Don't Shave Your Thighs!

I turned 26 this year. Even though I am still "young"... this year I felt so "old".

I remember my mom finally letting me shave my legs when I made the soccer team in 7th grade. I begged and begged her and she finally let me. However, the deal was I could not shave more than 2 inches above me knee.

WHY???? What in the world is the difference????

The difference is complex verses simplicity.

I miss simplicity. I miss only shaving the bottom portion of my legs.

Now I have the ability to shave my entire leg. I also have bills, appointments, schedules to keep up with, responsibilities, kids to raise, a husband.... and the list goes on and on.

Remember how long a month seemed as a kid? Why is it that a year goes by at the same speed now that we are adults?

Why is it that we insist on growing up so fast? I can remember thinking "I can't wait to be able to shave my thighs!". I remember having my mother make me fake bills to pay. What was the rush?

I tell my kids all the time to enjoy being little. Lula Mae is really taking it a bit to literally (imagine that). She gets very upset when her birthday comes around and she has to move to the next age. I am trying to get her to a healthy balance ;-) I just don't want them to rush through some of the best years of their lives! In the blink of an eye they will be adults with adult problems and the blissful years of innocence will be gone.  I want them to be able to look back and think to themselves that their childhood didn't slip through their fingers like water.

I certainly miss not shaving my thighs. 

Heart Issues

People say babies are hard. I think they are crazy.

You feed them, you change them, you rock them, you keep them warm and make sure they get lots of sleep. Repeat. Love, love, love them.

How is that hard? I even had a particularly difficult second baby and I still felt like a good mom through his first year. I could calm him down, I could get him to eat, I could get him to sleep, I could make him smile and laugh. I felt like a good mom.

Now, at this point in my life, I don't feel like a good mom.

Toddlers and preschool aged kids are hard. Want to know why? Because now I am focused on their hearts. It is no longer me just worrying about their basic needs.... now the real work begins. And I feel like I am failing them.

I am not the example of Christ that I want to be. Not even close. I want so badly to show them Jesus through my life but I fail every.single.day.

I stay home more often than not, because I barley have control of my kids. In my home I feel such little respect and it is a very belittling feeling. I feel like I am slowly fading away right in front of my children.

How do other moms have it all together? Or how do they make it look like they have it all together? How do other moms deal with their kids hearts? I am drowning!

Bottles and blankies and pacifiers were so easy. Heart issues.... NOT SO MUCH!

I miss the feeling of being a good mom. I really, really miss it. I want my kids to seem happy and loved, but unfortunately I worry that they are feeling neither of those very basic things. *my brain is mush.... complete mush*

My only hope right now is that God is being glorified through this very trying stage. 

The Day Has Come....

I am linking up with Emmy over at Emmy Mom today with a Proud Mommy Moment. Head over to hear blog to see more!


Thing 2 did it. He finally did it, after months of being dangerously close to doing it.

He climbed out of his crib.

He did it out of shear anger and frustration, but still... he did it. I was not ready for this because Thing 1 never even THOUGHT about doing such a thing. She is overly cautious... him, not so much!

When I heard the thud I was almost in disbelief. When I opened the door the look of panic on his face was pretty funny. He was spanked and then put back in bed.

My next thought was "there is no way he is ready for a toddler bed". Translation.... "I am so not ready for him to be in a toddler bed". So what did we do?

Heather gave us a GREAT idea! She had seen another mom put her child's mattress directly on the floor inside of their crib. Luckily we have a crib that this worked with, it is super low to the ground and there is no way for his mattress to move in any direction. So we took out the spring board thing and plopped this mattress right down on the floor.

It gave us literally 5 or 6 more inches of height! I am guessing that buys us at least another 8 or 9 months! WOO HOO!!!!

See, Jayce would be that kid that like gets up in the middle of the night and goes and makes a sandwich. I wish I was kidding. He really would not comprehend "Mommy and Daddy want me to stay in bed"... well he would comprehend it... he just would not obey it!

So for now, the little dare devil is contained!

