A Dollop of My Life

Boo Texas: A Brayden Short Story.

2012-01-31T19:30:00.002-06:00

For those of you who are non-Hog fans (well, first off, I feel sorry for you if you are not a Hog fan, but that's besides the point), you might not find humor in this story. For those of you who are, this one's for you.

I enrolled Brayden in a mom's and tots gym class this quarter at our fitness club. My original intention was to have something for him and I to do together during the cold winter months. Turns out, this winter has been nothing but cold. The class is still fun though, so we've stayed in it. For the past 3 weeks the teacher has played blue grass music. I find this amusing on several levels, but the most humorous of all is that the first song on the CD is Rocky Top. Rocky Top as in the Tennessee Volunteers little anthem song. I built up enough courage today to ask her if she was trying to brainwash my Hog-loving child with Rocky Top (don't worry, I was nice). She quickly responded no and that there were other CD's she could play. My point was not to make her change the disc, but just jide with her a little on the SEC rivalry. Turns out, she didn't go to an SEC school at all. No, after the Rocky Top comment she said "now in a bit, we're going to learn how to do this...." and held up all five fingers and then slowly pushed the middle two fingers down (creating a hook 'em horns). That's when I knew it. I knew I had her. I looked over at my sports lovin', Hog-callin' 2 year old and said "Brayden, what do we do when we see that?!" And pointed to his teacher's hand signal. Brayden quickly dropped the ball he was playing with, did an upside down hook 'em horns and said "BOOO Texas!" The teacher tried 3 times to get him to do the hook 'em horns, and every time she did, he repeated the upside down hook 'em and his "Boo Texas" chant.

That's my boy :)

I Say, He Says.

2012-01-30T21:40:00.000-06:00

I say: I am tired of all of this drama. I don't like hurting and I don't like watching people hurt.

He says: "Come to Me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)

I say: I feel like a failure as a mom & wife. I feel like nothing I do is good enough and that I'm constantly missing the mark.
He says: “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” (3 Corinthians 12:9).

I say: I don't understand why any of this is going on... this is not how I dreamed of my life to be when I was this age, and it most definitely does not make sense. I'm not sure how any of this could be for my good.
He says: "For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11)

I say: God, do you really hear my cries?
He says: "Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.”(Psalm 50:15)

I say: What I'm doing as a parent doesn't seem to be working and I just want to give up.
He says: "Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it." (Proverbs 22:6)

I say: I don't feel beautiful today.
He says: "You are fearfully and wonderfully made." (Psalm 139: 14)

I say: this ticks me off and makes me so angry!
He says: "for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God." (James 1:20)

I say: I don't really feel like loving them because of __________ (fill in the blank).
He says: "Treat others the same way you want them to treat you." (Luke 6:31)

Yall, there's a lot of stuff going on in my life right now that just downright stinks (Don't worry-- Drew and I, along with the boys, are fine). I'll be honest, it's had me pretty down lately. God has been so faithful to meet me in my downness, whether it be through verses, friends or songs. There are a lot of people who read this blog. And I love that I have people who are walking along side me through my life. If there's one thing that you walk away from when you read here, it's this: that God is a God who will meet you where you are. I'm not perfect, yet I feel perfectly loved by Him. These verses I share, they are truth and they have comforted me during the valleys of my life. This post is kind of random and short, yet I felt like I needed to type it up, if only for me to remember the truths God has whispered to me over the past several days. I want to close by including to the words of one of my favorite hymns. I've sang it a lot over the past couple of months, and my prayer is that my life screams it's anthem.

MY HOPE IS BUILT

My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.

Refrain:
On Christ the solid Rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand; All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness seems to hide His face, I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale, My anchor holds within the veil.

Refrain

His oath, His covenant, His blood, Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my Hope and Stay.

Refrain

When He shall come with trumpet sound, Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone, Faultless to stand before the throne.
Refrain

(Text: Edward Mote, 1797-1874 Music: William B. Bradbury, 1816-1868)

Weekend in Review

2012-01-29T21:46:00.000-06:00

While I'd love to blame my exhaustion on a busy weekend, when I look at what we did it doesn't seem as though business has anything to do with it. We DID have a fun weekend though, which is all that matters, right?

Friday we had the great blessing of having a surprise visit from my parents. It was a complete surprise, as we had found out 2 days prior, but nonetheless something that we hadn't really planned on. Both boys were SO happy to see their Gigi and Poppa D.

When I had told Brayden that Gigi and Poppa were coming, he immediately asked if Gigi would read the Tickle Monster book to him. My mom bought the Tickle Monster several months ago for Brayden, but has only read it to him a few times between now and then (usually atleast once when she visits), so it was crazy to me that he had remembered it! I'm pretty sure mom read it at least 4 times in the day and a half they were here, and even Connor got in on the excitement :)

(these pictures aren't the best quality. I was too lazy to get my SLR out, and the only other alternative is our tablet right now. Better than nothing I guess).

One of the biggest things that happened this weekend is that Connor has consistently tried to walk! He's still as wobbly as a drunk who's downed ten bottles of tequilla, but it's about the cutest thing you've ever seen. And he is SO SO proud of himself. It's bitter sweet for me.... my back will certainly thank him, as I nearly kill myself having to lug around a 25 pound toddler everywhere, but my mind and eyes tell me what my heart doesn't want to believe-- that my baby isn't a baby anymore (cue emotional mom tears).

Saturday dad took Brayden on their traditional donut date to the local donut shop. It's Brayden's very favorite thing to do with his Poppa. After donuts they had a little adventure. I wish my phone gets pictures, because dad sent some of the cutest pics to my mom's phone to show their time together. Since Drew had to study all day on Saturday, we spent most of the day enjoying each other's company at home, and then later that evening enjoyed a dinner out to eat with my parents before Drew headed back to studying for the night.

Today has been a whirlwind with church, Drew studying some more (I don't think I could stress to you how anxious I am for this class, and degree, to be behind us. I'm ready to have our family back together again!) and then community group tonight.

I'm so exhausted I haven't even checked our schedule to see what's going on this week. I think a lot of my exhaustion has to do with my anxiety about a lot of things going on in our family right now. If you think of it, will you pray for me? I need some mental (as well as physical) rest, and Satan is just having a heyday with my mind right now.

We Play.

