Family Friday

I thought I’d take a little time today to share a little about what’s going on with each of us!

First Luke: Luke is a typical boy! He loves all things weapons, although the boys don’t actually have any! Not that we are against them as toys.. just that we don’t have any. Because, with boys, even if you don’t have any.. they will make them. Luke makes guns and swords out of his Trio blocks all of the time! He can be really silly and get everyone to laughing, especially Eli! At the same time he can be really moody and need his space, but don’t we all?! He loves playing soccer.. well, he loves going to soccer practice and games! He’s not much of a player yet! He really likes to socialize and play (games, not soccer) with his teammates! He’s not very big on going after the ball, he’d much rather it come right to him. And I mean, that’s probably the only way he will ever make contact with it! It will have to land right in front of him… and then he still may not kick it! He’s having fun though, and that’s what matters! He LOVES to get dressed and likes to dress himself. He doesn’t always match but most of the time I just let him do whatever. The only time I intervene is when we’re going to church or somewhere special. He also loves to wear socks and shoes! He’s not a big flip flop or sandal wearer. There have been times when I just had to make him wear sandals! Thank goodness colder weather is around the corner (I hope!). Luke is a great big brother (most of the time). He and Eli are starting to play more and more together. Luke is pretty protective of his brother and lets me know if Eli is doing something that might hurt him. The sweetest is when Luke steals a kiss from Eli and he doesn’t know anyone is watching! Melts this mommy’s heart! They do fight, of course, but they really are great friends!

Now Eli! Eli is a Mommy’s boy! Seriously! Hmm, I feel like I’ve said this before! 😉 Well, he still is! He is also much more go with the flow and relaxed, especially when Mommy is around! He’s not near as moody as Luke! He loves to watch Luke practice and play soccer. He also loves to throw balls! He really has a good chest pass, so we may have a future basketball player on our hands! Eli also loves getting in to everything. Every. Thing. I know we saw this coming. We just knew he would be the child to strow everything out, get into stuff, make huge messes, never understand the meaning of “No” or “Don’t Touch!” (see above picture!) I think it’s more his little personality rather than just the ‘terrible twos’. He’s very independent! He thinks he can do anything and will try! And all the while he is a little love bug! He will gladly sit in your lap for hours or shower you with hugs and kisses!

The Hubs- The Hubs is in full swing school mode. He had his first Algebra test last week and made a 99! So proud of him! He started off the school semester doing homework in the kitchen and that did not work out! It’s true that the kitchen is the hub of the household! So, we cleared out the treadmill in the bedroom (need a new place to hang clothes now!) and put a table that the Hubs mom had given us in it’s place. It’s worked out much better now, although wireless has been giving him problems! And since his school work is online (even his ‘on campus’ class has online homework, that’s been trying for him.

And me- Well, my knee/upper thigh is still giving me problems. I went to the Dr a little over a month ago with it and was told after an X-ray that I had a tilted knee cap. I was told to take Rx ibuprofen and do some exercises. But I feel like there is much more going on. I haven’t had the sharp pains in my thigh lately but I still have a place right above my knee that is swollen. I’ve tried this week to keep it up here and there but it really is hard when you’re home with two boys all the time! I just had to let some housework go. My knee has felt better at night (when it usually starts throbbing) but the swelling hasn’t changed. So, I’m not sure what to do. I haven’t been exercising either, for fear of hurting it worse (I kind of feel like Jillian might have been part of my problem!). And I can totally tell! I haven’t gained any weight but I just don’t feel as good.. and I feel all stiff!

I just finished reading Intimate Issues. And all I’ll say about that is that it’s a good book for married, Christian women! I just started reading The Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson. It’s sooo good! I really wish I was reading it with a group of women, so I could discuss it! It would be a great group discussion book study! I didn’t get any response with that idea though, but maybe in the future! I also just started reading Hebrews. I read Joshua, Judges and Ruth in a row and just thought it was time for some New Testament!

Well, there is a little bit of info on what’s going on in our house!

Happy Five Years!

Today is Robby and my five year anniversary!

Can I just reminisce a little bit about that day? This could get long. Humor me. 🙂

It was a beautiful day! I picked October because I love it so much. I love pumpkins and fall leaves. I love the smell of cinnamon and the cooler weather. Fall is just my favorite season for so many reasons. My birthday happens to be in October as well, so all the more better! When we were deciding on a day, I knew I wanted it to be an even number. I just like them. So it was between the 2nd and the 16th. The 16th won out because I liked it more, I guess? We were engaged a year and 4 months. We got engaged on May 24th, 2003. I just knew that I couldn’t plan a wedding in 4 months so we decided to wait until Oct. 2004. It was long… longer than I would have liked but we did it.

So, here it was, October 16, 2004 at 5pm. Our wedding day! Like I said, it was a beautiful day. The weather was a perfect 72 degrees out. It was sunny with a gentle breeze. The perfect fall day.

