Last weekend Chris was off so we took a little trip to visit my mom and the boys! We didn’t have anything to do, so we spent time relaxing, baking cookies, watching Miracle on 34th Street, climbing trees outside and playing games of Catan. We had so much fun! I loved getting some of my Christmas baking out of the way and this year, Sophie was old enough to “help”… she unwrapped the hershey kisses for the “peanut blossoms” and helped cut out the sugar cookies and would say “oh, preeeeeeeetty” when they were all decorated. I can’t believe how big she is getting!

The first time this year that it has felt like Fall (yay!)

The first time Thomas played in his new saucer (he loved it!)

The first time Sophie played outside all by herself for an hour (Most of the time she walked around saying “eee, gucky” – translation “eww, yucky”, but hey, she was out there!)

The first Peppermint Mocha of the Christmas season…

The first trip to the kids new pediatrician where we were told that no one in the US weighs more than my son (he’s just above the 100th percentile!)

The first time Thomas ate solid food – he loved it, big surprise! After the first few bites, he actually started laughing when he saw the spoon coming his way. It was so funny! We got a little bit of it on video, but I’m having trouble posting it, oh well.

The first time Sophie has seemed like a BIG girl and not my BABY girl – she’s been talking so much lately, and her new favorite phrase is “Silly Daddy (or Mommy or Bubby)” the funniest thing is that she uses in it the right context – for instance, Chris dropped something in the kitchen the other day and Sophie looks at me and goes “Silly Daddy”…

So much has happened this week; I know most of it seems uneventful, but to me it’s been a week full of new things and I feel like I’m seeing my family grow right before my eyes! This week I’ve also been freshly aware of my need for a Savior who calls me each and every day to lay my life down for His kingdom, for His glory – whether it’s changing the 3rd poopy diaper of the day, or reaching out to our neighbors who just had a new baby boy or reading Sophie a story in her “Jesus Storybook Bible”, I desire for God to lead us and show us HIS agenda and will for our day, rather than looking to my own to do list. By God’s grace and in His strength, one day at a time, we seek to honor the One who gave His life so that we might live. 

Oh and did I mention that I love my amazing, patient, servant-hearted, handsome husband? Yeah, I do. Alot.

First off, I have to start by saying that, Praise, you are an amazing women. You have three kids, yet somehow still manage to get dressed each day. Your house isn’t in a constant state of disarray, you look as though you shower on a regular basis, your kids smell pretty good to and you don’t have peanut butter and yogurt all over the floor of your kitchen… yes, you are the mother that I someday hope to be! 

Yes, we have the privilege of having Carlye Grace stay here over the weekend while her folks are at Celebration North! It really has been alot of fun and we’ve been very busy! It’s fun watching them learn to play together and several times I’ve walked into the guest bedroom where Carlye’s sleeping and found them giggling together as they unpack, pack and re-unpack Carlye’s bag. It’s brought us a brand new opportunity for training too… Carlye taught Sophie to say “No!” Now, Sophie has said “no” before in answer to a question, in a cute, little sing-songy voice, but never in disobedience. So that’s been fun, thanks Chris and Praise  

Seriously though, we are LOVING having her here and enjoying seeing the beginnings of the girls’ relationship as cousins… on Friday Chris was off and we took them to the park to expend some energy. Here are some pictures from our exciting trip!

I can’t believe how fast time is flying by! My baby boy is almost 4 and a half months old… it seems like just yesterday he was my tiny little baby who loved to sit and sleep like a little tree frog on us. Now he is 19.5 lbs (by the way, Sophie was 18 lbs when she turned 1 year old!!) and is growing out of his clothes like there’s no tomorrow. He’s found his hands and sucks and gnaws on them all day long! He can scoot about the room on his back – it looks so funny! He smiles all the time and loves to “talk” back in coos and giggles. Oh and he loves his sissy; she shares all her toys with him, tries to share her food and passies with him… they’re so cute together. 

A few new pictures…

Silly Sophie… she loves playing dress up and enjoys picking out her clothes and often comes up with hilarious combos such as a bathing suit top over her dress

My fat man. Thomas is four months old (!) and now weighs 18 lbs… that’s how much Sophie weighed at 1 year!

More dress up…

Our little “Bubby” as Sophie calls him

Life right now is crazy, busy and we’re always in between tired and exhausted but it’s so much fun, and God has given us so much. So much more than we could ask or imagine. He is glorious and mighty!!

To those of you who might be reading this… we’re having a big garage sale next weekend, Friday and Saturday September 12th – 13th. We’ve got lots of little things as well as some furniture and appliances including: 

Smooth Top stove in great condition, White kitchenaid dishwasher with stainless steal interior, White, medium sized Panasonic microwave, Full/Queen antique headboard and footboard with bed frame, Glass top patio table with four chairs (chairs need recovering, but in GREAT condition), Cute antique kitchen table (could double as a desk depending on your need!), Pottery Barn queen sized duvet and two pillow shams in great condition… and lots of other “random” things that you typically find at a garage sale.

