Our Christmas Together

Our Charlie Brown Christmas Tree


Joe setting up the lights outside


Alathea putting her 1st ornament on the tree


Hello from Maryland! We hope you all had a fabulous Christmas!! We have really enjoyed creating lots of special family memories and new traditions this year with Alathea being almost two. We started with setting up our very special "charlie brown" christmas tree (its more like a four foot branch...but we love it!) the weekend after Thanksgiving. Alathea was REALLY into it! She helped put most of the ornaments on the tree and had a difficult time when we were finished. She became our "light police" and wanted the tree and mantel lights on at all times, even during the day. She would "ohhh" and "ahhh" every time we turned the lighta on and would sit and stare at the tree with such delight.
Another fun tradition was we took her to McAddenville. Since she got so excited over our little four foot tree at home, you can only imagine what miles and miles of lights on houses did for her!! She also loved sitting on Daddy's lap as we drove 5mph through the town. (I'd post picts of this, but they are all on my computer at home!).
My favorite new Christmas "tradition" (I put it in quotations because this is our 1st time doing it- which I don't think makes it a tradition yet), was a little Cookie Decorating Party with a few of Alathea's little buddies. I made a bunch of sugar cookies, and set the table with tons of different kind of sprinkles and the kiddos went at it. They seemed to enjoy it a lot, especially eating all the sprinkles and icing.
I was also thrilled to follow in my Mom's footsteps and made a gingerbread house with Alathea. Since she is so young, I didn't bake the gingerbread from scratch and build an elaborate house- we simply assembled a kit. Alathea licked every piece of candy before putting it on the house and actually took bites out of the roof of the house, but it was such a joy to see her enjoying it and it brought back so many memories from making them with Mom every year. Mom did an amazing job of making Christmas SO special and I really desire to do the same.
We've enjoyed a full week of celebrations. We celebrated Christmas with the Lechner family Friday night, did our own special family Christmas Saturday and headed up to MD Sunday morning to celebrate Christmas with my Dad's family that afternoon. We've been at my family's house since then and had a special Christmas day together(although it is always bitter sweet and never the same without Mom). We're loving this week together and will be heading home Friday or Saturday.
Sorry for the lack of pictures- they are all at home so I'll have to post them later!

Happy 18th Birthday, Julie!

Today is my beautiful, vibrant sister Julie's 18th Birthday!! Its very hard for me to believe that she is 18 already! When I was her age I was engaged...yikes! Anyways, next to my mother, there is no woman I know of who is more worthy of honor than my sister. I've told her time and again that she is one of my Heroes- and how often is that said of a younger sister? Julie is an amazing combination of joy, faith, compassion, friendliness and fun all rolled up into one person. Her love for the Lord, her love for life and her love for people is contagious. Her faith is amazing. Her Joy is constant as it is founded in the Lord alone. Julie has a depth to her relationship with the Lord that I have NEVER seen in anyone her age. Since she was 8 years old, her Mother has battled cancer. When she was 16 years old, her mother died. While Mom was her best friend, Julie has learned what it means to lean on the Lord and to make him her refuge and strength as she walks through life at such a young age without a mom. Julie has never once complained or charged the Lord...she know's that He is Soveriegn, trusts in him and is able to have Joy in the midst of her pain. Julie has seen first hand the brevity of life, which had created quite the little evangelist- she has shared the Gospel many, many, many times with those whom she works with or plays soccer with. Christians and non-Christians are drawn to her vibrant personality, which has given her many opportunities to share the good news. At only 18 years old, Julie can honestly say she is living her life to the fullest for the Lord. While you'll never meet a more "popular" girl- or a girl who has more friends than Julie does, she spends a good chunk of her free time reaching out to those who are younger than her, taking high school freshman girls out to lunch once a week, or eating lunch at school with those who have no one else to sit with. I LOVE this about Julie! Her eyes are never on herself... she is always looking to how she can bless and serve others.
All of this is said, without mentioning yet the fabulous sister and friend she is to me, and Aunt "Ju-Ju" to Alathea. There is nothing as special and wonderful as a sister!! And Alathea adores Ju-Ju....hardly a day goes by where Alathea doesn't ask to call her.
Jules- I love you, sis! And I respect you more than you'll ever know! Thanks for honoring the Lord and Mom's legacy by the way you are living whole-heartedly for the Lord! Thank you for the way you love His Word, prayer, God's people and the lost! I love you dearly and Happy Birthday! I'm sure Mom's celebrating big in Heaven for you today!!

