Can You Tell Who's Who?

Obviously the Date on the last one might give it away!

But the first one is Olivia, the second is Julia and the third is Annelise!

Don't we make cute babies!!!

Do You Know What Today Is The Anniversary Of?

Today is the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade.
Today marks 36 years of legal abortion.
The number of lives killed since then is too staggering to even wrap my brain around.
Many assume that this stance, pro-life, is one of religious roots. Of course there is obviously a faith based root to believing killing a human life is wrong, which is why murder is against the law as well. But I believe that anyone who values human life can see the depth of injustice that is called abortion.
No one argues that the aborted fetus was alive. Look an any medical text book. The cells are multiplying and the life is growing. It is alive.
Not only is it alive it is a human life.
We are horrified at accounts of others choosing death for an innocent being. There was a recent news report of Al Qaeda strapping unknowing people with bombs only to detonate them in a crowded place, those unknowing innocents were people with down syndrome. Shocking isn't it? Horrifying even. But everyday human life that has been diagnosed with such a disability is ended at someone elses will.
Then there is the tragedy referred to as the Holocaust. An unthinkable amount of human lives were killed at someone elses whim; actually he had a very calculated and deliberate strategy to wipe out a whole race. Did you know that African American babies are aborted at 3 times the rate of white babies? Did you know abortion clinics are strategically placed in poorer neighborhoods or neighborhoods that are predominately black?
Lets look at the current situation in Uganda. Children are being recruited as solders and sex slaves by General intent on achieving more power and rule. We are moved ti tears and rightly so when we think of all the children who's lived have been lost or negatively impacted because of one mans ambition. And yet one of the most voiced concerned in having an unwanted baby is the fact that this baby would hinder its mother from achieving what she could. Is the ambition and hope for one life worth the cost of another?
We watch in horror when the news reports of a mother killing her children, and yet...
men are charged with 2 murder when his pregnant wife is killed.
Is it the wantedness of a child that makes its life worth saving? Would it then be appropriate to murder the unwanted child given up for adoption? Of course not.
These "medical procedures" have been disguised as such, when in reality they are what they are: the killing of an inconvenient, unwanted, or disabled innocent life.
I could argue against many of the points pro-abortionists make but I will leave the numbers to speak for themselves:
6 million killed in the holocaust
unknown killed in the longest lasting war in Africa, but at least 2 million have been affected
4,000 a day in US and 130,000 worldwide EVERYDAY killed by abortion

http://abort73.com/

And... she is Rolling!!

Well I have other posts I needed to do to get this blog up to date...mainly Olivia's birthday, but I had to post this!

Julia just turned 4 months old on the 7th and she is officially rolling! She's quick too! I tried to get progress pics but she is too quick!!

So here are the pics of her rolling! My parents warned me that she may be more active than Olivia...watch out!!

Here she is on her back...

Arrgg..she is trying to roll...

Almost...almoooost..

And she made it! Even with big sister excitedly crawing around her!!

yes she has a stain on her outfit but it's not fresh and too cute so we wear it at home!

Heres my big girl on her belly like no big deal!

I have to say that later she did several in a row and ended up where the girls are! Could it be that my just turned 4 months old baby is already trying to travel!

It is exciting, but in the same instant sad. In one moment I lost my baby baby! Now she is moble. And on time flies from here!

Christmas Day 08

Merry Christmas!!
I am cramming it all into one post!! We kept it pretty low key this year and it was very refreshing! We started off Christmas Eve Day with making sugar cookies. It was great fun! The girls had such a blast, I will let the pictures speak for themselves!
We went to a local Episcopal Church for Christmas Eve service with a pagent. It was great to experience a liturgical service like the ones i was used to growing up, and Annelise and Olivia were enthralled with the children acting out the story!! And Of course they were thrilled to wear their gorgeous christmas dresses that Daddy bought for them. Dont they look gorgeous! Julia's outfit was given to me by a postal worker when I was mailing our Chrisatmas cards! She had been watching for a baby girl Julia's size to give the outfit to, isnt that amazing! I love how the Lord provides for even the little things!!!

Daddy Fox posting here!

On Christmas Eve, after trying to get the girls to go to sleep forever. Annelise woke up about 11PM and said to Steph, "Mommy, the first thing I am going to do I when I wake up on Christmas morning, is run in to see... ( Steph just knew she was going to say 'what Santa brought me') if Baby Jesus is in the manger." That was refreshing! (Steph here: It was just what I needed cause I had a little pit in my stomach when Annelise spent so much time making sure the cookies and carrots were just right for Santa! Does anyone else feel this way! I mean Santa isn't real!! Jesus IS!!!)

