Happy 25th babe!

"You are my dearest friend; My deepest Love; You are the best of Me"

My sweet husband turned 25 today. He is the love of my life. My best friend. I've known this man since I was 12 years old, and he has been one of my most constant friends. Emil and I met at a church function, and after my family moved to the area and started attending the same church as Emil, we became fast friends. I had no idea that Emil had a crush on me way back when I was just 14. He was my friend, that's all I thought and that all I cared about at the time. He was my friend and I liked him. 

Emil worked about 10 minutes from my parents house, and he had almost a 1 hour drive to work from his family's house. So during some of his busier times at work he would come over for dinner and to spend the night so that he didn't have to drive so far to work in the morning. My siblings loved to play with him in the evening and I loved spending time with him. It was during those times that our friendship grew. We started emailing each other during the week, just random things really, like sharing videos, telling each other about something funny that had happened to us, etc. Skip ahead few years, him asking twice to court me (I said no the first time...), several coffee dates, a proposal, a wedding, and the birth of our first baby, here we are! I have never been closer and loved another person more than I love this man. He is the man of my dreams, he has stolen my heart, he is courageous, handsome, brave, self sacrificing, and the absolute best Dad and husband in the world. 

I wanted his 25th birthday to be something special, so a few months ago I started planning a surprise for him! I found a gun range in the area and decided to take him out shooting for his birthday. My Mom was kind enough to offer to babysit Liam that evening, and the plans began to fall together! I told Emil about the surprise Monday evening so that he could get all of his "gear" together and I asked if he would be able to get off of work a little early. He was so surprised and excited; it made me so happy! Tuesday came and Liam and I were ready to head out as soon as Emil came home! 

Liam and I as we wait for Daddy to gather all of his guns and amo so that we can drop the little guy off at Grandma's! 

Yes, ladies, my husband has always been a stud. <3 He grew up hunting with his grandpa and is an amazing marksman. This is a picture I grabbed from when he was 18???? And I pretty much love it. 

Off to the gun range we go!! =) I've never been to a gun range and was seriously excited. 

My husband was an amazing teacher! 

We had the whole indoor range to ourselves for a whole hour. Pretty much the most awesome thing ever. 

After we finished shooting I took him over to a Mexican restaurant for a later dinner. We got a margarita to share and some *amazing* Mexican food. It reminded me of our honeymoon in Cancun, and the food and atmosphere was amazing! We will definitely be going back again. 

The birthday boy <3 <3

Keep dancing with me Baby. Dance with me forever. <3 <3  I love you so much and I can't wait to see what the next year of life brings you! I pray that God will use you in a might way and that he will continue to bless you, us as a couple, and our little family. You mean so much to Liam and I and the way you provide and protect us makes me feel so loved. Thank you for your love, diligence, leadership. We love you!! 

Choosing Joy when Mondays are Just Hard

A load of laundry is going in the washing machine, I've already gotten a work out in this morning, my baby is taking his early morning nap, and my coffee is in my hand. Yes, this is a good way to start out a day. The week has gotten much better since Monday, which was just one of "those" days. Not every day starts out with me calmly sitting in my favorite seat with coffee and knitting or blogging... Take Monday for example. Monday offered many many instances where I just had to stop and remind my self to chose to be happy, to chose patience, to chose to be calm. It wasn't anything big, but more one small thing on top of another small thing. Like my baby sleeping amazing, but me having a restless night (something about dreaming of a shark attack...) for no particular reason. Which means that blurred zombie walk (you know the one) to the coffee pot in the morning while my husband and I try to go through the motions of breakfast and getting him out the door for work. The day before I had finished the last of our dish soap, so there were the dishes from the past 24 hours sitting in the sink. Waiting. With no dish soap. Which meant grocery shopping had to come first this Monday, which meant making a meal plan and a grocery list. More coffee. Take a deep breath, feed the baby, put him down for his early morning nap, coffee, meal plan, coffee, grocery list, coffee. Baby is up, time to run to Aldi. Choosing patience and joy... not the easiest thing when you're exhausted and you're leaving the house with a sink full of dirty dishes. 

But grocery shopping first, then home, you can feed the baby again, put him down for his second morning nap, you can then do the dishes, put the groceries away, and sit and eat lunch. Everything will be alright again and you can relax this afternoon. 

Easier said then done. But we got through Aldi, then we got through picking up household items at Walmart, all while carrying a baby in one arm and pushing a cart that didn't want to go straight (you know the kind) with the other. Liam loves to shop. He loves to sit in the cart and look at all the people. But not today. Today he was extra sleepy and wanted me to hold him. By the time I had picked up everything, skipping grabbing shampoo, soap, shaving cream etc, Liam was asleep. Normally I like to wiz through the self checkouts instead of stand in line for 10 minutes, but there was no way I was going to accomplish that with a sleeping baby in one arm. So I stood in line. And I guess this was the week that kids are off of school. Walmart was busy. But I stood in line and I chose patience and I chose joy. 

Its all okay, you're almost done. Sure you didn't get any shampoo or body soap or shaving cream, but you did get dish soap. Everything will bo okay once those dishes are done. Hey, maybe we can all just take bubble baths for a week with dish soap.... haha, just kidding, we had enough shampoo to last the week ;) 

Thankfully I had been able to snatch a close parking spot, and I was back in the car in no time. Homeward bound. Of course Liam slept the 5 minute drive home and once there I was able to carry him right up to bed and deposit him there with his blanket and he stayed sleeping. Boom. Got the groceries carried in, put away, dishes washed, lunch made and eaten, talked to my husband on the phone during his lunch break, and got the kitchen cleaned. Ah sanity again. Finally, a chance to sit down and breath. And the baby wakes up. But I chose patience and I chose joy. And you know what? Liam and I had a lovely afternoon together. 

