Annabeth's Dedication Weekend

I have to interrupt my Disney reports with a weekend recap. Our weekend was filled to overflowing with activities and with friends. We are so blessed!

Friday:
I spent THREE HOURS putting together that last post about Magic Kingdom. So we were in our pajamas until Curtis came home from work.

Jackson asked me if he could hold Annabeth. He gave her tons of kisses that day. He gets more brotherly every month. He thought it was fun to try to to give her the paci. She did not have as much fun as he did.



She's just so cute. She's starting to want to hold her blanket, her burp cloth, her clothes, my hair - whatever she can get her hands on.



That evening Colin and Melissa, the 4 Joneses, and my parents all had dinner together at my mom and dad's house. We enjoyed each other so much. At about 10:00 that night, Janelle and Ella arrived at our house from DFW via Amber. Yeah! I kid you not, the first thing the kids did was run to each other and hug.

Saturday:

We woke up and had donuts and kolaches.



Cheers!



Janelle presented Annabeth with a little gift she'd made her...a tutu!

She loved herself in her tutu. As soon as I put it on her she started smiling and playing with it. Girls like to feel pretty even from the time they are babies!



Looking so prissy.



After a lazy morning (can you ever call it lazy if there are 2 preschoolers there?) we headed to the neighborhood pool. When Jackson got water in his mouth and puked a little in the pool, and when Ella did not like having water splashed on her, we realized that not much had changed. My heroic husband brought Sonic to us at the pool.







Then the kids took naps and Janelle and I got to have some tea and chill. We made a flowering tea in my glass tea pot. It was so pretty and smelled like jasmine.



The kids looked a little rough after their naps.



Ella's pool-bed-head.



Jackson's pool-bed-head.



We were going to let the kids play in the backyard on our slip n slide and in the sand box, but it started storming. So we baked cookies instead. Amy Beth had sent Annabeth some Cinderella cookie cutters and we put them to good use. They were so much fun. One day my princess and I will love doing this together.

Ready for the madness - excuse me, the FUN - to begin.



Janelle helping the kids cut out their cookies.



Jackson really wanted to roll the dough up and alternate throwing it and taking bites of it.



How cute are these? Cinderella's tiny waste gave us a run for our money. She fell apart several times.



This oven doesn't get to do a lot of baking.



Is it time yet?



Ella's pink cookies.



Sprinkles are so pretty on our hands.



Jackson's red cookies.





My horse, of course.



Can I just tell y'all how anal I was about Jackson cutting the cookies out right? And then I proceeded to break literally half of them with the spatula or while I was frosting. Seriously, I need some help! This is why we haven't done any baking since Christmas.

Curtis made us tacos for dinner. After the kids went to sleep, Janelle and I went to a movie. It ended up being awful so I will just leave it at that.

Sunday:

We all piled in the Suburban and went to church. When Ella got to her and Jackson's class, she ran in and gave the teacher, whom she'd never met, a hug. She is so sweet. We ate lunch in the car on the way home. As soon as we got there, Jackson had to go down for a nap so he would be fresh for that night. When he woke up we had to turn right back around and go to Annabeth's baby dedication service. At our church it's technically called a "parent dedication." I'm sure you get the drift.

The service was at 4:00 in the chapel. There were tons of other couples, but I didn't think to count them all. There are so many babies at our church right now that they had to have two services that night. Also, did you know that Houston is about to have a June baby boom that they are blaming on Hurricane Ike? I read that in the Chronicle.

Annabeth wore her Easter dress, which is almost too small for her now. I didn't even have to stuff her shoes this time. She looked so precious and girly. Curt asked if he could wear jeans. I showed him her dress and told him that's what he needed to match. Then he said he didn't have a tux. Well, shame on him then! I wore the same skirt I wore for Jackson's dedication 3 years ago. Curtis ended up having on the same pants as Jerrell, which was hilarious.

That brings me to the Altics. If you've been reading this blog long, you might know that Kay and I grew up together, as our parents have been BFF's since they were our age. And our hubbies grew up at the same church in Missouri. So we are all very close. Kay and I - neither one of us naturally maternal - had so hoped to get to be pregnant together when the day came. Well, the first time around it didn't work out that way and we weren't even living in Houston. But it did happen the second time and we have thanked the Lord many times for how sweet He was to us. So we were thrilled when we found out that our babies would get to be dedicated on the same night. We even planned to have a little dinner celebration with all our family members at Carabba's afterward. I don't think all of us had been together since Thanksgiving in Jackson Hole in 2007.

Here we are at Jerrell's 30th birthday party last October. Kay was a month away from having her baby and I was 5 months along.



One thing that made the dedication service extra meaningful was that during the invitation at church that morning, we saw some friends go forward with their young daughter. She had been asking questions about salvation and at the end of the service she tugged on her mommy's skirt and said, "Come with me, Mommy. I want Jesus." I cannot think about that without getting goosebumps. The point of the baby dedication service was to publicly commit to raising Annabeth in the Christian faith so that one day she will do that very thing - walk down the aisle and give her heart to Jesus. About fifteen feet to the left of where our friends were standing when their daughter made her profession of faith, our children's names are written on the floor underneath the new carpet - a symbol that we are praying for their salvation until it happens. Well, it actually says "Jackson and Baby Jones." I love that.

Here are more pictures of last night than you'd ever care to see. Many thanks to Amber and Janelle for helping us photograph and video the service. It was so special to have y'all there.

Bibby keeping these two in check before the service. They were actually VERY good. Ella sang from the hymnal.



Our turn!



The verse Gregg read over Annabeth was Luke 1:45, which says, "Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished." I asked my mom if she wanted to choose Annabeth's verse and that was what immediately came to her mind.



Pastor Gregg leading out in prayer for all of us.



Melissa, me, Annabeth, Memaw, and Mom



Me, Annabeth and Memaw



Here we are with Melanie and Laney. I can't wait for these two to play together!



Kristy, there should be a picture of you and me and Levi and Annabeth right here. Can we do a reenactment?





I learned to do "the girl thing" from watching these two.



The Jones and Altic clans.



The Moore girls



Janelle and Annabeth



Daddy-daughter pic.



Janelle and me with our kiddos.



There was a reception after the service, but we got so carried away from all our picture taking that we never made it over there.

Mom and Mary Ann, whom I've always called "Aunt B," at the restaurant.



Yia Yia and Bibby with the little guests of honor.



Melissa and her niece. Annabeth is wearing a beaded bracelet that my grandparents gave her. She was also given a silver bracelet from the Bridgwaters. Her first bling - how sweet!



I'm kicking myself for not getting a picture of all of us. With the excitement of part of the table collapsing and the drinks spilling everywhere, and the presence of 4 tired little ones, it just slipped my mind.

I'm signing off now. It's sunny and only 78 degrees. This day should not be spent inside! Adios!