First off, thank you again for your sweet encouragement on the last two posts. I do want to be honest in this waiting period but I also don’t want to overlook the blessings that God has given me. It’s something I’ve always had a hard time doing. I worried so much before I met Jon, before we had Nathan… I joked for a long time that worry was my spiritual gift, but it’s really a sin and one I’m trying to work on.

But that’s another blog post for another day. 😉

All that to say, thank you for your continued prayers and know I’ll be praying for you all as well!

Nathan is very into sharing his “baba” (pacifier) with Wyatt and Lucky lately. He will wake up in the mornings or from nap and immediately start saying, “shh! shh!”, lay them on the pillow, give them each a paci and cover them up with the blanket. Yet another reason we keep a hundred pacis in his crib now. 😉

My driver’s license finally expired last week which is a wonderful thing because when I went four years ago to get it renewed, the guy taking my picture did this:

“Okay. I’m taking it on the count of one…two…”

Click.

Yep. I was definitely right in the middle of biting my lower lip when he took it.

So, today was the dreaded license renewal day. I came as prepared as I could be. I gave Nathan “cheetos” (those baked Gerber snack things), two coloring books, chocolate milk and a blueberry fruit leather and pretty much smiled from the second I walked over to the picture-taking-place until after I left the building just in case.

God willing, I will have a much more beautiful license picture in 7-10 days or whenever the state department decides I am a responsible adult in need of driving with a permanent instead of temporary license. I think I know a grand total of two people who actually have nice pictures on their licenses, though, so I’m not keeping my fingers crossed.

We had a great weekend! Saturday, all three of us slept in until 9:45 which was about the BEST thing that could have happened. Everything looks sunnier when you’re well rested, I think. 😉 We did some errands and returned a few things, including the miscalculations from Nathan’s sandbox:

😉 He thought he was about the coolest thing in the world.

We went to Chili’s with Gammy and Pops on Saturday night and had a great time. I love my parents so much. Then, yesterday, I got to meet Leigh Ann for coffee and it was just the TWO of us. No kids, no husbands. SO fun. I’m so blessed to have such a sweet, wonderful friend! 🙂 We tried to look for jackets but struck out. Apparently, this is not a good time of the year to suddenly realize how much you need a new hoodie jacket.

And then Mom and I got to run to the mall last night. Two great girl times in one day! It was wonderful. 🙂

Today, we met the Lunch Bunch at Chick-Fil-A. Always an adventure. At one point, four of the six kids were crying, one was screaming and the other one was an eight-week-old baby.

So, we got all the kids balloons.

Ah, Monday.

Guys, I have to apologize.

While I am in this cycle of waiting, while I do get sad and sometimes struggle with disappointment, I never, ever want to complain.

And I feel like yesterday’s post definitely had some whining in there.

Yesterday was not a good day for me. And I woke up this morning with this horrible burden of how much I complain to God when others around me are suffering so deeply.

Hear me out on this – I’m not saying at all that we can’t take our requests and wants and prayers and pain to God. He created me with this desire for a house full of kids! I know He can handle my disappointment and tears. But I do not want to become a woman who is so focused on what she doesn’t have that she misses all the amazing blessings around her.

So, please accept my apology. I’m still working on and praying for a heart that is more and more like His. God has blessed me tremendously. May I never take that for granted!!

On to Friday Favorites.

1. Explora Museum

Yesterday, Nathan and I met our good friends at Explora, a science museum here in town, and had the best time. The museum is probably aimed more for grade school kids, but there was enough that he could do that he had a blast. He got to make giant bubbles:

And he loved holding a walking stick bug (blegh. He is so his daddy’s boy. You should have seen how excited he was to hold it!):

2. My Fair Wedding with David Tutera

Mom first told me about this show and it is SO much fun to watch! Basically, this guy comes in when these girls have three weeks before their wedding and completely changes everything and the girls don’t get to see it until their wedding day. He seriously creates the most beautiful weddings I’ve ever seen. Best part? It’s on Netflix Instant so zero commercials and I can watch as many in a row as I can. 😉

3. Zip Up Hoodie Jackets

I’m in the market for a new jacket seeing as how every one I’ve got I’ve had for about six years. I realized that this week since we’re now out of coat weather and back into jacket weather and all of my jackets have either A) shrunk lengthwise in the dryer, B) are threadbare or C) are coming apart at the seams. Anyone have a favorite zip up hoodie they want to recommend? I thought this one was cute.