Not Babies

I just cleaned 4 years of grime off of our high chair because Jayce is now in a booster seat at the table.

He sits there like it is no big deal.

We just took down our two walk through baby gate (technically Jayce ripped one out of the wall, hulk style) Why have a gate up when the youngest child can open it on his own.

He would walk through and then close it behind himself like it was no big deal.

I no longer have to carry Jayce to the van. He can climb into the van and then into his seat all by himself.

He jumps in a waits to be buckled like it is no big deal

When Jayce finds trash on the floor he takes it to the trash can.

He tells me later that he threw something away like it is no big deal.

But it is a big deal.  To me at least. My baby is doing things for himself, needing me less and less. That is a big deal! I think my husband is secretly thrilled with all of these events, but I am somehow sad. It is odd feeling less needed by my kids. For nearly 4 years now I have been needed. Now all of a sudden, I'm kinda not. I am grateful that my kids are happy, healthy and basically normal. Still it stinks a little to see the babyness stripped from our house. 

This new phase of life will be fun I am sure, each season of life is precious in its own way. I am looking forward to this new season. And someday perhaps there will be another season of babies for us. Right now I am focusing on my two wonderful kids who are growing up quicker than I could have ever imagined.

Dibs

We all did it as kids.... and even as teens.... and lets not fool ourselves, we still do it as adults.... 

"I got dibs!"

Now I am not sure if it is okay to call dibs when you are referring to holding a new little life, but I am just covering my bases here seeing as Heather is 36 weeks and 3 days now. Meaning, that baby could come literally anytime! Therefore, I am publicly declaring dibs.

People, dibs is legally binding, just like eni-meni-miny-mo and paper-rock-scissors. Just saying. 

I can't wait to hold this little miracle in my arms for the first time! I am sure there will be tears, and I despise crying in front of people, but just this once I will not care. Not one bit. The anticipation is so intense!!! 

FYI- no that is not Heather's mom. This is our pastors wife. They just happen to look just alike. 

Stand In Awe

There are things in life that literally take your breath away.

I have experienced this before... when my babies were born, when I came to terms with the fact that Uncle Larry was going to die, the moment I thought Jayce was dead...

Heather's pregnancy is the only things that has ever repeatedly taken my breath away.

Every time I think about her positive pregnancy test.

Every time I see her belly that I thought I would never see.

Every time she calls with a crazy pregnancy question.

Every time I think about her delivering that baby.

Every time I think about holding that miracle baby.

Every.Single.Time. It all takes me breath away. God has taught me a lot through Eric, Heather and their baby. More than I can honestly explain to you.

I can't wait to get my hands on that baby. I was excited for my babies to be born, but I am overly excited about this little girls arrival!

I can't help but wonder what life will be like for Heather once the baby comes. We all know she will be overjoyed, a little tired, proud, slightly emotional... but what will it be like to be a Mom for her? It will be different than when I became a mother. Very different. I wasn't told "you could possibly never get pregnant". I didn't go through the heartbreak of the type of loss that they did with their first baby. The life that she is about to lead is one that I will never fully understand. She is about to walk a path of infertility that some never get to. I can imagine that she will feel grateful for this precious gift... but at the same time guilty that she was chosen and not the others. I have been praying that as the time comes near for her to walk this road, she will be ready.

Ready for the roller coaster of emotions that are about to hit her.

This little girl is gonna be so rotten folks. So, soooooo rotten!

Switching Gears

Jayce's blood results are in. We have a few answers. We also still have questions.

Peanut allergy is positive, we will be avoiding it for 2 years and revisiting it to see if he outgrows this. There is a chance he will out grow it and that gives me hope. Until then he travels with an epipen wherever he goes.

Guess what came back perfect? The marker for gluten intolerance.

Our first test showed it was our culprit for his skin rashes, reflux and failure to thrive. So we switched to a gluten free diet and within days we saw improvements. Within weeks we had weight gain. We felt like we found out what was wrong. Then we ended up at the allergist having tests run on several major allergens and it felt like we switched gears.

