Priscilla Marie

….FOUR….

Our Elliotte Marie turned three years old August 31st. Again, where does the time go? How did the last three years go by so fast? How did my Bobbin get to be such a big girl, and so quickly??? Is it just me, or does it seem like the more kids you have, the faster time flies by. Or is it the older you get….?  I’d like to think it’s just cause we’re having so much fun….seriously….

We are having fun! Life is beautiful! The kids are a blessing and we’re loving every day with them. We’ve so been enjoying our August girls! Elliotte’s birthday celebrations were especially exciting. Her birthday week was full of special surprises for her. Beginning on Thursday, Elliotte had a surprise visit from her “Aunt Kriss”, Judah, and Anna. They showed up on our doorstep singing many rounds of “happy birthday”, waiting for Elliotte to come and let them in. She was very shy about this, but obviously pleased.

How exciting to get to spend three whole days with two of your buddies, and all for your birthday too. Kriss, thank you for loving our baby girl so much, and for letting her know in a THOUSAND ways how special she is to you. It was wonderful to have you girls here to share in the celebration!

So, seeing as Elliotte has been getting rather girlie these days, we thought it would be fun to surprise her with a tea party for her birthday. We made plans for Saturday evening, got Elle ready for a special birthday date with her daddy, and sent them on their way so we could get the house ready for a party.

Here’s a pic of Elle getting ready for her date.

I had to include one of her date. Handsome devil, eh?

Look at those eyes! Can you tell Elliotte is not a big fan of being the center of attention? (Notice her dress, Kay?)

Out  on the town.  Richard took her to Cafe 4 in Market Square. He said it was so sweet the way people would take notice of his pretty girl, but she was completely oblivious to the special attention. She was just excited to be out on a date with her daddy.

While those two were out having fun, us girls were back at the house busting our tails to get the house decorated, treats finished, tea and lemonade prepared, and ourselves “princessified”.  Oh yes, even us older girls got in on this dressup fun.

The tea table.

Princess Elliotte.

The ladies….(Eden was unable to attend the party due to extreme fussiness)

Mmmm….tea

To top it all off, the power went off just after our party had ended. I think the girls were as excited about the power outage as the party itself.

Our party was great!  Mom and Kriss, it would NOT have been the same without you! Thank you so much for all of your help!

And on a side note, the only disappointing thing about our party was not having the cousins here to celebrate with us. So….Ashlynne, Rachel, Emma, Lauren, Grace, Kate, Teah, and Lydia….you were missed. We love you!

The next night we went for a prebirthday picnic down by the river. Peanut butter and honey, water fountains, and beautiful August weather makes for really fun times.

Here’s Elle with her special Hello Kitty bottle from daddy.

Sharing a drink with sister.

Hooligans.

First gift on her birthday morning.

Sadly, we don’t have a lot of photos from her birthday, our blasted camera batteries died on us!

To summarize, we went out for a birthday dinner with Pop, Grannie, and Uncle Matt. Uncle Matt and Elliotte are birthday buddies.  Man, I wish I had a picture of the two of them together…sigh…. We went to the park and duck pond, at Elliotte’s request, and played till dark. We even got to visit with Uncle Luke and Aunt Jordan for a bit. Then it was off to the homestead to get Gibbie and Eden down, so we could have a bit of time with Elliotte all to ourselves.

We stayed up late, ate cake and candy, watched some Berenstein Bears and headed off to bed. It’s a birthday tradition to let the kids sleep in our bed with us, but Elliotte declined this offer. She preferred to sleep in her princess airbed in the tent with Gideon. I mean, I guess I understand how a big tent set up in your house with chrismas lights and your very own bed would be more exciting than sleeping with old mom and dad….still….we were pretty disappointed : (.

So, another year to celebrate our precious Elliotte. We are SO thankful for our baby girl! What a precious gift from our loving Father!

Now, just for fun……a look back…..

Elliotte 21 weeks in the womb.

This is one of my favorite pictures! It’s from the birthing center where we had Elliotte. All of these ladies were present for her birth.

Snoozin’ away around two months. Elliotte used to sleep in the strangest positions.

