:Wordless Wednesday: WAFFLES:

:10months:

*She was 10months old yesterday*
Where is time going???

HattieJo,
I can't believe you are two months from being 1 year old...AHHH!!! This past month has been a BLAST. You are changing daily. You LOVE to talk. I was walking through Khol's today and you were capturing everyone's attention as you babbled. You love to say "daddy, mamama, shshshsh, ssss, bbbbb." You are pulling up on somethings. You enjoy grabbing my hands and standing yourself up to walk (while holding my hands). You look like you might be about to do a little army crawl, but you are not quite sure. You like to play in your room while I am up there doing laundry. Pushing the train back and forth across your room brings lots of talking and smiles from you! You are eating EVERYTHING!.(roast, potatoes, waffles, chicken, bread, cheerios just to name a few!). Especially interested in eating things from mommy's plate. You have a LOVE for ice cream like me! I enjoy always sharing my ice cream with you. Love Bug you are the light of our lives. We LOVE you so much and are so thankful for the precious gift you are to us. We continue to pray for you each day that the Lord would draw you to Himself at a young age.
Mommy and Daddy LOVE you!

*This ADORABLE dress was made for HJ by cousin Michelle in Florida! Be on the look out for another post with the other dress that she made for her! She is so talented!!! Thanks Chelle!*

.the jarretts come to visit.

One of Andrews best friends growing up, Patrick, and his wife Britain came to visit us last weekend! We had such a great time. They had not seen HattieJo since she was 4 months old and she has changed so much since then. They met up with us at the Young Pros night at the park and then followed us home. We just hung out on Friday night. Them staying up much later than me! haha.. Then on Saturday morning we enjoyed some breakfast casserole then HattieJo, Britain, and I played while Andrew and Patrick practiced some music. They are leading worship for a youth camp in Florida next week, so it was a good chance for them to work out the kinks in things! HattieJo LOVED listening to us all sing and watching the guys play their guitars.
They went to church with us on Saturday night. Then we went out to dinner to Hibachi Express (one of our favorites). Then home for hanging out on the screened porch. We were sitting out there just talking and relaxing and we were for some reason talking about snakes, and Andrew said, "I think that is one right there in the bush." So we go the HUGE flashlight and sure enough! So Britain and I watched while the boys, well really, Andrew got the snake and took him to the woods! Patrick wasn't wild about being too close to the snake. Little bit of snake action at the Hopper house yet again. Sunday we got up and had some breakfast then we all headed out the door.
Patrick and Britain we are so glad that yall came to visit with us! We had a great time. Look forward to seeing yall again soon. We love yall!

.young pros at Umstead Park.

Last Friday night, the Young Pros had a night at Umstead Park. It was so fun. The weather was gorgeous and the fellowship was sweet! There was a good crowd of people who are regulars to our Thursday night gathering, but there were also lots of people new to the ministry. We were excited to be able to connect with some new faces. Crazy thing is that I talked with a girl who is from Argentina, that I had met when I went there my junior year of high school... SMALL WORLD! She is now living up here with her husband. CRAZY! The two Young Pro interns planned the event and they did a great job with it.
Here is HattieJo and Rebekah, her husband is one of the young pro interns and they are also in our small group:
Here is a few of the people hanging out, majority of the people ate and then started playing football, frisbee, and throwing a baseball...We are so thankful to serve this ministry at the Summit. It has been a joy to build relationships with the people and see the Lord work in and through their lives.

.thankful.

