I'll Love You Forever

Dan is out of state on TDY so I am home alone with the kids. That's normal, and I enjoy my moments post-bed time routine/chaos. I love having the remote in my hand and the computer in my lap as I grade papers (with a glass - or two! - of white wine). It is so relaxing after a crazy day of parenting!!! Noah is a great napper, still - almost 4 years after his birth. He will turn 4 on 12 February and I. Can't. Believe. It. Wow, how time flies.

I have gotten nap time down to a science in this house! There is NO giving up Noah's naps till he goes off to Kindergarten. He and Ellyotte get up at 7:30ish each morning, eat breakfast and Elly and I take Noah to school at 9:00 Mondays-Fridays. Elly and I return home, she naps from 9:30-11:00, then she goes into the jogging stroller, we exercise, then back to pick up Noah at noon. Noah eats in the car on the way home, we play, they wear themselves out and then down for a nap at about 1:30is: Elly in her crib and Noah....... in our bed. I actually started that because it was vital to me when Ellyotte slept, Noah HAD to sleep so I could sleep!

Since she was born, Ellyotte has been a hard and serious, lone sleeper. I never had to rock her to sleep; we just lay her down with her kitty and paci and she's content. Noah, however, has always needed tending to. We had to rock him from day 1 because of colic, then out of habit. He started traveling between Hawaii and the East Coast at 2 months so he got used to being held: in the Bjorn, in the glider, being held period. And that's fine with me! It has required thousands of hours of attention in order to get Noah to sleep deeply - unlike his sister - but we haven't minded it.

Now, he goes to bed in his bed at night and at some point, ends up in our bed! We are convinced we will have to upgrade to a king size because soon Ellyotte is gonna realize that her "Bubba" is in mama's bed and she's not! Dan and I are okay with this - these babies are growing too quickly and we love the red headed bundle that ends up between us each night.

Tonight Noah had been asleep for about 2 hours when I heard him crying. This is unusual. So I go into his room and he holds his arms up - meaning he wants to be held. I gladly picked him up and for the first time in a long time, I was allowed to rock him. I cradled all 50+ pounds in my arms and with the lullaby CD softly playing in the background, I held my "baby" till he fell back to sleep.

As I rocked him, I looked down at that freckle covered, almost 4 year old nose and I was swept away in memory. Can it be that many years ago that we were worried about his eating and sleeping and pooping habits? We were so sleep deprived and clueless. Now, we are thriving parents to an active little man who loves Jesus and protects his sister. And as I rocked him, the sweet book I have read to him countless nights came to mind ("Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch):

"...The baby grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was two years old, and he ran all around the house. He pulled all the books off the shelves. He pulled all the food out of the refrigerator and he took his mother's watch and flushed it down the toilet. Sometimes his mother would say, "this kid is driving me CRAZY!"

But at night time, when that two-year-old was quiet, she opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor, looked up over the side of his bed; and if he was really asleep she picked him up and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. While she rocked him she sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be...."


Noah Everard Beall may be that crazy red headed kid in that book, but to me and to his daddy, he is that precious bundle of love we brought home that night almost four years ago.

One of the first of MANY naps together

Daddy loves this red head

Don't judge... I was almost 2 weeks late. - Honolulu, Hawaii

Finally home.

Precious 3 year old

almost 4 years later, a still beautiful sleeper

Noah and "soon to be" Uncle Adam

Uncle Bob, Noah and Graddy in Destin - New Years 2012

Us! Christmas 2012

Ellyotte... Sweet Girl

I have to admit: I am not as good about documenting our daughter's milestones. And I feel bad... somewhat. Because I really do spend the majority of my time enjoying Ellyotte's minutes and seconds of her days.

She's such an incredible source of joy for Dan and me. We literally delight in everything she does; even the tantrums. She's started throwing serious tantrums when it comes to sharing. It's hilarious!

I took her to her supposed-to-be-15-month-appointment even though she's 17 months... and she was right on track for an 18 month old (because that's what they checked her for!).

At 17 months, Ellyotte:
- weighs in at 25 lbs exactly putting her in the 65th percentile for weight.
- measures in at 32 inches also putting her in the 65th percentile for height.
- wears a 7.5 size shoe!! No surprise because her daddy wears a 14.5 in mens and I'm in a 9.5 womens. She's a long, big foot string bean!
- LOVES her brother. And I mean LOVES him. She kisses him all over as does he with her. And she fights royally with him - they are enemies number 1 when it comes to one another but when someone insults or accidentally injures his sister, Noah Beall will put down someone!
- loves frozen anything; especially ice in her snack cup. She wants "ish" and popsicles and frozen fruit for every "meal."
- wears size 2T solidly. Again, she's tall for her age. I am sure we will see this trend her whole life: her daddy is 6'4" and Im 5'8" and my daddy is also 6'4". Noah's not even 4 yet and is in a 6/7!
- talks all the time - even if we don't know what she's saying. She talks so much, but she will also look at you like you are an idiot if she's not in the mood to be sociable.
- LOVES her Graddy and JanJan! I mean, LOVES them. She goes up to pictures in our home and gets so excited by seeing Graddy and Janjan.
- and LOVES, LOVES, ADORES kitty cats! Not even kidding... she says 'eeeeoww" constantly to anything that even resembles a cat. It is awesome.
- is my Mini-Me. Literally, everything I do is either with her by my side or with her on my hip. She looks like me, acts like me, is my redemption. I adore that baby girl and would die for her, just like I would die for her brother.

