Unfailing Love: Take The Plunge...

Vincent Gerard

This is my hubby. Also known as Vinny, Dowey, Dowebally, and (as of last night) Pickle Juice. (You may learn that I have an affinity for nicknames, comes from my daddy!) Unbelievably, the hubs and I have been married for 9 years! I can't believe it! Seems like just yesterday I was a freshman in college and my friend introduced me to this hunky senior with a hot red car! Vince is working hard to support our family and traveling here and there. Vince is a WONDERFUL father and his girls (all of us) are the most important things to him!

Barclay Kathryn

What to say? I'm Barclay, usually known as Barclay (not much you can do with Barclay). I was an elementary teacher for fours years until I had Bella. Now I am doing the job I have wanted to do ALL of my life, being a mom. I love these two girls more than I can possibly express and it is my joy and privilege to be able to spend each day with them. I recently entered the blog frontier, and although my blog followers will probably be able to be counted on one hand, I thought it would be exciting to be a part of something so neat. I love that there are many other moms out there facing the same joys, hardships, questions, surprises, and challenges that I am. I also hope to be a sort of medium to spread awareness for others that need prayers, help, or just someone to walk through life with!

Isabella Kathryn

Usually referred to as Bella. As well as Bells, Bellie, Belly Boo, Bellsie Bubs, Bubs, Bubba, Bells and Whistles.... Bella is our first born daughter. She is 6. Bella enjoys school, reading, riding her training-wheel free bike, she could color and write for hours, she loves singing to the Momma Mia soundtrack, anything princess or pink, having bows in her hair, playing dress up, and her little sisters! God blessed us with Bella a month early but she was perfectly healthy. In six years she has become such a bright, outgoing, sensitive, and fearless little girl. Bella really is the sweetest girl you will ever meet. She is eager to please. If she hurts or disappoints someone it literally crushes her to tears. This last year she asked Jesus to be her Lord and Savior and we could not be more proud!! Love this sweet, blonde, blue eyed beauty!

Bryanna Karina

Usually known as Brynn. As well as Brynnie, Miley, Miley Moo, Geegs, Geegers, Brynnie Boo, and many more. Ten days before Bella turned 2 years old we were blessed with another beautiful, healthy girl by planned c-section. This time I was able to see my baby right after birth, watch her get weighed, bathed, etc. I couldn't wait for Bella to meet her. Brynn is now 4 and keeps me laughing all day long. Brynn, since she was about 2 months old has been the smiliest baby I have ever met. All you need to do is look at her and she will flash you a world class smile. Brynn is smiley, more shy and reserved about things than her big sis, can be quite the clown when she feels safe or gets in a silly mood, amazingly brilliant, she's been speaking full sentences since she was 19 months and continues to amaze us with what comes out of her mouth. She loves doing whatever her big sister is doing, dressing up, looking at books, her blankie, being held, twirling in her dresses, singing, and dancing whenever she hears music! Brynn is my compassionate baby, she hates to see people hurting. We just love this sweet, shy, snuggly, smiling little girl!

Brooklyn Blythe

Also known as Brookie, Brookie Cookie, Cookie Lu, Lulu B just to name a few. Sweet, sweet Brooklyn is our family's latest addition! We welcomed Brookie into our family on August 23rd 2010 at 12:23pm by planned c-section. I was nervous she would be a bit high maintenance since she came out screaming bloody murder and continued to wail anytime anyone touched her- get her footprints, take her temperature, etc. Amazingly, she would instantly stop the moment the Hubs touched her or began talking to her. And since her birthday, we have barely heard a peep out of her..... And fast forward 18 months, she definitely makes plenty of peeps now! :) We are full blown in the the terrible twos (which IMO last from 18-36 months) I believe. To make matters worse she's also cutting her 4 molars. She definitely knows what she wants but can't quite articulate it, so gets frustrated. Eating is also a hit or miss these days which is very foreign to me. Mixed with the crabby days though is the funniest personality ever. She is a riot! She LOVES chasing after her big sisters or having them chase and imitate her. She also has this adorable chubby face and will peek out of the corner of her eyes and just melt your heart! She is definitely shy at first but if you can get through to her she will keep you in stitches with her antics. We love you little BB and couldn't ask for a sweeter addition to our family!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Take The Plunge...