4. Cookie Dough Bites

I’m pretty sure I don’t need to say more. Except I will say, you can make these in like 10 minutes from start to finish and they taste amazing and I like to pretend that they only have .05 calories in each delicious bite.

Have a great weekend!

For those of you out there who are in this tearful journey of waiting, I wanted to just give you a verse that I’ve been repeating over and over today. Today was a hard day. Not with Nathan – he had a few fussy minutes, but he was able to calm down quickly.

No, today I got yet another “Not now” from God.

I’ll be honest. It hurts. I feel like just at the moment when I am really feeling covered in prayer and content with my life, I realize again just how much I want something that, by all I can tell, is a good thing to want and how badly it stings when God still says no.

So today, Nehemiah 8:10 has been on constant repeat in my brain: “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”

I’ve been thinking over each part of the verse and it’s given me some comfort today. It doesn’t say that the joy of the Lord might be our strength or there’s a chance that someday we’ll have joy and on that day, it will be our strength.

Just “the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

It’s present tense.

I’ve been thinking a lot also about Hannah in 1 Samuel. She prayed for years and years for a child and God continued to say no, over and over again. I’ve always, always wondered why God said no for so long. It says that children are a blessing, which in my mind would make them a good thing to want. Was her heart not right yet? Did she still have something to learn? Was He waiting until she was willing to give her longed-for child back to Him?

Or, perhaps it was something else altogether.

I love what Nathan’s Jesus Storybook Bible says, talking about John writing the book of Revelation: “And he knew, in some mysterious way that would be hard to explain, that everything was going to be more wonderful for once having been so sad.”

Maybe that’s why God allows us to wait. Maybe because He knows that all this frustration, all these tears, all this sadness is going to make the day when we are finally holding that blessing in our arms ever so much more wonderful because we have longed for it, prayed for it, ached for it for so long.

I’m still praying for you. I’m praying that we learn contentment with what we have, thankfulness for what God has done and is doing in our lives, and how to find strength in the joy of the Lord even when we are struggling with His plan.

Love to you,

My in-laws, Papa O and Nonnie, got in town last Friday afternoon and left last night. We had so much fun with them! 🙂

We went to the zoo and had a great time even though it was a bit on the chilly side.

My mother-in-law taught me how to make rag quilts (SO FUN – I’ve been begging her to show me this for years!!), so Wyatt received his very own blanket made out of old fabric scraps this weekend. Nathan was pretty excited about that.

Ha! He kept wrapping Wyatt up in his blanket and rocking him. Adorable. 🙂

And my fashionable son spent hours upon hours entertaining his grandparents with all of his new tricks that he’s learned since Thanksgiving. You can’t really tell, but this is his version of “We all fall down!” from Ring Around the Rosy. 😉

Like I’ve said before. Those deep snapper genes just run deep, I guess. 😉

They left last night right before dinner. Nathan didn’t sleep super well last night, so he’s been on the grouchier side today. I feel an early bedtime coming for all of us tonight! 😉 We went over to Gammy’s this morning so she could watch Nathan while I wrote. It was nice to get back into the swing of writing since I got so little done last week with everything else going on.

Thanks so much for coming, Nonnie and Papa O! We love you guys. 🙂

My in-laws are going to be here right around when Nathan wakes up from his nap today. Which is GREAT, because that means my house will still look and be clean since he won’t have had enough time after nap to destroy it. I tried to clean yesterday but oh. my. gracious the day we had yesterday. I don’t know if the shot on Wednesday or him not sleeping very well did it, but Nathan was a pill and a half yesterday. He screamed half the day and I burst into tears twice before finally piling us both in the car in our sweatpants to go get Starbucks.

Yes. I turned to the drink. I have a problem. If the first step is admitting it, I’ve been sitting on this first step since 2002.

But there was this AMAZING SHINING MOMENT yesterday that was totally and completely God’s wonderful gift to me of just reminding me that what I’m doing is actually making a difference. Nathan handed me his milk cup yesterday and said, “Mommy, I wan mowe.”A four word sentence! Previously unheard in this house from him. I almost started crying again but instead I gave him a hug, said a long prayer of thanks and got him some more to drink.

