New Beginnings:

Are you as tired as I am of looking at that pic of me with blue hair?? Thanks, Tonya, by the way ;) I know I made it look good!




I'm getting ready to embark on a new stage in my life..."Domestic Engineer" ;) ....and I'm really praying and thinking about what this stage of my life should look like. I tease Chris that I'll be on the couch watching soaps and eating bon-bons! Really, though, the Lord has blessed me with certain talents, and though I may not know yet what their purpose is outside the corporate world of biomedical engineering...I am committed to using them for His purpose.

Obviously, a large portion of my time and talents will be used in the mission field of my home. I love this article that our pastor's wife shared about missional mothering.

One of the verses I always cling to during times of big transistions in my life is Jeremiah 29:11, and while studying the other morning, I revisited this verse. This time much of the chapter really spoke to me as I read about the Lord speaking through Jeremiah to His people in exile. Now, don't get me wrong here, I really don't feel like living in Memphis is quite as extreme as the text I'm relating it to, but I often feel my heart is somewhere else. I don't think this literally describes my situation, but what I'm feeling is the thought that God leads you to live somewhere and it is there you should build a life, pray for your city and it's leaders, and pray the city would prosper and find salvation in our Lord.



Jeremiah 29:4-14


4 This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. 7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” .....11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the LORD......


Today I read in the Memphis news that a Leadership Memphis study says 1 in 4 children living in Memphis is in dire poverty. That shocked me! I knew there was a lot of poverty in the area, but 1 in 4 children! There is a mission field right at my doorstep, and I'm praying we can do something to help.

Conversation with an almost 3 year old:

Sutton: "Mommy, what are you doing?"

Mommy: "Curling my hair"

Sutton: "Why?"

Mommy: "To make it look pretty. Do you think it looks pretty?"

Sutton: "No. (Thinking). It looks like mad hair. I like blue hair better!"


Hmm...What do you think??



Maybe I should go for a Marge Simpson up-'do look!



Love that little stinker :)

From Caroline:

For anyone out there thinking of shopping for the newest addition to the Alley family, Caroline said she would love ANYTHING from this site:

http://www.teacollection.com/girls-dresses

Swoon! Love love love these little dresses. It IS fun having a girl :)

My Sutton-Button:

with so much attention on our sweet little caroline, i always try to make sure our buddy sutton-button gets lots of special treatment.

before our girl's arrival, we moved out guy into his "big boy room" - it's not quite finished in this pic (i'll have to take some new ones), but sutton and i both agree it's awesome! we moved him straight from his crib to his big ol' queen sized bed. sutton's favorite part are the stripes daddy painted for him :)
here he is in his "fort" feeding his friends their "food"!

the week before caroline was born we declared to be "sutton-week". we made sure to do something super fun every day, even if it was a trip to sonic and the playground.

here are my boys on sushi night of sutton-week. mmm....edo!

fireworks at the redbirds game was an awesome way to wrap up sutton-week!

sutton's "end of the school year" program. he was so precious! and no, i did not know they'd be wearing tie-dye, or i would have never sent him in plaid shorts!! you can see one of his best buds, lilly may, next to him and amelia on the back row. they're singing "mr. sun"...love it!

after the program was a celebration with loads of animals and pony rides!

other sutton-summer-fun included making ice cream with poppy:

a trip to the huntsville botanical gardens (this is how the water play started...before you knew it he was sitting on the water spraying out of the rock!):

his new found love of star wars thanks to his light saber:

bowling with uncle casey and mr. frank (aka fred):
but the most fun of all is his new forever bestest friend, baby sister caroline :)

love those kiddos!!!