2012-01-26T21:38:00.000-06:00

Life here is pretty mundane most days. And I'm perfectly ok with that. I'm a home body and love nothing more than staying in my pjs all day rocking out to Cedarmont Kids and playing cars, trucks and trains. Which is precisely what we did this afternoon, all while the beautiful sun streamed into our front room. I realized the lighting was ideal for pictures, so grabbed the camera and started snapping away at our time with toys. chubby baby hands are the best. (I got this monster for $1 in the after Christmas clearance at Walmart. I think it's my boys favorite toy, which cracks me up) I asked him to smile. Instead I got "strong muscles." He told me he was ready to be a cowboy. I love our crazy life. And I love my boys. Afternoons like these are so sweet to me, and make me realize that I need to cherish every moment, because all too soon they'll be locking me out of their room saying "no girls allowed." :)

Pictures and Captions.

2012-01-26T11:05:00.000-06:00

(sidenote: I have no clue why this post is not posting correctly. It's all out of whack but after my 3rd attempt to correct things I threw in the towel. Sorry for the text being formatted all crazy).

It's been a while since I put some pics of the boys on this here ol' blog. So when we took advantage of yet another unseasonably warm winter afternoon and ventured to the park, I took the camera along for the journey.

Brayden the helper "wook momma! I'm an airplane!" doesn't this picture just make you want to kiss him?!?!?! I realize this is blurry, but it makes my heart melt. I love his sweet baby face and am so so so sad that he's growing up so fast! Connor kept scooting up and down this ledge and smiling so big when he did it. I think he likes being a big boy :) scooting off... climbing up on the rock wall. exploring. And yes, I realize he has a snot bubble. What do you do when you run out of kleenex at the park??? making a wish with the lovely trashcan in the background ;) this boy LOVED playing in the bark. He was COVERED in it by the time we left. checking out the other kids letting us know his opinion. I love watching them playing together. They are becoming good friends and it just makes me so happy. Connor sure lets Brayden know his opinion :)

Things I Love About Being a Mom.

2012-01-24T21:20:00.001-06:00

I feel like lately I've bemoaned my children a lot. And really, I don't want to come across as someone who hates this job. Because in all truthfulness, despite the hardships of being a parent, this job is something I dreamed of my whole life and I never want to take for granted the great blessing it is to be called MOM. So I thought I'd list some of my faves about being a mom to Brayden and Connor.

I love that my kisses will "heal" nearly any hurt.
I love it when Brayden tells me I'm a good cook... even if it is just chicken nuggets :)
I love it when Connor kicks his legs when he sees me and acts as though I hung the moon.
I love when Brayden puts his hand on my cheek and tells me I'm pretty... even on the morning that I haven't brushed my teeth and haven't showered in 2 days :)
I love it that when I tuck B into bed that he always says "I wuv you too mommy" and looks at me with the sweetest sleepy eyes I've ever seen.
I love listening to Brayden talk about things. Just this morning we had a conversation about Jesus and how he will someday come back to earth. Brayden looked out the window and said "JESUS! Come back!!!"
Even though I hate folding laundry, I always smile when I come across a little sock or a little pair of Lightening McQueen underwear.
I love that my kids love church. Brayden asks to go to church all the time, and Connor starts kicking his feet when we get into the parking lot.
I love that I get to teach them new things and be here to experience all of those "first" moments.
I love when I ask Brayden how much I love him and he responds with "too much!"
I love when Brayden asks me to call him "babe"
I love it that Connor gets embarassed when he kisses me... but he still kisses me whenever I ask.
I love looking in the rear view mirror and seeing my boys holding hands. Melts my heart every time.
I love being able to play super heroes and talk about cars, trucks and sports.
I love being the first woman in my boys life, and being able to teach them about how to be a gentleman.

I'm sure there's a million other things I could list. The point is not to list them all, but to at least jot down my faves so that on those hard days where it seems like I might pull out every strand of my hair, that I can say with confidence that even in those moments, the good ones far outweigh the bad.

My Thoughts on Potty Training.

2012-01-23T21:12:00.000-06:00

(For those of you who read my blog for updates on the boys, this may not be a very fun post for you. But I want to remember how I trained Brayden so that a year from now when Connor starts wanting to be trained, I know how I did it. And yes, I WILL forget! ha!)

Before I gave birth to Connor, I had a million in one people asking me if I would try to potty train Brayden before C was born. To which I replied "ummmmmm..... NO." The mere thought of potty training gave me the heeby jeebies, and then throw a newborn in the mix and I shamelessly proclaimed that Brayden would wear diapers until he applied for college. For realz, it scared me that bad.

A few months after Connor was born and we were nearing Brayden's second birthday, I gave potty training a thought. Until I realized it would still be ME who was potty trained. I was having to set alarms to remember to take him, he peed on the couch while we were watching a movie... I was about to pull my hair out and I was only a few hours into the shindig. So I asked a few boy moms what they thought. The overwhelming majority of moms told me to wait until Brayden was closer to three. As one mom put it, "You can potty train now and be done in a year, or start when he's three and be done in 2 weeks." The 2 weeks part got me a little excited, so I took their word for it and went back to diapers.

Between that time and 2 weeks ago, Brayden would randomly ask to use the potty. Not wanting to hinder any self-training going on, we would go. It was totally him, and I would be lying to you if I told you there wasn't a time or two I was busy with Connor that I just told him to go in his diaper. A few weeks ago, when he started refusing to go in his diaper, or complain that he had just peed and needed to be changed, I knew it was time. Thankfully this all occurred around the time we went to play with Brayden's good friend Jack. Jack had just started potty training a few days before, so there was lots of encouragement and praise to be had. I think Brayden enjoyed it, and while we were there he literally went on the potty every time he needed to go! So later that afternoon we headed to Walmart and picked out some big boy underwear. And we haven't looked back since. Seriously. That was 2 weeks ago, and since that time he's had 3 accidents and wet a pull up 1 or 2 times. All the rest of the time he's stayed dry, even at school and when we're out and about. It's incredible to me that it has been this easy! I think it really had to do with the fact that I waited until he was ready. He totally gets it, is SO excited about big boy underwear and he's very much on board.

Yay Brayden! I'm so so proud of you and can't believe you're growing up so fast.

Weekend in Review (or lack thereof).

2012-01-22T19:29:00.000-06:00

Hi yall! I promise I've not fallen off the face of the earth. Our life has been crazy busy this week. It was a good crazy busy, but it was also exhausting. So much so that I just didn't really have energy to blog by the end of the day. So I didn't.

