IT's A GIRL!!!

What a differnence a year can make! Last year at this time we were doing our best to pick ourselves up and create a great holiday season for our kids. This year we are rejoicing in the AMAZING news that in a few short months we will be the parents to THREE little girls! We could not be more excited and feel so blessed this Christmas season!

A Year has gone by...

A year has gone by since I last updated our blog. What a year it has been. It has been a year dominated by a roller coaster of emotion. About a year ago we decided that we wanted to add another child to the McNutt clan. We were elated to learn that we were expecting in October 2009. Our elation soon turned to shock and heartbreak when we learned that we had experienced a miscarriage in November due to a partial molar pregnancy. Our calendar was then full of blood draws and doctors appointments. It has been a rough road. Health wise we have been given the okay to have another child and we are waiting on God and His timing and perfect plan for our family.

We desire to praise the Lord for the blessings that He has allowed in the midst of our struggle and trust Him for His plan for our future. We are so blessed by our beautiful little girls and here is a year in review!!!

July 2009 trip to Chicago

August 2009 road trip to Steamboat, Colorado
Smiley girls growing up in September 2009

Halloween with Dorothy and Little Orphan Annie

Two little donkeys in Grace Family Christmas

Winter Snowbirds in Florida

Ready to take Grandma Wilson her quilt

Funny teeth from the Easter Bunny

Running fun in May 2010

Sisters growing so beautifully June 2010

And a year later ....

Lazy Days of Summer!

For summer 2009 we decided that we wanted to have a slow, easy-going summer. We did not sign up for lessons, teams, vacations, etc... We wanted to just have time to relax and spend time with one another and our family and friends. So here is a little re-cap of our summer so far!
Daddy has been the pitcher of the Grace men's softball team which has been fun. Gives him a little time to do something that he enjoys and the girls love cheering, "Go Grace!"

When not cheering the girls can be found playing on the rock pile at the ball diamond, fun times!

Molly, Margot and I tried something new this summer. We went strawberry picking. It was a fun experience but a lot of back breaking work for not a whole lot of fruit. We came home with one small bowls worth of berries and this cute photo!

Another favorite summer time hang out is the Farm Park. It is a great little park with all the farm animals there for the kids to pet and feed. Margot likes the idea of the farm park but will not get close enough to touch or feed them. She and her friend Clara make a great pair, Margot holds the feed cone and Clara does all the feeding!

Molly our little animal lover's favorite activity is hanging out with the goats. She does not like the pushy ones and does her best to make sure they all get their fair share!

Riding in the car and singing to Mary Poppins has been another fun summer time activity. We have driven all over Illinois this summer visiting family and Mary Poppins makes the time fly by. Margot loves Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious and Molly loves all the songs that have really high notes to sing. It has been a blast listening to Molly perfect her British accent as we are driving along in the car!

Slip and Slide! Molly loves to ride the slip and slide in the backyard. It was all fun and games until she got hurt. She had a head on collision with a friend and we are now babying her very gray front teeth hoping we do not lose them. At least they are only baby teeth!

Birthday parties with friends are always fun. We had a great time in the park celebrating Allie's 4th birthday. She had a pinata and lots of fun prizes!

Bike rider with an attitude! Molly loves riding up and down the sidewalk on her many little bikes that have crowded poor daddy's car out of the garage. We have been working on no training wheels but we are not quite there yet. Maybe by the end of the summer we will conquer that feat.

I scream you scream we all scream for ice cream! We McNutt's love our ice cream. We have made trips to local ice cream hot spots like Emo's, Granny's and Ice Cream Shack but we also love a good ice cream sandwich in the driveway on a hot summer night.

Swimming is an activity that we can not get enough of. Luckily Nanu and Papa have a pool that they love to share with the kiddos. Margot and Molly have truly become water babies. Molly is now swimming all by herself in the deep end and she loves wearing goggles and spending lots of time exploring under water.

