Anna Katherine

Anna is 3 months old. Wow! She's already changed so much. She's a beautiful, sweet baby. We love her so much. However, I think she has totally captivated Ellie's heart. I think Ellie says "ANNA, ANNA" at least 70 times a day. She loves her little sis. So I thought I'd catch you all up on little Anna and why she has blessed us so much over the past 3 months. Here's a tribute to Anna Katherine Shelton
1.) We still love your name. Anna fits you so well. I have read about Anna in the Bible. We can only pray that you will also strive to be like Anna as you grow older.
2.) We love your sweet smile. It is so amazing how you began to smile just a month into this world. You now love to smile and laugh. You love it when we clap your hands together. You begin to laugh really loud sometimes.
3.) We love how you just go along with our crazy lives. You tend to just go with the flow. You don't mind your carseat these days which is a good thing!
4.) We call you one "low-maintenance" girl! When we brought you home that first night you only woke up once. We were able to just lay you back down in your crib and you would fall asleep. You are amazing. We did not give you a paci for 6 weeks and now you don't even want it. You love your little thumb. It is so sweet to see you in your crib sucking your thumb.
5.) You slept last night from 8:30 P.M. to 8:30 A.M. this morning. What else can I say? You are an angel who's allowing mom and dad to get some rest.
6.) So many ask who you look like? Then they realize you look just like Ellie. I know as you get a little older people are going to ask us if you are twins.
7.) I love how you stare at your daddy when he holds you.
8.) I love how you remind me to stop during my day and just treasure a few minutes with you as you will only be a baby for such a short time.
9.) I love how you let your sister annoy you. She loves to take your blanket, paci, poke your eye (ha ha), and be really loud while you are trying to sleep.
10.) I love your sweet little features. You also seem to be small like your sister.

I didn't know we could love someone so much in only 3 months. Anna truly is a gift from God. "Every good and perfect gift comes from above" James 1:7

Shower Time!

Well, it seems like Ellie is always dirty these days. She's quite the messy eater! Then, we've been playing outside more and more. So alot of days she needs two baths especially if we are going somewhere. She has really fine thin baby hair that gets so out of control. So today I thought how could I save time by getting myself ready and Ellie. So I decided to see if she would like to take a shower when I did. She loved it!
I did it in her bathroom where there is a shower curtian etc... I filled the tub and she just sat their playing with bath toys while I showered and then it was so quick to get her hair washed etc....I think this could become a regular thing! All mommies out there you should try this! Well, it is already Monday again and the weekend fun is over. However, tonight I am really excited for Mike. He is going to a Derek Webb concert in downtown Raleigh. Derek is a former bandmember of Caedmon's Call. He's going with two guys from our Journey Group. I think I may hang out with one of the girls from our group. They live in Wake Forest and her husband just graduated from the seminary. They just started attending Journey. They have a 19 month old girl and Kelly is due tomorrow actually with their second girl. I am really exctied to get to know them better. I think our girls could be great friends! The other really cool thing is that we were really good friends with Jonathon's brother and his wife all of seminary. Well, we are about to go burn some calories at the Y. It seems the closer to 30 we get the more difficult it is to keep the pounds off!
Ellie also wanted to say Happy Birthday "Papaw". We hope you have a great day!

Big Sister!

I finally got a cute picture of the girls a couple of days ago. It was first thing in the morning so they were both happy and clean! I can tell Ellie is enjoying her role of being the "Big Sister". She is really sweet to Anna. She says Anna constantly and says "uh-oh" when she starts to cry. Ellie is about to go the Dr. for a weight check. They want to see if she's gained any or enough since her last checkup. She's still 18lbs. We are hoping for 19lbs. today! Anyways, we are doing good. We went to the YMCA this morning. I'm finally starting to workout now that Anna is sleeping through the night. I am joining at training group next week at the Y for a race for the cure 5K in June. Have a good afternoon!

A Beautiful Day....

I've been thinking lately about how blessed we are to live here in North Carolina a place we love. The weather has been so nice and I've discovered so many great parks. God has been so good to us to relocate us here. We love our church, our kids, each other etc... God has shown us so much lately about how we want our kids to love being apart of the "Shelton Family"!
I read recently that children are not drawn to the evils of this world when their home is a place of love, excitement, and new activities. We were saying today that we want our home to be the place where our children want to have their friends over. We want to have crazy family nights, traditions etc... We are trying to start this even now, but it is a little hard when Ellie just wants to play with the ball. Hope you all have a great night! We are watching American Idol. Go Jordin! She's a former Kanakuk Kamper so we have to cheer for her. She's also incredible at 17!