I don't usually post on the weekends but I've been trying to get this post up the last 3 days. It has just been crazy around here!

Another great thing we have had the ~~priviledge~~ honor to be a part of, was a baptism service at our church. The Hubs and I were asked to help plan a fun celebration around our usual baptism service and we, party planning lovers, jumped at the opportunity. We were so thankful they valued our opinions and took and went with a lot of our ideas, for example our theme of "Take the Plunge." So we, along with many other talented volunteers put together a fabulous time. We had a tailgating party with fun games, face painting, bouncers, and a dunk tank for the kiddos. Everyone brought their own food and grilled out and socialized. The Hubs had the fabulous idea to have our own Red Bull Flugtag event. Now since we obviously couldn't have things flying we decided to make devices and see how far they could float. So while everyone was tailgating we provided the supplies for them to create their own FLOATENTAG devices, our spin on Flugtag. At 4 the baptism service began in a pond near by. One thing I love about our church's baptism service is that each participant (if they want) gets a chance to share their testimonies. These men and women and even children have such inspiring stories and are just amazing reminders of how having God in our lives can change us, for the better! Following the service we had our Floatentag event, and it was a hit! There was some great and creative boats! Here are some pics from the event (unfortunately I didn't get any of the tailgating-too busy registering baptizees and boaters):

Bella and Avi hanging out in our Floatentag device...

Having a grand old time and practicing their moves for the race!

All the boaters lined up and ready to go!

We had made a boat for Bella but hadn't planned on participating, well when Bella heard her daddy announce to bring the boats down and line up, she apparently picked hers up and made her way to the lake (Jake and Shari were watching her though-what a good listener : ) ). Here is where she parked her boat, waiting with the other racers.

Sissy joined in on the fun too!

Mr. Dion graciously offered to push Bella in the pond a bit since I didn't have the heart to tell her she couldn't race.

Her daddy asked, "Who's ready to start the race." Sat there with her little hand in the air!

We had 17 boats in all, not including our wonderful addition though!

There she goes!

Look at them all go!

Bella showing off her medal.

What a wonderful event to be a part of, I look forward to our next! Would you be interested in Taking the Plunge with us next time!?

The Chapel of Grayslake

4 comments:

Lexi said...: HI! I saw your comment on Mckmama! I wanted to share my website with you: Sugarandspice1.etsy.com
I will be donating a portion of all sales to the String of pearls to help families and babies like Stellan! I am trying to get it out there in any way I can! Please let your family, friends etc. I would really appreciate it!
Thanks!! :)
-lexi
Sugarandspice4baby.blogspot.com; July 25, 2009 at 7:59 PM
Lisa said...: It was a great event Barclay...Thanks for serving so faithfully :) (thanks to Vince too!); July 25, 2009 at 10:08 PM
Allie said...: I came upon your blog from someone else's blog. I started reading blogs shortly after my son was born in March 2009. I got hooked on MckMama's blog and Angie's blog and some others. I have been thinking about starting my own blog, but was unsure about it. I had some of the same fears and qualms about starting blogging. (I have started going back to the beginning of your blog and reading it). I also was unsure if I wanted pictures of my son on the internet for the world to see. But I wanted to let you know that you made me change my mind, and now I am going to start blogging. I have only read a little bit of your blog, but I think you are a great writer. I put you up there with Angie and MckMama. And I also think you are very creative. That was such a neat idea for the baptism celebration for your church. I also loved your not me Monday posts. SO, I hope you don't mind but I will be reading your blog. And thanks to you, I will be starting my own, hopefully on Monday. Thanks for sharing, I enjoy it. I also love photography and I love your pictures. Your girls are so cute. Oh, one more thing, I graduated from TIU as well, in 2000.; July 26, 2009 at 12:45 AM
Unknown said...: I just happened across your blog andwhat great timing...our church is having Splash '09! This next week-end! I am so excited as I have never been to a river Baptism! What great pic's you shared...thank you!; July 26, 2009 at 10:08 PM