Margot loves to bring her smile along where ever she goes and it sure is contagious!

Molly is a thrill seeker. We took her to the fair and she wanted to ride every ride. She loved the dragon roller coaster!

Margot not a thrill seeker she was content to sit and watch Molly on every ride!

Molly also loved the swings at the fair and rode three times in a row! It made me dizzy just watching her but she loved every second!

Playing at the park is always a huge hit. We have made our rounds to all the local parks. The sprinkler park in Washington is fun even on a cold overcast morning. The chilly weather did not slow them down a bit!

Parachuters at Kroger??? We headed over to the Kroger parking lot in North Peoria to check out the Air National Guard parachuters who were landing as an advertisement for the upcoming Air Show. It was pretty neat!

We also have not let the rainy summer weather rain on our parade. We just head out the the Rainbow Park that is inside. We love it and it is great for running off a little pent up energy and makes for long naps on those rainy afternoons!

That is our summer so far, I am sure we will have many more adventures to come!

A Big One!!!

Today was a big day in the life of little Margot Isabell McNutt, she poo pooed on the potty! We have been working on this for months so to say we were excited would be a huge understatement. I did the proud mommy dance even in the bathroom at the pediatricians office, which is the location she choose for this momentous occasion. Above is Margot after she enjoyed the chocolate candy bar which was the potty prize of choice! Hopefully very soon we will say bye bye diapers hello big girl panties!

I'm so glad I came to bible school!

Bible School at Grace is a very fun week. This year we had 700 children attending and over 300 volunteers making everyting run smoothly. Jeff and I helped with the 2nd and 3rd graders. We learned all about the Armor of God!





Molly as always loved all the singing at Bible School. Her class learned all about Moses. The first day she came home with baby Moses in a littel basket and the last day they had the Ten Commandments as a snack, it was graham crackers with white frosting and black gel for writing. So super cute!

Margot was in the twos and this was her first year to actually go to bible school and not just the nursery. Margot learned all about creation. Her favorite was learning about light and dark and she cam home telling us all about how when you shut your eyes it is dark, so precious. She also enjoyed planting a flower for mommy!

A highlight of bible school this year for Molly was being at a table with all her best friends. She is a true girl loving her friends, Riley, Kylynn and Reagan. Everyday they were so excited to see one another, it was too cute!

Margot loved listening to a very special guest tell stories everyday and she even got to play his drum. Each day she would tell us that she played his drum loud! But she was too afraid to talk to him.

Our special guest every year at bible school is Black Buffalo. He is a Native American Indian, who is a missionary to Mexico and South America. He runs childrens homes. He comes each year and tells the kids stories of the Indian tribes that he has ministered to over the years. What an amazing man! We all love Black Buffalo! He has been a tradition at Grace VBS for 30 years.

Black Buffalo taught the kids to sing Jesus Loves me in a Native American language and here is the girls best rendition. It is pretty hilarious especially Margot's quick exit!

Bye Dr. Erickson!

Today was a sad day. We had to say good-bye to our pediatrician Dr. Erickson. He is moving to Chicago and we are very sad to see him go. For those whose kids are relatively healthy you may not relate, but our kiddos catch everything and I saw Dr. Erickson more than we see many of our friends. He has been a great support and a voice of reason in uncertain and scary situations. We have truly appreciated his support especially this year with our run in with DCFS and our hospitalization with pneumonia. We wish him the best on his new adventure but he will be greatly missed by our entire family!

School's Out!

Molly and her friend Riley.
Molly showing off all her "work" from this year.

Molly and her friend Riley sining in their Bo Peep Nursery School end of the year program!

All the cute kiddos showing off their sining!

We loved Bo Peep and are really going to miss Mrs. Wilson and the whole gang. Molly has loved playing with all her friends especially Riley and Matteo. She loved singing and making crafts. Her favorite part of the day was recess, it starts so early!