And 8 years later...

I continue to paint for my own enjoyment and have recently started hosting paint parties with increased frequency.  All paintings and parties are posted on facebook at Kita's Korner. Please check it out and share with your people.

It has been awhile. I think everyone who used to check up on us via blog is now on fb.

552. Advocare

553. Advocare

554. Advocare

555. Advocare

556. Improvements to the old house that is now our new house

557. 20 minute ride to work as opposed to an hour

558. A babysitter that comes to our house

559. Two little girls that love each other

560. MAC's sweet hugs and kisses

561. Beks' growing vocabulary

562. Beks' super girliness

563. MAC's desire to be outside at all times

564. Improving my 5K time again

565. Improving my 5k time again again

566. The look on my sweet hubby's face when he realized he missed me crossing the finish line because I am so fast now!

567. Sweet innocent new student

568. Team Aloha

569. Speaker phone

570. Success School

571. Awesome next door neighbors at school

572. Bunk beds

573. Pete and Posey

574. Fresh air on cool fall nights

575. In house washer and dryer

576. Team Persist team calls

577. blue paint on the walls in our bedroom

578. Pumpkin patches

579. iPhones

580. Sparkly orange toe nail polish

581. Coupons

582. Husband that cuts coupons

583. Saving $100+ because of said coupons

584. God's redeeming grace

585. Recess duty

586. Ceiling fans

587. Friends that help me to bear my burdens

588. Facebook

589. Advocare Oasis

590. Runner's World

591. Clean sheets on every bed in our house

592. Wednesday and Thursday night house guest in the bottom bunk

593. Pulmicort

594. Staying in hotels for one or two nights

595. Hotel suites

596. My new bath tub

597. Good books

598. Winnie the Pooh

599. My nieces and nephew

600. My pants on the ground

517. A 5k with a friend

518. Finishing a 5k minutes faster than expected

519. A student saying "I enjoy being teached by you."

520. A medium margarita

521. Rapunzel Rebekah

522. Rebekah quoting lines from the Rapunzel movie to herself

523. MaryAlex crying because she wants to be in the big bed with her sister and momma

524. MaryAlex crawling to get close to everyone else

525. Chris Maul's photography skills

526. Upcoming beach vacation

527. Sunday School on a regular basis

528. Jesus in my Bekah's heart

529. our little house

530. Working septic systems

531. Marzoni's cupcakes

532. Friends visiting from Texas

533. Sunday afternoons on the "farm" with said friends

534. Movies with the Giles

535. Rebekah and Ty's friendship

536. Little Debbie Brownies!!!

537. Ward's biscuits

538. Sticky mouse traps

539. Clean sheets

540. Bubble bath with a book

541. Friends to read with

542. Charlotte Bronte

543. Paint

544. Paint brushes

545. Canvases

546. People that pay me to paint

547. Janice's encouragement

548. Conversations with my best friend in another time zone

549. Emailed pictures detailing life in the other time zone.

550. Grace

551. Grace

552. Grace

491. the Friend that harrases me for not updating my blog since Oct. 25.

492. same friend's unborn son

493. Thanksgiving with my girls

494. Thanksgiving dinner times two

495. A job that gives me a week off for Thanksgiving

496. A job that gives me two weeks off for Christmas

497. Lazy mornings with my girls

498. Christmas eve service with my grandparents

499. Grandparents that instilled the importance of church and family in my heart from the get go

500. Christmas Eve at my grandparents house

501. Rebekah's love for her great grandparents

502. Little country houses

503. My mother-in-law

504. McAllisters in Magee

505. Meeting my momma at that McAllisters

506. fuzzy socks

507. Rebekah singing "momma's gonna buy you a looking glass and if that looking glass gets broke, momma's gonna buy you a looking glass" over and over and over

508. Poop in the potty

509. Rebekah's babysitter

510. MaryAlex's babysitter

511. My Wednesday night crew

512. Stickers

513. Washing machines

514. Students with autism

515. Vibram 5 fingers

516. 3 mile runs with friends

451. Brownies

452. Krispy Kreme donuts

453. Donuts, period.

454. Rebekah calling donut holes "baby donuts"

455. Rebekah pushing her stool around trying to get to the donuts instead of asking for one

456. Rebekah snuggles in the morning time

457. "hold me tight, momma" and then "dat too tight"

