Wee hands...

Yesterday on Pinterest, I saw this photo, originally posted over at Oak Ridge Revival blog. I've needed to see this, one of those moments where I know God was speaking directly to me.

I will be putting this on a giant post-it note on my bathroom mirror so that I see it every morning. Somehow, I intend to make this cuter and hang it in my house as a gentle daily reminder.

A little gem...

When I find a bargain, it makes me happy. Especially when it comes to purses and shoes, of course. EVERY time I look for a new purse, I am drawn to the ones that run well over $100. Always. So of course, when I started pinning away, I came across this beauty

And, she was only $395 via Monserat De Lucca

Yeah, so not in my price range (and frankly, it's not that cute).

On Friday, I found this beauty at TJ Maxx

For $29.99. She's not quite the same as above, but it's far more satisfying to have $365.01 still in my possession.

I think I'll keep her.

And since most of you could care less about the above, this is for you...

xoxo

Board books and baby blankets...

This weekend I co-hosted a baby shower for my sweet friend, Shelley, who is going to be one amazing momma.

In prepping for the shower and purchasing baby gifts, I discovered something...

No, I don't have baby fever. yet. {Seriously, two children aged two and one running around this house is enough right now. I have an acquaintance from college with 18-month-old triplets and every time I want to pull my hair out of my head I think... How does she do it. Clearly God poured her a taller cup of patience. I digress, back to the point, here}.

I discovered...

That I am addicted to...

Board books and baby blankets. Specifically receiving blankets. And do prints keep getting cuter and cuter. Just two and a half years ago, when Matthew was born, I feel like the only thing you could find for boys was blue striped blankets. And, I was so anti-blue.

Also, I intend to buy board books for the rest of my life. Just so you know.

Also, also, I have pictures. They are still on the camera.

What We've Been Up To...

It's late... I should be going to bed, but I wanted to just take a moment to get caught up on what we have been up to since the end of May! I will do that mostly with {unedited, eek} photos! At the end of May my mom was in town and we celebrated her birthday and spent some time with her throughout Memorial Day Weekend. We also celebrated my FIL's birthday at a very yummy Japanese Steakhouse!

Birthday dinner, birthday boy not pictured!

We spent the last of our "free time" in Muscatine taking advantage of little things that we were going to miss. Frequently, M would request to "go see boats". One Saturday afternoon, we were lucky enough to see a wedding party take the restaurant paddle boat away from the dock for a little cocktail hour. I had said to Jon shortly thereafter, the only thing that would top off this trip for M is if we see a train. Probably ten minutes later, a train went by. As it passed, M kept saying "Bye, Bye 'Boos!" (Caboose). We went to go see boats a few days in a row during our last week there.

 We spent some time at the park with friends...

And then moved in to this little beauty. We are still renting, so I don't know how long we'll call this house "home", but here is a little sneak peak...

Abby and I spent a few Saturday mornings garage sale-ing, and I have a whole list of DIY projects to do, now... Thank you Pinterest for fueling my creative fire... Another sneak peak photo...

 M has been really in to stickers and water color paints lately. I happily oblige.

Speaking of paint, we made this little card for Dada for Father's Day. I had seen a similar idea on Pinterest {albeit much fancier, matted, and framed} and thought it would be fun to make this photo a yearly tradition as the boys and family grow. I painted M's hands with green finger paint and he kept telling me "Good job, Mama, good job!" Thanks for the encouragement, sweet boy!

And on Monday sweet baby O had an adenoidectomy. Took the wind out of his sails for a couple of days, and M didn't exactly know what was going on, but he was very aware that O was not feeling well and wasn't going to play with him. In fact, on Monday, every time O had his eyes open he was whimpering and crying. M kept hugging him, or patting his leg, saying "I know, Be, I know". It hit me that when the boys cry, I usually comfort them by gently saying "I know, I know" meaning, "I know it hurts/you're hungry/you're mad/you're tired/it's tough to communicate when your a little guy..." So precious. Yesterday O was finally starting to feel better and M decided he needed to get in some snuggle time.

Is it weird to anyone else that these two are nearly the same size?!

We started Kindermusik this week, and mid-July we'll pick back up with swimming lessons. Swimming lessons are hard core *wink,wink* this time being twice a week instead of once. It actually brings a tear to my eye that this is M's last session of lessons where I will get in the pool with him. Things I look forward to: meeting mom's in the area{I am having a great time exploring, but y'all, I need some adult interaction during the day, holy smokes I miss it!}, finding a church home, a date to Cars 2 with M, and MOPS beginning again!

I recently became a part of the Field Leadership team in Iowa and had the pleasure of spending an afternoon/evening/night with some new friends. God knows precisely the moment to place people in our lives, and I am truly blessed to be a part of this group. I cannot wait to see the adventures in store!

Since becoming a parent...

Since becoming a parent, it seems like I have so many day-to-day situations turn in to faith analogies. Yesterday, in particular, discipline and patience.

