blessed beyond measure

Spring in January

2012-01-23T14:51:00.009-06:00

We've been having some unusally warm weather in this part of Texas. I can't say I'm in love with it. I thoroughly enjoy the changing of the seasons and experiencing each one. And I want at least 1 snow each winter. Is that too much to ask? We're still waiting on our winter snow. Just a-waiting while the afternoon temps climb to 75 on some days. But I'm not going to sit around a complain about it for long. We'll just enjoy whatever God gives us. So yesterday afternoon, we threw on last summer's shorts and played outside in the sunshine. It was nice. A beautiful day indeed!
Getting a little sun on the pastey, white legs. :)
Looks like he's about to pole vault with some trim that Jeremy had cut down. Can tall boys pole vault? Because as I sat outside yesterday, the internet told me Holden was going to be 6'3" (give or take 2"). And currently, at 43inches, he's off the charts for his height percentile. You don't understand how happy these figures make my 5'9" husband.
And then we have this cute, little b-ball player. He is in love with sports. Especially baseball, golf, football and basketball. And probably in that order.
Enjoy the sunshine, friends!

these guys.

2012-01-18T13:59:00.014-06:00

I have to tell you that these guys have become the best of friends and sweetest of brothers. Now, I don't want to paint a false picture. They still fight, boss each other and steal toys that they honestly have no interest in, other than the fact their brother has it in his hands. But this is, by far, my favorite stage in their relationship. And I have a feeling it only gets better as they get older. I'm honestly not sure what they would do without one another.

When Holden was almost 16 months old and we decided to make ourselves available for adoption again, I was nervous. I was confident that God was nudging us to make that step. But I didn't know how all of this was going to go down. I wasn't sure if a could be a good mother to 2 babies at once. And obviously, by my own capacity, I couldn't. But by the grace of God and his guidance, we've made it so far. I know PLENTY of people do it (have kiddos close in age) and even plan it out that way. But I never saw US doing it. That was never our plan. But I've never looked back. I'm grateful that God threw my plan out the window years ago. His plan has been so much better. I know I've probably made that statement a million times on this blog. It's been the them of my life for the past several years. :) There's such blessings when we fully release control to the Father.

These boys are such wonderful playmates at this stage of their lives. Holden is now 3years (+8-ish months) and Pax is 2 years (+almost 5months). Holden constatly wants to play with Pax. He's always asking him to kick the ball with him, play chase, roll the cars, make a tent to play in, etc. Most of the time Pax is all for it and at other times he tells his big bro he's not interested. Holden is now at that social stage and really wanting to play with others most of the time. Pax isn't quite there yet. So sometimes he still prefers to play alone. Also, I hear the CUTEST conversations across the breakfast table each morning. I love hearing them talk to one another, reason through things and ask each other questions. I'm constantly, turning my back and laughing at these very real conversations. I think communication has grown their relationship. Now that Pax can talk, it's a whole new ball game for these boys. And it makes things pretty entertaining for the adults in this house.

It's easy to think that this is how our family was meant to be. But I also know that it took a very specific sequence of events, along with perfect timing to each detail. And that could only be orchestrated by God. If I think about it too long, I'm amazed. And I should be! These things don't happen by chance and I don't even like the phrase "meant to be". As if the wind might decide our destiny. Often when I think about these two boys that could have easily never crossed paths, I'm in awe by the miracle that God has made them brothers. And I'm very thankful that I'm able to be part of it.

buddies.

2012-01-16T13:43:00.005-06:00

Last week we had a visit from some friends. Daysha and her boys came to visit for a few days. Lyndon was Holden's first friend. Ever. They are just a few weeks apart. And even though we left OKC when Holden was 17months old, he remembers his buddy. Even though he had a problem with calling Lyndon by the name "Max" ALOT. That's his other shaggy, blonde buddy.
4 little boys. We have only seen little Denton a couple of times. He's a sweetheart.
Thanks for spending part of your week with us! We loved the playtime and company!

Hair Care 101

2012-01-07T13:45:00.017-06:00

Notice it says 101. I am NO expert. I'm just going to share our routine and what has worked for our boys. I realize that once we have a girl it could completely change. Over a month ago I sent an email of our routine and products to someone that had just adopted an African American baby boy. She had no clue what to do with his hair. And I know that I went through several products before we found what we preferred. So maybe this post can save someone a little money and time.

We only wash the boys hair every 2 weeks, unless something weird happens. Like they finger paint in there hair, or smear peanut butter in it. But those things are VERY rare. The easiest way for us to remember when to wash, is by saying the 1st and the 15th. Those are normally the dates we wash their hair. But we condition their hair at every bath. Jeremy normally gets bath duty. So he wets down their hair first, applies the conditioner and then lets it sit and moisturize while he washes their bods. Then he rinses. So that's that.

As for our daily routine, here it is. I spray down their hair with water. Then I take the wonderful Tangle Teezer and comb through their locks with no tears and no pain. The brush is incredible, if you don't have one! Next I apply the leave in conditioner and work it through the hair. And last I take a wide tooth comb and pick through the hair. And it's just as beautiful as can be, in my opinion. :) Granted Holden has NO hair right now. But even when he barely has any hair, I still apply the leave-in conditioner to moisturize. And the bath routine would stay the same also, regardless of the amount of hair on their heads. Also, I've noticed that when Jeremy does their hair in the mornings, his routine is a little bit different, but with the same end result and obviously the same products.

So here are the products we use: Carol's Daughter
They are free of Sulfates, Parabens, Petroleum, Mineral Oil, and Artificial Colors. And that stuff is important to me. Originally, when I began ordering their products, we started with the Hair Milk Original Curl Defining Trio. We used The Curl Perfecting Shampoo twice a month, The Curl Perfecting Conditioner at every bath and then the Original Curl Definer as a leave-in conditioner daily. Then I came across their Princess Tiana line. It was specifically created for kids and a little cheaper than the other stuff. So I started ordering that instead. I loved that line just as well. And right now we are running low on the boys hair products so it's almost time to re-order. Well, guess what. The Princess Tiana line is gone. Bummer. So I'll probably be going back to the Hair Milk Original Curl Defining Trio. I get the company emails, so I normally just wait for a sale and then stock up enough to earn free shipping. Because we have 2 boys with shorter hair, these products last for months. So even though, the cost is high, it really isn't. We can also just say we make up for it in haircuts since Jeremy is the only one that cuts their hair. I mentioned The Peanut in my last post. Jeremy had used a different trimmer kit in the past. Then someone from our Families Like Us group mentioned The Peanut. Jeremy immediately went out and bought it. It's made his job of being the family barber much easier. And the boys haircuts look much better because of it.

Here is Pax with his head full of hair. It is at it's longest point right now. His hair grows pretty slowly, especially in comparison to Holden's. I think he has only had 2 hair cuts, in his little life so far (almost 2 1/2 years). The boys' hair is very different from one another. Pax's feels like cotton candy. It's so soft and not as tightly curled as Holden's.
And here is my bald boy again, who will need very little hair care for a while. Last night, after the cut, I sent a picture to a friend of Holden's new do. She responded by saying "he can wear his hair so many ways." I agree. I think he's just so handsome with a head full of hair, or not even a single strand.
I love Holden and Pax's curls and I love caring for it. So that is our little routine. Hope that is helpful to someone out there. And I would love to hear what products work for you.

a peek into our week

2012-01-07T13:23:00.009-06:00

Some cuddle time with daddy.
One morning before breakfast. I see sweet moments like this one constantly these days. Just so you understand my final pictures, notice the tiny bald spot front and center of Holden's hairline. Jeremy was framing his face with The Peanut on Monday, when Holden jerked his head. Jeremy just wanted to let it grow and eventually maybe it wouldn't be noticed. But it looked so sloppy once we would comb out his hair. So I voted to bald him. I actually LOVE Holden as a baldy. Just wait.
Caught wearing my slippers.
and then daddy's work boots.
Then last night Jeremy pulled out The Peanut again. And drastically changed his look.
And now it's as short as it has ever been. Probably a hair (haha) too short, but I know how quickly his hair grows. So it should be perfect in 1 week.

Last Round of Christmas and HAPPY NEW YEARS!

2012-01-01T14:49:00.006-06:00

A few days AFTER Christmas, Jeremy's mom and her husband came down for a visit and to celebrate Christmas with us. We had a great day visiting with them before they headed over to spend time with Jeremy's sister. 1 measly picture was taken. Actually 4 pictures were taken in an attempt to get this one. :)Happy New Year everyone! In talking with friends recently, I get the feeling that I may be the only 30-something out there that still does New Years resolutions. Really? Anybody else out there? I love it and just can't help myself for an opportunity to set new goals. A clean slate. A new year. It gets me all excited. Welcome 2012!!
My resolutions for this year:
1)Back to bright and early morning workouts. Running outside when it's not too cold. And my 30 Day Shred video on the mornings that it is. 5-6 days per week of working out. I feel so great on the days that I work out first thing in the morning. I love the time to myself. And starting the day this way helps me to make healthier food selections the rest of my day.
2) Get organized. When children entered my life, part of my brain exited. I used to be so organized. Now I'm not. Closets are a wreck and I'm no longer so great with time management. So I'm convinced that this little notebook is going to solve those problems. It's not a calendar. It's only filled with lined paper. But it's going to help me plan and accomplish in 2012. Convinced of it, I tell ya! ;)
3) I'm searching for a Bible reading plan. Not planning on speeding through the whole thing in a year. Just taking it slow and hopefully digging in. Any thoughts on that one?

What are your New Years Resolutions? Tell me I'm not the only one!
p.s. I asked Jeremy a few nights ago if he had any resolutions. He has never been much of a resolution-maker. So his answer was something like: Why would I make resolutions only to break them 4 weeks later? OH MY GOODNESS! Could we be any more opposite here!? I do sometimes call him "my cup half empty husband". But I love him dearly. :) I'm the dreamer. He's the practical one. It works. Cheers to a new year full of blessings!

Christmas with my family of 4!

2011-12-30T14:31:00.009-06:00

This was the first year in our 9 years of marriage to have Christmas at home. Just us. I take that back. The white and icey Christmas 2 years ago, caused us to have Christmas at home. Just us. But that wasn't planned. And so I didn't embrace it like I should have. Once we realized that on Christmas Day, we had no place to be, Jeremy and I started talking and thinking. We felt like it was an opportunity to do something different. Maybe we could take the boys and go serve somewhere or visit those stuck in a hospital on the holiday. Fortunately, our hearts were in the same place and we wanted this Christmas to look differently. Goodness, the gifts can be such a distraction from the reason we celebrate. It's fun and all. But I'm always wondering how to make it more purposeful. What will my kids remember about Christmas in our home in 20+ years? That thought had been in my head alot. So as the week of Christmas approached, we had no plans. We knew that we would attend our church's Christmas service that morning, but other than that, our day was still open. Then a few days before the big day, Jeremy mentioned to me that some single guys at work, with family far away, didn't have plans for Christmas. As soon as he shared, I was so excited. We both knew what we wanted to do. I couldn't have planned it better myself. They joined us for dinner and hung out until about midnight playing games. And I can say with 100% certainty that it brought me more joy than anyone at our house. I realize that we might not be able to do something special every year, on Christmas Day. But this year, God worked it out perfectly for us and I'm still feeling blessed by their company and that they chose to join us for such a special day. Here are a few pictures of the morning with the boys.
My favorite gift. :)
And Jeremy's favorite.
The boys playing a round of Hi-Ho Cherry-O while I worked on dinner.
One more Christmas celebration to go!

Round 3

2011-12-30T14:14:00.005-06:00

On Christmas Eve night, we headed to Jeremy's aunt's house, as is the tradition. Sadly, some of this extended family hadn't even met Pax and hadn't seen Holden in 3 years! We rotate our holidays so we spend every other Christmas Eve/Christmas with his family or mine. 2 years ago, when we should have gone to his aunt's house, we had an icey white Christmas that prevented us from going anywhere. So it had been way too long since we had seen some of Jeremy's family. I honestly didn't realize it had been so long. Neither of us did very well taking pictures this night but here are the few that I have.
Right before leaving our house.
The boys got these shirts from a family member. This is the school/town where Jeremy grew up. Tiny school, but the pride runs big. And so did the shirts. ;) That's the boys with their pawpaw and cousin, Hannah. Lots of orange going on there.

Round 2

2011-12-30T13:58:00.007-06:00

Friday evening before Christmas we celebrated with my dad's side of the family at my aunt and uncle's house. My meme came in for this. And this is the first year, in my memory, where we didn't have Christmas at her house. But since we are all in the metro area, she was sweet to let my aunt bring her this direction. My aunt and uncle don't yet have grandchildren, so they spoil our kids alot. It was another great evening with family.I love these pictures of my meme with the kids. She thoroughly enjoys her great grandkids!

Christmas - Round 1

2011-12-29T13:37:00.015-06:00

Our Christmas festivities began last Thursday at my sister's house. It was my sister and family + my parents + our family. We were missing my other sister and her family since they came to Texas for Thanksgiving this year. Jeremy came home from work a little early and then we headed over for dinner. It was a fun time.
Carson played dress up with Pax and Pax loved every minute of the special attention.
I just had to include those. :)
We did a little present opening.
There are always moments that pass me by that I wish I could capture on video. The moment Holden opened this new sock monkey from my parents was one of those times. He went completely NUTS. Had Jeremy even been prepared for photos they would have all been blurry because he was jumping, hollering and swinging his new monkey around. He has completely worn out his original sock monkey that we gave him on his adoption day, 3+ years ago. And he was so excited to see this brightly colored friend. Now he sleeps with them both, but still drags around his original.
It was a wonderful evening celebrating with family.

from our family

2011-12-24T08:16:00.006-06:00

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and 2012!
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

a good read.

2011-12-21T21:16:00.004-06:00

This week I read Fields of the Fatherless by Tom Davis. It's an easy, quick read. Rarely can I finish a book in a week. I just can't devote all my spare time to reading. It had been mentioned on some blogs that I follow and so I purchased it without knowing much about it. Though the title itself sounds heavy towards adoption, that wasn't the meat of the book. There was 1 chapter on adoption. And he mentioned some statistics that most of you don't care to read. {143million orphans worldwide. Which that number has risen to 163million today. 2.1billion Christians. If 7% of those Christians adopted, there would be no orphans.} That type of stuff. But the book was a challenge to live with compassion. To look outside for those that are hurting and struggling. To share our time, resources and the hope that we have with those around us. It makes you think. Evaluate your life. How your'e spending your time and resources. I recommend it. Everytime I picked up the book to read, I read this from the back cover over and over and over again.
"Real joy is not always found in obvious places. Instead it hides in corners, waiting to be discovered when we sacrifice our desires for God's desires."
I love those words. Click here to for the author's blog.

Our family's Christmas cookie

2011-12-21T21:02:00.004-06:00

I like the idea of having a special Christmas cookie or sweet something. A recipe that only comes out in December. And I think we've found ours. It's a Paula Deen recipe if that tells you anything. :) But I found the recipe on another blog last year around Christmas and they were a big hit in this house. Jeremy doesn't have much of a sweet tooth but he kept coming back for more and more of these cookies. They are his favorite! I've already made them 3 times this month and I don't normally bake around here. So here's a new recipe to try out before January 1st, when everyone hits the gym and starts eating healthy. :)

1 (8 oz.) block cream cheese, at room temperature
1 stick butter, at room temperature
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 (18 oz.) box moist chocolate cake mix Powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl cream the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Beat in the cake mix. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours. Roll the chilled dough into tablespoon sized balls and then roll them in the powdered sugar. Place on a cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Bake for 12 minutes. Cookies will remain soft and "gooey". Cool completely and sprinkle with more powdered sugar.

highlights.

