Lately...

Let me just tell you, it has been C-razy around here lately.  I've never been a huge fan of the month of February - it's always so cold and wet and it's like it's a tease right before spring.  And then for the past several years, February has just been the craziest time of year for us due to Jacob's non-stop overtime working schedule for Mardi Gras (I do love the overtime check in February, though!)

Last February was spent with me being extremely sick and in bed most of the month with first trimester all-day sickness, both of the girls with RSV and breathing treatments and ear infections, and AB with the flu - on top of Jacob's crazy work schedule.  This February was spent with Creek and AB with RSV, Creek in the hospital for 2 days, crazy work schedule, potty training, 7 mountains of laundry, breathing treatments, more potty training and 7 more mountains of laundry.  And it seemed to extend into March!!

So, there hasn't been much time for blogging lately, but here's a quick recap of what we've been up to:

* Lynns is potty training like a champ!
* We spent a week in Tennessee; I made the 9 hour drive SOLO for the first time with all the kiddos.  Brave? Crazy? I haven't decided yet, but we all made it there and back.
* The girls and I made white cupcakes with tiny little chocolate chips and cream cheese frosting with tiny little chocolate chips for Jacob for Valentine's Day
* Jacob turned 31!!!  We had a birthday breakfast for him with Lemon Poppyseed Muffins and candles.
* Lynns has become quite the prayer warrior...only she spends most of her prayers confessing Anna Beth's sins. 
* Anna Beth got her first real haircut...by yours truly! I mean, I have scissors and can cut a straight line so why not?  It looks good and she did great! I may have taken an inch or two more off than I had originally planned, but it's still past her shoulders and goes into a great ponytail.
* Creek got his first two teeth...on the bottom in the middle...he cut them while he was in the hospital.  Might as well do it all at once!
* Jacob and I celebrated 7 years of marriage...you can read about it here if you missed it!

So, that's us lately!  So glad February has been over for 2 weeks now :)

7 Years & 3 Kiddos Later

  This morning I woke up to the movement of the bed as the girls climbed up with us, baby giggles from the other room, the sound of rain outside my window, and a smiling husband who whispered, "Happy Anniversary" over the pile of kiddos, stuffed dogs, and blankets that had wiggled there way in between us.
  If you had told me 7 years ago, "Hey, you'll have 3 kids 7 years from today!", I would have said, "No, way! Probably just 1."  But, nope, it's 3 kiddos.  And one truly amazing husband.
  We had a great anniversary.  We spent the morning laying on the couch with the kids, showing them our wedding pictures and a video we made for our parents of pics of us as kids and then as a couple.  We told them how much we loved them and loved each other.  We explained that our anniversary was like the birthday of when we got married.  And we explained that being married, meant (in simple terms for them) that we had promised God and each other to love always love each other...forever. 
  As we watched the video of our childhood photos and then photos of us together as a dating and engaged couple, it was like I was watching 2 parallel paths that started - literally - on two different sides of the world (Jacob spent most of his childhood and teenage years in Africa) and slowly started veering towards each other, until our paths didn't just crossed, but became one big, better, brighter, happier path.  It was really neat to think of it like this. 
  But as I watched, I also thought of everything we had on those paths that have helped to make our marriage what it is today.  And so, I want to say thank you to several people:

* Thank you to our grandparents.  We had every single one of our grandparents, and even a great grandmother, present at our wedding.  Between our grandparents and parents, we have almost 300 years of combined marriage experience to which was can and do look to as a model for a strong, loving, Christ-centered marriage.  What an amazing foundation to have!
* Thank you to Jacob's parents.  Thank you for loving and raising him into the godly man that he is today.
* Thank you to my mom and dad.  Thank you for giving us a truly beautiful, loving, amazing wedding - it went beyond anything I had ever dreamed of...it was perfect.  And, daddy, thank you for setting the standard for what a husband should be.  And thank you for taking me on that long walk down the aisle :)
* Finally, thank you to Jacob.  Thank you for being a husband that I don't deserve.  Thank you for raising the bar for husbands and fathers.  Thank you for truly being an Ephesians 5 husband.

Jacob, 7 years & 3 kiddos later...I love you even more.