Already??

I posted the above picture because Alathea looks so sweet and innocent (and her face is covered in an entire tube of lip gloss- she's smiling for the picture because she "looks pretty" :). Yesterday afternoon Alathea decided to call "Dada" on the phone- which she attempts to do every day. Once I catch her I usually ask her to hang up or help her call Dada myself. When I found her sitting on the floor dialing, I asked her to hang up the phone. Instead of cheerfully obeying, she started screaming, and in an attempt to be faithful to train her, I took her into the bathroom for instruction and discipline. All this happened while the phone was still not hung up.

To make a long story short, Joe got home about 5 minutes later. Then almost immediately a police officer was standing at the door. Honestly I was a little concerned something was wrong until he informed us that they had just received a 911 call from a screaming child from this address! I tried hard not to laugh, as I know its a serious thing to tie up police officers with fake 911 calls...but it was hard not to. He asked a number of questions until we convinced him that she was the only child in the house, and at barely 22 months old, she did not understand what 911 meant. Fortunately she greeted the officer at the door with her usual "Hi!" and smile.

Joe & I had a good laugh about it. Its hard to believe that she punched in those numbers! I only wonder how much they overheard once I got her off the phone! Anyways, I know this has happened to just about every one who has children, I just didn't think she'd get herself into that kind of trouble already! :)

Pretty in Red

It's amazing how much I love this beautiful girl!!!



Reba & I noticed that our girls were both wearing pretty red dresses- they were almost matching. We decided it would be a nice day for a little photo shoot. We hoped to get some good ones of the two of them...which was, of course, challenging. But, we did end up with some sweet ones. There are some great ones especially of Kathryn, but I'll let Reba share those once I get them to her. Here are two I love...especially the kissing one. Alathea just loves "Kat-Kat". If she loves her baby sister half as much, then we'll be good :)

8 Months

(Me & My Girls)


According to the "What to Expect when your Expecting" book, I've just begun my eigth month! Yikes! Its so hard to belive. I finally got around to getting one of those baby tickers- which counts in days- even more amazing so few are left! I'm getting very excited to meet this little girl (who will hopefully have a name soon). As I read in the "What to Expect..." book, I am increasingly grateful for how few difficlties I have. i'm just a little tired- not even uncomfortable yet! What a blessing. I do have TONS of Braxton-Hicks contraction- which I never had with Alathea. Maybe this baby will come on her own :)

As you can see my belly keeps growing & growing!! Not the best pictures, but at least I got some to show!

Happy Birthday Mom

Today would have the most amazing mother in the worlds 52nd birthday! I miss her sooooo much and wish she was here so bad!!!

Everyday Life

Its been a little while since I posted about everyday, ordinary life. Lets see...where to begin? I am now 31 weeks pregnant and my belly has grown a lot this past month. I am starting to "feel pregnant". I'm more tired and my back hurts a bit. I just "retired" from running this week, which is sad, but I am amazed I've been able to keep up my running routine with Reba & Jenny for so long (and extra 6 weeks longer than when pregnant with Alathea). So for the next 2-3 months its just walking for me, until after post-partum. I'm already looking forward to running again- I really miss it when I can't and walking just isn't the same to me. Overall this pregnancy has been a great as the last time...other than the typical fatigue & aches, I've got nothing to complain about!




