And then there were 3...

In addition to the New Year we also celebrated the birthday and life of one very special little lady this past New Year's Eve.  Three years ago our lives were changed and enriched yet again with the birth of our little blond haired and blue eyed, full of smiles, shoe obsessed, princess pretending, lipstick loving, ever so slightly mischievous Emily Claire.

When your birthday falls on a holiday like New Year's Eve or Christmas... it can go one of two ways.  Your birthday can easily be overlooked because of all of events and stress surrounding the holiday OR... you get to party twice! This won't always be the case for little E but this year her closest friends were out of town the weekend of her birthday so we had another small celebration today at McDonalds... as you will see in the pictures below, we had lots of burgers, nuggets, fries, cupcakes and a whole lotta fun! 

Happy Birthday Emily Claire!  

You are our last and it is bittersweet to see you turning the corner from babyhood to big girl.  You have an infectious smile and sugar sweet kisses and these adorably chunky baby toes that I love to kiss... (even though you are three... and well, three year old baby toes aren't 3 month old baby toes... but, like I said, you are our last...  I am holding on... stinky toes and all).  I love how you talk about yourself in third person and make up words like lollypockets (pockets) and phrases like "I can't not know how to."  I love how you sing "Chicka wow wow.. chicka wow wow" from the Chipmunks and I giggle inside every time you dance around the den and spank your hiney... probably not the most lady like move.. but, we have time to work on that.  I heart your rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"...  American Idol might be in your future! The same way it MIGHT be in anyone's future... but I promise to tell you the truth before you go on an audition... really, I do.  I love hearing those precious 3 year old baby feet pitter pattering in a wild run into our bedroom at 6am even though I would love to have slept soundly an hour longer.  I also really love how you then ask Daddy to get up with you to watch a movie and make breakfast... you are trained well.  I love how you love your brother and sister. And the list could go on and on and on...

Quite simply...  I love you.

The New Year's Eve Birthday Bash...

 The girls

 And... the boys. :)

 Terry and Kris and their sweet kids singing Happy Birthday to Emily.

The Little Mermaid cake.. well, sort of.

 Sooo tickled!

 Souffle!  Souffle! Souffle Emily!

 Tag Man

 Little Mermaid was stood up for the Smarties Push Up ice cream pops... 

 I don't know...six year old boys.. everything is funny.

 Present time!

 Oh. My. Gosh.  Barbie.

And pajamas!  Life is good.

And... round 2... McDonalds!

Be warned.. photo overload below.  We had a few minutes of down time before the party and I used it as an opportunity to warm up the camera... no better use than on my two of my favorite people!

 Silly faces are not reserved for the boys!

 First BFF... adorable Ava from the UK. 

 Sweet Thais.

 This was right before she almost singed her nose and bangs... I think we need to practice blowing out candles next time.

 In the same way she eats the chocolate out of the pain au chocolat.. she definitely preferred the icing.

 Oh my... could she be cuter??  Loving the icing, as well!

 Yum!  Lovely Rose.. Ava's sweet big sister and Sophia's recess mate. 

 Chloe.. the big girl and such a sweetie and a big help with the little ones.

 Presents... again!   

Thank you all so much for thinking of her... they were played with immediately when we got home!

And the festivities move upstairs to the indoor play area...

 Ava is only three months older than Emily... I think Em may be lucky to clear 5'.

 Always ready for the next photo op.

Too cute for words.

Candy Land

This past Friday Joshua was not feeling too well (but obviously not completely out of commission!) so everyone stayed home from school and we decided to introduce Emily to Candy Land.  She didn't have beginner's luck but it was fun!  

The perfect start to a great weekend.

The Proposal

Lieutenant Dan:  Have you found Jesus yet, Gump?

Forrest Gump: I didn't know I was supposed to be looking for him, sir.

