Happy 2nd Birthday to our Gator Baby!

For Grace Louise's birthday this year, we decided to throw a tailgating themed bash at our new house! Eager to fill our home with the love and laughter of many people who care about our sweet girl, the guest list grew...and boy, was it a party!!! If you are reading this and were part of making this great day happen by helping out or simply joining us to celebrate, THANK YOU!

Plenty of ORANGE and BLUE! Guests came sporting their team colors (mostly orange and blue- with a few party pooper exceptions).

Big thanks to my sweet and very creative friend, Stephanie, for helping me create this AMAZING banner. It was just what I was hoping for!

My little family :-)

Grace Louise and her friends loved trying out her new sandbox! I anticipate lots of creative play time in this!

This year Grace Louise got a normal cupcake like everyone else. Quite a treat! I only gave her a smidgen of icing, but as you can see, she somehow got a bit more! Grrrr... I'm so glad I don't have to defend my parenting choices concerning her diet on a daily basis!

PRESENTS!!!

With no older sibling, Grace Louise is accumulating her own collection of toys, one birthday and Christmas at a time! She was blessed with so many great gifts and art supplies!

Our attempt at getting all of the Gator Cheerleaders together for a picture. Try convincing a bunch of toddlers... we only got three! But there were many and they were oh so cute in their Gator garb!

(Apparently Grace Louise thought this was silly face time!)

Hugs for Addy Fann!!!

Baby Hayden wanted to be in the mix too! The girls were so sweet with her!

Grace Louise has always loved her so much!

The big surprise from Pops and BeBe. Her very own Gator Jeep!

Taking Addy for a ride and having way too much fun chasing BeBe around the yard!

The four DeVane great-grands.

Quinten, Grace Louise, Triston, and baby Cade

All tuckered out from the BEST party ever!

From the mouth of my babe

Driving home in the car yesterday evening, I was praying aloud, chatting with God about my first official, paying yoga class that I just taught (wahoo!!!). “Well, how do you think that went, God? I know that you will bring whoever needs to be there and that I have nothing to worry about. I think it went well! It was fun!”

Grace Louise chimes in, “Who are you talking to, mommy?”

“Jesus,” I say.

She predictably responds, “I talk to Jesus too!” That’s her new thing… whatever I like, she likes too; whatever I do, she does too. (I guess that means I better be saying and doing only things that can be repeated!!!)

I ask her, “What does Jesus say to you?”

And she replies so matter of factly, “Hey Buddy!”

Not exactly King James language, but oh, out of the mouth of babes!

Grace Louise is not quite two, but, WOW, her vocabulary is ridiculous. And the way she puts together sentences, the things she remembers from previous conversations; she's keeping me on my toes, for sure!

The other day Jimmy was leaving for work and after giving a good-bye kiss, Grace Louise reminded him, “Be careful, daddy!”

WHAT?!?! He stopped dead in his tracks. Yes, Yes, your (almost) two year old just issued a bid for your safety.

She told me something similar a few weeks ago while riding our bike around the neighborhood. About half way into our ride, me a little wobbly from peddling up hill, Grace Louise reminded me, “Be careful mommy. Don’t fall off!” I guess from her point of view, my biking skills were sub-par.

Another line she's notorious for: "I wanna hold that baby right there!" (said with a really sweet southern twang). I think she might be a great big sister one day!

She puts in her requests at bedtime. I’ve always sang two particular songs to her while rocking (since the day she was born, actually), I Love You Lord and Oh How I Love Jesus. Now-a-days, I start singing one of the two, only to be interrupted by my nursing piglet saying, “I non't like dat one. Sing Jesus Loves Me.” So we sing...

Grace Louise recently told me “I love you” first. Not a conditioned response to what I tell her a million times a day. Just because. Heart. Melted. Right. There.

I've always loved those emails, "The Things Kids Say," line after line of hilarious, sweet, or even heart-gripping words spoken innocently by children. (notice I said innocently by children, not by innocent children! lol!)

I guess that's one of the perks of being a mom, your own personal spoken entertainment! And many many memories of sweet first words and conversations. From the mouths of our babes.

"Nuk nuk nuk."

The sound we use to make babies suckle. Grace Louise is giving her baby ninny too!

"Yippee! I made a tower!"

She likes building towers more than cooking. Architect or chef. I'm cool with either!

I am a friend of God!

To say I know the living God personally and that He’s my friend, must sound absolutely insane to someone who doesn’t believe.

In the midst of a trial or in the busyness of life sometimes I find myself forgetting just how approachable God is. I act as though He can’t possibly understand my frustrations or how I feel. I distance myself from His answers instead of drawing near, opening my heart, and listening. I crowd out His soft-spoken assurances with worry and what ifs. In doing so I miss out on true companionship- the chance to be comforted by the Great Counselor.

God wrapped His big sweet arms around me today and reminded me that He’s not only Sovereign God, He’s my friend. Oh, to be a friend of Jesus! There’s no friendship more safe or true. Fully understood. No words necessary. Fully accepted. No explanation needed. Fully loved. Just receive.

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. – John 15:15