My dress was candlelight.. strapless.. beaded on the top.. and pouffe. I wanted a princess wedding dress and that’s what I got! However I did not wear glass slippers! I wore flip flops down the isle! I never really intended to do this. My mom had bought me these super cute off white, beaded flip flops to wear at the reception. Well, when my dress came in and I went to try it on with my shoes that had about a 2 inch heel, the dress was too short! I had been told that the dress was made for girls 5’7. Wrong! I am not 5’7! I looked and looked for cute flat shoes and didn’t have any luck. So, I just decided to wear my flip flops. No one ever knew and my feet were comfy the entire time! My bridesmaids wore crimson-ey red dresses. (they also had cute red flip flops that I ‘decorated’ to wear for the reception!) They carried beautiful bouquets of red, orange and yellow flowers. My bouquet consisted of mainly tiger lilies and red roses with a few smaller yellow, red and orange flowers.

On to the ceremony.. The first thing, of course, was the parents and grandparents coming in. I chose “How Beautiful” to be played on the flute! It was so pretty! I couldn’t find a good instrumental version of this song but here is Twila Paris’ singing it. It really is a great, timeless song about the beauty of Christ and the love He has for His bride.

The next to come in was the bridesmaids. The song the Hubs and I choose for this is one the Hubs had played for me while we were engaged. It’s called “Miracles” by Everman, which was a Christian band that, I think, only made one album. Oh my, it’s a beautiful song. A friend of ours played & sang it on acoustic guitar and it was just perfect. Exactly what I wanted. And guess what?? I found someone singing it at a wedding online!! I think I just might cry!

Next my sweet hubby-to-be rolled out the white aisle runner for me to walk down. Then I had another song sang. Just by itself, right before I walked down the isle. It’s “I Am” by Nichole Nordeman. As I picked out songs for the wedding, I really wanted God to be glorified through the entire service. This song is a great reminder that God is our constant. He is there, always. The Bible tells us that He will never leave or forsake His children.

Here comes the bride! I came into the traditional wedding march, because I’m traditional like that. My high school youth pastor flew up from Tampa, FL to marry the Hubs and I. What a blessing that was! Another dream come true. He did a wonderful job! We said our vows, which were traditional, but very short. 😉 I knew that I would be super nervous so I chose the vows with the least amount of words! Haha! After we said our vows we had the Lord’s supper and lit the trinity candle.

After we lit the trinity candle we had a slide show. Yes, the wedding was long.. 45 minutes long. But it was my wedding… 🙂 The Hubs actually picked this song out. It’s Josh Groban “When You Say You Love Me”…

Then it was time to kiss the bride! Whew. It was absolutely perfect. I can remember standing at the rehearsal and hearing the ‘I Am’ song by Nichole Nordeman and tears welled up in my eyes. It was exactly what I wanted. And I’m so thankful for that. I know that the details that add up to the wedding don’t necessarily mean anything. The commitment before God is the important part. And that’s what we tried to convey with those who attended. God joined us together. And we wanted God to be glorified in our marriage ceremony.

But it sure was nice that it was exactly what I had envisioned in my mind! 😉

Our reception was fabulous. We, like most bride and grooms, spent the entire time talking with our guests and not eating. My mom and aunt did a FANTASTIC job on decorating. As you walked into the reception there was a huge ‘Christmas’ tree. But it was decorated with fall decorations. This was the gift tree. There was a dried honey suckle vine archway going into the reception. We had a huge wrought iron gazebo in the center that had my table and cake in it. My cake was four tiered, carrot cake and red velvet alternating layers. The icing was tinted with cocoa to give it a tiny hint of color. Then the four food tables came out from the gazebo. We had lots of yummy food including my favorite Chick fil a chicken nuggets! Robby’s table was decorated with lots of gold fabrics and glittery leaves. His cake was chocolate, decorated with strawberries and grapes. We found all kinds of fall dishes and things to serve the food in including these huge fall leaf platters. My very talented aunt made all of my flower arrangements for the tables. I wish I had pictures to show! I have a few pictures of the reception but that is one thing I regret. I didn’t have my photographer take many pictures of the decorated reception and I really wish I would have had more taken!

Our white limo was suppose to be at the church at 6:30pm. And I let my family know that I wanted to know exactly when it arrived! Seriously, I was ready to get outta there! I love, loved my wedding and reception but we just didn’t want a long reception. I wanted everyone to have enough time to eat and mingle and then see us off. So, we did the whole birdseed thing and off we went in our limo. We made a pit stop at our house and then took off to Atlanta to spend the night and travel to Savannah the next day. We were STARVING when we got to the hotel. Thankfully we had a lovely package of all of our food from the wedding. But when I opened it up, I noticed one thing was missing. CAKE! The only piece of our wedding cake that we had was the tiny bite we fed each other at the reception for pictures. I was so disappointed! I’m still not sure exactly who packed our ‘to-go’ basket, but whoever it was owes us some red velvet and carrot cake! At least I had my chicken nuggets though! We had a great time in Savannah honeymooning! You don’t need to know all of the details of that trip, do you?!? 🙂 Although, there is a funny story about shellfish and immodium. Just ask the Hubs the next time you see him! I pray that one day we’ll be able to take a trip back there together.

