Another egg in our nest.....

Our nest is growing! We are rejoicing as we announce that Baby Valentine #2 is on the way! Check out Charlotte's teeny tiny little brother or sister......

Baby V #2 measured 7 weeks 3 days making the big debut around June 11, 2011

As many of you know, our journey to becoming parents was a bit longer than anticipated or hoped for. After nearly 2 1/2 years of waiting on God to provide, He did. Through that time, I struggled with feeling completely discontent with the path the Lord had chosen for me, feeling jealous & envious of others along with feeling down right sad. After the first year, a sweet friend of mine chose a sermon by John Piper called "The Beautiful Faith of Fearless Submission" for us to read through together. This is what the Lord used to change my heart. It is funny because it is not about child bearing at all, it is about submissiveness but, the bottom line is because of what Christ did on the cross, we have hope in God. When our hope is in God alone, we have everlasting joy.


The Lord used this sermon to show me a bit about what a woman who hoped in God looked like.
Proverbs 31:25 says "Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come." I learned that day that I was not hoping in God, I was hoping in myself & others to get what I thought I deserved right then. The Lord was merciful in revealing my sins of discontent, jealousy & wallowing in my sadness. He was faithful to forgive me & helped me turn back to hoping in Him alone. HE made me content, HE helped me rejoice with others in welcoming children, HE gave me joy, HE helped me delight in him & HE let me laugh at the time to come. I am beyond thankful for how the Lord refined me through that difficult time & look forward to sharing with Charlotte how the Lord surprised us with a sweet little girl His perfect time. All that to say, you can imagine our excitement to find out another child was being formed in my womb : )

Here is the big sis checking out the pictures of her new baby

We are thankful & excited to see our family grow. Please pray for the Lord to continue perfectly forming this little one & that we would trust in His perfect provision.

First Tooth!

Something exciting happened this past week. After 15 months of wondering if we needed to start saving for dentures, Charlotte's first little tooth appeared. After a week of sleepless nights and general grumpiness during the day, I was playing with her and said " let me see your teeth" I say this jokingly on a regular basis since there were none : ) I felt her gums and what do you know? A teeny little tooth was starting to poke through on the bottom left. I started crying. Robby told me a few weeks ago that he had been praying for Charlotte's teeth everyday so it was really fun when I got to tell him that the Lord heard his prayer, as He always does, & that Char has a tooth!

Here are some pictures of our first tooth brushing....

with no prompting, she assumed it was a small brush for her hair

then she found her mouth

she was so happy!

she was closest to the actual tooth in this picture

one happy little girl after her first tooth brushin' experience

You may notice that she has quite the bruise on her left cheek. Last night, her friend Matilda was over and they were hugging each other while riding in the school bus. Charlotte got excited and gave Matilda a really big hug while she pulled her backward, off of the school bus onto the ground about a foot below. Charlotte landed on her back and Matilda landed directly on top of her. It was a very unfortunate school bus accident....many tears involved & she has a bruise to prove it!

We will continue to pray for some more teeth...life would be a little hard with only one : ) Just for the record, our pediatrician said that there is no concern about a toothless grin until the child turns two. At that point, they would do x-rays & see if there were any teeth. Thankful for her tooth.

Charlotte at 15 months

15 months.....wow! My how time flies! Charlotte is growing and growing & more fun to hang out with everyday.

This has been an interesting month for us. For almost the entire month we have either been traveling or had someone visiting us. It has been a little too abnormal for Miss Charlotte & she has let me know by beginning to throw tantrums, being very angry when told "no" & hitting me on occasion. Luckily she cannot bite me yet since we are still waiting for a tooth to pop through : ) It has definitely been a new challenge for me to understand & care for her. It has not helped that Robby has been traveling for work....I have attempted to explain over the phone but it just doesn't do it justice. I am so thankful that the past two days that have been just she & I all day long, she has been delightful! I think we needed our routine back & I think she needed my undivided attention.

Yesterday morning she wanted to take her baby, London with us in the car. We had an extra car seat in there for my niece so she rode along with us. It is so sweet to see her be motherly : )

The Stats:

24 pounds-50th percentile

30.25 inches- 50th percentile

Head Circumference- 75th percentile

What the girlie is up to these days:

• still not saying too many words but "talks" like you should understand what she is saying, she told me "no" for the first time today


• stacks about 8 nesting cups or blocks without any help


• when she knocks a tower over, she throws her arms up like "what happened?"


