Cece's "Second" First Birthday

On Saturday, we met Cece's birthfamily to celebrate her "second" first birthday. Brian had a genius idea of going to Build-a-Bear. Cece and Mackenzy (her biological sister) made matching bears. We just cannot believe it was one year ago (on Thursday) that we first met Cece in the hospital and spent hours getting to know her birthfamily. We are so thankful that we serve a God who truly makes all things possible!

Go Gators--Cece Style

Our dear friends, the Seeligs are letting us watch the SEC championship at their house. They are actually watching it there! This is how Cece watches the Gators!

This is her mid-lips saying, "Ggggaa Gaaa", which means, "Go Gators!"




"What is the defense doing???"




"This is getting a little scary."


"My mommy and my aunt Karen made this hair clip!"


"I love the Gators, but I really love this big, stuffed dog."


"Thank goodness the Gators just scored a touchdown; otherwise, we never would have been able to get my daddy to take this picture."


This is only the first half! We're still watching it; please win, Gators! "We weathered the storm. Now it's a matter of going in the lockerroom and figuring it out," says Brian, who has been just a little bit stressed.

Good-Bye Leafmore Court

I just vacuumed the living room for the last time. It's official; we are moving out of our house on Leafmore Court tonight. I'm sitting in an almost empty house waiting for Brian to get back from dropping off the last load to Goodwill. At 2 o'clock this afternoon, I started cleaning an empty house. As I went through each room, I couldn't believe that we have lived in this house for five years. This wasn't Brian and my first home, but almost. We moved here after being married six-months. Don't get me wrong, I was never attached to this house, but I found myself getting very sentimental about it today.

We got our master's degrees here. We made pancakes almost every Saturday morning. I was remembering that our dog was a puppy in this house (thinking about what it would look like if we pulled up the carpet). We transformed the dinning room into an office/baby station and then changed it back. We painted the nursery. We watched our favorite shows. We woke up early, drank coffee, and had quiet time. We decorated for Christmas. We planted the shrubs. Brian took such stinkin' good care of the lawn. We brought Cece home to this house. . . .

So, even though, I honestly am not THAT attached to Leafmore Court. I am sad tonight. Good-bye Leafmore Court; you were very good to us!

Cece's "First" First Birthday

Cecelia is almost one! She is going to have a few first birthday celebrations, and for her first one, her "RaRa" (Grandma Stephens) and her Aunt Karen took her to Busch Gardens!

The start:




Have you ever tried to take a picture with four kids? It's hard!




This was Cece's expression most of the day; she was just taking it all in, but very seriously!




I think "RaRa" (Grandma Stephens) had the most fun:


















The end:


A special thanks to "Aunt Karen" and "RaRa" for a great "first" first birthday! Aunt Karen and I have both been crying a little today as we think about the next five years and not being able to live life together. . . .


And, you may be asking, "Where was Brian?"


Gooooo Gators:)!