2011-12-20T14:18:00.014-06:00

I realize this won't break anyone's heart except mine, but I'm done posting each day's activities. We are truckin' right along with our Advent calendar and Jesse tree, but now I'm behind posting them all. So I'm breaking all the rules and not playing catch up this time. :) So here are a few highlights from the past week or so.
The boys did a Christmas tree craft. They LOVE painting. I caught Pax painting his entire forearm green and then later, tasting the craft paint.
We were able to spend almost a full day at the Myer's house. And it was a fun one! Once the kids woke from their afternoon naps, we went out for an early dinner and then to a really neat area for walking around and light looking.
(I'm not sure what possessed me to hold my 32lb {+5lbs extra in winter wear} toddler in this manner. Sorry for the awkwardness, Pax. Though, clearly he's not bothered by it.)
Pax's birthmom, M, came for a visit bearing many Christmas gifts for both boys. She and her family are givers and it seems that they love shopping for and giving to our little guys. See for yourself.We waited in a car line for 2 hours(!!!) to see Arlington's Interlochen lights. It was a full 2 hours before we even got into the neighborhood. Craziness. Jeremy says we'll do it again next year. It's a cool place because 95% of the houses participate (just my guestimate), which is so rare these days. And it was a fun time with the boys. Though next year, I will come prepared with snacks (and glow bracelets). :)
This little boy loves him some Christmas lights!

Advent activities, day 13

2011-12-13T14:51:00.019-06:00

This morning we went to Outdoor World's Santa Wonderland. Which might sound a little crazy since we don't do Santa. But I've said it before, he's just a character around here, so he's not completely ejected from our home and activities. And I love letting my boys get their pictures made with Santa. I think those little pictures are so fun to look back on each year. I also loved (and laughed outloud) when Santa asked Holden what he wanted for Christmas this year. I laughed because Holden gave him this blank stare as if he didn't speak English. At 3 1/2, Holden still doesn't really know what's ahead in the gift department in less than 2 weeks. But I have to say that I like it that way. (And I don't really mean gifts from us. I just mean the cumulative truckload that the boys will receive from everyone.)

I like going to Outdoor World because the picture with Santa is free. You can buy a package, which I would never do. But they give you one 5X7 print and they also allow you to snap a picture with your own personal camera. Sweet. While waiting in line, I asked the boys to pose by the snowman. Pax told me he was "sca-wud" and started trying to crawl up leg. Oh boy! If he's scared of a non-mobile snowman, I may need to brace myself for this Santa picture. Holden posed. Pax clung to my leg like a koala bear, so he's not pictured in this one.
Let me back up by mentioning, before leaving the house this morning I pulled up our blog on the computer and showed the boys all of their past photos with Santa. Beginning with 2010 (and yes, Holden is wearing the same exact sweater because it still fits, sort of.), then 2009 and just little Holden in 2008. I just wanted to remind them that Santa was nice and he wouldn't take them home with him. One picture and you still get to leave the store with mommy. It worked. Well, that and the promise of a fruit snack.
Next up Holden got to play with the trains and Pax wanted to color (with pencils nonetheless).Then they both rode the reindeer carousel. Believe it or not Pax is normally a happy, smiley little guy. Just not feeling it today, I guess.
And 2 more fake smiles before heading out of the store.
The boys really enjoyed their time here, which made for a fun morning for me also. Last year, Jeremy did this with us. I would have never taken my 1 and 2 year old on foot through this store by myself. I stayed home alot more back then. It's amazing what a difference a year makes and how much easier these little outings are.

Advent activities, days 7-12

2011-12-12T13:28:00.018-06:00

December 7 - I took the boys to pick out their 2011 Christmas ornament. Each year when we do this, I'm trying to steer them in the direction of picking out something that has described them well in the past year. So I normally pick out 2-3 for them to choose from. In the past, we have done Hallmark ornaments, which I love. But this year, we just went to Hobby Lobby. It was just 1 week into December and the selection was pretty bad. Before arriving at the store, Pax had already decided he wanted a train and Holden was requesting a truck. We found neither of those. :( Pax has always been our sporty boy, so I was happy he fell in love with this one instead. I tried to push him towards the football, but he chose the basketball. Pax loves to wear a helmet when playing with any type of ball, so football describes him well at this age. He is definitely a lover of all sports right now. Holden did end up finding something with wheels, which does fit him well. I had just hoped to find his beloved cars or trucks, rather than a tricycle. Oh well.
December 8 - That evening, we danced to Christmas music. :)And Jeremy was a little annoyed that I thought I needed to take pictures of this event.

December 9 - This is the day we left for our weekend getaway. But I was thankful my parents continued the Advent calendar for us. So on Friday evening they bundled up the boys and took them to our church's Journey to the Manger. They got to see all sorts of animals and characters from Jesus' birth story. I heard that they even got to roast a marshmallow.

December 10 - The boys played "Dress the Snowman". Holden did this one last year and had alot of fun with it. You can do it like a paper doll or you can actually glue the pieces down, which is what mom helped the boys do. Pretty cute. My boys really love to sit and do crafts.
December 11 - And then last night, I read Jesus' birth story from Luke 2, and Jeremy, Holden and Pax helped act it out with our Veggie Tales Nativity. Fun time.

December 12 - We mailed off our Christmas cards. My parents were at the house and Pax chose to stay back and snuggle with nana. But Holden is always up for getting out of the house. So he rode with me to the post office to purchase stamps. Then he was my little helper. As I added stamps to all 50 cards, he slipped them into the drop box.

Celebrating #9

2011-12-11T19:49:00.012-06:00

This weekend I was able to celebrate 9 years of marriage with my husband. Our wedding anniversary is November 23rd, which fell the day before Thanksgiving this year. So we postponed our celebration by a couple of weeks since it fell so close to the holiday this year. It has been 13 months (but who's counting?!) since we had a night away with just the 2 of us. And that was when we were celebrating our anniversary last year. My parents came to our house and stayed with the boys and we headed only 15 miles east for the weekend. It was almost weird being so close to home and at some of our normal spots, but we had both agreed that we didn't want to spend alot of time on the road. Jeremy planned just about everything on his own. I stayed out of it. And I love surprises, so I loved just sitting back and slowly finding out what was coming next.

We left our house Friday morning and headed for brunch and to do a little Christmas shopping at one of our favorite malls.
After we had circled the mall and scratched some people off of our shopping list, we headed back to the hotel to check-in, rest a little and then get ready for our evening. This was our hotel in the form of gingerbread.For Friday night, Jeremy planned for us to attend a Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre. It's something we had always talked about doing but had never done. We used to try and be more creative with our dates and do different things. But it seems like these days, we're lucky to just a get a date. So the creativity level has definitely dropped. But it was so nice that he put some thought into our weekend away and came up with some different fun things for us to try out. The dinner theatre was a fun and entertaining time. And I really appreciated Jeremy thinking outside of the box on this one.It was still early afterwards, so we headed to The Cheesecake Factory for coffee and dessert. Now mind you, we had already had dessert at the dinner theatre, but when Jeremy mentioned 30 types of cheesecake I didn't turn him down. We sort of dressed up this night, and this is the only blasted picture we got. Grrrr!
The next morning, I woke before 8am. I REALLY wanted to sleep in, but I just couldn't do it. Those boys have really done a number on my ability to sleep in. They have NOT done a number on their daddy in this department. So I let Jeremy sleep until 10 and then we headed to downtown Grapevine to check out all the fun gift shops. Downtown Grapevine is such a cute place, especially at Christmastime.
After some looking around and then lunch, we headed to the Delaney Vineyards and Winery. We went on a little tour and then did a tasting. I learned so much! About wine, and monks and the "angel's share". So interesting. And Texas is the 5th largest producer of wine in the U.S. That was a fact that surprised me. It was a beautiful place that I did not know about. And a fun addition to our weekend away.

We rested a bit on Saturday afternoon and then headed out that evening for dinner and movie. We slept in again today before heading home to see our boys. And I was able to sleep until 9:30am this morning!

It was great, simple and carefree weekend. As parents you're constantly caring for, cleaning up after and serving your little ones. It's our responsibility as parents. One that I love and am honored to do. But once in awhile, it's nice to have a break from that responsibility. And it's a blessing to have family that will step in for us so we can enjoy that break. We are thankful that the boys had a fun weekend with Nana and Papa J. And I'm thankful for my husband, that said "no" to everything else, but us for the weekend. He's my very best friend and this weekend only reminded me why.

Advent activities, days 4-6

2011-12-06T20:30:00.011-06:00

December 4 - Sunday evening the plan was for us to make Christmas cookies. I pulled out the Christmas cookie cutters and was following a recipe from a Funfetti Christmas cake box, because they had a recipe to make cookies from the cake mix. Well, the dough wasn't really the cookie cutter type. It just wouldn't cooperate. But I went ahead and rolled the boys out a chunk of dough and they were able to press their cutters into it and see the shapes. The shapes just wouldn't transfer to the cookie sheet without falling apart. So we ended up having some cookie cutter fun, but only round cookies.
December 5 - The next morning, we learned all about the star that led the wise men to baby Jesus. A friend told me about this idea last year and it was so much fun for the boys this year. I placed 1 star inside the advent calendar. Then I hid 10 other stars around the living room. The boys had to find all 10 stars and they did a great job. It was sort of like an Easter egg hunt.
Some of the hiding spots:
And TA DA! All 10 stars. Then we read this new book.
And talked at length about the special star that shone so bright over Bethlehem.

December 6 - Tonight we took the boys to the dollar spot at Target to pick out a gift for one another. The suspense of what Pax has picked for Holden is literally killing Holden. I'm hoping that by tomorrow morning he has forgotten about it. He got a little frustrated at one point and asked in exasperation "What did he get me?!?" We laughed at him and told him that he would just have to wait . . . for what is probably going to feel like an eternity. This is the part that I want to be a lesson in giving, not GETTING. But right now Holden looks at the dollar spot toys and just thinks of himself. But he is 3. So I'll give him a break. :)

More activities coming soon . . .

Advent activities, days 1-3

2011-12-03T21:47:00.016-06:00

We have begun our fun Advent activities. The boys love taking turns opening the doors each morning and pulling out a piece of paper. Then I get to read to them what our extra bit of fun will be for the day. Last year Holden had this all to himself. Pax participated some, but since he was only 1, it was mainly for Holden. I love that this year they are both involved and they are able to enjoy the fun together. December 1 - They each opened a present. I just wrapped up their Christmas jammies. I've said it before, but Holden loves clothes. And Pax might just be catching that fever. So some kids might have been disappointed to see jammies in the box. But not my boys. And once they realized they were MATCHING jammies . . . well that was even more fantastic.This is the best picture I could get of them in their jammies. Pax isn't the most cooperative. He likes to ham it up for the camera, but won't sit still in doing so. So he's normally just a blur. :)

December 2 - This day was all about candy canes. I read the boys this book that I found here.
It was the perfect book. As I read the story, they colored a red and white candy cane. And then they got to enjoy a little miniature one. Pax ended up throwing his away because he's just not that into sweets and sugar. And Holden ended up whining for more and more all day long! He is quite the opposite.
Decebmer 3 - This evening we braved the rain and did a little shopping. It's something our church is involved in, to gather some necessities and wants for others. And based on my boys ages (2 and 3), we were to choose gifts for adults. From the list, we decided on some kitchen gadgets. I did let the boys make the choices. And I know they don't really understand this part very well yet. I just hope that giving is something they continue to see and one day have a heart for. Hopefully these little gifts can be a blessing to someone's kitchen.And the Jesse tree is going well . . .
I'm not even moving the ornaments when the boys put them all in the same area. :) I've cut out the images we need as the ornaments this year. But I have 1 year to search for the real deal and that's my plan. Next year I should have real ornaments and not paper images. I've only found 3 so far, which means I have something like 22 more to go. I'm not exactly sure how easy it will be to find a (cheap!) camel ornament (among other crazy ones I'm looking for), but I'll try . . . and then improvise if necessary.

The halls have been decked!

2011-11-29T14:55:00.000-06:00

Last night was a fun one! It was the night where we decorate the Christmas tree as a family. Even pre-kids, Jeremy humored me each and every year, by allowing me make a big deal of it. It's a tradition from my own family that I'm carrying on. (And so are my sisters.) Jeremy has always participated 100%, which I appreciate. Yesterday, I spent some time during the boys naps decorating the mantel and putting up the other Christmas decorations around the house. So after our fun dinner (we eat differently on decorating-the-tree-night), all we had left to do was unwrap and hang the ornaments. The boys really got into helping hang the ornamnets and only broke one glass ball in the process. Here is a glimpse into our fun.
Finishing up dinner. I'm going to link some recipes below that might be worth trying out. We tried out some new things and really liked them.
Holden checking out his sock monkey ornamnet that his buddy Lyndon gave him. When I pulled it out of the box and handed it over to him, he pressed it up against his cheek. This boy is crazy about his sock monkey.
They took their jobs of hanging ornaments very seriously. :)
I was there too. :)
As was Jeremy.
The completed project. I love putting it all up and I'm never ready to take it all down once the holiday is over.
And here are the new recipes I tried out on my family last night. I've always liked chicken salad, but after trying this new recipe, I love it. It tasted like a chicken salad you would order at a cafe. It was soooo good. We also had these little guys. I'll definitely be making those again. And the last new recipe I tried was Cinnamon Roll Cake. I'm just going to be honest and tell you it looked and sounded better than it tasted. At least to me. It tasted good. Just not fantastic. And if I'm making a dessert that calls for 3 STICKS OF BUTTER, then it needs to taste fantastic. Holy smokes! I didn't realize it required so much butter until I was already in the process and there was no turning back. We did throw some fresh veggies and hummus in the mix, but for the most part, it wasn't healthy eating last night.

Preparing our hearts for Christmas

2011-11-28T14:38:00.014-06:00

Well, here we are. Four weeks from yesterday we will be celebrating Christmas. But I know for most of us, the fun and preparation for the holiday has already begun. Adding children to our family really changed how we wanted to do Christmas. So, how we thought it would be 5+ years ago, is not how it looks for us now. We've changed our minds on some things in the last 3 years. It was just last year that we decided not to do Santa Clause with our kids. And I'm still not completely clear on why. . . I mean I have my own ideas that steered me that direction. But even in our own vagueness of how we came to that decision, Jeremy and I are in solid agreement about it. So even though we don't think he's bad and we really enjoyed that part of Christmas in our own childhood memories, we've nixed him. That's one thing that I never imagined we would do.

But as December 1st creeps closer and closer, lots of ideas and plans are cooking in my head. As the boys get older, it becomes just a little more fun. For example: We set our tree up last night when the boys were asleep and tonight they will help us decorate it. Holden caught sight of the tree as he came down the stairs this morning and he let out a gasp. Then he quickly requested I turn on the lights. It's the little things that get them excited at this age. I love all of the fun traditions of Christmas including: Santa, Christmas trees, gifts, driving around to see outdoor lights, Christmas cards, making candy, cookies and other sweets, etc. And we will be doing most of these things in the next month. But the excitement of all these little things can really cloud out the reason we're celebrating. Unfortunately, I can easily get distracted by all the fun. We will still be doing our fun little Advent calendar that we first did last year. A month full of activities - some fun and whimsical and some focusing on Jesus. Again, I will attempt to document every single one. :) But this year we are adding the Jesse Tree to our days of Advent. I first heard about it 3 years ago and I'm excited to do this as a family each evening after dinner. I've already skimmed the devotionals and I think it's going to be an amazing adventure traveling through the Old Testament stories and the lineage of Christ. And just last week, I was gifted this book:

Beginning December 1st, it provides a daily scripture reading in preparation for Christmas. And my prayer is that on December 25th my heart will be in full celebration of my King that came as a baby. And maybe that sounds like alot in an already busy month. But I'm afraid that I NEED this stuff to keep my focus where it should be. So even when the lights, music and fun traditions pull for my attention and normally get it, my heart can celebrate the true meaning of our holiday. And hopefully that can aid in steering my kids to find and celebrate Jesus.