I have found that winter has been a lull in our lives. Drew is in the most demanding class by far for his MBA. He'll be done in 5 weeks. Like, done done. No more classes. No more papers. No more studying. Just work and family for him for here on out. If you think you hear singing, you probably do. It's me and the angels singing the hallelujah chorus.

Because Drew's been so strapped down by school, it means our weekends haven't been near as fun as normal. I have mixed emotions about this. On one hand, it's kind of nice having down time on the weekends. On the other, not having a husband around to help with kids means that my weekends are nothing more than an extension of my work week. It's HARD. And trying. I'm so so grateful this is the last of school. So we didn't do much this weekend. Just hung out at home, pulled babies from tables (yes, Connor can climb on top of the end tables now), broke up countless bickering sessions between brothers, and of course, no weekend is complete in our household without a lunch trip to Sam's Club.

That was it. That was all we did. We live an extravagantly exciting life, don't we? ha! I promise to do better about keeping updated. I'm hoping to whip out the camera soon to snap some pics of the boys.... it's been too long :) And just because this picture makes me laugh, I'll leave you with a shot of Brayden from Friday. He came in the living room announcing that he had dressed himself. Really buddy, I would have never guessed ;)

Just Some Randoms.

2012-01-17T13:51:00.000-06:00

I've all but given up on my giving up Dr Pepper for the new year. In theory, it was a good meaning intention. The problem is that I'm in the minefields of toddler parenting right now. One of the key ingredients in making it through the minefields of toddlerhood is caffeine. And seeing how I'm not much of a coffee drinker, chosing to quit Dr. Pepper effectively left me with little other choices. Sure, sweet tea was there for me, but I just didn't feel the pick me up that I did with Dr P. So my new, new Years resolution is to drink in moderation. One Dr P. a day, preferably in the morning before 10am. Sounds crazy, I know, but really, the last two days I've done this and felt like I was functioning a lot better. And functioning better makes me feel better. Sorry if I let anyone down.
I tried substituting kale for spinach in our green smoothies the other day. I couldn't really taste a difference, although I didn't feel like it blended as well. There were itty bitty pieces of it that I could taste and since I'm a big texture person I think we'll probably stick to spinach.
I keep asking Brayden what kind of birthday party he wants. I get one of three answers: (a) orange (b) presents or (c) pink. Considering he's already getting presents and a pink party for a boy is out of the question, so I guess we'll go with orange. Not really sure how to pull that one off. Ideas anyone?
I found this tent at Target yesterday. I got it for $7.50 in the clearance section. For some reason someone had marked it down 75% off (it was only supposed to be 50% off). Yay for us! The boys LOVE it. I also found some new rainboots for Brayden. He's about to outgrow his, and the little frog ones that Target sells were clearanced out for $11. Can't beat a good sale day at my favorite place!

I have really been struggling with Brayden lately. I keep waking up set out to make it a new day, and by 3pm that day, my patience is tried and my wear with all has been shot. I hear SO many people say that they love this age/stage, but honestly, it's been a real struggle for me to enjoy it. I know that sounds terrible, but it just really is the case right now. I love Brayden with everything in me, but I look forward to the day that everything is not a battle.
Speaking of Brayden, he has slept in until at least 5am the past two nights. Considering most nights for the past 4 months he was up at least 3 times in the middle of the night, I consider this an improvement. Please continue to pray that his sleep improves. Both Drew and I need the sleep as much as Brayden does.
I'm going to have a "Love Story Link-Up Party" the week before Valentines Day. From February 6th through February 10 I'll have a post up that you can link to with your love story. If you link up your post, you'll be entered to win a $30 Visa Giftcard so that you and your sweetheart can go on a date :)

And with that, I'm off to take a much needed nap while the boys sleep. Peace out!

Weekend in Review: Birdday Parties & Bloggy Meetups

2012-01-15T16:27:00.000-06:00

I have put off all household chores to have fun this weekend. And fun we've all had, although I think the clutter and germ fest that is my home is starting to wear on my stress level. We'll be doing full blown cleaning tomorrow. ha!

Friday was a heckuvaday. Can I just say that my life is a mess right now? I mean, you name it, something is wrong with it. Or perhaps not wrong with it, but not ideal, like my husband having to work full time and be in school full time. It's just lead to a lot of stress for me right now and so I spent much of Friday teetering on mental insanity. If only I was kidding.

I finally pulled my boot straps up and got myself together. Thank goodness I had a girls night out with some bloggy friends on Friday to look forward to, otherwise I'm pretty sure I would have buckled and gotten a large Dr Pepper from Sonic with no remorse. And just when I thought the stress couldn't get any worse, I left Brayden in the bathroom to use the potty for literally 2 minutes. I came back to find this:

And not only this, but also a toilet that was brimming with water. I stumbled on my words as my eyes took in the scene. "What did you do?!?!??!" was all that could stutter out of my mouth. Brayden, with a look of complete innocence on his face but with blue dandruff shampoo covered hands, looked at me and said "ummm... I fwushed the washfffcoff. I can't find it mommy." Oh dear goodness, I nearly had a heart attack thinking about a wash cloth down our pipes. Thankfully I was able to retrieve it after going elbow deep in the shampoo and pee filled toilet. Keep in mind that Connor was continually trying to crawl INTO the bathroom during this whole time. The bathroom that had Selsum Blue on the floor, all over the toilet and in the tub. Our bathroom STILL smells like the stuff. Ahhhh, parenting. Gotta love it.

Needless to say, Drew came home and I left to go out with some bloggy friends. Except my bloggy meetup was not supposed to start until 7:30. So you know what I did? I did what any mother who has had a shampoo filled toilet kind of day, and I sat in my car and listened to silence (I also caught up with a friend on the phone).

I had so much fun at the meetup for Jillian. The only person I actually knew IRL was Whitney. We met at a bloggy meetup back in October last year. Everyone was so fun... I just LOVE bloggy meetups. We did have quite a large group, so I wasn't really able to talk with some of the other people at the other end of the table as much as I would have liked... which is why all restaurants should have round tables! ha!

Front: yours truly, Katie, Jillian, Taylor, and Lauren
Back: Lindsey (her blog's private), Brittany, Whitney, Rachel, Kim, and Tara(I also feel like I should thank Whitney for writing her post first... I didn't have to search through people's twitter profiles for blog links- thanks Whit!)

You just never know what your camera might catch :) haha!

