Now and Then; Then and Now

Then, we were freshly home from China, adjusting to our transformation into a family of four. Now, we're managing quite happily and comfortably - albeit incredibly more actively - as a family quartet.

Then, we had no idea where God would take us in a year. Now, we're living those times.

Then, we were asking, seeking, and knocking. Now, we are asking, seeking, and knocking.

Then, several doors remained closed. Now, several have opened.

Then, I was a stay-at-home mom. Now, I am preparing to trade places with Lee to work full time outside the home.

Then, Lee was one of the older full-time youth ministers of the bunch. Now, he's planning to stay at home and work part-time, something we've always considered but never been able to do - until now.

Then, we loved our church family. Now, we love our church family.

Then, we were blessed. Now, we are blessed. Please pray for us as we make this transition.

Mommy Loves that Hannah Loves Barney & Elmo

If only the life of adults could be as simple as the lives of children. We'd listen to happy songs all day long and take care of all of our loved ones with yummy animal crackers.

Cumberland Mountain Collage 2 & Visiting Santa

More pics from our fun with the cousins at Cumberland Mt. State Park:

Also here's a pic from Hannah's trial run with Santa; it went well, don't you think?

Cumberland Mountain Collage and Confessional Part One

This past weekend we shared a wonderful time with family at Cumberland Mountain State Park. Lee's family and the Stanton and McInteer families have shared times like this since some time in the 1950s. We love getting together with the extended crew, and we have lots of special cousins' time as well.

On another note, Kate tagged me, which leads me to the first of several confessions:
Confession #1: I'm addicted to blogging, but I stink at responding to other folk's blog requests. I was tagged awhile back, but I've not yet gotten to it (sorry, Beth & Sarah). However, since this is Kate's request and she's never been tagged (or tagged others), here goes.

Here are the rules:
1) Each player starts with five random facts/habits/stories about their child(ren).
2) People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their five things) and post these rules.
3) At the end of your blog, you need to choose a few people to get tagged and list their names.
4) Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

• My sweet daughters:

1. I let Jaycie dress herself and seldom intervene, except when it comes to prohibiting belly-showing shirts (a hard task since she's lean and tall), but I really want to step in on days when she says that pink and red match.
   
2. Hannah's head is shaped like an almond, likely because she spent too much time lying down her first year of life. I can't imagine anyone other than a hairstylist ever noticing it, and I hope she's never teased. I think she's still perfect.
   
3. I think my eldest daughter looks more like my sister than I do; she certainly shares her emotional makeup. They even have matching birthmarks. Spooky.
4. Hannah won't let me sit down to rock her to sleep, so I have to stand up and rock/sway for 5 to 15 minutes a night and at nap times before she'll settle down. This seems to be the most effective calorie-burning / muscle-building activity of my adult life.
   
5. Jaycie and Hannah have a special language game they play - Jaycie imitates a particularly hilarious gutteral sound that Hannah makes, then Hannah repeats her, they both get tickled, and it goes back and forth forever.
   

I tag these folks:

• Beth R.
  
• Terri C.
• Gina (Eden's mom)
• Gina (Maci's mom)

And as far as the confessing thing goes, here's my Confession #2:
I never finished the thank you notes for Hannah's shower gifts; for that I feel incredibly guilty, but I continue to lack the incentive to get them done. I may try to send Christmas cards to those to whom I didn't send thank you cards to assuage my guilt. We'll see.

Chilly Little Pumpkins

We finally visited Jackson's Orchard this past week - in the freezing cold, I might add. I don't remember why we weren't able to visit earlier in the season, but at least we got in before all the pumpkins were gone (the scarecrows, however, had already disappeared for the season - go figure). This is one of my favorite places to visit; the photo ops here abound! These are just a few of the fun shots we were able to get in before the wind chilled us to our bones.

HU Gatherings: 15 Years Later

This past weekend was our 15 year reunion at Harding University. The funny thing about a reunion that falls mid-decade is that - except maybe for the 25th one - few people attend! We had a great time anyway, even though the only folks there from our "era" were our close friends whom we planned to meet ahead of time. We had fun at the Piper's 20th anniversary show (I was the oldest Piper there), the family picnic, the student center, the Harding House, dinner, and the Homecoming Musical. I even got to see my two favorite professors, and the weekend's weather was perfect, so -- despite the icky conditions at our should-have-been-remodeled-ten-years-ago hotel -- the weekend was wonderful.

Past roomies:
Future roomies?

The First Time Ever We Saw Her Face

Today is the one year anniversary of the first time we laid eyes on Hannah. We first saw her picture online, a fuzzy, black and white faxed image, her eyes looking at the camera with a hint of hesitation and surprise. Perhaps it was her first photo and the flash scared her; perhaps she was in a quick-in, quick-out assembly line of babies. I'm afraid we'll never know. Regardless, it was love at first sight, followed lots of joy and excitement which only grew until we saw her in person. The next day we received not one but three beautiful photos. We made lots of copies, and even taped them to the light switch frames, a cool idea supplied to us by our good friend Nan. So much has happened in the past year, and we are thankful for the journey that led us to our beautiful daughter.

Note: The video below was taken last year - my/our "delivery" of the wonderful news of Hannah Li Fowlkes.

P.S. The music in the background is the same music (Happy Anniversary Charlie Brown, music by Vince Giraldi) that was playing when Jaycie was born. Also, sorry for the buzzing sound, it was the cell phone interference.