My Baby-moon:

So I've heard of the "baby-moon" where a hubby and preggo wife retreat for some alone time away before the baby comes, but I propose another definition of baby-moon, one where most of your time is spent not doing much but falling madly in love with your new baby - which is where I've been :)

Honestly, I'm not sure how 3 months have flown by so quickly. I'm blessed with such a sweet little love and want to just sit and soak in every precious minute with her and her big brother. I often think back to where we were this time last year and it feels like a whole lifetime ago. I hate that though, because I never want to take for granted the amazing miracles my children are and what a loving God I serve each day caring for these lives He created.

I hope you don't mind if I record a few things about my sweet ones, so I'm sure not to forget:

- The Pregnancy - Being pregnant with Caroline was much much harder on my body than being pregnant with Sutton, but I kept going knowing that I would do anything for my sweet daughter. I carried Caroline much higher than Sutton and could barely breath some days and I was also sicker for longer...but again, wouldn't have had it any other way! I gained exactly the same amount of weight with her that I did with Sutton, though it's not going away as quickly! I had another embarrassing elevator encounter at work (maybe you'll recall the one I had during my Sutton-preggo days): Someone said to me as we were exiting the elevetor, "Well, it's about that time!" I replied, "Yup, time to get to work this morning."...the door opens and he walks out saying, "I meant it's about time for you to have that baby." (Oh, ya, you're referring to the giant belly I'm carrying it around, sorry!).

- The Delivery - After much prayer and consultation with my doctor, friends and family, we decided for a scheduled-C (for various reasons too personal to put on the world-wide-web). It's a very weird thing to walk into the hospital at a scheduled time knowing the time down to the hour that you will be holding a baby in your arms!

- The Baby - She's absolutely the sweetest little thing I've ever met. I know Sutton was a good baby, but I remember lots of fussiness. Maybe it was his formula, or maybe I'm more comfortable with a newborn now, but she really is a GOOD baby. She's quite the picky eater though. Mommy really has to watch what she eats and think about whether or not Caroline would like it! Caroline started smiling just before 5 weeks of age and cooing a few days later. She started sleeping through the night at 8 weeks (I know it was so Mommy could get lots of rest on that beach trip!) and just started laughing for me when I tickle her tummy. She's also doing very well grasping for objects and loves her play-time on the floor more than Sutton ever did. Sutton, by the way, is an AMAZING big brother. So proud and protective of her right from the start. His first words when he saw her were, "Is that baby Corban (his best friend, Dakota's, baby brother)?", to which I replied, "No, this is your Baby Sister...Caroline!". He was so excited he kept saying, "That's MY baby sister! That's MY baby sister!" He still calls her Baby Sister most of the time and introduces her to others as "Baby Sister Caroline". Love it!!

We've been busy traveling the country showing off our "Sweet Cheeks" and "Sweet Rolls", but I have to say I'm really loving the every day life of a family of four we live - though it certainly has its moments!!

Thank Heaven for My Little Girl:

Our family of 3 has become a family of 4! We welcomed our precious little blessing, Caroline Elizabeth, into the world at 2:36 pm on April 20th. She weighed 8 lbs and 10 ozs and was 21 inches long with a head full of dark hair (which shocked most of us!).

It's true, we did not decide on a name until after she was born and we were waiting to be moved to the recovery room. We figured she needed a name before we introduced her to everyone! We chose Caroline because we wanted a good southern name that fit well with Sutton (which means a southern town). Caroline has a variety of meanings depending on the source you are looking at. I prefer "little and strong", which is the same meaning as my name, or "song of joy" :) Elizabeth we liked because it means "devoted to God" or "consecrated to God".

She's our little miracle and a true sweetheart. She's eating and sleeping well and we love her like crazy! Sutton is so excited to be a big brother. He loves to remind us that "that's my baby sister!"

We were discharged to go home from the hospital yesterday, April 23rd, which was exactly one year after being at the same hospital for a D&C surgery for our second miscarriage. God has worked a great miracle in the past year and we praise him for our special blessing!!

