a few more pics...

Nana with the girls on Easter Sunday morning.
We love to snack.

Painting at the children's museum.

Starting to eat like a big girl with a spoon!

trying to protect our hair by putting underwear on our heads. It didn't work so well.

4.5 years later...

Last night I watched the DVD of Caleb and I's wedding. There were a lot of pictures of us sitting on the same steps as this picture below. What a different picture 4.5 years later! I am pretty sure in the picture below Makayla is mad at us, Ava is losing her mind, and Anniiyah is cooperating for the sake of the upcoming Easter Egg Hunt. Somehow, this is the best Easter picture of all of us that we ended up with:).

This week has been challenging. A few things happened that were completely beyond our control but they are things that could have drastically changed the current picture of our life. I have a hard time giving up control of life. Even when I have so clearly seen God's faithfulness to me over and over again, I want to fix things myself. I pray that I will go to my knees more and seek my Savior for the answers to hard questions. I pray for patience when the answer is not as I think it should be. I am so grateful for the picture of our current life. I don't know why God calls each of us to different things and different places but I want to cling to Him through every step. As I watched our wedding video, I was reminded that Caleb and I stood on the steps of my dad's church and said that we wanted to love the Lord and love each other and that we would see where that would take us. Only a few years later, it has taken us to Atlanta, kept us in Atlanta, and given us three wonderful girls to spend our time loving. In the midst of laundry, cooking, cleaning, mending, kissing hurts, sitting people in time out, rescuing little people from potential danger, I am trying to remind myself that these things can be done for the Glory of the God that I serve. The journey continues...

settled?

It's been a month now that the girls have been with us. I think we are as "settled" as you can be with three kids. I feel like I am learning a lot with all this. Here are a few things that I think I have learned and that I am still learning...

* bed time is beautiful for a lot of reasons...we all pray together and read a story. Makaylah names every person we can think of to pray for. It also means that Caleb and I finally have a chance to connect...I realize even more how important that time is.

* Follow-through is really important when it comes to discipline. I am still working on this one.

* Toe nails and finger nails are ALWAYS growing!

* Those same finger nails are easier to clip when there is just a little bit of peanut butter underneath them:).

* a 10 hour road trip is manageable with enough Beyonce'.

* a six year is old enough to get herselfed dressed but not old enough to find the motivation to make it happen at 7am.

* Anything is better if it gets a kiss from Mama Ashawee.

* a 4 year old can be as sassy as any adult I know...

Here are my most recent cute quotes and conversations...

"I Love daddy Caleb so much...I just want to hug him and not let him go"

Makaylah: "It's my Uncle Shoe"

Anniiyah: "No, no he all of our Uncle DREW'S"

Makaylah: "Nope, he just MY Uncle Shoe"

Anniiyah: "Ashawee, I don't like when she says that he not my Uncle too"

Makaylah: "Kourtney, is that your brother?"

Kourt: "No, this is Brandon...I am going to marry him."

Makaylah: "You going to marry your brother?"

Kourt: "He is my fiance'"

Makaylah: "Brandon is your Beyonce'?"

Anniiyah: "Dear God, Thank you for the world, thank you for all my friends, thank you for the way you care, thank you for the friends we share." (she is on a "rhyming her prayers" kick)

Makaylah (walking through the target parking lot): "Ashawee I love you...oh no, oh no...."

Ashlee: What? (looking down I notice that her pants have fallen to her ankles). I hate it when that happens!

Early Mornings

Caleb calls our stroller "the baby train."

I have never been a morning person (as all my family and friends can tell you). I tried to create Ava into a late morning girl as well. It worked well for a while but really she has always loved the morning. She wakes up happy and excited to start the day...shaking her crib until I come in and then squeeling in delight when she sees me. Everyday the second we take her out of her crib, she begins waving. I don't really know who she thinks she is waving to, but none the less...she waves. The great part was that on occasion, she would sleep in some...8:30, 9:00, it was awesome. With three children, I feel that my days of sleeping until 8:30 are long gone. Yesterday, Ava woke up at 7:00 but I got her to lay back down in my bed with me. About an hour late I hear a wisper outside my door...I see two little heads peaking through the cracks saying "Ashawee....we're hungry....can you make us oatmeal." Anniiyah and Makayla then decide to crawl in bed with me. Somehow during their "quiet" entry into my bed, Ava stays asleep. For the next 5 minutes we all lay in silence until I hear "Ashawee....can I watch Dora...." Time to get up and start the day.