    I’ve got a listing on Craig’s List with pictures of the appliances, if you’re interested! Come on over and check it all out or just stop by to say hi

  (Sophie LOVED helping us put price stickers on stuff )

This week has been so wonderful! After all of the (super fun!) vacations and Celebration, we’re finally back home to stay with no plans of going out of town anytime soon. I love my home; I love routine days filled with changing diapers, making dinner, keeping in touch with friends, doing laundry, cleaning bathrooms – I know there’s a temptation for me to find these things monotonous, but after such a busy summer, I’m thanking God for them!

As far as updates go…. my “little” man is three months old!

I can’t believe how fast he’s growing; he’s already in 6-9 month clothing! I prayed for a fat baby who loved to eat and boy oh boy, God gave me the desire of my heart He smiles like crazy, makes happy little “coo”’s when we talk to him. And he sleeps! He’s sleeping through the night (about 10 – 12 hours) pretty consistently which is wonderful. Sophie didn’t start doing that until she was 9 or 10 months old! As much as I don’t like hearing him cry, it’s definitely easier to train him to put himself to sleep… on the Metro Mom’s blog there was a recent series on “Doing Hard Things” in regards to raising our kids in the fear of the Lord. Through it, I realized that I often have very low expectations of my children. For example, in working to teach Sophia to obey and “take one more bite” for mommy and daddy, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said things like “She’s had a rough day” or “She’s off her schedule”, etc. Instead, as a mom, God has called me to train my children in the way they should go, regardless of what our day or week has been like. Yes, there is often room for grace and we’re crying out to God for wisdom daily, but if I’m faithful to be consistent and truly care for my children in doing hard things instead of loving my own comfort and being lazy… then I can expect that Sophie will leave her shoes on in the car, that she will not respond with “AH!” when I tell her she must sit, not stand on the couch… I can expect that Thomas will go to sleep when mommy and daddy decide that it’s bedtime and that someday (please, Lord!) he will not scream when it’s time to play on the floor with his toys. I’m so grateful for the leadership and wisdom of the ladies in our church and how faithful they are to share what God has done/is doing through them!

And as “hard” as some of these training days may be, there is so much joy in my heart. Lately, God has been reminding me each night as we tuck our two crazy children into bed that these are all blessings from His hand, He is the giver of EVERY good thing….

I love mornings! I didn’t always, actually up until just recently they were one of the roughest parts of the day. For the past few weeks, Thomas has been sleeping 7-8 hours at night and last night he went 10 hours!! It’s amazing the difference that a good nights sleep makes. But more than that, it’s amazing the difference spending time with Lord before the kids get up makes. Chris is helping me prioritize my time with God by making sure I get up before he leaves in the morning around 6:15 a.m. It’s horrible getting out of bed, but once I’m up I love it. I’m so thankful for his care for my soul! Now, instead of dragging myself out of bed when I hear one (or both!) of the kids crying, I’m refreshed by time in God’s word and in prayer. God is so good to meet me and hear my sleepy prayers! Thank you, Lord, for your patience and grace with a sinner like me!

Here are a few pictures from our happy morning :

Helpful Sophie giving Thomas his passie

My sweet boy

Well, life seems to be returning back to normal after a busy summer. The kids and I have fallen into a pretty good routine and I’m enjoying getting back to our daily walks, regular house cleaning, grocery gaming, church going, and resuming friendships (not at all in that order… ). I’ll admit, it’s harder than I thought. I had this picture of Thomas just falling gracefully into the organized routine that Sophie and I had set up and second babies are usually more laid back, right, because they don’t have your undivided attention so they’re alot better at entertaining themselves… except that I forgot that every baby is different and that God didn’t intend our lives to always be easy because what would be the fun (and the trust in God’s plan) in that!? 

Poor Thomas has had a bit of a hard time with some reflux issues. We were taking him to the doctor and trying to figure out how to manage it and the immediate answer was to try formula and different medications and if that all doesn’t work, tests to figure out how serious a case it is. So for the first month or so of his little life it didn’t seem to affect him that much, but as time has gone on he’s been pretty miserable and crying most days; my wonderful husband has been so patient and has helped me manage emotionally on the hard days and we’re working at trying different methods to make him comfortable before we go to formula and have to do tests. Things like shorter, more frequent meals, me watching my diet have helped but what has seemed to do have made the biggest difference is getting him adjusted! Kylene’s parents have been in town awaiting the arrival of little Colby and we were asking Dr. Bob what his thoughts on Thomas’ condition were and he said it’s directly related to his little body being out of alignment. So we’ve been traveling to Sanford to get Thomas adjusted this week and there’s been definite improvement! Thank you, Lord! He’s stopped crying all the time, and has definitely been more chilled out and has started smiling more I’m so grateful! Since we’ve been unable to convince Ky’s parents that Florida is a much better place to live than New Jersey, we’re going to be hunting for a good family chiropractor…

Here are a few recent pictures of our nice, normal, routine days  

Yesterday was Chris’ last day off before vacation (only 5 more days!) so we took the kids out to Crane’s Roost park! We wanted to take some photos while we were out there, so we borrowed Chris’ parents REALLY nice camera; we’ve also gotten permission to take it on vacation with us, so watch out everyone! I’m planning on snapping photos like I’m a paparazzi (thanks, mom and dad, for letting us borrow it!)…