Christmastime 2006

January 2007

Late summer 2007

Silly girl.

The famous “yuck face”.

Pretty, blue-eyed, messy-faced cowgirl.

Our ice muncher.

Fall 2008

Spring 2009. I know this is a silly face, but she’s so stinkin’ cute!

Now a few from earlier today.

Happy Birthday, beautiful Elliotte Marie Mann!!!!!!!!!

P.S. I promise to limit my next post to no more than 5 photos : )

Our baby is one year old! How did this happen? Where did the last year go? Where did my tiny Eden go? Is she really toddling all over the place, using actual words, and throwing real fits? Where does the time go, and why doesn’t it ask my permission before it runs off with my tiny babies and turns them into….kids.

So, Richard and I could not even begin to express our thankfulness to the Lord for this precious child. Eden has been a tremendous blessing from the moment we knew she was growing inside of me. I found out before Richard that I was pregnant (we usually find out together) and then decided to keep it a secret so I could surprise him with it as his Christmas present on our little getaway to NYC. I kept that secret for 10 whole AGONIZING days. I will NEVER do that again. It’s not any fun to keep a secret like that. Yuck. Still, it’s a fun memory. We left our other two babies in PA with Richard’s parents, and headed off to the big city for a few days….alone. Long plane ride, long subway ride, not eating for 8 hours straight on a pregnant belly, good times. Secrets are so much fun! right… We walked to the beautiful Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center to exchange our “secret gifts”. His gift from me was getting to share my precious secret. The burden was finally lifted. We could talk about our baby….TOGETHER. Then we could dream together…and we did.

So, moving on. It was a long, normal pregnancy,  nothing super interesting to tell you about this. We did take Gideon and Elliotte with us to find out the gender of our tiny baby. Gideon was not happy when the tech told us we were having another little girl. He was pretty much grumpy for an entire day over it. He wouldn’t trade his baby sister for anything now! He was completely taken with her from the moment he saw her.

Eden was born August 22nd at 6:02am….THREE DAYS LATE (I was halfway convinced I was just going to be pregnant forever)! My labor with Eden was the most unusual of all three. Most people reading this already know this story, so I won’t go into details. I’ll just leave it at “unusual” and abrupt and crazy and out of control and almost in the parking lot, etc, etc….You get the point. Equate it to one of those dramatic labor/births from the movies and you’ll see what I’m getting at. On the whole, it was a pretty amazing experience and I wouldn’t change it a bit, except for maybe less pain. I honestly don’t miss that part of labor. I worry about any woman that does….

Ever since she was born, Eden has been such a joy in our lives. She has been, like, an extra helping of sunlight in our home, our “sunshine flower”. She started smiling only days after she was born, and giggled for the first time at a month old. She has always been an easy going kid (till she doesn’t get her way about something or when she’s teething). She’s snuggly and sweet. Eden belly laughs (Gideon says she laughs like a hippo), and sings (her favorite is “by-lo baby”) and dances to anything with a beat. She makes monkey sounds, lion roars, and even crocodile snaps. She is SO much fun!!!! An incredible blessing!

Allright, allright, I hush up and let you get to the photos. You know I have issues with only choosing a few, so 25 sweet photos of our first year with Eden. Hope you enjoy them!

First time in Daddy’s arms. So calm and sweet, looking up and listening to his voice.

One week old.

Sweet smiles. Both of these are around two months.

Just after Christmas.

Learning to sit up. 5 months.

Silly girl!

8 months old.

Some of my favorite moments with my babies are when they fall alseep either with or on me. Sharing a sweet moment with Daddy. She’s 9 months old here.

These next three were taken in June.

Daddy says this is her “smug” face.

“Everybody loves a brwon eyed girl” Remember this shirt, Alyssa?  How appropriate. I mean, who couldn’t love this baby???

These next show Eden’s funnier side. The first two are of her in one of her favorite spots, climbing in the kitchen cabinets.

Playing with my springform pans. She likes to stack them up around her, then tries to walk with them around her legs. It’s pretty entertaining.

