8:47 am.

So we arrived home yesterday from vacation. We were gone a WHOLE week! Whoa. It was amazing! There will be an update soon, but today I will write about our morning.

This morning I woke up at 4:38 to Noah crying. Not really his norm I went in to calm him down, but just couldn't. My foggy little mind then remembered that he barely ate anything at his last feeding last night because he was so exhausted (apparently he parties hard on vaca) so I decided to feed him. Sweetly he then fell asleep so I decided to stay in there with him and cuddle until it was time to get up. (This mama loves cuddle time!)

So around 7:30 Noah and I both woke up. I got him out of bed, and realized he leaked through his diaper. Excellent. I also realized his paci had fallen out of his crib (those bumpers sure were good at keeping things in his bed) during the night so I laid down to reach under the crib where it was between the wall and the crib. It was still dark in the room and I picked up the paci and noticed that it felt rough, and I thought "Hmm..I don't remember that having texture to it" Then I look down and there are ants...ALL OVER IT!

I then went on to throw it across the room, scream, and run out of the room. Leaving our poor little man sitting on the floor wondering why his mama was going crazy. Brad also gave me a look of "what is wrong with you crazy woman." I then picked my brain back up and picked Noah up to play in the living room. Brad and I then went crazy trying to get all the ants. They seem to be coming in from the outside wall of our apartment. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Ants. Oh my goodness I hate ants...they make me feel like we have a dirty home. But seriously. It's not.

THEN. Brad left for work and had to walk back up because he realized he forgot his coffee. Then about 5 minutes later I get a call from Brad asking if he left his work keys at home...they aren't here. So Noah and I walked out to the car to look in there with Brad but we found nothing and then realized he left them at our friend's house. Problem solved.

But then. I have been complaining that something stinks in my car. Like smells rotten. I have searched for a diaper that might have been left in there, or food - but without any results. Yesterday when I mentioned it Brad thought it was just because the air was stale after sitting out in the sun for 7 days. But this morning he decided it must really be something. We did a search and TA-DA a rotten avocado. OH MY WORD. I had purchased avocados a couple weeks ago, and when I got home I told Brad I really thought I was missing one, but then just figured I was crazy and moved on. Oh no...I wasn't crazy..it was there...and rotting my car. Thankfully no bugs or grossness just a bad smell, so that's easy to fix.

We then said good-bye, and again Brad called out and gave me my license that I had left in his wallet while we were traveling.

OH MY GOODNESS. What a morning. And now here it is 9am. Noah is napping, I'm getting ready to pick up and eat some breakfast, and we're going to start over. :) Oh well. Just thought I should share. Life is great, the vacation was amazing - we were able to see Carl and Rosemary, and Sarah, Phil, and the girls, and my parents come tomorrow for a whole week. I'm sooo excited!

Have a great day! Updates soon!

7 Months Old!

How is that possible? You'd think eventually I would realize that this is going by quickly, but I just continue to be amazed!


In honor of his first word..I thought this onesie was appropriate for his monthly picture!

The last month we have had an amazing time! he's growing and learning so much every day. It feels like he changes every day. It's just crazy.

This month he:

Cracked the 20lb mark. Big ol' boy. Weighs 20lb 4oz as of 2 weeks ago at the doctor.

Had his first real cold with an ugly cough...boo that.

Said "Dada" for the first time! And we caught it on video the first time he said it! AMAZING.

Decided he LOVES solid foods. He has had bananas, apples, carrots, sweet potatoes, spinach, pears, peas, squash, pumpkin, avocado (he didn't like that one because it was fresh and it was cold...I'm going to try again with room temperature), beets (mixed in yuck), blueberries, and delicious mango! I think that's it. If we're being honest...we're clearly not waiting a week with each food before starting new. He is yet to have any reaction so I think we're good.

He moves...FAST. Still not full on crawling..but he has army crawling down to an art. Now have to shut doors to keep him from finding his way to the toilets and other random areas.

Developed a silly grin where he squints his eyes...he does this when he's hamming it up for his friends.

Learned to high 5! So stinking adorable!

Now notices things above his line of vision. Seems to want to figure out how to pull up. So far he has only tried pulling on things like empty laundry baskets and one of his toys that won't support him. He usually just ends up pulling them over.

Discovered the kitchen cabinets this week. Likes to be in the kitchen right at our feet if we're in there.

Jumped up to 9-12 month clothes, and size 4 diapers.

Mama and Dada have gotten in some bad habits because sweet Noah is sooo cuddly..so we have had to work on bedtime and nap times. He seems to be doing well though...no longer having difficulty at bedtime. Naps are another situation..but he'll nap for anyone but me. Today though he took two beautiful naps.

