Daddys and Puddles...

There are two things Adri loves more than just about everything else...water and playing with her Daddy. When the two come as a package...well, life just couldn't get better.

This little light of mine...

I realize that it has been 3 months since I last blogged, but considering that many of you reading this have yourselves been in this very same situation, I will not judge myself or go on and on about why it has been so long. You all KNOW why it has been so long! I really want to just honor my precious Ella Kay who turned one this month.

It's funny how I sit here and try to organize my thoughts about this sweet girl and what all I want to tell you about her, and yet all I can do is just sit here and smile. She has that effect on people. They just smile around her.

She has this way of bringing peace and joy and laughter to every situation. I love that about her and I know this is a God-given ability that He will use in a mighty way in her future. And it is, therefore, no coincidence that in Greek her name means "torch, bright light". She is most certainly our little bright light.

I was uncertain when I found out I was pregnant again how I would cope having two so young together (Adri was just 6 months old) but I always had this indescribable joy inside of me concerning this new little life.

This joy just grew and grew with each passing month and the first moment I held her in my arms that joy bubbled out of me in uncontrollable laughter. I remember with Adri that moment was so surreal for me that I felt like I was watching a hallmark movie or something, and that it really wasn't me, my baby or my life. And maybe the second time around is more "real" because you know what to expect and you can really just look forward to that moment instead of wonder what it feels like. But this time I was so VERY aware of the moment...each second of it. And the minute they put Ella in my arms I knew I was holding my baby, my daughter, my joy.

And no matter how exhausting the next hour, day, month or year became I could not stop smiling when I was with her.

When ella was growing inside of me I would often wonder how she would fit into the puzzle that was our life, and how she would fit into Adri's life. Adri had SO much energy, needed so much affection and attention and being the only girl in my family...she got it! And at the beginning there were definitely periods of time where that was a challenge! But as God knows best, he knew this bubbly, cheeky, smiley, happy baby would be the perfect fit.

He made Ella even faster than Adri (which I truly thought was impossible) so that Adri would always have someone to chase and be chased by. Ella is already so silly, and she can entertain Adri better than anyone or anything I know.

He gave Adri a built-in playmate, wrestling partner, snuggling buddy, and an experimental guinea pig :).

They fight like cats and dogs at times (as most sisters do, I'm sure) but they already have a bond between them that is indescribable. Adri has blossomed into such a giving, loving, mothering little girl and it blesses my heart to know they will spend SO many years of their lives taking care of one another, teaching one another, growing one another and completing one another as only sisters can.

Ella has brought new wonder, curiosity, and love to Adri's little life and I feel overwhelmed that I get to be a witness to that every day.

Ella, you have made me into a more patient, giving, and joy-filled mother. With one smile from you the worries and cares of my life melt away.

You must have spent many days laughing with the angels because when I hear your little giggles I feel as though I am hearing God's heart.

I pray that the gift you have to bring an anointing of joy and peace to the darkest places of my life will be used to bring God to the darkest places on this earth. I pray that he covers you on every side and that He makes your light shine so bright for others that you would be a beacon of hope to those who need it most. Thank you Lord for this most precious, beautiful, amazing little one you have given us. Bless her every year with more of your presence, more of your grace, love, and wisdom. I love you my little Ella Bell! Happy 1st Birthday

Our boo is TWO!

This ones for my boo...

Since the day we found out she was growing inside me I couldn't wait to see her, to touch her, to smell her, to hear her...

As my tummy grew, so did my love, my anticipation, and my wonder...

When the day finally came to bring her into the world it felt like Christmas morning... and the first day of school...

It was the most difficult thing I ever had to do, but also the most rewarding...

She was so petite, so fragile, so incredibly beautiful and so very heavenly...

Our whole world changed the minute she arrived, and I'm so very glad she did.

How can I sum up all that she has become, all that she has accomplished, all that she has meant to us in these past two years? There truly is no way.

But I sure hope that as she grows into the woman God has called her to be, that she will always know how incredibly special she is. How deeply loved she is. How beautiful she is. How smart and yet so silly she is.

Adrianna Eileen Moore, you bring instant sunshine to everyone around you with one smile. You continually amaze me at how quickly you learn, how inquisitive you are, and how much wonder you have for the world around you. You bless my heart more than you will ever know with how much you already love Jesus. You are our special girl, our Adri bean, our boo. You made me a momma first, and there is no better day to celebrate YOUR Birthday than Mother's Day. I love you.
-Love your momma

"We are all born for love... it is the principle existence and it's only end." --Benjamin Disraeli

Ever since the day that I got the call from my best friend Tawni she was pregnant, knowing what she did not...that I too was pregnant, I realized that God would have a mighty plan for our two children. It really wouldn't have mattered what sex they ended up being, whether both girls or both boys, or one of each, it would not have changed the fact that they would be great friends all their lives. Just like their mothers. So once we found out that she was expecting a son, and I another daughter, we just assumed that they were destined to spend the rest of their lives together. And so, naturally, the majority of our conversations about these two go something like this:

Tawni "Micah is so much like my dad. He likes to just sit back and take in the scenery and just observe the world and people around him. He has to be really comfortable with the people he's with and his surroundings to really let his personality come out."