Saturdays are tiring. Caleb is at work and I still haven't learned the art of entertaining at home. I am getting better but still feel like I need to take all children out of the house for some grand adventure. Yesterday that included a fabric store (where we got yelled at for touching too many things), big lots (where we had to have a lot of talks about how you can't always get what yo want), family dollar, and a bridal shower (I spent my time there chasing Ava...thank goodness for lots of friends who were also helping me chase children). It's now Sunday and from 7am to 8am I have gotten almost an hour of alone time. I hear little voices though and I am sure breakfast will need to be made soon. I will end this entry with some quotes from the week...





Anniiyah: "This girl at school had the same backpack as me and then this other girl had the same name...it's just all freaking me out!"



Makayla: "Sometimes, baby ava just gives me a headache."



Anniiyah: "In the morning, before school, Caleb gets us up and Ashawee just sleeps and sleeps and sleeps."



Makayla about hearing the song Bye Bye Bye: "Oohhh...that's my song!"

More videos

Here is another video of Ava from today. She is starting to really love playing and exploring. In this video she is playing with Anniiyah's CD player while the girls are at school. She loves music adn really loves her dancing.

Dancing Queen

change is good...

I am making it a goal to write more on the blog. If for nothing else but to look back and be able to reflect. This past week held a lot of change. We now have the priviledge and responsibilty of loving 3 girls. I have felt a lot of things over the last 5 days. I am excited....I am scared...I am tired...I love each of my girls so much. At this point we know that our arrangement is not permanent, but we are going to love as much as humanly possible, teach them about Jesus as much as possible, grow with our girls as much as possible, and seek the face of Jesus while life takes on a lot of new shapes. I am sure that things will feel more normal after a couple weeks and I need to remind myself that I know plenty of people with three kids who are perfectly fine!

Last night when Caleb and I layed down in bed we started going through the day yesterday and the course of events...Here is a little rundown for all of you who are far away...
* Woke up to three very hungry kids...2 are NOT morning people and 1 thinks the morning is very funny
* ate breakfast, got dressed and began working on hair...
* after a little complaining and a lot of grease, the hair project was complete...
* 2 girls got loaded on strollers while the other sat on the toilet...for 45 minutes...
* After the toilet situation, we were going to be VERY late for the first day of school but what can you do????... (PART 1 of our day was all before 8:30 am).
* Got to school and I filled out paperwork for 1 hour! Caleb chased two little girls around the school office until finally we couldn't take it anymore...he signed what he needed to sign and took the little girls home...
* I finally left the school and walked home in the rain...this was the first time I had been alone in 4 days....
* I worked for a the rest of the day while caleb cooked, cleaned, did nap time, grocery shopped, and picked up Anniiyah from school
* We ate dinner with friends which was awesome becuase it was two more people to love on our girls (and us) and two more sets of hands to wipe noses, bottoms, and anything else that needed to be wiped:) (Love the Henleys)
* Finally we made the cookies that had been promised the night before...
* With cookies in the oven, it was time for baths...(Aunt becky assisted becuase i was holding the battery cord in the back of my computer to try and get it to turn on so I could get the files that I needed)
* After two cookies each (and one that got snuck to Ava while i was still holding the battery cord in my computer) it was finally time for a bed time book and bed...
* All girls to sleep by 8:30 and time to survey the damage from the day...
* By 10:00 the living room, dining room, and Kitchen are all up to Starr cleanliness standards (these are VERY low standards by the way) and we can sit and visit with Aunt Carrie who brought over hair products...
* 12:00 am brings about bed time becuase in 7 hours....here we go again! it was a good day...