Bye bye BB and HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPA!

I didn't mean to squeeze two posts into one, but sometimes it just happens like that. Too many posts and too little time :)

Our dearest, sweetest, and most perfect BB left us to care for her mother who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. It was a sad two weeks for me, full of anxiety and tears. Two weeks is almost no notice to find adequate childcare, let alone, a caregiver who could fill the incredibly large shoes of our wonderful BB. But God provides, and my fabulous coworker knew a girl who knew a girl, and we met our newest, sweetest, most perfect Lindsay. Or "Yinsie" as Jack and Ella call her. From what I can tell, Jack and Ella love her. Jack is happy to see her, Ella is sad to see her go, and they ask about her when she's not around...and she's a Clemson fan...need I say more? BB didn't have the greatest taste in football teams ;)

And the girl can fish! This morning, she brought us catfish from her recent tournament. They caught 13 I think she said, and I don't know who cleaned them, but I was impressed! I opened the bag and took a big whiff and it smelled like normal fresh air! Not the slightest fish odor whatsoever. Now that's fresh fish! I fried it and the kids ate it right up! It was so tasty. We had kale (a new food for us) and apricots (which I had never tried before) both of which were very good too. Apricots were like tiny, soft peaches. I loved them, Jack too. Who knew?

I'm in the process of downloading 1500 pictures from my phone to the computer! It's been that long since I blogged! And I don't take nearly the amount of pictures that I used to! Quick update on the babies...

Ella is walking so well and talking up a storm! The other day, she came into the bathroom and said, "Mama, shoe?" Pointing to her foot, "Where it went?" Uh, what?? This tiny little thing, no taller than your knee, with a head full of teeth and talking in full sentences! Where did this big girl come from?!? "In your shoe basket," I replied. "No, where it went?" Shoe basket, "NO! Where it WENT?!?" She was right, it wasn't in her shoe basket. The first of many times she'll be right. At least she can't rub it in yet ;) She's so smart! Found the missing shoe in the kitchen. Love that girl. She and her daddy have really bonded so much over the last few weeks. He's been putting her to bed, which he loves to do b/c she'll snuggle when she's sleepy. I found my journal from a few years ago when I would write about Jack and found entries that were so similar to life today, you could have swapped Jack's name for Ella's. It's amazing how similar they are, what they prefer, how they've bonded with daddy, etc.

Today Ella was hiding under a towel and popping out when I'd ask for her. She'd squeal and giggle when she was under the towel. Such a sweet fun girl and reminded me so much of her brother. Ella likes to torment him a little too. He tries desperately to put his shoes on. He really has mastered it, not always on the right foot, but today he was struggling to put his sandals on and she'd walk by quickly, snatch a sandal and take off running (as close to running as she comes) and Jack would wail. She thought it was the best thing and did it several times. Very difficult to manage the two of them and fry catfish...little monsters :) Jack eventually wised up and grabbed the shoe as she tried to get away, pulling her down in the process. Ella is tough as nails though! Nothing phases her! Below are the kids trying out some cars at Toys R Us. Granna bought them a tricycle that day and the two trains Jack is holding. Such a sweet Granna!

Jack is doing so well too. He can recognize his name. We went to Lancaster this weekend for Justin's dad's surprise Bday party. He's turning 60! Jack found his name on a solo cup, out of all of the family names (maybe 15 in total), impressive. Jack and Julianne played in the pool. Luke played with them too. Reed isn't into playing with babies, but he would entertain them occasionally. It's so incredibly hard to believe how quickly life is flying by. Luke is a teenager! Ella is almost the exact age Jack was, when she was born! She will be the exact age on June 23rd (1 year, 14 weeks, and 6 days). Insert crying emoji.

I didn't get many pictures from the party this weekend but below are a few...the first has Jack "poke"-ing Julianne and Ella shoveling cake into her mouth with a little help from Sassy :)

We were able to surprise Papa with decorations and a cake. He was such a good sport! We are blessed to have such a wonderful Papa and we love him dearly!

And this little angel! I mean seriously, look at that grin! Precious! But don't be fooled, she's a firecracker when the occasion calls for it!

Ella was pretty much glued to Justin's aunt, "Sassy" for the entire party. She was very generous when it came to sharing cake :) It was so great seeing her and Pawpaw and Jojo!

We hope you had a great time at your party Papa! Thank you for being so generous and loving! Jack and Ella are lucky to have you, as are the rest of us :) Perm or no perm, (hehe) we hope to celebrate many, many more birthdays with you!