dear daddy.day one

july 18, 2011

dear daddy,

we are all so glad that you made it to costa rica safely! 

after a busy evening of dog pile on poppie which then turned into tickle poppie until he almost wet his pants, we settled into our beds and rested up for a fun day today. 

we have been playing a lot today as to be expected. our usual games of chasing and "hannah hannah boo" have been the most frequent. marmie and poppie have some of the coolest "old toys" {unfortunately those are mommy, uncle chad, and uncle nathan's toys from their childhood} that we love to play with too. they keep us entertained for hours.

grey had swimming lessons this morning and did super! he practiced scooping up super hero ice cream with the water and swam across the pool multiple times. {with a little help} he even decided to show ms. april how he could dunk his head under water! we were all impressed :) it wore him out.

tucker was most enthralled with a big ol' frog that a bigger boy at the pool found. he was flaunting that thing around and you better believe tucker was right beside him trying to take hold of it himself. 

will relaxed in his stroller and took a nap while marmie sat close by. 

lunch and naps had by all except from your youngest son who refuses to sleep while he's away from home. that little rascal.

and tuck got himself up from his nap today. yep, climbed right out of his pack n' play and walked right out of the door. he was very happy to get back in tonight though. grey put him to bed. he said his prayers for him and then sang him the ol' classics, "rudolf," "frosty," and "silent night." we should have made the same rule for christmas songs as we did for christmas movies...not until november.

my mom and i decided to take a trip to costco this afternoon which was somewhat of a disaster of tuckerness. he had a meltdown. there was absolutely no warning of this when he was excitedly doing the robot to lecrae's "God is enough" in the car on the way. imagine that one...while you look at this face...

we had dinner from panera which grey promply swallowed whole. just so he could have some annie's chocolate bunnies.  then we all headed outside to enjoy the evening outdoors. we smelled flowers, watched bees, killed ants, and raced down the driveway.

i failed multiple times in disciplining tuck today because i CANNOT not laugh at him. oh my word. it's horrible. i caved. but not every time.


i answered lots of questions from grey today. just to let you in on his latest one, "mommy, when we move do our bones move too?"


another round of "tickle me! tickle grey! tickle mommy!" and a good dog pile and the day was done.


watching master chef and thinking of you...

love,

us

wrc.four months

four whole months!

they have passed ever so quickly.

we can't get enough of all 15 lbs. 10 oz. of this little man. this boy is quite the sweetums. my word, he is happy! he is constantly full of belly laughs which in turn always makes me laugh right back at him.

sweet baby snuggles up with his blankies to sooth himself to sleep. we have begun the before naps and bed routine of books and singing. he likes to snuggle into my neck just before i lay him down. he takes 3-4 naps a day depending on how long a stretch he gets in at a time. thankfully he recovered from his revolt against sleeping once we returned from our crazy 10 day jaunt. a good dose of his own bed and a little normalcy kicked him right back in to sleeping a solid 9-10 hours at night. he hits the hay at 7 pm and wakes up between 4 and 5 am. 

he is such a social little fella. loves looking at faces and hearing our voices. i find a new very ticklish spot on him every day it seems. which just provokes that belly laugh.

he is becoming increasingly interested in toys. intentionally grabbing things and putting them in his mouth. he gets busy batting at things under his play mat and also jumping around in the jumparoo now that his neck is so strong and his little tootsies touch the floor. 

oh AND he's rolling over both ways! seriously. i am so not ready for this. but he is. he is so proud of himself!

i'm really hoping his complete and utter disdain for the bottle doesn't mean that he is going to be stubborn. he has such a good temperament that i would sure hate it if he had such a stubborn streak in him. he is still nursing every 3 to 4 hours. he has just started showing some interest in food while we eat and it's hilarious. he has this certain rounded lip look when he spies something on a fork. and then he starts to reach for it. i won't be feeding him food until i feel like he needs a little extra something. i better get on my baby food making with all these yummy fresh fruits and veggies in season! 

grey still refers to him as "chubby cheeks" more often than not. and tuck gave him the ol' one two on his forehead yesterday with a metal bucket that resulted in his first battle wound. he took it like a man and only cried for a short while because i scooped him up and snuggled him so much he forgot about it! 

i wish i could stop time right here and now and just enjoy him forever at this age. but then again, the more he grows the more i have to love about him!

a date

grey and i had a night out on the town. 

super man ice cream for him, mint chocolate chip for me, and a window front seat where both of our legs dangled from the stools. 

we talked. no surprise there. i had no plans. i just let him talk. and eat his ice cream.

which took him forever {have i ever mentioned how much he likes to talk?} and eventually turned his teeth blue.

some hot topics of our conversation: {note: i simply listened and responded when asked a question}

why God made certain silly words.

why tucker is soooo wild sometimes.

how funny tyson is when he calls blueberries "boolillies."

the fact that krista is indeed 9 years old. daddy always thinks she's only 7 years old.

how do you spell.....? {insert words like "words," "something," "blueberries," "kangaroo"}

he's probably going to marry brooke one day. 

about how mommy's feet actually hang off the stool too and it would be okay if our flip flops fell off. "that's serious mommy!"

how he wants to go on dates with me when his really big. {not gonna lie. this one made me tear up.}

how he's going to be in preschool in september. he can't wait to see his friends again.

and much much more. 

it was some precious time with my precious son.