458. Rebekah saying "I want to see her" about her baby sister

459. Mary Alex smiles

460. Mary Alex grins

461. Mary Alex coming out of her skin when she sees herself in the mirror

462. Mary Alex grabbing and holding on tight to anything!

463. Door prizes

464. Running 5Ks side by side with my honey

465. Running 5Ks side by side with my honey with both girlies in strollers

466. Donut bread pudding

467. Trustworthy friends who double as babysitters

468. Friends on maternity leave with me

469. Margaret Elise Rawlinson's safe arrival to this world

470. Mamie's front porch

471. Little hands cleaning Mamie's chairs

472. Rebekah instructing her baby about Mamie's front porch

473. Outings with just my Bekah

474. Bekah telling me "dat not posed to talk/dance/sing" while we watch Beauty and the Beast

475. Bekah's love for her "bank-bank" (blanket)

476. Riding in the Jeep with J.R.

477. Quality magazines

478. The Message

479. acrylic paint

480. footprints in acrylic paint across my studio floor

481. Michaels' sales

482. Medela

483. Vonage. Vonage. Vonage.

484. Facebook

485. An ambitious husband

486. Microwave

487. Frozen meals from friends

488. Cowboy boots

489. "ooh ooh ah ah" boots

490. Butcher paper

MaryAlex and KatieAnn

Due 9 days apart. Born 20 hours apart.

I hope they like each other.

Snoozing. 1 week old.

Tailgating 6 weeks old

411. The Family Medical Leave Act

412. Toaster Strudels

413. 6+hours of sleep

414. Rocking my baby in the silence of night

415. Cuddling my girl in the silence of night

416. Pull-ups

417. Flushable wipes

418. Rebekah's sweet voice singing Bible songs

419. "I ruv you, mum"

420. That special connection between grandmothers and their first granddaughter

421. Rocking chairs...all shapes and sizes

422. Visiting friends

423. Friends who visit

424. Tailgating

425. Little Debbie Brownies

426. Miracle Blanket

427. The whole Giles family

428. Margaritas

429. Mexican restaurants with great patios

430. KLove

431. A husband who makes sure there is gas in my car

432. Healthy family

433. Lavendar

434. Blank canvases

435. The Message bible

436. Bunko

437. Socializing at Bunko

438. Kelly's baking skills

439. Kelly

440. Mary Alex and KatieAnn crying in my backseat

441. Tasha's willingness to have icecream for supper with me when I need it

442. Vibram 5 Fingers

443. Jogging Strollers

444. Rebekah's desire to draw

445. Rebekah's smudgy handprints after she draws all over herself

446. Cellphones

447. Vonage phone service

448. Long conversations with Joy

449. Snail mail

450. New to me books

My #1 girl

When Rebekah was born, I had the joy of falling in love with J.R. all over again. It was so beautiful to see this side of him I'd never seen before.

Since Mary Alex was born, I've had the joy of falling more in love with Rebekah as I watch her love her baby sister.

My first born is a sweet girl.

Putting pigtails in my hair. She wants pigtails in her hair everyday of the week.

On a family lunch date at McAllisters.

On a family lunch date at Chili's after we went to the Pecan Festival.

See how cute her pigtails are!

Supper at Logan's.

Loving her Daddy (and her Miney)

My super good friend, Kat and I (and our girls) visiting at Mamie's

Mary Alex's first women's conference at church. Priscilla Shirer.

Mary Alex's first time to tailgate (at Southern)

Mary Alex's first football game (at Southern)

Sweet Sleepy Smiles

Becoming a Family of Four

Waiting for Baby Carter...13 days to go

And she's here!

Mary Alexander Carter

August 18, 2010

5:34pm

8lbs7oz

20 1/2 inches long

Meeting Momma

Sisters first impression

Carter, party of 4

Smitten

Daddy's girls

Sweet sisters

381. ARC camp

382. ARC angels

383. A healthy pregnancy

384. Mary Alex Carter

385. A supportive OB/GYN (and very good friend)

386. My momma and mother-in-law putting up with me during labor

387. A husband putting up with me for the first two days of labor

388. Forest General Hospital

389. Good meals cooked by other people

390. 4 generations of my family loving each other

391. 4 generations of my family rocking on the porch

392. Katherine, Avery and Jan

393. Rebekah's love for Mary Alex

394. MacBook Pro

395. Internet at the house

396. Full size keyboard

397. Full keyboard emails from Joy

398. My best friend

399. Internet that allows me to communicate with 398. across the Atlantic Ocean

400. Hawaiian goodies

401. Honey, my puppy

402. Yardwork completed by other people

403. A glass of ice water

404. Rebekah singing "Jesus Loves Me"

405. Rebekah rocking her babies

406. Rebekah cooing over Mary Alex

407. Mary Alex's coos

408. Mary Alex's baby breath on my neck

409. Rebekah's drawings

410. JR's job

Cousin Will

We traveled to Georgia for Will's first birthday party. Cute birthday boy
They loved playing in this jump.

