Growing in Wisdom & in Stature

Sometimes I look at Chloe and seriously cannot believe how fast she's growing and learning. It seems like she learns something new every single day. I'm so thankful for the blessing of being her mommy. Not only is Chloe learning and growing everyday, but because of her I am learning and growing everyday as well.

Playing at the park. We have had a few days recently of very nice, springy weather. So I decided to swing by the park with Chloe today. She's never really played on a playground before. She loved all of the exploring that there was to do. She's scared of the slides, but in time, I'm sure she'll grow to love them.

Every morning, I fix Jeremy's lunch before he goes to work. During the winter, he takes soup in a thermos on most days. So the two tools that I use in the kitchen each morning are....you guessed it, the ones that Chloe has in the picture above. After I'm finished packing his lunch, I wash the dishes and let Chloe 'make' soup too. It is amazing how much they learn just by watching us....amazing, and a little scary. It's a good reminder to be striving to live the most Godly life I can because I have two little eyes constantly watching what I do. What a challenge and responsibility! But with great responsibility comes great reward. I continue to pray that I can teach this sweet girl how to love the Lord and love others.

Inch Bug Orbit Labels + 10% Off Coupon Code

I wanted to share this product with all of my loyal readers (all two of you; ha-ha) especially those of you who have small children. I recently discovered a very cute and adorable website: www.inchbug.com. They sell all kinds of products to help organize your life including orbit labels. I ordered the orbit labels in the picture below for Chloe's sippy cups. I always send a sippy cup with her to church and I thought this was a brilliant way to keep track of them. Take a look.


The orbit labels are microwave and dishwasher safe. So once you put them around your sippy cup, bottle, water bottle, etc. you can just keep it on there. Inch bug also offers a line of adhesive labels that are different shapes and sizes. The adhesive labels are also dishwasher and microwave safe. Way cool! And right now if you 'Like' them on Facebook, you can get a 10% off code to use on your purchase. If any of you decide to try them, let me know what you think. I already love mine!

Aiy Yi Yi! It's Been a While

Wowzers! It has definitely been a while since my last blog entry. Something happens to your free time when you have a baby.....BUT Chloe is worth every second of lost free time. Here are some pics of our sweet girl who is growing way too fast.

This was her first experience playing in the snow...she didn't like it very much.

Her first pigtails. So cute, but they make her look so grown up.

Silly Chloe.

I love this girl so much! She is such a blessing to our lives and we are learning so much about God's unconditional love for us just by being her parents.

Good-Byes, Great Messes & Good Pudding

We had some sweet, sweet friends that lived right down the street from us. They went to our church and every once in a while we would get together to have dinner and play board games. Anyway, these friends, Blake and Autumn, were going to chiropractic school here in Missouri. Well, they just graduated and have now moved to Tenessee to open up their own practice. I know God has great things in store for them, but I still didn't want to say good-bye.

Blake and Autumn - the day before they moved. We miss you all already!!

On a happier subject, Chloe has started eating baby cereal from a spoon now. We get to start fruits and vegetables on Monday. The first cereal feeding was absolutely hilarious. She wanted nothing to do with that cereal. She's learning how to eat better now, but still makes a glorious mess.

I also made some delicious banana pudding the other day. I hadn't made banana pudding in a long time, but I really wanted some. So I looked up a recipe and went for it. It was so easy! I think I might start making it a lot more often.

Here's the recipe if banana pudding tickles your fancy!

Banana Pudding(http://www.kraftrecipes.com/)
3 cups Cold Milk

2 pkgs. Vanilla-flavored Instant Pudding Mix

30 Vanilla Wafers

3 Bananas, sliced

1 tub (8oz.) Whipped Topping

Pour milk into a large bowl and then add the dry pudding mixes. Beat with a wire whisk for 2 minutes or until well-blended. Let stand for 5 minutes. Put a layer of vanilla wafers on the bottom and up the sides of a large trifle bowl. Follow with a layer of banana slices and a third of the pudding. Repeat layers twice. Top with whipped topping and refridgerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.

Bon Apetit!

Chloe's New Hat

It's the time of year to play outside. So what does that mean for baby Chloe?? A nice summery play hat. At first, she didn't think it was so nice. But after a minute or two, she was just enjoying the beautiful spring weather.

It's a little big, but she will grow into it.

I promised in my last blog some pictures from our Florida trip. This was taken while we were still in St. Louis in the chilly temperatures. But soon enough we would be enjoying some warm weather.

This is what Chloe did for most of the plane ride. She did get a little fussy as the airplane was descending, but who can blame her.

These are some dear friends of ours, the McCraws. Jeremiah was just born in January.

This picture was taken right outside of our hotel. Isn't it beautiful? Doesn't it make you want to hop on a plane and visit Florida, even if just for a day?

Chloe definitely enjoyed being in Florida. It was the first time that she was really able to spend any time outside. Jeremy and I had a great time as well. It was nice to just get away for a few days and spend some time with friends in the ministry. Now we are busy in our household getting ready for Easter. I've already got Chloe's outfit picked out and can't wait to put her in it. She may not be as excited as I am. I'm also very occupied planning a retreat for our middle school girls that is coming up April 16th. We are talking to girls about guarding their hearts. It's going to be a great time; now if I can just finish putting all of the details together instead of blogging.....