So tell me, how do you prepare your heart to celebrate Jesus on Christmas? And the one I'm still trying to figure out: how do you prepare those little hearts to be thankful and not greedy. To want Him and not all the stuff! I would love to hear your traditions and ideas. :)

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-27T21:06:00.015-06:00

The Thanksgiving holiday quickly came and went and now we are in the spirit of Christmas at this house. But I can't completely skip over Thanksgiving on this little blog, even though I didn't do too well with my camera on the actual holiday.

My sister, Amanda, and her family live in Colorado. So we don't get to see them near as often as we see the rest of the family. But we did get a few days with them for Thanksgiving, which was really nice. The little cousins spent a couple of nights at our house last week, which was lots of fun for my boys. Holden loved pestering the girls. And Pax loved being Bella's baby. Yes, that's right. At some point early on, she convinced him that he was her little baby boy. She carried him all around the house for 2 days. He wrapped his little legs around her, like he normally does to me. He rarely spoke, since babies don't speak. He became nearly helpless, like any good pretend baby. It was hilarious. When he had to take a nap or go to bed at night, he cried buckets of tears and would sadly cry out "I want my Bella." He wanted to sit by her when we sat at the kitchen table. He followed her around like a little shadow, when he wasn't in her arms. It was sweet, cute and completely ridiculous. But it made us laugh alot last week. And when it was time for final goodbyes on Friday night, there were lots of tears. Not from Bella. Just Pax. He loves his cousin Bella. And I have to admit, she is pretty lovable. I can't blame him one bit. Here is the duo. She is reading him a book. This is about as far as he got from her. He was normally in her lap. :)

We did a little turkey craft on Thursday.
And the littlest of the 5 quickly finished and showed off their art. Notice the printed H's all over Holden's. He has mastered the H and it makes me proud. :) Forget coloring these days. All he wants to do is practice writing his H.
Some more playtime in Holden's bed. (Holden, Ava, Pax and Bella)
On Thursday morning, we headed to east Texas and spent the day with my mom's extended family. No pictures. I failed.

We stayed the night in a hotel on Thursday night so we could spend Friday with my dad's family. All 4 of us in 1 hotel room was quite interesting. Let's just say it was a little challenging getting 1 little boy to settle down and actually sleep. Even after no naps that day. The 3 year old was so over the top excited about us all being in the same room, he had a hard time chilling out. But here are my little loves cuddling up and watching a movie together.
We plan on them sharing a room in the very near future. After Thursday night, I'm not sure how that is going to work. In fact, I ended up sleeping with Pax and Jeremy with Holden. It just wasn't working the other way. There was lots of playing and giggling going on. But no attempts at closing the eyes and sleeping.
On Friday morning, we headed to meme's house. My dad took TONS of pictures on this day. I only took 1. Failed again.
My meme has saved alot of my papaws things. He passed away almost 5 years ago. Well, she decided to pull out his old caps and share them with her little great-grandsons. Pax received a hat also, but was napping when I snapped this picture. Just thought these ugly hats were pretty funny.

Like every year, I have much to be thankful for. It was a wonderful celebration with family this year. Hoping yours was a thankful, happy day!

Christmas fesitivities . . . already??

2011-11-20T14:45:00.013-06:00

Last night, a nearby town was having their annual Christmas tree lighting. It always catches me off guard that this takes place before Thanksgiving. In fact, last year it caught me off guard so much that we completely missed it. But here is a little peek from 2009 and how much Holden and Pax have changed in 2 years. As weird as it seemed, dressing the boys in their Christmas tees in mid-November, we went with it and enjoyed the free Christmas festivities last night. Of course Santa and the elves made an appearance. They were being pulled in the carriage.
The boys loved seeing the huge Christmas tree. They will be thrilled when we get ours set up at home. It should be a fun season with a 2 and 3 year old.
They were able to have their picture taken with Frosty and Rudolph. Which Pax did NOT love. He was "sca-wud" as he told me. He had a tight grip on my shirt and legs wrapped tightly around me. There was no peaceful way he would've had his picture taken with those creatures, unless I was there holding him. So I did. But he better man-up before it's time to get his picture taken with Santa. ;)And just a few more pictures from our evening.

Mr. Cool

2011-11-19T14:46:00.006-06:00

Pax is still obsessed with wearing hats and wears them as often as he can. But when he puts them on, they always end up looking like this . . .
Even if I fix it so that he can see more easily, he pulls it back down to where you can't even see the top half of his cute, little face.
He looks like quite the cool dude, huh? :)

Holden's type of fun.

2011-11-13T14:14:00.013-06:00

An evening game of chase with daddy. A great way to work off dinner!

The ever so popular toy car wash. The boys love to do this! We've been enjoying this activity for a couple of years now.
Sliding down head first . . .
Forget sliding. He'll just jump.

Running and splashing in puddles.
Cars, dump trucks, diggers and cranes . . . he loves them all!

Signs of fall . . .

2011-11-10T16:19:00.008-06:00

Butternut squash and beets from our organic food co-op.
A pantry stocked with plenty of canned pumpkin. Pumpkin dip and whole-wheat pumpkin muffins are being made in my kitchen.
Cute hoodies for cute boys.
Little winter jammies. One of my favorites!
And this chick is a brunette. Again. And I don't think I'm ever going back blonde, in fear that it might fall out. It took 3 attempts with dye, during 2 appointments and a total of about 7 hours of my life to get us this point. The blonde just didn't want to give in. NEVER AGAIN. Someone make me sign a contract. And just last night I was debating chopping it off to chin length but have decided to sleep on that decision another month or so. So fickle when it comes to this head of hair.
It's definitely looking and feeling like fall around here. I love it.

Families Like Us

2011-11-07T13:46:00.010-06:00

After moving back to Texas two years ago, I began searching for transracial adoption groups. I knew that our adoption playgroup in OKC was something I was really going to miss. And I felt it was something worth looking into for my boys. I've actually found many different possibilities in the greater metro area. We attended one other event this past summer that I never mentioned on the blog. But finally we were able to attend another event this past Saturday night with a group that is very local to our specific area of the metro. (Meaning one family even lives in our neighborhood!) So Saturday evening we spent some time cooking out and playing at Rocky Top Ranch (which you may have heard of if you've read Same Kind of Different as Me). It was a great experience to meet more families in our area that our passionate about adoption. And as always, some pictures of our fun . . . The boys got to go on their very first hayride. The trailor was being pulled by a woman driving a tractor and she wasn't playin' around. She was making it fun for the big kids and the tiny ones weren't so sure about the bumpy ride. Luckily my boys really loved it. And of course, Holden didn't want to get off once it was over.
(That's a terrible picture of me and I almost didn't include it. I look like a tired girl with a bad hair day. But it's the only picture of Holden and Pax on the hayride. So there it is.)We're grateful to have made some more connections that will be an asset to our family as the boys continue to grow older.

National Adoption Awareness Month

2011-11-05T21:18:00.008-05:00

November is National Adoption Awareness Month! It's one of the many reasons I love the month of November. If there is anything that I have learned in my short 3.5 years (almost to the day!) of parenting, it's that I can't convince everyone to adopt. ;) Ha. That should have been a given from the beginning, but it took me awhile to get it. In my defense, I just wish everyone could experience the blessing. Sure, there is a need with adoption. Somewhere around 145,000,000 if you want a visual. That's just a rough number of the orphans in our world today. And it is that type of statistic that sometimes keeps me up at night. I often wonder what God has in store for us next. And I wonder how that growing number can ever shrink if only a handful of people are involved. So yes, there is a need. But the family that receives a child is the one that recieves the blessing. It's not the other way around. Here's my thought on it. God had his hand on my boys before we ever knew they existed. Had we said "no" to God, he would have found someone else. But Jeremy and I would have missed out big time. Someone else would have received 2 ENORMOUS blessings that God had wanted to give to us.
Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from Him." Psalm 127:3
Who would ever regret adopting a child!? I've never heard such a thing. So if God is nudging, don't dare miss out on the great blessing He has in store. Coming from a girl that looks into the face of 2 blessings every day, that could be tragic.

Tomorrow is Orphan Sunday. I'm a little sad to say that it will probably go unmentioned at our church. But in a way, I hope that's part of the reason why we're there. Open some eyes. Open up hearts. Help others to think outside of the box when it comes to God's design for family. I just have a great passion for more people to be involved until there are no more orphans. Every child should have a family. Tell me, does your church celebrate adoption, participate in Orphan Sunday and/or have an adoption ministry?

Trick or Treat!

2011-11-01T14:48:00.012-05:00

Last night was our most fun Halloween to date. I think it mostly has to do with the age of the boys (2 and 3). They are both just into the fun stuff now. They are both understanding so much more. They are both communicating well. So last night was a blast for the 4 of us.
We started the evening with a large jack-o-lantern pizza from Papa Murphys. They're only $6. Why am I just now finding this out!? Pax had 2 small slices and Holden could only choke down 1. And I know why. He gets so excited about different things. He has a one track mind. He was so excited about trick or treating, that eating dinner was just a chore. So he finished his small slice of pizza and then he was read to costume-up! And here is our 2011 little circus act! You may remember the elephant costume from last year. This is only Pax's first hand-me-down costume from Holden. I looked for him a different one, but didn't find anything as cute as the elephant I had at home. So we did a little repeat. And he definitely made a cute little elephant. People oohed and ahhed over him all evening. No joke. He was a big hit!And can you see why? Well, it's because he's adorable. :)
And meet Hoopy the Clown. That's what his costume was titled when I ordered it. I needed something to go with the elephant and this was all I could come up with. But Holden was the one and only clown I saw last night, which I liked. And a complete stranger told me "cutest costume I've seen in YEARS." Really? He's just a clown. Obviously she didn't see our peanut/elephant duo last year. But we'll take the compliment. I sure thought he looked cute. And he loved wearing the wig, the hat, the nose . . .all of it! Holden really enjoyed dressing up.
I adore this little family that God has created for me.
Pax was the brave soul last night. He owned the neighborhood. He walked up to doors, knocked, and waited. Then softly said "twick or tweeeeeeeet". He then would rummage through their treat bowls and choose his own candy. I found it funny that he wanted to pick it out. And all of the neighbors sweetly obliged and let him do so. Then he told them thank you and started moving towards the next house. Holden kind of followed behind, and was more timid last night. He wanted mommy or daddy close by and was often found holding one of our hands. It was just kind of funny to see the little brother take the reigns last night.
Yep, most fun Halloween to date. The boys loved dressing up and going house to house collecting candy. It was fun family memory. And a favorite in my book.

favorite hoodies.

2011-10-27T15:23:00.002-05:00

Veggies.

2011-10-25T14:49:00.000-05:00

If more veggies came on a "cob", Holden and Pax might be better veggie consumers. They loved eating this corn on the cob last night.

2011 Pumpkin Carving

2011-10-24T20:10:00.010-05:00

Last night the boys got to watch Jeremy carve a pumpkin. I thought I had picked out something that would be simple, fairly quick and most importantly, put a smile on the faces of my little boys. It did accomplish the smiles. But my detailed husband decided my simple idea needed way more details than what I had originally planned in my head. So he took his precious time and made a fantastic pumpkin creation for the boys. I mentioned it last year, but Jeremy really does have mad carving skills. I nearly chop off a finger anytime I cut something thicker than a summer squash, so you see why I admire this skill. ;) And now you also understand why he's the pumpkin carver in this house.
We started this little event after the boys normal bedtime. We just decided we would keep them up later, let them eat s'mores and have some quality family time. Here are my little guys in the scariest PJs they own, posing with their perfect pumpkin.
At first they were very into observing Jeremy's every move.
But within 15 minutes, he was still working and their short attention spans had kicked in. So I did what any good mother would do. I turned on Mickey Mouse. Let's just say it fit in well with our theme.
Pretty good, huh? Posing with the completed masterpiece. Despite their sleepy faces in the picture above, they were pretty proud of their daddy.

Paci-less around here.

2011-10-23T14:26:00.009-05:00

Well, today we took the last 2 pacifiers from our home and they went into the trash at Target. We did this same exact thing with Holden shortly after he turned 2 and it wasn't the least bit emotional for me. This time it brought a little emotion. Don't get me wrong, I felt like Pax was ready. Of course, he loves his pacis for nap and nighttime. They have just always been there for him during his sleep times. But we had been talking it up for the past week. Through those conversations, he acted like it was no big deal and he was ready to be a big boy. So it definitely seemed like he was ready, but I wasn't sure about myself. Last time we did this we had another baby in the house. So we still had pacis and bottles and all that baby jazz. So it just felt a little different this time. But I'm not going to be one to hold my kiddos back from accomplishments. So despite the little pull on my heart to keep him a baby, we pushed forward. After church, we headed to Target. Holden and Jeremy went one direction to grab some things we needed for home while Pax and I headed for the toys. After strolling down each aisle, he found a "choo-choo" that looked like fun. So we headed to the check-out with our prize. He had his 2 pacis in a ziplock bag and he tried to take one last suck through the plastic, which made me laugh a little. Then he handed his baggie to the cashier to "pay" for his new toy. And off we went. As we left he told me, "pacis gone-gone". And that they are! There will be no turning back. Jeremy has been dreading this day, telling me how much harder it will be for Pax. I've disagreed, telling him that he's just forgotten how addicted Holden was at age 2. I'm hoping to be right on this one. For now, he is sleeping soundly for his afternoon nap. He went down without any tears. A very similar reaction to Holden. We'll see if it continues to go this smoothly. Either way, I'm proud of my little boy who, without hesitation, took a big step in growing up today. And here he is showing off his prize.
Now, if only we could rid ourselves of the diapers around here. :)

Pumpkins!

2011-10-20T15:40:00.017-05:00

Yesterday, I met a friend at the Dallas Arboretum. Between the 2 of us, we came armed with 3 energetic little boys, a sweet baby girl, a wagon, a double stroller, packed lunches and 2 cameras. It was my first time to the Arboretum. It's normally pretty costly which is probably why I've never gone. But Wednesdays this fall they have a BOGO deal. It took us about an hour to get there, which is probably another reason I haven't gone before now. But once I saw the 4billion pumpkins, I knew it was totally worth the drive. Basically, we just let the boys run around and we snapped lots of photos. It was the perfect weather to be outside. It finally feels like fall after a dreadful summer, and we are soaking it up!
I adore this little guy and his cute smile.
Goodness, that handsome fella! He is so photogenic when he wants to be. And pictures like this nearly take my breath way. Not to mention that he looks so OLD!Buddies.Look at that setting! Too bad, the boys were just about done with my picture taking. You like their fake, painted on smiles? I bribed with suckers. :)
It was another fun day with my little boys and some friends!

Fair Fun!

2011-10-18T20:51:00.012-05:00

I recently landed 2 free tickets to the state fair of Texas. When I casually mentioned it to Jeremy, he quickly decided that it should be a family event. You see I was thinking about giving them away to someone that wanted them. But my dear husband really wanted them. I remember going to our last state fair (and my ONLY up until Friday!!), in OKC, during our pre-kid era. On that day, we both decided that we weren't "fair people". That's right. Just like I'm not a "zoo person". But this time taking the boys ended up being a treat for us all. Unfortunately, I pretty sure we spent a small fortune. I thought the boys would ride a couple of rides, eat some lunch, pet some animals, people watch and we'd leave. But after riding 2 rides, Holden was hooked. And apparently Jeremy wasn't going to be the one to disappointment. So he just kept returning money stealer and getting more tickets so they could ride more. Sadly we forgot our camera, so we took pictures with Jeremy's phone all day. Warning: the quality is pretty terrible.
This one might be the worst one, but we had to get a picture with Big Tex. Later when we were on the other side of the park, Holden asked "where is that big boy?" It just made us laugh that he called him a "big boy".
It was alot of fun watching them participate together, side by side, like little buddies. I'm witnessing a friendship blossom more and more as Pax catches up to his big brother in his communication and other develpoments. And it's a really cool thing.
My little farm boys! This was one of the coolest little areas for little ones. I was so glad that we did this. They "worked" on the farm. Fed the animals, drove the tractor, milked the cown, and at the end, earned a dollar and then purchased a snack from their store. They loved it!