Rebekah LOVES to hug on Will.

I'm not sure how he feels about it.

Enjoying the weather and her lunch.

April fun

Enjoying a video game
Drawing (and aggravated that I invaded her privacy with a camera)

Sweet thing in the morning

She spent several days outfitted for rain

She likes to "seep" anywhere...

this is our bathroom floor and she has her baby doll and two favorite stuffed animals crammed in that box under her head

351. My husband
352. Our house
353. Our mutual friends
354. Our sweet girl
355. Our sweet baby to be
356. Our dog that stays outside
357. Our parents
358. Happy get togethers at our house
359. Quality time in the car with 351,354, and 355
360. Walks with 351, 354 and 355

361. The Cheesecake Factory
362. Nice hotel rooms
363. Overly expensive hotel breakfast buffets
364. Doormen
365. R's joy over escalators and atriums

366. The three precious years of friendship I had with Rebekah Carol before she went to heaven
367. The peace I have from knowing Rebekah is in heaven
368. The things I have learned since Rebekah went to heaven

369. Quiet art making time in my classroom
370. Kids who do their work correctly the first time so they can enjoy "art making time"
371. My peers at work that rock
372. Having lots of stuff ready for 2010-2011 school year already
373. Not having to pack my whole classroom up
374. Cohesive teams
375. One and half more days of school

376. R going to bed an hour early
377. Watching 4 hours of LOST uninterrupted since 376
378. Afternoon phone calls from college friends who are on maternity leave
379. Middle of the night phone calls from South Africa
380. Texts from my honey

317. my husband who isn't a lazy bum
318. my husband who does and wants to take care of our family
319. my husband who isn't addicted to his game system
320. my husband who is a good daddy
321. my husband who grocery shops
322. my husband who takes showers in the morning
323. my husband period

324. nice secretaries
325. kids following directions the first time
326. Rebekah's typical obedience
326. Dates to the movie theatre
327. Big envelopes of Joy's leftover craft supplies
328. Joy's emails
329. contact lenses
330. air conditioner
331. chocolate candy
332. Teacher Appreciation week
333. Jeep rides with the top down
334. Rebekah's sweet "weeeeeeeeeeeeee" with hands in the air
335. Caliente's food
336. Caliente's atmosphere
337. fresh sheets on the bed
338. fluffy pillows
339. Golden Grahams...put them in the bowl with the milk on top
340. Phone calls from Hawaii
341. Completing 2 IEPs with RAH
342. Absent students when I have a headache
343. Sharpie pens
344. my Wednesday ladies
345. my Wednesday ladies not on Wednesday
346. my friend who said "skid skid skid"
347. good novels
348. pygmy goats
349. grass smell
350. not having a homeroom class

311. Eyesight
312. Hearing
313. Sense of Touch
314. Rebekah's growing understanding of the world around her
315. "D.V." time in the mornings
316. Sunshine!!!!

I've been a poor blogger lately. My excuse is no internet at home and hormones have taken over my life. Here are some recent pictures of our favorite Miss Priss. She's very interested in tableware and sweets.
She LOVES to sneak up and "hug" on her cousin Miles.

She loves boots, any pair or size will do.

Tickling. She comes at you with both hands under her chin and all fingers wiggling.

She always paints her body in addition to the paper. Toes are her favorite.

She likes to skip out on her Saturday after lunch nap and crash wherever she falls in the late evening.

She likes to get "inside" my clothes or the covers.

She imitates everything we do in the restroom, especially putting in contacts.

She likes to put herself to sleep reading.

She enjoys singing and dancing in front of the mirror.

Happy Rebekah Day

In several more hours, Rebekah will be TWO years old. Two years. Amazing. God is good.March, 12 months April, 13 months May, 14 months

June, 15 months July, 16 monthsAugust, 17 monthsSeptember, 18 months

October, 19 monthsNovember, 20 monthsDecember, 21 monthsJanuary, 22 months February, 23 months

March, 24 months