Here she has just opened her very first birthday present ever, a gift from Grandmama, Granddad and Gavin. Doesn’t she look pleased?

This final series is from her birthday.

Eden refused to take her second nap on her birthday. I guess she knew something exciting was happening and she wasn’t going to miss any of it. She fell asleep in her carseat after running to the grocery store with daddy. He lugged her inside and covered her up for a belated birthday nap. Poor kid was probably so confused when she woke up.

Birthday dinner.

Present time! She’s peeking in at her present in this first one. This was my most favorite part of her birthday party. Richard and I got her her first baby doll, and I have never seen her so excited. As soon as she saw what was in the box, she was chatting and panting and giggling with excitement. When the baby was freed from the box Eden snuggled, kissed and carried it around continually….still giggling.

Sportin’ her new hoodie from Aunt J and Uncle Lukie

Cake time!

The post-cake bath.

Happy Birthday, Eden Neiel Mann!!!!!!!

I realize it has been MONTHS since I last posted. I’m totally failing my commitment to blog for you out of towners. I’m so sorry. I do sorta have a good excuse. Our PC crashed a few months ago and we just got our Mac online a few weeks ago, so we were completely computerless until then. Using this mac is all well and good except our external hard drive is not compatible with it and we don’t store our photos on this computer….so….blogging on the Mac is more of a trial…. blah. Ok, this is a really lame excuse for not blogging. Just go ahead and call me lazy. Blast.

Recent and most exciting news, our precious Eden Neiel turned 1 year “out of the womb” yesterday. It’s so amazing how fast this past year has gone….sigh…..So, I’m going to attempt to do a post for Eden’s birthday tomorrow, but no promises….I’m going to stop making those when it comes to blogging, I think it wise….

I first took notice of Richard early in the year 2001. He was a skinny little guy, wore glasses, and kinda had that Buddy Holly geeky look. He caught my eye…..I remember asking a friend who he was. “oh, that’s Richard….” I remember thinking what a “grown up” name that sounded like. He didn’t look like a Richard…. Still, there was something about him…. I would have to wait a year and a half before I would get to meet him. I didn’t waste any time though. I studied his character and learned all I could….from a distance. I could see he was shy, had a great sense of humor, the leader type, and pretty….(yes, I can say “pretty”)

(a shot of my pretty bouquet created by the lovely Jean Vestal)

Peter Barbee introduced us on July 21st, 2002. Pete was playing the matchmaker back in those days and thought we’d go together well. Smart fellow. Thanks, Peter! I remember that night I met Richard we both were so painfully shy we could barely look at eachother. I don’t think we said a word…. Then a little while later, I still holding my inerest, we ended up going to a play together (my friend Ev and one of his friends came too). I sat beside him for several hours and…. he didn’t say a word to me. Shy or lack of interest??? Probably both. I stole glances at him as he watched the play, such a beautiful man. I remember how he fidgeted in his seat and nervously looked at the floor during a shady scene in the play….I liked him even more….. We rode home in his car, Nada Surf was on the radio, I wore my good old peach tank and plaid skirt…. he wasn’t interested….

(these two are TRUE servants, they also happen to be Richard’s sisters. These girls gave their brother a pedicure the day before the wedding. If you have ever seen Richard’s toes, you will know why I call them servants….)

Time goes by, I try and move on from him. I went to New Attitude at the end of 2002…. and he was there. I got to know him a tiny bit better….and honestly, I didn’t like him any better. I remember him saying something smart to me, and I went away from the conversation thinking “what a jerK”. I learned later it was just sarcasm. Funny, you’d think I of all people would pick up on sarcasm….hmmmm….

We started hanging out at good old Cup A Joe. Ev and I would go there for coffee, Richard and his buddies would meet there for accountability. Ev knew I liked him and would take the initiative to “get us together”, I being too shy to do this. We were unknowingly interrupting their meeting. They let us intrude SEVERAL times before we found out. How embarrassing. Still, those were such great times. Chatting, playing cards, slowly getting to know eachother…becoming friends. Over the next few months we increasingly spent more time together. Our dear Lisa was with us every step of the way. She was our chaperone, our friend…. She went everywhere with us and was my constant encourager. She was convinced Richard was interested, I was not. That Easter we both were invited to the Barbee home for dinner. I remember climbing a tree with Richard and watching the sun set. Then later when we were inside he was playing the guitar and would not take his eyes off of me. “What is this guy looking at??? Must be in a zone. He surely wasn’t really looking at me with those dreamy eyes.

