My Baby was 2! on Cinco de Mayo

Eva's Birthday Morning!

And, now it's official. We have a two-year-old. We have felt the twos for a long time now, but as of May 5, we are two. I do not know what most two year olds are like, but mine seems to pushing four. She talks non-stop, and most of it I know exactly what she says. She is seriously hard-headed and seriously funny. Eva's personality is hysterical. I sometimes feel like her sense of humor is seriously mature or mine is seriously immature, I guess since I teach 13 year olds I will go with the latter. Of course, she still is surely two. She gets frustrated and hits, or sometimes just hits for no reason as in Sunday School this morning, but she also is the most loving, sometimes clingy, child. She truly shows unconditional love in the meer moments after being scolded or spanked. Her feelings will be hurt, but she wants so badly to be held and hugged and kissed and I want so badly to comfort her. I love her more than I thought ever possible. It is amazing how priorities change without even a second thought. Grant and I get quality time together everyday, we get to go on a date every now and then, but we could care less if it is pizza and tv and talking, or dinner and movie, because we love to be here with our baby girl. I cannot wait for the next two weeks to be over and my summer to officially begin so that I can enjoy more times like I have the past few weekends.

We did have a birthday party for Eva on May 5th. We just invited family and few family friends with kids Eva has played with. We ordered Cocina Superior for Cinco de Mayo and had cake and cupcakes from Louise's Cakes and Things. She had a great time and so did we.

This is the precious cake! I ordered it the DAY BEFORE! I thought I would try to make her cake, but who could beat this? It is strawberry cake and buttercream icing with fairies and butterflies! And it was YUMMY!

Is this mine? I love CAKE!

And, presents... This one is wrapped in Dora! I think I'll open it first. I LOVE Dora too.

This is my friend Katelyn. I LOVE her too! My mommy and her mommy have been friends since they were in middle school!

pushing my friends around on my car. I didn't want to share at first, but I guess I like being in charge...

My friend, Ashton

Of course we gotta eat too! A little mexican and juice. I look so sweet, but only moments after this picture I fed my food to Lucy!

AH! I love being 2!

Easter, what am I late with this?

So, Easter was almost a month ago, but we have had A LOT going on around here so this post is quite a bit late.
We ended up taking Eva down to the lake for Friday and Saturday to see my parents and ride on the boat a bit. She is truly a lake baby. She loves the boat, loves outside and loves her Mamama and Papa. We hid eggs, went out to lunch, rode on the boat (she slept) and played with chalk. The child loves chalk, but lately she loves to dump it out and organize it and put it up more than she does color with it. Honestly, I don't know where she gets it...
These are our pics of the lake.

Sleeping on the boat!

Ha! fooled you, I'm awake!

Then, Saturday afternoon we came home so we would be able to go to church for Easter Sunday. I love my church, and I love my church on Easter. Our music is amazing, our sermons are phenomenal and the praise and love for the risen Christ is overflowing. We got to snap a few pictures before we left and then a couple of Eva infront of our flower cross, a tradition at Trinity every year. It was very crowded and my daughter is a camera ham, so these are all I got.
now do you believe I am a HAM!

After church we went to Pleasant Grove to eat with Grant's family and hunt eggs. Eva is obsessed with eggs. Ever since our church egg hunt a week or so before Easter, that is all she wants to do. She asks for her basket and eggs. If you remember she only found one egg at the official egg hunt, but with all of our practicing, she is a professional. And we don't want no stinky real dyed eggs, just the plastic ones please! Here are our family pics from PG and the egg hunting. It was a fabulous holiday and we had wonderful time with all of our family all weekend. We are so blessed. Especially with what came later that week. Mommy and Daddy with Eva

Mimi and Paw Paw

The whole family minus Doug, taking the pic, and Aunt Amy, sleeping off her 4 in a row!

I love my Aunt Hanny!

As you all know by now, the horrible storms to ever come through Alabama devestated our state on April 28th. Some of the worst damage (and all of it was bad) was in Pleasant Grove, where Grant's family lives and has always lived. Well, that day we got out of school a bit early becuase of the weather coming in. I left even earlier to get Eva and got her home. As the storms began to get closer to Mississipp's line I began to get more nervous. I have always felt safe in Homewood, not becuase a storm will say, Oh, that is Homewood, I won't go there, but because we are on the mountain and have always had this sort of buffer. We just don't fall in that alley that the path or tornadoes always take. Well, that morning as I was getting dressed the first of the storms went right across the mountain in Vestavia and Cahaba Heights, very close to us. So, this afternoon I am realizing, we are not safe, anywhere. I am at home alone with Eva and if our tv goes out we have no way to know what is going on or how bad it may be. I would be scared to death, so I load up and head out to Pleasant Grove. Yes, right into the heart of the storm to come later.
As the storm passed Tuscaloosa and torn the city apart I heard James Spann telling Pleasant Grove, Hueytown and Bessemer to get to the place of safety. We all headed to the basement, the main reason I went out there in the first place. As it came close it was very loud, you could feel the noise. A few minutes later it was passed and we went outside. Trees were blocking the only road to their house and a large one was laying across our cars and on the back corner of the house. We had escaped with no injuries and very minor property damage. But, imediately we know there is more going on. People are screaming, ambulances and fire trucks are blaring and we find out later that a few blocks away, everything is gone. It takes several hours to get intouch with all of Grant's extended family who still lives in different parts of Pleasant Grove, but miraculously everyone was safe and no one lost anything! The same was not the case for many families and several close friends who Grant grew up with and went to church with for his entire life. The following weekend I stayed home to take care of Eva instead of go to dear friend's wedding, because Grant needed to help his town go through the pieces. He was torn apart, but felt some healing in being able to help. He is such a hard worker and such a loyal man that there was no where else he could be but there. While there is still much to do for his friends and the people he loves who lost so much, he knows he will be there, and we will be there to help in the future as well.
Since this horrible day in April, I have been moved to tears more from the outpouring of love and giving and selflessness that the people of this state, and so many others, have shown than I was at the fear and terror I felt in the midst of the storm. These are a few images Grant was given and some that he took, of his home town after the storm.

The upclose are images of his cousin's house, completely gone. They survived with the father standing over his wife and twin children in a corner of their basement. Miraculously, a wall collapsed and was held up just above them by a baby changing table. The airial views are of PG, the actual path of destruction that is now there.

Please continue to pray for all our state as this process of picking up the pieces of the lives that are left continues.