Saturday Drew had to study most of the day. But we did pick him up for a little break to go and celebrate Brayden's friend's birthday... who also happens to have the name Brayden! The party was an Angry Bird themed party. Jenna did such a great job with the decorations and the FUN real-life angry bird setup. It was perfect for the kids!

Connor enjoyed pushing the boxes around

the cute center pieces

and the cupcakes

Jenna had a coloring table setup... Brayden was in LOVE.

the sweet birthday boy blowing out his candles

Connor was excited to eat a cupcake. So excited in fact, that he grabbed the top of the cupcake before we even had a chance to sit down.

he was VERY mad when the cupcake was gone.

Both of the Brayden's playing with a tractor :)

Saturday afternoon we headed to Walmart for a few things. As I was getting out of the car another woman came over and said "did you see that?!?! Oh my gosh!" I had heard the police siren but didn't really think anything of it. Turns out, some crazy person was running from the cops, and thought it would be best to pull his truck up to the Walmart, leave it there in the middle of the road, and run into walmart. Away from the cops. Yeah... drama. I sat in the car for a while till I saw people going back into the store. Brayden, true to form, yelled "HIIIII firemen!!!!!" to the policemen as we walked into the store. hahaha!

Today we have stayed home all day and laid low. Both of the boys have raspy sounding coughs, and I just didn't want to expose them to something in the nursery that would put them down for the count. Drew and I are headed on a little date before community group tonight for some much needed kid-free conversation. Hope yall have a great week!

Preschool Mugshot

2012-01-12T10:02:00.000-06:00

Last week when I picked up Brayden from mother's day out, they gave us this little artwork. I laughed when I looked at it and asked Brayden if he felt like I was dropping him off at the penitentiary. Doesn't he look thrilled to be at "school?" haha!

(and for the record, he LOVES school and his teachers are awesome-- not sure why the face... he's a silly one that Brayden Thomas)

Green Smoothies.

2012-01-11T08:31:00.000-06:00

At the beginning of the year I set to it in my mind to try and feed my little men some better food options during the day. Most of the time they eat what Drew and I eat for dinner, so we're pretty good there. But during the day it's hard. It's just so much easier sometimes to feed them waffles and chicken nuggets. That's why I was SO excited to try green smoothies. A couple of my friends had mentioned them in the past, but it wasn't until I was trying to figure out how to get some fresh greens down the boys that I remembered these things. Yall, they are awesome! No sugar added, just TONS of fruit, a lot of spinach, and even some greek yogurt for the added protein.

I've looked online and there are a slew of recipes. In the end I just kind of threw together the stuff I had here at the house. The great thing about this is that you can adjust everything to your taste and preferences. There's no right or wrong way to do it. I would just recommend that you not add sugar (or if you feel like it needs to be sweetened I would use honey or agave nectar). And for those of you wondering-- no, you can't taste the spinach. I'm not sure my boys would eat these if they could taste that-- they're both pretty picky about their green veggies these days :)

(please note these are not green once they are blended. This is because of the blueberries. I for one am not complaining, as I am almost sure that if my toddlers saw green in their drink they would say "I don't wike it" before ever putting it to their lips.)

ready to be served
Lindsey's Green Smoothies
1/2c-1 c. apple juice (no sugar added) (you'll just have to eye this... it depends greatly upon how much spinach you use)
2 large handfulls of spinach (this takes up about 3/4 of my blender)
3 slices fresh mango
1/2 small apple
1 whole Cutie orange, peeled
1 kiwi
4-5 whole frozen strawberries (make sure you buy the no sugar added variety)
1/3 c frozen blueberries (we buy our blueberries locally in the summer and then freeze ours, but if you buy them from the store make sure you get the no sugar added variety)
6 oz greek yogurt, any flavor
milk (optional)

Pour the apple juice into blender and add spinach. Blend until you are unable to see any pieces of spinach (you might have to shake up your blender to get this consistency-- it will basically look like green juice). Next add the rest of the fruit, blending well after each addition. The frozen blueberries and strawberries will make the smoothie thick (this is not a super thick, icy smoothie though). Add the greek yogurt last, blending well. I sometimes add milk to thin it out if I feel like it needs it, but it's not necessary. Pour and enjoy! (If you have kids that are using sippy cups, you may have to cut this with milk until it's able to flow through the sippy).

These are Brayden's instructions:

take a sip from your big boy cup

make sure you share with your little brother

smile because your momma makes delicious "smoovies"

make sure you drink it all, and smack your lips when you're done.

The Park Pictures that Make Me Laugh.

2012-01-10T13:39:00.000-06:00

So the other day when I posted about how we went to the park, I intentionally left off the swinging pictures. I felt like they were worthy of their own post. When I opened the pics up to edit them, I just started busting out laughing. Drew looks like he's trying to pull his best thug impression.

he LOVES to swing.

I mean he's really just stealing the show from Brayden, wouldn't you say? ;)

This is hilarious if you know Drew, because he's about as far from a thug as you could get. In his defense, the wind was aweful that day, and it was one of those good Arkansas winds that cuts through your clothes and makes you feel like you're showering in ice water. I love ya babe-- thuggishness and all :)

Weekend in Review.

2012-01-09T08:01:00.000-06:00

Whew, what a weekend we have had! It's been fun-filled for sure, and has left me not looking forward to our cleaning day today. We were so very excited to watch our Hogs win in the Cotton Bowl on Friday!

Friday morning we headed over to my friend's Cari's house for a little Razorback game day fun with the boys. Both of us have boys that are basically the same age (there's only a few months between both Jack and Brayden and Will and Connor). We had fun decorating Razorback sugar cookies, playing outside in the unusually warm weather, and calling the Hogs of course! (thanks Cari, for these pictures-- I was lazy and didn't bring my camera).

Jack had just started being potty trained this past week, and I think he had a little positive peer pressure on Brayden. While we were at Cari's both boys peed on the potty twice! Brayden has long mastered the art of #2 on the potty, but we were hit or miss with #1. I was really surprised how Brayden easily went on the potty, and with seeming excitement. So Friday afternoon we headed to Walmart to get some big boy undies and hit the ground running.

Saturday Drew had to study all day so me and the boys just hung out at the house and lounged. Brayden did not have a single accident all day, and even kept his pull up dry when we went to our friend Kellen's 2nd birthday party! I am such a proud momma!

THe party was at the Little Gym... Brayden LOVED it!

