Sugar and Spice...

Corrie here. I'm officially the worst blogger ever. It's been over a year, and I should probably just give it up. But we really do have intentions of resuming blogging, so I guess I'll start today. To catch you up to speed, it's been a great year. Since my last post, we went to Disney World with the whole family. I love DW. Also, I'm pregnant, almost 20 weeks, and I've been sick every single day for over three months straight. That about sums it up.

This rest of this post will be about the shock of my life.

Most of you know that I have two little girls. Two amazing little girls. I LOVE having daughters. When I was growing up, I imagined a house full of girls. And we have a small house, so that's basically what I have. And I adore it. I love everything that comes with it. I love knowing that as I invest my time and energy and love into these little ones, I am forming deep friendships that will culminate when they are grown. I love watching how special God made them...the nurturing and "mommy-ing" starts early. I've heard that little boys turn everything into cars and guns. Well, little girls turn everything into babies and families. If they have three PRETZELS that are different sizes, then one is the daddy, the shorter one is the mommy, and the smallest is the baby. Hilarious! I love that they judge a Sunday morning dress by it's "twirlability." I love the cuddling and watching Disney movies and baking cookies and helping mommy clean. I love that long after they go to bed, we can hear whispering and giggling. Ohhhh, how I love little girl giggles!! It's a sound I will forever treasure in my heart. I love the fascination with princesses and all things sparkly and magic. I love that they cannot walk out the door dressed to go somewhere without hearing from their daddy that they look beautiful.  And oh my goodness, watching Patrick with his girls has been the highlight of my life. They have him wrapped. So...all that to say, when I found out I was pregnant, I was overjoyed to be expecting another little girl. My dream coming true! I just knew it was a girl. With the exception of two or three friends, everyone knew. We had a name, the girls wanted a sister....life was good! Except the puking part... haha

Fast forward three months....
Patrick, Lily, Evie, and I were watching the ultrasound of our precious baby girl. Everything looked great, which is the best news in all of this. We were waiting on the tech to tell us what we all knew....that it was a girl. And that's when I saw it. A penis. My little girl had a PENIS!! (I can't believe I just typed that word out). And then the lady confirmed what I saw. And oh...the shock. I squealed, I laughed, I cried. I seriously should name this child Isaac for all of the laughing I did. The ladies outside thought we were having twins! Nope, just a BOY!!! We were thrilled! I called everyone and LOVED hearing the shock. We were giddy all day.

But as the day wore on, it hit me...I'm not bringing my little girl home. By that night, I was crying. Sobbing. I know that moms of little boys will read this and think I am crazy...but cut me some slack. I'm a hormonal mess. Plus, I know girls. I wasn't crying over having a boy. I was crying over letting go of the idea of another girl. I cried myself to sleep that night. Pathetic, I know. But I'm just being honest. I do not for one second think girls are "better" than boys. In fact, hearing people compare the two like that annoys me more than anything on the face of the earth. I just don't know little boys. I didn't have a brother...

After a few days of the news sinking in, however, I am happy to report that I am totally stoked about having a boy! I still have my moments. I mean, let's face it...the clothes options for girls are sooo much more diverse. And I'm a little shallow like that. But after talking to several friends with both sexes, I am getting more excited. The vast majority have been so helpful. They have all told me that the love is no more, the bond is no stronger...it's just different. I will love my boy just as much as I love my girls, but my relationship with him will be different. It should be. I sure hope I don't love the same things about him as I do my girls...haha! And I'm good with that. In fact, I am looking so forward to experiencing both. There is nothing on earth like having daughters. And I'm confident I will be able to say there is nothing on earth like having a son as well. Both are so, so special. And God makes no mistakes. This little man was exactly the perfect fit for our family, and I can't wait to get my hands on him. I mean, his daddy is pretty much my favorite person on earth. So I know I will adore his son! I got a Christmas card in the mail the other day from my friend, Haley, and on the back of it is the cutest picture ever of her little boy. It seriously made my heart stop a little. I don't know what it was about his little smile that made me so excited, but it just did.  I may not know what I'm doing, but I have a little girl that has prepared me for this messy, dirty, risk-taking little boy. (Yes, Evie plays in the mud in her crown and tutu). And I've heard little boys love their mamas. My girls love me, and we have the most unique bond, but their faces light up when their daddy walks in the room. And I love that. What am I saying??....Patrick is an amazing dad. This will probably be the world's first daddy's boy.

So...all that to say...bring on the cars, frogs, nerf guns, little boy smiles...Oh please let him have huge dimples. I'm ready! I can't wait to meet this little fella. I am sure he will steal this mama's heart just like his older sisters have.

My Honey Bunny is ONE

I cannot believe it has been a year since I met Lucy Kate face to face for the first time. Words cannot express how I felt at that moment. Oh, how I had been waiting (what seemed like forever) for this.

It has been such a fun year with this sweet baby! I have loved watching her grow and learn. Nathan and I say all of the time that our favorite thing is to watch her discover. It is just cute. Most nights, we will sit on the floor in our den and do nothing but watch her crawl around and go through things. I wouldn't trade the nights at home with my family this year for anything in the world. Part of watching her grow has been hard though. The day she first walked, I cried all night! It just hit me that it is such a short time in her life that she is meant for my arms-- that she wants me to hold her everywhere I go-- that she would prefer me over anything or anyone else. The day she walked was one of her first (with many more to come) declarations of independence from me. It was so special and sweet and yet so sad! Goodness-- Life is short! My prayer is that we honor God in the way we raise Lucy Kate and that we make the very most of the time that she is in our home- when she is dependent on us :) And hopefully (prayerfully), one day she will learn to transfer that dependence to the only One that will never let her down and the only One that is capable of fully providing everything she needs.

Since this is her birthday blog post- I do feel the need to talk about her actual birthday DAY and her birthday trip to the zoo :)

I really wanted to make her birthday super special and, even though she won't remember anything that happened, I wanted to make a special memory for Nathan and me. We made LK her favorite meals (biscuits then later spaghetti), and we took her to the zoo. It was such a good zoo day because it was chilly and cloudy (which all zoo goers know is the best time to go because that's when the animals are the most active). We had so much fun looking at all the exhibits! On a whim, I told Nathan we should just go ahead and eat lunch in the cafe since we were both starving and wanting a place to sit and relax for a minute before heading home. After we ordered our food, the manager of the cafe told us that as soon as we walked in the door, the male Gibbon noticed Nathan and had been going crazy! Then she told us to go stand by the big window. That's when the ape pounced on the glass at Nathan! It was so funny (though not to Lucy Kate), we decided to record it (if he would do it again). Sure enough, as many times as we stood there, that ape would go crazy and bang the window! We completely realize that these apes do this kind of thing. They are placed in that exhibit next to the cafe for a reason. But we were fortunate enough to capture it on video! We had no clue that the video would get as much attention as it did. I still cannot believe it! As of today, this video has 2.2 million views on Youtube, and it has been featured on MANY national TV shows, newspapers, and internet channels. I was really hoping to make it to Ellen-- still holding out hope :/

I'm so glad all of that happened on Lucy Kate's birthday-- what a fun story we will have for her in a few years!!!

Lastly, I do have to mention her big birthday bash! I decided to do a sweet shoppe theme. I had so much fun shopping for it and being crafty; although, I will say, I did not come up with the crafty ideas! Here are a few pictures from that fun day :) Pictures are a little out of order...