I'm so glad Jeremy pushed me to give the fair another chance. I mean, how did I even live in Texas for 22 years and NOT go to the State Fair? I have no idea. But the boys loved it and it made for a great family day.

requesting a photo shoot

2011-10-13T16:26:00.010-05:00

Recently, and randomly, Holden has been requesting that I take he and Pax's picture together. It's normally if I draw attention to what they are wearing on a particular day. This week, they sported their Halloween tees and camo pants. Now I really wanted them to have the opposite shirts, but size-wise, we had to go with this.
You see, Pax is a momma's boy, so I wanted him in the grey shirt. And well, honestly, Holden can be a terror, so I wanted him in the orange one. But it didn't work. At least Pax can wear the grey one in a couple of years. I'm hopeful he'll still be a momma's boy. :)

This morning on the way out of the house to head to school, Holden thought they needed another picture taken together. I dressed them matching today. When we first brought home Pax as a newborn, I thought I would do this often. A year later, Jeremy vetoed that idea. Which was fine. I was over it. But they both received these shirts for their birthdays, from 2 different people. And even though we may not love to dress them as twinkies, I'm pretty sure they love matching one another. Because when they are dressed alike, Holden starts running around the house like the Tazmanian Devil. Is it weird that my 3 year old LOVES clothes?! I may have rubbed off on him there. So today, they were twinkies. Until they got home and Pax dumped yogurt all over his shirt.
And this picture was not requested, but just thought I would share it anyways. Could this boy get anymore relaxed! He's just a pretty laid back fella. He was watching a little Dora on our bed, while Holden continued to nap. And yes, that's a tattoo on his leg. The boys wanted one right where daddy has one of his. :) Oh to be like daddy is the goal!

So far in October

2011-10-10T21:26:00.010-05:00

On the first day of October, I witnessed a beautiful friend's beautiful wedding. Our sitter came to the house and Jeremy and I headed to the other side of the metro for a night out. And more importantly to celebrate the special couple. I sat misty-eyed as I watched her marry her prince. There is just something about weddings . . .
I even got to kick off my heels and do a little half-step action with my own prince. I vaguely remember Amarillo by Morning playing, but for a brief 10 minutes, I felt 20 again. And following his lead felt just the same as it did 10+ years ago. So that was fun. :)

With the cooler weather, we've been spending lots of time outside, especially in the mornings. The boys love riding in the jogging stroller, so I've been taking them for 3-4mile walks on most days that we are home. They will sit for an hour (or more if I would continue) while I push the 60 plus pounds. They people watch, bird watch, and tree and plant watch. We chat about the weather, the ABCs, the airplanes, jets and helicopters overhead, and sing some of their favorite songs. It's one of the best parts of my day. It doesn't hurt that I'm getting a little exercise in.
And we are continuing with our school stuff at home, which has been amazing. I'm not claiming that they have learned anything or are becoming smarter. But the focussed time on intentional activties delight my 2 little boys. So of course that delight rubs off on me as well. I know I've mentioned this all before. Today we talked about the letter F, which included Frogs, Fish, Finger painting and Funny Faces. These boys found finger painting to be a blast. Pax learned that it doesn't taste all that good. ;) But I guess to him, it was worth a try. And now I have 2 masterpieces to frame for our playroom. Which is about to get a facelift of it's own.

I'm loving the season. Loving the weather. Loving October.

my growing boy.

2011-10-04T14:23:00.005-05:00

This boy's personality is really starting to shine at age 2. That's right SHINE. Not scare the bejeezus out of me. The picture above reminds me of how much he's grown in the recent months. I just happen to catch him in the air. He's our brave and adventurous one. He's becoming more and more independent and demanding to do things "myself". But on the same token, he gives me at least a million cuddles, hugs and kisses a day. He's affectionate. He's learning to stand his own with his much bigger brother that can tend to boss. He's learned to hold on to toys with a death grip while screaming "mine" at the top of his lungs. I'm pretty sure the purpose of the screaming is just to call me in for reinforcements. But don't judge him. He has to do this or that older brother will rip the toy from his hands. We're working on that. This baby boy we brought home at almost 3 weeks. I worried about him bonding to us because we missed those first moments of his life and he was in the care of 2 others before he came to us. Well, let's just say he's bonded to me like super glue. The older he gets, the sweeter he becomes. He has compassion and concern for others. He's quick to say "sorry", even if he's not the one to blame. Yesterday, I mentioned that I didn't feel well. He told me "saw-wee mommy". He plays well with others. He's patient. He's most often happy and content with his circumstances. He loves to run and play chase. He's clumsy. And after every fall (which is several a day) he lets everyone know that he is ok, by looking around and saying "K." He's getting so big! And the more of his personality I see developing, the more I can see myself in him. (Including the clumsy part.)

My Memories WINNER!!!

2011-10-03T16:22:00.007-05:00

Well, a little helper chose our winner today. And Holden was SO excited about this new software our winner will be receiving. :)
I'm not sure if you can even read that. But it reads "Kristie"! Congratulations to Kristie from The Lentz Family Blog! Email me at melodie1980 at gmail dot com and I will respond with instructions to download your free software.

To the rest of you that are interested, take advantage of our coupon code! The code listed below will provide you with a $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software and/or a $10 coupon for the MyMemories.com store - $20 value total! Just use the coupon code STMMMS77819 to redeem these discounts. Thanks for playing.

More of My Memories

2011-09-30T23:25:00.004-05:00

I explained in my previous post that I had created the new blog header using this software. But I still wanted to play around with it more to try some other things to show you all. Well, to show the 3 individuals that are actually interested. Only three? Really? So this was my creation tonight. Basically, it was a cute little page already designed for me. All I had to do was drop in the photos along with a little cropping and repositioning. Easy peasy. Just what I need! Go here to read, comment and enter the Giveaway. Winner will be chosen at random on Monday!

My Memories Giveaway!

2011-09-28T20:06:00.005-05:00

I have a very special treat over here! Liz Gardner at My Memories has asked me to host a Giveaway. Pretty exciting stuff! My Memories is giving away their digital scrapbook software to one of you! The software is valued at $40 but might possibly be yours for free! It has been rated #1 by Amazon and Top Ten Reviews.

If you want a chance to win, here are a few ways to enter:

1) Become a follower on the My Memories Blog
2) Link up with My Memories on Facebook here
3) Follow My Memories on Twitter here
4) Blog About this Giveaway
5) Or simply leave me a comment on this post. But before commenting, please go here, browse through the digital scrap packs and let me know which one is your fave.

If you do any or all of these, let me know in the comment section below! Each one counts as an entry, so you have five opportunities to win!

My Memories Suite is pretty cool! I created my new blog header using the software. There are so many options and I may be changing it up again in the near future when I have a little more time to sit and play with all of the tools. Not to mention that we badly need to update our family photos. These were all taken in this spring. But with this digital scrapbooking software, you can do so much more than scrapbooking! You can definitely make scrapbook layouts and photo books, but also calendars, cards, videos and more. It really is a nifty tool to have. Check out these videos for more information and creative ideas.

And as an added bonus to this Giveaway, My Memories is giving ALL of you your very own Share the Memories coupon code that provides a $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software and/or a $10 coupon for the MyMemories.com store - $20 value total! Just use the coupon code STMMMS77819 to redeem these discounts.

I will announce the winner of the Giveaway on Monday, October 3rd.

C is for Junk Food!

2011-09-27T14:38:00.020-05:00

Since the boys headed back to school on Thursdays, I'm trying to be consistent with doing 1 day of school at home. Whatever letter they work on that Thursday at school, I continue to review with them on the following Monday or Tuesday. And so far, they have been going straight through the alphabet. Last week they learned the letter C, so yesterday and today we have been doing some fun "C" activities. As always, I steal some ideas from other moms, other blogs and also this website is normally helpful. But the activities below are ones that I actually thought up in my own brain. Who knew I had it in me! :) My boys love doing crafts and that intentional time that we get to spend together. Literally, 30 minutes of prep time the night before can make for such an enjoyable morning with my boys.

C is for Cookies! Immediately after breakfast, we began to "study" ;) the letter C with Chocolate Chunk Cookies!!! I just told the boys cookies, since I didn't want to throw them off with the CH sound quite yet. They love helping in the kitchen. So they enjoyed taking turns mixing up the batter to make our cookies. While the cookies were in the oven baking, they worked on lining their "C" pages with cheerios. I did sort of steal this idea from a friend. Thanks Kristy. We talked about all the familiar words that begin with C. Cantelope. Cars. Camera. Color. Cookies. Cupcake. Crackers. Cold. Carrots. Cat. Cow. Cup. One boy worked really hard on the Cheerio project. Another boy enjoyed eating the Cheerios . . .and probably some tiny bits of gluestick. Take a look at the worksheets below and you be the judge.
C is for Cupcakes! Our next little project was cupcakes. The evening before, I had been making the C sound and asking what words started with C. Holden immediately blurted out "cupcake"! So he inspired this little craft. I had already glued down the foil cupcake bottom the night before. The boys glued on the chocolate cupcake top. And then their favorite part was gluing down the sprinkles.
Don't they look like pretty serious crafters?
And the finished projects . . .
C is for Candy Corn! The C ideas just kept coming to me. So today I pulled out the candy corn! Mmmmmm. Now we just need to add some salted mixed nuts to that bowl. :)The boys did a simple homemade candy corn puzzle while partaking in a little bit of the real deal.
If Holden and Pax remember anything about the letter C, it might only be that it is delicious! ;)

The best use of our morning

2011-09-21T14:31:00.012-05:00

If I've learned anything in the last 2 years, it's that I can't wait on my children to wake me in the morning. I've got to have some time to think about the day and prepare my heart. And much of that time is spent in prayer for myself and my family. I wish that I could say that I sit on the patio drinking my coffee and reading my Bible while the boys sleep. I don't get up that early. But if I can have the prayer time before the house goes from quiet to chaos, it makes a huge difference in how I respond to my boys throughout the day. Even if that prayer time is going on during a jog outside or in the shower and in front of the mirror while I get ready. Time with God is time with God. Period. And now I'm trying to work in a little worship time at breakfast with my little boys. The few times I've done this, it's been to NorthWood's Feet That Move CD. That's our church and the CD was recorded about a year ago. I have no intentions of removing that CD anytime soon. The music touches my heart unlike any other at this time. Here's just one of my faves and what I would love to cling to as the theme of my life.

And if you need a little more spunk in your worship, here is one of the boys favorites. If you could only see them "move their feet". :)

jeans.

2011-09-18T14:12:00.006-05:00

Jeremy wears jeans alot. Not to work, but any other place, he's in jeans. He has alot more jeans than I do. I'm pretty sure that he has more jeans than anyone in this house. I think he might be a collector. ;) Even when it's 107 outside, you will probably still find him in jeans. So Holden has been asking to wear jeans for months. But since all of his jeans from last year are high waters (yes, this fall our 3 year old will be wearing a 5T) and the heat has been so extreme, he hasn't been able to wear the beloved jeans. But he's taken notice that daddy wears them often. So combine that with the fact that they make a cool sound when he walks, then you understand why he has been begging to wear them. Constantly. So today, since the high was ONLY 90, we broke out a new pair of jeans. He was so excited to dress like daddy for church this morning. :) He was even more excited when the whole family ended up in denim.
Just another small way this boy looks up to his daddy. He even wants to dress like him. :)

What do you fear?

2011-09-11T20:36:00.006-05:00

In church this morning, our pastor asked this question today. I think because I am sort of in a good and comfy season of my life, my mind didn't think of the present. It immediately shot back to what I have feared at other times in my life. Those things I've already lived through and have come out on the other side.

At 15, I probably feared losing popularity. There you go. I said it. Lame and superficial. If I'm being completely honest, in many ways that was me at age 15. So, God showed me a life outside of that inner circle. He moved my family. I transferred to a huge high school at the beginning of my Junior year. No one knew me. And that is pretty much how I felt the day I graduated, 2 years later. To this day, I don't keep in touch with a single person from my graduating class. It probably doesn't help that I'm not on FaceBook. My parents have since moved from that place. So honestly, I have no connection to that time. But those 2 years had such a positive impact on my life and who I am today. It was a time of huge spiritual growth and such a sweet and deeper connection with my Jesus. I experienced his love like never before. His relationship became more of a friendship because that is exactly what I needed at that time.

At 22, during Jeremy and I's 6 month engagement, I feared he was going to die before we married. I know that sounds morbid and crazy. But we were making 6 hour drives back and forth to visit one another. I was so fearful when he was on the road to come for a visit or when he was returning back to school. I remember crying about it to my mom while I lived at home. It was this crazy fear that I constantly had to hand back over to God.

I know with certainty, my 27 year old self feared not having biological children and experiencing pregnancy. If you're close to me at all, then you already know the transformation God has done on my heart in that area. And I'm pretty certain, I would be the worst pregnant girl ever. ;)

So all of these thoughts came to mind as I pondered the question this morning. Then I forced myself to think about the present. Today. What is my fear now? It all boils down to my little boys. I think about this more often than I'd like to admit. But one of my greatest fears is that I'm going to have to sit and watch my child(ren) go through a rebellious time. I've watched too many Christian families struggle with rebellious teenagers. So in my heart, I know it's out of my control. I can seek God in my parenting and attempt to do everything right and I still may have to face my fear. And to take that a little further . . . I struggle with wanting my child to truly know grace. I want them to have a deep understanding of the forgiveness of Christ and the sinfulness of ALL men. For most of my life, I walked the straight and narrow because that's what a good, Christian girl should do. I had a few small adventures off the path, but for the most part, I played it safe and tried to make God and my parents proud. I'm grateful for my testimony and how God made it, even as simple as it is. But it's been a harder struggle for me to fully know and understand grace. And even more of a struggle for me to see my ugly, sinful self for what it really is outside of Christ. Ugly and sinful! So it seems peaceful and easy to think that I would prefer my boys to walk that same straight and narrow path. The one I've been very familiar with. I want them to be good, Jesus-loving boys. But I want them to understand the grace and forgiveness of Christ alot better than I did. I want them to grasp the depth of it alot sooner than I did. And I also have to realize that sometimes people travel a different road to bring them to that point. But once they get there, it's completely amazing. Those are some of the thoughts that run through my crazy head quite regularly.