Connor was a fan too :)

(a) this picture cracks me up. Why do we even attempt group shots with tons of small children? (b) look at the Parent Paparazzi in the mirror. ha!

at one point Brayden climbed on top of a chair to get a baloon. Notice the worker to the left of the picture.

now notice the worker girl. She's clearly freaked about Brayden. Drew and I didn't even blink when he tried it. Are we supposed to be freaked out???

Sunday we went to church, and I was surprised again to find that Brayden had kept his pull up dry. I guess it really is true what they say: don't pressure your kids into potty training and just wait to do it when they're ready.

Sunday afternoon our church had a little skate party so we decided to go and try our hand at roller skating. I figured Brayden would love it, seeing how he's so adventurous and bold about doing new, dangerous things. Wouldn't you know the minute he put those skates on (we tried actual skates at first, not the little toddler training skates, which is probably why we had the epic fail) he was not having it. Drew barely made it 1 round around the skating rink. Brayden spent the rest of the time "playing" arcade games.

this was towards the end of their loop. Clearly Brayden was NOT happy.

Cari and Jack about to head out to the floor
The one fun thing of the evening was that the skating rink allowed us to bring our stroller out on the floor. How fun! Cari and I had a fun time pushing Will and Connor (JJ and Drew tried their hand at it too). Connor LOVED it, and kept clapping the whole time-- what a life!

the men and the babies

Me and Cari with the babies.

We've got a busy week planned, but I'm kind of looking forward to it, since it involves some fun things with the boys. Hope yall have a great week!

Playing at the Park with Daddy.

2012-01-06T13:52:00.000-06:00

Drew took off of work from Christmas to New Years. It was SOOOO nice to have him home to help with the boys and also do a few things around the house. We also took advantange of the unseasonably warm temperatures by heading to the park one day. I captured a few shots I wanted to remember.

Brayden hit up the BMX course first. He loves doing it, and is so brave!

notice how his feet are up-- he glides pretty much the whole time!

Daddy's cheering him on-- getting up the hill all by himself!

Ofcourse, whenever B is at the track, he's always bringing a crowd :)

Connor has started waving at anyone and everyone he sees. It's precious.

waving at someone passing by on the trail :)

watching B pass by. Yay for warm days! I can't wait for more this spring!!!

Texas Caviar.

2012-01-05T20:52:00.000-06:00

Do you ever have those cravings for something a little sweet and a little salty? Please don't tell me that it's just me. I crave sweet and salty ALL. THE. TIME. Which is why the other day I decided to try my hand at Texas Caviar. If you google Texas Caviar you'll come up with a looooong list of recipes. Even some of my twitter friends shared their recipes with me. In the end, no ONE recipe really sounded exactly like what I wanted. So I improvised, and took the bits and pieces that I liked about all the recipes I looked at, and then combined them all to make my very own recipe. And I'm here to share said recipe with you. It should be noted that Connor cried when he finished his serving of this. Score one for healthy snacks for the little one! And when Drew found it, his eyes got big and he exclaimed that it was the best thing I've ever made. Looks like we'll be eating a lot of this in the near future :)

Lindsey's Texas Caviar
1 can white shoepeg corn
1 can black beans
1 can garbanzo beans (chick peas)
1 can Rotel (the lime and cilantro kind)
1 bunch cilantro
1 medium sized bell pepper, chopped
1/4 of a medium sized purple onion, chopped
apple cider vinegar
olive oil
lime juice
minced garlic
sugar
salt & pepper

Drain the corn & beans. Add the rotel, green pepper & onion. Mix well. Squirt the lime juice into the bean and rotel mixture. I would guess I used about three Tablespoons worth. Drizzle a few teaspoons of the olive oil. I would guess I only used about two teaspoons. Pour a generous amount of apple cider vinegar onto the mixture. Add 1 Tablespoon minced garlic and 1/3 cup sugar. Mix well. Salt and pepper to taste. Let it sit in the fridge for a while to marinate. Right before serving hand rip the cilantro. I used about 3/4 of the cilantro bunch, but I L.O.V.E. cilantro, so this may be too much for some people's taste. If that is you, then you can always reduce or even omit the cilantro. Serve with tortilla chips. This makes a TON, but from what I read on some of the recipes that use the vinegar, the vinegar acts like a preservative, so it should stay good for a few days in your fridge. Enjoy!!!

Reflecting on 2011, And Hopes for 2012.

2012-01-04T13:42:00.000-06:00

(photo credit Captain Kimo on Flickr)

I realize I am late to the game on the whole "reflect on the past year" thing, but I have been dragging my feet getting back to life as normal, so everything else has suffered, including blogging. Hopefully yall won't tire out of all of my Christmas/New Years posts. And I promise, I'm almost done with them :) This should be the last one actually.

A lot has happened over the past year. If I had to say definitively, I'd say in many regards this was the hardest year of my life. Much of what has transpired I've not blogged about publicly, in an effort to respect all parties involved. But trust me when I say that I wish upon no one some of the things that have happened. In light of that statement, I don't regret the past year. As hard as it was to go through some of the trials we have faced, I have grown more than I had ever imagined. My faith has been tested, my resolve has been pressed, and yet still, God has shown His hand in all things. I guess that's why I was sensitive to all of the facebook status' and tweets about wishing away 2011. I think Laura Story hits the nail on the head when she questions "what if our blessings come through raindrops, what if our healing comes from tears". Isn't it true that some of the hardest things we face produce the most growth in our lives? If I hadn't faced the things of 2011, I wouldn't be the person I am heading into 2012. So while I don't wish to go through those things again, I am glad that the hard times have brought refining moments, and I think as believers in Christ that is something that we all should long for, regardless of how we are refined.

Looking into 2012, I don't have super high expectations of myself or my family. Perhaps I should, but I just feel like with the stage of life we're in-- 2 kids 3 and under, a husband working a full-time job and attending school to finish his MBA (8 more weeks left!!!)-- that if we survive this year unscathed I will consider it an accomplishment, much like I did for 2011. There are a few small things that I'd like to hang my hat on going into 2013. I'm not sure I will call them New Years Resolutions, but they are definite goals of mine.

