ten eleven smile tuesday

its definitely been an eventful week at our house....mostly for the newly two year old member of the family...events like gashed foreheads, stitches, birthdays, birthday parties...the lows and the highs! we've had plenty of smiles though...so here goes!

1. stitches in...but mostly, stitches out successfully...and without any tears for shots OR stitch removal. honestly, she was such a trooper throughout the whole ordeal...and i was amazed that she wasn't the least bit reluctant when we arrived at the pedi monday morning for her 2 year well check and shots and the big stitch removal.

2. coloring fun...we hadn't pulled out the markers in quite sometime...so they were quite the hit! (and, quite frankly, it was a welcome relief from the craziness of stitches the day before!)

3. celebrating kate's big day! God provided a fabulously sunny (and hot!) day...delightful friends and family...and lots of fun!

kate's duckie cake

pool time fun!

a blue faced, cake lovin' birthday girl!

4. princess potato-beth...the diva...seriously, kate received some plastic jewelry as a present, and elizabeth has been beyond obsessed with sporting necklaces and bracelets the past few days...she is being FAR more girly than i've ever before witnessed with her!

5. the simple joy of a box (i think this was a smile last week too!--but a different, bigger box this time around!)

6. ...oh, and, of course, the fabulous new kitchen that came in the aforementioned box! thanks grandmommy, poppy, and GG!

7. spending time with family...grandmommy, poppy, and GG were able to join us for the party saturday, and then we had another fabulous celebration with mike's family on sunday afternoon...

8. play-doh tools...okay, laugh at me if you want...we've had play-doh just never the actual play-doh tools. kate received a duffel of tools for her birthday, and oh my, i've decided play-doh is actually FUN and not just a huge mess! seriously, the girls spent over an hour creating and smooshing and rolling and giggling...while daddy and i helped out and enjoyed the moments, of course!

again...check out "girlie" libs with the bracelet and necklace

rollin' out the doh...

9. starting to feel better from another icky pregnant, summer cold...but even more so, the loving hubby who brought dinner home with him monday night so i could rest....AND the wonderful friends who delivered dinner to our door tonight...we are SO blessed!

10. a magnificent trip to a sprinkler/spray park this morning with jill and brennan....it took her a few minutes of warming up, but elizabeth had an absolute BLAST, ending up completely soaked...she was running around, splashing, sticking her head in the spray, and just plain having the best time ever. it delighted my heart to see her pleasure...made me think of how God delights in our joy...good stuff!

11. ...and finally...one last "bonus" smile...getting the chance to see the baby during our ultrasound today...seeing the heart beating away, watching the baby "practice" breathing...standing in awe of the life God is knitting together within my womb. it is beyond amazing. that said, we apparently have a rather "large" baby...in fact, at this point (just shy of 37 weeks) the measurements are showing the baby to be around 9 lbs. right now....OH MY! so, we might just be meeting this baby sooner rather than later...and in the meantime, our prayer is definitely that God would bring labor on its own without needing induction...but also praying for wisdom to know if and when inducing is the right decision. we'll have more of a conversation and perhaps make some decisions at our appointment next week. until then, we definitely appreciate your prayers!