Here is a little back story on today's post: When I was pregnant with HattieJo we went in for our 20 week appointment so excited to be able to find out if she was a boy or girl. We knew that this would also be the appointment where there would do some scanning through ultrasound of her body and organs and such. Well, HattieJo was a shy girl, so we left that day still not knowing if she was a boy or girl. She had her legs crossed then was moving her hands all over the place. I was a bit disappointed. But we also found out that day that she was a 2vessel cord baby. For those of you who don't know, the umbilical cord should be 3vessel cord resembling a Micky Mouse head! WHEW... So we were a bit nervous. They told me that they would begin to do ultrasounds once a month and then they would do fetal monitoring 2 times a week the last month. They would begin to do all this monitoring to be sure that she was growing on track as most 2vessel cord babies will slow in their growth in the last month. So we shared this news with our friends, family, and small group and begged of them to begin to cover this situation in prayer. We were nervous, yet confident that this didn't catch the Lord by surprise and knowing that as the Word says in Psalm 139. "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works, my soul knows it very well." So we did all the ultrasounds and monitoring from then out and she did GREAT! I was induced 1 day shy of being 39 weeks. You can read that story here. When she was born, they had to do an ultrasound of her kidneys and an intense hearing test as those are things that form at the same time as they umbilical cord and are sometimes effected by it. So she did marvelous on her hearing test. Her kidney ultrasound showed that one was larger and a slight bit out of the "normal" range. Our pediatrician wasn't too concerned and said that she would like to do another ultrasound at 6mths to check it again. So at 6mths we headed to the hospital for the ultrasound. It still turned up that the one was still out of the "normal" range, but had not gotten bigger. So she set up another for around 9mths. So on Tuesday, HattieJo and I headed to the hospital. This time the results came back that they both were in the "normal" range. PRAISE THE LORD!!!! We were so thankful! While HJ and I were in the waiting room, she was being herself and completely entertaining everyone in there. She is such a ham! It was like we walked into a waiting room full of nonsmiling people, but not long after we arrived HJ had everyone smiling and talking! What a joy she is.. We are so thankful for the great report!
Here she is sporting her "bracelet" from the hospital:

.Happy Birthday Grandaddy.

Hope you have a great birthday!
We LOVE you!
Andrew, Anna, and HattieJo

G.R.I.T.S

Girls Raised In The South.....OR...the gritty grain that I LOVE to eat for breakfast!

On Saturday morning while we were eating breakfast, I decided to give HattieJo a taste of my grits... Here is her reaction in pictures:
Don't think she was a big fan of them! We will have to try them again some other time!

:Happy Father's Day:

Yesterday after HattieJo's nap, we set out to take some pictures for the "Father's Day" post! So here we go:

Happy Father's Day Daddy!
Andrew, I am so thankful for what an incredible daddy you are to our little girl! Her face lights up when she sees you and I LOVE that. I LOVE to watch you throw her up in the air, snuggle her, give her kisses, and play with her. You are awesome.
Happy Father's Day Poppa and Grandaddy!
Dads, We are so thankful for you guys. Thank you for how you raised us to love and serve the Lord. We are so thankful for how you love our little girl!
In thinking about Father's Day, I am SO reminded of the heavenly Father's love for us. WOW. The lyrics of this song say it best:

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

.home again, home again, jiggity jig.

We arrived home at 1:30 Thursday morning from a great time in FL with Andrew's family. We drove part of the way on Saturday night after church, then woke up Sunday morning and drove the rest of the way to Andrew's parents house. We left HattieJo with Andrew's mom (picture to the left-HattieJo was going shopping!)while Andrew and I went to visit Grandpap who is in the hospital. He asked us how "that beautiful girl was doing" and said that "she sure is pretty and I wish I could see her." (this is Pamela Jo, Allie Jo, and HattieJo)Then for lunch Andrew's aunt Pamela and her family come over for lunch then we loaded up and headed for Amelia Island! The house we stayed in was GORGEOUS. We woke up each morning to a beautiful sunrise right over the ocean. We had a blast being there with Andrew's sister and husband and their 3 boys as well. When we arrived on Sunday afternoon we headed down to the ocean for a bit, HattieJo actually enjoyed letting the water rush up on her legs, but her favorite part was sitting in the sand playing with the shells. (I didn't have my camera with me). Once Erin's family arrived we decided to try and get a picture of the 4 grandchildren, boy was it tough! haha..4 children 3 year old twins, 9 1/2 month old girl, and 7 month old boy! We did try again on Wednesday and had a little more success, Erin has that one of her camera, so I will post it once I get it! HattieJo had a great time with her cousins. She LOVED watching the big boys playing and really enjoyed playing with Ryan. She would take his paci out of his mouth and put it back in. The kids all did great! The "littles" having some play time with poppa:
Here is HattieJo and I catching a little snooze before we headed back out into the sun:









Here is attempt #2 of getting the "grandkids" picture. This is Dylan with the "littles", Tyler was hiding behind the couch! He told us that he just wanted to be behind the couch for the picture! haha.. Ryan was all smiles, HattieJo was trying to figure out what was going on and Dylan was watching TV! Here are some pictures from one day at the pool:Before we left on Wednesday Auntie Erin got some snuggle time with HattieJo. She fell right asleep on Erin, it was precious!On our way out of town, we spent some time in Downtown Fernandina Beach. Of course I had to scope out a place down there for some ice cream.. and I found a place with homemade ice cream. It was DELICIOUS! The "bigs" LOVED their superman ice cream:
Dylan on the left, Tyler on the right.
We had a great time with the family. Thank you Gigi and Poppa for a great beach trip!