Yesterday afternoon when M woke up from his nap, instead of coming downstairs, I suddenly heard him playing at his train table. I went upstairs to see him and he was getting a bit frustrated because he had taken nearly every train car that he has and had a giant train going. Mind you, the cars attach by magnets and the heavier the train gets, the stronger the engine's magnet has to be. Each time he would try to move the train forward, somewhere in the middle the line of cars would break. M has two engine cars. One, not such a strong magnet. The second, strong magnet. He was using engine one. I tried to switch to engine two, and being the particular little man that he is, he freaked. Fine, continue to use engine one, but it will create more frustrations for you.

Do we do that in our lives? Use engine one, because we like engine one? Engine one is comfortable, we always use engine one. But things fall apart? We have too many train cars for engine one to pull? Then God comes in and tries to correct our path and make our ways straight, but we don't like engine two. Engine two is new and uncomfortable.

photo via

Trust in the LORD
with all your heart
and lean not
on your own understanding;
in all your ways
acknowledge him,
and he will make
your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Shortly after nap, we ventured outside to get some fresh air. M was riding his bike and I had asked him specifically to stay on our street, which is offset from the main road and there is no traffic to worry about. However, the main road is full of construction trucks because we are in a new development. Enough to make this momma's heart skip a beat each time M got a little to close to making a wrong turn. Also, the lawns in the development were being mowed at this time, and M loves himself a John Deere mower, so that is exactly where he was steering his bike.

I stopped him approximately three times and explained to him that for his safety he needed to stay on the big street and that it was not safe to ride his bike next to big trucks. I know that he comprehended what I was saying, but those green mowers are so enticing. And big dump trucks are every little boys dream. Upon the third time of explaining to him that he needed to be safe and stay on our street, I let him know that if he disobeyed again we were going to have to put the bike away for the day and go inside.

Not two minutes later, he was steering for the main road again so I simply picked him up off of his bike and with my free hand picked up the bike and carried it to the garage, toddler kicking, screaming and crying all the way back {little brother watching with "what in the world?" written all over his face}. As I put M's bike back up high on it's hook in the garage, I explained to him that when we don't follow the rules and place ourselves in dangerous situations there are consequences and he could try again tomorrow.

Again, my thoughts went to our father in heaven. He is always watching, protecting and wanting to yank us backwards when we get too close to danger. We can listen to his warnings, but we have free will and sometimes we put ourselves in to situations that are dangerous; that are filled with Satan. When God tries to remove us, we are kicking and screaming and it is hard to see that he is leading us away from temptation and delivering us from the evil one.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, 

“plans to prosper you and not to harm you, 

plans to give you hope and a future.- Jeremiah 29:11

And my final analogy for the day {can you tell that these boys put me to the test every day? I was in bed by 8 p.m. yesterday. Yep.}... M was in a lousy mood for quite a while after the bike incident. And, it was bath night. Shortly before bed time I asked M to head upstairs for bath and he adamantly shook his head no and started crying again. "You will head upstairs immediately, or there will be consequences." Still no movement for the stairs. "Now! 1... 2..." Red faced and crying M finally started making his way to the stairs. I went behind him, almost having to push as he took each step. And with each step I was thinking about our faith walk.

Sometimes it's just really tough. Being a Christian makes you different. Sometimes, not all the time, it is easy to get caught up in worldly things and we don't let the light of Jesus shine quite as brightly as at other times. We are placed in situations that, to us, seem difficult, or miserable, or just too hard to understand. Keep faith. What is waiting for us at the top of those stairs, albeit difficult to climb, is an abundance of blessing. At the top of the stairs for M was a bathtub full of warm water to splash and play in, a warm cuddly towel to snuggle in and cozy jammies to rest in. At that top of the stairs for us is hope. Heaven. Blessings.

days 7 through 12

Continuing the 30 day photo challenge...

day seven. fruit.

This is my photo of fruit, because it just represents my day, it seems. One of my challenges is to entice Matthew to eat vegetables. I found this little plate at Target and he has fun eating out of the different compartments and finding the monkeys underneath. Since I know chances are very high that he won't touch the veggie compartment, I just stick to approximately ten peas and hope that one day, he'll eat them. But, he gobbles his fruit! One of his favorites right now is pineapple. Mostly, I think he just likes to say the word "pineapple".

day eight. a bad habit.

Generally speaking... my bad habit daily seems to be too much time on the computer {as I sit here and randomly blog... Um, yeah...}

day nine. someone you love.

 

this man.
{obviously, I did not take this photo. it's a wedding photo and pretty sure the photographer is no longer in business.}

day ten. childhood memory.

This is almost like cheating, because I don't remember this at all. My sister found it recently and I just love it. This is us with my grandpa, who passed away when I was around two. This just proves to me how important pictures are, because I was just too young to remember him, but I can see here that he sure did love us! {oh, and I think that I see so much of Matthew in my face in this photo, and now that Owen is getting older I can see some of him, too.}

day eleven. something blue.

This photo was going to be of these baby blues, but I had to post this instead. I have a weakness for frappuccino (okay, well coffee of basically any nature). I always look for the packages of the "light" version when I grocery shop and can never find it. So. Imagine my delight when I discovered that our local Target carries them. And imagine my, even greater, delight that Target is only five minutes from my house. Oh, the little things in life...


day twelve. sunset.