For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7

Recent Reads

2011-09-06T21:30:00.010-05:00

Early this year, I said to myself: Self, you need to make more time for reading. And you don't have to waste your time finishing a book if you aren't feelin' it. I've always forced myself to finish books. I could never just stop in the middle, even if I wasn't enjoying it. I felt like I had to finish what I had started. Well, these days I don't have time for that nonsense. So if 30ish pages in, I'm not into it, I get rid of it and move on to the next. That's the way I roll these days. So from now on, when I post any of my reads, know that they're good ones (in my opinion). If they weren't, I wouldn't have even made it to the halfway point. So some recent books I've read:This one was so great! It was a big one. I had my nose in it for months. Thought provoking, encouraging and convicting. I highly recommend it. It completely transformed some of my thoughts and feelings on prayer. Back when I made the purchase, it was a free download. So it cost me nothing. I only wish now that I had the hard copy. It's one of those that you would want to read, with a highlighter in hand, to refer back to things later. I'm sure I will be re-reading this one in the future. I think it would make for a great book club or group study.
Lauren told me how great this one was and loaned me her copy. I finished it in 2 or 3 days. Easy and interesting read. It reminded me alot of 90 minutes in Heaven, which I read several years ago.
This one I completed with a summer book club. It's probably my least favorite on this list. And to be honest, I still haven't finished the last chapter because I missed our last book club meeting. So I need to finish it up. It had some great ideas and great thoughts for motherhood and parenting. It just seemed a little . . . extreme. Like: Make sure you read classic stories to your kids. Make sure they can play an instrument. Make sure they have hobbies. Make sure they appreciate beautiful artwork. Here's how to organize your house. Okay, it wasn't worded so bluntly, but that's how it came across to me. It seemed to be heavily geared towards raising well-rounded, educated children than pointing them towards Jesus. They weren't bad ideas, just not the most important, in my opinion. But it did give me some good ideas in the area of family and raising my kiddos. And I've heard plenty of other mommas rave about this author and book. I just didn't love it. All that to say, you might have a completely different opinion.
I'm about 3/4 of my way through this one. It's so good! It will probably go on my list of all time faves. I'm determined to finish the book before we see the movie. And since we are typically Redboxers, that should be no problem at all. I should be finished with this one by the end of the weekend.
And some fun new books I recently added to the boys collection:
I got this one thinking Pax might need it before starting "school". I use that term loosely. It's really just 1 day a week of a Mother's Day Out program. I thought this little story would help Pax say goodbye to me every Thursday morning. But Pax didn't shed a single tear when I dropped him off last week. Oh well. Maybe it wasn't needed afterall. It's still a really cute book!
And this one is so sweet! I love that there is such a great selection of children's books that include adoption. I read it to both of the boys tonight before bedtime. They are my definitely my wish come true! :)

I need to finish The Help and then I have 3 more books piling up my nightstand that are just waiting to be read! I'm sure I'll be sharing those with you at a later date.

OKC trip

2011-09-04T13:54:00.021-05:00

Some time last month, we made a little weekend trip to OKC. Things went a little crazy over here and I never got around to posting about that weekend. Even though we were there 2 full days, it flew by so fast and we missed seeing many faces that we would have loved to have seen. We did get to see a few friends and also spend an evening with Pax's birthmom, M and her family.
On Friday morning, we finally got to meet baby Denton and spend some time with his family. Holden had a good time with his very first friend, Lyndon. They got to play outside in the water and on the swingset all morning long. And then they stopped for a bite to eat.
And then all 4 boys posed for a picture. Pax, Denton, Lyndon and Holden.
I had to steal those 2 pictures from Daysha because I had forgotten to bring my camera to their house.
Friday night we headed to M's house for an early birthday party for Pax and just to visit. It had been a while since we had seen them all. I'm sure Pax had changed and grown alot between visits. I've said it before, but we love this family. And time spent with them is always so natural. Never an awkward moment. Never any nervous jitters. We've only known them 2 years and our visits are more sporadic since our move to Texas, but we feel really blessed to have them in our lives. They love Pax. But what is really special, is they love Holden too. Friday evening we went to their home and had an early birthday party for Pax.
You don't know how many times I look at his face and can see her through him.
Holden felt under the weather that night. This family has been around Holden enough to know that something was not right with him. He didn't touch his pizza, turned down a cupcake. And then he sat in my lap for the rest of the evening. He was better by the next morning. Holden even had a present with his name of it.
That weekend, we stayed at our friend's house, Kevin and Andrea. I didn't pull out my camera AT ALL, except while we were at the Children's Museum. It was our first trip to the OKC Children's Museum. Our pass here, enabled us to get in free at OKC. Very cool! And the museum at OKC is much cooler than the one here. Here are a few pictures from our fun morning.
Pax being a little scientist. :)
And driving a tractor.
And then riding on a Segway. Holden took a ride too but his picture didn't turn out.
Pax and Abigail had fun with the bubbles.
And Abigail really had fun bathing in them. :)Holden was just a bit harder to catch with my camera. Though my camera didn't make it out of my suitcase much at all during the weekend, we had a wonderful time seeing some old friends. The next time, we might need to plan a longer visit so we have the time to see everyone.

2 School Boys!

2011-09-01T15:45:00.010-05:00

Today my little studs went to school. Jeremy went in late to work so he could come along and see the new school. For whatever crazy reason, I had a lump in my throat the entire drive there. Something about dropping off both of my little boys at a school for 5 whole hours . . . it just seemed odd! I had to keep reminding myself of the reasons we chose to do this. It confirmed once again why I'm only doing a 1 day program. Honestly, that is ALL I want. That's ALL I can handle. I enjoy my time with these 2 boys and I'm not ready to let them go just yet. :)
It was Pax's first time to ever participate and I was a little worried he might cry at the drop off. I talked it up and he told me he wouldn't cry. You know that drive when I had the lump in my throat and I felt like I was going to cry? Well, I was trying to talk to my 2-year old about being a big boy and I was on the verge of tears. That pep talk I was giving may have been just as much for myself. :) But Pax walked right into his classroom and began playing. I snuck a quick kiss goodbye and left. It was easy. His teachers said he did well all day until naptime. Then he began missing mommy. I did forget a stuffed animal and his paci, which would normally help him sleep. Pax ran to greet me when I arrived at the door. I'm so proud of my big 2-year old!
Holden was also given a good report. But he also failed at naptime today. I know they will both catch on to the schedule within a few weeks. I'm not complaining since they are both sleeping right now, as I waste a little time here. But I have to share a little brag story on Holden. At "Meet the Teacher" last week, there was a little boy that was having a really hard time. So yesterday I began talking to Holden about this boy, N, and explaining that N might be sad. I explained that he might miss his mommy and daddy and cry when they leave. I also explained that it would be nice that if he cries, he could approach him and say, "N, would you like to play cars with me?" So we arrived at Holden's classroom and we see N. His mom is trying to leave and N is having a really, really hard time and won't let go of her. My Holden would have normally waved me goodbye and run for the toys to begin playing. But today, he cautiously approached N and his mommy and stood watching, patiently. I watched Holden, as he stood close by with his hands folded behind his back, watching his new friend cling to his mommy and cry. His face was full of concern for this boy. I walked over to kiss Holden goodbye and gave him one last reminder to play with N. I walked out of the church and the tears started coming. My ball of energy, rough and tumble, 3-year old boy had genuine concern for his new friend. I saw compassion, care and kindness in my little boy. That's the big stuff people! Those are the important things that I want to instill in my children at an early age. His heart is golden. He's wild and crazy. And sometimes mean to his little brother. But he's learning and growing. And that's what matters to me most right now.
To this day, I can't allow myself to drift off to sleep at night without pouring out my thankful heart to God in what he's done for me. I love these boys more than I ever knew was possible. So each night, when the house is quiet, I realize the fullness of my heart because of the perfection of God's plan. So thankful.

interview with Pax

2011-08-31T14:59:00.003-05:00

The night that Jeremy and I took Pax to the aquarium, I decided to interview Pax in the car. Ummmm, it was not as productive as I was hoping. But because he is silly and full of personality, I decided to share it anyway. His main concern in the car was "Where's bubba? Where's Honen?" But I tried to continue poking around for a few answers.

Me: What's your name?
Pax: E. Eat (this is what he named my old Cabbage Patch Doll that my mom gave to him.)
Me: no
Pax: Honen
Me: no
Pax: Paxton
Me: How old are you?
Pax: 5
Me: no
Pax: 4
Me: no
Pax: 6
Me: no
Pax: (through lots of giggling) 5
Me: no
Pax: (laughing harder now) 7
(I decide to go ahead and skip this one, knowing he is going to list every number he knows, EXCEPT 2.)
Me: What is your favorite food?
Pax: apple (not true, but this was his answer)
Me: What is your favorite drink?
Pax: water (also not true, but whatever)

And then I attempted some other questions, but honestly he was done with our game and had no interest in continuing. Interview adjourned.

true love

2011-08-31T14:43:00.002-05:00

The big brother sharing his icecream with the little brother, who is not supposed to crawl all over the table. For Holden to share his icecream, it HAS to be love.

Pax @ age 2

2011-08-30T13:37:00.020-05:00

How can I possibly describe who this boy is in a single post! He is pure sweetness! And I am head over heals in love with his little personality. He loves to be held, carried and cuddled. He hasn't crossed the threshold to that independent stage yet. So he is often found sitting in my lap as we read book after book after book. He is the definition of a true bookworm. I think if we removed all toys from our home, he would live perfectly content as long as he had his books. He already has many of his books memorized and will say them with me as I read. Because honestly we read several books every single day. He also loves to sit and work puzzles now and he is very good at them. He is also in love with watching television. Mickey Mouse Club has recently become his favorite. Followed closely by Dora and Sesame Street. While his big brother would prefer to run circles around the house and stay busy doing, Pax is more laid back. He is more content with quiet and calm activities. Not that he doesn't let his voice be heard. Just the other night in a restaurant with friends, he let out a scream that quietened the whole place. That scream was because he didn't get his way with something. We have those occasional moments right now. But honestly, with Pax, they are few and far between. He can go days without being disciplined, because for the most part, he goes with the flow.
Pax is speaking alot and communicating well with us. Today I heard Holden saying in a sing-song sort of way "Bubba, I need you!" Pax was coming up the stairs saying "Honen, what doin'?" I love that his Holden sounds like Honen. It's one of my favorite things he says. As my boys grow, I think the way they speak is one thing I'm going to miss. I love their cute, little language, as flawed as it is. I think it's just perfect! So far Pax can count to 8 and he surprised me this week by recognizing several of his numbers on his wooden blocks. About a week before his birthday we started talking about how he was going to be 2. He cutely wanted to argue with us and tell us, "no, 4." When I would tease and argue back that he was only going to be 2, the number went to 5, then 6, then 7, then 8, then back to 4. He cackled so hard at our little joke. And we're still playing that game today. He will not admit to anyone that he is 2. He has decided that he is any number BUT 2. One of his other favorite games right now is pretending to fall asleep at random places. See for yourself. He's become a master at the game of pretend. :)Pax loves to sing. His favorite songs are the ABCs, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, The Wheels on the Bus and Happy Birthday.

Pax is great sleeper, getting at least 12hours at night. He goes down by 7:30pm and normally wakes between 7:30-8:30am the next morning. It's not completely unusual for him to sleep in close to 9am. He likes his sleep and always wakes with a smile on his face and asking about each family members whereabouts. He goes down for a nap around 1pm and wakes around 3pm. Sometimes he naps longer, but 2 hours is pretty consistent for him. He sleeps with a million little stuffed animals in his bed. And it changes every few weeks which one he is the most attached to.
Pax loves his paci and uses it only for sleep. It never leaves his crib. We plan to take it away in the next 3 months, the same way we did with Holden. Fingers are crossed that Pax will handle it just as well as his big brother did. I'm not looking forward to it. I just have a feeling that it won't go as smoothly. Plus something in me keep saying, "he's just a baby!" :) Deep down I know that he's not, I just haven't full convinced myself of that yet. ;)
Pax loves to play on the swing set outside. He loves to sit and swing and climb and slide. He LOVES to climb. Period. We daily catch him scaling cabinets to turn on water in the sinks, just for sport. It's a sight to see. He's fast. He also loves to climb into his crib, but hasn't tried to climb out yet. Fingers are crossed that we don't have to face that challenge. He thinks he's big enough to ride the red tricycle, but his little legs can't reach the peddals yet. But he's not happy if you remove him from that seat. He wants to ride! He loves to spot airplanes and helicopters in the sky. He loves to see motorcyles out on the road. He loves to play with his wooden train set. He loves to listen to music and do a little dancing and clap his hands to the rhythm. He loves a few sports, like golf and t-ball. Those are 2 things he can play around with in our backyard and he's a pretty accurate aim. He loves to throw and catch balls and he's a great catcher. So far, he is our sporty boy and that is something we have NOT pushed with either of the boys. We just like to sit back and see where their interests naturally fall.Pax is a really great eater. I've mentioned that he kind of sticks to a South Beach type diet. He likes most meats (fish, chicken, ground beef, roast beef, pork chops), eggs, most veggies and fruits. Some of his favorites are steamed broccoli, carrots dipped in hummus, sugar snap peas, green peas, corn, lima beans, watermelon, strawberries, green apples, cantelope, peaches and bananas. He likes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch, or just plain chicken or turkey. He will avoid crackers, rice, pasta, coucous . . .the things that Holden would prefer to feast on. They are polar opposites in their dietary preferences. Pax would drink milk all day every day if we allowed it. We only give our boys 2 cups of milk a day and then the rest is plain water. No juice. No sweet stuff. They've never really been accustomed to having those things, so they're fine without it. And as a result, Holden LOVES water and asks for it often. Pax is getting better at his water intake, but would choose milk if we always gave the choice. As I've said before, he's not much of a sweets-eater. He would rather have some fruit as a sweet. Such a health nut, right?I do have to admit, that after the parasite, we dropped the ball on potty training. He had been doing pretty well with it. But alot fell on Jeremy's shoulders all at once and potty training was out the window. We lost our momentum during that weekend. And even though I tried to pick back up the following Monday when I was feeling better, he had sort of lost interest. I'm hoping that interest will return soon and we can be diaper free in this house for a while!
Pax is also known as Mister Manners around here. If he accidentally rolls a tonka truck over your foot, he apologizes over and over again until you respond by telling him you're okay. He is quick to say "tankoo mommy" or "tankoo daddy" when he is served in some way. He is sweet to his big brother, checking on him during a meltdown or when he's been hurt. And he is NORMALLY willing to share his toys with Holden. He always wants to kiss a boo-boo to make everything heal properly. :) Including the foot he rolled the truck over.
Yesterday at the doctor Pax had to get 1 vacination. He did the silent scream/cry for a good 10 seconds before he could breath and let any sound out. After I got him dressed and held him for a bit, he was still shaken, but much quieter. After the receptionist gave him a sucker, he was miraculously all better. He was just wearing a tear stained face on his way out. Yesterday Pax weighed in at 28.5lbs (57th %). He is 35.5inches (79th %). And his head circumference was 49.4cm (70th %). Sometimes we think Pax is a shorty because Holden is so tall for his age. But he's not a shorty at all. 79th%. Not short. He just has a big brother that we ought not compare him to.
That is our sweet little Pax at this moment in time. I know it's lengthy, but I wanted to document all that he is and does at the tender age of 2. We love him so and can't imagine our family without him filling the spot of baby. He's the baby for now.

and the party . . .

2011-08-29T13:33:00.024-05:00

Saturday morning we celebrated Pax just one more time! We had a little birthday party with family and friends. Oh the theme. I always want a theme. I thought and thought and thought about what I would like to do versus the things that Pax is really into right now. And I went with his interests. And one of his biggest and cutest interests lately have been HATS! So we had a hat birthday party and asked everyone to wear their favorite hat. Cutie Tooley designed us this really fun invitation.
Pax ate up the attention on Saturday. Like Jeremy and I, he's not one that desires to be the center of attention in a large crowd. But he seemed to enjoy the attention that his party brought. I really intended on getting a large group picture with everyone wearing their hats. But I failed. Here are the pictures that I did get. I learned that you can cover a wealth of mistakes with gobs and gobs of sprinkles. :) I tried a new icing for this cake. Tasted delicious, it just didn't cooperate very well for me.
All of the kiddos decorated foam hats with stickers. I tried to get a picture of most of them in their newly decorated hats.
He opened his presents like a champ. And he actually received a good mix of toys, clothes, books and puzzles.Pax is modeling his new Bob the Tomato hat.
And onto the cake. He smiled and stared at his flickering candles as we all sang happy birthday to him. And then he knew exactly what to do as the song ended. He blew out his candles!He only took a few bites of cake and icecream. He's still not much of a sweet-eater. Crazy boy!It was a fun morning celebrating our birthday boy! I still can't believe he is 2!!

Happy Birthday Pax!!