Enjoy these pictures, in no particular order. Sorry I'm just getting these posted, but I'm pretty sure I've been feeding a baby constantly since 2:36 on Tuesday :)

Day-Dreaming:

I do really love my job, but today I'm very much wishing I were home working on the bazillion crafts I have lined up for the kiddos' new rooms (wow...I'm going to have 2 kiddos here soon!).

And since I'm dreaming, I also would love to have the time for one of these projects:

rose barretts, hmmm...maybe matching ones for me and baby sis :)

easter napkins, but then I'd have to find the energy to cook easter dinner!

ruffled baby blanket, those ruffles look tricky, but I know some talented ladies that could coach me through it :)

coconut milk fudge truffles, yum!

And, since I know you're really on here to see some pictures of my handsome little guy, here you go :)

so proud of the stripes daddy painted on the walls in his "big boy room":

Just hatched at the Memphis zoo! Sutton is all about telling me how the "mama chicken keeps the eggs nice and warm and the daddy rooster says, 'cock-a-doodle-doo!'". Too cute. He's learning so much at school!

Being silly! My little guy loves to make me laugh as much as my big guy does :) (and, yes, that is a halloween bib, but who cares as long as breakfast stays off his shirt!)

Cooking Rut:

I am totally in a rut right now...a cooking rut. HELP! Last week we had soup for like every meal. Now, granted some were totally delicious, like the Tuscan Veggie Soup and this Broccoli Cheese Soup that I'm very much addicted to. I haven't been to the grocery store in I don't know how long and am trying to work up a meal plan and all I can think of is baked chicken - three different ways!

Maybe it's because food just isn't sound that appealing to me right now (with the exceptions of Mr. Wayne's amazing lasagna and coconut pie he treated us to last week and the super-yummy fish tacos from Blue Coast burritos we had on Sunday). Really, I'm just bored with my usuals.

So, those faithful few that read of our adventures, I could sure use some inspiration! If you could share a recipe or recipe link that you are enjoying, that would be awesome!

Bowl of Comfort:

I highly recommend you check out this ultra-yummy soup from Ellie Krieger: Tuscan Vegetable . Schmoopy and I both loved it and with all those vitamin-packed veggies in it, it's the perfect thing to ward off those winter-germies. Our little guy thought it was okay and managed to down some of the tomatoes, beans, and zucchini, but he was way more interested in the homemade pudding he helped me make earlier in the day (that I accidentally ate all of what was left when I got home from bible study! Ooops!).

Oh, and in Baby Sister news...she is supposed to be the size of a "Thick Wool Sweater, Folded" this week. Really? That's the best example Parents.com could think of?? She should be about 3 lbs and 17 inches now, with her due date less than 10 weeks away! I can't wait to meet my sweet baby girl :)

Speaking of my littlest love, I was totally going to be practical and just use Sutton's nursery bedding for her, but I caved and got Baby Sister her very own nursery set complete with a touch of pink :) After we saw her in 4D, I just felt like she needed some pink! The awesome part is that the bedding matches the walls and chair perfectly, so I can leave most everything else as-is :)

Baby Sister:

We got to see Baby Sister today for a 4D Ultrasound! We debated about doing it and ended up going ahead and signing up for it at the last minute. I'm so glad we did! It's amazing to see a little one in the process of being formed by her Heavenly Father and Creator. All ready Miss Personality sleeps like her momma with her arm up over her head and was sticking her toungue out at us. Everything about her was perfect, down to those sweet lips :)



What do you think? Maybe it is just me, but I think I'll be having a Mini-Me around the house in just a few short months! I'll see if I can get an old baby pic of me scanned in...

Here is one of Sutton's pictures from his 4D Ultrasound and pictures from when he was fresh into the world, for comparison :)

13 For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you

when I was made in the secret place.

When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body.

All the days ordained for me

were written in your book

before one of them came to be.
Psalm 139:13-16

Love you, Baby Sister, and can't wait to kiss that precious face and tickle those sweet feet!