Thing to remember

Things to remember about Everett at almost 3 years old:

• occasionally pooping and peeing on the potty!
• He peed in the fridge once 🙈
• He pooped on the floor in his room and like a good boy tried to clean it up by himself with paper towels 😂
• He peed in his toy box
• He pooped into his hand 🙈.. we keep him naked to help with potty training but this time he didn't make it to the potty!
• He's SO excited to meet baby sister in three short weeks!
• He loves doing anything with his daddy.. S10 rides, playing with trucks, picking worms, etc

Baby Girl

We found out on February 17th, 2017, three years previous to the day of finding out we were having a boy, that we are having a baby girl in July!!! We couldn't be more excited for this blessing... After the appt we went to Target and Tommy describes me as being on "cloud 9" as we walked through the baby aisles and dreamed of what our little girl would be like. I'm so thankful for everything that God has blessed our little family with. We have a beautiful home, good jobs, two babies, and a lot of love. Sometimes I forget all the blessings when I'm wrapped up in the busyness of life. I'm so thankful that I've been able to be home with Everett part time and full time when he was a baby. There are many moms who only dream of having that as a possibility this day and age. I'm thankful for Tommy who has instilled in our family the passion to be financially secure. If I wouldn't have had his advice, I would have most likely put myself and our family into a lot of debt and would be forced to work while wishing I was home with my babies. He is a man of wisdom. I know Everett will be just like him and that makes me very happy. 

Here are a few thing Everett is doing that I don't want to forget! (2 1/2 years old)

• Sleeping in his big boy bed (yay)
• Peeing occasionally on the big boy toilet
• Saying "that's nasty" after every time he sneezes!
• Says spoon "poon"

Fork in the Road

As I've gotten older, it has become more and more apparent to me that in life we have to choose God or the World. Growing up, I believed in God but He was not an everyday truth for me. I went to church and turned to Him during the hard times but didn't have an everyday relationship with Him. I floated back and forth between living how the Lord wanted me to and living how this world wanted me to. I thought that I would be able to continue this and somehow feel good about my life. Thank God, the values that were instilled in me as a child stuck with me and I came back to them. "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6. I think in life he allows bad things to happen to us because He knows it will make us choose. You can choose to seek happiness and cover up the hurt with the things of this world: alcohol, drugs, material objects, music, beauty, food, etc. OR you can choose Jesus. The more we turn to Him in hard times instead of this world, the more He will open our eyes to truth and we will feel peace. My prayer everyday is that my children will recognize this. My prayer is that they will question everything the world tells them will bring them happiness and that they will wholeheartedly seek and soak up the truth that comes from reading the bible and understanding His words. Life gets hard my loves. It can be a lot of struggle amongst a few moments of happiness. But it is so worth it if we hang on to His promises. I know I'm not home here on this earth. I know He has a place prepared for me. In the meantime, He sure knows how to bless us with many good things: My husband, my babies (Everett and to be continued..."Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill His promises to her." Luke 1:45) . He is good. 

Fall 2016

Well, fall is finally here and we couldn't be happer. Work is slowing down a little (needs to slow down more soon). Things are still pretty hard right now with Tommy not being home as much as we would like. Last night, Tommy was home about 5:30 which was nice. It was an emotional night for some reason. We are at the end of the busy season at ITS and we both are very run down and tired. We were eating dinner and Everett was sitting on my lap. He was eating some toast. He put his toast down, bowed his head, folded his hands, mumbled a few words then said "amen". I couldn't believe it and it brought me to tears. It was so sweet and pure it just flooded me with emotions because these are the moments as parents that mean so much. He had watched us pray over our dinner a few times but never understood. "Jesus said. "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:14. 

Lately, what has been on my mind is the fact that we would have been having a baby any day now if it hadn't have ended up being a tubal pregnancy. That is hard to think about. Especially seeing Everett's love for babies. He's going to be such a good big brother some day. We will keep praying and leaving the rest to God. 

Things Everett is doing currently:

-Talking SO much!

- Still sleeping in his crib

- Still not much interest in the big boy potty

- Climbing out of his crib for the first time!

Everett turned 2!!

Everett turned 2 on July 12th! We had a fun bday party for him with cake, ice cream, water balloons, and a water slide! Life with a 2 year old sure can be an adventure! The other day he told me there was a "mess" on the floor and usually that is what he tells me when Walter poops or pees on the floor... It was a surprise to me when it was his poop on the floor! EEEK! Even through the not so fun times of parenting I'm still loving every minute. Everett has so much character and it is so fun to see all the things he's learning about this world we live in... Here are a few things I want to remember about this time:

- Everett calls Walter "Balter"

- He is a very picky eater and doesn't each much most days

- He doesn't have any interest in going Potty on the big boy potty....

- He now lets me read books to him before bed (SUCH a treat for me!!)

- Still sleeping in his crib

- His favorite word for about a week was "Shit" (OOPS that was my fault)

Slow down

http://vevo.ly/DcndAn

"Slow Down" By Nichole Nordeman

This song is so good! It's exactly how I feel lately as I watch Everett grow up. I like the part about them wanting to walk through the door because Everett loves doors right now. He's obsessed with Opening and closing them! He is also SO independent. He doesn't want me to read books to him because he wants to read and hold them on his own! 😔 "I pointed to the sky and now you want to fly".. It is so relevant ❤️  He is 2 months shy of being 2 years old and sometimes his attitude shows it! He is pretty well behaved but also wants to do everything his way. He throws temper tantrums when we have to go inside after playing outside! ☺️☀️ he's an amazing little boy and can be so sweet sometimes. I love when he looks at me face to face, holds my face in his hands and brings our heads together for a few seconds. He can be so loving and gentle in those moments and it's like he's telling me "I love you mom." Something he can't verbalize quite yet! ☺️

I've learned more from pain than I ever could from pleasure

Friday March 17th we had an ultrasound due to complications I had been having with the pregnancy and we found out that the pregnancy was ectopic(tubal)... This was very hard for us to come to terms with because the timing of the pregnancy was so perfect and it seemed so right.. But God had a different plan.. Even though going through things like this is so hard and it makes us question God, I know there is a reason for it. "I've learned more from pain than I ever could from pleasure" is such a true quote for me lately. Pain has taught me to be compassionate and kind in more ways than I ever thought possible.. It's made me more loving because I want to bring joy to others and I don't want them to go through pain. We all go through hardships but it makes it easier when we are not alone and when we are surrounded by love.. God knows that is what we need, and he provides that in those times.