Well, thank you for letting me take a trip down memory lane. I truly am blessed to have my husband! I am excited about what the future holds for us. I am so thankful that God gave me a wonderful man to walk through life with. God is good isn’t He?

Happy Anniversary!

Four years ago today I married the man of my dreams… [everyone say “Awwwww“]

Seriously though, I’d like to take a little (and very little, since Eli will be up soon!) time to say how much I love that man of mine! I never realized 4 years ago how much more I could love him! He is such a support to me! In the past few weeks he has been my strength. I am so thankful that he stands with me in our desire for me to stay at home. And I believe that he does understand (most of the time!) how difficult my job can be. I’m thankful that he doesn’t get bothered by a messy house or my no-makeup face! He understands that some days it just doesn’t happen (more often than not here recently) and the most important thing is that I’m taking care of our boys! He helps me out as much as he can. He understands that family comes before work and he always puts us first (after his relationship with God, of course).

I admire him so much. He stands firmly on God’s Word. I know that his desire is to honor God with his life no matter what. I trust him to make decisions about our future because I know he is following God’s plan.

And here we are four years and two beautiful little boys later. I am so blessed!

And if I may get a little more sentimental… here is the wording on the card he gave me today.. it fits perfectly:

Someday, many years from now, we’ll look back on this crazy time in our life together and wonder how we did it all…. and then, those ordinary, everyday moments that we often take for granted will shimmer like the stars as we recount them…

I’ll sit close beside you, you’ll take my hand in yours. We’ll look at each other and say: “I’d do it all again.. and I wouldn’t change a thing.”

And I cried.. and his response was, “Well, don’t cry! I didn’t write it!”… (in our home we must always interject humor somewhere!)

I know that, but you read it.. and you knew it was perfect! 🙂

I’m not even sure what to title this because it’s so random!

Luke has a fever… which means we didn’t sleep much last night. The Hubs was kicked to the couch because all 3 of us, plus my belly couldn’t handle sleeping in one bed! It was better with just me and Luke, but not great! I have found that a fever with no other symptoms can mean lots of different things and I’m just hoping that it’s one of the things that doesn’t require a doctor’s visit later on. He’s been playing like normal and eating well.. so we’re good… so far!
One of Luke’s new favorite things to do now is ask me, “How you doin‘ Mommy?” Then I say, “I’m good. How are you doing Luke?” And he replies, “I’m goo-wad.” I can’t even begin to count how many times that conversation went on yesterday, over and over!
This weekend Luke spent some time with my mom and dad. The Hubs and I got to go to a movie by ourselves!! We had a great time being together! I know it will probably be a while before that is possible again but it is something that we try to make a priority (and will continue to try with 2 kiddos). It’s important for a child to know that Mommy and Daddy care about one another and make each other a priority. I definitely think it gives them a great sense of security. The past 2 anniversaries that we’ve had, while having Luke, we’ve been able to get away. When he was just 4 months old we spent one night away and then last year we went to Helen, GA for 2 whole nights! It is hard to leave him but I think it’s absolutely necessary in a marriage. Like I said, it’s great for the child(ren). But it’s also wonderful for the marriage relationship. I know the Hubs and I really look forward to nights like this past weekend. Having children is a full time job. It is the most wonderful and sometimes scary responsibility. Parents need time to reconnect and relax, even if it’s just a movie, take out Mexican food and a morning to sleep in! This year we will probably skip the mini ‘get-away’ since we will have a 6 wk old on our anniversary but we might can get away for 2 hours to have dinner! I’m sure 2 hours alone will be needed by then! 🙂
That was sort of a mini-ramble because the point of my story was to tell you something cute Luke said this weekend… The Hubs and I came out to my moms to eat dinner and pick up Luke Friday night. We decided to go ahead and get Luke bathed and pj’s on before we left since we knew he’d be out by the time we drove the hour home. Well, after his bath I was getting him dressed while my mom entertained him. We call Luke’s bottom his booty. As you know, with toddlers, many words don’t come out exactly how they are suppose to. So, when Luke says booty, it comes out ‘booby’. (Which is funny in itself!) One thing we’ve been dealing with here lately is Luke calling everything his, whether it is or not. He will say, ‘my car’, ‘my milk’, ‘my house’ and on and on. You might can see where this is going. As I started to put on the diaper, which Luke wasn’t happy about, he started saying, “My booby, my booby!” My mom just looked at me like, WHAT is he saying?? So, I had to explain that his booby is in fact his booty! Hahah! It was so funny because he kept saying it over and over!!! I absolutely love the age that he is at because he is saying so much! And some of it is just so funny! I love every minute of watching him grow!
Well, speaking of every minute… time is passing and he is sleeping… and I should be to, considering last night and another possible repeat tonight! Please send prayers our way for a healthy little boy!