Me "Ella is such a people person. She just wants to talk to everybody and be held by everybody. She just loves to be around people."

Tawni "They are totally opposite aren't they?"

Me "Yep."

Tawni "but that is SO good to have in a relationship. You really need somebody who will challenge you and balance you out."

Me "That is SO true! She could totally help him break out of his shell just like Aaron does for me!"

Tawni "and she will need somebody to keep her home sometimes to just snuggle and have a quiet night!"

Both of us at the same time "See, we knew they were meant to be!"

And I'm sure none of our hopeful planning and increasing respect of arranged marriages has anything to do with the fact that we'd like to be legally related :) But who knows...they might end surprising us with what we hoped for all along! We just might have to do a little convincing Micah that having an aggressive wife would be good for him :)

Poor Micah has NO idea why he is being assaulted and Ella just thinks this is GREAT fun.

She says "Shhh...you had me at hello Micah" and he says "when do the beatings stop?"

Ella:"I may be little but I can take you DOWN!" Micah: "Dear lord get me out of here!"

See, she'll make a great wife! She's already checking for unwanted ear hair!

After all that she's hoping he'd still like to be friends.

"Well...you are pretty darn cute..."



"Come to think of it...how do you feel about mountain living?"



"Would I have to wear boots like these?" "Well, yes, yes you would. Is that going to be a problem?"


"Well, let me see what color your eyes are"



Such a handsome boy :)



Yep, they already make a cute couple :)



The beginnings of a beautiful relationship...






Oh man... :) Daddy better have a talk with that boy soon.

Hair today...gone tomorrow

So a couple weeks ago I decided to go ahead and take the plunge and chop all my hair off. I cut almost 12 inches off!! Thanks to my great friend Tawni who always has and always WILL talk me into ANYthing. But I really have been thinking about cutting my hair for over a year now, and considering that it has been long since before I was pregnant with Adri, it was about time for a change. So I thought I'd post some pics of my hair changes throughout the last six years and end with what I've got now. I figure, enough blogs about my kids...here's one just about me ;)

Long and bleach blonde! I really liked it like this and almost did this to my hair this time instead of cutting it (but this time I wanted to add deep pink streaks throughout!) but the upkeep is too much for me in this busy season of life, so we went with practical and easy to do!

Then when I graduated from college I chopped it all off for the first time since I was a little girl! I remember that I went in to get it done after getting about 2 hours of sleep trying to finish my senior thesis and I vaguely remember telling the stylist to just cut it all off. She was like "are you surrre you want to do this?!" and I was like "um, yeah, whatever." She probably thought I was drunk :)

I kept it short for a while, but went more caramel colored. Not sure it's my fav look on me.

K, so I really hate this one...it's in between long and short and my roots are SO nasty! I also decided to cut bangs...something I hadn't done...um...ever I think.

This I think was cute...medium length, bangs and a good rich brown color. Defintely an improvement from the hairstyle above!

This is when I was a few months prego with Adri. This is just about as natural as my hair gets in color and texture (some wave to it).

Then I decided to do something "drastic" again and I cut bangs once more, LOTS of layers and dyed it red. I liked it for something different but I don't think I ever got used to the red.

Then when adri was about 6 months old I dyed it eggplant. I really, really liked this all around. Good cut and I loved the color.

And this is what my hair looked like right before I cut it. It was actually another 2 inches longer, but you get the idea :)



And that brings us to the most drastic one yet....(drum roll please)....short and jet black!

So what's your vote peeps? What "shannon" look does everybody like the best? And isn't it funny that I started out with LONG platinum blonde hair and ended with really short jet black hair? I've cycled through almost the entire range of length and color combos you could have! Who knows what I'll do next?! :) Maybe I'll dye ALL of my hair hot pink....

My cup overflows

This blogs for Thea...she blogged about being grateful, and wondering what we are all grateful for in our own lives. And I think that's a good word. We have SO much, TOO much to be grateful for and we don't take nearly enough time to think about that. So, here's my top 5 of what I'm grateful for today and then some pics to keep ya'll updated on my life since it's been nearly 2 months since I've blogged!

1. Jesus' death and resurrection....I know it sounds so "christian trite" but it's true. Because he took my pain, my failures, my frustrations, my sicknesses and sin to the cross I can get up everyday and face it with a new measure of grace, a new dose of life, and a new outlook. I've been freed from envy, from fear, from unbelief and bitterness. Thank you Jesus.

2. This country and the blessing it has been to live in a place that allows me to serve my God, tell others about Him, worship Him freely and pursue every opportunity I could possibly hope to have in a lifetime. It is by God's grace that we are allowed that freedom, and it is His grace and mercy that this country needs more now than ever.

3. My health and the health of my family. Like so many others, I was so very moved by little Cora's story and it has made me grateful EVERYday that my girls are healthy and whole.