The blood work showed egg as a big factor in Jayce. But no gluten. So why the change? Can the gluten free diet have skewed the results? Nope. Could the first test have been wrong? I doubt that.

I am looking at this as a healing. I know you could look at this as a case of misdiagnosis, but I am not. I think God took it away from Jayce. I think He heard our pleads and cries and my begging and took it away. I am counting this as a blessing and praising Him for it.

So now we are putting Jayce back on gluten and keeping him on a strict egg free diet. We will watch and see. Because that is our life with Jayce... watch and see. Wait.... wait.... and wait some more.

After a month of an egg free diet we will be heading back to the allergist to see what we think the next step is. If we have improvement, we will assume we have our ducks in a row... for the time being. If we don't see improvement we will more than likely be heading to the pediatric GI for a further test on the gluten intolerance. It is a possibility that the egg allergy and gluten intolerance are factors, but for now we are leaving that to God. He is taking care of Jayce and in His time we will have answers.

Keep praying for my little man. I can't wait until I can tell him we know how to help him feel better!


I will not be taking my gluten free tab off of my blog because I still think all that I learned could help someone out there.

These Things

The glow of the baby monitor cutting through the darkness of the night

The sound of the mobile music playing softly through the monitor

The loads of tiny clothes

The toys strung all over the house

The smell of baby powder

The look of wonder on their face as the discover something for the very first time


The semi toothless grins

The tiny feet and tiny hands

The swiftness to forgive and forget my wrongdoings

The feeling of a little head laying against my chest

The magic healing power of a kiss and a fun band aid

The footie pajamas

The giggles brought on simply by a game of peek-a-boo

The look of somber stillness of their sleeping face



The endless hugs and kisses they offer

The love/hate relationship I have with reading the same book 6 times in a row

The mess that is "eating"

The sheer determination only a child can have when mastering a new task

The mess that is "bath time"

The excitement that fills the house when Daddy gets home from work

The mess that is "I can do it!"

The profound trust they have for me over their life

The pure blissful innocence



These are the things I will miss when my babies are not babies anymore. God willing there will be more babies down the road, but that is not in our hands. These are the things I want to cherish and soak in while they last. In the blink of an eye most all of them will be gone.

As parents we only have a few short years to influence our children. Take the time now to show them you love them, to tell them that God loves them, to tell them that God made them perfect. While you are influencing them, cherish them. I doubt anyone has ever laid on their death bed and thought "I sure wish I wouldn't have spent so much time with my family". Once these precious years are gone.... they are gone. You can't get them back. Soak them up while they last! Enjoy each season of life as it comes, regardless how tiring, messy, loud or chaotic that season may be.


Dear Lula Mae and Jayce,

I love you so very much. Stay little for a while, okay? Just a little while longer please.

Love,

Mommy

Oh The Life of a Cat

Everybody take a moment to look at my number of followers! 40! I hit the big 40! Say hello to Esther and welcome her!

I must admit something.... on Mothers Day we got a cat. And I am just now telling you about him. Ops! His name is Roman and he is the most laid back animal you have ever seem. He lets the kids play all over him and just loves it. He will even play with their toys. It is pretty funny. He and Jayce are best buddies. As rough as the kids have been with him he has never once scratched or nipped at them. I think he clawed Lula Mae's foot once by mistake, but that's it. He is a great addition to our family. I must admit I am jealous of him....








The cat sleeps ALL THE TIME.... not to mention EVERYWHERE!!!! Must be nice! So now you have met Roman, the most laid back craziest cat ever.

Moments Like This

Are very rare.

The two of them together.... sitting and reading. I held me breath as I went to get my camera, worried I would miss this very rare moment. Luckily, They stayed this way for quite a while. Reading and talking. Sharing and playing.

And then they began doing what they do best.
Rolling all over each other and tickling.
FYI little kids don't tickle well... it really hurts! Not even kidding!
I enjoyed the sweet, quiet moment while it lasted though. Although, their laughing and playing (though far from quiet) is still a wonderful moment. Lula Mae has an "only child" personality if I have ever seen one. It is nice to see both of them enjoying each other more often. Even if they are semi torturing each other..... hey it works for me!