• she has added chin, teeth, fingers & knees to her list of identifiable body parts


• I know she doesn't have teeth but when you ask her where they are, she acts like she is tapping her top & bottom teeth together


• she is SO into trying to balance things on her head


• since her Daddy built her bookshelf, as soon as she wakes up, she is pointing at her books & wants you to put them all in her crib. If you say, "do you want to get out?" she shakes her head "no," she just wants you to pile the books in there with her


• loves swinging at the park....it invokes LOTS of giggles


• does some of the hand motions to Itsy Bitsy Spider & Twinkle Twinkle when we are at the Library Story time


• loves walking up & down the sidewalk outside collecting pieces of grass, bark or leaves & every now and then, a dead worm-GROSS!


• ADORES baby Karis, she always wants to touch her & immediately starts "talking" in a super high baby talk voice when she is around


• she has actually started to be a little picky with her food & many times is not interested in meat although she will eat a whole head of broccoli!


• thinks it is fun to throw a ball or roll it back & forth


• will sit through book after book after book & loves to point out the different animals


• she figured out how to walk backwards & does it at the most random times


• likes watching videos of herself on facebook, she cracks herself up!


• sleeps from 7pm-8am, 10:30-11:45am & 2:30-4:30pm


• eats 3 meals a day + a snack or two


• her favorite food of the day right now is her yogurt with honey & ground nuts, she eats it up unbelievably fast

One of my favorite moments with her happened yesterday morning. We sat down to eat breakfast & I told her that we were going to pray & thank God for our food. So, she put her precious little hands together, we prayed & began eating our meal. A few bites in, she put her hands back together & I asked her,"Charlotte, would you like to pray again?" she nodded her head yes. So we prayed for Daddy then continued eating. A few bites later, she put her hands together again so we prayed....again...and again and again! I think we prayed about 10 times throughout our meal. I continued making each prayer a little longer and she would be completely quiet until I said "Amen" which makes her excited. I just loved it though. We have prayed for her everyday since she was being formed in my womb that the Lord would capture her heart & she would grow to treasure Christ above all else. It is exciting to see just a little glimpse of her understanding that we thank God in prayer for the things He provides for us.

Here she is with her Daddy. These two are ridiculous together.....so sweet! Robby is loving how she runs to him & gives him a huge hug when he squats down. He is still fighting for a kiss from her though : ) This picture was taken during another visit to the fountain in Celebration. Look how happy she is!

Happy 15 months baby Charlotte! We love you & can't wait to see what new and exciting thing you will do next!

Aussie Grandparents

Charlotte's Aussie Grandparents came to visit us over the weekend! If any of you did not know, Robby & his brother Steve each spent a year in Australia prior to becoming married men. They raised support & served full time at Riverside Community Church oustside of Brisbane. Graeme & Anita offered up a room in their home for Robby to live in 2003 then Steve took them up on the offer a couple years later. Graeme & Anita are so dear to us for many reasons. They loved the boys like they were their own & sacrificed a quiet home to welcome them among many others over the course of time. They let me stay in an extra room when I came to visit Robby & then he actually propsed to me in their house : ) Sweet sweet memories with this couple!


We see them once every few years & this time was really neat because they got to meet their american "granddaughters" Charlotte & Karis. They came bearing gifts for the girls, new uggies for the winter, aussie born stuffed animals- a wombat for Charlotte & a cookabura for Karis, some handmade sweaters from another couple in AU & LOTS of hugs and kisses.

We did alot of relaxing mixed in a little eating out & an afternoon in Celebration. It was wonderful to catch up. Thanks for spending time with us. We love you so much!

Happy Birthday Scott!

My baby brother Scott turned 24 years old yesterday. We were sad to not be with him to celebrate but we did get to spend last weekend together : ) I had to post about him so you all could see how special he is.

I love this guy! He is one of the best two brothers ever! Really, he has always been so kind & thoughtful. He makes me laugh SUPER hard atleast a few times a week. He is a man who loves the Lord & encourages others to as well. He is an incredible brother to me, brother in law to Rob & uncle to Charlotte. He graduated from Texas A&M & now lives in Houston working for HP.


a little trip through time in the life of Scotto.........

He is a close friend now that we are all grown up. I miss him terribly living so far away from each other! I hope that little Charlotte can have a brother or two to experince the sweetness of a brother/sister relationship. Love you Scotter! Happy Birthday!