Drop the Dr. Pepper. And all sodas for that matter. I've done a pretty good job of cutting out high fructose corn syrup from our diets. But when I am stressed, my go-to destresser is straight up Dr. Pepper. Not the best for me, especially when I drink it by the liters, which has been becoming more common as the stress really piled on towards the end of 2011. I honestly think that my excessive soda drinking was the culprit of my kidney infection, and since I hate to be in pain (and that was by far the worst pain that I had felt in my life), I'm going to try and drop the Dr. P. Of course, everyone needs a break every now and then, which is why I am allowing myself to drink ONE Dr. Pepper on Sundays.
Feed the boys healthier foods. Drew and I eat pretty healthy for the most part. But when I deal with 2 picky toddler eaters, it's sometimes so much easier to skip the food drama and just pop some nuggets in the oven and call it a day. I'm really going to try and have healthier, easy options that we will all love. I'll be making my own nuggets from now on, and am also looking into getting really adventurous and making green smoothies for them as well :)
Continue working on my anger and patience. It's no secret that I struggle with both immensely. I plan on continuing to release those things to God and allowing Him to make me into a new creation.
Serve more. I tend to lag on the service area because I am so wrapped up in my own busy life. Not that I have a ton of extra time to serve, but I want to make myself available to my friends and be the one that people can call on... I don't really feel that way right now and want to be more conscious about laying down my wants for other's needs.
Potty train Brayden. I'm not going to lie, out of all of the parenting things I have faced thus far in this journey, potty training scares me the most. He'll be 3 in April, and he's shown signs of being ready FOREVER, so my 2012 goal is to have him potty trained. Hopefully by summer, but I'm not pressuring him or myself. I know our wallets will thank me when I am done. Having 2 in diapers is a budget KILLER.

I have a couple of other smaller things that I am hoping for, but for the most part, the ones you see listed above are my biggies. If you are a prayer warrior, I'd love it if you prayed for me... that I would be diligent in seeing through to the end. I can't wait to see what 2012 brings to our family, and as always, I can't wait to share with you on the journey!

Letter from Santa.

2012-01-03T21:57:00.000-06:00

Like I mentioned in a previous post, we decided to keep Santa in our Christmas traditions. I knew that since I wanted to keep Jesus as the nucleus of our Christmas traditions, I wanted Santa to always point to HIM. So I figured a letter from Santa would be a perfect place to start.

Christmas Eve Brayden laid out a few cookies he had decorated, a glass of milk, and his own little note. No idea what it said, but I told him to write a letter to Santa, and that's what he wrote. He bid Bonner goodnight and went to bed for the night.

Santa stuffed the stockings full of all kinds of fun treats, ate almost all of the cookies, drank all of the milk, and wrote a letter to the boys on his "parchment" paper. Here's the letter:

And if you can't read what it says, here's the transcript ;)

Dear Brayden & Connor,

MERRY CHRISTMAS! As you can see, I've filled your stockings with LOTS of fun surprises. A lot of people say that I leave these because you are good, but I have a secret for you: I leave surprises no matter if you are good or bad. You wanna know why? Because I want to celebrate Jesus on Christmas, and Jesus came as a gift for EVERYONE, even all of the bad people in the world. These little surprises are left for you so that you will remember the GREATEST gift that was ever given to us: JESUS!

I've taken Bonner back with me to the North Pole. Thank you for taking care of him for me! He's had great fun watching you boys play together and do things that make Jesus' heart happy-- he told me all about them! Things like obeying your momma the first time, helping out daddy with the trash, and playing nicely with your brother and friends. Doing things that make Jesus' heart happy make my heart (and your mommy and daddy's heart) happy too!

Thanks also for the yummy cookies and milk. I love some good treats, and you left my favorite! I've left a little nibble on the plate because I thought your daddy might like a bite too-- can you share with him for me please?

I love you both so much, Brayden and Connor, and can't wait until next year when we can celebrate Jesus' birthday together again. Have a wonderful year and remember to always act in a way that would make Jesus smile :)

Love Your Friend--

Santa Clause

For the record, Brayden ate the leftover cookie piece before we even had a chance to let him know that Santa wanted him to share. Don't worry, he told Drew that it was yummy ;)

Christmas Chronicles 2011 (Part 3): Christmas Day.

2012-01-02T08:20:00.000-06:00

For those of you just now getting on this Christmas Chronicle train ride, you might want to catch up on Part 1 and Part 2 first.

Christmas morning we were awakened early by Brayden... not because he was excited it was Christmas, but just because our child likes to wake up before the roosters. We finally meandered out of bed around 6:45. When the boys walked into the living room Brayden exclaimed (with hands in the air) "Birthday presents! For meeeeeeeeeeee! And I can open them!" hahahaha. I guess he was so wrapped up in the fact that it was Jesus' birthday that he thought the presents were birthday presents for him! Both boys bee lined it for the presents, so we had to stall them both off by reading the letter Santa left them (I'll post more about the Santa letter later this week, because I want to remember what I did-ha!). Then we talked about the manger, and how it was baby Jesus' birthday and we were celebrating him on Christmas! We read the Christmas story from the toddler bible. Brayden helped tell the story :)

The boys got to dump out their stockings (brought from Santa). Brayden was in heaven with all of the lollipops (that Santa bought 1/2 off during the Halloween clearance sale ;) )

Connor even got a lollipop. YUMM!

going through all of the loot

this is Connor's present. Notice who's opening the gift.... big brother. C-man didn't stand a chance at opening his own gifts this year. I'm thinking next year will be a different story, what do you think?

this was a football from Mamaw and Papaw

Mamaw loved her gift-- a framed picture of the fam!

Uncle Mike and Aunt Rina gave Brayden a giftcard for Christmas. Drew and I decided to pick out a gift for him from them and let him open it on Christmas day. These next few pictures are my absolute fave from Christmas.

not sure what it is yet

he figured it out-- a Razorback football helmet!!! Trying to rip faster now...

gotta find someone to get this thing out of the box!

Papaw to the rescue! Notice how B is saying "OHHHH!"

getting it ready to put on...

a little more assistance from Papaw

he grabbed the football and was OFF running...

scoring a "touchdown!"

and an unprovoked Heisman stance. Tongue out and all. LOVE.

later Christmas morning we Skyped my parents so that the boys could open their gifts from them.

the batcave! which my mom then said "it's like a doll house for boys!" haha!

guess who opened Connor's gift from Gigi and Poppa D?

Papaw and Brayden went outside to play football after we were done unwrapping gifts. Somebody wanted to play with the big boys :(

boo hiss.

Aunt Kelly, Uncle Paul and the girls came to eat Christmas lunch with us. They also brought a few gifts for the boys. Connor broke out in "oooooo's" when he saw the presents. it was his first time to say that and was SOOO cute. We all kept laughing.