It's hard for Joe & I to believe we'll have another baby girl in just 9 weeks!! We've been talking about baby stuff more now that it is becoming a reality...like names, where the baby will sleep, ect. We are very excited! I'm a little nervous about having two, excited but nervous. I often wonder how I could love this baby as much as I already do Alathea. I hope thats a normal concern! I'm tempted to feel this pressure to get the house perfectly in order, all scrapbooks caught up, ect, ect before baby girl comes, all of which is so slow going as I'm more tired...I've tried to fight the temptation by enjoying each day as an underserved gift from God and to rest that He will allow me to get done what His agenda is, not my own.

Tomorrow (Dec 2nd) would have been Mom's 52nd b-day. Days like this make me miss her very, very much!! And the thought of having this baby with out her can be quite sad. Pray for my family tomorrow if you think of it!





Alathea is quite the little personality now. She's a bundle of energy- especially when she is around people. She's your typical "college ministry" baby who loves a crowd and thinks the world revolves around her...so far its still pretty cute. She's also the oldest Grandkid on both sides, and she LOVES all of our families. She's been asking for "Pop-Pop & Ju-ju" (My Dad & Julie) almost daily since Thanksgiving. Alathea has been talking like crazy. It seems like everyday she learns a word or two. This week the highlights were "Luv-lu" (I love you) and "A-ya-a" (Alathea- her own name). Her favorite things to do each day- take care of her baby dolls, play outside, sidewalk chalk & play dough, READ books (she's a book nut), do puzzles and have dance parties (literally- she'll gather everyone in the house to the kitchen, ask us to turn on the music and we'll all dance for 3-4 songs- she's hysterical when she's dancing & singing). She also loves seeing her buddies- especially CJ & Avery and "Kat-kat" (whom she still see's daily!). Alathea also loves to "help" me with whatever I am doing around the house- I'm so grateful for that.


These are just some random everyday pictures (the 1st two were from Jason Kovacs Photography)...

Alathea and Kathryn in their shades


Alathea exploring the outdoors


Me enjoying some sweet snuggles...such a Mama's girl


Alathea performing for a crowd on the piano :)


Alathea at a M28 Coffee House- she is front & center dancing to the music at 10:45pm at night- sure didn't seem tired to me :)


That is one thing I am grateful for as this baby approaches- Alathea is an awesome sleeper. She sleeps typically from 7:30pm to 7:30am and then takes a 3-4 hour nap during the day! If that keeps up, I'm sure the extra sleep will help me!!

That ended up being one long update! An updated belly picture to come...

Boys will be boys...

..enough said, huh? This is what the "Lechner Boys" (minus Aaron) do for fun. God knew what He was doing giving me two girls :) Although, I must say that I did shoot the 44 magnum a few times.

Thanksgiving on the Farm

Every person in my family decided that this was our best Thanksgiving ever. Thats a pretty amazing statement considering the past two years have been the toughest (2 years ago my Mom was in the hospital, and last year at Thanksgiving it was only 3 months since Mom had died- and our first holiday without her). We were blessed by the Mulligan family to "live" at their house- aka "the farm" to us city folk- for the entire week. Joe, Alathea & I stayed at their house for the weekend before Thanksgiving and were joined by my Dad, brother Rocky, sister Julie and Grandma Bowers on Tuesday and we all stayed in the house together until this afternoon. What a week we had! The pictures tell most of the story...enjoying the beautiful property & gorgeous weather, riding ATV's, shooting guns, jumping on the trampoline (Alathea's favorite!!!), feeding the chickens, driving their truck (just up the driveway- enough to make Julie smile!), eating Thanksgiving dinner with both sides of the family at their beautiful dining room table, playing frisbee golf on their own course, enjoying walks on their property and most of all enjoying sitting on their front porch enjoying being together as a family. What a week of amazing memories. We are so grateful to the Mulligans for their incredible hospitality!

My Little Pumpkin

Alathea LOVES pumpkins...even enough to "pose" for my crazy fall pumpkin shot!