2011-08-26T22:00:00.008-05:00

Today was Pax's 2nd birthday! He decided he was going to sleep late in true birthday fashion. Sleeping later is actually pretty common for this little mister. He likes to sleep in a bit and then he wakes so happy and smiling ear to ear each morning. So a little after 8am, Jeremy was about to head off to work and we decided we would wake him so we could all sing "Happy Birthday" before Jeremy left. The 3 of us quietly entered his room and Jeremy started rubbing his back to gently wake him. It took a while, but through squinted eyes in his semi-dark room, he looked up at us, a little confused. We sang to him as he stood in his crib just staring back at us. I snapped a quick picture after our song, and this is the face I got. :)
Even his pouty-why-did-you-wake-me-?-face is one of the cutest I've ever seen. :) He quickly perked up when he saw his new present from us. We found a steal on CraigsList for a train table. The boys already LOVE it a little more than I was anticipating. Believe me, there were knock down drag outs all morning to play with this table and train set. Playing referee was not fun. At one point, I wanted to take it back down to the garage.
Pax had a super healthy breakfast of cinnamon rolls from a can, that Holden helped me prepare. We had a fun day at home (minus the constant fighting) and then dinner out as a family. And here they are pretending like the fighting never happened. I'm pretty sure they forget about it 5 minutes later.
Tomorrow morning we'll celebrate this sweet boy just a little bit more with a birthday party, with extended family and a few friends. There is so much to share about Pax at age 2. Coming soon.

Just Pax.

2011-08-25T14:22:00.014-05:00

Yesterday evening, we had a special time for Pax. His birthday is tomorrow and we wanted to do something just for him. Jeremy and I decided that we would do an outing with him and leave the big brother with grandparents. This hasn't happened in a very long time. Like, since Pax was 2 months old! Jeremy took off from work a couple of hours early. Pax was STILL napping when Jeremy arrived home. Once he woke, we headed off for a fun evening. Holden stayed back with my parents and they had some fun of their own. We have a brand new aquarium in the area that I've been wanting to check out. Pax LOVES "fishies" so I figured it would be a great place for us to celebrate him. When we got in the car and Holden's car seat was missing, Pax started asking "where's bubba?" And we got that question several more times throughout the evening. He doesn't know life without his big brother. :) I'm so thankful we had the opportunity to give our little guy our undivided attention. Even if it was only for a few hours. He seemed to soak it all up!

Once inside the aquarium, we had to turn off our camera flash (so we didn't disturb the creatures), so our pictures are not the greatest quality, but I'm posting several of them anyways.

Before heading in . . .
Checking out the sting rays.
He was a bit terrified of this glass bottom floor. His legs were shaking as if he might bust through the glass and fall right in if he moved the wrong way.
He's smaller than a baby shark. :) Should have turned the flash back on for this one.
We helped save a turtle with our loose change . . .
And just cute.
The aquarium really was such a fun place. Pax loved seeing the fish, sharks, tiny sea horses, crabs and any ocean life you can imagine. We may even have to get season passes in the near future. I think it might be worth it. After our aquarium tour, we took him to Steak n Shake for dinner. He ate 2 mini cheeseburgers, a plate full of french fries, an onion ring and a few bites of a Butterfinger shake. My goodness, he can eat! And when I snatched a few fries from his plate, while laughing he said "HEY! No, no mommy. No french fries!" He knew I was taking from his plate and that wasn't allowed. Little stinker. :) After a lengthy dinner with our laid back boy, we headed home and called it a night.
Tomorrow, this little stud is going to be 2 years old. I can't believe it's been almost 2 years since he came into our lives. We feel completely blessed that miraculously, God made a way for him to join our family. He's definitely another miracle in our eyes. And I'm excited to spend part of our weekend celebrating his little life and the big difference it's made in our family!

eventful week.

2011-08-21T11:44:00.014-05:00

Well, it's been an eventful week. Kind of. Not in the ways that I prefer. Monday we did the usual. We went to the water park. After naps on Monday, a certain little mister was dead set on going potty on the potty. It was ALL his idea. He was telling me when he would start to go in his diaper and then we would rush to the potty to let him finish. On Monday afternoon, I even took both of the boys on a grocery store run in undies. And Pax did great. On Tuesday morning we made a trip to the store, got an extra potty seat and a stool for downstairs, M&Ms for incentive and some other potty necessities. Pax was doing was pretty good. Holden has had less than 10 accidents ever. Because he was almost 3, it was really really easy. Granted, I am admitting to you all that he still refuses to do #2 in the potty. Sorry, I know that was very elementary to write #2. Just not sure I want that word anywhere on my blog. :) So with Holden, there have been challenges, but for the most part I think it's been an easy transition. Now Pax was 2 weeks from 2 years when he decided he was ready. And there have been lots of accidents. Too many to even count in a day. In 2 days he went through 10 pair of undies. But even with the accidents, he was still doing so well in telling me! He was just not telling me quite soon enough and I couldn't quite make him go on command. :) At one point, I was kind of ready to throw in the towel and just break the news to him that he wasn't ready. But he was so determined. Jeremy and I agreed we just needed to push through and let him learn this. He wanted to be a big boy and accomplish this, so who are we stand in his way. So we were doing just that. This is Pax after he went #2 in the potty. Which he has done several times! Goodness, he's a cutie in real undies! He just seems so little. As I said, we were on our way to being diaper free in this house, when the parasite hit. Early Thursday morning I was sick sick sick! So I didn't run back and forth to the potty with Pax. I told him to go in his diaper as I lay on the chair and the boys watched Mickey Mouse Club all morning on the couch. I was miserable. Jeremy came home early Thursday and took me to the doctor. I thought I had the stomach flu and the doctor assumed the same. We started meds immediately. And no improvement. In fact, it got uglier. Back to the doctor yesterday morning and the on-call doctor suspected a parasite. Gross, huh?! I started 2 more antibiotics yesterday. This is my first day to be out of bed for some time and it's kind of nice. It's been a rough few days. I've never experienced anything like it. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Those parasites might be Satan himself in tiny molecular form. I'm not kidding. They're terrible. And would you guess where the doctor thinks I may have caught it? The water park. Nice.

Jeremy has been a rockstar husband and dad this weekend. He has had the boys completely on his own, not even letting them step into our bedroom because we're still confused on whether or not I could pass something to them. And let me just say, having our almost 2 year old and 3 year old several days in a row with no help is hard work. Love them to pieces, but it's exhausting if you never get a little break or some help. He's been up with me most nights while I've been sick. Bringing me meds, drinks, snacks around the clock. Googling for answers to find out if the odd things going on in my body are normal for right now. I know he's tired, but he's never complained. He's normally wearing a smile and being such a servant to us all. I catch myself apologizing to him that I can't help and he finds those apologies ridiculous because he tells me that this is life. And he tells me that I would do the same for him. I am very much in love with this man and feel extremely lucky that he is mine!

I've had alot of thinking time lately and the parasite-thing has opened my eyes to some things. Things that I could easily ignore because they normally don't affect me. This weekend I've dealt with true hunger and a parasite for my first time ever. But people in impoverished countries deal with these things continually. Many people can't comprehend 3 meals a day. So Friday night, in alot pain, I was saying why, why, why. And Sunday morning, with a refreshed spirit, better health and just a sick stomach, I have a new compassion and a new direction. Kind of points back to my thoughts in my last post. I don't want to go through the junk without a lesson.

And potty training round 2 for Pax will begin tomorrow. :) He'll get it soon enough.

Priscilla Shirer

2011-08-14T15:10:00.005-05:00

This morning at church Priscilla Shirer sat across the aisle from us and a few rows back. I may have gotten a little starstruck when she was introduced and I first noticed her. I wanted to run up to her after the service, get a picture with my phone and tell her my story and how God had used her work in my journey. I didn't do any of that. Not my personality AT ALL. You see, Priscilla and I go way back even though she doesn't know it. During Jeremy and I's somewhat short struggle of infertility, my former church did a Bible study that Shirer wrote called, He Speaks to Me. At the time, I was working full-time and chose not to participate in the group study. But if I'm being completely honest, me choosing not to participate probably had more to do with not wanting to open myself up to others with what was going on in our lives. But since I'm all about a good read, I did order the book and decided to read it on my own. At that point, I knew that we were facing the beginning of a trial. Trials are never fun, but if I was going to walk through one, I wanted it to be purposeful. In my simple mind, there was no need to endure a pointless, difficult journey. If God was about to walk us through a valley, I wanted to come out more like Jesus on the other side. I wanted to learn from it and grow closer to him through it. My heart was filled with questions for God on why MY plans weren't working out, but I earnestly wanted to trust him and his plans for us. And I wanted to hear his voice and the directions he had for us in building our family. I loved that book! And God used it to help prepare my heart and unclog my ears so that I could hear his voice. So only months later, when we started the adoption process and God told us to pray for April, I actually heard his voice. At that point in the journey, I felt like I hadn't heard from him. It wasn't that he felt distant. It wasn't that at all. I felt him with us the entire time and I had great faith in that. But I felt my prayers had gone nowhere. Looking back on it, I think that I felt his presence, but he still seemed silent to me. Now do you see why my heart went pitter patter when I saw her face just a short distance from me today?

"Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1

cuddles.

2011-08-12T14:17:00.004-05:00

I'm so thankful that my almost 2 year old took a nap on me for almost 2 hours. It's been a long time since I napped with one of my babes. And I later learned that he had an ear infection. :( So that may have played a part in this sweet nap. But I still enjoyed our cuddle time!

opposites.

2011-08-03T14:16:00.015-05:00

Over the past few months, I've been making little notes about my boys for this specific post. They are different in so many little ways. But their opposite personalities and interests make for a pretty good brotherly relationship.
Pax is . . .
passionate about books and hats * a lover of sports * veggies and meat consumer - he graviates towards a South Beach type diet ;) * a late sleeper * moderate naps (typically 2 hours) * loves to eat, but isn't a big fan of breakfast * would watch television for hours if we allowed it * laid back personality * momma's boy * will not talk, smile or even give notice to friendly strangers
Holden is . . .
passionate about all things water * a lover of cars and trucks * bread/carbs consumer * early riser * long napper (typically 3-4hours) * wakes ready for breakfast * will not sit long for television but would rather be moving (at all times!) * not so laid back * daddy's right hand man * never meets a strangerThey do have a few similarities that stand out in my mind . . .
they love to dance to music * they will sit in a lap and listen to someone read books for HOURS * they both love to cuddle with mommy and daddy * they love to play outside even if it's breaking 100 * they are homebodies

See, in many ways they couldn't be more different. But they have a pretty fun relationship that I love watching develop more and more as they grow. My hope and prayer is that they'll be one another's best friend now and into adulthood.

**I just realized something in the first picture posted, which I just took this morning. Pax is holding a book and a toy remote. Holden is holding matchbox cars in both hands. That was completely unstaged, but pretty perfect for this post. :)

muscles.

2011-07-30T09:32:00.004-05:00

And now our muscle men are off to wash the vehicles. AKA playing in the water. :)

What's going on in their backyard?

2011-07-27T20:36:00.004-05:00

That is exactly what any peeping neighbors might have been saying about us tonight.
For the record, the adults in this family were fully clothed.

hide and go seek.

2011-07-21T07:30:00.006-05:00

Yesterday I watched Holden attempt to lead a game of hide and go seek with Pax. I have NO idea where Holden might have learned about this game. He's with me just about 24-7, so I really have no clue. But he kind of understands it. Pax, on the otherhand, did not.
No one went to hide. Pax did exactly what his big brother did. He lay on the floor, covered his eyes and followed Holden in counting. And I laughed pretty hard at my boys. I love these moments in my days.

P.S. Round two I helped a little and they began hiding. But then the seeker was a little timid to go and look. And the hider wouldn't stay put for longer than 30 seconds. So the hider would come running out with a roar and the boys would laugh, scream and chase one another. :) Fun days.

sweet conversations.

2011-07-19T12:13:00.002-05:00

Yesterday Holden and I had a sweet conversation that went something like this. . .

Holden was laying on his car rug, rolling his cars around. I was sitting on the ottoman watching the boys play and all of the sudden I hear these words from Holden: I yub you, mommy.

I probably went over the top when I said in excitement: Oh my goodness, Holden! I love you too. Come here, I need a hug and a kiss. He ran into my arms grinning and gave me both a hug and kiss. My eyes were getting misty and I said something like: That makes mommy so happy. I think I might cry.

He looked concerned and serious when he said: I will not make you cwie, mommy. I will not make you sad. I pwom-miss!

He's probably going to accidentally break that promise, but it'll be okay. ;) I cover the boys in affection and words of affirmation. I'm not bragging about it. It's just who I am. Ask Jeremy. No one that I deeply love ever has to wonder how I feel about them. And with my 3 boys, they hear it daily. Multiple times. And they get smothered in kisses and cuddles regularly. I can't help myself. And I'm hopeful that those sweet-out-of-the-blue-words from Holden is something that he is learning. To tell others how much you love them. But yesterday, he nearly melted my heart.

"sue-wee" everything.

2011-07-18T14:00:00.009-05:00

As this little boy grows up and matures, he becomes a regular little comedian around our house. Sometimes Holden is not sure what to think when Pax is getting the laughter and attention. But I constantly catch the big brother cracking up at Pax's silliness. One of our favorite things lately has been that Pax calls things silly as he cracks up laughing at himself or the silly thing he's referring to. And when he does this we all start laughing. When Pax says silly it sounds more like sue-wee. Sometimes those things rightfully deserve the title of silly. For instance he commonly says: sue-wee bubba, sue-wee daddy, sue-wee big foot (a toy the boys love). But then other things he has said are: sue-wee moon (pointing to the one in the night sky), sue-wee Abbie (our dog that does absolutely nothing silly anymore), sue-wee unkee (his sock monkey, who also does nothing around here).

Pax doesn't let everyone see his cute and funny side. In fact, he rarely lets it out unless he is with the comfort of his family. But when he does, it makes for alot of fun and laughter. There will be a huge update on this little guy next month when he turns 2! He has changed and grown-up so much!

more visitors!

2011-07-17T13:47:00.013-05:00

Last week we had some more visitors. It has been one busy summer at our home! My sister, Amanda, and her 3 girls made the long drive from Colorado to Texas to spend part of the week at our house and part of the week at Amy's house (our other sister). I was amazed at how well the kids played together! Hope is 7, Bella is 4 and Ava is 21 months. But it was an easy and enjoyable visit. Even with 5 young kids. The boys had tons of fun with their cousins. And I enjoyed several days with my sis. Here are a few pictures of our fun 3 days.
A little time in the backyard pool.

All 5 on the swing.
And these two are about 6 weeks apart in age.
Bella is 16months older than Holden, which is the same age difference between my 2 boys. And she is so sweet and patient with Holden. With both boys actually. But Holden is the one that wants to be up in the middle of everyone's kool-aid. ;) She tolerates it well, without even batting an eye.
And the littles . . .

bubble goatee.

2011-07-09T20:56:00.004-05:00

Is it even possible that my baby boy is almost T-W-O?!

not our typical Tuesday

2011-07-07T19:43:00.020-05:00

Jeremy told me last week that he planned to take off from work on July 5th. We quickly decided to make it a family afternoon/evening at the water park. It's not very often that he is able to go with us. So on Tuesday, after a very late night on the 4th, we all slept in . . .sort of. Holden rarely sleeps in, so I'm not sure when he got up. But Jeremy got up with him and let me sleep a bit. This is a rarity. So Pax and I both slept until 9am!!!! And it still wasn't enough. :) We left the house and had a late breakfast at a place Jeremy has been raving about. The boys were cranky, I think from the late night before, and we quickly remembered why we rarely go out to eat with them. Even though Pax slept until 9am, he was asleep in the car by 11:30am. So we put them down for early naps and when they woke, we headed to the water park for the rest of the day. It is so much fun to go as a family. We can take turns with the boys and we get to do alot more rides this way. I brought my camera along so I could document how brave Holden has become this year. And Pax too. He loves the slides now! He is getting so big! Below are some pictures from our time there.
This one is a little blurry. But a stranger was taking it for us, so I can't complain. The cement was HOT so that is why Holden looks awkward without his feet on the ground.
An early picnic dinner before our water fun began.We began with some little slides:
Pax can actually do these by himself as long as someone is there to catch. But I couldn't catch and snap a picture. So J slid with him some. And he enjoys it a whole lot more than he is letting on in this picture. :) He always runs straight back up to the top to go again.
Something new we tried on Tuesday:
Below is the big slide that Holden has started doing. It completely shocked me the first time he wanted to ride it. I thought he would get to his spot and then change his mind. But he loves this one! He's not quite tall enough, but they let him do it anyways. In the 2nd picture, Jeremy is helping him get set up on his mat. And then in the 3rd they are coming down. Makes me proud to even look at the pictures. I love that he is becoming so brave and adventurous.
Both of the boys also love these slides.
Here is Jeremy and Pax at the end of it. Pax always says "again?" and heads for the stairs.
So our not so typical Tuesday was fabulous! A very fun family day indeed!