Growing up in the Deep South of the United States, you didn't live long or travel far before you were asked this question.  For the longest time in my life, I, like Forrest, didn't even know I was supposed to be looking for him.  And, even when the question was broached to me, I was quite unclear as to what that even meant.  Is he under my bed?  Is he in the sky?  Doe he live in church?  I would say that up until my late teens I was a "cultural Christian".  If someone where to ask me if I was a Christian I would have replied "yes" because wasn't everyone?  (That probably only makes sense to someone who has lived in the Bible Belt of the US)  But when someone cornered me and asked me if I had found Jesus... well, suffice it to say that he wasn't the only one that was lost.
  

Around age 19, having no idea what it really meant to be a Christian and follow Jesus, and while learning about other religions in college, I decided it seemed rather cool to study and follow Hinduism.  It seemed rather tolerant and karma and reincarnation seemed nice because, being the "good" person that I was, surely I would come back as a regal eagle.  The roach sentence was reserved for those people who did really bad things.  Not me...  Being that I was my own moral compass and all... that would work out well for me.  Right and wrong are relative, right?

I still had questions.  I asked everyone what they believed in.  Do you believe in God?  And even though everyone I talked to would still label themselves as Christian.. they all have vastly different belief systems.  So, then I just decided that it was all too complicated to figure out.  No one really knows anything.  If God is so real and loved me so much then he surely would make himself a wee bit easier to figure out and available to the masses.  So, I became Jennifer the agnostic and sometimes even angry atheist... I teeter tottered between the two labels.  Imagine that.  I wasn't struck down by lightening so it was all good.

Or was it?

In the moment, it certainly seemed that way.  I was quite successful and had friends and family and had no moral law or rules to abide by and I completely and utterly lived for myself.  Life altering decisions were made.  People hurt.  Myself hurt.  Lives changed. 

We can all look back into our lives - believers and unbelievers - and see those crucial moments when a fork in the proverbial road was reached and the path we chose took us to where we are right now.   I would be remiss to not admit that I have many moments of regret regarding many of my poor decisions past.  Remember that "good" person I thought I was?  Well, lets just say if karma was real... I would be screwed.

I now realize that we are all inherently sinful.  Even the good deeds I did (and do currently) were coated with selfishness and impure motives.  I still to this day shed tears of guilt and shame and remorse.  Then, God intervenes either through the whisper that you hear in your head or through the verbal voice of my husband, that reminds me that even though I didn't believe Him and know Him then.. He was still there... loving me and holding my hand even as His heart broke at my decisions that would only hurt me... nary a lightening bolt in hand.  Jesus' death on the cross covered the penalty for my sin. His grace is sufficient for even me... imagine that.

Picture this.  Greenville.  2003.  Girl meets boy.  Girl thinks boy has the most incredible blue eyes she has ever seen.  Girl invites boy to a Halloween party.  Girl kisses boy.  Boy is freaked out... but he kinda likes it.  Girl and boy start dating.  Boy loves Jesus.  Girl thinks that is a little strange but, well, those incredible blue eyes and the charming personality make up for it.  Boy and Girl find out they are expecting a baby.  Did you miss the fact that boy and girl are not married?  Just another peg to mount on the girl's "poor choice" board.

Or was it?