I didn't get this one. I was out of town last night for a leadership retreat and forgot all about it. I would like to take a good one of the view of sunset from our new home, so you may have to allow me to play catch-up.

And with that... Time to end the bad habit for today and shut down the computer.

HUGS!

.blessed.: eleven months

.blessed.: eleven months: "This handsome little guy was eleven months old on the fifth. If you'll remember, at month ten, I predicted he'd be walking by now. And, he's..."

photo challenge... days 5 & 6

day five. from a high angle.

The boysies are sharing a bedroom now. It is working out shockingly (is that a word? shocking is the only way I can describe it.) well! In fact, they are sleeping later this morning than they have in MONTHS of being in separate bedrooms. This picture is a view of their bed time routine. Jon had been in the garage getting boxes unpacked and clearing space for our vehicles. In the mean time I was giving the boys their baths. Typically, I get O out of the tub first and quickly put a new diaper, yummy smelling lotion and fresh jammies on while M plays in the tub (where I can still see him, of course). Then I will set O in his crib and get M ready. In the excitement of sharing a room, M wanted nothing to do with getting ready for bed, and then Dada came upstairs so we didn't get far before I decided it was just time to go get the camera and snap a shot of "the guys"!

day six. from a low angle.

I saw an adorable photo on Pinterest {see, told you, I get everything there lately. Need a good Nutella recipe? Check Pinterest. Need to see how to decorate your whole home in Chevron? Check Pinterest.} I decided to attempt to recreate it. Only, I had to do this one on my own by basically setting the camera on the floor and using the timer. It didn't turn out awesome, but with a 2 1/2-year-old you don't get retakes sometimes. Fish Kisses is one of our favorite night time books, it goes through the way different animals say goodnight, so there is a lot of snuggling involved!

Also, I'm kidding about the Chevron. I believe it is a trend that will fade, quickly.

My 30 days of photos...

photo challenge... days 1 thru 4

Does it annoy anyone when people spell through "thru"? Just curious...

Anyway, lately, I get all of my brilliant ideas via Pinterest. If you have yet to discover the Pinterest world, holla and I will invite you. Okay.

So, one day I came across a photo of a 30 day photo challenge, and I pinned it. And then Heidi chimed in, so I decided, go for it...:

Originally via

I'm certain the idea is to get better at photography. Well, maybe. Anyway, I'm still saving for that "profesh" camera, and well, you know... Me and my point and shoot decided to give it a whirl, mostly because I thought it would be a fun way to journal life for 30 days. So. Here goes...

day one. self portrait {oh, my fav...}

Back in February, when I decided to embark on the 30 x 30 challenge, I realized... I do not like photos of me. Every time I uploaded photos for those blog posts I just felt a little bit... Ridiculous. Honestly. I loooove me some style blogs, don't get me wrong, but I am just not a style blogger. Each time I look at pictures of myself I can find one thousand things wrong with it and every once in a while, something good about it. When I went to Women of Faith I was really, really, moved by the female vocalist in the band Selah. And, it was then that I realized, I am caught up in outward appearance and achieving what I believe to be beautiful. I need to be focused on what is inside of me and how I let that light shine that beautifies the outward appearance. That being said, I was not really excited to take this photo or post it.

Lucky for you all, I probably hadn't showered in the two days leading up to this photo, so a shower that morning was mandatory :)

day two. what you wore today {oooh, my second fav...}

Oh Thursday, moving day {hence the huge cardboard box as my backdrop}. I wore super comfy workout shorts with a sort of cute top. That is all. Oh, I also wore sandals that day. And sweat. A lot. Oh, and stayed up unloading a U-Haul until 2:30 a.m.

day three. clouds {thank goodness I am not photographed, oh, but there were NO clouds and also, I was moving. No big deal, not even sure where my camera was.}

day four. something green

Strangely enough, there were many symbolic green items in my life this day (okay, actually I cheated. I forgot all about taking pictures this day, so the next day I thought about "green" things). Lessons from left to right:

1. One of the most valuable treasures that God gives you on this earth is a close friend. You are having an impact on people, even when you never knew it. 
2. Change is inevitable. These green bins just saw us through another move. I have never been one to resist change. Honestly. But, when I got married and M was born I started planning for life in Des Moines. I knew exactly what community we'd eventually settle in. I knew what church would always be home. I knew what school my children were going to, who they would be friends with and heck, who they would marry, someday! And then God rocked our world. He continues to do so, and I'm just gonna go with it!
3. Empty your brain. I am the type that I try to keep a mental to-do list because I am just so sure that I can do it all and all the while remember it all. Lately, life has just really taken over and my brain is not quite there. This little green notebook has been my mini-brain lately! Thank you little green notebook.

.blessed.: 2 1/2 "IT'S MINE!"

.blessed.: 2 1/2 "IT'S MINE!": "Just my baby one short year ago... So much excitement the last six months have held for my little man. Some of my favorite parts about 2..."