Although we chose to produce a light Christmas this year, my mother and brother blew in to town with a car full of gifts, and bought the girls a trampoline!! Yes, so for the first time ever on Christmas Eve, I spent it outside in the cold and dark, other than the floodlight, putting together a trampoline, which by the way, had way WAY more steps and parts than the one we had growing up!In the morning, as tradition, we came to the tree in the front room that has the manger under it, the girls were very excited to see that baby Jesus had arrived. (we keep him hidden until Christmas morning) We read the Christmas Story, this year only once. Last year we read it 5 times before we got to the presents. Then they wanted to see if Santa put anything in their stockings.

Here are the girls discovering that the cookies had been eaten and the carrots are gone!!

Now I have to say on this note that we already told Annelise the Santa was a real person in history and he did give children toys and so on, but he died as all men do, and now people just pretend that he is real and give gifts in his name etc etc, but that the real story about Christmas is Jesus. Well, she decided that she would believe in Santa anyway! Funny.
So our main gift this year, a kitchen, we bought on craigslist. We actually already had a wood kitchen that we bought from our neighbors behind us at their garage sale. The girls wanted a plastic kitchen like the one they have at the church. So we sold the wooden kitchen on craigslist for more than we paid for it and bought this plastic one which is almost brand new on craigslist.

Well our big gift was trumped by the trampoline of course. We asked the girls if they wanted to take MeeMaw out to get the eggs from the chickens and she walked out and didn't even notice it at first until she had almost walked all the way past it. Then it was surprise, shock, awe, and lets play!!! Thanks Uncle J and MeeMaw for the trampoline. We love the gift of being active!

It turned out to be a great day. My ham was good, the pies were good, everything turned out well and it was a beautiful day, actually maybe even a little on the hot side. It was a great Christmas! Merry Christmas Everyone and Happy New Year!!!!!!

A's Birthday... I know. I am late!!

Well, "A" is now 5 years old and I just can not believe it!! She is so big and has been so excited for her birthday to come AND she is thrilled that it is close to Christmas. She loves the story of Baby Jesus and Mary and Joseph. She loves to be Mary with a baby in her tummy and to rock baby Jesus. She could play the nativity all day long. SO, she asked to have a Nativity Birthday! So our guests were invited to come dressed as their favorite Nativity Character. Of course sinse no boys were able to attend we had a bunch of Marys with their own baby Jesus's!

We read the christmas story which most of the girls knew by heart and I think they were frankly a little bored.

Kevin took the children on "donkey rides" in the wagon with a donkey head taped on!

Then we followed the star (little hints written on stars that led them thru the house and into the Kitchen) to the Baby Jesus cake.It was very low key and I was so glad! Although Annelise told me "Mommy, We never acted out the Nativity story!!" I told her it was 'cause we had all Mary's!

Annelise is my Beautiful, Intuitive, High Needs, High Empathy Daughter who I am so proud to parent! Happy Birthday My First Born!!!Thank you Lord for entrusting her to me!

My Little Busy Body

Well those of you who know our family know that Olivia is my little busy body. Once she was able to crawl I would find her all over the house. It was quite a shock to my system sinse Annelise was always attatched to my hip, and would cry outside the shower curtain for me until she was at least three... But Olivia has never lacked in the area of adventure! Once she was 16 months old she'd climb the playground equipment with the big kiddos. She has climbed to the top of our upright piano, to the top of our counter height table (naked no less, digging through my purse). She climbed up to the spice cabinet while dinner was simmering (AAK!! heart attack!) and a million other stories! And for the record, most of these things happened in the 2 minutes I was putting away laundry or going to the restroom; I do supervise my children!!! The thing is, she is as sweet as pie. She always says "no thank you" and "yes. please" and gives kisses for no reason. She throws fits, but what 2 year old doesn't? But the latest Olivia spree is wearing me out! She has started marking. Marking the door jams, the cement floor, the pretty sewing desk kevin bought for my sewing closet, tables, chairs. Spanking don't scare her. Timeouts are effective for the afternoon, but forgottent he next day. I guess she has my artistic streak! But her latest marking episode was too much! I wish I had taken a picture, but I was too dumbfounded! Yes folks, she marked the baby. There were scribble marks on the balnket all around her head and one strong green mark on top of Julia's pretty little head. I knew I had something to fear when she was hiding as I walked in... But I couldnt help but laugh! I mean come on!... the baby!!!

Happy Anniversary!!

Well today marks eight years of being married to the perfect man for me. He really is my best friend! I was so blessed to be involved at what was then Highland Baptist in Waco (now Antioch) and a part of Life Groups. It was life changing in so many ways, but that is for another post! But one of the best "things" I gained from life groups was a friend named Kevin. He was a "Big Man On Campus" and I was the "weird girl with the loud car"(his words!). We were friends, maybe I knew I was interested... until he said at a life group leader meeting that he felt like he was supposed to stay single and serve the Lord. We all gathered around to pray for him and our co-leader started praying for Kevin to be blessed with the sweetest wife... and on and on she went. While she prayed I had the thought so loud and clear that it would be me!! I didn't say a word. And he was so mad at our co leader for praying as she did!! WE love her!! (Thank you Meggan)

And now here we are!

