Baby Dolls

Mary Katherine loves Grandma Jul's baby dolls.

Just because these babies have seen better days, don't think MK doesn't shower them with as many kisses as the others. She knows it's the inside that counts.
I didn't remember mom buying us this many Cabbage Patch Dolls, but my sister (with the unmatched memory) informed me earlier that these are not the "real" Cabbage Patch dolls--"they have different noses". Grandma Essie made us these look alike dolls as well as baby beds for each one to go in.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and safe travels to everyone over the next week. We love you all--family and friends-- and have been very thankful for your prayers, calls, emails, and texts this week.

Breath of fresh air for all of us

Today was a BEAUTIFUL day! We decided that we all needed to go out and enjoy some fresh air.

Be still and know...

Sometimes all of us just need to sit and stare...

at God's creation.

Walker or Lounger?

Some may call this a walker, for us it's more of a lounger.

My Child

I wanted to hold him.
I wanted to see what she looked like.
I wanted to feel the warmth of his body.
I wanted to compare what she looked like to MK.
I looked forward to putting her in MK's outfits to compare similarities/differences.
I wanted to see MK love on him like she does her baby dolls.
I looked forward to seeing them play together.
I would have melted at seeing Roger love, care, and sacrifice for this baby.
I wanted to sing to him.
I would have taken lots of newborn photographs.

These are just some of the many thoughts filling my head.

But for reasons I don't know or understand, I miscarried. 15-20% of pregnancies end in miscarriages. As common as this is, it doesn't take away from the uniqueness of the sorrow. I will never forget yesterday, this hurt, or this child.

A Picture of Love

I always call on Grandma when it comes to taking MK's pictures. She's the best about getting smiles. I wanted to get some Christmas pictures of MK this afternoon and look what I got---a treasure! I love so much about this photograph! I love the way MK is looking up at Grandma. I love Grandma's hands in the picture. Not only do I love how it shows her reaching out to MK, but I love how it shows her hands. My mom always jokes about how she was told by a co-worker that she had beautiful hands. They aren't "magazine" hands, but hands of character and hard work. Her hands to me are a picture of love and sacrifice. And in summary, that's what I feel this picture is...LOVE

If you want to see the rest of MK's Christmas pictures I've posted them on my photography site. www.catphotography.zenfolio.com

Surprise!

Cousins or siblings?

I was looking back at this picture I took Thanksgiving weekend and think it's funny the resemblance between MK and Wyatt in this picture.

Look at those sweet smiles!

Entertainment

Lately, we've been having alot of fun with these...

You can open the lid, take them all out, examine them, put them in your mouth, throw them, take them one by one to another place, but one thing they never seem to do is...

go back into their box. Amazingly, we aren't missing one yet!

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvxxx

If you're wondering about the title of the post, you'll have to ask MK. She insisted on typing it. I think it means something along the lines of it's time for you to get off the computer and play with me. I haven't updated much on her blog lately, so here's a quick update on MK. We still aren't walking, but I think we are getting closer. She's climbing up on boxes, tables, and my lap. Climbing up the stairs is also a lot of fun. She's also exploring ways to get attention. These including flailing of arms and legs on floor in a fit of frustration, grunting, throwing down any objects I give her, and of course screaming. You can see some of this personality in the pictures. She's learned several words--many of them probably only identifiable by me. Despite some of descriptions being on the negative side, she really is alot of fun right now!

This was a pose in the middle of straining to get up the couch to get her hands on the camera.

She's getting closer to her goal, but does stop for a quick grin.

Not sure what she's thinking on this one.

Okay...no more poses...I really want up where you are.
What if I add a little fake whine to my efforts?