Chloe Smiles

I absolutely love it when Chloe smiles. You can't help but smile right back at her. If this picture doesn't make you smile, I don't know what will. I really think she looks a lot like Jeremy in this picture as well.

This picture was taken right before we left for church. She's getting better and better about going to church (and sleeping through the preaching).

Chloe has actually had an eventful week so far. She rolled over and she picked up a toy. She is really starting to make progress. She's able to hold her head up very well now and is starting to push her body up with her arms. It won't be long before she'll be crawling all over the place, I'm sure. Next week she gets to take her first airplane ride to Orlando, FL. Jeremy is attending a youth conference there and we are going along for the ride (and the warm weather). Hopefully my next post will have pictures of palm trees in it!

The View From Where I Sit

The view from where I sit just keeps getting better and better. Here are few recent pictures of our dear daughter.

Chloe and Daddy taking a nap.

Cute pose! She looks like the thinker.

The first playdate didn't go so well. Oh well, the parents had a good time together.

Somehow she always manages to get at least one arm free from her swaddle.

We put her to work to earn her keep.

Chloe had just had a bath. I love the way she smells after her bath. She still doesn't like getting baths, but one day she will.

Chloe is doing so much better these days. She's sleeping a lot more and isn't nearly as fussy as before. I appreciate all the advice and the prayers. I still need both. Chloe is bringing so much joy to our lives. We are so thankful for our family and friends.

Chloe Lynn Shirley

Our little girl is finally here! Chloe Lynn Shirley was born on December 10, 2009 at 5:33pm. She weighed 4lbs 11oz and was 18.5 inches long.

This picture was taken right after she was born via C-section.

Jeremy holding our new daughter.

Chloe finally got to come home from the hospital on Christmas day!

Her sweet little feet!

Close-up!

This picture was taken on her one month birthday. She's growing fast and now weighs in at 7lbs 5oz. I honestly can't believe that she is already a month old. God has truly blessed us with a special little girl who has already won our hearts.

Family Ties

We were able to make a visit home over Labor Day weekend.

Micah really loved playing with "Juncle Jeremy". It was so cute!

We had a small photo shoot in my parents' backyard.

Me and my sisters.

The whole family. We had a great weekend seeing old friends and getting to hang out with family as well. We were also in town to attend Jenna's wedding reception. It was very beautiful! Congratulations, Jenna and Josiah!

We're Having a Girl!

We're having a little girl! We had an ultrasound on Monday. The technician assured us that this image meant that our baby was female. We are so excited!

This is the baby's head and body. You can see her spine in this picture. She was wiggling all around during the ultrasound. The technician was trying to get a profile picture for us, but she just wouldn't cooperate. This is as good as it gets for now.

A Time to Grow

These are just some pictures of my ever-growing baby belly.

12 weeks....not much of a bump at all.

17 weeks....just a little bump.

This is the most recent picture (taken last night) at 20 weeks. We are supposed to find out the gender of the baby on Monday. So I'm sure that will be my next blog entry. It's becoming a baby kind of world in our house.

Oh The Things We Do....

Oh the things we do to minister to others...in this case, dress up as nerds. This past week was VBS at our church. For the youth there were different dress up themes each night. I think Jeremy looks dashing, don't you agree.

We also had a band that played live praise & worship music each night. They did a wonderful job engaging the students in worship.

Two of our high school girls decked out for Mismatch night. They definitely went above & beyond the call of duty here.

We had a great VBS week! Ultimately, three students accepted Christ and a number of others rededicated their lives to Christ this week. We had over 100 students attend throughout the week and an average of 80 per night. It was a fun and challenging week for our students. And tonight is the carnival. I will be face painting all night; a great end to a great week.

iLift Middle School Camp - i know. i grow. i go.

Group picture that we took on the way home.

Three of our middle school girls hanging out.

Jeremy and I sitting in a worship service with our students.

We took our middle school students to Lift Camp last week in Springfield, MO. We had a really awesome trip and had two students get saved. Between paintball & bowling, there wasn't much time for rest, but, after all, we are talking about middle schoolers. They enjoyed not getting much rest. This was the last trip of the summer for our students. Now we are looking forward to VBS and promotion Sunday. They are both coming up very quickly.

Don't Worry, Be Happy

Sometimes when you are in ministry, it is easy to get caught up in worry. We worry about trips, and the spiritual condition of our sheep, and whether or not we are making people happy or even making a difference. When really, the only one we should be striving to make happy is our heavenly Father. I was praying today about some of the worries on our hearts lately and God brought these verses to my mind and heart. I wanted to share them with you.

Matthew 6:31-34 says,

"So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

I love these verses. How many times has the Lord provided for us? More than I count, and yet, we still worry. So my motto for today is "Don't worry, be happy.....because God loves us and knows exactly what we need."

Summer Time Means Camp Time

We took our high school students to Crossings Camp in Bagdad, KY last week. It was a very good, but very tiring week. The youth stayed busy with all kinds of activities like:

Blobbing;

Rock Climbing;
and horse-back riding.

It was truly a life-changing week for our students. I'm very glad that I was able to go on the trip. God gave me the strength & energy that I needed to make it through the week. Hopefully I'm on the end of this whole morning-sickness thing. Middle school camp is coming up in one week, so I need to get caught up on laundry! Speaking of clothes, I'm currently in that in-between stage where my regular clothes are too small, but maternity clothes swallow me whole. So I pretty much look silly all the time. Maybe I'm on the end of that stage, too.