Thankful

As we enter the busy holiday season with the advent of November, today I just wanted to take a break and reflect on how blessed I am this year.

I am so thankful to have a wonderful, supportive husband who loves me even on my cranky PMS days and who works extremely hard to provide for our family. He truly has a long-term family vision and together, we work towards a peaceful home with lots of love and laughter for our kids. I am so thankful that God gave him to me to help me through this journey of life. I love looking toward the future with him while enjoying the present - rich or poor, sick or healthy.

I have been blessed with the sweetest baby boy that has ever been born. He is such a joy to play with every day and cuddle with at night! He has been very healthy, is smart, and is learning more each day. What an adventure being a momma has been!

I have been blessed to have a close family - maybe not so much in distance any more, but certainly in spirit. I love my parents and am continuously amazed at my brothers and their talents, as well as how much they love their nephew :) I also have a great family-in-law, with in-laws who are great grandparents to Jackson, and brother-in-laws who do live close to us.

I am blessed to work at a job that gives me the opportunity to stay at home 5 days a week with my sweet little one while only working two and still making enough money to pay the bills. While some days are rough and some times I just don't want to go to work, the benefits of being at home with Jacks far outweigh the 2 hour drive and long work days.

I am blessed to live in a great, safe neighborhood with awesome neighbors, where we can go on family walks at night, and there's always someone right down the road who will let you come over when the electricity is out and you're alone or help you unload groceries when the baby's cranky or just come over to eat dinner in the middle of the week. It's awesome to have someone who we can truly live life with - and we're looking forward to our newest neighbors moving in next door in December, too!

There are a thousand other things I am thankful for as well, but those were the ones on my mind today.

What are YOU thankful for today?

Pumpkins!

We have had the most relaxing two weekends in a row! Last weekend, we just hung out and enjoyed the weekend, visited with my brother and three of his friends while they were on fall break, and visited a new church. This weekend was just as fun and relaxing.

Saturday afternoon, I took Jackson to the pumpkin patch with one of my lifelong friends, Charity, and her sister Jasmine and kids. We had a great time - it was overcast and not too hot, we got to do a hayride which Jackson loved, and I got to practice my photography skills a little and ended up with several great shots.

Here's me & Jacks at the pumpkin patch - he is getting hot and cranky in this pic. It was before we got on the hayride. (If it doesn't get cold soon, I'm going to have to find some new clothes for Jacks - he has outgrown all his summer stuff, and it's too hot for the clothes I bought for this age!)

Jasmine with two of her kids, me and Jackson, and Charity. I grew up with these girls in Alma and have known them since I was six. Charity and her hubby live two houses down from us and are the best neighbors ever!
Jackson was really not sure about the pumpkin patch at first.... but once he got down in the dirt, he loved it!
My sweet punkin - barefoot and all! This is my favorite picture from the day.
He is trying so hard to walk - it won't be too much longer!

Sunday we went back to the same church we visited last weekend, and we really like it there. There are lots of people our age with kids about the same age, and we just feel at home there. It has been great to be attending church again! It's small enough that we feel like we can interact with most of the people there, but not feel like we're in a "small group" setting.

Anyway, I have a doctor's appointment today so I am not working until Tues/Wed this week. My grandma and I are going to take Jackson to Little Rock with us and enjoy a nice lunch and probably a little shopping while we're there! :)

Hope everyone has a great Monday!

....bonus round

And just because I love my boy Kris Allen, and think he deserves better than what the media has been giving him lately - here's a link to his new single, performed for EW.com. I enjoyed it this morning and thought you might too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvaJ3wUUJd4&feature=player_embedded

Random October pictures

I love this picture of the two boys I love most in the world. They were just hanging out at the park this past Saturday, and I was on the steps above them and caught this little cuddle moment between them. Love!
Jackson LOVES to watch his daddy play ladderball in the backyard. He will sit there forever just watching Tyler go back and forth.
So, this is a cute picture of my brother B and Jacks from when we visited B in Nashville. What you don't know is that Jackson's diaper had leaked poo everywhere and his clothes are saturated in nastiness, and B is just trying to keep him from sitting down on his carpet while I figure out where the clean clothes and diapers are, and Tyler is in the shower because he found out that the diaper leaked when he put Jackson on his shoulders to walk around..... definitely a memory for the baby book.