4. My hubby, Aaron. He truly is one of the most genuine, caring, sacrificial people I have ever met. He makes every day more exciting, more fulfilling, more peaceful. He LOVES life, helping people, and giving me every desire I could possibly have. There just isn't enough words to describe how proud of him I am, how MUCH he means to me and how incredibly blessed I feel to be able to share my life with this man.

5. How fervently and relentlessly God has pursued my heart and my mind. This season of my life has been the most revealing and utterly-life changing of any other time in my life. He has taken me to places that I never thought I could be in my relationship with him and I am so grateful for it.

So here are some pics from the Moore household the last couple o'months:

Well, once again, I couldn't get a "good" family pic where everyone looks great, is looking at the camera AND smiling, but it's worth a try anyway :)

The only way I get dinner made before 10m? Stick one in a sink full 'a bubbles and put the other one where she can see all the action :)

Our little Ella Bella, the sweetest most content baby I've ever known. She's SO captivated by everything and anything around her and so personable. She loves NOTHING more than being held close to somebody's face so she can inspect with her eyes and hands every inch of what's in front of her. And I've never seen a baby that smiles SO much!

Our little Adri bean. She's incredibly energetic, meticulous, curious, animated, so smart for her age, and amazingly helpful and maternal. She's becoming quite the caring, loving big sister. It's hard to believe she'll be two in a few months!

She's got as much personality as the outfits she picks out :)



There is nothing more she loves than "i-sheeem"...



....or doing ANYthing with Nana

And on a final note, here's a few pics from our a-new-all, uh, I mean, annual "Valentines Day getaway" with our dear friends Mike and Becky. A day with them and we almost forget we're parents!

The day started with an amazing, relaxing horseback ride through the mountains. It was a beautiful, crisp winter morning with not one other soul to be seen (except for our group of 5) and only the sound of the horses feet treading through the dirt. Aaaaahhhh it gave me some MUCH needed peace and quiet. :)



The four amigos



This sheep and these two goats lived at the horse ranch and they also participated in the "ride". They literally followed us the entire hour and a half that we rode and we just couldn't stop laughing at our little entourage.



Then we headed to Denver to this tiny, hole-in-the-wall vineyard where we tasted over 20 wines and had one of the most relaxing, romantic, fun 3 hours of my life. The wine wasn't so bad either :)

Then, to sober up (jk) we feasted at Rodizios Brazilian grill. It's literally endless, all-you-can-eat meats of EVERY kind...so the guys were in heaven.

To finish up we burned some of those calories by laughing a ton at the improv comedy show at Impulse Theatre. It was one amazing day, and for sure one of the more memorable "Valentines" we've ever had...good luck beating us next years boys!!

She's His

We dedicated our little Ella Bella to the Lord today, and what a special day it was! It is always so incredibly overwhelming as a mom to know that your baby has been prayed for, prayed over and brought to the Lord's feet in total dedication to Him. It marks such an awesome start to their future relationship with Him. And it moves me to tears realizing the incredible responsibility I have as her mother to be an example each and every day of the love her Father has for her. It's my job to lead her in wisdom, in truth, in humility and total and complete surrender to Him and his will. And it definetely reminds you that it's really not about you as a parent, but it's about Him and what He has planned and destined for your little ones life. We were so blessed to have Ella's Nana, Pop, Granny, Aunt Heidi, Uncle Toby, cousins Abbey and Audrey, Uncle Kerry and Uncle Dys all there to celebrate her life and our commitment to the Lord to raise Ella for Him.

This is the dress that I was baptised in when I was a baby and this is also the dress that Adri was dedicated in as well.

She was bathed in prayer!

From left to right: Adri, my mom, Dyson, Me, my Dad and Ella, Aaron, Kerry, and Wanda

Grandmothers and granddaughters...it's a beautiful thing :)

Adri and Audrey looked so cute in their Christmas dresses

This is how Adri fell asleep on the way home...she was just a little tired, poor thing!

And in the miscellaneous picture corner...here's Adri and Granny cookin dinner one night

She just LOVES to help, and it's a good thing Granny didn't mind all the extra flour in her recipe :)

Over the weekend we took Adri to the Dinosaur Experience in Woodland Park, CO. She is fascinated with dinosaurs right now, so she thought it was a pretty darn cool place.

She just loved this stuffed dinosaur and kept hugging it and trying to "give" it things

In front of a 25 ft prehistoric Great White Shark

Touching the real dino bones

She carried her babydoll through the whole place and was "explaining" things to her the whole time. :)

The loves of my life

Her awesome hair on the way home after she tried to pull her pony out.

And I just couldn't help but post this because it is just so funny to us...Adri is potty training and we put a bunch of her own books on the toilet to read, but she refuses to read them while she sits there. She instead insists on reading Aaron's "Entrepreneur" magazines. I guess we have a little business enthusiest on our hands!

A rare moment of sisterly love :)

We've also discovered that she LOVES to play the drums, but notice the tiara? She always has to look like a princess :)

And last but not least, we tried rice cereal with Ella for the first time. Needless to say...it did not go over very well. I don't think I've ever seen anybodys nostrils flare out that far or that much! :D