~ happy birthday lela ~

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Lela Rebecca is 6 years old!

She made us parents,

and changed out lives forever.

Born at only 4 pounds and 15 ounces,

and just under 17" long,

we struggled to get her to gain weight,

but after hard work and support,

breastfeeding was a success.

A picture of Lela's first bath, at 3 weeks old, for size reference.

She wore preemie clothes until she was 6 weeks old!

But she grew quickly!

1st Birthday

2nd Birthday 

(you can see what we didn't have many good pictures that year!)

3 years old

4th Birthday

FIVE!

picture by Rebecca T. Jones 

AKA Aunt Bec

___________________________________________________________

We had a sweet and simple birthday table.

Laurel and Liv each gave her a beautiful African violet.

Daddy picked 6 daffodils,

and told her how the daffodils bloomed the week she was born.

I made her a new birthday crown,

and gave her a necklace with two charms,

one a little girl, the other a heart that said "Big Sis",

and a needle-felted little doll.

But why would we give her a carrot for her birthday??

We surprised Lela, and her sisters, 

with a trip to the Latta Plantation Equestrian Center.

Lela riding Roney!

Lela was so excited!  

What little girl doesn't love a horse?

Of course, Lela's little sisters got to ride too.

Laurel rode this sweet little girl, Lucy.

Liv rode Roney as well.  

I love how excited her is in this picture.

After the pony rides,

we took our bag of carrots to the pasture.

These huge draft horse came galloping across the field.

It was thrilling, and a little scary, to see them thundering over the knoll.

This one was a bit of a bully!

So I kept him enticed with a carrot, 

just out of his reach,

while the girls got to feed this shy horse.

Happy, Happy Birthday Lela!

May your next trip around the Sun

be even more wonderful!

~ carrie ~

~ woodland adventure ~

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At the beginning of February,

we traveled to Virginia for a very special occasion

(more to come on that soon!)

but while we were there,

visiting Gran and Pop,

we had the most lovely adventure in their woods.

The girls, and my camera,

found so many wonderful little nooks!

Even aquatic nooks!

Zelda the rescue pibble had a glorious time!

She never stoped running, smelling, exploring.

But she also didn't venture far, and always came when we call.

We couldn't ask for a better dog!

Wait, is this a dog or a hyena?

We explored a little seasonal creek,

following it downstream.

My big girl Laurel want to climb out of the creek bottom

all.by.her.SELF!

And off she goes!

In fact, we followed this little creek

all the way to where it joined

the slightly larger Sandy Creek.

Momma explored some natural textures

while the girls played.

Quick girls, it's getting late,

a little more exploring!

The Sun started sinking lower in the sky,

so we headed back up the hill from the creek.

We went through the cow pasture,

and just like Peter Rabbit,

my sweet little bunnies squeezed under the gate.

We are always grateful for these open-ended opportunities for nature play.

Looking forward to Spring when we can have even more adventures!

~carrie~