Life is Different

The days are getting colder. Our Christmas decorations are up. Christmas music is playing. I am waiting until the last minute, again, to decide on what Christmas presents to buy or make this year. But there is something different about this season this year. A few things I want to mention so I won't forget in the coming years how precious, how beautiful, how challenging and how rewarding this time in my life is. Here are a few...

• Watching a baby boy discover his hands for the first time
• Witnessing a big sister laugh deep from her belly as her baby brother tries to mimic the same laugh
• Walking into Elijah's room to be greeted with the biggest, most precious smile you have ever seen as he bobbles his head up and down with delight
• Listening to Grace proudly pronounce, "tree lights" and "ornaments" over and over and over again
• Watching Elijah pull Grace's hair as he squeals with delight
• Watching Grace run through an empty soccer field.
• Cherishing the evenings when kiddos are asleep to chat and unwind with my best friend.
• Letting Grace attempt to feed Elijah with a spoon. She is so careful and concerned.
• Seeing Grace glow when she returns from a "date" with her dad. 
• Cuddling with Elijah as he nurses and rests without a care in the world.
• Waking up early to work out and study my bible when one of the two little ones decides to get up too.

Thank you Lord for every new memory this season.

Thanksgiving

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name." Psalm 100:4

This Thanksgiving I attempted to cook for the first time! Cliff's dad came down to spend it with us, and I have got to say everything turned out really nice! I did take some short cuts such as buying a smoked turkey and Pepperidge Farms stuffing mix...but I was proud to say the least! I even made a pretty yummy pumpkin cheesecake. Thank you Ray for spending it with us!

              

We also took some time to share what we were thankful for and added it to our thankful tree. Grace had fun putting on and taking off the craft paper leaves. There is so much to be thankful for this season, but here are a few of the things I am thankful for...

JESUS. You are my God, my savior, my provider, my comforter, my friend, my father, my guide, my healer, my protector and my rock. Without you I could never be the wife, mother and friend I want to be. Without you I wouldn't have the beautiful life I have, the joy I have and the peace I have. I am so thankful you pursued me and saved me.

CLIFF. You have brought so much joy and purpose to my life. The dreams and the plans we have together bring so much life to me. You are a wonderful father and a faithful, fun and loving husband. You are my best friend.

GRACE. You are full of life. I love to listen to your chatter and see the world through your eyes. Your energy and curiosity make me smile. I love to watch you take care of your little brother with such a nurturing and caring spirit....even when he pulls your hair :). You are a beautiful daughter of our King.

ELIJAH. I am watching you now as you smile and giggle. I am so thankful God blessed us with you! You have so much joy. You are strong, and healthy and full of life. I love our quiet times together.

FRIENDS and FAMILY. I am so thankful for your support, friendship, prayers and love. I wouldn't be who I am without you.

There is so much more to be thankful for, and I could go on and on!! But I will stop there for now. What are you thankful for?

Elijah Dedication

In addition to Grace's party this past weekend, we headed to Austin for Elijah's baby dedication. It was such a special day, especially since my Papa, a pastor in Austin for about 60 years, dedicated me when I was a baby, married Cliff and I and dedicated Grace. So to say the least, it was a very special occasion with the whole family there. Cliff also stood up and said a few words about Elijah and what his name means to our family. It was a special message and our parents prayed over our son and us as parents. We are so blessed by our Lord and by our family that we have so many tools, prayers and encouragement to be the parents God has called us to. It is a huge responsibility, and during his dedication we were both reminded of the tremendous honor it is to raise children up to be servants of our King, Jesus Christ. Eljiah...you are an incredible gift from God, and we believe you have a very special purpose and voice as the prophet Elijah did in the scriptures. We are already so proud of you buddy...and always will be.

Grace's Birthday Party

We celebrated Grace's birthday with a puppy themed party this past Saturday...she loves dogs, so I thought it would be fun for her. It was so fun to watch her light up when she saw the balloons, cupcakes decorations and (most importantly) all of her friends and family. She ran around squealing with excitement when everyone showed up. It was such a fun day, and I was so thankful for everyone who came. Thank you, thank you everybody!

Here are a few pictures from the party...