Lots of talk of drinks today. Sorry about that.

Bryant’s girlfriend, Michaela, is in town this weekend as well and so we got to see her for a little bit last night at Gammy and Pops’ for dinner. Nathan is pretty much head over heels in love with her. She could barely move without him holding her hand, hugging her or sitting in her lap. My boy’s got the moves.

Like Jagger.

And now that song will be stuck in my head the rest of the weekend.

We should move on to Friday Favorites.

1. Mr. Clean Magic Erasers

They seriously are magic. My walls, baseboards and doors have never been cleaner and when you consider I have a 19-month-old, that is proof enough.

2. David – 90 Days with A Heart Like His by Beth Moore

I finished up my other Bible study and I just started this one on Wednesday. So far, I think it’s great. I love that there is lots of space for personal reflections and prayer. And can I just mention that it’s hardcover and has the cool edged pages? Love that. I absolutely love my time in the mornings – it’s definitely God’s gift to me everyday. I didn’t always used to be this way – I was a nighttime devotional girl. Marriage was hard for the first few months because I had to adjust to not having my evenings with me and Jesus anymore. But mornings have proven to be just as good and now my devotions include coffee or chai. 😉

3. Glade candles

I’ll mention it again. I’ve got a 19-month-old. Who is in diapers. And who doesn’t smell good at all unless it’s in the fifteen minutes right after bath time. We heart scented candles at this house.

4. Homemade Bread

Guys, I tried this recipe last week and Jon and I both about died from sheer homemade-bread-happiness-induced comas. It is THAT good. You must try it. I have a bread machine, so I followed that recipe, but there is also a link on how to make it without one. Do it.

5. Wine Bottle Wall Art

I am so going to make this. Possibly even this weekend while there is extra help to make sure that I don’t accidentally stain my child with the Deep Walnut Wood Stain instead of the two-by-four. Isn’t this pretty? And I have just the place to put it!

6. Love You Forever by Robert Munsch

I must hate myself. We had gift cards to use at Barnes and Noble and so Wednesday, Nathan and I went and stocked up on Skippyjon Jones books, Mickey Mouse counting books and this one. I seriously love this book but I have to tell you, I BAWLED while reading it and about suffocated Nathan from how tightly I was hugging him afterward.

And now, I’m off to Magic Erase the spaghetti remnants off my kitchen walls and vacuum the house before my in-laws get here. What are your Friday Favorites?

Have a great weekend!

One of the biggest differences between me and Jon is that he isn’t very good at planning ahead. When we were dating, he would call me at 4:30 in the afternoon and ask if I wanted to go get dinner that night. He’s definitely a seat-of-the-pants type of person.

Meanwhile, I’m one of those people who needs to know what’s going to happen six weeks from today. I want to know what time it’s going to take place at, where it’s going to be and what I need to wear and have it written on my calendar a very long time from when it is going to happen. I love anticipating things and I love being prepared! Ha!

Jon OUTDID himself this Valentine’s Day! He actually told me almost two weeks ago that he was going to be making me a special dinner and that Nathan was going to need to go to bed a little early and that I needed to stay home so I could be here to get another surprise.

So, yesterday morning, these gorgeous beauties were delivered:

Nathan was SO excited. He kept jumping up and down yelling, “Yay! Yay!” And we had to smell them about eight times. 😉

Jon got home and we gave Nathan his little Valentine bucket – I just had a few things in there – Reese’s peanut butter hearts and those Gerber semi-healthy-Cheeto things. Someone was a bit excited about it:

Then we all just played for a little bit before he started doing a few things in the kitchen.

I thought his helper was pretty dang adorable. 😉

I put Nathan in bed at seven and came out of Nathan’s room to find a hot bubble bath going for me with candles and music and chocolates. Y’all. I am not really a bath person – I like the water to be like 134 degrees, so it never stays hot enough for me. But it was sooo relaxing. I just laid there and finally had the chance to read a book I’ve been waiting for free time to read while Jon finished up our dinner in the kitchen.

He made lobster tail! I’d never even HAD lobster tail! Everything was absolutely delicious! Though, I told him, the bar has been raised VERY high for him as far as his cooking abilities go! Ha! 🙂

He even made chocolate-covered strawberries. LOVE IT.

I was spoiled rotten last night. Thank you so much, honey!