.........

grey has been showing lots of interest in taking pictures. when i say taking interest, i mean he's asking me REAL questions about focusing, composition, and lighting! i could not be more thrilled. so part of our date was to give him the camera {with my hands very close by for support. that camera is heavy!} and let him be as creative as he could be in those moments. 

it was a blast. 

he loved the self-timer and only wanted to use that for about 15 minutes. i let him set everything up. he found somewhere to set the camera, he told me where to sit, and then ran to get in the picture. it was awesome. here is some of his handy work. 

he did such a good job. those were just a select few.

then i took a few of him throwing coins in the fountain and savored our last few moments just the two of us.

can't wait until our next date! i do hope they last until his really big.

moments

and it starts. 

all three boys playing together. though the older two were fighting over who was going to push what buttons on the baby toy, eventually all three of them were content to play together for at least 10 minutes. my heart was full. those big boys love this blue eyed baby.

i already think grey bear and will have a special something. grey gets a smile from will without fail. and i can see will watching him intently more often than not. his eyes gravitate toward grey.  

and i'm pretty sure grey thinks will is the greatest. i'll enjoy that now because in a couple of years he could be body slamming grey like tuck does.

and grey bear got a hold of the camera and took these last two shots. he is somethin' else. 

after that, grey and i went on a date tonight that included ice cream and a photo adventure...

this man

this man.

a picture of mercy.

i never deserved a man like this. never in a million years. 

this is how i can quite possibly begin to grasp the concept of mercy. and grace. 

in this man.

why after a million mistakes and bad decisions? the hurt. the stupidity. the giving of my heart only to be broken. why?

because He always had a better plan. the perfect plan. one that was this man. 

when i couldn't understand the moment i was in, His plan was this man. for me. forever. 

He is the creator and sustainer of both of our hearts now one.

that smile. that laugh. the heart behind it. could it have been created for me to share this life with? to tenderly love our children? do i get to watch it grow and change every season of life?

it's mercy. it's grace. 

it's all too much. to touch it. to have it forever. as long as we both shall live. joy fills my soul with this man.

it's a tangible mercy. a physical grace. in this man.

no, i don't deserve it. i never did and i never will. 

as we laugh and cry and figure out all of this, He is mercy and grace. 

and He is pouring it all over me in this man.

fireworks and such

oh glory. 

after the start of our crazy week {steph's very accurate, detailed account} , we settled in at poppie and marmie's for a long weekend while matthew was still in Tennessee. 

they were so gracious to take us nomads in for a little rest and relaxation.

look at 'em.

they were so much help to me. and after the adventure i'd just been on, i needed all the help i could get. 

my mom cooked up some delicious meals and poppie took the big boys fishing on a few occasions. they played, laughed, and allowed me to truly relax for a few days. 

we enjoyed some really fun time at the pool where both big boys really enjoyed swimming. of course i made the mistake of taking off tuck's swimmies for a snack the second day and after that he was more interested in killing the ants that were traveling around the pool. grey got brave quick and he will be attending swimming lessons in a few weeks to build a little more confidence. will enjoyed himself all snuggled up. and monday we met abby, matt, and cady for a swim! we could have stayed all day.

will was especially entertained by gram. she could get the best belly laughs out of him. though it doesn't take much, she was REALLY good at it. 

i had an opportunity to spend some much needed time with my heart friend, ann. by "heart friend" i mean that we will always share the real parts of our hearts when we're together. a forever friend that i always wish to spend more time with. clemson was good to us in our hours upon hours we spent together there. though i didn't have much to offer in the way of encouragement on my part, i was totally encouraged by her and where she is in life and her relationship with the Lord. so very grateful for that time.

grey was stoked to catch fireflies one night. he has manned up since last summer when all he would do is swat at them. he must have caught 25 and really enjoyed himself. marmie really enjoyed him!

we celebrated the 4th of july with fireworks of course. grey surprisingly loved them. tuck was a tad skiddish at first but was waving a sparkler by the end. they were both pretty mesmerized. and all three boys even let me get a picture of them in their red, white, and blue. let me assure you, it was not without a battle.

i will say after 10 days of traveling here and there and everywhere {at least it felt like it}, i was more than happy to come home to my sweet husband! at least for a little while...