John Samuel

This past Sunday, Cliff had the amazing privilege to speak at our close friends' baby dedication for John Samuel. It was an incredible honor to be asked to be a part of such a special day, and Cliff spent many hours preparing, praying and studying. The whole morning was perfect...nice weather, beautiful scenery, and God's presence was there. The Lord has given my husband a gift and passion to speak and his message blessed all of us tremendously. I was so proud of him and also so thankful for the opportunity. Cliff and I pray consistently for opportunities to share God's word, so this was an answer to prayer. Little John Samuel...you have awesome parents that love God and so many were there to witness them dedicate you to the Lord and His purposes. What an awesome day!

Birthday weekend

You are TWO! To our little Grace....

I can't believe that it was two years ago that you were in our arms in the hospital. When I met you I had so many emotions in me. I was so excited to be your mama, but also scared that I would fail. I have to admit many of these feelings are still here because now that you are two...you are learning to understand the world, people you meet and most importantly God. I pray and hope that your daddy and I can teach you all that we know and train you in the way you should go as the Bible says. Daddy and I are so proud to be your parents. You are a caring sister, curious and creative toddler and a special child of God. May two years be the best year yet!!

Mommy and Daddy

At Chuck E Cheese with Papa, Granny, and Papa Bo

Birthday morning, November 5 at Nana and Pop's house

Priceless

Sharing birthday fun with Elijah

Growing Up

Our little Grace Lynn turns two tomorrow. TWO!!! I can hardly believe it. She can even exclaim "two" while holding two Texas Tech Raider guns up. She is hitting so many milestones in her little life...

CHATTER BOX...We won't have to worry about Grace's social skills. She is a talker. She is communicating so well and learning new words every day. After very careful listening I can usually decipher what she is trying to say. It is so adorable how she decides to pronounce new words too. "Cat" is "that", "please" is "peas", "water" is "wawa", "bath" is "ba", "blue" is "boo", and the list goes on. She is also putting words together to make sentences I can understand. She still, of course, is jibber jabbering constantly which I could listen to all day. At least she knows what she is saying.

BIG GIRL BED....To add to her big girl milestones, Grace is officially sleeping in her big girl bed! Her Nana (my mom) bought her a twin bed when Elijah was born, but at that time, she didn't want anything to do with it. She has been consistently climbing out of her crib and, recently, unplugging her fan. So, I got an idea from a friend who "trapped" her toddler in her bed with pillows and blankets. It also makes it feel more enclosed like a crib. Grace fussed at first when I laid her down from a nap (I also removed her crib from the room), but she quickly got comfortable and went to sleep. She has been sleeping in her bed every since.

Fall Festivital

We celebrated Halloween this year at a Fall Festival in Brenham, TX. All of the local churches came together and hosted a fall festival on the fair grounds with free food, games, and bounce houses. We dressed up Grace in her fairy costume which she was actually excited to put on! She usually complains about any we outfit dress her in...she would rather be naked. Well, we figured out quickly that she was a little young for many of the games and definitely too little for all the fun bounce houses...sorry Grace! But, that didn't stop her from having a good time. She loved eating the popcorn, checking out the costumes, dancing to the music and of course getting candy! Grace...you are so fun and easy to please. Elijah snoozed through all the festivities...

Fall Activities

It finally feels like fall! I love the colder weather (who doesn't?)...we have kept our doors open, ac off and sweatshirts on. It has seemed like a long time coming with the dry and hot summer we had, but I am so glad the cold weather is here! We have been celebrating fall regardless of the weather the past two weeks with pumpkin projects, play dates, walks, football, and church activities. Cliff even slipped in and tiled our bathroom floor! Here are a couple of pics of our fall festivities.

Pumpkin carving with friends

Pumpkin outfits made by Mimi

Pumpkin Painting

My husbands impressive tile job!

Rain!

So, any of you who live in Texas know that we finally received a down pour this past Sunday! It was the most beautiful sound to my ears. I can not remember the last time I heard and witnessed that much rain. It was glorious!


We also were able to finally use Grace's toddler raincoat and boots. It was a gift from her great aunt in Cali, and she has always asked to put it on. Now she finally was big enough and had a reason too! She loved her outfit especially the boots which she wears now whether it is rainy or dry. She also loved the rain although she made sure to stay out of the mud and dirt...she likes to stay clean. :)

Here are more pictures from our week. Making more cookies. This has been a weekly or sometimes more activity. This time we got out our matching aprons that my cousin made. Grace is posing as usual. So precious!

I also had to take a picture of Elijah in his Texas Tech gear. He is also using his Boppy to sit in which he enjoys because he can see what his big sister is up to.

Here is Grace mowing the lawn after the rain we had. You can see some green grass. Woohoo!

Off to church with Daddy! What a handsome man...