This morning, Nathan had an early doctor’s appointment for his 18-month checkup (a month late), so we were up and gone by eight. Ugh. I do not function well before about 10AM. But, it was nice to not have to wait forever in the waiting room.

He now weighs 25.6 pounds (he cannot for the life of him get over that 25-pound hump, despite all the food he eats!!), he’s almost 36 inches tall and he still has a big head. 😉 He was in the 28th percentile for weight, 95th for height and 90th for head.

My little string bean. 😉

Today is also a fun day – two years ago today, we found out that we would be having a boy – I can’t believe it’s been TWO years since then. Time flies when you’re busy chasing a BUSY boy. 😉

I hope you had a wonderful day yesterday! I thought of and prayed for each of you who had mentioned your prayer requests on waiting for a husband – I hope you felt the overwhelming love of Jesus yesterday and today!

I hadn’t realized it had been so long since I last posted! This past week has gone by FAST.

First off, WONDERFUL news – Nathan has been acting SO much better these last few days. He’s still thrown fits, but he’s doing so much better with the discipline. Thank you for your prayers and encouraging words! He’s a handful of a little guy but I absolutely ADORE being his Mommy.

A few things that I think have really helped us – Jon and I sat down on Wednesday night and came up with a game plan for tackling tantrums right when they first are starting. If nothing else, this has tremendously helped me to not feel so useless when he starts screaming. We have a plan and so far, I’ve been able to stick with it. I am definitely one of those people who needs directions to follow. 😉 I think it’s helped Nathan too, to have some consistency in his discipline.

(I have no idea why he had to pose like that when he said “CHEESE!”, but I thought it was hilarious. And can you tell that Kody is STILL suffering from postpartum depression? Ha!)

I also noticed that he seems to be especially quick to throw a tantrum midway through the morning, right before nap and then midway through the afternoon. So, I started giving him a snack like cereal (he now thinks everything good is called “Oreos” so he asks for Oreos (cereal) all day long. Ha!) in the morning and afternoon and I’ve been trying to be really good at being home and getting ready for nap by 12:30. That way, we can read, talk, sing and snuggle in the rocking chair for a little bit before nap. I think that’s also helped A LOT.

And lastly, the biggest thing I’ve done is just pray, pray, pray for him and me throughout the day. I know I’ve said this before, but I honestly just don’t know how you can be a sane parent without Jesus in your life!! I’m constantly praying for him to have self-control and for me to have wisdom in teaching him how to behave.

We had a HUGE breakthrough this weekend – Nathan was throwing a fit about something and hit Jon and then immediately grabbed Jon in a hug and said, “Wowwy. Wowwy,” before we even had the chance to tell him no. I loved it. I was so proud of him!! He didn’t act up the rest of the morning after that.

But, enough about the not fun stuff. 😉

We had a great weekend!! We spent Saturday running errands and playing around the house before taking Nathan over to Gammy and Pops so Jon and I could go on a fun date with Jamie, Justin, Clint, Leigh Ann, Thalia and Calvin. We had SUCH a great time.

Sunday, we celebrated Ali’s birthday. Nathan adores Ali. We ended up playing at Gammy and Pops’ until after dinner and then we came home and put Nathan to sleep.

Today, we had a fantastic Valentine’s Day party at Jamie’s house with the Lunch Bunch! It was SO cute. She had crafts for the kids to do and this absolutely delicious lunch. So wonderful. We even got a couch picture with the new addition of Bennett! 🙂

Can you tell someone learned how to say “Cheese!”?? 😉 He says it anytime he sees a phone or camera. Ha!

And now, Nathan is napping, I’m working on the laundry and when he wakes up, we’ll head to the grocery store because we are all out of milk. Which has been another new addition to this house – Nathan’s finally drinking milk!! I’ve been trying it since he turned a year and he’s finally been able to drink it without spitting it all back up. Yay!

What did y’all do this weekend? Have any big Valentine’s Day plans??

Yesterday was another hard day with Nathan. I’m not sure if he is teething, in the middle of a growth spurt or what is going on with him. Poor kid.

I was SO THANKFUL though because last night we had our monthly Lunch Bunch girls’ night at Leigh Ann’s house! We talked, we laughed… I love these women so much. God has definitely blessed me tremendously through them!!

