My favorite thing about being a mommy

So this week's Favorite Friday topic is "my favorite thing about being a mommy". There are so many wonderful things about being a mom...hugs and kisses all the time, being able to make "boo-boos" all better, watching the changes your baby makes from helpless infant to almost independent toddler - the list could go on and on. But my favorite thing about being a mommy is what it is teaching me about how God loves us. This is something that has been on my heart a lot lately. I love Cole & Savannah so much that I can't even describe it. I loved Cole so much before Savannah arrived that I really didn't know how I was going to love another baby that much - but when I heard her cry in the delivery room it suddenly all made sense, I just loved her unconditionally. My love for my children grows EVERY day! It amazes me that our Heavenly Father loves me even more than I love my children. I can't even comprehend how much HE loves me AND YOU!! What an awesome thing it is to be a child of God!

"God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life." John 3:16 New Century Version

Watching them learn

It is so cool to watch my children grow and learn each day. Cole has started "pretending" when he plays. When I ask him who he is talking to on the toy phone he tells me "Gram Gram" and then laughs like she said something funny! This morning I found him putting his train track pieces together all by himself (Thank you Nana & Pawpaw for the Lego Train Set) and he shared his stop sign and traffic cones with Savannah! The following pictures aren't great works of photography, but they do capture moments where Cole showed me he is growing and learning...
See the traffic cones and stop sign at the bottom of the picture...Savannah may not care to play with them, but Cole shared them all on his own!! That is progress!!!! How amazingly we have been created by our LORD!!

Our new favorite outfit

Gotta love John Deere & Camo!

I love Splenda!

Whoever invented Splenda - THANK YOU! No calories and no funny aftertaste - I love it!!!!

5 months already?

So once again stealing an idea from Sara, I have been taking pictures of Savannah in the same chair (well usually the same chair) each month at her month birthdays to see how she grows. I always take a picture of her and Cole together at this time too. Here is the latest and the past pics.

5 months

4 months

3 months


2 months

1 month

2 weeks

Wow how quickly they grow!

I am old...

My whole immediate family was in town this past weekend. I am just now recovering from the Sat. & Sun. staying up late talks. I have decided that it taking me until Wed. to get over staying up until 2:30 AM and 12:30 AM on Sat. & Sun. officaially makes me old. Although the recovery has been hard, it was AWESOME to have everyone here!! We don't get to all be together very often. Even though it was a short visit, I am very thankful that we had the time together. Cole & Savannah loved having their Gram Gram, Papa, Dandel (Uncle Daniel), Ontiti (Aunt Cristina), & BEN here for the weekend. Cole has such a cute way of saying their names. He thinks they are all coming back this weekend to play! Lucky for him Gram Gram & Papa will be back!! YEAH! Here are some pictures from the weekend...

Savannah loves her Papa!!!

Cole & Gram Gram sliding

Cole sharing Cherrios with Ben

Do these grandparents look proud?

Favorite Fridays

Today is the kick off of "Favorite Fridays". One of my best friends and I thought it would be fun to have a theme day for our blogs. Check hers out at The Doughties. We hope you enjoy finding out about some of our favorite things! Feel free to join us...

This Friday is Favorite Worship Song (from the book!).

For years my favorite worship song has been "It Is Well with My Soul" by Horatio Spafford. It is inspiring to think that after the ship wreck that took his four daughters, he wrote these words in praise and worship to our LORD.

"When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

Refrain

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul."

I think that the 2nd & 3rd verses have always been there to lift me up when I needed it most. The words of this song remind me that my sins have been washed away and our Savior is returning to take us home, and the music behind the words makes me feel those things.

Apparently there are several verses to this song that I didn't know existed (they aren't in the book). Since I am one of the only Church of Christ members that does not have a "Songs of Praise" songbook on my bookshelf, I had to look up the lyrics on the internet. Click here to see the "new" lyrics.

"Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul!" Psalm 146:1

Random thought...

As I was unloading the dishwasher this morning, for no particular reason, a random cliche popped into my head...

"Misery loves company."

And then I thought...

If you find yourself surrounded by miserable people, what does that say about you?

Tummy time

Tummy time is great for babies. It helps develop upper body strength and neck strength. But babies are NOT supposed to sleep on their tummies according to the AAP. I know that there are going to be mothers out there saying "We laid our kids on their tummies and they grew up just fine!" But statistics have proven that there is a lower SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) rate now than there was during the "Tummy Sleep" recommendation era. So I am going with the current AAP guidelines. - On a sidenote, I have recently discovered that I am much more rule follower and much less rebel than I thought I was. - Anyway, Savannah has been rolling over for a little while now, and we of course encourage her to have lots of AWAKE tummy time. But when I got up this morning, for the very first time I caught her on her tummy in her crib. I of course promptly rolled her onto her back, and she promptly rolled herself back onto her tummy!! I guess I can't blame her because I like to sleep on my tummy too!!! Here is a picture of Savannah napping on her tummy a few days ago. After I took the picture, she finished her nap on her back....

