Happy Birthday, Nana!

Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday dear ....

... cheesemiester ...

.... easter bunny ...

... Mama ... secret keeper ... friend ... Rhonda ...

Santa Clause ...

... Nana ....

Happy Birthday to you!!!!!!!!!

We love you!!!!!!!!!!!!

My Nana took some pretty pictures of me yesterday ...

They turned out so well that Mommy and Daddy sent one in to the Regis & Kelly show ...
Move over Hollywood!!!

Thank you, Nana!

What's going on this week:

• Olivia weighs 19.4 pounds. And we thought she was a 20-pounder!
• She fed herself.
• Olivia started a new daycare. All is well!
  

Dear Lord ...

Things I pray for my daughter ...

• That she will always be fair, honest and real.

• That she will not ever look down at another person because of what they don't have. And that she will always look up to the Lord Our God.

• That she will love, care for and have compassion for the lowly and see them as He sees them.

• That the things of this world and materialism will not be a part of her, and that she will see that those things are fleeting and meaningless.

• That she will adore the simple things in life, like beautiful weather, the cheap seats, expression of art, family, children's laughter and the occasional apple.

• That she will not hate me when I won't let her date until she's 17. I don't know why 17. 16 just seemed too young for me.

• That she will find a job that she loves without money being a factor of influence.

• That she will get excited when she sees the used car sitting out in the driveway when she turns 16 and will be grateful. Then learns about hard work, good stewardship and taking care of what you've been given.

• That she will love her family so much it will hurt when they pass away, and she will be proud of the legacy they've left behind ... and tear up and laugh at old stories.

• That she will always lend a helping hand when no one else will.

• That she will not be anxious or fret about things she cannot control, and put her trust in God.

• That she will experience true salvation at an early age and never let Satan "pffff" blow it out. I pray her little light shines!!!!

• That she will lead older generations in joyful worship.

• That she will have an unnatural desire to stay pure, be modest and think that it's cool to be that way.

• That she loves hard, even it it hurts most times.

• That her spirit will be free and she will be OLIVIA.

• That she will take up for herself when needed. Cool girls wear glasses.

• That her heart will be tender like her daddy's.

• That she will be expressive like her mama.

• That she will be smart like her Aunt Leslie, cheesy like her Nana, steadfast like her "Grandbo", strong like her "Meme", funny like her "Granny", giving like her "Ga'ma", and herself-no-matter-what like her Aunt Lauren!

In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

Creations by Stacie Photoshoot

Yesterday I had my first photoshoot with Creations by Stacie, Mrs. Stacie Hamsley.

These are just SOME of the photos that she took.
It's so hard to be beautiful!

This was BEFORE I got so happy and bounced off my chair and tried to dive into the tracks. Instead, mama literally dove onto the tracks like a super hero and got her hands under my noggin!!!
Gotta have my be-be doll ...

This is me wearing some of Grandma Brown's jewelry! I love jewelry!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!! Love you lots!!!
~Olivia Claire

Cheese!

Olivia has FOUR teeth now!Hi! Can you see them?

What about now???
Say cheese!!!!

Lauren's b-day and fun at The Brown's

Today we celebrated Lauren's 19th birthday early at The Brown's. Lauren is Casey's step-sister, Olivia's aunt, and a super cool chick!

Loves her Aunt Lauren ...

Trying to find the doggies ...

She's become quite fond of animals lately ...

Olivia got to meet her cousin Jayda for the first time in about 4 months today. What pretty girls!

Look at this face! Think she might grow up to be a little comedian!

What a proud daddy!

Olivia, Grandma Teresa, Aunt Lauren, and Grandpa!!!


Okay ... maybe she got the comedian part from her mommy.

The Crew!


"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family:
Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one."
Jane Howard

We are family!!!

"As a given to anyone who knows me, my family is most important. " Melissa

Our cup runneth over with family, especially since our marriage --- we have triple the family!!!

These are some of the most important girls in my life. Thought we were all sisters??? Nope! The hottie in the back is my mom. ;)

My best friend .... taken a minute back in time when we both thought we were fat. This picture makes us say, "Pa-leeeeeze!"
We are friends, partners in crime, secret keepers, shoulders to cry on, comedians, comrades ... when it all goes down, we're sticking together! Oh, and she's a nurse (and the easter bunny).
This girl has more strength than anyone that I know. Love her!

Christmas card picture '08.

In our family we hug, say grace, do real, make mistakes, laugh loud. We have faith, hope & love ... all gifts from up above.

The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together. ~Erma Bombeck

Bath time is lots of fun!

Bath time has always been lots of fun .... especially for Olivia!

First "real" bath at 9th Avenue house. (3 wks)

Always scootin' down as deep down as Mama and Daddy will let me. "Mmmmm .... warm ...." (3 months)

At Grandbo and Nana's house. (2 months)

We said "bye-bye" to the baby bathtub.
... and "hey" to the big girl tub!!!


Scrub-a-dub-dub (8 months).