Richard finally called my dad up and asked if they could go out and talk. He asked my dad’s permission to persue a relationship with me. My dad gave him the green light. The next step, find Priscilla and ask her. I knew what was going on and I had never been more terrified in my entire life. He kept trying to draw me out and get me alone so we could talk. I was avoiding this. Finally, cup a joe was closing, I was headed to my car, richard gave lisa the “go on home” goodbye and followed me to my car. It was the faithful GREEN volvo, Billy Bragg and Wilco were singing “mountain bed”. Richard was waxing on about what a relationship should look like. He was so nervous he was shaking. I aware of his being so unsettled was calmed by that. It was actually pretty funny. He asked me if I wanted to be in this sort of relationship….I said yes and….we prayed together asking for the Lords help, protection, etc… and June 23rd, 2003 we were officially a couple. Then began all of the fun getting to know eachother. We spent our time walking about the city, exploring the mountains, spending time with family, involved with our church, learning together, etc etc…..Richard was always extrememly guarded about what he would or wouldn’t say to me. We never said “love”, we never spoke of marriage. It’s easier to get to know someone when you leave the romance out for a bit.

We had been together for 6 months and I was growing restless. Was this guy just using me (trust is one of my bigger battles, and was even more so then)? Did he love me or didn’t he? I was ready to take this to the next step. I was ready to use the “l” word and all that. I came home from work one day and he was there. I had this shirt that says “I’m His” on it, and I would never wear it around him because we just didn’t say/talk about stuff like that. However, for some reason, I wore the shirt this day. I remember being a little sassy with Richard that day. but every smart comment I would make, it just seemed to bounce off of him into oblivion. He couldn’t be touched. Something was amiss. something was different. Richard was aglow. It was a blasted cold winter day, January 6th 2004, and we were headed off on a date. We at dinner together and then afterwards Richard had this “random” idea to go up to the mountains. It was against my better judgement, I was tired and it was cold out there (I think it was below 20 or something…felt like it anyway). Off we went. We found our spot by the river, sat on the stone wall, the full moon straight in front of us, a million sparkles in the river far below our feet. I was a little drowsy from the cold. Then Richard starts talking, he’s getting kinda SERIOUS. What is he talking about? Then he said those words…”I’ve grown to love you”…..and I knew what was up. I never thought my heart could beat so fast without bursting from my chest. Honestly, I think that’s the only thing that was sparing me from frostbite. He put his arms around me, his chest against my back and I could feel his heartbeating too. Just a fast as mine. In a dreamy glowing daze, I saw this beautiful man down on his knee by moonlight asking ME to be his WIFE. He asked and I sqeaked out a ‘yes”. He had to ask again to make sure…..I had a beautiful ring, a single white rose (the rest of the dozen was in the trunk, he didn’t want to “overdo” it), and a FIANCE!!!! We laughed nervously and held each. “Still no kissing!”, he said. Dangit! After a bit, we were reminded of our mortal flesh that was currently freezing off and got back in the car. We could finally TALK. Everything that had been help back could now be said. One of the first things Richard asked, being alowed to now, was “So, how many kids do you want?” I think I said something like, “What??? you can’t ask me that! blast! I guess you can. I don’t know!”

We made plans for a fall wedding. We were going to marry on October 3rd with 10 months to plan. Naturally, as plans often do, they changed. We decided in April that it just made more sense to get married sooner rather than later, and had a month and a half to plan. It took some convincing, but we finally talked the parents into letting us get married on the farm. I got my dress in two weeks, by miracle alone, everything fell beautifully into place, well, except for a week and a half before our wedding Richard totaled his car and the engine blew in mine. Good times. Getting married in a week and no car.