I love C's facial expression in this shot. He was so excited about his new puzzles!

Brayden got a nerf gun. It was a hit! The day after Christmas he was playing with the gun and stopped for a minute, looked up in the sky and said "Thank you Uncle Paul and Aunt Kelly!" Soooo sweet. he's also shot Connor in the face with the gun, so we're grounded from the gun for the moment. Ahhh brotherly love.

they also got a joint gift-- a moon bounce (one of those balls that has a handle on it). Best gift ever. Brayden loves it!

After naptime we all sang happy birthday to Jesus.

And like that, it was over. Everything we had prepared for for over a month was done. The day after Drew's parents left we went out to eat. A lady approached our table to talk to the boys, and she asked Brayden what he got for Christmas. Brayden looked at us and so I asked him the same question. I could tell he was really thinking about his answer, and he looked over at the lady and said "Baby Jesus!" The woman chuckled, and I beamed proudly. She then asked him what Santa brought him and he said "my stocking." You know, I had questioned whether or not he really understood everything we were teaching and saying to him about Christmas. But it was clear in that moment that what we said had stuck. That Santa brought the stocking, but what we really got for Christmas was Jesus. And that made it the best Christmas I've ever had.

Christmas Chronicles 2011 (Part 2): Christmas Eve.

2012-01-01T13:28:00.000-06:00

Christmas Eve was a big day in our house. The boys woke up with a present sent from Santa. Bonner brought them to the house, of course.

New Jammies! Brayden was SO excited when he saw them, and then he was utterly disappointed when he found out he'd have to wait until Christmas Eve NIGHT to wear them.

Papaw and Brayden played piano on our tablet.

Mamaw entertained Con-con

we made sugar cookies for Santa. I thought that I would try the food coloring markers instead of icing. I'm still not quite sure which one is messier, so we'll probably go back to icing next year. I hear Santa likes iced cookies better ;)

all bundled up after a walk around the neighborhood. He loves talking on the phone now :)

his dimples get me every time... but don't let him know ;)

Brayden rode his bike around the block with Mamaw and Papaw and then came inside looking all sweaty.

Later that afternoon, we took the boys to the Christmas Eve service at our church. They have a kid friendly service. And I am so thankful that they do, because towards the end during the singing of Silent Night, both of my boys decided to throw the world's largest tantrums. It was the pinnacle of irony, as the words "silent night" flowed from our mouths and the sounds of disgruntled children bellowed from both of our boys.

the first song that we sand was Jingle Bells. This is by far B's favorite Christmas carol to sing, so he was in heaven during the first 5 minutes. It was downhill from there though. He was not amused that children only get glow sticks. He wanted a REAL candle.

When we got home, Brayden and I cooked our birthday cake for Jesus. My mom started this tradition with him last year, and I plan on doing this from here on out. Brayden LOVES it, and I think it helps him understand that Christmas is Jesus' birthday a bit better.

Brayden gets a bit distracted by his tummy during cake making... notice where the whisk is headed? ;)

Once we made the cake we got ready for bed. Both boys were so happy to put on their new Elmo jammies.

we set out cookies and a "letter" to Santa (please note that this picture was actually taken on Christmas morning... Santa had clearly gotten into all of the cookies- haha!) Brayden told me that his letter asked for Santa to bring him a red present. No. Idea.

Once the boys were in bed we were like gift-wrapping fools, since I had put off wrapping anything before Christmas. I just didn't want to endure that battle for weeks on end. This was the scene before we finally laid our heads on the pillow.

Baby Jesus. THE reason for the season.

Part 3 coming soon.... Christmas Day.....

Christmas Chronicles 2011 (Part 1): Visiting Crystal Bridges.

2011-12-31T19:54:00.000-06:00

I feel like I need to start out this little shindig by sincerely apologizing for falling off the blogging bandwagon this past week. We had Drew's family in for Christmas, so obviously I was preoccupied with family events. Then after Christmas we have just enjoyed plain ol' family time. Drew, me and the boys. It's been so fun having Drew off of work and school, even though I will tell you that we've spent a majority of the week cleaning/decluttering our house (more on that later). Considering the fact that it's taken me almost a week to review our Christmas, I have to tell you that some of the pictures you'll see are SOOC (straight out of camera). I try very hard to edit all of the pictures on this here ol' blog, but since time got away from me, something's gotta give. And it's probably a good thing too, considering Flickr took AGES to actually upload the oodles of pictures I have taken. OK, now that I have written my disclaimer, on with the show.

Drew's parents came in town for Christmas. We were so blessed to have them here to spend the holiday with. We decided that since Doug is a musician/artist by trade, that it would only be fitting to bring them to see the new art museum in town: Crystal Bridges. If you're local, then you know what I am talking about when I mention Crystal Bridges. If you are not local, you might still know what I'm talking about, since Crystal Bridges has basically put Northwest Arkansas on the worldwide map (as if Walmart wasn't enough). Travel+Leisure (the magazine) ranked Crystal Bridges as one of the top 12 places to visit... in the world. Amazing. Anyways, we decided to go on the 23rd. Thankfully my aunt had enough forethought to persuade me to leave the boys with her and my cousins while we visted the museum. Apparently I was on some type of drug when I made our reservations and thought that we could bring Brayden and Connor to the museum. Not that children aren't allowed to go, because they are. But bringing bulls into a china cabinet, even if they are allowed, is typically not considering a good plan. Thank you Aunt Kelly and girls for watching our boys!

When we walked into Crystal Bridges, Doug said "oh, this is an ART museum?!" Ahahaha. I love it. He had no idea and thought we were just bringing him to some ol' museum. Needless to say, he was in heaven. I'm not even a huge art fan and was captivated by some of the artwork. My favorite areas were the colonial era artwork and then the seasonal exhibit, which was modern works. You'll see why both of these were my fave in a minute. The architecture is stunning, and I can't wait to go back with Drew to go on a fancy date night. I also can't wait to go back in the spring with my camera. There's a trail there called Dogwood trail-- it's lined by 500 dogwoods that are set to bloom near Easter. Be still my photographer soul. And now that I've rambled on about the artwork and architecture, enjoy the picture show.

George Washington. I've seen so many pictures of him, that at first I didn't really think twice about this painting. That is ofcourse, until I realized, that I was standing in a room full of ORIGINAL paintings. That means that this was basically the equivalent of a photograph of our first president. That's when the awe set in of what I was staring at.

