lake...take two!

well our three bikini babies loved the lake so much we decided to take the boat out one last time before the chill of fall is in the air... not that you would know it is almost fall here in tennessee since yesterday the high was 93 degrees!










so we enjoyed enjoyed another beautiful, sunny day on a very quiet lake eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cheetos and chocolate chip cookies. our big girls riding tubes while our little girl watched from the boat. and feeling so blessed to be a part of watching our girls grin from ear to ear. i think going to the lake ranks right up there with going to the beach...maybe not quite as high but the lake is definitely closer!





our sweet emme grace who would ride the tube ALL DAY!




our funny girl miss rayley beth jumping it for the ? time!






watching our big girls love on our little girl.....


makes my heart so happy :)


so maybe next time i post it will actually feel like fall...i am so ready! getting out all of our cute 'fallish' decor (which we have way too much of!)...looking for halloween costumes....cinnamon scented candles....eating chili with grilled cheese sandwiches on the porch...can't wait!

labor day + lake = love

well we finally made it to the lake this labor day which was miss maggie rae's first trip. last summer i just thought she was way too tiny, i never tried the smallest life jacket on her but i feel sure it would have swallowed her whole! and i guess i have not been in a big hurry to get her on the boat this summer either, just feeling like the momma bear protecting her cub! we took emme grace out for her first time when she was only 5 months old...but i guess i have been just a little more worried how maggie rae would handle everything.... the loud motor, the very uncomfy life jacket, the wind ...but as you can see.....







i had absoltely nothing to worry about! our baby girl LOVED the lake! i should have known, our other girls loved it the first time and everytime after...but i can't help but worry a little more about miss maggie...but she continues everyday to prove to us she is just as willing and able to do everything her sisters do!












'this is the biggest pool i have ever seen!'


she was such a trooper..she loved riding, swimming, watching her big sisters doing all their fancy moves in the tubes and on the kneeboard....





'little miss splash-a-lot!'



emme grace showing us what she's got! (i think maggie was VERY impressed!)





miss rayley beth shortly before losing a tooth...she jumped off the dock and came up saying she had a rock in her mouth that she spit out! we thought 'what?' until i noticed the blood on her lip and checked it out and she had one less tooth! so we had to make a note for the tooth fairy explaining that 'her tooth was at the bottom of the lake but please leave me a dollar anyway?!' of course the tooth fairy understood and left the loot!






"hey, my shadow followed me all the way to the lake!'






playing her game with poppi that is their special thing!



too much excitement...had to have a little catnap!











so even though i was reminded how much work it is to go to the lake, it also made me remember the special memories that we are making for our girls...i know one day in the too near future they will think back and talk about all of the fun times that we had as a family at the lake. i know they are still some of my best memories with my sisters from how many years ago!? so....hopefully next summer we will get the boat out before labor day for our three little water babies!

Shadows, Smiles and Swimming

Miss Maggie's shadow....her new discovery that is sooo stinkin cute! Our girl discovered her shadow a few weeks ago and is just amazed by it. She will find it then start to wiggle her left hand..then her right hand..then for fun she decided to try wiggling her foot...



"Hey...everything moves when I move!"





...it is just too sweet for words. She is so amazed and just takes in every wonderful little miracle that we sometimes forget to stop and notice...





...when you stop to think about it a shadow IS a pretty amazing thing. I just love that our Maggie helps remind us everyday of all God's wonderful little miracles.




And our girl's smile...well it just comes from somewhere deep down in her sweet little soul...






...it is not possible to witness her smile and not smile...








...what a wonderful world it would be if everyone had our Magpie's sweet 'make your heart so happy smile'. Cause when she gives you a smile you know the girl takes her smiles serious!



Miss Maggie with her 'man'....Zeke! How cute are they together!!!



And swimming...my how our girl loves the water!!! All three of our girls have always loved the water...our three little waterbabies. But Maggie takes loves the water to a whole new level! Seriously, the girl LOVES the water!






As soon as she gets in the pool she just starts kicking like a little frog...I think if I were brave enough to turn her loose she would just take off swimming underwater!






We are definetly enjoying what is left of summer...but so looking forward to Fall!