.memorial day festivities.

Yeah, this is a little late, but things have been WILD around our house! Yesterday was my last day of school for the year! YAY, so now I have 5 weeks off and then will start again. I love teaching year round school! I am so excited to have these next weeks off to spend time with HattieJo, travel, relax, and spend time with friends.
Our Memorial Day started with some yummy breakfast consisting of homemade waffles and bacon. Then HattieJo and I went for a run in the park:
When we returned from the walk, we hung out around the house for a bit, showered and then headed to Chickfila for lunch and then to TJMaxx for a new toy while daddy shopped in Dick's Sporting goods for some new fishing stuff. Then we came home to take some pics of the dogs for the website. While Andrew and I are taking the pictures HattieJo LOVES to watch. She is fascinated by the dogs! Then HattieJo went for a swim in her "redneck pool" (that is what my nephews call the swimming pools in the backyard!)

Isn't she adorable in her little bikini!

After her nap we headed over to some old small group friend's house for a cookout. It was fun to get together with some of the people who used to be in our small group that left several months ago to plant a new small group. HattieJo had fun playing with all the little kids there. So it was a busy, yet fun day!

Wordless Wednesday: Best Friends

:rub a dub, dub:

HattieJo has a LOVE for getting a bath. She LOVES to be in the bath splashing with her hands, kicking her legs, chewing her toys, pouring water out of cups, squealing, and laughing. It is hilarious to watch. The past few times I have gotten her out of the tub (when she is all pruned up), she has cried! I am so glad she likes it though!

.yard sales.

When Andrew and I got married and even some when we were dating, we would get up on Saturday mornings and go to different yard sales and to the flea market, or what we call the jokey lot! haha... We haven't done as much "yard saling" since moving to NC, but the other weekend I hit the jack pot! I was on my way home from running at the park and saw a couple of signs and decided to stop... I got everything pictured about for $10... It was awesome! And everything was in GREAT condition!!The walker does have a seat, I was just washing it when I took this picture!So the saying is true, "one man's junk is another man's treasure!"

.is the doctor in?.

Well, this week started out great by celebrating Memorial Day with a cookout with old small group friends and a great day hanging out as a family. However on Tuesday HattieJo started acting sick while she was at Mrs. Susans..she had a low temp. but by the time we got home that afternoon it was up to 103.1...YIKES! I was so nervous... We gave her tylenol, cool bath, etc. She wasn't interested in eating and was not acting herself. That night I slept on the floor by her bed and Andrew and I woke up every hour to check her temp. Luckily the next day she was scheduled for her 9mth appointment so we went in for that and found out that she had this:

Guess what these pictures stand for....

thats right.. Hand, Foot, and Mouth... I have NO IDEA how she got it, but the dr. said she had blisters on the back of her throat, so no wonder she wasn't eating. Her temperature was down around 100 on Wednesday and Thursday it had gone down to 98.9..WHEW! On Friday she was back to the fun, crazy, on the go HattieJo! We are so thankful that the Lord gave her a speedy recovery from that yucky viral infection. It was so pitiful. My mom and dad always said it was hard to see us sick and now I understand! Here are her 9month stats:

Height: 29.25 in (95%)
Weight: 21.2 lbs (85%)
Head: 47cm (95%)
The dr. said that she looked great!

sssssssnake

So I guess part of living more "out in the country" means more wildlife, including SNAKES! Last Friday on "daddy day" Andrew heard a commotion going on outside with the dogs, so he went to see what was going on and this is what he found:

Once he saw what was going on, he ran back inside to get the flipcamera to catch some of the action! Never a dull moment with the Hoppers!

Wordless Wednesday: Gingham Girls