Because...

this smile makes every day that much better!

Busy, Busy

We have lots going on and it doesn't look like it will be slowing anytime soon....

• This weekend we head to Tuscaloosa! Finally! I get to spend some quality time with a great friend, Ms. Crystal, and Anna Riley, which I just can't wait for! On Friday, we are having pictures taken by Kim Lawson. I am so sad we won't be with Brenda Upton this year for family photos....finances just weren't there. Hopefully next year! I found Zoe a cute smocked dress on ebay ($2...love bargains) and I have a cute plaid dress for her to wear for the photos. We are getting family photos done, as well as, 1 year photos. I just love photographs and I can't wait to see how they turn out! Saturday, we are going to Tannehill for their annual fall festival. The other Phillips' Family are coming too! I can't wait to see the cutest ladybug, dinasaur and kitty cat play together!
• Zach is in RCIA. RCIA are the classes one takes in order to become Catholic. I love this about the Catholic Church. Anyone who has a desire to become Catholic goes through these classes first to learn the history of the Church, to ask any questions they might have, to learn the reasons for the Sacraments and to fully prepare their mind and heart for such a life changing decision. Such a beautiful thing. Zach has his first special Mass this Sunday. At this Mass, all the candidates that are wanting to come into the Church at Easter are being announced to the congregation and their journey to Easter begins! Every Sunday (minus holidays) now until Easter, Zach will be learning the ins and outs of Catholicism. I am so proud of him and how his heart has been filled with the Holy Spirit. To say he is a new man is an understatement. I mean people....the my hubby went to the library and checked out a book on defending his Catholic faith all by himself....just makes me fall in love with him that much more.
• When we get back home.....the week of Zoe's birthday party has come and it is full of projects getting ready for the big day! I have a list a mile long. My mom, lucky for me, gets Tuesday off from work to vote...but you know they gave it to her because she needs to help me tackle the mile long list! I can't believe her birthday is right around the corner. Time Flies!
• We are celebrating Zoe's birthday on the 6th! BIG FOOTBALL DAY!!!! Bama and LSU play and they just so happened to reschedule the game smack dab in the middle of the party. Could not have planned it better myself!!! Can't wait to spend the day with our family and friends celebrating my little girl and watching Bama roll over those Tigers.
• I have started working full time at Kroger. It is such a blessing and perfect timing....funny how the two go hand in hand. I work from 3-11, 5 days a week. I leave when Zach gets home, so Zoe is never without one of us. Putting in more hours has definitely been an adjustment, but I love knowing that my hard work helps my family. It makes every hour that much better. And the quality time Zach gets with Zoe is priceless! I have to brag on Zach for a minute because he really is such an amazing father. Nothing is too tough for him in parenting and he has started to tell me some tricks that work best with Zoe. I feel now that we are trying so much harder to parent together rather than one more than the other.

Okay....breathe.....and that is just one week!

Are you grasping?

Ask yourself.....am I patient or do I demand? am I trusting or do I have a better plan? am I free or do I worry? am I grasping or do I wait to receive?

I finally understand a HUGE point in the Bible. As you all know....Eve ate the fruit from the tree of good and evil. She ate this fruit after God asked her not to. She ate it, shared it with Adam and in turn....we have SIN....THANKS!

But it is more than that.

God wanted her to know ALL there was to know of good and evil. He wanted her to have all the knowledge and wisdom, every detail. But in His time. And Eve doubted Him. Eve thought her plan was better. So she ate and fell and brought us all down with her. All because she did not trust in God. All because she doubted His plan for her. All because she didn't think He had good intentions for her. All because His timing wasn't in line with her timing. And because of this lack of trust, this grasping...Eve changed the world.

Now on the other hand, we have Mary, the New Eve. Mary gave her life for God. Mary did not grasp, but received with a HUGE yes and bore God's Son, Jesus. Mary trusted God. Mary trusted his timing, trusted his wisdom and knowledge. In Mary's time, she could have been stoned to death. Mary never doubted. Mary believed in God's plan and said "Yes". And because of this trust, this receiving, rather than grasping...Mary changed the world.

So....are you Eve or Mary? Do you grasp or receive? Do you think your plan is better or do you trust? Do you worry or are you free because you know God wants the best for you? Do you demand to know God's plan or do you show patience because His timing is perfect?

I think all of us are Eve...striving to be Mary.

I have learned being Eve ain't so great. Doubt, worry, impatience only lead to selfishness...which leads to sin...which leads to saying "no" to God rather than a huge "YES"!!!! And even though saying yes is really hard....it is worth it...it could change the world.

