Living He loved me, Dying He Saved me

A few pictures of the eater egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa Brown's....

I went back to look at the pictures we took as a family for Easter and they are just pitiful. Wes had an emotional breakdown that day and I cooked Sunday dinner...and I was disheveled, Wes's eyes (and face!) were blotchy from crying and we are basically a mess. Project for next week: Dress the boys back up in their Easter clothes and take their pictures! ha! :)

One day when Heaven was filled with His praises
One day when sin was as black as could be
Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin
Dwelt among men, my example is He
Word became flesh and the light shined among us
His glory revealed

Living, He loved me
Dying, He saved me
Buried, He carried my sins far away
Rising, He justified freely forever
One day He’s coming
Oh glorious day, oh glorious day

One day they led Him up Calvary’s mountain
One day they nailed Him to die on a tree
Suffering anguish, despised and rejected
Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is He
Hands that healed nations, stretched out on a tree
And took the nails for me

One day the grave could conceal Him no longer
One day the stone rolled away from the door
Then He arose, over death He had conquered
Now He’s ascended, my Lord evermore
Death could not hold Him, the grave could not keep Him
From rising again

One day the trumpet will sound for His coming
One day the skies with His glories will shine
Wonderful day, my Beloved One, bringing
My Savior, Jesus, is mine

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Father God--thank you for the Cross! Thank you that in life You loved me and in death, You Saved me!

Happy Easter Everyone!

Family Pictures-Spring 2011

Stuff in my head...

First, I have to say we are getting ready for our firstborn's birthday party. I'm having a hard time comprehending that he is turning FOUR. FOUR?!!? How did this happen? Motherhood is so bittersweet for me. I love watching my children grow and experience and learn...but I literally feel like the time is slipping through my hands like sand. I mean, I physically want to grab on to it and STOP TIME. I've found that having a second baby is interesting because I have a better understanding of the truth that he will not stay a baby. I mean, intellectually I knew that when Owen was a baby, but I didn't quite understand that the infant I held in my arms would soon be a three year old crazy (but super lovable) person :) And now that I've experienced it, I literally ACHE to keep Wes little. At the same time I look forward to the new stages. Its such a conflict. I'm not sure I was prepared for these emotions when I became a mother...but here they are. And I must enjoy each moment for what it is and try so hard not to focus on how fleeting these days are. Ugh. Its so hard. I would have a thousand babies, but that wouldn't solve the problem. They will all grow up.....they wouldn't be mine to snuggle forever even if I had 17. And, no worries...no part of me wants 17 children. You know what I mean :)

Our house is still for sale. We have had a few showings and no offers. I'm completely peaceful about this. Completely. It drives my husband crazy. I'm happy to move if the opportunity presents itself, but God has me wholeheartedly content and peaceful in knowing that He will move us if we are to move...and if we aren't...then here we stay. Like I said before, staying here forever was NEVER the plan. I know what my neighborhood has become. I really do have a grasp on that. It makes me sad, it frustrates me but God has brought me to this really cool place where I just honestly believe that we are completely covered in grace and protection And, I've really been convicted that we have to be prepared for a "no" answer. I think there are a lot of things in life that we think we have figured out. It doesn't make sense to us that God would want us to stay here. It doesn't add up that with the way our neighborhood has gone down the tubes that raising our boys here is the best answer. But, I've seen God work through crazier situations than this. And, I've seen Him say NO to things that I couldn't believe he was clearly saying "no" to. He is really speaking to me through all of this....trust. Wait. Be still. Hold on. Listen for me. Move when I move you. Coming through this "we want to move and get out of HERE" process is so much more about honoring God with our character than physically moving. To close this section I've written about moving...I will say, "Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24) :)

I've been reading One Thousand Gifts, (who isn't, right? :))...and man. Its one of those books that is going to change my life. There are a few books that have done this for me. "Redeming Love" (Francine Rivers) was one of them, "Disappointment with God" (Yancey) was another and this one is proving to be just as powerful. I'm only now getting into the main crux (chapter 5), but reading through how she came to this process of gratitude has been super eye opening for me. "Eucharisteo", gratitude/thanksgiving linking us to salvation, and so much more---whew. Powerful stuff. Without a doubt, I recommend that you pick up a copy and start reading today! I'm excited to start making my list. Also, Ann Voskamp has a blog...I've just starting following. Love it. Check it out : www.aholyexperience.com.

Thats about all :) Just had some stuff floating around in my heart that I wanted to put in writing. Looking forward to Easter and celebrating Jesus death and resurrection. So absolutely grateful for what this means in my life!

Grateful for two precious sleeping boys tonight. A warm, cozy home. Bills that are paid. A husband who is becoming ever more sensitive to the Holy Spirit and God's timing...and learning to rest in that. Thank you Jesus :) We are so completely blessed.