Celebrate

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Our Magpie's first birthday party was, well wonderful. We had wonderful weather and were surrounded by tons of family and friends and you could literally feel the love. Not that the love wasn't there for all of our other parties for our other girls ...because, well it definetly was. But since that Sunday morning that Miss Maggie Rae entered our lives things have changed for the better. She has taught us to take our time, to take things in more and appreciate well... everything.




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A poem I found describing the parents of a special needs child really helps sum up how Miss Maggie has changed us...

'You will never take for granted a 'spoken word'. You will never consider a step ordinary. When you child says "momma" for the first time you will be present at a miracle and know it! When you describe a tree or a sunset to your child, you will see it as few people ever see God's greations.'

So instead of stressing about all the little things at her party, I just truly took her and her sisters in and watched them being the sweet little souls that they are. Maggie is helping to teach me it is okay if I did not finish the decorations or if the food is running late...we are there to celebrate her sweet life.

And what a sweet little life it is. I hope I never forget all the things that made your first birthday so special. Like how cute you were in your tu-tu giving away all your sweet smiles...smiles that literally make my heart melt. I seriously feel closer to heaven when you smile. And giving away kisses to everyone you were being passed around to...and smiling and patty-caking while everyone clapped and took pictures while you were getting into your cake. It was like serious paparazzi while you were eating your cake..flashes going off everywhere!! And you were such a trooper staying up until 10:30 because, well the party was so good it kept going!

And the prayer that Jeffrey spoke that had tears streaming down my face as he thanked our family and friends for all of the love and support thay have shown since the day our sweet Maggie entered our world and how much it truly meant to us. And how lucky we are to have her and how she has changed us for the better...and everything else he could get out before his voice started to tremble as he squeezed me tighter and had to stop before we all broke out into the ugly cry!

I know I do not know what Maggie's future holds, or any of my girls, but my faith has become stronger than I knew possible. What I do know is I am loving all my girls at this moment and taking it all in because it goes by way to fast. And I feel so blessed to have these three little wonderful souls call me 'momma'.

Oh what an amazing party to celebrate our sweet Maggie Rae. There was lots of love and lots of tears. Heart so happy it could explode tears.

And we ended the celebration by releasing sky lanterns high into the night sky and reading what was my favorite gift of the night, "You Are Special" by Max Lucado. Thank you so much Holly,we LOVE it. If you have not read this, it is so inspiring and so sweet. Oh what a wonderful world it would be if we Wemmick's had no boxes of golden stars or gray dots, ah yes....a wonderful world we can continue to dream of...someday.







My sweet girl you were meant to be and we love you so much our little snugglebug. Happy First Birthday Magpie.

Our Amazing (and only!) Man in Our Family

I do not know that words could ever describe how wonderful a father and husband our Jeffrey is. He is just so what a daddy should be, it helps inspire me to be the best mom I can be. He values family so much and is so amazing in so many ways. It is hard to believe that once upon a time, before I met Jeffrey, that I was not 100% sure I wanted children and thought I would have maybe one child. I thought one child would be perfect. I could spoil it rotten, give it all my attention, all my time, I just knew that was how it would be.

Then enter Jeffrey.

When we first were dating I remember watching him with his twin nephews who were one year old at the time....I was just in awe of how sweet and loving and patient he was with them. And I knew. I knew what kind of daddy he would make and seeing him with children helped ease any fears that I ever had because I knew he would be there with me through everything.




And he has been. He has been there to hold me as all three of our girls entered this world. Through all the happy tears and through all the scared tears when Miss Maggie entered our life. And he knew then exactly what to do. He knew to hold me even tighter and told me it was all going to be okay. Whatever our future holds for Maggie or any of our sweet girls I know he will be right by my side, holding me and helping me get through whatever we have to face. He makes me feel so safe and so truly blessed.





And our sweet girls...I can not wait until they are old enough to know how truly lucky they are to have such an wonderful daddy. He loves his girls so much and shows them everyday. He is the kind of daddy that shows his love with tons of kisses and hugs and I love that so much about him. He was meant to be the daddy of girls. I just love watching him love them.




Thank you baby for giving me three beautiful girls and for making so many sweet memories for them by being so involved in their lives. One day in the way too soon future they will think back and talk about their daddy getting the ipod and "jumping on the jumper", eating your yummy quesidillas and scrambled eggs, lotioning them up after bath time and telling them about "Beauty the Great" at bedtime. All your girls love you to pluto 249x......Happy Father's Day.