I love this picture of me and my sweet husband. We had to go to a banquet for Tyler's work, which is a rarity, and we got dressed up and enjoyed a night out without the babe. It's definitely not common to see us this dressed up and without spit up or green beans in our hair.
This might be one of my favorite pictures I have ever taken of Jacks. That thumb sucking action! That little ear! Those intent eyes watching his daddy play with the dog! I love that boy so much.
Well, that's what's been going on in our lives the past week or so. I am glad to be back at home after my 2 days of work and getting back into a schedule today. Hope everyone is having a wonderful Wednesday!! :)

Today

Today has been one of those days like the bad dreams - the ones where you keep trying and trying to get out the door, and for some reason you just CAN'T make it! I have been up since before Jackson was awake to get ready. I had a bunch of errands that needed to be done. We're out of toothpaste, for crying out loud. I need to go to Target before we get cavities.

But it just hasn't happened. My purse got left in Tyler's car, which is now 30 minutes away in the parking lot the hospital where he works, and he is in meetings all day. I have no wallet, no keys, nothing. Not to mention the fact that Tyler got rear-ended yesterday while driving my car, so my bumper is all buckled in and you can't open the back door of my car, so I was going to have to squeeze all my bags into the front seat anyway.

When I realized that (during the time that Jackson was in the bathtub and suddenly pooped all over everything).... I sat down on the bathroom floor and cried. And cried. And cried.

Then, I got myself back up, rinsed the poop out of the bathtub, gave Jacks another bath, put him down for a nap, made some lunch, put some Hillsongs on, and started my day over.

Mommies have it rough sometimes.

This blog is about being real. That's what I have done today.

For my husband

Five years ago today, this was me and my husband. We had just met. (Who takes pictures with someone you just met!?!)

I am so thankful I decided to go on that Chi Alpha retreat and meet some new people - cause I just so happened to meet the most important person in my life! :) On October 7, 2005, we met at the Chi Alpha Fall Retreat in Branson, MO. I never dreamed how much my life was about to change for the better!

About a year later, on November 21, 2006, Tyler proposed...

I just love this pic of us. It's very much who we are - sweatshirts and all.

Christmas at Tyler's grandma's...
Easter at my Sue's house...

Engagement pictures...

Then another year or so later, December 16, 2007, we got hitched...
Tyler cried like a baby through the whole wedding....

Then I graduated....

Then Tyler graduated.... (and apparently wore the same shirt... just noticed!)

We bought a house....

Random picture that I love :)

We found out we were gonna have a sweet baby boy....
REALLY have a sweet baby boy!....
We HAD a sweet baby boy...
And he changed our lives forever....

And now we rarely take pictures by ourselves - this is one of very few I've gotten since Jacks was born with both of us in it! :)

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Thank you, Tyler, for being such a wonderful husband. You are my best friend and I have loved every moment of the past five years with you. You take care of me (and Jackson) in so many ways, and make sure the garbage gets taken out and the yard stays mowed. I love you for so many reasons and in so many ways. You are the best gift God has ever given me, and I can't wait to grow old with you and continue to see what God has in store for us.

What a difference a week makes....

So, we're almost a week into this new sleep arrangement, and it has totally transformed our family. Jacks has been sleeping 12 hours pretty consistently at night. Ty and I have our evenings back to eat dinner in peace, cuddle on the couch and watch a movie, and go to bed at a normal time so he can get up early for work. Jackson is so much more himself during the day - happy, lovey, and so much fun to be with. Naptimes during the day give me a chance to catch up on housework so that while he's awake I can enjoy our time together. What a difference!

This weekend we're heading over to Nashville, TN to visit my (oldest) younger brother. This is his third year in school there and we've never been able to go visit for various reasons, so I am excited. We haven't seen him since we were at the beach the 2nd week of August!

Tomorrow marks 5 years since Tyler and I met. Stay put for an "anniversary" post of sorts tomorrow! :)