Independence Day Fun

2011-07-06T20:04:00.018-05:00

On Monday, after a lengthy breakfast (since most mealtimes these days tend to be lengthy), we headed to spend the day with some of Jeremy's family for the holiday. They live a little bit out in the country. So Jeremy had told Holden the night before how we would be able to see all the stars on the night of the 4th because we would be in the country. Those were the golden words. Today Jeremy is still covered in chigger bites. And Holden has a goose-egg type lump on his head along with cankles (swollen ankles) from his typical reaction to mosquito bites. They were both covered in bug repellent, but what can I say . . .the bugs just adore those 2 guys. Pax and I returned completely unharmed. Jeremy was up most of last night scratching his legs and I was up much of that time listening to him wiggle and scratch. Drove me nuts! So what does he say about the country now? ;) Despite the bugs, we had a fun day with family and I took many many pictures.The boys played in the dirt with sticks. Seems like the best kind of fun for little boys.
I love this picture. He looks SOOOO serious holding his sparkler. And he never cracked a smile. He stood there looking so serious until the sparkler burnt out. And then he said "more?" He loved it!
Holden had to warm up to the idea, but finally got brave and wanted to join the other kids in the fun.

After a full day, we were off to the fireworks show on the backside of the property. Halfway in, I let everyone know that this was my scariest July 4th ever! I think I said that after a flame came zooming past us and burned a guy in the hand. Now call me crazy because I'm not a country girl and have no interest in lighting my own fireworks. But I think I prefer for the fireworks to be very far away and done by professionals. After that one backfired, I was just a bit nervous and felt like I was putting my little guys in the line of fire. Jeremy didn't seem worried, so I just played it cool.
See the smile? Completely playing it cool. I held both of the boys at different times because Jeremy kept having to run off and stomp out fires in the grass. See what I mean by a little scary?
And at other times Holden sat with granny. He didn't like the noise and held his ears for much of the night.
Here is our semi-professional, 9 year-old, fireworks engineer. :) Otherwise known as our niece, Hannah.
The boys were troopers. We buckled them into their carseats around 10:45pm and they made it into their beds at home around midnight. And that was our first experience of July 4th in the country. It was a fun day.

fun weekend.

2011-07-05T13:03:00.027-05:00

We had some great family time this weekend. At times, just the 4 of us and also some time with our extended family. Late Saturday afternoon we headed to my sister's house for dinner and to hang out. It was my sister's family + my parents + my aunt and uncle + us = a fun fun time with family.Sunday was a low key day. The boys wore there cute red-white-and-blue to church. I've had these outfits put away for almost a year, since I bought them after July 4th of last year.
I had to be at church earlier than Jeremy. So he brought the boys with him about an hour later. He got them ready in their never worn outfits by himself, which is no biggie. He dresses the boys now and then on the weekends. And he was even successful in snapping the above picture for me before Pax smeared crackers all over his shirt. That is typically what he looks like when he leave his classroom on Sunday. But I have to show you that Jeremy didn't cinch up the waist of skinny Holden's shorts. So my 3 year old went a-saggin' to Sunday School. :) I laughed when I noticed this later at home.After naps, we took the boys for snow cones. These were our first ones all summer long! It was Pax's first snow cone EVER and it was only Holden's second one. They loved this little treat.
Holden even enjoyed sharing his own after Pax finished his off.

That evening we played outside, lit up some sparklers and let the boys stay up past dark in hopes of seeing a few fireworks from our backyard.
Well, mister Pax didn't really make it past dark. He was DONE by 8:30 and ready for his bed. But right before, he was a brave, little boy and held his first sparkler (with my assistance, of course).
Holden preferred to hold his sparklers pre-lit, like this:
And when Jeremy lit Holden's sparkler, he quickly made a b-line for the house and watched from a safe place. :)
Ha! He did become a little more brave on July 4th. That was another fun and eventful day that will be a post all it's own.

visitors.

2011-07-01T14:43:00.008-05:00

This past week we had some visitors. We got to see these guys again! Kristy and I hosted a little wedding shower for a friend on Saturday at my house. So Kristy and family came up from Houston and spent several days at our house hanging out. And though I didn't pull out my camera often enough, I'm sharing what I did capture. By the last 2 days the boys and girls (mainly the oldest two) were fighting like siblings one minute and giggling across the table like love birds the next. It was a bit comical and annoying all at the same time. Can't you just play together, share and get along! Apparently not at age 3 and 4. :) I think Holden's rambunctious, crazy little self is a bit much for some little girls.
Pax was obsessed with baby Avery. Completely obsessed. But he showed me on Saturday night that he was NOT ready to be a big brother. This is a little sidenote story, but I feel it's worth mentioning. We met up with a group of college friends and had a room reserved for us at a restaurant. There were several kiddos so it was nice for them to be able to have some freedom in our reserved space. There was another couple there who has also adopted twice now. We had LOTS to talk about. Sometimes there is just an unique bond in finding families like our own. I love meeting those other people that have experienced the power and love of adoption. It's become something very special to me. Anyways, this couple who I've known for years were there with their 2 boys. And their newest addition reminded me so much of Holden at his age. So I took a moment to cuddle the tiny thing. As soon as I took little Josiah from his daddy's arms Pax had a complete meltdown. A loud wailing cry-huge crocodile tears-snot coming out his nose kind of meltdown. It was a bit hilarious. He loved baby Josiah, until that baby was in my arms. It was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Jeremy scooped Pax out of the high chair as he cried for mommy. I didn't put the baby down and Pax eventually calmed down with daddy's help. I explained to our friends, if anyone was ever born to be the baby of the family, it was Pax. Sorry Pax, I do believe that one day you will lose that status. So enjoy it while you can. :)
Here are Aubrey and Holden playing together in the sprinkler. They didn't want to pose much for pictures.
But Pax will pose for a picture anytime. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of cute, little Adalyn.
Holden slept on our floor those nights that they were here and I captured this picture on the last night. Crazy! Does anyone else remember him doing this as a tiny little baby? I sure do. Lookie here. Ah, I love looking back on that chubby little baby face!

criss-cross applesauce.

2011-06-30T09:09:00.004-05:00

The big bro taught the little bro a very important lesson this morning. One that Pax will use for many years to come. Holden was proud. It was cute. :)

climber.

2011-06-21T13:11:00.005-05:00

The first one is no biggie. So he's standing in a chair. A chair that does not have all 4 legs on the floor. But still, what's the big deal? A boy's got to be able to reach his books. So you do what you have to do.
This second one he's standing on the handles of his rocking horse in an attempt to push buttons on his noise maker.
Sorry for the poor quality. Both pictures were taken with my phone.

But I can't seem to keep his feet on the floor. And he's NOT a coordinated fellow so I'm not sure what his reasoning is for being our little daredevil.

Father's Day 2011

2011-06-19T20:54:00.006-05:00

Our day included:

~scrambled eggs and strawberries
~church
~lunch at home
~long naps for 2 boys
~phone calls to our dads
~gifts for the daddy of this home
~dinner at Red Lobster
~homemade blackberry pie for everyone
~bedtime for 2 boys
~house cleaning for 2 adults

Not too exciting, huh? Jeremy did get to play golf yesterday. And I'm positive he knows how much he's loved and appreciated. We made sure of that.

for Father's Day

2011-06-18T14:26:00.014-05:00

I think my 2 little boys have a pretty incredible daddy. And as time passes he just becomes better in his role. I know he works hard at it. I've watched him grow as the boys have grown and changed. Regularly, I see him strive to show patience, to discipline correctly, to remain calm, to encourage and lift up and to be a fun daddy to 2 rambunctious little boys. And as blessed as Jeremy and I are to have our sweet boys, I think that one day these boys are going to realize what a blessing their daddy has been in their development. God had a magnificent purpose when he chose them for us and us for them. However you look at it, it's all the same to me.
And even though Jeremy has given his boys some big shoes to fill,
I have to believe that because of his example, they will also be wonderful fathers to their own babies one day. :)
Jeremy, you're a terrific daddy! I love learning and growing in this journey right along with you. Thank you for making us the priority when everything else tries to squeeze its way in. Your boys will see and appreciate this consistency and effort one day. I can see it and appreciate it now. We love you so much!

turtle.

2011-06-18T14:10:00.007-05:00

Today the boys played with play-dough. I knew I would be cleaning floors duing naptime, so it seemed like a good time to bust it out and make a mess. Holden loves to play with play-dough. And it has somehow become a treat because we don't do it every week. Kind of like bubbles. Sometimes it's just not worth the mess to me. I know, bad mommy. Pax just like to nibble the play-dough, taste it and then make a sour face. And then repeat. And repeat. And repeat. It's exhausting. :) As I was working on keeping it out of Pax's mouth, Holden kept saying "mommy, I'm making a turtle." To me it looked like he was rolling a worm or a snake. I'm not even sure if he has seen a real turtle in the last 6 months. (Remember, we are not zoo people. And by we, I mean me.) But I do remember that my mom and Holden played with play-dough several months ago and she made a turtle. So I'm positive that's where this came from. So I kept responding with something like "Oh, you are? It kind of looks like a worm to me." He kept playing and soon it was time to pack it up so the boys could eat lunch at the table. So as I approached the table to help with clean up, I noticed this:
By golly! He had really made a turtle all by himself and just set it aside. He truly is a genius! ;) I didn't take a picture of Pax's creation, so just imagine a lump of blue play-dough with teeth marks all in it.

hot, but happy.

2011-06-14T14:09:00.010-05:00

Hot. Man, the Texas summer heat is just that. HOT! I'm not really sure if it gets hotter every summer (global warming, maybe?) ;) or if it's me getting to be an old woman that can't take the heat. Luckily most of our outdoor days are spent in the cool water and during those times I barely notice the heat. So that's my little tidbit on the hot.

Happy. We are in this great stage as a family. I think I talked about this not too long ago. Oh yes, I briefly mentioned it here. Soon after that post, Holden frightened me by reminding me that he was almost 3 and ready to kick it up a notch. :) Just when I think I have it all figured out and I can do this parenting thing on my own, God quickly reminds me of my need for Him. It usually ends up with me on my knees in tears confessing that I can't do it by myself. That's where my heart was here. I'm never making that mistake again: believing that we finally have this parenting gig figured out and in the bag. Ha. I don't think I ever verbalized that or even necessarily thought about it on those terms. I just wasn't relying on God like I should. My actions in parenting weren't being directed by Him. And eventually it all blew up in my face. I feel like that's the pattern of my life. When things are good, I forget my need for Him. Unfortunately, it often takes trials for me to return to brokeness and humility. . . where my heart should always remain. Why am I just now realizing this? I have no idea. So things are good now with our new 3 year old and almost 2 year old. Not because of our parenting skills. I'm not dumb enough to believe that ever again. But because of the grace of God. His help. His guidance. His work through us.

Now onto what has made me so happy! My little family. Holden and Pax can fight, boss and tattle like brothers. But the other part of the time they are playing so well together and act like best friends. They laugh at each other from across the dinner table. They tickle. They wrestle. They chase. They have dance parties. Pax loves to ride on our backs, play airplane, dance to music and do somersaults across the floor. He talks alot and says many words, but Jeremy, Holden and I are the only ones that can understand what he says. He has a language all his own and it doesn't include many consonants. I love that when Pax asks for milk by saying "uck", Holden knows exactly what he wants. Holden understands his language. I love that now I can have complete conversations with Holden. It's amazing. And cute. The things you talk about with a 3-year old . . . I absolutely love our chats. Holden loves to be my helper, play with his cars, play outside and most importantly in any body of water. And my Jeremy. He's just been a rock-star husband and dad over the last couple of months. I'll leave it at that because he's humble and wouldn't want much said. Life is really really good. Which I know means God has been gracious to us and I'm grateful. But here I sit on the receiving end with a full heart. Sometimes feeling like it's going to burst open. I've just been soaking in these blessings (my 3 guys) and noticing how they make my life extra-joyful. Sometimes I feel like I'm living in a fairytale. It's just that good!

Chocolate Protein Smoothie

2011-06-13T16:15:00.006-05:00

I randomly threw together a smoothie several weeks ago. And it just happen to taste AMAZING! Like a chocolate milkshake! To tell you the truth, I don't remember the last time I had a real-deal milkshake. So maybe to most people it won't taste exactly the same. But I thought it was delicious. And so healthy!

After months of reading some nutritional blogs (may fave being the Fitnessista), I started freezing bananas. I was finding that you can make some pretty incredible, healthy "desserts" with frozen bananas. For instance, banana soft serve. It really taste so great. And pretty much the only ingredient? Bananas! Crazy! Who comes up with this stuff?! So now, I ALWAYS have peeled bananas in my freezer. Always. So that's how this little smoothie came together. So here it is:

1 cup almond milk - unsweetened almond milk is 35calories/cup and has a thick texture. Not like watery skim milk. It also has a great nutty flavor. It's also great in coffee because of the unique flavor. But you could use any kind of milk you wanted.
1 scoop chocolate protein powder (or you could use vanilla. But oooooh the chocolate . . .)
1 frozen banana

Since the banana starts out frozen, it really gives the smoothie that thick icecream texture. One day I randomly added frozen blueberries wondering if I had ruined my shake . . . I mean smoothie. :) Almond milk+blueberries+banana+chocolate? That just sounds crazy. But since I had seen the Fitnessista post crazier combos, I gave it a whirl. And to my surprise, it was a hit. Go ahead and try them. Tell me if you like it. My guess is that you won't be disappointed.

recent pictures.

2011-06-12T20:12:00.007-05:00

We're off to a busy summer. Busy in a good way. Out and about a whole lot more. Spending more time with friends. So for now, I'll just share a handful of recent pictures.

let's bowl~let's bowl~let's rock-n-roll

2011-06-04T14:48:00.007-05:00

We had a fun little double date last night with our friends Noe and Lauren. A friend had offered to watch the boys a couple of weeks ago and I sure wasn't going to turn her down. So Lauren and I began planning our fun evening. We eventually decided on some Tex-Mex and then off to bowling. Now if you know us really well, you know I've always hated bowling and Jeremy has always loved bowling. Isn't that how it normally works? :) The reasons I've always hated bowling are:
1) I stink at it.
2) I feel like I'm on stage with my booty facing the crowd. (I realize "the crowd" isn't watching me, but I have never liked the idea.)
3) I stink at it.
4) The shoes look stupid.
5) I stink at it.
6) It's smokey. Bleh.