A year

Yesterday it was a year.

Has it really already been a year?

Happy 1st re-birth day Uncle Larry. For a year now you have been worshiping God in your new body. A body with no infection, a body with both legs. You have been home for a year.

I thought that after a year I would feel less regret. Somehow, over the past year it is gotten so much worse.

When he first passed I couldn't even cry. I had cried so much over the month prior to his passing that I felt such relief when the time actually came that I couldn't fester up a single tear. Do you know how horrible it makes you feel when you actually feel glad that someone is gone? I felt so wrong yet I know it is exactly how Uncle Larry would have wanted me to feel.

Death is not easy. It is such a tug of war between joy and sorrow. Our flesh feels such pain and sadness for ourselves left here, while our believing spirit feels such happiness for them.

I should have gone to see him.

I should have been there for him with the rest of the family.

It would have meant a lot to him.

Instead, I stayed home. I was worried about me. I didn't want to go because it would be hard to see him like that. I didn't want to go because I didn't want everyone else to see me broken. I like to be tough and be the support that others need. So, for all of those selfish reasons I didn't go.

I missed my chance to hear his voice one more time. I missed my chance to feel his strong arms around me one last time. I missed my chance to tell him how much I loved him and how much I would miss him. If I could rewind time and do it all again I would. Funny how you never regret doing the right thing but when you do the wrong thing it eats away at you for the rest of your life.

Yesterday was hard. Harder than the day he passed. I was in a horrible mood and just couldn't shake it. I wanted nothing more than to hear my Uncle Larry's voice say "hello sweetheart". All day I thought about how different things would be, how different I would feel, if I would have just gone to see him.

My Uncle Larry was an amazing man. He loved the Lord and lived for Him. He was so incredible that there is not enough space on my blog to tell you all about him. I want so badly to be like him someday. He truly tried to be like Christ and I am honored to have been his niece. I am trying to be joyful today, but it is hard.

"We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord." 2 Corinthians 5:8

This was one of his favorite songs and I think of him every single time I hear it. Pray for my Aunt Mary as she continues to adjust to life without Uncle Larry. Also, pray for his children and grandchildren as their hearts continue to heal. Tomorrow will be a better day.

All I Have Is Prayer...

Heather finally wrote about what she and her husband have been going through. She used her blog as a journal (for the first time in a long time) and really spoke her mind. She let things out that I was sure she would hold in. I feel like now it is okay for me to do the same thing. If Eric or Heather asks me to delete this, I will with no question. This post is for me, but since it is their lives I must use caution. You can read her post here if you want to be up to speed on what they are going through. I will warn you, it isn't easy to read. It is not some sugar coated, watered down post. It is real life and it is deep. As I have watched these two people that I love so much go through this, I have been amazed.


Amazed by Gods grace and mercy.

Amazed at how Eric and Heather are dealing with what has been laid in front of them.

Amazed at how badly I want to understand, but never will.

Amazed at how my flesh feels about this whole situation.

Amazed at how my spirit is dealing with everything.


My flesh is weak and feels broken and depressed for them. My flesh is mad. My flesh hates this. My flesh questions God. My flesh wants to rationalize this. But what can I say, it is my flesh and it is rotten. A lot of me hurts still and has not recovered fully. A little piece of me wishes none of this had ever happened.

Then my spirit breaks in and gets control.

My spirit is strong because the LORD is my strength. My spirit is joyful in all things. My spirit know that God makes no mistakes and does all things for a reason. My spirit is okay with not knowing why God allowed this to happen. My spirit is not broken, instead it is stronger and more focused. My spirit is the only thing that has kept me from walking away from the God I love.

Today I am grateful for the spirit God has put inside of me.

I have cried happy and sad tears for them. For 3 years I wanted to hear her say the words "I'm pregnant". Finally she did, and honestly I was more excited when she told me she was pregnant than I was when I found out I was pregnant (no joke. Yes" mother of the year" material I know.) I was also more crushed by their loss than I think I was by my own heaven born baby (yeah I know, I am just clean sweeping that mother of the year award with this post, huh? oh well. Honesty isn't always pretty.) Nothing has made me question my faith more than this. Nothing. Unfortunately, a lot of this stems from selfishness.

