our story :: part I

I have wanted to write out our dating & marriage story for our kids for a long time.  Our 3 girls do what I remember doing as a little girl.  They adore love stories.  They already love to watch weddings and pretend they have a family.  It is often on my mind that I want them to collect as many godly, love stories as they can while growing up.  Stories of couples who depended on God to bring them a spouse in His perfect timing.

Adam and I have had an idea to make a little photo book that told our story of how we got married.  I'd love for it to be something we read and reread together over the years.  They can know everything they want to know about us.  My plan is to write out the journaling in little snipits here.  Hopefully, I can get this project done soon and share it when its complete. ;)

My little beginnings
My story started with a family and a church.  I grew up in a very loving home.  My parents had 2 daughters.  I was the oldest child and 4 1/2 years later my younger sister, Rachel, was born.  (I had to include my "Ms." picture...my mom loved that onesie).

When I was 8 years old, my parents started attending a new church.  This was when we began going to church as a family.  A year later, I put my faith in Christ after my 3rd grade Sunday school teacher taught me the gospel.  It was very clear to me that I needed a Savior and I made a decision to trust Him with my life & my future.  That day was the most significant day in my life, but that was just the first step for me in understanding how God would lead my life.

More for another day...

flying solo

Adam came home sick from work yesterday.  I felt for him because he had a fever and looked miserable.  Then about 4pm today (a day and a half later), I started feeling empathetic for myself.  Flying solo is hard work. :)  I had to pull out all my tricks.  Pizza and the sprinkler park.  And then some long, silent prayers that they would go to bed soon after.

Something about this one (below) that I just love.

I was playing around with our wide angle lens (24mm).  It is so much fun with kids.  And a little tricky at a splash park considering you have to get in close.  I think the moms where looking at me with my camera and thinking I was too crazy.  I say, "What else is a camera for?!"  They're waterproof, right?

we went to tea

Today we went to a tea party with 6 other moms & their daughters. A sweet lady at our church organized this. We are reading this book with our girls, Just Mom and Me Having Tea. The book has 6 chapters with a tea party to go along with each chapter. We've decided to do one tea party a month, so one chapter a month. I committed to doing this with my oldest daughter. Our first time doing the book (this morning...yet another area procrastinated) ended up being a really encouraging time for us both.  The book gives you several opportunities to exhort each other and build each other up.  I love that.  Each of the moms is going to host a party.  I chose the Moonlit Night Tea Party, which is basically a s'mores night in the backyard...fun!

the birthday date

My husband has plenty of pressure around my birthday.  It's the day after Valentine's (today actually).  There always has to be some thought put into the birthday/Valentine's plans.  I don't ever expect amazing plans, but I would be lying if I didn't say I like them!

Last Friday we had our sweet date.  It had a grand start because we had kids dropped off by early afternoon.  Sweet!  And at the start of our venture he handed me an envelope...looked like this...

There were 4 envelopes total.  I chose tea @ the Steeping Room, an Italian restaurant downtown, a drink at a coffee shop (where we had our first date), and movie at home.  Perfect.

My guy with his cookie.  He likes chocolate.  And he (surprisingly) liked the tea we drank too.

Here he is handing me another envelope.  Doesn't my birthday cupcake look good?

When we went to the Steeping Room, I convinced him to take me into Anthropologie (he said okay if we go in the Apple Store :).  In Anthropologie he picked up this book and checked out the chapter titled, "How to Woo with Flair."  I told him he didn't need the book. ;)

I can't wait to share what my bday present was!  But that's for another post.

I went to her Valentine's program at school today. It was a sweet performance, but my favorite part was the look on her face as she ran to give me this at the end. She is a loving little girl and I adore being on the receiving end. :)

my daughter took these

I was blessed by these 2 photos this morning.  My 5 year old took them of us.  Didn't she do great?!  I love our morning cuddle time.  On our home school days we ease into our day with pj's and snuggles (and coffee!).  I love these things.

i don't know what to title this.

I love photos and writing. I love sharing my life on this little blog. I do find it hard though to share much of anything online when times are difficult. Part of me thinks that's just fine (my true introverted self) and the other part of me thinks, "I wish other people presented life as it really is more often." Sometimes it feels like there are not many people to relate to through online social media. Now, I know that's not true. It just feels that way sometime.

If you asked me how I'm doing right now...I might not want to say. Not because I'm doing bad. I just don't always feel the freedom to share heavy things. It's just so much easier to talk about surface-y stuff.

