What might have been...

With my due date being this Saturday, I am trying hard not to think about what might have been had things worked out differently. Since I always have my babies a week early, right now I would be holding my sweet little one in my arms and probably be getting ready to bring him home from the hospital. However, the Lord had other plans for our little family and now with my due date passing, I think I will fully be able to move forward. Overall, I would say that our family is doing well and that we are happy. The girls still talk about Max and we have some lovely reminders of him around the house. Aaron's sister, Heather, had this picture done for us and we have it hanging with our other family pictures. It was taken on a beach in Western Australia specifically for our little Max. You can read more here http://theseashoreofremembrance.blogspot.com/2011/05/about.html and here http://namesinthesand.blogspot.com

Heather also shared with us a lovely saying. It reads:

"Dear Lord, I wish I could have held him in my arms and told him about you, but since I cannot, will you please hold him in your arms and tell him about me."

I wish I could have taught Max the many things I had hoped to in this life, but instead, because of him I have learned so much more about the gospel, and my testimony has grown stronger. So, even though things didn't work out as planned, I am so grateful for the experience and the opportunity I had to bring Max into this world even for such a short time. Although he is not with us physically now, he will always be in our thoughts and he will always be part of our family. We miss him terribly and can't wait until we can be with him again

Easter

The girls were so excited for Easter this year and couldn't wait to have their Easter egg hunt. However, with 9:00 a.m. church and girls who sleep in late, there was no way we would be able to find what the Easter Bunny left us until after church. To keep them from going downstairs while we got ready for church, Aaron and I gave them each a little gift that they had to find hidden in their rooms. We got Chloe a new jewelry box and Abby got a new sleeping bag. Abby spent the morning dragging her sleeping bag around telling us how much she loved it and Chloe promptly started putting her jewelry away. Needless to say it kept them occupied for the morning. We had a wonderful time at church and were reminded of the true reason for Easter.

As soon as we walked in the door from church, the girls were off! They got tons of candy and little toys and by the end of the hunt, their baskets were overflowing!

After we sorted through the goodies, we headed out to my mom's house for another egg hunt -- cause we needed more candy :) -- and dinner. It was a beautiful Easter Sunday and we couldn't have asked for better egg hunting weather. Also, you might notice the adorable skirts that the girls were wearing...yep, I can officially say that I 100% made them. Not bad for my first try.

After dinner, we headed out to the Searle's for dessert and by the end of the night, the girls were on a huge sugar high. Oh well, that's one of the best things about holidays that involve candy. :)

Spring Break

Last week was spring break and we had tons of family in town for the week. We got to hang out with the Dollahite's and the McKinlay's the first half of the week and then got to see the Fulton's during the last half.  The girls had so much fun playing with their cousins and I enjoyed having excuses to go shopping and out to lunch. In addition to seeing family, we got to hang out with some of our friends and their kids. I didn't bring my camera along for most of our outings, but I did get a few shots of my girls playing with their friends. It was a very busy, but fun spring break!

Me, Jana, and Anne

 Hanging out eating and some ice cream with friends

Helping Hand

The other day Chloe told me to go upstairs because she had a surprise for me and that I couldn't come down until she called my name. I thought she was going to build me a fort, but when I came down she had an even more wonderful surprise for me...she had completely set the table for dinner, napkins and all. She did a great job and even remembered to get Abby's place mat out. What a sweet little helper I have. =)