We fight and we wonder how we ended up together... and we laugh and tease and laugh some more. We stay up late talking and giggling (maybe i do the giggling), and staring in wonder at our 3 beautiful children--how could they be so beautiful!!? And I am so thankful to have a best friend that I can trust to lead our family well and that I can support in whatever he does, and who thinks highly of my thoughts and views, as a partner next to me.

Happy anniversary honey!

I will try to have a clean house for you!

I love You!

Encouragement From A Stranger

Well I foolishly decided to go shopping today. I HAD to go to the grocery store for some forgotten items and sinse I had to venture out with all three girls, I thought I might as well make it a morning. SO we went to Ross. I have over $30 in gift card credit there, and both girls need shoes. Well they didn't have what we needed so I browsed the baby clothes. No luck there either, so then I went to look at the big girls shirts, sinse I am a very big girl right now and nothing fits...well I had a little luck. But the baby was in the sling and the girls were bored and acting up, so after 2 separate potty trips... to the line we went. By then it was full blown screaming from Julia, and the girls were playing tag at the check out! Not good. My voice was getting tighter each time I had to call the girls to "STAND BY THE CART!" I was on the course heading straight for blow up. Gone was my excitement in having found a shirt and a birthday gift for #1. The woman in front of me could obviously see the countdown in my brain, because she told me I could go ahead of her and then went on to tell me she had little ones and knows how hard it is to get out and about. I asked her how she managed to be out alone and she said well now I have older ones to help with the younger ones. I knew then she was probably 'mom to lots'. She went on to engage the girls in conversation while I checked out and I thanked her as I walked out the door. As I was sitting in the front seat nursing my baby feeling much calmer than I had been I saw her walk to one of those big vans that holds lots...she was a 'mom of lots'! And I thought, someday I will be the one to encourage a young mother with three children 4 and under. I will be the one to speak peace into an escalating situation. Hopefully, next time it will be me...And I said a little prayer that she would be refreshed this day. "... He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed." Proverbs 11:25

And now just for fun:

Dress Up Fun

Dress up AND holding the baby

And finally aunt Lest getting a great smile...one after another!

Wish List

Just a note for family!
We added the wish list gadget to the side merely to let you know of some ideas for items we or the girls would enjoy. In no way are we asking for ALL the items listed!! Nor is this rude way of asking for things. We have put a wide range of priced items on the list and posted it because we have 3 birthdays and christmas coming up and we know you are always asking for ideas!
As I am cleaning out the toys and clothes as I do every time this year, I am dismayed at the amount of money spent on items that are now in the donate or resell pile because of lack of interest! My hope is in making this list that your gift will be less likely to end up in those piles next year!!
Let me know if you have any questions about what we have listed!
Love You!!

I chopped it off!!

So I had let my hair grow very long. I have alwas enjoyed changing my hair often but for the last 3 years at least I hadn't changed it a bit. I had grown rather fond of my super long hair. I felt kind of fairy tale-like...the princess with long flowing hair. sigh. But usually I didn't look like a princess; it was pulled back into a ponytail all the time. And on a whim one day I measured my ponytail: 14 inches!!

So when I saw an add on TV for a Locks of Love event in Killeen where celebrity stylist Ted Gibson would be cutting and styling for free, I thought:hmm! Now I wouldn't have known who the hec he was but I happened to watch an Oprah that he was on. So I called and made an appointment (Ted was already booked) I went in and cut off my pony tail! I got a great stylist who was a part of Ted's team on the Oprah Show. She was so great! I wish I had gotten a pic of the ponytail! I like it! And I'm going to save a ton on shampoo and conditioner!

Before

After

The Back

Halloween

Well this year for the second year we've had our church LifeGroup meet at our house for Halloween. We roast marshmallos and hand out treat bags with tracts inside. It is alot of fun! Its the only time the whole year when we see and visit with all our neighbors, and its loads of fun! Unfortunatly we didnt get many pictures of the whole event but we did get some of the girls. Olivia decided to take her costume off...oh...20 seconds after she had it on so no pics of her in her costume!

here is our adorable little pumpkin! Olivia with her pumpkin shirt and new crooked smile that she does ALL the time!

Annelise as a beautiful princess! We borrowed this dress from a neighbor and Annelise added the veil herself!
This was our first year carving pumpkins and the girls had a blast! (Kevin did all the work!)

Fox Family Girls

Well my good friend Sarah did it again! She took some beautiful pictures for me to give Kevin as his birthday present. I know there is a ton, but I love them all! It was hard to pick which ones to post! The last picture is the one I gave kevin in a frame for his birthday.

Enjoy!