Halfway to a year

Happy six months, Wes! We love you baby!
We haven't been to the Pediatrician for your check up yet, but I'm guessing you weigh between 16.5-17 lbs. You are getting HEAVY! ( I'll have to come back with the actual stats later) You wear a 2-3 in a pampers diaper and you fit easily into 6-9 clothing for the most part.
I thought for awhile that you had a tooth poking through, but I was wrong. Nothing yet...although I imagine it will be soon. You are a big slobbery, hand chewing mess.
You are nursing about every 3.5-4 hours. Every once in awhile I let you suck on a banana, some avocado or try a bit of what we are eating. You have done fine with everything we have let you try. Today, I mixed up a little bit of oatmeal for you to try and you loved it :)
You still roll everywhere. You can't quite sit up without help yet. You've gotten yourself up on your hands and knees a time or two like you wanted to crawl, but those moments were pretty short lived.
You continue to think Owen is hysterical. You hang out with daddy much better now, and still love me a whole bunch but are doing better with other people as well. We've put you in the nursery at church a few times now and it hasn't gone particularly well :) Poor baby. (poor nursery workers) You'll learn that its a fun place to be eventually :)
For the most part you sleep from about 8PM-6 or 7 AM. It doesn't work like that every single day, but in general, that is your schedule. You continue to be a pretty pitiful napper. I'm trying to be better at laying you down at the same times every day, but if we are ever out doing thing you usually fall asleep in the car and this messes everything up.
You also are developing a bit of a temper! You've thrown a couple of what I consider to be "baby tantrums" :) Maybe you are just really passionate, but we'll see how this translates into toddlerhood!
Love you sweet pea. Can't believe you are six months old. It just goes to fast. We are so happy you are ours.

Brothers

To the outside world we all grow old. But not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were. We know each other's hearts.....We live outside the touch of time. ~Clara Ortega

I'm so glad they will always have each other!

Five Months of Wes

Wes turned five months old a few days ago. I'm trying not to cry about it.
He is so much bigger than Owen was at five months. At one of the (many) recent visits to the Pediatrician's office (to make sure he just had a cold and not an ear infection, whooping cough, RSV, bronchitis, pneumonia, etc!) he weighed in at 15 lbs 5 oz with his clothes on. He is at about 42% for weight and at 26.5 inches long he is about 60% for height! I feel like he is gigantic, but he is actually just about average. ( I don't ever pay attention his head measurements. I'm always told they are normal, so I'm good with that!)
He is a sweet, sweet baby. He is still only nursing---about 3-4 hours during the day, and even though he wakes up during the night...I don't feed him anymore, and he doesn't seem to care about that. :)
Unfortunately, it has been awhile since he has slept straight through the night. He generally wakes up at least once, sometimes twice. He usually wakes up happy, and I'll typically just pick him up and rock him back to sleep. If you think I'm creating bad habits, I don't want to hear about it :) I don't do cry it out...at least not now (if he's still doing this at a year, maybe I'll reevaluate) and he's my last baby, so even though I'm tired, rocking him back to sleep is wonderful for me and it usually only takes about 10 minutes for him to fall asleep. In general he wakes to eat around 5:30 AM and then goes back to sleep until about 7:30 or 8:00.
He is teething for sure. He wants everything to be IN HIS MOUTH! :) He gnawed a little divot in pointer finger....so sad, but poor baby...I know his gums hurt. I've been orajel-ing him up and we bought him a special teething toy--Sophie the Giraffe.
He continues to roll easily from back to tummy and occasionally he will roll back, but not often. He is really interested in his toys and he is doing ok in the exersaucer...I think he might still a big young for it, but he will definitely be into it soon.
I've been holding off on solids...I've given him little tastes of things here and there just for fun...a bite of a piece of mashed up banana, carrot, avocado, and tonight I steamed some apple pieces and mashed them up. This is completely different than what I did with Owen. I had Owen on formula and around 5 1/2 months I started him on rice cereal, which he never really did well with and I ended up introducing fruit and mixing it..yada yada yada....well, this time I decided that I was going to not do cereal at all and wait for sure until six months to do any kind of real food....except Wes has been watching us like a hawk when we eat, reaching for food when we have it in our hands and acting like he really WANTS some food! So, tonight I thought...good grief, why not. Thus, the steamed apple....I mashed it up and sprinkled some cinnamon on it and...he was just ok with it. So, anyways. I'll be more regular about giving him solids after six months, but if he acts like he is just dying to have some of our food, then I'm not technically opposed to giving him some tastes. I know he will be ok, but I also know that he doesn't really need anything other than breastmilk at this point. His weight if fine and there is no real need for baby food right now....and I'm also going to try and loosely follow baby-led-weaning ...so, we'll see how this goes! I didn't breastfeed past four months with Owen, so this figuring out nursing and solids is a whole new territory for me! :)
Other fun things....Wes will blow "bubbles" (read:spit) at us :), he LOVES Owen, Owen can always make him laugh, and still really has a thing for his mother :) He is a lot of fun and its so wonderful to see his personality developing!
I think that's about it! We love our sweet boy. Happy Five months Wes! I don't want to think about you being nearly six months old, but I'm grateful for each minute I have with you...even if it means you have to grow up! (I'll try and get over that!)

Wes Dedication

We dedicated Wes at church on Sunday. Here is the big fail: we forgot to take pictures. My dear mother took two. One of Wes and one of Wes and I. I guess the second child always gets jipped on pictures.

We love you sweet baby. And just as we have prayed for Owen, we pray that you will grow into a man who knows and loves the Lord....and follows hard after Him!