How am I doing? I'm pretty tired. There has been stress. When isn't there stress anymore? If my 3 kids were the only thing on my plate...I'd feel stressed. :) My prayer life is very focused on Amy right now. Adam's sister, Amy, found out there is more cancer in her body. We were doing the little happy dance one minute that it was gone, and the next minute it was all very sobering again. She is doing well after her surgery last week and we are waiting on test results to know more. We just love her so much that it is something on our minds and in our prayers often.

Last week our youngest daughter was wheezing again. Second time in the last month or so. Her doctor had me treat her for asthma sypmtoms (allergies-related?). It was like having a newborn again waking up twice in the night to give her breathing treatments. She's doing much better now, but I was surprised by how taking care of her over the weekend wore me out.

And while this is very shallow...I'll still share it. This weekend my big girls and Adam were on the Father/Daughter campout. I got a lot of cleaning done. It is amazing how much you can do with 3 hours and no children. Right now...it doesn't look like I cleaned at all.

48 hours + 3 children + tired mom = mess.

Inspite of the hard things in life, I'm thanking God often of His presence in my life and in our home. I do not feel alone. Everywhere I turn I'm hearing Him speak to all my situations. I'm talking with family and friends often. God's provided time for me to rest recently. He provided 4 cooked meals in my fridge in the past 7 days when I've wanted to do anything but cook. I just wanted to share a little of that. I hope when you have heavy times you share them too. Things are lighter after you do. :)

My girl at two years old. Very independent. She didn't want my help. She'd just sit and hold the nebulizer until her dose was finished, all by herself.

i love mom

I have something big to share!  Huge.  Kind of gave it away in the title...

She now says, "I love mom."

You know, it often hits me how independent they already are and it can overwhelm me.  But then they go and start saying, "I love mom."  And I'm perfectly content with how old she is and how much she's not a baby anymore.  Just one of life's little rewards, I guess.

She also says, "I love dad" and "I love sissy."  But my other favorite is when we tell her we love her and she points to her chest and says, "I love me."  Classic, isn't it?  It makes me laugh.  (Yes, sometimes you love yourself too much.  It is true of me too, honey.)

tea for two

My daughter's school hosted a Mother & Daughter tea last Sunday afternoon. I jumped at the chance to have some one-on-one time with my oldest girl. We enjoyed tea & cookies for about 15 minutes and then I watched her play down in the creek for about 30 minutes (sigh). It's a little bit of a different era these days.  We can't keep the kids sitting too proper for too long and I'm kind of glad.  It was fun watching the kids be kids. I think she even thought I was a little fun that day...which is always a treat. :)

ah, that's my girl...

coffee with the kiddo

I wanted to document our impromptu mommy-daughter date from this weekend. I wish I could say this was planned & purposeful time with her. Honestly, I saw a coupon for a free cookie and kid's hot chocolate at Barnes & Noble...it just sounded like fun. On Saturday, while the other two were napping, we slipped away for a little time together. I am so glad that we did.

I gave her some money and she enjoyed purchasing the cookie-the-size-of-her-face, all by herself. She loves acting grownup. There are little adventures, like this, that are fun to witness. She was also proud of her whip-cream mustache.

We looked at books. I tried to be really excited about all of them (not so subtly trying to encourage a love for reading). The excitement rubbed off on her & she wanted to buy a load of books right then and there. I didn't see this coming (all the way)...and then had to act really excited about the library! This was when she got her first lesson on taking notes of book titles & authors, "We'll look them up at the library for free, honey, & we'll be able to enjoy more that way!" (wink, wink)

Next, she wanted to go to Oo La La. It's so funny to me that she loves this store. The truth is...the store owner bought her affection with lollipops. On this trip, her loyalty was sealed forever when the store owner gave her a "V.I.P" pin, which ensured that she could have as many lollipops as she wanted the next time she came in. That lady is brilliant!

As a little treat, I bought her a little beaded ring. We thought it was cute.

I got this one photo of her before we left. I see a hint of sweetness & a little mischievousness, behind that smile. It is so "her" to me.

what a mom has to do to get a shower

In a little moment of desperation for a shower, I turned my bathtub into a pack-n-play. Here is all you need: one very active baby, a soft towel, a few tub toys, a little silly interaction through the glass...and voila! Doesn't she look happy? Who knew? I think the jury is still out on whether this idea was brilliant or bizarre. What do you think?

mommy & daughter salon day

I have been waiting to cut this child's hair for a long time.  We had to have it long enough to put back for the recital.  Now summer is here & that called for a cute bob!  I found a deal online where I could take her to my salon and, with my haircut, she'd be free.  Sweet!  We just had to make it a mommy/daughter date.