Ellie's on youtube!

Here's a link of Ellie on youtube... Mike made a funny video while he was watching the kids.. enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rceO0UUfiL8

Long Weekend.....

So I got home on Thursday night and realized there would not be much time to rest over the weekend....oh well is there ever with two kids and a husband in ministry! However, it has been a good, encouraging weekend. I went with some ladies from our church to a women's conference on Friday night at Providence Baptist. We attended there early on in seminary. It was excellent..... The speaker was awesome ..... I can't say the same about the music but that is a whole other story! Saturday, we had a youth leaders training at a church in Cary. It was good.... Ellie stayed at our house with a sitter. She loved it....having a 15 yr. old in charge of her! We got home and relaxed for a little while then had to go to Chapel Hill to UNC hospital to visit a girl from our church. We love Chapel Hill.......it is always fun to drive through campus and of course it makes Mike feel close to Roy Williams. Today, was filled with church etc.... It was a good day. Journey is really teaching us so much. We love going to church on Sunday morning. Ellie loves her little one year old class. It is so crazy to me that she is bringing home crafts each week. Although, I am pretty sure it is her teacher who is doing most of the work. I love dressing my girls up each week. I put a dress on each of them and of course a cute bow! I know in a few years they will complain about wearing these things so I am making them "girly" while I can. I am excited to be at home this week. The laundry is everywhere and I really need to just be home for a few days to catch up. I have been gone so much lately that it will be nice to get back on a schedule. Anna is doing awesome. She is amazing. She's sleeping so well and just goes with the flow. I guess they say most second babies tend to be be this way. I am not complaining at all. Well, I've been trying to post some pictures and blogger is being so slow. I'll try again tomorrow. Have a good Monday!

Home Again!

Thanks to all who prayed for us while we traveled to Illinois. Anna did so well. We are a little tired cause it was a rough couple of days. It was so nice though to be there to honor baby Alex. I have never been to a funeral for a baby. I saw his sweet pictures. He was buried at a church cemetary out in the country. It was so beautiful out there. It was such a peaceful morning. Sarah has continually said her comfort comes in knowing that he's in heaven. She has been so strong. Please, keep praying for her. She has a long road ahead of her. I know the verse that God will work all things together for good for those who love Him. I look forward to seeing this take place in Sarah's life.
Ellie is having a blast down in GA with my parents. I know they are having a blast as well. I am going to go pick her up sometime on Sunday. I'll probably stay for a few days before coming back up to NC. Oh the drive with two children!
Tonight, our friends the Martin's are coming down from Richmond. We are going to dinner with them and our friends the Gurney's ! We love seeing our old friends from seminary. It is always so much fun. Mike has been busy this week with church work etc.... He has a busy weekend with a student car wash, parent's meeting etc....He's doing such a good job. Anyways, I hope to have some new pictures up soon. Have a great day!

Prayer

My best friend Sarah from college experienced something this week that I cannot imagine going through ever. She was due to have her baby on April 15th. She went a little early and went into labor on April 4th. Sarah is so healthy and had a very great pregnancy. She was going to be a single mother. She accepted everything so well. She was so strong. She began to see how she could truly impact Alex's life. Sarah already has her Dental degree and is in Periodontal School at Univ. of St. Louis. So she ended up having a C-Section and her little boy Alex was born. Alex's little heart would not keep beating and he died shortly after being born. Mike and my family love Sarah so much. She's like our sister and my parents other daughter. We've walked through so many great and difficult times together. Her family is so wonderful. We went to Hilton Head, SC a few years back and enjoy them so much. They have been so awesome for Sarah through this journey. I am leaving tomorrow for Illinois to attend baby Alex's memorial. It will be on Monday morning. Please, pray for Sarah and her family. She already has been such a testimony for Christ by her perspective that Alex is in Heaven. Many of her doctors, friends, etc... have seen Christ shine brightly through her. I know that one day her story and Alex's life will impact many. It has already impacted me in a tremendous way. I am so thankful for my two girls. Anyways, please continue to pray for Sarah. I will return on Wednesday. Pray that Anna and I have a safe trip. Have a great Easter. Jesus truly is our hope.