He is a MORNING baby. Wakes up around 6 every morning. He used to go back to sleep but now he's up and ready to play. I'm thankful for that because I want to be more of a morning girl..I used to be and could definitely get back to that! :)

He loves music...likes to dance with mama. There's this song..."Friday" by Rebecca Black (which admittedly is pretty bad) that the Glee cast covered (which is where I heard it for the first time and it was so fun). It comes on our pandora station and Noah and I like to boogie to it! He LOVES it! Sometimes I find him doing what appears to be dancing in his exersaucer.

Pays more attention to us when we read to him now. Sometimes he seems super interested, sometimes he just wants to play with the pages. As long as he's sitting there when I'm reading to him I'm ok with that.

He loves to sit in a high chair. He will sit and play and eat with us. I'm thankful he still does well when we go out so it's not difficult going places.

Still hasn't cut a tooth..but my goodness does he gnaw at things like he is trying to.

Sits like a champ. Sometimes he just sits and looks at what everyone is doing.

Standing so big!
LOVE that cuddle time after I get home from work!

LOVES that daddy! Such a happy boy in the morning!
We've now removed the bumpers. Because this happened every morning..and he then started pulling the ties. I found the tie on the inside of his crib and that was it for me...off that bumper came!
Anyways that's probably all I need to jabber on about. Should probably be packing! We leave tomorrow on vacation with Brad's parents! At the end of the week we'll get to stay with Sarah, Phil, and the girls! YAY!! Then when we get back Mom and Dad come! We are so excited for the next two weeks!

Hope you have a great day!

Panic ATTACK.

Time out. Confession here...of a not very pretty side of me.

Yep. Today I had one. Or you know, my version of one. One where I'm so flustered I'm laughing and kinda laugh/crying all at the same time. The really unattractive way. Where I'm laying in bed telling Brad it isn't funny when I'm laugh-crying my way through telling him why I'm panicking.

The one where I selfishly say I don't care about his bruise, or that he has to work and that's why he can't do what I want him to do...all while trying not to weirdly laugh and cry at the same time. (He was telling me those things to make me feel better - I just wasn't having it.)

Why did I have said attack? Because I don't want to go to the grocery.

Seriously?!?! Am I 5 years old? But really I kinda despise going to the grocery. I even have started making a list and having a plan...I just don't like it. Never have. Probably never will. It feels like groundhog day every week...go to the store, buy the same staples, haul all those dumb things back.

This week is exceptionally bad...because we went Saturday to pick up a few things, but I hadn't planned meals for the week, so I had to go back on Monday. However, of course our new HEB doesn't have a meat counter so I needed to go AGAIN for the brisket I was planning to make for group tonight. Except...then I worked last night (6-midnight) so I wasn't able to go get the brisket lat night like I planned.

So enter today, I'm tired...Noah just knew his tired Mama didn't crawl into bed until 1 am after work and boy woke up at 4 am . I didn't really mind...such a sweet smile he greeted me with. So I decided to be a pushover and brought him to lay next to me so I could cuddle him and still sleep. But then the second time he woke up at 7am, and sweet Brad had come to talk to me and BAM - FREAK OUT.

Anyways..for all my whining. I still have to go. I'm looking at Noah pep talking both of us into it right now. (It takes a pep talk to get my 20 lb baby boy and all those bags of groceries up the stairs in one trip.

But all this to say. Wow. Sometimes the ugliness of my heart...it's just not so pretty to be faced with. A strong reminder of how seriously sinful I am, and how thankful I am that Christ took that sin from me, because I SURE do not deserve the love of God. How grateful I am to be His, and that he has forgiven me, and that he has grace for me in the moments of ugliness in my flesh, and that only He can change my heart so that going to the grocery store does not cause me to have a melt down. Because really, if going to the grocery is at bad as it gets for me today...why on this earth would I complain.

Heavy Heart

So this week as the fires have been raging around Austin, my heart has been heavy and so broken. Yesterday, I was walking through the grocery store and just could not get my heart off those people who have been affected by these fires, like the three coworkers I have heard of that have lost their homes, and that's only the ones I've heard of. Then I've watched the news and I hear something around 600 homes have been destroyed. 600 families right here near our city.

Last night, I was in such a funk. I was talking to Brad about it, about how I feel helpless to help them. It's like I forgot that God has this under control. That absolutely nothing happens here on this Earth that he has not ordained.

Then today I read Angela's Blog. Oh how this touched my heart, and oh how thankful I am that God is ALWAYS in control. Despite my weakness, despite my doubt - He is Good and He is Sovereign. Always.

I mean really.

It's 2:19 am.

I can't sleep.

Why you ask?

I HAVE NO IDEA.