June 6th, D Day, came! It was a beautiful day, nice and cool, a million secadas serenading us. The farm turned upsidedown with tents and flowers and people everywhere. I’ve never seen the farm prettier. We got married in my grandfathers field. His beautful wife Jean did all the flower arrangements! Extraordinary! Rows and rows of wooden chairs. Tiny flower girls, Ashlynne, Rachel, Lauren, Emma, and a two week old Grace. A little bitty Gavin as our ringbearer. The ceremony was by Papaws vinyard. We were attended by siblings and friends.The time came for us to “go”. I came outside to find my dad and everyone was gone. I was alone and incredibly nervous! So nervous that I left without my beautiful bouquet. Dad came for me and we walked together up Tindell lane for the last time with me as his little girl. I clung nervously to his arm. I heard the processional for our attendants, for our mothers….then it was our song. “Come Thou Fount”. It was time….That aisle felt at least 5 miles long, and everyone standing and watching the whole time….yuck. I tried to hide behind my dad. Then there he was. My beautiful Richard all snazzed up in a tux. He was all sweet and smily and teary eyed. My dad put my hand in Richard’s it was then that I realized I had left my bouquet. It ended up being pretty entertaining, Richard’s sister Alyssa asked if I wanted her to go and get it, I said no, but Richard said yes, so she took off to find the missing bouquet, I’m pretty sure she sprinted the entire way. People said afterwards they thought she must have needed to use the restroom! Thanks, Alyssa. That was an incredibly brave and sweet thing to do. Richard’s dad married us. The sun was setting to our left. Everything was magical. We made our vows, exchanged rings and then…..Richard Lee kissed my lips for the very first time. I was his wife!!!! I was all his….

Our reception was ethereal. My brother josh worked his tail off putting white and amber lights up everywhere. Aunt Carolyn made our honeysuckle cake. It was BEAUTIFUL! Everything was beautiful! There was good food, lovely music being played on the old grand piano that was moved onto the porch for this blessed occasion. We danced together, kissed eachother a lot, had some cake, toasted with Jones Cream Soda (in a bottle naturally). It was getting late….we were ready to go. We left the reception to “Son of a Preacher Man”, totally appropriate….Drove away, leaving behind many broken hearted, teary eyed friends….Did you guys really have a crying fest after we left. Ridiculous.

We were married for 3 months when we found out we were pregnant with Gideon. We were elated, and definitely a little scared….Our little Gideon was born May 1st, 2005. I didn’t realize how much having a baby could grow my love for my husband. It just opened up so many more avenues to love him more, by seeing the way he loved me through the whole pregnacy/delivery/newness to motherhood, and how he loved my son…. Gideon was 7 months old when we found out we were pregnant AGAIN. This was a bit of a shock. We had wanted to wait a couple years before having another baby, but the Lord wanted to give us Elliotte, and we are so thankful he did. A daughter….We were overjoyed! “We” did a little bit better with the spacing of the next, Elle was 14 months when we found out were yet again pregnant. Eden was born August 22 of last year. Three kids!!!!! It’s still hard to believe!

(reception shots. thanks so much to all the family who made this so BEAUTIFUL!)

So much has happened in these five years. SO much to be thankful for! We have been through extraordinary things together. Amazingly wonderful and incredibly painful. We have grown through all of it. I love Richard more now than I ever have. It’s funny how when I think back to those early days of our relationship, I thought, how could I possibly know or love this guys more. Now I laugh at that thought.
Richard is the most amazing person I’ve ever known. He loves me and our babies with a selfless love. He’s not perfect, and we have our share of conflict, but on the whole, I have never met anyone more selfless and inspiring and beautiful than Richard Lee Mann. I remember Elizabeth Plewniak telling me years ago when she heard that Richard had asked me to be in a relationship with him, she said “what and honor to be asked by him!” It is an honor Richard, an honor I often take for granted, but an honor that I can’t even fully express to you what it means to me. You, my best friend, are precious to me. Every day I see within you so much GRACE! God has blessed me more than I can even articulate by giving you to me. You are my companion, my completer, my beloved friend. Thank you for loving me, thank you for choosing me…..for giving me your name and making me your wife. Thank you for continually laying down your life for us and others. Thank you for kissing me every morning! for listening to me, for praying for me….and with me. Thank you for being so patient with me, for always reminding me what life is truly about! Thank you for how you lead our home, for how you strive to make the Cross the center of our lives. Thank you for snuggling my babies and changing their poopy diapers….WITHOUT EVER COMPLAINING!!!! I love you with all of my heart…and I’ll love you till the day I die. I could go on and on, but I fear I’ve lost everyone but you…..

