caught

I love catching moments like this...

My Favorite Room

I constantly have the desire to change and make better every room in our house. There are many reasons that I haven't but the main one being a lack of funds to "decorate." Down deep somewhere inside of me is someone who loves to do projects. I have big ideas but they never quite come out like I imagine them.

There are two rooms in our house that I really like. One is Grey's and the other is Tucker's. I have been in Tuck's room a lot lately and just absolutely love it. I loved putting it together. I love rocking him in his rocking chair, changing him on his soft changing pad cover while he laughs and laughs, laying him down in his crib and patting his little bottom, and reading him a book every now and again.

I never took pictures of the finished product so I decided to do just that today. I loved Grey's nursery as well and never got any good pictures. So here goes a little documenting for the later years...

Tuck has discovered his feet and when I lay him on his back, this is what he does! Look at those chunky, chunky legs! Oh, he makes my heart sing sweet songs.

saturday afternoon

Just enjoying a Saturday afternoon...

Tucker the Great

I cannot begin to describe the joy that this baby boy brings. To say that we enjoy him is an understatement. Tucker wakes up in the morning with a smile on his face, he smiles at me while he's eating, he smiles and giggles when no one is giving him full attention, he giggles when he gets his diaper changed, he laughs at grey, he laughs at daddy, he smiles at his toys. Needless to say, we have a very happy baby on our hands.

He makes for an easy baby. He is technically "sleeping through the night" in terms of hours he will sleep. There have been a few nights he has slept from 8:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. More consistently, he eats around 8-8:30 p.m. and then falls asleep for the night. He will sleep until 5ish, wake up and eat, and then sleep again until 8:30 or so. He gets up for another feeding and lots of play time with Grey and I. He usually swings while I clean up the kitchen from breakfast and takes a catnap. He's up again to play and giggle. He is beginning to be very interested in patterns and sounds so we are pulling out some fun toys. (I'm a sucker for baby toys so we have lots) He eats again around 10:30-11, one more catnap, then playtime before his long afternoon nap. He eats around 1ish and then is off to sleep for at least 3 hours, if not 4! I love the schedule he has put himself on :)

I am trying to savor in the sweetest of moments that will and are fleeing so quickly. I am snuggling him close any time I can. (which works out well because he is a snuggle bomb) I am talking to him about things that matter because I want him to understand His Father's love as soon as his mind can grasp it.

These first 12 weeks of tuck's life have flown by. They have been challenging (that could be due to a two year old in the mix) but full of so much joy adding this new personality to our family. I love watching him constantly grow and change and am so hopeful of the man God has created him to be!

bbq, wiffle ball, s'mores, and friends

Thursday night our small group got together for a bbq with the kiddos. We had an absolute blast. (at least our family of four did!) We ventured down the hill to the Provins to play a game of wiffle ball then headed back up to our house to finish off the night with some s'mores. The kids played, the adults played, and we all just had a chance to enjoy each other.

*most photos courtesy of the one and only Greg Dodson

abby: aka the coolest 6th grader i know!
sweet krista

brooke!

Grey and Annabelle sharing a piece of watermelon

Mendy and Lila

watching wiffle ball

seed spitting!

Brooke pitching to Grey

oh Greg...

roasting 'mellows

August Snaps

happy together?

I decided I was going to make Matthew a card for our anniversary this year. So I put the whole thing together and stamped the words “happy together” on the front. While this is very much true, it seemed so lame to me. “Happy” hardly describes the emotion I feel for my husband.

I am, however, humbled that God would create such a perfect man for me. That He would create Matthew so precisely that he could perfectly love me. Unfortunately, we live in the world that is tattered and torn by sin so in this world, that love will not be ALL that the Lord created it to be. BUT we are still able to experience the joy of each other because we are both seeking the One who is perfect and are saved by His grace.

I am also overjoyed to wake up next to a man that constantly seeks our Heavenly Father. His heart is to experience unwavering intimacy with Christ. It overflows out into his life. First to me as his wife, then to our family, and furthermore to everyone he comes into contact with. I love to see the beauty in who God created him to be.

I am called to respect my husband and to submit to him. This is fairly easy for me because of what I mentioned above. He is far from perfect but his desire remains. Because I am confident in his enthusiastic pursuit of Jesus, I trust his heart and his motives and am able to simply submit.

I delight in my time with him. I yearn for intentional conversation with this sweet man. I love to listen to what the Lord is teaching him. I love to encourage him from the truth that the Lord has revealed to me. I love to drink coffee in the morning with him. I love eating dinner around our table as we take in each precious moment with our Grey and Tucker. I love laughing so hard that we cry. I love dancing in the kitchen. I delight in every moment.

I am forever committed to my husband. This is far from an emotion. This is a sacred promise I made to him August 6, 2005. I will love him when it is hard and things have been and will be hard. I will support him through it all. I will give a correct estimation of him always. “but I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:3 He is my head as appointed by God. I was created for his sake (1 Corinthians 11:9) and I will be his helper always. I am thankful that I have the Spirit as my helper in all of these things because this is no easy calling.

All of these things and more bring complete JOY to my heart. These few words more adequately describe my relationship with Matthew than the word “happy.” These things are true and so wonderful. Believe me, I am grateful for the marriage God intended for us on this earth and am thankful that Matthew would marry me 4 years ago!

Remarkable

This morning was like any other morning. Breakfast, coffee, little bit of Tuck and Grey time, etc. I was talking to my mom on the phone and she asked if I had tried underwear with Grey yet. I hadn't and I hated that I have been so slack. That question alone did it for me. I thought "what the heck, why not try today!" I was feeling an extra measure of patience so I suited Grey up in his Elmo undies. I was prepared for many accidents and having humble moments of cleaning up lots of messes.

Much to my surprise, Grey did AWESOME! He only had ONE accident this morning. He has not at all mastered pooping in the potty so that's a problem but he seems to have "tee-teeing" down. I knew from many previous experiences he is very capable and it is most likely my fault he's not completely potty trained at this point. He wore underwear all day with the exception of nap which he woke up dry from! He did refuse to wear any other clothes other than his "underwears" which was fine with me...for now. Maybe not so ok when he's 12. We'll see how tomorrow goes...

This picture just makes me laugh. look at that booty!

Heads Up

This little baby is lifting his head up like a champ! He loves to be on his tummy and is working those neck and upper body muscles. (which makes his momma very happy) I set him on the floor to play today and I HAD to grab the camera. These are some of the better shots.

this one totally looks like i posed him but i didn't. he's a natural model. blue steel