Ella Claire loves being outside!!

My sweet baby girl is growing so fast. I thought that she was spoiled before, but now that her daddy is off for the summer.....she's even more of a Daddy's girl. Bryan told me today that when Ella Claire is older and I won't let her do something. She'll probably just say, "Well, I'll go ask my Daddy. He'll let me." I sure dread those days! lol :)

Ella Claire's 1st trip to the drive-in

Bryan was laughing because all the cars around us were smiling at him. LOL

Happy Mother's Day!

Doesn't she look precious in her "I love Mommy" hat?
My 1st Mother's day present.
Our new tradition on Mother's day.

Ella Claire's handprints. I hope to make a book of them oneday.
Ella Claire Matheny and mommy

Being a Christian mother is the most important job I have and I feel so blessed to be the mother of this precious little girl. My Ella Claire has given me so much joy in the short 4 1/2 months that she has been alive. I am honored to be her mom.



Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there. If you have a mom like mine.....you too.... have been wonderfully blessed. :)

PS...Thanks, Gran and Bim, for the rose bush. It is beautiful and I love it! I can't wait to watch it grow.......along with my little girl.

The 2 loves of my life!

As if I didn't love him enough already.....this is what I went downstairs tonight to find. Seeing him with her makes my heart so full. I'm one lucky girl!

My sweet niece

Funny story from Monday afternoon. Life through Bree's eyes.

I love my niece Bree so much. She is really special to me. I remember saying at one point (before Ella) that I didn't want to have girls because I was afraid Bree wouldn't feel as special to me anymore. Now, I love having a girl too and hope they are the best of friends. I still try really hard to let her know how much I love her. I hope we are always close.....just as I hope her and Ella Claire are.

Anyway, Monday after I got back from Cookeville I decided to lay Ella Claire down for her nap at Wesley's and went to lay down with Breelyn in her bed. Wes was in the other room picking up. Bree has this thing about playing with someone's hair while she is going to sleep. So, we were laying there..talking....and singing songs. All of the sudden she looked over at me and brushed my face with her hand and said,"Sissy, you are so booty-ful!" Talk about melting my heart. We kept talking and a few minutes later she looked over brushed my face again and said "You're so nice and per-ty." And, yes, she has quite the southern drawl.

Once she finally went to sleep all I could think about was the Bible verse that talks about us being called to be like little children. I love how they are so sweet and honest.....saying exactly what they are thinking. Bree is so polite (always saying please and thank you). I want to be more like her!!

Wes ended up taking our picture while asleep in Bree's bed. I'll try and post it tomorrow.

More pics from the Cradle Roll Class at church

Singing and talking about who brings you to church.
Brooks and Laura Grace singing about the animals that God made.
Sweet Brooks smiling for the camera.
Ansley and Ashton
Ella Claire crashed 10 minutes before class was over!

My big girl!

Here are some pictures of my big girl.

She has really just started taking a bottle and she wants to hold it on her own.

Ella's 1st night in her bed

Thanks, Aunt Weezer, for the PJs. I think they were our good luck charm!

Bree and Ella on Monday.

This is how we found her in her bed Tuesday morning!

Meeting great great Aunt Clara

Church tonight

Ella Claire has had such a good week. Since the day she was born (it seems like anyway) she had colic. It was alot harder than I thought it would be. To my friends who have had babies with colic, Marian and Leslie, I don't know what I would have done with out you. :) Ella has been getting much better though. She can still be pretty high maintanence at times (lol), but this week has been filled with exciting stuff.



Monday Aunt Nini and Granny kept her for the first time. Monday night was Ella Claire's 1st night in her big bed! Bryan rocks her to sleep everynight. It's kinda their time together. He got her to sleep around 9:00 and then around 11:00 I took her downstairs to her bed. I thought if I get 2 hours in her bed.....I'll be happy. She slept till 8:00 am in her own bed....the very 1st night we tried! Then, Tuesday night around 8:00 we fed her and put her in her own bed and she got herself to sleep and slept nine hours in her own bed. I AM SO PROUD OF HER! Especially since she has screamed everytime we have put her in her bed. I have always said that I didn't want my kids to sleep with us. Not that I think there is anything wrong with that. I just knew it wasn't for me. Then, when Ella Claire came along, between the colic and us spoiling her, that is exactly where she has been. (Poor Bryan is having such a hard time with her going to her bed. He keeps asking to go get her. He says she has slept with him everynight of her life and he doesn't want her to think he's not there to protect her. So, we've decided that since I have the bonding time nursing. He'll still be the one to put her down IN HER BED at night. He's the best daddy!) I have also been working on getting her on a schedule. So, if anyone has any advice please let me know.

Girls Girls Girls

and the one and only "Bim"

My parents

My parents will be married 27 years next month. I have been thinking alot about them lately and I wanted to do something to let them know how proud of them I am. They have been together since they were freshman in high school. They were married the summer before their senior year and started out literally with nothing but each other. I love to hear my Granny Hillis tell me the story about how my mom is the only girl my daddy was ever really interested in and how he would hide under the bed to talk on the phone with her.



My dad is one of the hardest working people I know, but as he is getting older we are absolutley loving getting to see the softer side of him. He is the greatest "Bim" the girls could ask for. He worked all night Thursday night. Then he spent his day today fixing things (his car, my car, mom's dishwasher), working in the yard, going to McDonald's and a T-ball ballgame (all on only 2 hours of sleep). My mom started her day a 3:00 a.m. and drove my grandparents to Alabama and back (11 hours) to be with my aunt and uncle at a funeral. Of couse, she had to be back for Bree and Bryan's 2nd T-ball game. LOL Family is always 1st to her. She teaches at the high school, coaches cheerleading, teaches Bible class, volunteers for other clubs and organizations, cooks at least 5 or 6 nights a week, does all the laundry, cleans the house, plays with grandbabies and spends time with us every week. She NEVER stops.



I guess since I've become a parent I appreciate mine more. I am beginning to understand how hard this job really is. My parents taught me one of the most important lessons.....by their example. My parents are so important to me and I could never express to them how thankful I am for all that they do for us.



Thank you for being there and for showing us what "for better or worse" means. So...Mom and Dad.....Gran and Bim, we love you more than you will ever know!