I probably should have gotten someone to stand next to this painting for some scale. This was almost life size. This is a painting of Alexander Hamilton, our first Secretary of Treasury.

Doug, studying the artwork.

I asked Doug if he wanted his picture taken with anything. He smiled and said "maybe if I see a Thomas Moran." The one on the right of this picture is a Moran, and the portrait on the left is someone else, but Doug and Dottie liked it equally, so we fit it all in one :)

I think being in Crystal Bridges made me want a wide angle lens for the first time. My 24mm does not do the architecture justice.

I thought this was a funny painting. Notice Darwin's thesis in the monkey's hand?

This painting was so realistic to me (there were several from this artist). Standing a few feet away it actually looked like a 3D shadow box or something. What was most interesting about this piece however, was more than just the artwork. It was the meaning behind the artwork. Here's the information that was posted next to the painting:

Funny how over 100 years later, Republicans and Democrats still fight about the same things :)

There was this one little room that was from a famous photographer who studied Indians. It was probably my favorite aside from the previous exhibits I have mentioned. This portrait was captivating to me. The lighting is awesome, the lines on the woman's face. It's perfect. And to think that capturing a shot like that was far more difficult back then that it is now. I sat and wondering what that photographer might think about the advances in his field now.

Drew and his momma taking a break. We needed lots of them! It took over 3 hours to view the whole thing!

again, I need a wide angle lens to capture the awesomeness of the architecture. This was outside (they are working on the pond-- there's a leak and so it's not functional right now).

Doug and Dottie enjoying some fresh air.

I thought these were cool. I've always been interested in the history of politics.

Drew and I took pictures of each other. I totally felt like I was on my honeymoon again, taking individual pictures of each other because no one else was there to take our picture (Doug and Dottie had wandered to another exhibit I think, otherwise I guess they could've taken a shot of us).

A Norman Rockwell original. Amazing.

this was a GINORMOUS sculpture made of wood.

then we got to modern art. I really, really don't get modern art. I mean, how in the world is this art? It looks like Brayden did it! ha!

Dolly.

I didn't know that square painting could get you into a world class museum.

perhaps I should melt all of our broken crayons and see if they'll accept it?

a view from the restaurant

There's a rotating portion of the museum that will only last a couple of months and then new artwork will come in. The one on display right now is called Modern Works (or something like that). This was by far my favorite area of the museum. Here's why.

for some reason this painting cracked me up. A cat watching a billion birds.

this was all puzzle pieces...

now this. this is my most favorite piece of artwork I have ever seen. Amazing. Doesn't seem amazing to you? Sometimes all it takes is some perspective. Let me give some to you. You see, this crystal ball is about the size of a baseball. It allows you to see this:

can you tell what it is? It's the Lord's Supper, upside down. But what makes it REALLY unique is that it's a bunch of metal rods that have spools of thread on them.

unreal yall. This spans a wall that is several walls long.

here's Doug taking his turn looking through the crystal ball.

this was a room that from first glance doesn't seem like much.

until you walk in and realize that the entire room is wood inlays. wowzers.

this old man didn't really like me taking his picture.

or Drew picking his nose. haha!

isn't that freaky?!?! It seemed so real, other than the fact that it was way bigger than life size scale.

this was another cool piece...

...made up of tiny pieces.

I had one of these growing up!

a little weird, yet I couldn't quit staring at it.

And that was our visit to Crystal Bridges. If you ever come and visit me, we can go visit it together. Because the best part about Crystal Bridges is that IT'S FREE!

Next up... Christmas Eve....

Merry Christmas from the Little Guy....

2011-12-24T14:00:00.000-06:00

.... he just wants everyone to know that he may or may not have suckered Santa into putting him on the nice list just by his eyes. Merry Christmas Yall!

Christmas Card 2011.

2011-12-21T15:41:00.000-06:00

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas!

Annual White Elephant Christmas Party.

2011-12-20T22:22:00.000-06:00

For the past 5 or so years, our "community group" (I say that loosely because what once started as ONE community group has morphed into SEVERAL community groups and over 40 children!) has gotten together for food, fellowship and good white elephant gift-giving fun. Due to not knowing if we would even be going or not, we did not participate in the ugly sweater competition. Although, seeing the competition first hand, I'm not even sure we would have been on the same level as some of our friends. They brought it! As usual, the gifts were great-- some "serious" gifts (giftcards are always a hit!) and some prank gifts, including some that have recirculated for several years :)

Mere may have won best sweater, but Candice had her beat on hairbow ;)

Remember little baby Cooper???? He's not so little anymore!

Landon won the best gag gift (which was eventually stollen by David)... a "bottle of Viagra" and a nice... ummmm... pair of underwear :)

this was Rach figuring out that she had won one of the annual gag gifts (that we had brought)...

...but we always sweeten our gifts with a little Sonic :)

Robbie won a nice felt wreath

Justin got a little crazy at the end with his sweater... and then won this book. HILARIOUS.

I know this pic is blurry, but this is Alaina realizing she won the conche.

isn't it BEA-UTIFUL? haha! We also brought this one (we got stuck with them last year), and also sweetened it with some Sonic too :)

Mr. And Mrs. Ugly Sweater 2011

the male finalist in the ugly sweater comp.

Jason went home with the conch (and Sonic giftcard).

the boys played this game that shocks you. Boys are so strange.

And look who decided to hold 3 of the controllers at once.

SO thankful for the sweet blessing of great friends.

8 is Great.

2011-12-20T07:16:00.000-06:00

Eight years ago today, I married my best friend.

(photo credit Tammy Belin photography, Little Rock, AR).

These past 8 years have been filled with highs and lows, but through it all, I've never been more sure of one thing: that Drew was made especially for me. Seriously yall, I'm not sure there's another man out there who could love me the way Drew loves me, who puts up with all of my crap (and at times there's enough of that to fill a large landfill) and to lead, protect and provide for me. I love him so much... even more than the day I married him. Over the past several months my respect for him has grown in leaps and bounds as I have watched him navigate some really tough situations. I love the dad he is to our boys, and am so grateful for such a great man for my boys to look up to and want to immulate-- I couldn't imagine anyone better!

Drew: I love you so much! Thanks so much for putting up with me :) Thanks for being a great provider and leader of our home, and for being such a great dad to the boys. You're the best, and I couldn't ask for our wish for anyone else to walk beside me on this journey of life. Happy Anniversary babe!