Weekend in Minneapolis

We had the pleasure of spending last weekend in Minneapolis, Minnesota & it was a wonderful trip! Back track a bit.....When we first moved to Orlando, the Lord blessed us almost immediately with Eric & Gretchen as our new best buddies. We met them on a Sunday morning at Celebration Community Church. They were in Orlando for only 6 months with a job for Eric & we got to enjoy them for 5. We went to the beach together, shared lots of meals, lots of laughs & developed a very special friendship. I actually partially accredit the purchase of Robby's motorcycle to Eric who also had a sport bike. Gretchen was the one who convinced me that I might even enjoy riding : ) What do you know, she was right! We were heartbroken when they moved home & always look forward to spending time with them again.


This trip was planned around the Desiring God National Conference which we have greatly enjoyed in years past. Usually, we take the train into the city, stay at a hotel downtown and walk wherever we need to go. This year we were picked up in a swagger wagon, taken to a lovely home outside the city, enjoyed delicious home cooked meals, a mini bonfire with s'mores, comfy beds & time with people we love. WAY better than previous trips thanks to the Ulfert family. When we first met the Ulferts, their son Titus was only 3 months old. He is now 2 1/2 (and hilarious) then to top it off, they have added sweet Mackenzie Rose to their family. She is 7 months old and SO cute!


Here are some photos of us enjoying life in another state......

Thursday night, our friend/photographer Jenny met us at an Apple Orchard/Pumpkin Patch where we went on a hay ride, picked pumpkins & let the kids run wild. I am still waiting for a CD of the rest of the pics & will post them at a later date : ) Here are a few great ones.....

My brothers flew in on Thursday night & joined us at the park the next morning. Titus LOVED my brother Scott and made him climb through the playground with him......it was pretty funny.

Gretchen and Mackenzie

Kyle & Char......Kyle is 6ft 3in & Char is around 30 inches.....big difference!

Cutie Patootie in her jacket that she got to wear for the first time in the cool weather

Scott, me, Kyle & Rob before one of the sessions outside the Convention Center

We ate lunch & dinner on Saturday at Brit's Pub, our ABSOLUTE favorite restaurant downtown. Here is my friend Rachel. Many others think we are twins or at least sisters. We are ridiculously alike in many of our mannerisms, we say the same things at the same time, sing just like each other & laugh alike. It's a little scary really ; )

Saturday night, we ate dinner upstairs & outside. It was a tad sunny at first then 5 minutes later it went away. We then shivered through the rest of our meal in the 50 degree weather. Taylor, a friend from Orlando met us for dinner....and yes, he has shorts & flip flops on. CRAZY!

Me & Rob

My brother Scott turns 24 tomorrow so we celebrated his birthday a little early with some cupcakes. It was going to be a surprise until Titus spilled the beans. It could be due to the fact that Titus did not recognize Scott unless he had his glasses on ; )

Sunday afternoon, we played outside for a long time in the beautiful backyard. Titus showed us how he could hit a baseball & Charlotte learned how to use the play lawnmower. These two were cute together. Prior to our visit Eric & Gretchen told us that Titus was asking if they could change his sister's name to Charlotte....hahaha! She slept in the crib in his room & on the last night after she woke up the third time during the night, Titus was crying & saying "I don't want her to sleep in here!" He is a little chatterbox & very obedient. He has a great mommy & daddy that are working hard with him. I think they will enjoy seeing each other again sometime : )

Here is Charlotte with Uncle Scott & Uncle Kyle

and with her mommy

and with her daddy, enjoying a caramel apple...this girl has a sweet tooth!

A bit more about the conference itself..... if you have never been, you should seriously consider going one year : ) Check out http://www.desiringgod.org/ to listen or view the sessions from the weekend. The speakers were incredibly godly men that shared about "Think, the Life of the Mind & the Love of God." I look forward to going back to listen again & praying toward changes in the way I think & in the way I love God.

Over all, it was such a great weekend in many aspects. Our souvenirs, MANY books for me & Rob & a runny nose & cough for little Charlotte : ) Thank you Eric & Gretchen for being such gracious hostesses. We hope you will have us again sometime!

Pumpkin Patch

Here is a sneak peak of our fall photo shoot : ) Jenny, a friend of mine in Minneapolis is quite talented and spoiled us with capturing our trip to the Pumpkin Patch in pictures.

The kids had a blast....and so did the parents. Thanks Jenny! You are amazing!