This was not, by any means, an attempt to compete with the post prior to this one, that would be impossible. I just wanted to honor my sweet husband. I know this was really choppy, I just didn’t have as much time as I would have liked to put into this, so if you made it to the end, thank you!

Happy 5th Anniversary. Richard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. If you have any memories you’d like to share, we would really appreciate reading them!!!

OK, Richard here.  I know, this is Priscilla’s blog.  Which is precisely why I have hijacked it today, Mother’s day, to honor my amazing wife, and of course mother of 3 kids.

Now, we’ll stick to the motherhood stuff today, though I could go on and on about what a great wife/friend/person/etc. I think Priscilla is.  So before I go on, and ramble, and lose everybody here let me post these gems that I made with the kids for Priscilla.  First up, an interview with the hooligans about their Mama (except for Eden. She was unavailable for comment, but when asked later about it said “mamamama”:

Now, here also is the kiddos singing Come Thou Fount (their favorite song.) I think it appropriate here, on this day 1.) because we recorded it for Priscilla as a Mother’s day gift, and 2.) because Priscilla is indeed a blessing to these kiddos (and Eden, of course, who was unable to sing as well) of which we are thankful to God for giving to us. (Do note, that both the interview and this song were recorded quickly, as it had to be done with Priscilla out of the house…we only had time for one take on guitar and the kiddies singing. Still, pretty cute…)

Now, I want to point out some things about Priscilla; ways she is a wonderful mother.

First of all, she is loving.  Priscilla LOVES Gideon and Elliotte and Eden.  True love is is selfless, and I think this is embodied in a mother constantly serving her family/kids.   This is so true with Priscilla.  From washing dishes and clothes, staying home everyday while I take off to work, changing diapers, never getting any sleep with babies, etc. etc. she consistently places the interests of these 3 kiddos above her own.  It is not uncommon, in fact quite common, if Priscilla and I are talking about the kids for her to express to me how much she loves them.  And I can truly say, that I know she feels this; but more than that – she lives this out.

Nurturing/caring.  This something Priscilla exemplifies to a T also.  When you think of a mother nurturing it is more than just feeding/taking care of the kids.  Though Priscilla obviously does this, serving those kiddos and me daily, it is more than that.   I think there is an emotional aspect.   And I know she exemplifies this.  Something she has expressed to me, and does in fact seek to do with our kids even at the young ages they are, is always be there for them, and for them to always be able to tell her anything.  This attitude and desire clearly shows how nurturing she is. 

Teaching/Instructing.  Priscilla will surely have plenty of opportunities for this with our plans to homeschool our children.  But it is something she does so very well.  From making a little alphabet book with pictures/ etc. from magazines for Gideon when he was learning this, to daily teaching our girls (well, mainly Elliotte at this point) about modesty and being a girl, to pointing out and teaching all of them about God, Priscilla excels at teaching and instructing them. 

Fun.  Now I know there is probably not really a biblical or etc. aspect to just being a fun mom, but Priscilla is.  I do think it gets at/stems from loving them and caring for them so much though.  But Priscilla really is a fun mom.  It is not uncommon for her to be chasing them around like a monster (quite common, really.) or turning them into ‘flying shish kabobs’ (laying on her back, kid on her feet up in the air), coloring with them, etc. etc.  Just yesterday she had the idea of a scavenger hunt for them.  So she made little clues on paper and hid them and then got the kids started.  But she didn’t just leave it at that at let them do it.  She walked around with them the whole time because she was enjoying them figuring it out, and was having fun with them doing it.  She really is more than a mom to our kids, she is a friend also.

