Snapshots of Sarah

Ending this blog

2009-10-22T20:30:00.000-07:00

Ok...I'm TERRIBLE at blogging, so it's time to end this blog! The End.

If you want to see new pics of our fam, I'm doing a much better job of updating pics on our shutterfly web site. Check it out: http://snapshotsofsarah.shutterfly.com/

Our little sparkler...

2008-07-06T12:17:00.001-07:00

Happy 4th of July! Miss Sarah had a blast playing with all the kids and drawing with sidewalk chalk! I hope everyone had a happy day with friends and/or family.

Ethan's Birthday

2008-06-03T19:51:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday was Ethan Sander's first birthday! So, we headed to the park to join all the other babies and to watch Ethan smear cake all over his face. (I'm sorry I didn't include a picture). Sarah had so much fun exploring the grounds of the park. She was eager to take anyone by the hand who was willing to walk with her! She was red-faced and a sweaty mess. We were instructed to wear t-shirts from our favorite college because Ethan's parents are determined to make him a LSU tiger. I didn't have a short-sleeved North Georgia shirt for myself or Sarah- so we had to go with her Aggie-gear! Dad, you would have been proud!! Here's our little aggie:

These are a few of Sarah's favorite babysitters: Kevin & Jan Johnson with their son Jeff.

Here's Sarah and her friend Jillian (and her mom, Shellie)

Here's a pic of all the mom's and babies trying to get together for a picture! It was a challenge!!!

After Ethan's party we headed to a graduation party, but the day would not have been complete without sending Jeff Pickering off to a GREAT graduation! Sarah's loves Mr. Jeff! (Jeff is headed to A&M in the fall!!!) Congrats Jeff!

Getting Ready for the Summer

2008-05-23T06:22:00.000-07:00

Oh YES! We've had our 1st birthday, so now I can officially sit in my new forward-facing car seat! WAAAHOO! Check out that hair. (She loves to pull out her little pony tails that Mommy puts in her hair!)

Miss Spaghetti Face. (I think every parent has a picture of their child eating something REALLY messy!

OK summer has HIT in TX. It's only the beginning of the HOT weather. I really like summertime! Everyone seems a lot more relaxed. I saw a commercial the other day that said, "Kids own the summer." I think summertime brings out the kid in everyone! We bought Sarah a kiddy pool. She loves to SPLASH, but most of the time she just likes to crawl in and out of the pool. Here are a few pics of her first big adventure. We were quickly joined by Ethan Sanders and Kathy Pickering. They just had to come play, too.

Happy Birthday Sarah Grace!

2008-05-07T19:20:00.000-07:00

Sarah's first birthday was so much fun! I had this wild idea that we would have Nathan's family & my family come together for the celebration. Well...our house isn't big enough so, we all had to stay in a beach house. It worked out great (despite a few inconveniences- like not being able to put toilet paper in the toilets or one of the shower rooms not having light, but instead skylights!?) Anyway, the weather was amazing! It totally poured the morning of the party, then the Lord sent a MIGHTY wind and dried up everything just in time for the party. The wind died down and we enjoyed a cook-out with our friends and family!

Here's the Birthday Girl...

...the cutest FIRST birthday cake you've ever seen!

Here's a pic of Nathan's family that came. (Grandpa & Grandma Mitterling, Nathan's parents, and one of his brothers, Andrew)

Sarah and MM's parents- Grandmommy & Grandaddy.

Daddy & Mommy with the birthday girl!

I can not believe she is already ONE!

Alabama Update

2008-04-10T13:28:00.000-07:00

Sarah and I have enjoyed our trip to Alabama over the past -almost- two weeks. We've shopped, seen old college friends, and just enjoyed time w/Grandmommy & Grandaddy! Here are a few pics from the past week... These are my new PJ's.

Here's a pic of the flowers Nathan sent us to enjoy while we are away. I LOVE YOU HONEY!

Sarah got to ride in her first forward-facing car seat! She looks like SUCH a big girl! It's time for us to make the purchase!

Look at that cute girl!

We'll be home soon!

OHHHHH!

2008-03-31T19:56:00.000-07:00

This is Sarah's new face. She loves to open her mouth as wide as she possibly can. We just happened to catch it tonight during bath time. She's hilarious!!

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T17:08:00.000-07:00

HAPPY EASTER! Well, here are a few pics from this week. Sometimes as stay-at-home moms we are desperate for entertainment. This week we headed to our local mall to have our kid's pictures made with the Easter Bunny (for free). Sarah just stared at the Easter Bunny. I was proud of her- she didn't even cry!

Sarah was blessed by a friend with an early birthday present- this beautiful dress. She looked so cute! I just wanted to make sure you saw the back of the dress, too. I think she grew tired of wearing the bunny ears!

