Baby Steps

Miss Merrill took her first tentative independent steps today walking between Scott and me! Woo hoo! We're still a ways away from a full-time walker, but she's getting there! We're going to have an exhausting summer chasing these two girls around! Can't wait :)

Happy Birthday, Brandon!

We're so glad we were here to help you celebrate the big 3-0! It's gonna be a great year for you!!

Big Weekend

I always find it so hard to post after big events. There is always so much to tell and so many pictures to go through! Mother's Day weekend was one of those big events. Not only did we celebrate Mother's Day with both my mother and Scott's, but we celebrated Merrill's baptism as well. It was a great weekend filled with lots of good food and more importantly good company. We missed Kevin, Amy, Katelyn, Meghan and Kent, but we were so happy that Scott's parents were able to make it down from Michigan. We all really enjoyed seeing them and the girls had a blast with them! I'll let the slide show speak for the rest of the weekend -- sorry if some of the transitions on the titles are a little fast, there was a lot to get in there (you can always pause and rewind if you need to ;) ). Thanks to everyone for making the weekend so wonderful!

Merrill Movies

Are you starting to see a theme here? It's nearly impossible to catch Merrill doing anything on camera -- the minute she see it, she comes "running"! There was a little "hi" at the end of that last one ... . One more just for fun :).

Firewalkers

We wish we could have been in Frankenmuth, MI  to join the Firewalkers in the MS walk today. We were there in spirit though, even if the rain prevented us from actually walking anywhere other than in the grocery store... It has been a long and hard year for Scott's brother and his family as they grapple with the cruel effects of this disease. We are inspired daily by the strength of both Kevin and his family and we continue to pray that his road gets easier and his life is restored. We love you Kevin, Amy, Kate and Megan and can't wait to see you all in a couple of weeks!!

getting a picture of all 4 of us isn't so easy! :)

Don't you wish you still had this kind of enthusiasm for life?!

10 Months

I can't believe another month has passed already and that my little baby will be a year old in less than 2 months.  The weeks are going by like days and I often wonder what I'm missing as life zooms on.

Here are the new developments in Merrill's life:

• newly baptized (on Sunday -- it was a wonderful way to celebrate Mother's Day -- more on that to come)
• 2 new teeth (front top)
• walking while holding someone's hands
• letting go of said hands and standing alone for 30 seconds or more (and loving every second!)
• independently standing up from a squat (that was a first today -- see picture above!)
• enjoying eating more and more -- especially in the evening; she hasn't quite taken to a solid breakfast yet though
• blowing kisses
• dancing on cue (singing or turning music on)

There are probably more, but those are the ones that this tired mama can come up with at the moment :).  I expect in the next month or so we'll be posting video of her first steps!

Happy Mother's Day

What a wonderful way to start my day!  It's been an amazing weekend filled with lots of family and love (though it was missing some very special people...).  I woke up to everything I've ever wanted with my two happy girls and my wonderful loving husband and I'm going to sleep the same way.  I'm so blessed that this is true every day.