Priscilla…though the kids may not be the best at showing it or saying it, and I certainly don’t say it or express it well enough or often enough, please know that we thank God for you.  You are a wonderful mother, who daily is bringing glory to God in your selfless life spent loving, training, nurturing, caring for, playing with, talking to, etc., etc, these 3 little ones.

We love you!!!!!!!!!!!!

It’s so hard for us to believe that our precious Gideon is already 4! These last few years have gone by in a blink. It seems like yesterday that we were meeting this little one for the first time, and yet, it feels like we’ve had him forever too….I cannot even begin express my gratefulness to the Lord for this precious little boy.  My mind is flooded with memories right now. Mind if I share a few???  I didn’t think you would. At least on a blog you have the option of skipping on ahead to check out the photos….

From the beginning…..Richard and I had been married for three months when we found out we were pregnant. I took the test, but then was freaking out too much to look at the results, so I made Richard look before me. Simple response, “You’re pregnant, baby”.   We were parents….the dreaming began. Would this baby be a boy or a girl? What would he/she be like?  Was labor really going to be that bad? etc…etc….Richard was insistant that we were having a boy….and he was right. December 6th (our 6 mo. anniversary) we found out we were having a little boy! and the baby inside of me got his name…. Gideon Lee Mann. 

Gideon was born on a Sunday afternoon. And yes, labor was REALLY bad. Of course, the blessings of the child far outweigh the horrific pain of labor, still…..It’s so amazing how you can “know” that you have a baby inside of you those many months, but still not “believe” it till you see that baby come out. I felt him kick, I felt him turn, but as far as I knew, it could have been a tumor….maybe not a tumor, but surely not a human being growing inside of me. It’s so strange when you think of it….Back to Gideon’s birth.  We were at the Birthing Center “toughing it out”. Sharing in this experience was Richard, of course, my mom, and my two sisters in law, Kim and Brandi. These poor girls are probably still traumatized by this experience of “caring” for me during labor…..Kim especially I think….hehe. I won’t expand on this one. After nine hours of labor, Gideon “popped out” (as our babies say), and we could hold him and snuggle him and kiss him and hug him for the very first time. What a flood of emotions! The ladies that were in there with us can attest to this. Richard and I wept. Richard especially. I think he sobbed for a solid half hour. So sweet…..

Now I’m going to share a plethora of photos with you. I know this is excessive, but I couldn’t decide on just a few.  I now give you….

The Many Faces of Gideon

(oh, and I apologize for the quality of some of these. A few are from my camera phone. and the first one is a pic I took of a pic with my camera phone yesterday. we didn’t have a digital camera till gideon was 16mo old.)

(a few days old here)

Around 10 mos.

Grumpy Gideon

Gideon’s 1st haircut. He was thrilled….

sweet, sweet faces

Fall picture 2007

Gideon with his pet moth.

Gideon’s third birthday….duh

Trying to look like Uncle Matt?

Gideon reels in his first fish.

frightening gideon

I had to include a pic of these pretty blue eyes

Fall 2008

At the tree farm hunting for our Christmas three. I think he’s so handsome here. 

These last ones we took last night. The last pictures of our three year old Gibbie.

There is SO much more I would like to say, but blast it, I’ve got three kids getting into EVERYTHING right now, so I better end this. I may come back and add something if I get a chance later. We’ll see….

Can I make a request??? Will you share any Gideon memories you may have? I would really appreciate it, and I know he would enjoy me sharing them with him too.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GIDEON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, Elliotte and I finally got to go out on our “date”. We had so much fun together! We went out to get seeds and plants for the small garden we’re putting in the back yard. It was so great to spend time with just my Elliotte, to be completely focused on her. To hear all the funny things she has to say. I love driving down the road having a conversation with her, hearing that tiny voice from the backseat.  She’s such a precious little girl. I’m sure I’m a little biased, but still…I think she’s pretty amazing.  And she’s dang cute too!

Random Elliotte sayings.