Stephanie set up a baby Easter Egg hunt on a blanket for Sarah Grace & Lawson. I think Lawson just wanted to play in Sarah's Easter basket!

Following lunch, we just HAD to take Easter family photos. These are only pictures of 4 of the families- there were actually 3 other families! Large crowd- means a variety of food! We had 14 adults and 13 kids...for a grand total of 27 people. That would be 11 people under the age of 12. Steph is a GREAT hostess.

From left to right...The Beams Family, Dane Family, Mitterling Family....

and then there's the Pickerings!

Happy Easter!

Goofy Girl!

2008-03-22T18:26:00.000-07:00

Our little angel is soo goofy! Look at these teeth. Her new thing is to scrunch her nose and make this face at us. She thinks it's funny! We do, too...and sometimes it's hard to say NO with a straight face. She makes us laugh quite often!

I'm almost ONE!

2008-03-19T11:33:00.000-07:00

I can not believe Miss Sarah is almost ONE. WOW- this year has flown by. Our sweet friend Jenny took these pics of Sarah during a meeting at church. If you look close, you can see Sarah's little teeth. She has two on the bottom and two "fangs" on the top. It's hilarious! She is so much fun and her little personality is really starting to SHINE!

Sarah's First Snow

2007-11-30T13:16:00.000-08:00

Nathan, Sarah, and I flew to PA for Thanksgiving. When we flew into Baltimore we saw colorful fall leaves...then on Sunday morning we woke up to SNOW! Everything was white- it was beautiful. Here are a few pics from our adventure up north to see Nathan's fam!

Halloween Babies

2007-11-03T18:35:00.001-07:00

We have sweet friends who gave in to my crazy idea. We all bought costumes and took our SEVEN babies to the Pumpkin Patch. My friend Jenny Hintze is a GREAT photographer. Check out these pics....

Happy Fall Ya'll!

2007-11-03T18:14:00.000-07:00

Well, we took a road trip to Alabama/Georgia. We FINALLY were reminded what it was like to experience FALL. I heard leaves crunch, I felt the cool mountain air first thing in the morning, I saw BIG 'ole pumpins, beautiful leaves, and even made a short hike. Best of all- we experienced Gold Rush. Even though we missed out on the sweet potato biscuits, we still enjoyed walking through the booths. ...and as Ken Jones, my former BSU director said, "experiencing Gold Rush is like a Baby's First Christmas." It was GREAT. I LOVED being with old friends from North Georgia. It just wasn't long enough. OHHHH- I wanted to go around and see where each one of them had been over the past 6 years. The sweetest part of our reunion at Mary Catherine's house was hearing Eric thank the Lord for our precious friendships that have truly shaped our lives. It was AMAZING! Ohhh- and of course I loved the White Chicken Chili! Man- it was a fast paced weekend, but it was GREAT! I know I'm supposed to live in Lake Jackson, but OH what blessed friends I have from North Georgia! I love ya'll and I wish I could see you more often. Here are a few pics from our adventures....

Babysitting or Photo Shoot?

2007-10-08T12:59:00.000-07:00

Ok, now that I'm a mom- I can totally understand how couples have to work REALLY hard to keep their marriage a priority. Date nights once a week are something we definitely strive to have once a week, but it's really hard to do!!! Our goal is to get a babysitter every other week. We aren't very good at asking people to babysit. It's just not the same when you don't have immediate family in town. We have been blessed with several families who are willing to babysit, but it's just hard to ask! Soo...this week we tried to have lunch on Nathan's Friday off. We have a sweet family who kept Sarah for a few hours while we went to lunch and ran a few errands. Mr. Tony loves taking pics and sent us home w/a cd of 43 pics of Miss Sarah. I just thought I would share....and by the way- if you are a parent- those DATE NIGHTS or LUNCHES are worth it! If you are married and don't have kids- LIVE IT UP NOW!!!! :)

We love Shutterfly!

2007-09-27T13:50:00.000-07:00

Have you used Shutterfly.com? They have a great new feature that allows you to create your own photo collage. I made this one in about 10 minutes. :)

2007-09-13T19:27:00.000-07:00

Ok...I know blogs are much more fun to read when they change more than once every 2 months. Sorry! :) I know it's been forever since we have updated our blog. We've had lots of visitors over the past few weeks. Nathan's family came to visit and Sarah was able to meet her Uncle Jared for the first time. They were hilarious! Sarah's little personality is really starting to shine through. She's definitely a content little girl most of the time. She really smiles a lot and she likes to talk a lot, too. She really is a lot of fun. I'm so glad that I'm able to stay at home!!! Thank you LORD!