I feel so blessed. It is such a cliche to say that but it is true. My kids are perfect, despite the garbage and horrors we had to go through to bring them into life. I love them with my whole being. And Dan and I are still throwing around the idea of having yet a third - even though we have been told that we shouldn't, that it's a risk, that no matter what I'd be a high risk pregnancy, yada-yada. We want a third and maybe fourth. But we also are seriously considering adopting our next babies; please join us in praying for our future "Beall babies."

What a hilarious child!

Mini Katie, right?!

Peek a boo!

Ice Cream with Daddy

And on another note, we are proud to announce the birth of our new and so far, only NIECE Caroline Grace Beall into the world! After 2 trying years, Todd (Dan's only brother) and his sweet wife (one of my best friends) Annie, are finally parents. Annie went into labor with Caroline on her due date, 31 December, and after 30+ hours of hard labor, delivered our sweet baby girl. We are thrilled for them. Caroline Grace is absolutely precious and just perfect. Ellyotte and I will fly up to Ohio (from Louisiana) in a couple of weeks to help Annie and to spend some fun quality time with her and Caroline. I am really excited for that; Noah will have great time with his daddy while Sister and I "get away." Annie was an incredible blessing to me post Ellyotte and post blood clot. She came into our home and without my prompting, she cleaned top to bottom. I hope to do the same for her and to stock her freezer with lots of yummy things so she won't have to cook for a while! I love them so much and can't wait to be there for them like they were here for me in my time of need.

Sweet Caroline

I adore this precious blessing

Still here!

Fun friends!

My pretty girl

I can't believe that Christmas is in 6 days! This holiday season is flying by. It has been a joyful one for our family. After having Dan's parents here for Thanksgiving, we decorated the house, have had our house full of almost daily play dates, we've baked, watched Christmas movies, made lots of fires in our fireplace - it has been so fun making memories with our babies.

We will spend Christmas in Alabama and New Year's at the condo in Panama City Beach, Florida. I did the majority of our shopping online and had gifts sent to my folks' house - so now all we have to worry about is packing a couple of suitcases and hitting the road! I am excited. Noah has asked Santa for a trombone and a Redskins jersey and helmet. Ellyotte will be getting some kitty cat toys and baby dolls; she is ALL girl and I love it!

I hope that your Christmas season is filled with all of Christ's joy and blessing. It is more clear this time of year than any other that the real joy of the season is giving - not receiving. We have found such happiness in our sponsored family this year; they are a precious group of people who literally didn't have one warm coat between the four children. The excitement Noah has had buying gifts for his new friends has been priceless to experience. We have learned that while we may not be able to make a change in everyone's sadness and burdens, doing what we can for even one family has allowed our children to begin to see that it is so much more beneficial to GIVE rather than receive.

I promise to post updates more frequently! This term with Troy was a tasking one - I had a full class and a LOT of papers and essays to grade. But, I submitted my final grades and can rest a little bit before Term 3, 2012 starts. Thus, no excuse not to blog more frequently!

We love Daddy!

Noah found the perfect tree

Merry Christmas!

Learning about Jesus's birth

Lots of warm nights by the fire

Our tree

At a friend's Christmas party

My mini-me

3 Minutes.

If you have a few minutes, I encourage you to watch this. I was so moved this morning at church when our pastor said he was at a loss to describe his Savior, then gave way for this pastor - SM Lockridge, many decades ago- to tell of the indescribable love and admiration for his Jesus. We all stood to our feet in praise - the words are exquisite, yet still inadequate.
Enjoy and please share this Christmas season.

A Grateful - and Still - Heart

It is so hard to be still. And because it is hard to be still, it is hard to maintain a constant, grateful heart. But that is what is required of us: God wants us to be still. And he wants us to be thankful - in every circumstance.

In my "Jesus Calling" devotional this morning, that lesson hit home even more with me today. After this past week of having my sweet in-laws in from D.C. for Thanksgiving, I was worn out. I delighted in having them here but having any kind of company with two babies and two animals underfoot all day is exhausting! We made memories, ate great food - all family recipes! - and just had a great week.

This weekend though, I was left depleted with that sadness of a visit ending, and of cooking and cleaning all week. I found myself complaining inside about how tired I was, how weary and FAT I felt from eating all week. And what I discovered was that my griping spirit was not only making Jesus sad but it was making me even more tired.

So last night, Dan and I went to bed early and I focused on just resting. This morning, I took Noah to school, now have Ellyotte down for a nap and I am drinking coffee and just reflecting on the blessings in my life.