Yesterday morning Elliotte asked  “Mama, are you big enough?”. “Big enough for what?” I asked her. “Big enough to change that light”, and she pointed up to her bedroom light. “Nope, I’m not quite big enough for that. I’d have to use a chair or a ladder”. Then I went on to say, “Mama’s not tall enough to do that, but there are some people that are tall enough to reach right up and change your light”. Elliotte laughed and said, “No….that would be sinful!”. 

A few days ago Elliotte and I were out together doing some shopping. She looked up and noticed the moon in the sky and said, “The moon!  We need to get that moon down! but we’d need a ladder…”

Lately when I kiss Elliotte goodnight she tells me “Mama, I’m going to leave it on FOREVER!”

One day I was being pretty silly, dancing around the kitchen. Elliotte looked up at me and said, “you’re a weirdo, mama”.

Also a while back, we were on our way to the potty and Elliotte reached down to feel for her diaper and said “It flew away!”  “What???” I asked.  “I dreamed my diaper flied away!”

Ok, this just happened a second ago, so I had to add it on. Elliotte was laying on Richard’s chest and said to him “Daddy, you don’t have any nursin’s. Just mama has nursin’s.” Then she lifted her shirt up and said “I have little tiny nursins for my baby!”.

Funny things about Elliotte:

She has the greatest little voice. I love listening to her talk. She often will change her voice into this deeper, scratchier voice. We like to call her “Satchmo”.

Elliotte’s two favorite places to pretend she is going: Target and Church. She walks by with her shopping cart, “I’m going to Target, Mama, wanna go with me?”  

Elliotte and Gideon have been playing with plastic Easter eggs today. They pretend to be chickens, and put the eggs on the floor, sit on them till they pop open, then they say “we hatched our chicks!!!”

I wanted to share a bit of our Easter celebration with you, seeing as you missed out on being with all of us. We had a competition (JUST FOR YOU!!!!) to see who could make the most terrible face (actually, I decided to make it into a competition after). I judged for myself who the winner should be, but you can give your opinion if you’d like to.

So, here we go for the Wilkerson Terrible Face Making Competion 2009.

 Ashlynne, Rachel, Lauren and Kate,  this is ESPECIALLY for you!

First up we have the lovely face of Lydia. Unfortuanantly, this face is just too sweet to compete at all, so she comes in last place. Sorry, Lydia!

Next up we have Gideon and his chocolate tongue. Still, not frightening at all, so he’s next to last.

Next is Gabe with the terribly serious and a bit crazed eyes.  Great face, but doesn’t meet the requirements of being frightening, though, I think Brandi may feel differently. Side note, he reminds me a bit of Jack Black here.

Richard comes in at tenth place with the Attack of the Killer Baby Hand. Notice the finger up the nose? He’s lucky her whole hand didn’t go up there. We’d never see it again! Just kidding, Richard. You know there’s no one in the world more beautiful to me than You!

Next we have three meanies, Brandi, Jordan, and Elliotte. Unfortunantly their just too cute to take seriously at all. They all tie for 9th place.

8th place goes to Luke for his flighty, disturbed, and all around  ”dropped his basket”  face.

James comes in 7th place with his kissy or constipated face???

Mom comes in at 6th place with her piraty something or other face. Not sure how to lable this one. When I look at it I picture her saying “arrrrgg, matey”.  Hense, the pirateyness (sp?).

Matt brings us his classic “old man” face here for 5th place.

4th place goes to Grace and her crossed eyes. I told her she looks like somebody walloped her.

3rd place goes to Emma Caroline, for her EXCEEDINGLY frightening face!

2nd place goes to dad for making a face that really NO ONE can compete with. That’s just a whole new level of frightening.  Dad used to make this face while we were out driving. He’d scrunch down in his seat, and make the most hideous faces. I think it always bothered Luke the most, he would often be found hiding in the floorboard. hehe

AND THE WINNER IS…….

Eden!!!!  for making the most TERRIBLE  face!!!

There you have it!  Bring on the competition, girls!

Love you all!

 I took this with my phone a few days ago. I’ll have another sweet one for you a little later today.

Richard took this one today at Ijams Nature Center. Pretty sweet, huh?