Catherine's Dance Recital

Catherine had her first dance recital last night. She has been so excited about it and was the most beautiful ballerina! She had a great time this year taking dance.

Here she is so excited to get started

What great moves during her tap dance

All the sweet ballerinas

Catherine and her good friend and dancing partner Abby

Cruising Around

We went to play with our good friend Eddie yesterday. Catherine and Will think Eddie has the coolest toys, especially all of his ride-on toys--a motorcycle, 4 wheeler, and tractor. They had lots of fun riding all around (or in Will's case, crashing into the brick wall repeatedly).

Eddie rides a little faster than Catherine and Will since he's more familiar with them, so he drove Catherine and Will around for a fast ride. They loved it!

And this is what Eddie's new little brother Charlie thinks of all the chaos! He's very entertained watching the commotion.

Strawberry Picking

Catherine's preschool class went strawberry picking this morning. We had a great time, even in the drizzling rain. Catherine said the rain made the strawberries taste better because it washed them off. We both love strawberries and really enjoyed eating the fresh ones. We may even go back this weekend with all 5 of us to get lots more and to make a yummy strawberry pie and some jam.

Mother's Day

I had a great mother's day celebrating with my family. Catherine and Will were especially excited. Jay took Catherine and Will to Target on Saturday morning (and let me sleep in!) to pick out gifts for me. By 5:30am on Sunday morning, Catherine was ready to give me my gifts and celebrate. She even brought me a leftover chocolate Easter bunny in bed--now that's breakfast in bed! We decided to wait until Will got up for me to open my gifts, so while I went outside to run, Catherine hid them all over the house. They picked out for me a new purse/diaper bag, a water bottle (for the gym, since Catherine thinks that's my favorite place to go), a nail clipper set, a pair of green flip flops for the beach, and a fake tulip to put in the yard (apparently Will couldn't decide between this and a foam sword). It was really cute that they were so excited! Anna's mother's day gift was that she had slept from 9pm until 4am that night. Whoo hoo! I'm so glad I get to be their mommy. It really is all I want to do.

We then got everyone ready and headed to Union. My nephew Jasper's baby dedication was that morning and we were so glad to be there with them. We are excited about seeing the work God will do in His life and watching him grow. We then had lunch at my mom's house with my family.

Here's my Mama Belk holding Anna. She loves to snuggle the little ones. Anna's middle name is named for her mom ( my great-grandmother) Frances.

Anna likes to snuggle with my mom too. It was fun to be with everyone (aunts, uncles, cousins, sisters, nieces, nephew) to eat and play.

Happy Mother's Day!

6 weeks old

Anna was 6 weeks old on Saturday. Week 6 was big at our house--she drank her first bottle, had her first smiles, and started sleeping for 6-7 hour stretches at night in her crib (from around 9pm to 4am). We're excited to be getting into a little more of a "normal" routine, especially with the sleeping.

Okay, so she is not loving my idea about taking her picture with the bunny. Maybe she'll like it more when she can sit up??

She finally did quit crying, but if you notice, she's flipping me off!

This was my attempt to get a picture of her first smile. They're so fast that it's hard to catch them (at least with my camera). It's so sweet when she smiles. Catherine and Will now think it's their job to get her to smile at them whenever she's awake.

I love my baby sister!

Will loves Anna! He has done so well with her. He loves to hug her and kiss her and "see her" (which means he wants her to look at him). I can't wait to see how they learn to love and play with each as she grows. Anna is lucky to have a big brother.

Like Brother, Like Sister

These pictures of Anna and Will reminded me of each other with the way they were sleeping (and their chubby little faces). Will was only 1 week old in the picture and Anna is 5 weeks old, but I still thought it was a cute comparison.

Mother's Day Tea

Catherine's preschool class invited the moms to a Mother's Day Tea today. She has been so excited for the last week or two about our special "tea" together. They sang a couple of cute songs for us and made us special gifts--a card where they drew pictures of things they see in the spring (Catherine's had trees, flowers, a bush, and a ladybug) and they made us a "handbag" with their handprint on it. Inside the handbag is a cd with pictures and videos of them from this year at school. So precious!

They also had interviewed each child with questions about his/her mom and read their responses. It was pretty funny to hear what 4 yr olds come up with. Here are some of Catherine's answers:

My mom's favorite color is: blue
My mom's eyes are: blue
My mom is: 30 years old
My mom is: 4 ft tall
My mom weighs: 20 lbs
My mom makes the best: chicken pot pie
My mom's favorite food is: carrots
My mom gets upset when I: take toys out of Will's hands
If my mom could go anywhere, it would be: the gym
My mom loves to: snuggle with me.
My favorite thing to do with my mom is: give her hugs and kisses

She got some of them very accurate (my favorite color, eye color, age). She must think I'm super healthy if my favorite things are carrots and going to they gym. I'm pretty sure those wouldn't be my answers! I'm glad that she knows I love to snuggle with her and give her hugs and kisses. These are the sweet things that make being a mom all worth it.