Last night as I unwound, I found myself singing the song "Give Thanks" that we used to sing in our youth group:

GIVE THANKS
WITH A GRATEFUL HEART
GIVE THANKS
TO THE HOLY ONE
GIVE THANKS
FOR HE'S GIVEN
JESUS CHRIST, HIS SON

AND NOW LET THE WEAK SAY
I AM STRONG
LET THE POOR SAY
I AM RICH
BECAUSE OF WHAT
THE LORD HAS DONE
FOR US
GIVE THANKS...

Everytime I started thinking something that was not in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I just started singing those lyrics in my head. And then this morning, wouldn't you know I was led to meditate on being still? By being still, we exercise the spirit of thankfulness that we are called to have. It is so difficult to do but what reward comes with a grateful heart!

Just think about the things that we all have to be thankful for: the majority of us have our health, we have a roof over our heads, we have the arms of our families to embrace us at the end of each day, we have jobs, food to eat, friends to bring us joy. I know so many of my friends and loved ones who have lost someone this year - my friends Janelle and Calvin lost their 3 year old Bella (see previous posts) yet despite their loss, they are choosing to delight in the memories of their daughter and with the upcoming birth of their baby, Noah.

And my school friend Ashley and his wife Bethany welcomed twins: their 4th and 5th children, Abby and Bella, on October 30th. Life couldn't have gotten much more joyful for them. Yet, on November 5th, Bethany died suddenly of a coronary dissection brought on post-birth. So Ashley is left with 5 children and a broken heart. Yet, just last night, he sent out a video of his babies decorating the Christmas tree. For those 10 minutes, he chose to be THANKFUL and allow the joy of the season take over his home. Really, what do we all have to gripe about?

What it comes down to is that the love our Father has for us is so much greater than any complaint we might have in our daily lives.

Ephesians 3:18-19: "may (you) have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."


His love is all encompassing and what He requires of us is to BE STILL and to BE THANKFUL. To have that GRATEFUL HEART that we sang about in youth group.

Today I am challenging myself to stop complaining. And when a gripe enters my mind, I will replace it with a thanksgiving - big or small - so that my heart turns into an ever grateful heart. Today I choose to allow the Lord to delight in me as I delight in Him.

A Few

Here is the back/side of my hair - just got it cut again yesterday. I actually had Christy (my friend/hairdresser - being HEALED completely, in the name of Jesus, from breast cancer!!) take it as soon as she finished drying it.

Christy did a lot of low lights up top to warm it up and high lights underneath so I no longer look like a skunk with it growing in so dark! I love my hair cut and am very happy with it. Several of you wanted to see the back of it, so here you go :) And as for me going shorter (another thing I have heard several of you say) I likely will in the summer. For right now, I am happy with the length and the color. Maybe once I finish shedding baby weight I will have the confidence to go totally short like I did in college! Stay tuned... :) You guys rock - thanks for flattering me so completely.

And on another note, isn't this military daughter beautiful!? She loves her daddy so much. I am a proud mama.

My Hair Through the Years

I am overwhelmed by the comments and messages I have gotten about my hair lately! I didn't know I had that many followers who actually cared. Like I said in the last post, I am flattered.

As early as 4, I wanted my hair short. Like most kids, I went and found some scissors and cut my own hair then my mom had to let me keep it. I grew it back out and then started to perm it throughout the 80s. I started to highlight it in the late 90s (it was dirty blonde my whole life till then) and let it grow really long till the summer between my sophomore and junior years of college. I was an AFROTC cadet at Troy University so I kept it long till after I got back from my month and half long field training (officers equivalent of boot camp) in Florida. When I graduated from the training, I came home and chopped off a good 18 inches! See pictures below.

I started to grow it back out the end of my senior year because I was about to enter the active duty Air Force and it is so much easier to put your hair in a bun each day while in uniform.

It was long through my wedding, birth of my babies until August when I got another foot cut off. At the bottom is what it looks like now. I like it a lot and will not likely grow it back out anytime soon. I have several friends suffering through cancer and losing their gorgeous hair because of the chemo - one of them is my girl friend who actually styles my hair - so in support of them and until they can grow their hair back out, I think I am going to keep it short and really blonde :)

Kindergarten 1985

My pre-school portrait, 1984

Phi Mu portrait, 2000

Paris - 2001

Air Force - 2002

Katie and Dan 2003

Hawaii 2009

NYC May 2001

Short again!August 2011

Kind-of a view of the back....

Me and my baby girl - 2011

It's Fall Ya'll!!!

We are back in Alabama this week because Dan had to go TDY to Europe and because it is Troy's homecoming week. It is peak leave season here in the south and has been a gorgeous week. I'm thankful that I get to celebrate this Veteran's Day with my daddy (USMC) and my husband (USAF). And I'm thankful for the time that I got to serve our great nation. Thank you all who have served and continue to fight the good fight. You are appreciated.

P.S. As for the back of my hair, I WILL have Dan take a picture of it :) I didn't realize so many folks wanted to see it! I am flattered that so many of you want to see it and read my blog.