In other news I've been feeling rather ambitious lately. Between working on house decorating and landscape planning with Emil, I decided randomly that I wanted to make a quilt. So I did. I had a Hobby Lobby gift card from my birthday, and a basic pattern in mind. 

I had seen these fabrics at Hobby Lobby before, and absolutely loved them, but didn't know what I would ever do with them. Until now!

I pieced it together in one afternoon. It was pretty simply, just got all my squares lined up the way I wanted and ran them through the machine. Then I cut out the border and boom, finished. I purchase some backing and some batting and the next afternoon I got all the layers safety pinned together. Using safety pins was a trick I had seen my mom use, and I thought that it worked rather well. 

I've now got the squares all quilted, I just have to do the boarder... and then I need to bind it together and its finished! =) I think my quilting urge has been quenched. 

I've recently wanted to hang some pictures in Liam's nursery. But I wanted to be creative and artsy... So I purchased some little pieces of wood and painted them a minty teal color and then Modge Modged the pictures on. 

The Modge Podge dried clear and they were ready to hang! I also had bought a frame from Goodwill the other day and painted it white and then also chalk painted the glass. Now Liam and I have a good reminder above his changing table in his nursery. The picture is a screen shot from instagram... I didn't have a better one taken yet on my camera. 

I've been kind of addicted to chalk paint recently... 

This was another frame that I got from Goodwill. I chalk painted it and cured it, and now its ready for use! 

Curing the chalk paint is very important if you want it to last and not rub off after just one use. 

Now I've got a cute little way to keep track of the little things for the grocery list! 

And a good reminder hanging in my living room. A quote from one of my favorite hymns. 

Liam continues to grow and learn. He has become a master splasher in his little bath tub. He also is getting SO close with his crawling. 

I've been taking him outside once a day this week. He enjoys looking around and when the wind blows he gets this big grin and loves to watch the leaves blow and rustle. He also loves playing with the grass. 

The Bandy eyebrow.... Pretty sure I've seen this expression on his Daddy... Mostly when I'm talking and making no sense. ;) 

Liam is 5 months

"Something tells me 
I'm going to love him forever..."

Who gave you permission to grow up baby boy? You're 5 months old now. 5 months! It feels like just the other day you were a newborn in my arms! You've grown up so much, learned things so fast, and you are constantly taking in the world around you with those great big eyes of yours. Your Daddy and I are trying to soak every moment with you up; you're only a baby for such a short amount of time. 

Sometimes life can be hard, and there are things you will have to learn and grow from, but as you lay here in my arms looking up at me with those chocolate brown eyes of yours, all I want to do is protect you forever. I just want to hold you and squeeze you tight. 

But then I see you when you're sitting on the living room floor and you fall over, bumping your little head. You look to me instantly, as if I am the one who decides if you're okay or not. And when I give you a smile and ask if you're okay, you smile back as if my concern was all you needed to hear. I love you little boy. I love watching you learn and grow. I love showing you how a new toy works and you repeating my actions, learning to play with it yourself. I love seeing you fit into new clothes, and learn to splash in the bath, and I love that huge smile you get when Daddy walks in the door after work because you know he's going to play with you now. The smile lights up my world. You light up my world, Liam. You challenge and push me, and I love every day that I get to spend with you. I don't ever want you to have a day where you don't know that your Daddy and I love you, but also that your heavenly Father loves you as well. <3 ~Mommy

On Monday Liam turned 5 months old! And today he is 22 weeks! I can't even begin to believe how fast time has flown by! It seems like just yesterday he was the little guy wrapped up in his blanket and nestled into my arms. <3 And now he is sitting on his own, and just Monday I went upstairs to get him after he woke from one of his naps, and he was on his hands and knees! Hands and knees people! No no no no, he just started sitting, he can't want to crawl just yet! And yet he seems determined. He pushes up and gets his knees under him and then he starts rocking back and forth. He doesn't quite understand "how" to move, and I'm trying to teach him to scoot back to a sitting position, but he is learning fast! It was so crazy to see him learn something completely on his own. He was so proud of himself. <3
Liam continues to love classical music, and loves to sit and listen to me play my violin. He is fascinated with music. His smile grows bigger and he continues to be the happy little boy he has always been. All of last week, except for 1 day, he slept completely through the night, which made me so happy. And now I think he may be on the brink of another growth spurt... The other day we gave him his first taste of a mushed pea, which he thought was interesting. :) He is sitting all by himself, loves to play with his toys, and I think his favorite time of day is when Daddy gets home and plays with him. <3 

He will be on the move in no time... ='( Where has my baby gone??

His great big smile lights up my day and I just love this little boy to pieces! 

On Sunday Grace was amazing and took some really sweet pictures of Emil, Liam and I. These shots made me so happy. <3 Thank you, Grace!

This one especially made me so happy! 

Kisses for Mama! We're working on that one... ;) 

My two guys whom I love so much <3 

Happy 5 months, Liam! Can't wait to see what the next 5 months bring! Mommy and Daddy love you so much and we are so proud of you! <3