She enjoyed a milkshake on the ride home. On the way back, I'm thinking (for the first time) what have I gotten myself into?? She can't get used to the fancy salon at age 3. Oh well, she's the middle-child...so she could use some extra-pampering, I concluded.

I should be embarrassed to admit this...but after all my haircuts I take a photobooth picture with my computer of the front & back. I always send it to my mom and sister...all girls do this, right? I also do it so that I can aspire to fix my hair like the stylist does. Anyways, she had to join me in my tradition and end our date with a few more pics.

muffins with mom

The kinder year is wrapping up. Today we had the Muffins with Mom breakfast. She was very excited to have me there, even though you'd never know if from this photo.

I love this kid!

today is a mental health day

At 8:00 this morning I declared that today is a p.j. day. No one can get dressed, until it is absolutely necessary. Which will probably be around 4pm (the big girl has dance class). We got schoolwork done at a satisfactory-level. Everyone has been fed and laundry is going. I made it clear to the children that I must get pictures today. And I discovered something...if you time it just right....your kids can be incredibly cute when they are stalling naptime. It also helps if you let them jump on the bed. Then, of course, you can do the hardwork of getting them down and go visit the blog that you haven't thought much about in over a week. And here you go...

She can chill with the best of them, eating an enormous apple.

The big bouncer

The lil' bouncer

I claim these dimples. That's from me. ;)

Too busy eating to give me a smile...

The calm is now over and it's time to run to dance class, feed the baby, set up dinner and more cleaning before the small group comes over, call my daughter's teacher, have small group, and all the crazy stuff that keeps this life full (but good full).  I already can't wait to be in my pj's again (heehee).

i'm a thirty-something.

I'm 30 now.  Do I feel old?  Not really, however, I do feel like...college was a long time ago!  I've discovered that I like "milestone" birthdays.  You get pampered and I'm into that.  I knew that I didn't want a big party.  I don't enjoy being the center of attention of a big party.  Several little celebrations is much more my style.  Adam was kind enough to ask me what I wanted.  I said it doesn't really matter, as long as I'm pampered a lot over a long period of time.  Heehee.

During my birthday weekend, I had a blast going to dinner with my parents, a valentine's date with my man, and a night out with girlfriends.  On the night of my birthday,  I enjoyed a ladies night at Phil's Icehouse (Amy...as in Amy's ice cream...is married to Phil).  It's a fun burger stand connected to an Amy's.  The best part - they have an old photo booth.  My birthday gift was sitting in the photo booth with each gal & taking home the pictures of us.  I loved it!

     

getting ready

Dear Sweet Daughter,

Tomorrow morning you start Kindergarten.  I can't believe it!  We have spent all week getting ready and getting excited.  We picked out your backpack (purple w/ pink flowers, what else?), gathered your school supplies, and got your uniform ready.  Dad and I were proud of you when you met your teacher, Ms. Carlson, and you were very polite.  Your classroom looks great and you have 7 other girls in your class with potential to be close friends.  There are 5 boys to play with too, who are hopefully kind like our good friends Aiden and Kade.  It has been busy getting you ready for school, but when we slow down and talk - you express nervousness.  Your Dad and I have found it a privilege to be there for you in these moments.  We want you to know that we are here to help you and you shouldn't feel alone.  It is our desire to help you take this next step, and in so doing, take a step closer to being more dependent on God.  Tonight we asked God to give you courage tomorrow as you walk into an intimidating room with new people.  He can help you make a friend and learn your assignments.  He can help you obey the rules and respect your teacher, when you are tempted to make mischief.  We want you to know that this isn't easy for us either, and we are learning how to depend on God more as we see you growing up.

I am so grateful for you tonight.  I feel like its my first day of school too.  I have butterflies.  I want you to have a great first day, maybe even more than you want it.  And I want you to know...I love you so much.  I'll try to keep-it-together in the morning and not embarrass you too bad by taking many, many pictures.  But I can't make any promises there. 

Love you!

Mom

one happy anniversary

Thanks to our amazing parents, we were able to get away for a night for our anniversary.  We enjoyed a great dinner at the Roaring Fork on Congress Ave.  Over dinner we weren't allowed to talk about the kids or church stuff...I forgot how refreshing that is sometimes.  Adam did good in planning the date.  We overnighted at the Hyatt on Town Lake and had breakfast at Magnolia Cafe.  It was such a wonderful break from the 'real world' of motherhood.  And I got 7 straight hours of sleep (thanks Mom!)...hallelujah!

6 years together.

As of today, we have been married for 6 years.  I have been asked before if it feels like its been that long.  I always joke and say "yes!"  We've had 3 kids!  But I can remember how excited I was to become Adam's wife, like it was yesterday.