I want to see them pregnant

I want to throw them a baby shower

I want to stand outside of the hospital room and listen for the first cry of their baby

I want to hold their baby

I want to see them kiss their baby

I want to see them hold their baby and cherish their baby

I want to hear all the stories of how the middle of the night diaper changes went horribly wrong

I want so much for them.

I am selfish and I am learning to leave the planning to God. I know God wants all of this too, He just wants it in HIS time. His timing is perfect, mine is not. Right now I want to be able to do so much for them, but all I can do is pray. It feels like I am doing so little. It feels like I am ignoring them and not grieving well enough for them. It feels like it can't be enough. I know deep down though that my prayers are enough right now. God is enough for them. I see it on their faces. I know they are struggling in their own way, but they are strong... and growing stronger. I know they are trusting God fully and are being obedient to Him. I will never be able to wrap my head around all of this, but I also don't need to.

One thing is certain, Heather and Eric are parents. Their sweet baby is sitting with Jesus and waiting for them. My sweet friend Heather is a Mommy and my cousin Eric is a Daddy. Nothing can ever take that away from them.

Mommy To Be

She isn't having morning sickness

She isn't having crazy cravings

She isn't having trouble finding a comfortable position to sleep in

She isn't running to the bathroom to pee every five minuets

She isn't sure of her due date

She isn't freaking out about getting an epidural or the pain of natural child birth

She isn't pregnant... yet

But she is expecting

She is the most wonderful mommy to be I have ever known

I bet she has a million paper cuts from the mountain of paperwork that adoption requires

I bet her emotional stretch marks are worse than any stretch mark you get from pregnancy

I bet she has been way more emotional than any expecting mom out there

I bet she thinks about her future child/ren on average, 15 times more than most women

I have not doubt that soon she will be holding her own little one/s

It may not be a biological child, or perhaps it will be, only God knows for sure

I feel certain that there will be a mixture of both filling her home soon, very soon

Seeing her with my kids fills my heart

But my heart will burst when I can hang a picture of her with her child/ren on my wall

Easily Forgotten

When things in my life start getting tough (house work is piled high, schedules are too full, kids are misbehaving) I tend to blog more. Partially because writing is therapeutic for me. Extremely therapeutic. Also because when I have something on my mind, or my heart, I enjoy the thoughts you all have to offer. All of you are great! You bring me so much encouragement and get me through so much. God has used this blog in my life in ways I never imagined.

While pondering that fact that I blog more, and better, in distress I realized I was missing a lot. I am missing out on chances to tell you about Lula Mae's great behavior, Jayce's development, the funny things Lula Mae says, the crazy projects my husband and I work on together and completely mess up..... just all the happy moments in my life. You shouldn't just have to hear all the bad things.

So here are some great things that have been going on around here....

• Lula Mae has memorized 6 bible verse now! I love to hear her recite them. She is done with the second grade sight word list and is on to learning the third grade list. Her reading skills are mind blowing! Her word list is nearing the 650 mark and I am so proud of her. She can count to, and recognize the numbers up to 40. She just loves to learn! I am so amazed at how well Lula Mae has behavior has been since we moved. Really, I was expecting this move to throw her into a tailspin.... but it is just the opposite. She is growing up so fast and is starting to learn self control and obedience.
• Jayce is past "scooting" and is crawling now. Not always on his hands and knees though, but sometimes. His toothy grin is quite charming! He has always been a great sleeper, but these days it is just amazing. He love to sleep! He is finally eating some baby food. I am hoping to wean him off of his reflux medication soon because it has been really good lately. We will see what the doctor says at his 9 month check up.
  
• We are totally unpacked! There are still a few decorative things in boxes, as well as photo albums, but they are patiently waiting for good homes. We are working on getting this place nice and clean! We are also slowly turning this house into our home :-)
• We are slowly working on our debt free plan. We just paid off our van!!!!!!!!!!!! Woohoo!!!!
  
