The beach ... in March?

We just got back from a week at the Outer Banks with the Lehman crew... and what a crew it is! I have been blessed to not only have been born into a wonderful family, but to have married into one as well.

I'll have to admit when I first heard of the idea of heading to the beach with 8 kids in the middle of March I was skeptical. All I saw was a bad case of cabin fever from being stuck inside a beach house all week with nothing to do. However, I warmed to the idea and the weather warmed as well. We had the most beautiful week. The kids were on the beach (and in the water I might add) in their swim suits and loving it! What a blessing. Here are some pictures from the week.

As soon as we hit the sand at the dunes, Natalie was grabbing handfuls to put in her bucket. She was so cute. This was a huge step because last year she didn't want to touch the sand!

Natalie loves her cousins! Anytime we ask her if she remembers someone else she'll just say, "no, I like my cousins."

Brielle definitely missed her crib and any resemblance of a schedule, but she loved all the attention she got from everyone!

Little Miss Personality

I just love these pictures I took of Natalie yesterday. She is little miss personality these days. She keeps us on our toes with her ideas and questions. She is also showing us the beauty and challenge that is all the emotions of little girls. It is eye opening to me as I explain to her the control we have over our emotions. Definitely an area where I'm being challenged to act, not just speak! Here's my beauty...

Six Months

Well, my baby girl is six months old already. I love the stage we are heading into. There is something about the playfulness of the next few months that I absolutely love, but there is a part of me that already misses the teeny "tinyness" of those first few months.

Brielle is a delight. She is most often happy as long as she is caught up on her sleep. And this girl loves sleep. She has been going to bed at 6:30 for the past couple of months - I always thought that sounded ridiculous but when it works, it works! She still gets up once to eat and then sleeps until 7 or 7:30.

She's still a little thing. She weighed in at 13 pounds last week. The doctor is really pleased with her development though. The silly girl rolled over a few times around Christmas and now won't do it again. The doctor said it seems like she's just laid back because she has plenty of strength to do whatever she needs to do. I'll take it.

When I think of where we were last year at this time, I am amazed and overwhelmed by God's goodness. This girl has been an adventure, one I wouldn't trade for anything. She's truly our gift "of God".