Chrissy... A beautiful and wonderful mother

I, Derrick, can't imagine what the world would be like without Chrissy. She truly is such a wonderful wife and mother. I am amazed each day at the love and support given to me and the kids. Chrissy is the most compassionate and nurturing person I have ever met. Today, the kids and I enjoyed celebrating their beautiful mother. The photos below give you a little insight into our day.... mother's day.
The best mom
Ella once again having to be told..."be easy".
Ella and I

Ella is getting accustomed to my new facial hair. She enjoys rubbing my face... sometimes I feel a little bit like a "petting zoo".
Chrissy's mother's day present.... two 24x28 frames with photos of our kids. Chrissy had never seen these two photos... our friend Becky had taken the photos a few weeks ago. The photos were the perfect accent to our dining room walls. As you can see in this picture, the frames take up half the wall. We couldn't be more proud of them!

Our growing boy...

Hudson is growing each day. One of his favorite things to do is to be held. He is such a precious, sweet baby.

Hudson's grumpy face...

One little foot with 5 tiny toes.... Chrissy thinks he has my feet simply because they are quite large....

Weird... but Cool

Tonight for Chrissy's mother's day dinner we ate at Davenport's Pizza in Mountain Brook. This restaurant was become one of our favorite places to eat. I tried to grab some photos of Ella but my camera was doing wierd things... such as this photo. As you can see from the photo Ella was enjoying her time playing with the ice in her cup.

Dad...I thought a nursery was for babies.....

Tonight, while waiting for dinner, Ella and I took a walk thru a local nursery in Mountain Brook. I had the camera with me and was able to catch some photos of Ella's nursery adventure. Ella loved smelling the flowers. The part she did not enjoy was me taking the pictures. I had hoped for better shots but as a parent.... you give and take.

Someone knocked over this plant and Ella was trying to pick it up.
Ella... wishing I would leave her alone with the camera.
Ella leading me thru the flower beds.

"Walk...Walk....Walk...."

The word "walk" has to be one of Ella's favorite words. The child loves to walk. Every day she anticipates a walk outside. Today she was thrilled to be walking in the windy weather. Her little legs couldn't walk fast enough down the street.
Ella was excited to see a kite flying in the air. "Kite" was a new word learned at this moment in life. She said the word 12 times over the next hour.
Ella giving me the look.... telling me... "Come on... follow me dad."
Ella tries her best to walk briskly away from me. I was almost running to get her.
"Please dad..."

Ella giving me the look..... trying to tell me that she wasn't ready to go to dinner.

The many expressions of Ella...

A sneak peak of what is to come....

"Our little bear"

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Our wonderful and extremely talented friend Becky Abernathy has done it again.... She has taken some of the most phenomenal photos of Hudson. This photo is a sneak peak into what is come...... Watch our blog or check out Becky's website for more photos in the future.

www.abernathyphotographics.com.

www.abernathyphotographics.typepad.com

"Ella can you say church?"

Ella has now learned to say the word "church". Each morning as I leave for work she will say..."church... church". She has come to the conclusion that everytime I leave I am headed to church. These photos were taken yesterday morning before heading to church. Ella loves church. She enjoys her class.... except for yesterday when she was bitten by a little boy. Chrissy and I didn't get upset about the situation because we know that Ella could very well do the same thing to another child. We are learning that kids will be kids..... this is not an easy lesson to learn.

"Another kiss for Hudson... I think he has already had 15 today."
"Our little miss personality"

Who knew a waterhose could be so much fun?

While in South Carolina Chrissy and Ella decided to wash the car..... as you can see in these photos the car washing was a true treat for Ella.

Ella's cousin Brayden

This past week I attended a children's ministry conference in Greenville, South Carolina. While I attended the conference, Chrissy and the kids spent some time with my family in Woodruff. My youngest sister, Brittney, has a little boy named Brayden. Ella loves Brayden. She couldn't kiss him enough. (I am starting be a little concerned about Ella always enjoying kissing the boys! )

Fun Times with Brandon and Ava

We have found some new friends who live in our neighborhood. The family has two great twins named Brandon and Ava. Ella loves playing with the Brandon and Ava. These photos are from Ella's water day that was to much fun!

A visit from Lauren

Two weeks ago I worked a Videa Nueva. Videa Nueva is a retreat for teenagers. I was a spiritual director on the weekend. The weekend was a true treat being that I was to share this experience with our previous youth pastor, Micah Andrews. While gone on the retreat Chrissy was in need of some help with the kids. Our wonderful friend Lauren can into town. The kids loved Lauren. Chrissy was so sad to see her leave.

Hudson @ 3 weeks

Hudson is growing.... and Ella can't get enough of him. Each morning Ella awakes asking for "baby". We have been amazed at how much she enjoys kissing him. We are still working on being... "easy with baby brother".