Tagged- a week late

I'm obviously not real good at this "tagged" thing. I think Juli & Eileen tagged me over a week ago. Well, better late than never. I'm supposed to share 8 random things about myself...here we go:

1. I was an avid soccer player growing up and half-way through college. I sometimes played on up to three teams at the same time. For a few years I played on the Olympic Developemental team. I miss playing all the time and still play indoor with my siblings when I go home.

2. "Home" is Maryland- born and raised in the same house in Olney, MD since I was three. My family still lives there.

3. I grew up in a huge family. Just 3 siblings, but my Mom had 8 siblings, who all married and had more kids. On holidays we'd typically have 40-50 people at a time and I loved it! I have some second cousins who are in their 40's and and uncle who is 17- its hard to know exactly how I am related to everyone. We'd get together for every holiday AND everyone's birthday! It was about once a week we'd have a "party" at Grandma's house. One Thanksgiving a man walked into Grandma's house and stayed about 30 minute before he realised he was at the wrong house! Everyone just assumed someone else knew him!!

4. I LOVE Starbucks Lite Ice 2% Chai Lattes! They always bring a smile to my face!

5. I used to want to have all boys. Fortunately I have changed my mind..since we are working on girl #2 right now. I really love having girls...its the best and I really mean that. I wouldn't mind having all girls now (although one boy would be nice :)

6. My family raised Golden Retrievers...we had a Momma dog who had a couple of litters of puppy's. There is nothing cuter than a baby Golden Retriever!

7. I have visited over 10 countries. My Mom and I shared a love for travel. I'm so glad we were able to share those memories together. Joe & I love to travel too. We hope to visit all 50 states together. Right now we have a huge map in our closet with red pins for every place we've been together.

8. I was in the very first SGM youth group that they had the parents attend the meetings with the kids. Growing up at Covenant Life, we were the ginnea pigs for a lots of things! While the kids were not in favor at first- it was a huge shift in how we used to do things- the fruit was amazing and most youth groups have been modeled after that one ever since. I also graduated from Covenenant Life High school in a class of 18.

9. I guess I'm going over, but I thought of one more...Joe & I met when I was just 17 years old at my 1st college ministry meeting and I was just 19 when we got married. Not too unusual in the south, but up north people thought I was sooooo young!

Asheville with my Love

Joe & I had a romantic, relaxing 3 night get a way this past week in Asheville, NC. God provided in so many ways to make this last minute trip possible. It was wonderful timing for us just a few months before baby girl #2 enters our world!


We arrived Sunday afternoon at our little cabin in the woods. We loved the little thing- it was brand new, yet rustic; really cute and really affordable! After sleeping in of course, eating a homemade breakfast and enjoying the extra time for long devotions, we spent the day driving the blue ridge parkway. The leaves were still beautiful. We found a great place for a short hike. It was so fun enjoying the entire day just the two of us!


Monday evening we went to the Biltmores "Candlelight Christmas". It was festive, romantice & beautiful to say the least! Unfortunately we couldn't take any pictures or I certainly would have! For an extra $10 we were able to upgrade to a 12 month pass, so we did and went back on Tuesday during the day. We did an audio tour and a "Behind the Scenes" tour.




This last picture is the view from the Biltmore house- gorgeous! Tuesday night we ate at a nice restaraunt- our first meal out the whole trip! Joe cooked for me the entire time! He's amazing. It saved a lot of money, and we enjoyed eating in our cozy cabin. Wednesday morning came all too soon- we topped the trip off with a breakfast at Craker Barrell and then headed home to get our little Alathea. We are so grateful for our friends who blessed us with money for the trip (which enabled me to have Starbucks more than I ever would have!!!, on top of much more added to the trip because of their generosity) and the Seavers & Steve and Lizzy Honea for watching Alathea for us! She did great while we were gone- and I did too!! I was ready to see her by Wednesday though! I'm also grateful for my amazing husband taking the time out of his busy fall work schedule to spend this time together!!


**I love you baby!! I enjoyed every minute with you!!!***