Freddie and I got married seven years ago this weekend, January 9th 2004, in St. Lucia with a sweet little Cinnabon-like bun in the oven.  I am sure many people thought our marriage was doomed to fail.  And, I am pretty sure it would have failed had God not intervened and come to my rescue.  I do not know why He chose me.  I can promise you that I was the sinner of sinners.  And it wasn't my righteousness or any good deed that I did that won me over to God.  I was simply an undeserving recipient of His mercy and grace.  That Jesus freak that I married turned out to be an angel in disguise.  He, and a lot of people that were brought into my life because of my relationship with him, introduced me to Jesus.  I was a hard sell...  It wasn't until two years after we got married that I truly experienced a real relationship with Christ and became a believer.  There wasn't a super spiritual moment nor where there fireworks and I didn't see a burning bush.  But I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt - even after some pretty dark and God-lacking days in France - that He is very real.  And I can't explain any better than the people who used to ask me if I had found Jesus.  I just know that when I saw the pink and purple sunrise this morning... the one that created oohs and ahhs from my 3 year old and myself.. I know that God is real.  When I go on a run, listening to praise and worship music, and I get chills up and down my spine and I feel like singing out loud with no qualms that I may be that nutty American... I know that God is real.  When my husband and I can get pregnant after only dating for 2 months, quickly get married, have two other subsequent children in 3 years and live to experience our 7 year wedding anniversary... I know that God is real.  When I experienced the utter miracle of child birth three times and realized how fragile our lives are... I know that God is real.  When I see how sinful and fallen ourselves and society is...  I know that God is real and Jesus is the only way to peace on this earth and everlasting life.

So on those days when I am depressed about my past and wallowing in sinful self pity, I remember that each of those forks that I reached in my life, all lead me to this blessed point right now.  Tomorrow, my whole world may crumble beneath my feet.  Unfortunately, we do live in a very fallen world.  My husband could die, my children could be diagnosed with a terminal illness, we could fall to financial ruin, my mother or siblings could be hurt, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc.   But today, in this moment, I am feeling overwhelming gratitude and thankfulness for the God who rescued me from myself... who saved me and who continues to forgive me on a daily basis.  For the God who blessed this undeserving lady with a loving and forgiving husband, three healthy children, once in a lifetime opportunities and incredibly loving family and friends.

Happy Anniversary Babe, I love you.

Life is so good.

 

  

 

Listen to "Came to My Rescue": Came to My Rescue

Came to My Rescue Lyrics:

Falling on my knees in worship
Giving all I am to seek your face
Lord all I am is yours

My whole life
I place in your hands
God of Mercy
Humbled I bow down
In your presence at your throne

I called you answered
And you came to my rescue and
I wanna be where you are

In my life be lifted high
In our world be lifted high

In our love be lifted high
Higher and Higher!

In my life be lifted high
In our world be lifted high
In our love be lifted high

I called you answered
And you came to my rescue and
I wanna be where you are

Page Family Christmas 2010

This Christmas we decided to take it easy and stay home during the vacation.  The children were out of school for two weeks and Freddie was off of work for a week and a half and it was heavenly to have everyone home and have nothing to do.  There were lots of lazy days filled with after 8am wake ups and all day pajamas.  I cooked and baked (homemade biscuits and "the" caramel cake, for example) all the while listening to Grace Church sermons which, come to find out, have become very relaxing activities for me to do together.  Freddie and I had a lot of quality time together with each other and with each of the children.  There were lots of movies watched, songs sang, books read, tea parties played and presents opened.  Snow started falling on Christmas Eve and we woke up to a blanket of white snow covering the city on Christmas morning.  We shared a delicious Christmas dinner filled with good southern American food (including REAL smoked ham... imagine that!  If you have time... you should read about the Thanksgiving 2009 ham debacle) and lots of laughs with some fellow American expats.  Move over Griswold Christmas Vacation...  If a Christmas movie could be made about the Page Family Christmas 2010... it would become a classic... albeit with a lot less fried squirrel and blown up septic tanks.

It was a very Merry Christmas.

Sporting the brand new fancy smancy sequin purse... and check out those cute baby toes in the corner.  I could just eat 'em up!

 

 I have my first brand new ceramic tea set.. this is gonna be fun!  Not really sure what Mommy was thinking when she chose glass over plastic...  Hmm...

Ooohh... makeup and glass... it rocks having an older sister.

 My Little Cindy Lou Hoo

 Sophia's First Bike

 Daddy took the girls on a date and brought back a dozen roses for Mom and one for each of his lovely little ladies.

And... Memories....  

Page Family Christmas 2009