Sweet husband is sleeping, sweet baby boy is sleeping (but don't you worry I'm fairly certain that he won't be taking that into consideration when he wakes up here in a few hours)

Can't lie..SUPER thankful we have two full days together as a family since it's Labor Day so maybe I'll recover from my all-night hang out.

See I worked today..so I woke up at 4:30. Now we're at 2:23. So 20 hours. (18 if you count the two hours I managed to cash out on the cash while cuddling our sweet little man)

So thought I'd put some pictures up.. that's about all I have :)

Such a sweet anniversary on Thursday. Our sweet friends the Benaglio's watched little man for us so we could go on a dinner date together. It was so fun. We got dressed up, and went to a restaurant I have always wanted to go to (The Melting Pot) and enjoyed a great night together just chatting and having real us time. So thankful for Cal and Kassi for letting us have that time. After dinner we just headed home..spent some time chatting with our friends, and then we were down for the count early. It was so nice though!


ALSO! Ellen and Ryan had sweet baby Austin this week! We're SOO happy for them! I'm super jealous because Rox and Jake are meeting him on Monday! I can't wait to see him!

Here are some pictures of the little one...

Always loves his exersaucer
He had a cold all week...and he was extra cuddly. He usually can't sit still long enough to cuddle me...then this day happened. That morning when he woke up he fell asleep on my chest for over an hour, and then this was that night. Heaven for this mama.

Then up and ready to play with daddy.

Have a great week!

P.S. 2:47am. Still awake and apparently not going down anytime soon. Should also note that I started out in our bed, moved to guest bed, now on the couch. Oh well! I am a HUGE fan of naps!

4 Years Ago Today

Four years ago today...right about this time I believe...I was walking down the aisle to my awesome husband to be!

Here we are four years later...and I'm so stinking happy for that man in my life.

This year we grew...a lot. Things changed in our life:
We found out we were pregnant
We had a sweet baby boy
We sold our house
We moved into an apartment
I stopped working full-time..and became a stay-at-home mommy/one-day-a-week nurse
We decided to move to Taylor, Texas

It has been a year of stretching and learning...but also of laughter and joy. What an amazing year it has been. I definitely think this has been my favorite year! Here's my list of what we've learned this year.

1. Having a baby has totally changed our marriage...but in a good way. We've learned it's important to prioritize our time together...or we can go days without really catching up with each other.

2. Brad was meant to be a dad. And he's amazing at it. Noah adores him!

3. Brad works so hard for our family. I have found this to be even more true as time goes on. He has made it possible for me to stay at home to be with Noah...but also to have the joy of one day a week at the hospital. Brad goes in every day without a single complaint..and comes home with a smile and ready to love on his wife and son. How thankful we both are when Brad walks through the door at night.

4. Brad has grown so much in his walk with Christ this past year...it has been SUCH a challenge to me. Sometimes the beauty of the work that God is doing in Brad's heart - brings to light the ugliness of my sin when I'm not walking as I should. I'm so thankful for Brad who is helping to lead me as Christ led the Church.

5. We still love to laugh together. He cracks me up. He is silly and goofy and sometimes I think he might be crazy :) but it's awesome.

6. We're doing fantasy football this year in a co-ed league. (Nope this isn't something I learned...just truth) I WILL BEAT HIM.

7. We really know each other. You'd think that would be obvious..being married and all. But I mean...Brad just knows..he knows when I need a hug, when I need to laugh, when it's ok to tease, when it would be better not to. He knows when my crazy is out on display..and when he should reign that crazy in. I love it.

8. The man has a thing for bags. For real. Bags and flip flops. He could almost ALWAYS be convinced they are a necessity. There are worse things he could love I guess. But it cracks me up. Every year...for Christmas...that's all he can come up with for what he wants..some sort of bag..and some sort of sandal. I love it.

9. I've learned that sometimes it's ok to put the crazy compulsive behaviors in the closet for a bit so that we can enjoy time together as a family. It is SO worth it!

10. I learned that just because I know how to occasionally sew a few straight lines..Brad thinks I can sew anything. A common question in our house..."You could probably just make that right" and if I say no..he responds with "You could probably look it up online" Hahaha I love his confidence in me...but I mean really...my skills are EXTREMELY minimal. But I sure do love that he supports me being crafty.

And this year...a special treat..probably more for me and our memories than anyone reading. But I'll blog them anyway so I don't forget. I asked Brad what he learned this year...he said (and I quote)
"I think having a child helped me appreciate and love you more."
and
"Also a house is less important than getting to come home and enjoy you both everyday."

It's official. He rocks.

There it is. My sappy post for one of my favorite days every year! Looking forward to year five and all it has in store!

Have a great day!