• Back in December I was baptized (Tiffany I know I was suppose to email you all about it but things have been so busy! I am sorry.... don't hate me! It's just such a long story that it may take me a while to write it!) for the first time. I didn't grow up in a church so it was never really something I thought about doing, or even understood. God is working hard on me. He is changing me in some big ways. I have a great Pastor, a loving husband, supportive friends and an amazing God who are all helping me change. I have needed this for so long.
  

Oh, and I promise I am working on a tour of the house for you guys! I have a few really funny pictures to brighten your day :-) Have a great week everyone!

Crashing Like The Waves

This post may hurt your feelings, make you feel uncomfortable or make you mad. I'm sorry in advance. Just read it to the very end and you may feel differently.



I went to see a friend of mine in the hospital and meet her new baby boy. I was excited..... and not excited at the same time.

I found out that a friends was expecting yesterday. I was excited..... and not excited at the same time.

I saw some belly pictures of an old friend of mine on Facebook who is documenting her growth. I was excited.... and not excited at the same time.

A friend of mine posted that she was having another girl on her Facebook. I was excited.... and not excited at the same time.

I read a comment on Facebook the other day of a young mom who was jokingly complaining about her kids. I thought it was a little funny..... but not after about 2 seconds of thought.

I saw a lady standing beside a building, obviously pregnant, and smoking a cigarette. I was discussed.... and then I was overcome with anger.

My emotions go back and forth, back and forth. I feel like a wave crashing on the beach and then washing back out again.

I want nothing more that to have my best friend call me and scream the words "I'm pregnant!" into my ear. I want nothing more than to look on Facebook and see her belly album.... to see her positive pregnancy test.... to hear her say "It's a ______!".... to see her husband touch her belly and light up when the baby moves.... to have her call me and ask me all kinds of crazy pregnancy questions..... to have her text me at 2 am because she thinks it's "time".... to see her holding her baby in the hospital..... to see her husband hold his child..... to get to hold their sweet baby and spoil it like they spoil mine........... I have faith that it will happen. God is in control and He is faithful.

I can do nothing. I feel like I can do less than nothing actually. I can't even be a true source of comfort for her, because I am not walking in her shoes. There are times when I can't tell if what I am saying helps or hurts. Like this post.... it may help.... it may hurt. If she tells me to delete it, I will. But maybe she won't. I take for granted how blessed I am to be able to so easily conceive. My fertility is not the first thing I think about when I wake up, and the last thing I think about before I go to sleep. But for my best friend, it is.

She is so much stronger than me. So much that I can't even explain it to you. She humbles me and keeps my faith strong. She has smiled through this entire process, and I know she will continue to. That does not mean she hasn't had tough days. Regardless, she is faithful. She trusts God fully and is leaning on Him.

God is doing amazing things in her life, and her husbands life. I can't wait to see what God has in store for their family.

I pray for them, without ceasing. Won't you pray for them too? Pray for peace, understanding, compassion and patience. Pray that God brings their family home soon. Pray for their hearts to be strong and focused on Him. Just simply pray.

Snuggle Time

It isn't often that Lula Mae wants to cuddle. Even as a tiny baby she wasn't into it. Well these days she has a new obsession. She wants to sit on my lap and watch this...

She just stares at it and smiles. She will randomly say things like, "Mommy I love this song because it's my favorite", "Mommy we sing that at church", "Remember Mommy, remember that part?". She loves to sing the chorus of the song and loves for me to point to the words as we sing together. It is beyond precious and melts my heart. My child is not perfect, she frustrates me from time to time, she causes me to worry about silly things, she was born a broken and sinful person.... but moments like this show me that God is working on her heart and all the work Charlie and I are putting into her is worth it. It is worth every single second.

Family Tradition

You were expecting Hank Williams Jr., weren't you? Well sorry to disappoint you but this seriously is about one of our family traditions.... so please continue....