But the LORD'S eyes are upon the reverent, upon those who hope for his gracious help,
Delivering them from death, keeping them alive in times of famine.
Our soul waits for the LORD, who is our help and shield.
For in God our hearts rejoice; in your holy name we trust.
May your kindness, LORD, be upon us; we have put our hope in you.

Psalm 33: 18-22

My Little Pumpkin

What a weekend! I feel like we have not packed a weekend this full in a long time! But we loved every minute with The Williams' Family. Friday night after I got off work, we headed to Athens for the weekend. Zach and Ben made plans to go to he UGA game, while Jenny, Flint, Zoe and I headed to Dahlonega for Gold Rush, a huge Fall Festival that takes place every year. Loved it!

Here are all the babes as we walked around town and looked at all the awesome crafts!

Zoe even got in a good nap.

I loved going back to Dahlonega. For those of you who have never been, it is such a quaint little town and so beautiful! This is where Zach and I got married so it brought back so many wonderful memories going back. We relaxed and got a beer at Corkscrew Cafe, where my Bridal Luncheon was held. We stayed in Dahlonega from 9:30-4:00....it was a long day. But we were not done yet. We met back up with Ben and Zach and headed to Washington Farms!

I have been looking forward to visiting a pumpkin patch with my little Zoe Jane! I knew it would be full of awesome photo opts and it did not disappoint. The boys were such great sports with me and Jenny directing them for every shot. And the kids did great too. I think we got some really great pictures and we even left with pumpkins :) Our little pumpkins are just too stickin cute!

I think this one is by far my favorite!

Didn't they turn out great!?! Great memories with great friends!

11 Months Old

• Zoe is about 20lbs and I have no idea how long.
• Zoe is wearing 9 months clothes and some 12 and size 3 diapers.
• Zoe is wearing size 2 shoes....when she doesn't rip them off!
• Zoe has blonde hair that is growing and growing and even has a little bit of curl.
• Zoe is being weaned from formula at the moment. She has 2 bottles a day now. One in the morning and one at night with 2 ounces of formula and 5 ounces of milk. Our goal is to have her at 7 ounces of milk, in a week.
• Zoe hates her milk cold!
• Zoe loves food! She loves fruits, especially bananas, mandarine oranges, apples, and grapes!
• Zoe is a talking machine. She says "da da", "ma ma", "mmmm" when she is eating, "yum", she barks like a dog when she sees her stuffed animal, "no no" and shakes her head, "hey" and tries to say "bite" but it is more just the "b" sound.
• Zoe loves to scream, squeal, whine, sing, hum.....and this goes on almost all day!
• Zoe is feeding herself everything now....including anything she can find on the floor...and I mean anything.
• Zoe is crawling like a pro, cruising on whatever she get her hands on, and trying to stand on her own. She can for just a couple seconds!
• Zoe loves playing with her walker and pushes it all over the house like she owns the place.
• Zoe sleeps amazingly. She takes 3 naps for between 1-2 hours a day and sleeps all night long.
• Zoe sings in the car with me.....some part of me got in her since obviously my looks did not.
• Zoe is sitting face forward in her big girl car seat.
• Zoe is drinking from a sippy cup, when I remember to give it to her.
• Zoe loves to go to stores and look at everything.
• Zoe had one cold this past month....and still has not gone to the doctor for a sick visit. So proud of that immune system!
• Zoe looks just like her Daddy. I have lost hope of her looking like me.
• Zoe loves to open and close any door and now plays pic-a-boo behind them.
• Zoe crawls straight into the bathroom the minute she hears the water running for her bath. This is probably her favorite time.
• Zoe is obsessed with her Violet dog, especially at 4:00am when we would hear it barking or singing a song to her. Needless to say, Violet has been moved from her crib to the dresser.
• Zoe loves to point and is really communicating to us through this. If she wants more, she points at the food and she points at what she wants to play with.
• Zoe will not, for the life of her, keep a bow in her hair.
• Zoe still sucks her thumb.
• Zoe only has 2 teeth still...but her top gums feel like one will be here very soon.
• Zoe loves to share things with us, especially while she is eating. She is constantly giving us bites.
• Zoe loves to be outside and swing or play in her walker.
• Zoe favors waffles to pancakes.

• Zoe loves to pull all her book off her bookshelf and is really interested in flipping all the pages of the cardboard books.
• Zoe is scared of heights. She doesn't liked to be set down on higher surfaces like a table, Zach's truck bed, things like that. She just starts shaking and reaching to hold us.
• Zoe gives lots of kisses and makes the "muah" sound.
• Zoe loves to play on the couch. She crawls from one side to the other....over and over. Which explains why we have a new location for pictures this month. Zoe would NOT sit still.
• Zoe has had no signs of stranger anxiety.
• Zoe plays in the nursery at Church and loves it.
• Zoe smiles with her whole face and I just love it!
• Zoe is just the best thing in my life! I can't believe she is almost 1 year old!

