Celebrating G-Baby

The girls from small group threw G-Baby a shower today, and to say that we ate well and laughed hard is an understatement. When they mentioned throwing a shower for us I wasn't too sure since I felt like I JUST had  showers for Knox (which...is a little bit true) and didn't know what was "acceptable" for having a shower with a second child so close in age, but I am so glad we did it. It was so fun and light, which is what I love. We kept it mainly just small group girls and the women in my family, and it was so nice to just sit around and be comfortable...eat a lot...and enjoy all the precious women around me. I honestly can't put in to words what these women mean to me. They have definitely seen the good, the bad, and the ugly...and somehow choose to love on me and my family and encourage me in tremendous ways. They are just like family to me. I am restored by deep friendships and I love love love walking through life with these women. I always know that they will point me to the truth no matter how hard or uncomfortable that might be, and I trust them with every area of my life. Each girl is so unique and different in so many ways, and we are all in different stages of life, but somehow we work...REALLY well :).

I have a few pictures to post, but I am really sad that I don't have some of the food. It was ah-mazing and beautiful! Hopefully Leslie took some snaps and will send them to me. I went back through my camera and realized that we took a lot of crazy pictures that you couldn't pay me to post...but we did manage to squeeze in a few normal ones. I am going to try-as best as I can-to put in to words how amazing these women truly are!

                                                                         Group Shot

Here is sweet Amy. She has an adorable little boy, Brandt, and just found out a few weeks ago that she will be giving Brandt a brother is April. So fun!! Amy was in the first small group that we were in, and it was neat to go through a lot of the same stages of life together. She and I both are teachers, and we have been pregnant at the same time with both children! Can't wait to meet baby #2!

                                          

Sweet Andrea. She is known as "Supermom." Mother of 3 BEAUTIFUL children, Audiologist, and amazing wife! She was the one of the first people I remember meeting when we started going to church at COTES, and her life has impacted me so much. She loves the Lord so much and everything about her life reflects it.

Oh, and here's little Mrs. Leslie. Precious, Precious! I call her the "Face of COTES." She is on staff at church, and you will ALWAYS find her volunteering or serving in some way or another. She has been married for 17 years (isn't she a hottie?) and has 3 awesome kids. 2 redheaded boys (might I add :)), and an adorable little girl. She will seriously serve your face off, so watch out. The shower was at her house today, and it was beautiful. She is somewhat of a role model for me. I love everything about her life and am so encouraged by her love for people.

Misty. One of my all-time favorite people. She is the mother of 2 of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen. Her oldest is 5 and she has just recently added baby Holland to their household about 4 months ago. I can't get enough of those girls. I met Misty 3 years ago and have watched her hunger for the Lord grow in ways you wouldn't believe. I feel honored to be a part of her life and to experience everything the Lord is doing in and through her. She is, not to mention, one of the funniest people I know. There are NO secrets with Misty and you will always, always know what she is thinking. I love it! She is so real and down to Earth, which I believe to be an amazing and rare quality. 

Ohhhh...we all know and love these 2 ladies, especially the one on your left...Crazy Wawa! Haha. Wawa on your left and RiRi (mom) on your right. I really wish I would have had a microphone on me today to record the stuff she was saying. No filter, WaWa. No filter. I am not sure there is enough time to post about these 2 sacrificial women. Both have raised me and bent over backwards for me when I least deserved it growing up. My mother would literally give you the shirt off her back if you needed it and not think twice. Her super patient and never-ending love for her children is one of the traits that I admire most about her. These 2 women love them some Foxie Knoxie, but I think it's safe to say that they are super pumped that I will be having a daughter of my own very soon. The more I think about it, maybe they are just excited for me to get some payback for all the trouble I put them through growing up? :)

Here is my heartbeat, Sister. I am not loving this picture, but I am loving the girl in it.Trying to find the words to describe her is already making me tear up, so I don't think I will spend too much time on it. You already know how important she is to me, and how she is the epitome of the word "sister." I don't think that I could have hand picked a better sister, and I definitely know that she gives me a run for my money when it comes to loving Knox! She is definitely his second mother, and sometimes I wonder if he'd prefer to be hers?? She has played such a huge part in teaching me about life, relationships, marriage, and parenting. I thank God for her everyday.

Oh. My. Soul. This crazy cat is Brady. If you don't know her, you need to meet her. Don't let this sweet picture fool you. She is out of control. This is the infamous girl I have talked so much about that gave birth to twin boys in September. She now has 3 little boys under the age of 20 months! She is a TROOPER, and I couldn't have chosen a better mother for those boys...She is perfect for the job! Brady is my accountability partner and we meet every week and share all the little things in our life that we need prayer over or just need to vent about (while we are feeding babies at the same time :). She pretty much can roll with the punches and is totally laid back with everything...a little something I need to pick up on. She can also run faster and farther than Forrest Gump. It's true. She ran a half marathon like it was nothing while she had 2 babies inside of her. 

I don't know how it happened, but I do not have a picture with ANGIE!! We took some, but they didn't turn out!? Sadness. Angie is by far the FUNNIEST person you will ever meet. And...she is LOUD, which is awesome since we all know I am not the quietest person to be around. Her laugh is seriously contagious and every time I am with her I can't wait to hang out with her again. What I love most about Angie is that she will never, ever, compromise what she believes for anything or anyone. The Lord is definitely her rock and her salvation and you will know it about her after 2 minutes of meeting her. She has 3 children as well, and always finds time to serve you in some way, shape, or form. She gives the most amazing hugs, and she loves to be an ear and listen. She is a really good listener and truly desires to be a sounding board for me whenever I am at my wits end about something. In fact, little lady has definitely listened to me this week about my child having temper tantrums. She even comes over and drinks hot chocolate with me while I vent :). AND...if I ever need to cry, she welcomes it whole heartedly. It doesn't scare her at all and she almost makes me feel like it's normal to cry about things. Almost...

I don't have a pic with Rachel either, but she is a sweet young thing that has been married for a while now and they are contemplating starting a family. She is so precious and innocent, and bless their hearts-they are placed around all of our children every week for small group. It's amazing that they would even think about babies and children since they get to experience the zoo we have going on each week. One thing is for sure, she will definitely have lots of girls to talk to and borrow things from when her time comes. Our group has like 50 kids in it!

And lastly, but certainly not least, the one...the only...Brett Jones. Crazy girl threatened our lives if we posted any pics of her today, so I thought I would post a pic of her Christmas card. It pretty much sums up her personality all together:

It's true. That's a picture of her and David Hasselhoff. She sent these puppies out to everyone, and I am pretty positive that all the recipients wet their pants. She brought some copies to the shower today and handed them out and the girls were rolling. Especially Wawa :). Brett is the owner of The Polka Dot Princess and as you can see, is very creative. She and I go all the way back to college and campus outreach days. We didn't really start off as friends at first, but she is someone that I have really gotten to know and can really be honest with and relate to. Her life is incredible and she is super involved with the high school girls at our church. They don't realize how lucky they are to have someone like her in their life...young, fun, honest, CRAZY, hysterical, loves the Lord, etc. I could go on about her and her craziness for a quite a while. After the shower today, a few of us stayed around and just cried laughing at her while she entertained us for a bit. I so wish that she would still be around the youth group when Greer becomes of age. Something tells me she will be in a different phase of life at that point, though.

O.K., I'm done. SO thankful for these women and for what they mean to me. I can only Pray that Greer has a group of women like this helping her walk with the Lord as she "does" life. But until she grows up and finds her own special group of friends, she can hang out with us for a while...