I love spring!!

I love spring!! And it is here! Is it crazy to be especially excited about spring this year because there are so many cute little sleeveless or short sleeved dresses in Savannah's closet? Growing up I never thought that I would want to put my little girl in anything pink or frilly, but it is so fun - unless it is cold and you have to put her in tights and cover up the pretty outfit with blankets or sweaters. So I am so excited that it is warm enough to put Savannah in cute little dresses and bloomers and show off her precious chunky thighs. Thanks Hannah for letting us borrow this cute little dress!!

Healthy Children

I am so thankful for healthy children. When I hear stories about what other families are having to endure with sick or injured children, I can not fathom what those parents are going through. It just makes me so grateful that God has blessed me with two happy healthy babies. I know that I may not always be so fortunate, but for now I am truly thankful for Cole & Savannah's health.

My little helper....

Cole is such a good little helper. He loves to help with Savannah. He helps me hold her bottle, and he loves to give her a pacifier when he thinks she needs it. Today he heard me say that she was hungry, and as I was making her bottle he tried to share his cherrio with her. That would have been great, except that she is not even eating rice cereal yet.


Cole also loves to help with household chores, such as keeping everything "buckled". We have 3 booster seats and a baby swing that must at all times stay buckled. He also likes to "Shake shake shake" the laundry as I am folding it - even the items that are already folded.


Tonight Cole helped me cook dinner. He helped make lima beans and corn. Even though Cole's helping is not always really help, I am so thankful that he is interested in "helping". I hope that he will always enjoy helping others. I also hope that we can create fond memories he will look back on in the future. I can remember helping my mom in the kitchen. She always let us help with the holiday baking or just everyday cooking and I never remember feeling like I was getting in the way (although I am sure there were times I hindered more than helped). Thanks Mom for letting me be your "little helper".

When your toddler is smarter than you think...

So yesterday we were trying to get Cole to eat his lunch, and all he wanted was chips. He had a bowl full of peaches and some hot dog still to eat. I told him if he ate his peaches I would put some chips in his bowl. He ate one diced peach and said "Chip chip" as he pointed to the bowl. So I told him that his bowl had to be empty before he could have any chips. Of course I meant that he needed to EAT the peaches, but he proceeded to take the peaches out of the bowl one by one and put them on his plate with his hot dog! "Chip chip chip chip" with lots of pointing in the bowl followed the peaches removal. At least he is understanding what I am saying, and yes he got the chips. He did do what I said, so I had to follow through with what I had told him I would do....
This picture is from a different meal. Cole is such a cheeser!!!

Confession

So for all of you who are viewing a blog for the first time, I want to let you know that it is okay to browse the blogs of people you don't even know. I confess that I have done this many times, and I find it quite entertaining. I was introduced to blogging when I started keeping Camden 3 days a week (see The Walkers under Blogging Friends). The cool thing is that since Sara (Camden's mom) and I went to school together she had several links to blogs of people I knew or knew of from school. It was cool to see how these people were doing, who they married, what their kids looked like, etc. As other friends of mine began blogs they also had links of familiar faces. It is funny how you could live 2 doors down from someone for a couple of years in school and then have no idea anything about their life until you happen to run across their blog from a link on someone's blog that you do keep in contact with. And then there is that little "Next Blog" button at the top of the page... there is a whole new world out there just waiting to be read. Anyway, call it nosy if you want, but anyone who is posting a blog knows it is public info so they are just asking for their lives to be peeked at.....

Oh well....

At least it was a good game....

March Madness

So it is Tourney Time and I have yet to see a Duke game this season. Not that I have missed much from what I hear, but I am still hoping they can pull it out in the big dance. Call me crazy, but I am a true fan and true fans don't give up on their teams!

What a smile...

Savannah arrived a mere 4 1/2 months ago! I can't believe how much she has grown and changed in such a short amount of time. You would think that I would remember more about the first year of a baby's life since Cole is not even two yet, but I don't. I am amazed every day at how God created us to be, and what joy HE gives us in children.

All boy....

So we took our Lifegroup at church to an indoor rockclimbing place on Sunday. Nevermind that our lifegroup is made up of 15 - 16 year olds, our son decided he was going to climb too (with a little assistance)! He had so much fun "climbing" the wall. I think if we had put a harness on him he would have climbed all the way to the top.

Well I finally did it....

So I have been contemplating this blogging thing for at least 10 months. My husband will say that one of my best friends starting her blog is what finally pushed me to do it. He is probably right. But whatever the reason, here we are. I hope to let you take a peep at the craziness that has become our family and maybe let you in on what goes through my baby brain from time to time. Let me know you've stopped by.....