The ABC's

Anson has learned to say his ABC's! Well, LMNOP sounds like "Emily" but we're close! Here's the video:

Happy Easter! He is Risen!

We had a very Happy Easter and hope you did too! We have been telling Anson the story of Easter for a few weeks now, so this morning on the way to church he was saying "Jesus is Risen"! Our hope is that he will soon know how important it is that we serve a risen God and not just a dead "hero".

We had a little egg hunt at home after church. Anson had such a great time finding the eggs (and eating the goodies inside)! We had our friend Cyrl come over for lunch and also Aunt Megan.

I cooked a roast and a broccoli cascerole and we had baked potatoes and yeast rolls. It was yummy! Well, we hope you have a great week!

Spring Time Fun

Here is our little Spring Flower...

Ella finally has long enough hair to put a bow in! Just in time for Easter!

Today we had our lunch outside. It is such a beautiful day! Anson was so excited about eating outside... He said "This is a REAL picnic! I'll get our tea. (He got two cups from Ella's tea set and put them on our tray) When we got outside and all set up he said, "Mommy this is so fun! I can see the blue sky!" I guess I should take him out more! :o) So I had a delightful springtime picnic with my son and daughter! Dusty is on his way home from a fishing trip with Jared and Chad in Jacksonville so he missed the "picnic". But we will have another one for Easter tomorrow which will include a little egg hunt too! Happy Easter!!

Squash Giggles and Good Popsicles

Today Ella had her 6 month check-up and she is fine! She weighs 16' 6" and is 27 inches long! She had 4 shots again but she did fine. It freaks me out a little to have her immunized with the whole autism scare going on right now. My Doctor had a good point...if it weren't for immunizations we would have to worry about catching polio or the measles or a myriad of other awful, life-threatening diseases! So we just trust God and His plan for the kids.
We're introducing Ella to solid food now and it has been funny to see her facial expressions! I'll share a funny video with you but DON'T watch if you get squeemish at the sight of squash drooling out of a baby's mouth!! (Auntie Amy!!! :o) There are some pretty cute giggles though!

On to Anson... We live very close to Grant Park and the Zoo so on Sunday we went to the Park and yesterday we went to the zoo! Anson absolutely LOVES the zoo! He tells us what animal he wants to see and we go there. He gets to be in charge! When we were leaving the park we saw an ice cream man (the same one that drives by our house with the music playing). Anson was so excited so Daddy jumped out and got Anson a HUGE popsicle. We let him start eating it in the car because we only had to go a few blocks. After a few licks he said "Mommy, Daddy, this is so good!" And just the way he said it was so cute. So of course I made him say it again so I could video him. Here it is...

There's No Place Like Home...

View of a huge oak up-rooted in the front yard of our rental house in East Atlanta

Yes! A Tornado hit downtown Atlanta last night and as you know, we live VERY close to downtown. I actually heard it! I was about to go snatch the kids from their beds and go to the closet when my all-knowing husband said, "Arin, tornados very rarely hit big downtown areas... we're protected by the city!" So I just ran to a window and nervously watched the wind bend our huge oak trees. And just like that, it was over. No damage to be seen. Yes, the thunder roared and lightning flashed but the kids stayed tucked safely in their beds and never knew the difference. We never even lost power, just our internet connection. It wasn't until this morning that we realized that there really was a tornado and that they really do hit downtown areas!! (Dusty would not admit he was wrong because they could not confirm it was a tornado! But It was!!!!)

Then today we had a huge hail storm with hail the size of golf balls! But this time we sent Anson to our closet (He loves to hide in there anyway) while I went to get Ella from her crib. We camped out in the closet for a few minutes while Dusty watched out the window. It was so loud! But it, too, quickly passed and we had no damage. We just thanked God for his protection and the adventure of seeing a glimpse of His power through nature! Cool, really.

Thank you to everyone who called to check on us when they saw it on the news! We feel loved! :o)

6 Months Old!!

Happy 1/2 Birthday Ella! Ella turned 6 months old yesterday. It is so hard to believe that she is already been here that long...We can't imagine life without our sweet little girl! I still look at her with amazement sometimes because I never thought we would have a girl. Ever since we were married (almost 11 years ago!!) we had heard... "The Rollins Men don't have girls!" But this generation is proving differently with Jared and Brittany having sweet little Charlotte and some cousins with girls too! Now the Rollins women are staring to out-number the men!

Anyway, we are quite happy with our little girl and she seems to be progressing well without her brace. She can roll over from back to tummy and scoot a little to reach toys. She can also turn in circles on her tummy! She is getting more vocal with cooing and babbling and laughing. What fun! I just started her on solids this week with some rice cereal and she is not yet a fan. Soon... She tries to grab everything and is very active yet sooo sweet natured. Here are some recent pics...

Not A cereal fan yet!

Oh, to be this flexible!

Anson is really into reading and we are so happy. He loves to sit and look at the pictures and re-tell the story to himself. In this picture he is reading "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe". He can "read" some of his smaller books word for word! He has a better memory than his Mommy!

Ella's Baptism

Ella's Baptism was yesterday and it turned out very nice! She did a great job and so did big brother Anson! We were a little worried about him being on the platform and picking his nose or something, but he was a perfect little angel! He was telling everyone later that "Dr. Youssef poured water on Ella's head!" Gramma and Papa Camp and Auntie Amy and Uncle Andy came from Florida for the occasion! Dusty's Mom came down with the flu a few days ago so they were unable to come (We missed you!) but Auntie Megan came to represent the Rollins' side!

So we had a fun weekend with Family! It was soooo cold on Saturday that we actually had snow flurries for a few hours in the morning! So we really didn't do much but go out to eat and play some games at home. But we had a great time! It is always fun to be with family! Anson and Ella are especially spoiled now because every visit from Gramma and Papa is like Christmas!

Well, have a great week!

Family Fun

Monday was such a beautiful day here! It was a little teaser of Spring weather. Dusty went out and bought a cheap kite while Anson was taking his nap and then we all went to the park! Anson was so excited about his kite (Dusty was pretty excited too!) and could hardly wait to get it in the air. It was really a perfect day for flying a kite, and as you can see from the pictures, and we all had a fun time. Ella had fun watching and making "raspberry" sounds! Every picture I took of her has her tongue sticking out! She was so tired out by the end that she fell asleep holding onto her sun shade! Here are a few pics...

Ella's Dress

So here is the dress I made for Ella. I haven't tried making a dress in a long time. I made little sundresses for Rachel and Rebekah when they were babies and now they are 8 and 9 years old! How time flies! So it was a fun refresher course and the dress is not perfect but I thought it turned out cute. All of the lace and trimmings were from my grandmothers sewing box from years ago. In fact, some of the lace I found had a price tag for 15 cents!

About her baptism... (Just if you're interested) :o)

Our church baptises by sprinkling with water. But by us baptising her we do not believe that she is now "saved". We are recognizing the covenant that we have with God to raise her "in the fear and knowledge of the Lord" and that as God promises, she will one day have a relationship with Him as her Savior! So it is more of a dedication ceremony. We are excited to have Gramma and Papa, Toto and Pop, Auntie Amy and Uncle Andy, and Auntie Mel and Auntie Megan joining us next Sunday for the Baptism! We want YOU to join us too!

Our church broadcasts live over the internet every Sunday at 10:30 AM Eastern time. Go to http://www.apostles.org/. In the middle/left of the main page under "Streaming Video" click on Windows Media Player to watch live! The Baptism is always at the beginning so watch for us!