Jeremy is good at bowling. He puts a perfect little spin on the ball and comes away with many strikes and spares. So he loves this little game. But we hadn't bowled in YEARS! At least 4 years. Yikes! (Wii bowling doesn't count.) Talk about out of practice. But don't worry about my self consiousness for reason number 2 listed above. Last night, I got over it. In fact, at the start of game number 2, I found my winning technique. It's called the granny bowl. I'm sure you've seen many 5 year olds bowling in this manner. Booty to the crowd knocks 'em down everytime. I may never bowl like an adult again! I broke 100 for the first time ever with my granny bowling. Nice. And just a couple of pictures from our evening: So this is a funny little picture. Noe had to grow a "stache" for a little acting tidbit he's involved in. Yep, we're friends with a celebrity. :) You may see him on television soon! But he didn't know about our little paper stache's hidden in my purse (completely Lauren's idea!). So after his first bowl, he turned to face us, and we all had our matching stache's held up to our faces. It was probably only funny if you were there. But it makes me laugh just remembering his expression. And if you still think sporting a mustache is cool, sorry for completely offending you with this portion of the post. ;)

It was a fun night with sweet friends that I'm so so thankful for!

sprinkler time.

2011-06-02T15:17:00.007-05:00

I pulled out a new sprinkler yesterday for the boys to play in the water afetr naps. Holden received 2 different sprinklers for his birthday and I whipped out the easiest one. Holden LOVED it since he loves all things water. Pax played in it some and then went on to baseball and golf and then back to the sprinkler. He likes water. He just isn't obssessed like his big brother. I can't imagine summertime without these water days. I might love it just as much as Holden.

Fun Weekend

2011-06-02T14:57:00.009-05:00

Last Friday morning, we headed to Houston to visit some old college friends. Kristy was one of my college roomates and Jeff was also a friend of ours. Oddly enough, the pair never dated in college. But the evening of our wedding, their romance began! And they married exactly 1 year later. We spent our first anniversary being part of their wedding. Crazy little sidenote that I wanted to share. We visited them once while they were living in SanDiego. And sadly, we haven't seen much of them since that time. With their recent move to the Houston area, we knew that we would have to take advantage of the closer proximity and also meet the newest addition to their family. They now have 3 little girls: Aubrey, Adalyn and Avery. The drive was just over 4 hours. Not bad at all. Here are a few pictures of our time with our friends.

Jeff and Kristy, thanks for having us. And we're looking forward to seeing you all again soon!

water park is open!

2011-06-02T14:36:00.007-05:00

Last week I took the boys to the water park for the first time since last summer. Last summer had it's challenges in that Pax couldn't walk, so I was always carrying one and at times chasing another. This year *should* be easier in that Holden is a better listener and understands better how to follow rules. No more chasing, I hope. And obviously Pax can walk, which should make him a little more independent. We'll see. We've been twice now and I'm learning that Pax just doesn't love it like Holden. Even though his legs work perfectly, he would still prefer to be carried around on a hip. Ugh. I want to say "Go play!" And sometimes I do. But he just wants to latch on to his momma for the most part. So Holden does tons of playing, running and splashing while Pax sticks close to me. If I'm standing he latches onto my leg. If I'm seated he's in my lap or crawling all over me. And occassionally Pax will run around and play in the water or shake his booty to the music. It should be a fun summer. You hardly even notice the Texas heat when your at this place. Even though most of our friends couldn't make it last week, we did get to spend a few hours with Charla and Lila. Holden and Lila are 2 peas in a pod. They seem to both have very sprited personalities and have alot of fun together. And last week they hardly seemed to notice that the water was a frigid temp. It should be another fun summer for my boys!

Loving this book!

2011-05-26T15:37:00.004-05:00

"A praying life isn't simply a morning prayer time; it is about slipping into prayer at odd hours of the day, not because we are disciplined but because we are in touch with our own poverty of spirit, realizing that we can't even walk through a mall or our neighborhood without the help of the Spirit of Jesus."
Paul Miller in A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World

That's were I'm at and that's where my heart is. I can't last 5 minutes into my day without Him. It's hard but such a good place to be. Needy. Yep, feeling very needy.

School's Out!

2011-05-25T14:18:00.005-05:00

Today was Holden's last day of school. I love his little school. Have I mentioned that before? :) We are going to miss this place. After recently looking at some other programs, I've come to realize that maybe I've been spoiled by this place. The great set-up, curriculum, teachers, SECURITY (I'm a bit of a secrutiy FREAK when it comes to dropping off my boys somewhere!). But I've found a little school for next year and I'm hoping it will be another perfect fit. So I just need to bite the bullet and enroll them before they no longer have space for us. I'm just realizing that it's hard to let go of a place that's become so comfortable and positive for my Holden (and for me!). Oh school (that I will not mention the name of because of my security-freak-tendencies), we are going to miss everything about you!And here is a picture of Holden, Ms. Marilyn and Ms. Shelly on his last day of school!
And as a little flashback, here was his first day of school this year. And here was his last day school last year. He's changed and grown so much!

Organic Co-op

2011-05-24T13:29:00.006-05:00

A friend recently told me about the organic co-op she had joined. Here is where she directed me, which is basically just for the DFW metroplex. There are a gazillion in the metro, so you just have to find the one closest to you. And our co-op is only a 2 mile drive away! So for 6 weeks, we're trying it out. We pick up our fruits and veggies every other Tuesday. I think we might need to add an extra fruit share, which I can easily do later. But for $25 (since we opted for a half share rather than a whole) we received the following.
1 head of lettuce, 1 head of bok choy, 1 head of broccoli, 2 cucumbers, 3 roma tomatoes, 6 carrots, 7 potatoes, a bunch of cilantro, 3 green onions, about 1 cup of green beans, 6oz blueberries, 4 bananas, 3 apples and 1 cantelope. And obviously it's all organic. I think that seems like a pretty good deal. But if you just whipped out your calculator, you may decide otherwise. To be honest, I'm not a great price watcher. I mean, when Sprouts has grapefruit for 11 cents each, I know that is a fabulous deal. But alot of times I just buy what's on sale and what we need. But I haven't been buying much organic fruits and veggies because of the significant price increase. But this house has been inhaling tons of produce and probably with some pesticides along the way. So no more pesticides. We're trying this out. And I'm pretty excited about it!

Busy Week!

2011-05-23T14:55:00.011-05:00

Last week was a busy one. Not at all busy by most people's standards. But a little busy for us. Thursday Holden finished swim lessons. I thought we were only on week 3, but last week was week 4. So now they are over. And I'm pretty sure he would still drown if he fell in the water. So I'm not going to sign him up for swim team anytime soon. :) But Ms. Jennifer said he made lots of improvements. This time I was smart and let Pax play in the water during the 30 minute lesson. He likes the water, but doesn't LOVE it like Holden. As we all know by now, Holden takes it to a whole other level.
On Friday, I kept 2 little boys for a friend. I used the television to help me entertain. :)
On Saturday we drove to the other side of the metro and got to spend some time with M, Pax's birthmom and her family.
They even shared a strawberry icecream cone.
This was even after I mentioned that he wasn't crazy about icecream. He sure made me look like a dummy. Maybe he prefers it in a cone??? No idea. Before Saturday, I thought he didn't like the coldness.
And on Sunday we hosted a cookout for our church cell group. It was nice weather. Maybe not hot enough to break out the pool, since a storm was rolling in. But we did it anyways. Look at all these little boys!

Holden's "performance".

2011-05-23T14:12:00.018-05:00

Last Wednesday I was invited to Holden's school to observe his class during Music and Spanish time. It was a quick 30 minutes, but I loved seeing a little bit of what he does each week at school. I was completely prepared for the fact that he might not be his typical school-boy self with his mommy in the room. And I was right about that part. But it was still fun to watch, even if he acted a bit silly for me.

Music class: Spanish class:
I have to say that I'm amazed what Holden has learned in Spanish class. To be honest, his class sat quietly, while Holden and his teacher showed off their Spanish skills. I recognized months ago that he knew his numbers (1-10). But he has also been working on his colors, days of the week and other things. This is something I want to continue to work on so his little brain doesn't lose this new knowledge. I can even hear him attempt to roll his "R" just like Ms. Es, his sweet teacher. It's cute!

I love this little school! Holden has been here 1 day per week since he was 18months. So I'm a little bit sad that neither of the boys will attend there next year. And the only reason being, that I would have to commit to 2 days per week for both boys and I'm just not ready for that. But I think that I may have found us a new school where they can go only 1 day per week. I will know for sure tomorrow!

We were told not to bring siblings last Wednesday which made things a little tricky. But I was able to drop of Pax with Lauren since it was a short little diddy. I wasn't sure how he would handle the drop off since it was a new environment and he leans towards being a mommy's boy. There were no tears at all. And Lauren reported back to me that they had a fun time of playing "pull the slinky and let it go" and also coloring. Thanks Lauren for watching Pax on such short notice.Looks like he was well-loved and cared for!

Family Vacay (part 2 of 2)

2011-05-21T13:03:00.018-05:00

On our last full day in San Antonio, we ventured across the highway (only a 5 minute drive away) to Sea World. The weather was absolutely perfect all day long! With Holden's passionate obsession of all things water, I had a hunch he would love it. I didn't realize that we could have brought the boys swim shorts and they could have had their own water fun at the park. So we weren't prepared for that. But with all of the water fun at the hotel, it was perfectly fine that we stayed dry one day. It had been since our childhood since either Jeremy or I had been to Sea World. We both agreed that it had changed and grown so much. It ended up being the perfect outing for our little boys. And I had alot of fun seeing them experience so much fun! I wasn't trying to match my little boys. But I wanted them to wear fish shirts. You know, being at Sea World and all. I noticed every other mother had that same idea. :) So both of their fish shirts just happened to be green w/navy stiching. Weird. Oh well.
We had some time to kill before we could see Shamu and the seal's show. So we started out with a 4D Sesame Street show. There was thunder in the show. And it was loud like most movie theatres tend to be. At the point of thunder, which was early on, Holden took off his glasses and turned around in Jeremy's lap where he couldn't see the screen for the rest of the show. Pax just thought the glasses were annoying and refused to wear them. Which is terrible because that little boy LOVES Elmo. And Elmo was literally 2 feet away from our faces (with glasses on). :)
Next up, we had some lunch and the boys played on the nearby playground. My once timid little boy is finally becoming brave in play area like these.
Finally it was time to see the Shamu and the killer whales. The boys sat and watched in amazement. It was so much fun to see the looks on their faces.From my childhood memory, I remembered Shamu much bigger than what she was this time. Though I'm sure the killer whales aren't smaller these days. It's just funny how as a child those creatures seem enormous. And I've carried around this distorted image in my head for years. Not that they were tiny, by any means. And I would NOT be willing to ever jump in the tank with them.After the amazement of the killer whales, we headed to Sesame Street's Bay of Play at Sea World. We rode some rides:Holden road this little roller coaster several times. Pax was not tall enough to ride. So Jeremy and I took turns taking Holden, while Pax patiently waited.
Here you can see Holden and I in the 4th cart waving. He was so brave to let go and hold his arms up in the air with his daddy. Cute! :)And then it was off to the horseys (as the boys called the carousel). :) Pax rode these over and over at times when Holden rode the roller coaster. Here Pax is pretending that the blue horse is trying to bite his hand. He really is a funny kid. :)
Later we rested for a funny seal and walrus show. See this cute picture and this smiling boy? Well apparently he was tired. Right after this picture, he laid his head on my chest and slept through the entire show.
We left the park around 5:30pm. Neither of the boys had a nap (except for the cat nap Holden took) and they did so well that day. But by the end of it, they were done and were ready to go. I tried to get a picture in front of Sea World right before we left. Bad idea. They were over it and were not willing to look at me, much less smile.It was a great day and Sea World was such a fun place for the boys. This entire trip will defintely need to be repeated in the near future.
The next day, we packed up our belongings to head home. Ho-hum (said sounding very sad), I wasn't ready to leave all of the fun. But since Jeremy wanted to remain employed, we had to come back. Here the boys are posing for me one more time before we left the hotel. It was such a fun getaway. And we had 6 solid days of family time. Can't beat that!

Family Vacay (part 1 of 2)

2011-05-18T22:36:00.003-05:00

On Monday we returned from a little family getaway in San Antonio. Because we caught a great deal at a good time, we were able to stay at this amazing place. And I think we're ready to go back. It was such a family-friendly hotel and I hope to be able to go again in the future. Our plan was to stick close to the hotel and play play play! They had several pools, a lazy river and a small beach. So we were excited to let the boys have tons of time in the water and to enjoy some quality family time and relaxation. And also some friendly time because these guys met us there! We always love our time with these special friends!

We left our home on Wednesday morning and made it to San Antonio that afternoon. It was a cooler day and not one to be splashing around in the water. So we toured the hotel and let the boys play in the sand playground.

On Thursday it rained cats and dogs throughout the morning. So we headed to downtown San Antonio to play at the Children's Museum. The boys loved it!
Thursday afternoon our friends arrived which was so much fun! So we spent that afternoon and evening hanging out with Josh, Amanda and Camryn. And we ended the evening with Mexican food! Where else would you go when visiting San Antonio?
On Friday, we were finally able to play in the water. Well, this was actually the hot tub. And goodness, Jeremy and I are PASTEY white. Not as much anymore. We did get a little sun last week.
Then we wandered over to the lazy river and beach.
And later had ourselves a little beach picnic!
That evening before bed, Holden roasted his first marshmallow alongside his daddy. :)
Just another one of the fun family events this hotel does each night. And then he partaked in his first ever s'more. Mmmmmmmm! He loved it!
Saturday was a little more of the same. Swimming:
And later, a dinner out of Mexican food again!
The next day our friends headed home and we had one more day of fun. Sea World! Since I have a ton of pictures going on here, I'm saving Sea World for a post all its own. We had 6 full days of family time. We needed it. Not that our boys were always smiling, as they seem to be in the pictures I chose to post. :) But the constant time together was still a really good thing for us. I was NOT ready to come back home. But I suppose that all vacations must come to a close. Our day at Sea World is coming up.

blessings.

2011-05-10T23:47:00.004-05:00

The words to this song get knotted up in my throat each time I hear it play on the radio. Hopefully many of you can relate.

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise

Swim lesson progress

2011-05-09T20:25:00.018-05:00

I'm afraid that week 1 of swim lessons was a little rough on the teacher. They only go 2 days per week. But I'm pretty sure that Ms. Jennifer was praying that we wouldn't continue to come. My wild man was keeping her busy for that brief 30 minutes in the pool. Water just makes him so darn HYPER. This is even true with bathtime, brush your teeth time, water the plants time . . . if it includes water he goes NUTS-O. But on week 2, right before his 3rd lesson, Holden and I had some lengthy conversations. I explained this was sort of like school, not just play time. That he was here to learn. So he needed to obey Ms Jennifer and listen . . . blah blah blah. So we had this talk during our drive to the facility. But honestly, I didn't feel very hopeful that any of it would sink in once he was actually in the water. And sure enough, once we got to the pool, I could see the excitment in his eyes. Here comes hyper! But you know what? He did so good! He kept turning to look at me and he would yell "mommy, i obey." Sweet boy! I was so proud. On lesson 4, Jeremy came along and took pictures with the zoom lens. We still have 4 lessons to go and he is just loving his time in the water. We leave for vacation very soon and we're going to be doing lots of swimming. I'm anxious to be in the pool with Holden and see what he can do. Can you tell he's found his passion in life? Yep, it's the water.

Mother's Day 2011

2011-05-08T20:31:00.003-05:00

My 3 guys made me feel super special!

Holden has a mohawk.

2011-05-08T20:26:00.005-05:00

Still trying to decide what we think about it. I think I like it . . . just not completely sure. :)

P.S. The ever so talented Jeremy did the cut. Seriously, what is he NOT capable of?!

Birth Mother's Day!

2011-05-07T14:18:00.005-05:00

Today is Birth Mother's Day! Two very special ladies have been on my mind off and on today. The whole week really. Because I know, that without them and God's great plan, tomorrow wouldn't hold much significance for me. These two women both made a selfless decision and forfeited alot in the name of love. Brave decisions that I can't even phathom. And with that one decision, I became a mommy. They helped to give me that title. And that title means the world to me. Two precious little boys call me mommy. What a gift!