My Sister, My Bride

Okay so this book, Heaven's Song, is changing my life...marriage....mindset! Chapter 3 talks all about how our husbands need to see us as sisters. Calm down and let me explain!

I totally reacted the same way....gross. But it really makes sense. I asked a couple of my friends what it meant to be a "sister" and what is meant to be a "brother" for those who had brothers. Here are some of the responses I got:

I think being a good sibling is being present and available to help, talk, and even tell them when you don't agree with what they are doing. It is setting a good example, and being someone of honor who they would want to model their life after. I know we value family so much that we turn to our siblings for advice on almost everything, and use them as models of what we are looking for in life.

No one is perfect, so I'm not sure there is a perfect sibling, because our flaws make us who we are and they are how we learn. I'm sure my brothers learned a lot from my mistakes:) I feel that even when we as siblings fight we grow closer to each other. I think a very important sibling trait is being willing to communicate and talk about things, and even feelings (which is tough for guys). I think that the families that keep things to themselves and bottle things up are the ones who grow apart.

Dependable. There for You. Forgiving. Sees past your flaws. Unconditional Love. And lifts you up rather than tears you down.

Someone that is there for you through thick and thin, good and bad.
Someone you can go to for advice because you know they will be completely be honest with you unlike some friends.
Someone you can depend on.
Someone you can talk about anything to and trust completely

I think that a good brother chooses to invest in having a relationship with his sister even though there might be differences. It's showing you care. I think a brother should offer advice from the male perspective to help the sister understand the mind of a guy. I see the brother having a protective nature. Of course, being loving as the Lord calls us to!

Now, replace sister with wife....or brother with husband. Are these not the exact traits you would want in a spouse and want to be for your significant other? God calls us to be brothers and sisters in Him and to be all these traits to one another....especially our husbands!

By our husbands seeing us as sisters, we are looked at as people, not as objects for selfish desire. A brother would never lust after his sister and neither should a husband lust after his wife. A brother is protective over his sister's image and actions and so should a husband be. A brother's love for his sister is pure and selfless and so should a husband's love be for his wife.

Once two can love each other this way.....they then become husbands and wives in Christ....hence the My Sister, My Bride. Lesson learned!

Reality

I have come to hate getting the mail. As an adult....it is just full of bills and bills...some junk mail...and then bills. Blah! Do you ever feel like you just can't catch a break?

The doctor's bills have started rolling in. It is like they give you a little bit of time to mourn and then BAM!!! Reality sinks in! I just broke down yesterday because I feel like I am drowning in debt and I have nothing to show for it, except a stack of cards and a beautiful teeny tiny footprint. It makes you feel so empty.

Imagine buying your most favorite pair of shoes...one you can't afford but you want so badly. Imagine staring at them, drooling over them, praying for them....and then finally buying them! How excited are you? Such a great feeling! And then they get stolen and you can do NOTHING about it.

I know, and have absolutely no doubts, that God will provide for me and my family. It is just money. The reality of it all is just plain overwhelming sometimes.

One Month until the BIG DAY!

The BIG 1st BIRTHDAY Party day that is........

I am getting so excited to celebrate my little baby girl's big day. I can't believe it has almost been one year since Zoe Jane graced us with her presence!

I have been working hard bringing all my ideas to life for this birthday party...some are going to work and sadly some aren't....luckily she is going to have lots more birthdays! I just love being creative, having a plan and watching it come together.

We are not having a character theme, but more a color theme. My mom bought some beautiful mulit-colored houndstooth paper a while back...so I made all the invitations and will be making her birthday sign from the paper. I am also going to be making the table decor from the paper and the pictures I have taken of her every month. My sil's mom tought me how to make the tissue pom poms and I can't wait to make those....just have to find the right colors of tissue. My mil and sil are going to be making Zoe's cake in a houndstooth and polka dot theme. It is going to be soooo cute!

But I think what I look forward to most in my baby girl turning 1 are her pictures!!!! I am OBSESSED with pictures! I have some ideas for her pictures, but wanted to get some ideas from you all.....

What did you do for your children's 1 year old photos????

I have been googling different ideas. Love the ideas for having a smash cake for the shoot. I had never seen this before, but having a ton of balloons in the shoot I thought would be really cute. And then another I read about was doing the shoot with bubbles...I guess to really bring out the joy of the child. Zoe would flip!

I think the hardest part of pictures is picking out the outfits! Having a really hard time with this! But it will all come together and I just can't wait!

November 6th will be here before we know it!