We recently took our first road trip (with a baby) to Destin, Fl. I have forgotten that the US actually has WHITE sandy beaches and CLEAR blue water. WOW! It was gorgeous. I could have stayed another week. Here are a few pics from our trip. If you ever need to rent a beach house around the Destin area, check out: southernresorts.com. They have GREAT houses & GREAT customer service. We were very impressed!!!

I love summertime, but I'm looking forward to the fall.

This is Sarah's first attempt with eating rice cereal! That stuff is messy! You can tell this was Mommy's first time to feed her b/c she doesn't have on the plastic bib! hahahaha....

Stay-At-Home-Mom

2007-07-11T11:50:00.000-07:00

Oh yes! I've made the decision not go back to work. I never imagined myself staying at home full-time. I had always planned on going back to work, but I guess it's one of those things you just can fully understand until after the baby comes. This is my first official week at home. They made the formal announcement at church on Sunday. Here's the note that our Pastor published in this weeks Pointer (electronic newsletter):

This past Sunday Mary Margaret Mitterling, our Director of Volunteer Ministries, announced she is stepping down from that role to become a stay at home mom. Mary is one of the original architects of BPF. After serving as Student Intern during our church's inaugural summer, Mary returned after college graduation a few months later to serve full time as Student Minister. Mary's life changes have mirrored BPF's growth.

In addition to Student Ministry, she helped establish one of our first Small Groups targeting 20-somethings where she met her eventual husband, Nathan. Eventually her interests broadened and Mary changed positions at BPF to become Director of Volunteer Ministries. She's done a tremendous job organizing ministries and helping people find their unique shape for service.

At the mark of her 5th Anniversary this past January Mary chose to go part time in preparation for maternity leave. Though she anticipated a return to work after the birth of Sarah Grace, the pull to stay home was greater than she expected. Mary's decision was one that most moms who have worked outside the home struggle with. Do I go back to work full time or part time…do I want to keep working? Do I want to stay home? Each woman's circumstances are different. There's no universal answer, just like there's no-one-size-fits-all shape for ministry. For a very driven young lady, the prayerful answer was a surprise – stay home.

Though I will miss your presence on our staff deeply Mary, I support you in your decision and wish you the same success at home nurturing a family you experienced here at BPF building a new church.

Pastoring a church where nothing stays the same for long is a challenge, but it's also exciting to see where God will take us next.
Greg

A note from Mary Margaret...The past 5 years of working at Brazos Pointe, have been great. I have loved being a part of our leadership team. We are blessed to have such an incredible team leading our church. They have challenged me to grow as a leader and in my walk with the Lord. I really appreciate their support of my decision. I will miss working alongside them in the office, but I am looking forward to being a volunteer. Thanks!
Mary Margaret

American Girl

2007-07-07T19:15:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July from our Little Sparkler! It has been raining! raining! So, we actually celebrated on the 5th of July. Lake Jackson has a GREAT fireworks display. Some friends of ours can see the fireworks from their driveway. So, we all gather at their house to eat some incredible food and just hang out until the show. Here are a few pics of Sarah's first 4th ...I mean 5th of July.

Grandmommy Evans thought Sarah Grace would look cute in bows, so Mommy came home from her Alabama trip with an assortment of colored bows. We think Grandmommy was right - Sarah does look cute in her little bow!

Off to Alabama

2007-07-05T13:42:00.000-07:00

Well, Nathan had to go to Germany for work...so Sarah and I headed to Alabama to visit my parents for the week. Yes, we FLEW to AL. That was quite an adventure all by myself. Did you know that you have to break down the stroller, remove the baby from the infant carrier, AND send it all through security??? Meanwhile, you're holding the baby, lifting the stroller onto the conveyer belt, carrying the diaper bag...and YES- my belt beeps as I pass through the metal detector. I always take my belt off, but this time- I forgot??? Oh well... I was thinking we would be able to wheel through the "handicap" entrance...OH NO! We did it though. Sarah was a great travel partner. ..but can I just say that God has a sense of humor because I was seated beside a big 'ole country boy and OF COURSE I had to nurse her on the plane. Umm...yeah-hopefully we won't see each other ever again. We had a GREAT time with my parents watching movies, shopping, and visiting my brothers. It was a great way to pass the time while Nathan was a way. Here are a few pics from adventures!

My 1st Astros Game

2007-06-18T19:44:00.000-07:00

Nathan's request for Father's Day was that we would do something together as a family. I'm TERRIBLE at keeping surprises, so he knew that we were off to H-town to see the 'Stros! Little did he know that we were meeting 2 other families at the game.

Sarah managed to sleep through most of the game. :) The Astros won 4-1. We spent the night at the Magnolia Hotel- just 5 blocks from Minute Maid. As you can see, she thought she was QUEEN of the hotel room.

