From the Mouth of Babes

I just had the most awesome conversation with my two year old daughter. Every night before bed we read a story then rock and sing some songs. One of her favorite songs is the "Elmo's World" song that you can substitute any one's name into. She loves to tell me who to put in the blank and then we sing the song. The conversation went as follows. Keep in mind that she just turned two in January.

Bailey: I want to sing Elmo's World.
Alesha: Okay.
Bailey: Do Blue's Clue's.
Alesha: Song....
Bailey: Do God's World.
Alesha: Song....
Alesha: That's a good one. Did you know that the whole world is God's world.
Bailey: God loves Bailey.
Alesha: That's right. He loves Bailey so much.
Bailey: Where is God mommy?
Alesha: Well, God is everywhere. (stumped on how to explain that to a two year old)
Bailey: I want to see him.
Alesha: Well, we can't see him. (stumped again)
Bailey: God is a man.
Alesha: Kind of? (stumped)
Bailey: God is like daddy.
Alesha: Kind of? (big shoes to fill)

I really didn't think that I would be having this conversation for at least a couple of years now. She really seems to be churning thoughts and ideas in her mind. That is so great. I hope she has a life long love for thinking, exploring truth, and wonder. Just a side note to dads; I have heard that a child's first perception of God is their father, this is really true. No pressure there, huh? God is awesome.

Levi's Here!!

Levi Craig Rhodes

What a cutie!!

I was looking back through some of my recent blogs and realized that I had not yet announced Levi's arrival. I let everyone know that he was coming soon, but failed to tell you when he came. Levi was born March 11th. He weighed 9 lbs. 1 oz. Jeff and Kacey said everything went well. He is growing fast. We joke saying that he will probably pass little 24lb. Bailey in a few months. Jeff and Kacey have 4 boys now. Their oldest is 7. They have really surprised me how well they have handled the addition. They aren't seeming to miss a beat. Congratulations guys. He's adorable.

Red, Yellow, Chocolate!!

Life is such a funny thing. Our children pick up so many of our mannerisms and habits. Some good, some bad, and some just funny. My precious little Bailey has picked up one of my not so good habits. She loves chocolate. If her metabolism stays like it is she'll probably be okay though. Yesterday she was sitting on the couch enjoying some M & M's. Each time she got one I would ask her what color it was. She picked up a red one and told me that it was red. Next she got a yellow one and told me it was yellow. The next one she picked up was brown. I asked her what color it was. She looked at it for a minute then said "ummm chocolate". I thought that was too funny. Her love for chocolate comes honestly. You never know what your kids will say.

Biker Babes

Austin and I bought bikes today. I had a sweet picture in my mind of Austin, Bailey, and I leisurely cruising through the neighborhood on our bikes. I didn't think about the pain in my legs and rear that would occur as a result. Hopefully when I get in better shape and maybe get a "big booty cushion" for my bike it will be better. Bailey loved it. She kept saying "We're going fast".

We started going back to the gym Monday. Actually, Austin started a week before me. I was having my wisdom teeth pulled that week so I thought I would wait until the next week. I also joined weight watchers online. We are really trying to cut back and drop a few pounds. Austin has lost five pounds in the last two weeks and I lost three pounds since last Saturday. Hopefully we will continue this trend.

Austin booked a cruise for us in mid May. We have our vacation certificate that we won at the Butter Braid Conference last summer. Maybe we will be looking good by then! We hope you all are doing well.

HENDERSON GRANDKIDS

These are pictures of Bailey and all of her cousins on moms side of the family. A comment on an earlier post inspired me to post pictures of my nieces and nephew. It is hard to get a good picture of all the kids together. A few months ago we were all at mom and dads for Christmas and we got all the kiddos together for a photo session. We really ended up getting some good pictures. Some of you who haven't seen them in years can get a better look at them in these pictures.



This is Rebekah Lynn. She will be 12 in a few weeks. I say she is 11 going on 18. She is very mature for her age. She is a sweetheart, our first baby girl. She sings and plays the guitar, very well I might add. Isn't she beautiful!

This is Luke David. He is 8. He is "Amber's son". If you know my sister Amber at all you know she is the life of the party. He always has something funny to say. Luke is the only boy in the lot of 5 grandkids. He is better known to Bailey as "Spiderman Luke" because of his beloved spiderman costume.

Taylor Dawn is 10. We used to call her "little Tim" until her little sister came along, now we can see more of Amanda in her. Taylor is a little athlete like her parents. She loves basketball, softball, and cheer leading. She's pretty as a picture with her dark complexion and blond hair.

Alexis Grey is 4. She is better known as "Alex" or "Cita". We also call her "little Tim". If you know what her dad looks like you'll see why. Alex is the artist of the family. She has been drawing pictures since I can remember. From an early age you could recognize what she was drawing. She gets that talent from her mom and Poppa Henderson.

Bailey Dawn is 2. She is mommy's little princess. If you don't believe me just ask her. Bailey loves to sing, work puzzles, and buy new shoes. She loves to play with her cousins. She is a big talker and usually has something funny to say. She keeps us on our toes and laughing.

SNOW DAY

Here are some pictures from a few weeks ago in the snow. It snowed really hard for several hours.

Austin & Bailey braved the wind and snow for a couple of minutes.

The wind was blowing so hard and hitting us in the face that we came in really quick. We decided that we could play in the snow the next morning.

Bailey smiling beautifully in the snow. She was all bundled up and looking adorable.

For most of the morning Bailey sat in the chair and watched Austin build a snow man. She wasn't crazy about the snow. She remembered it hitting her in the face the night before and also it got her boots dirty. That's a big no-no in Bailey's eyes. She loves her shoes.

Austin got up with Bailey that morning so I could sleep in. It didn't last long though. He was so excited about taking Bailey out into the snow that he came and woke me up. He sent Bailey in yelling get up mommy. Then he said let's go play in the snow and Bailey said no I don't want to play in the snow. After about an hour and a half she finally warmed up and got out of her chair.

Austin, Bailey and the snowman.

Alesha, Bailey and the snowman!

Easter Fun

We went to Ceder Hill farms on Friday before Easter. Austin, Bailey, and I met our friends Claudia and Ethan there. We had a lot of fun. Some of the activities included pony rides, an Easter egg hunt, and pictures with live bunnies. Below are some pictures from our fun day.

We left Cedar Hill farms Friday and traveled to Grapevine to spend Easter with Nana & Papaw. Bethany and Micah were also down for a visit while Ericka & Nathan were gone on a ski trip with their youth group. Nana and Papaw had lots of fun activities planned for the grandkids. They went fishing, hunted Easter eggs, and made cupcakes.

We came home Monday afternoon and got ready for a visit from my family. My whole family (minus David) came up on Thursday. It just worked out that they were all on spring break on the same week. There were 14 people in our house for two nights & mom and dad stayed three nights. Love it! We had planned a trip to the Memphis Zoo, but chances of rain changed our plans. We ended up going bowling and watching movies. Our neighbors were kind enough to bring over one of their bounce pits for the kids on Saturday morning. It was fun and freezing.