Okay, it was a family tradition. All year long we fill up our jar with pocket change. Then, we cash it in to buy our Christmas tree. For the past three years Charlie and I have taken Lula Mae to the local Christmas tree farm to pick out a tree. It is so fun! They have some animals, a fire to roast marshmallows over, hot chocolate and a little ornament shop. We pick ornaments out and write the year on the back of them. This year was the first year Lula Mae got to pick her own ornament. All the pretty little ornaments and what did she pick? A cow. Not a cute cartoonish cow, oh no, a big fat realistic cow... with utters. Yep, a big fat cow. That's my girl. She loves animals. Then she helped me pick Jayce's first ornament, a little bell that says "Babies 1st Christmas" with a snowman on top.

So then we went to look at the trees. We always go back to the "clearance" trees. You know, the ones they hide way in the back because they are cheaper. They are smaller and sometimes have a few gaps in the limbs and such, but that is fine with us. Then it happened.... we saw the price.

WHAT????

You are kidding????

That is almost double what we paid last year... and this one is SMALLER!!!!

And this is when our new tradition was born.

From now on we will be visiting the lovely little tree farm, petting the cute animals, roasting marshmallows, sipping the hot chocolate and letting the kids pick an ornament. Then we will drive 2 miles down the road to Food Lion and get a tree for $29.99.

I'm totally okay with that. Traditions sometimes need to be tweaked, but they are still special. I hope you are all starting to enjoy all those little family traditions of your own!

The Giving Tree

Have you ever read The Giving Tree? Perhaps when you were a child, or maybe to your children. Now, I mean have you ever really read it? If you are thinking "Yeah I think I remember that book" then you haven't really read it. If you really read it, it will stick with you forever.

This book is, by far, one of my all time favorite books. Such a good story, nice length and cute illustrations. The book is illustrated in simple black and white pictures and I think that Shel Silverstein did that for a reason. I think he wanted his words to shine through more than the pictures. This book makes me think each and every time a read it. What an amazing lesson buried in this book!

The tree gave everything to the one she loved. She literally gave everything. Not only did she give all of herself to the one she loved, but she was happy. I'm sorry, but if that doesn't touch your heart somehow, you are crazy! I want to be like that tree. I want to give all of myself to the ones I love. I want to give all of myself to God. I want to give all off myself to my husband, children, family, friends, church. I want to give everything and be happy. Too many days when Jayce wakes up I think to myself "Ughhhh I just want to sleep in!". Why? I am selfish because of my flesh. Jesus was able to give all of himself, but he was flawless. I am not. I should be happy to wake up and tend to Jayce, no matter what. I'm not saying I dread dealing with my children and don't want to get out of bed, I just really enjoy sleeping (I am sure there are a few of you out there who feel the same way). The tree makes sacrifices to make the boy happy. I want to learn to make sacrifices. I strive to be a selfless mom and wife. Unfortunately I have a long way to go. Just ask my kids or husband. I fall short on a daily basis. Reading this story to my kids helps me stay focused on what matters. Giving myself to the ones I love matters.

Are there any children books out there that do more than just tell a story to you? Do you have a copy in your home library for your kids to enjoy? I would love to know of more books like The Giving Tree!

What This Picture Says To Me

It must be close to nap time

Why you ask? Well, lets break it down. Look at Jayce. He isn't wearing any clothes. This means he has spit up and drooled so much that I finally quit changing his outfit and just left him naked. Now, onto Lula Mae. Look at her hair. It isn't quite morning hair, but it is still a mess. A mess that usually follows a full morning and mid afternoon of playing. Add these factors together and you will surely know that it must be close to nap time.

Could have been a super cute shot. I guess I need to schedule photo shoots right after school instead of before nap. Oh well, it is still a sweet picture I think.

Semi Nude Artist

So, we went to pick pumpkins (more pictures soon!) and decided to get a big one! To carve? No! A 2 year old can't carve! But a 2 year old can paint! So, we got a big pumpkin so Lula Mae would have lots of room to be creative. She had a great time!



I'm thinking we have a Picasso on our hands! Okay, maybe not, but it's still cute!