Actually, she had her own crib to the side of our bed...

So, of course we wanted to capture the DAD & DAUGHTER "happy father's day" photo! Well, check out this pic...

After lunch, she could handle a few more pics! Happy Father's Day, Dad!!!

That Crazy Girl!

2007-06-10T10:57:00.000-07:00

That crazy girl! Nathan and I were having fun with Miss Sarah's hair last night! Kids- they have no idea what their parents put them through! She's just too cute! What a sweet girl!

She's growing so fast!

2007-06-10T10:38:00.000-07:00

Where did May go? We've had non-stop visitors from out-of-town. It's been a blur....and Sarah will be 8 weeks old this Wednesday! AHHH! She's growing up too fast. We were fortunate to have a few short hours of sunshine over Memorial
Day weekend. Michelle Smith came to visit us over the weekend w/her husband Anthony & their son Titus. We were able to take the kids to the beach. You can see that Miss Sarah loved her first trip to the beach!! (HAHAHA!)

During the first week of June we had a family reunion with my mom's side of the family. Sarah was able to meet her Uncle Chris. This girl is going to be surrounded my uncles! Nathan and I both have 2 younger brothers! I'm sure she'll be able to hold her own! This girl has got some lungs!

Sarah also got to meet her great-grandmother at the reunion, Grammy. She is one of 4 great-grandchildren. It was a crazy weekend w/over 25 people coming and going from the beach house! Sarah managed to sleep through most of it! We live only about 20 minutes from the beach, so we were able to sleep at our house at night.

Our 1st Mother's Day

2007-05-24T08:05:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed our first Mother's Day. Our church had a Parent/Child dedication during the serivce. Nathan's parents were in town and we enjoyed lunch w/friends. Happy Mother's Day to all the new mothers. What a special time :)

Loving Well

2007-05-11T13:36:00.000-07:00

Ok. Don't you just love how God totally provides the RIGHT Bible Study at just the RIGHT time? Before I had Sarah, I had went to our local Christian bookstore to find a new Bible Study. I knew I needed something short & sweet that would be manageable with a newborn. I found a study by Beth Moore called Loving Well. The study is intended for a weekend retreat (and includes DVDs), so I was only able to purchase the small 28 day journal. OH MY GOODNESS! Can we say- DIVINE APPT! I love it.

For the last 3 weeks I've been on a journey of learning how to love others. The first week I was totally reminded that I can only love others if I learn to be loved by God. How many times have I heard...God loves you Mary, but did I really accept His love??? I also was reminded that I can only truly love others if I am motivated by God's love. If I don't- it's still selfish & self seeking. So, as a new mom this has been one of the best lessons I could learn as I sit and hold, look at, rock, sing to, talk to, pray for, comfort, and learn to love our daughter. At times I think I was led to believe that it would be so easy to love a new little baby. Change is good, but it sometimes can be difficult. Beth Moore's 4 statements that she shares are:

1. God is perfect love.

2. God poured his perfect love into my imperfect heart.

3. Nothing can separate me from the love of God.

4. Accessed, I can love anyone through anything.

Thank you Lord for this study. Thank you for friends who have constantly been encouraging us as we make the adjustments in parenting. Thank you Lord for a healthy baby!

Week #2

2007-05-03T14:16:00.000-07:00

Ok. So, we survived week #1! YEAH! I didn't realize how much better you feel during week #2. PRAISE THE LORD! What would I have done w/out an incredible small group, home cooked meals from friends, and a mom who waited on us hand & foot! WOW! Nate's fam heads into town next week.

(Ok...Holly, I'll eventually add some MM prego pics- just for you.)

Sarah Grace Mitterling

2007-04-22T19:06:00.000-07:00

Well, she's finally here. April 18, 2007. 7:19am. 7lbs 14 oz. 20 1/2 inches long. She's AMAZING! At one time I was concerned about how I would learn to love someone as much as I love Nathan, but WOW! God is soo good. Miss Sarah Grace has been one of the sweetest gifts God has entrusted to our family. It's only been 4 days since we became parents and it has been wonderful! (definitely challenging at time, but it's been INCREDIBLE). Nathan is a wonderful Daddy. My mom has been a huge help this week. ...and Sarah Grace is definitely a princess.

Only 9 1/2 more weeks!

2007-02-03T19:41:00.000-08:00

We can't believe the day is almost here! Our little princess is about to arrive. ...and YES we finally ordered furniture. (...and Nathan is positive she will be sleeping in it from birth until college- thanks to the convertible beds!) It's been a fun adventure over the past few months and I'm sure there's more to come! We've been blessed to have a great pregnancy so far!