthy enough to go to the well baby nursery! We are so thankful for that. It was a perfect day. Our girls were the most beautiful people we ever laid eyes on, and God was so gracious to us, to hear our prayers, and allow us these two tiny miracles! I can hardly contain my emotion as I write this now... it is overwhelming to even wrap my mind around it... how much God loves them... how much God loves us... how much God loves ME.
Joel & I went to the Ryman Auditorium last night, to see Andrew Peterson's "Behold the Lamb of God." I can't really call it a concert, but there are many Nashville songwriters and musicians there. What it really is is a group of people who sing songs that tell the beautiful, mysterious story of the birth of Jesus. I can't really put it into words, you best go and hear it for yourself, this creative way to sing the story of Christ coming into this world. You can do that here
And then this morning I stumbled upon a link for a ministry in East Nashville, called the Front Porch Ministry. As many of you know, I worked for almost 7 years at an elementary school in East Nashville, and I just loved it. I loved the uniqueness of the community, the diversity represented on the streets, and the change that is taking place there. Anyway, this family lives on one of the popular streets in East Nashville and have a heart for the broken hearted people who are their neighbors (most of them low-income families) and have a ministry from the front porch of their house. So I clicked on their blog and found this story. A birthday story. I read it and just cried. Please take time to read it here
So, all of this really does tie together. My mind was on birthdays... the very first birthday of my girls... this little boys "best birthday ever," and then the main birth day of all birthdays... Jesus' birthday. It changes lives. That day that a little baby, God's son, the Savior of sinners, the spotless Lamb was born - offered us such grace, and hope, and joy, and love, that we might spend forever with Him. It's so powerful, that these words still seem so small to describe it. But in this time of hustle and bustle, of Christmas cheer and presents and lights and all the other festivities, I have to stop and ponder. I don't want to forget the message of this season. The power this story has to change lives. So I will share a little bit with you - that if you are taking a few minutes out of your day to read this post, you can remember too... Christ was born so that you might live. Hallelujah! Come, and let us adore Him...

A season of Thanksgiving

So my posts are a little behind, but here they are, nonetheless :) We had a full November, and celebrated birthdays, along with a day of Thanksgiving. Natalie & Kennedy are fun, as always, and are doing something new all the time and keeping us and each other entertained. Natalie is standing and has taken a few steps, likes pointing to her head, and loves chasing Kennedy around the living room. Kennedy points to what she wants and likes to push the corn popper, while practicing walking. Both are babbling, and Natalie's favorite phrase is "dooka-dooka." Both girls can hold their bottles and feed themselves. They love trying new foods, and pretty much want anything mommy and daddy are eating. They like bath time and could play in the tub all night. They got a play kitchen as an early birthday present and they have really enjoyed pretending to bake pies and fry eggs :) Any time music comes on, they both will start bobbing up and down and "dancing" and it is the cutest thing ever!
In other news, Joel & I finally got our upstairs cleaned up and baby proofed and it makes for an awesome play room!!! We have a big bonus room upstairs, that had a ping pong table, and random furniture, along with old baby stuff. We have been wanting to get it organized for quite some time, and so this weekend we were able to tackle it, while Mimi came over to help with the girls. We are proud of our accomplishment and Natalie and Kennedy really like playing up there and enjoy all the space they have to crawl around!
Our daughters are so, so sweet and we love every second we spend together! The girls constantly make us laugh, and we can't help but shower them with lots of hugs and kisses.
They seem to get cuter with each passing day, and soon we will be celebrating their first birthday with our families!!! We are truly grateful for all God has graciously given us and praise Him for our many blessings!

Kennedy looking at her books

Natalie likes reading "The Hungry Caterpillar"
Aunt Emily reading to the girls about feelings - they love looking at the real baby faces


Kennedy wearing her Christmas pjs

Natalie standing by herself!

Love this pose

K sitting in her fairy princess chair

Playing with their kitchen

Having a good time at our cousins house