My first born is FIVE!

 June 26th, 2017

Happy 5th Birthday Will Bug!!!

 I am a month late in writing you, but that's just because we've been busy having fun!  We had a wonderful trip to Chattanooga celebrating your birthday!  When I asked you what you wanted for your birthday,  your response was "to stay in a hotel"...so that is exactly what we did!  We went to the aquarium, the incline railway, the splash pad, and went to ride on a train!  It was a great trip and I think you and Livi's favorite part was the hotel pool because it had a water slide.  

Will, you continue to be the sweetest little boy in the world!  You have a tender heart that considers others and you process so much with your emotions.  You had a great year this year at Northport Baptist Dayschool...and I watched as you went from having a lot of timidity, to being so outgoing and coming right out of your shell!  It was so fun to pick you up to hear about all the fun you had with your friends and all the things you had learned. You are an awesome story teller and love for Daddy to tell you "tall tales" at bedtime.  You love to be read to, love LEGOS, love all things NERF, and you are the best lizard catcher around! 

 As of late you have been setting up "lizard traps" in the backyard and I adore your creativity in telling me how each one works.  You have really started enjoying soccer and will play again this fall...at your request! :)  You are super excited about going hunting with daddy this fall and have told me repeatedly that you want to shoot a deer.  You and Daddy still love going to the woods together and have recently had a ton of fun fishing at the creek.  You have gotten bigger and taller, but you will still let me pick you up and you still love to snuggle...which makes my heart grow exponentially!  You have recently started giving me compliments and just this morning  you took my face in your hands and said, "mama, you look so beautiful!"  I truly cannot put into words how much your sweet spirit lights up my life.  You are SUCH a precious big brother to Livi and during VBS last week I observed you loving on her during the music time and "watching over her"  with such pride and such a protective nature.  You and your sister love to have sleepovers in the playroom in your sleeping bags...and I love watching y'all's friendship grow.  

Your newest expressions include, "oh my gracious", "oh my grief", "I love you with my whole heart", and "it's because I'm five!"  You are a lover of all fruits and you would eat tomatoes every day, all day!  You have a sweet tooth (like your mama), and I am constantly battling you and your desire for more Oreos :)  You have gotten so much better with your swimming and you no longer insist on wearing your puddle jumper in the pool.  Your drawing skills have also improved dramatically and I love your "real life" pictures of our family, and the garbage trucks!  You are still the #1 fan of the garbage truck and all our sweet friends on the truck!!!  You and Isaiah continue to have such a special friendship and I love watching you wait for the garbage truck to see if he's driving the truck!  You and Daddy have recently starting having very competitive games of Checkers where you have mastered the triple jump!  You and I planted  your first sunflowers this year and I so enjoyed watching your enthusiasm as you watched them grow.  

I love watching your heart and your mind yearn to know more about God...and in the last few months you have started asking so many questions and your prayers have gotten so precious!  I pray that you never stop seeking Christ in your life and I pray for the day that you accept Him into your heart.  I continue to pray your life verse over you...

Ephesians 3:16-19

 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

We love you so much Will and you bring so much joy into our lives!!!

Love, Mama

Happy Birthday Livi Lou!

April 21, 2017

Happy 3rd Birthday Livi Lou!  We celebrated your birthday on your actual birthday, which fell on Good Friday this year.  You had an Easter themed birthday party with an egg hunt and lots of your sweet friends were able to join us.  You were so excited about your birthday this year and started asking for a party 3 months in advance.  It was a joy to celebrate you and your BIG personality!  

You are such an expressive little girl, and I swear you have a facial expression for every little feeling you have.

 You LOVE to sing and when you swing at the playground, you sing songs the entire time.  You love singing your songs from Community Bible Study, Christmas songs, and songs from Frozen.  You are completely enamored with Peppa Pig right now, in addition to all things princess!

 Your most common phrases as of late in include "cuz" in response to why you did something, and "I not know" when you don't have an answer.  You still refer to milk as "mulk" and you refer to gas as "grass".  The other day you pulled up grass out of the yard and put it in the engine of your Barbie Jeep.  When I asked you what you were doing you responded, "pumping grass"...which cracked your mommy up!  You are a very loving little girl, who needs to give hug after hug before daddy leaves for work.  You yell, "Daddy hug!  Daddy kiss!" and you always kiss Daddy right on the knee before he can pick you up to kiss your sweet little face.  You're already demonstrating a lot of concern for others, as you asked me after Doc's surgery recently, "Doc all better?".  I am loving watching your little heart for others develop and I pray you continue to show compassion to those around you.  You continue to sleep with your "bunny buns" every night and you've now added "Twigs" the pink cat, grey elephant, a pink seahorse, and a Peppa pig doll to the mix.  You love your elephant blanket that you've had since birth and every morning you place each one of your friends on the couch and cover them up with your elephant blanket-you're such a little mama!  After you place all your babies on the couch, you come wake us up saying "I want a milkshake", referring to a Carnation instant breakfast drink.  You're a very picky eater, but what you DO like, you LOVE.  You love milkshakes, meat and salsa, marinara sauce, soup, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and cheese puffs.  You have quite the sweet tooth and you would eat sweets all day if I would let you...and I am sure you got this gene from your mama and your daddy!  You and Will continue to be each other's best buddy.  

You adore your big brother and you give him about 3-4 hugs and kisses at bedtime before going to bed.  I love reading stories with you and you jumping off the bed saying "I give Will one more hug!" as you run into his room.  Your brother is quite smitten with you too and even though you know how to drive him crazy, he would do anything for you! On the days I pick both of you up from school, Will runs down to your room to get you because he watches over you so well.  Will is always asking you "was anyone mean to you at school Livi?", because he loves to feel like he's protecting you.  These are just a few of the long list of attributes we love about you!  Your Daddy and I cannot imagine our family without our little Livi Lou and I pray there's never a day that you doubt how loved you are!  I ask you all the time, "how much does your Mommy love you?" and you always respond "SO MUCH!"...and that's exactly right sweet girl!  I love your sass, your determination, your feisty nature, your sweet spirit, your loving heart, your big hugs, your soft voice, your joyful noise, your love for books, your hatred of people dressed up as characters, the fact that you dig in dirt dressed as a princess, and most of all I love that I get to be your Mama!!!  I truly praise God for the gift of you and I ask Him to guide me in mothering you and Will. Three years later, I reflect on your life verse that we chose for you when you were born: 

"For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,  being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.  For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."  Colossians 1:9-14

We continue to pray this for you sweet girl!  Happy Birthday and we love you big! 

Love, Mama