However, this is what happens when Mommy is not around and Daddy changes Nathan’s diaper:

I am so proud. 😉

This morning, Nathan slept until 9:30 and has been wonderful most of the day! Thank you, Lord! We had a little spat at Walmart, but nothing like yesterday or the day before.

And he learned a new fun word:

Ha! He’s my son. What can I say?

Y’all.

We have officially hit that stage. The stage I’ve been dreading even more than potty training. I’ve seen glimpses of it here and there, but never like I saw it today.

Nathan threw about the biggest fit I have ever seen in my life today as we were leaving Lunch Bunch. He was hitting, head-butting, ripping hair… you name it, he was doing it to me all while crying and screaming at the top of his lungs.

I had no idea what to do – I was absolutely horrified. I tried telling him no, I tried asking him what was wrong, I tried holding him still, none of the these that usually help did anything. So, I carried him to the car kicking and screaming, wrestled him into his car seat and both of us cried the whole way home (well, until he fell asleep. Then it was just me).

I feel so inept as a mom sometimes. Most of the time, I feel like I at least have a small idea of what to do every day. Nathan and I have fun, he’s my buddy. The majority of the time, we get along great and he’s very obedient and sweet.

But sometimes, he gets into these moods and for the life of me, I cannot, cannot figure out what to do to show him that behavior is wrong. Nothing I do or say seems to work. It’s so incredibly frustrating and it completely destroys any faith I have in myself as a mom.

We had a good weekend, though. Nathan finally started feeling back to normal on Friday night, so we celebrated the return to good health with pancakes and homemade blueberry sauce. I think he was a fan:

Then Jon went snowboarding with Clint and Justin (Jamie’s husband), so they were all gone the entire day on Saturday. At first, Nathan and I were going to just stay home since Saturday was really his first fever-free day, but both of us were definitely getting very claustrophobic inside. Nathan kept grabbing things, saying, “Kay, bye? Okay, bye?” and walking for the door, like “Could we please leave?”

So, I ended up running to Joann’s Fabric store to see if I could find anything fun with my 50% off coupon – which I didn’t really. But it was very nice to be out amongst the living. Nathan and I both needed that, I’m pretty sure. After his nap, Leigh Ann and Hayley came over to play for a little bit before we went to Chick-Fil-A to meet Jamie, Joel and Julia for dinner. Always fun!

Yesterday, we watched the Super Bowl with my family. We had a great time – I made the ever-so-addicting peanut butter stuffed pretzels and Gammy made some incredible s’more bars. What’s a Super Bowl without tons of sugar to eat?

And now, Nathan is sleeping and I am about to make myself a very large iced coffee and remind myself of God’s grace to me and pray for grace for my son. And then I’m going to get to work on the writing.

Moms of toddlers – help please. How did you teach your child to listen and obey what you say? Any advice would be appreciated!!!

Well, Nathan’s fever has been lingering on today. Poor little kid. He seemed to be doing much better later this morning and early afternoon but by the time I laid him down for his nap, he felt warm and was congested again.

🙁

So we’ve spent another day in our sweatpants. Praying he feels better after he wakes up from his nap!

On to Friday Favorites…

1. Psalm 34:10

This week, God has just given me so much comfort and this verse was one of my very favorites. I have been trying to turn my thoughts away from what I want and instead focusing on God’s love for me.

2. Caramel Macchiatos

I just love them. And this week, my mom brought me a hot one and an iced one (thanks Mom!!). And they are pretty much amazing either way.

3. Skippyjon Jones

Love this book. Love it, love it, love it, love it. We borrowed it from the library last week and I’m about to buy it for us now. It’s hilarious.

4. Burlap and Muslin

I don’t know why, but I really love these two fabrics right now. I made the board for our bedroom – I want to add a few more things to it, but it’s coming along!

5. Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs
I found these in our grocery store early this year and I was SO excited. Say what you will, the peanut butter eggs taste completely different than the peanut butter cups.

6. Infant’s Tylenol
I started thinking last night as I was rocking with Nathan how thankful I was for medication that could quickly reduce a child’s fever. I can’t imagine being a parent back when they had to worry about a fever taking a child’s life.

And, last but not least…

7. It’s Friday!

And that means breakfast for dinner tonight and sleeping in tomorrow! 🙂 It’s the little things in life sometimes… 😉

Your turn! What have been your favorites this week??

Have a great weekend!