Blessed. And Thankful. So Very Thankful.

About three years ago Matt and I were in a very hard place.  We were still adjusting to life with a new baby.  We both had demanding jobs that neither of us enjoyed.  We were still new to the DFW area and hadn't really made good friends.  We fought a lot.  I cried a lot. There were days when I wondered if the season of life we were in would ever end.  He was looking for a new job but had no idea what he wanted to do.  I desperately wanted to be home with Avery and felt like my baby was growing up without me.  I remember having a very hard time getting in the "holiday spirit".  I knew I had a lot to be thankful for but my heart was heavy most days and it was just a difficult time for me.

Three years later, when I look through the pictures on my phone, when Matt and I sit and bed and talk about the past week, when I think of how far we've come in the past two years I'm overcome with gratitude.  The Lord's plan for us was perfect. When I look back now I realize that some of the blessings in our life would not have been possible without the hard times we endured three years ago.  I have seriously neglected this blog and some days I think about stopping all together but I love looking back at the memories and pictures.  It's a public journal that I know I'll look back on years down the road and be so thankful for it.  So, this will be a long post with way too many pictures but these are the memories I always want to keep and the moments I never want to forget.

I was hoping to have nice family pictures to send out on our Christmas cards this year.  For various reasons it didn't work out so Matt and I took the kids to a nearby park and snapped a few pictures.  No one really cares about seeing us anyway... the kids are much cuter!

Awhile back we had a little fire in the fire pit and roasted marshmallows (or marshpillows as Avery calls them) for Smores.

This little girl cracks me up.  She talks NONSTOP. She definitely has her own opinion about EVERYTHING. But she is the sweetest little three year old ever.  

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving... the weather was perfect, Matt smoked a delicious turkey and we were able to relax and take a break from our normal routine.

18 Months {Asher James}

Asher James,

Little boy, you are ALL boy.  As in crazy energy, super loud, and very messy. You are also hilarious and full of personality.  Some days when you have smeared spaghetti in your hair, screamed as loud as possible (just to hear how loud you can be), run through the house a dozen times as fast as you can, and practiced throwing every ball we own 100 times, I can't help but laugh.  You are certainly not timid or scared to try new things.  And even though you cry like your life is over every time you fall, you get right back up and try again to climb whatever it was you just fell off of.  Your absolute favorite thing to do is throw (or kick) balls.  You have a huge obsession.  Anywhere we go you scream A BA! whenever you spot something round.  It could be a light bulb, an ornament, or an actual ball but if it's round, you want it.  Bad.

You love your big sister and probably say AVY! a thousand times a day.  Of course, she makes you screaming mad when you don't get your way but when she's willing to play it is the highlight of your day.

You are definitely tall like daddy. You wear 2T (and some 3T) clothing.  At your 18 month check up you are:
26 lbs (83%)
36.4 inches (100%)

You are a picky eater and don't have time in your busy day to to sit and eat.  You were throwing tantrums when I tried to put you in the highchair so I moved you to a booster seat at the table.  You do okay if it's dinner time and everyone else is sitting with you but normally you do not like being restrained and required to sit still while you eat.  This has resulted in you eating much less than a few months ago.  You still love your "bobble" and I'm pretty sure you get half of your daily calories from milk. (you go through nearly a whole gallon, alone, each week.) You would much rather have a bottle than sit down and eat.

You are my little Houdini and managed to climb out of your crib last week.  This is a whole other post but lets just say you, little man, are in no way ready for the freedom of a toddler bed. So we've made "adjustments" to the crib and thankfully, for the time being, I think we have you contained again. 

You are a talker! I'm constantly amazed by how much you have to say. You walk around saying "Iwanmabobble" all day.  You have too many words for me to list here but here are a few of your favorites:

mommy
puppy
daddy
avy
bobble
side (outside)
night-night
ball
cacacker (cracker)
nack (snack)
ol me (hold me)
mimi (blanket)
Arper (Harper) You say her name at night when you're lying in bed... I'm pretty sure she's your first crush :)

Trick-or-Treat

Avery has been looking forward to Halloween and wearing her mermaid costume for weeks.  We love our tradition of trick-or-treating with the Brimberrys the Saturday before Halloween.

I think this is about the best picture I got of my little mermaid and firefighter.  Asher does not like Avery holding his hand.

I have to throw in a comparison picture from last year!

 

Sweet little BFFs. I can't believe how grown up they look.

This guy was all ready to go.  He acted like he'd been doing it for years.  Running, trying to keep up with the big kids. Walking right up to the doors and not wanting me to hold his hand.

Of course, he was more than willing to let his sweet Zoey hold his hand though. Sigh.

Love this lady! I'm pretty sure we have the best neighbors ever.

He quickly figured out what was hiding in all those pumpkins.

The day of Halloween our preschool had a costume day so the kids got to wear their costumes to school :).

That night I took Avery trick-or-treating with some friends.  Asher and Matt stayed home and it was nice and relaxing just having my girl and not chasing Asher around!

Can I please just have one???

These Days

Some days I miss the sweet cuddles of sleeping babies.  And I definitely miss being able to lay them down in one spot and know they will still be there when I return. 

But these big kids, they're an awful lot of fun. They are characters. Packed full of personality and spunk.  With tons of energy and big belly laughs.

With so much sweetness and silliness, I never know what to expect. They run around the house screaming like maniacs one minute and cuddling together on the couch the next. It's never a dull moment around here.

This little girl likes to start her day off with cereal and a cartoon.  And it's always nice to have a friend or two to sit with.

Dance parties are an (almost) daily occurrence.  When she got the pom-poms as a "prize" for being so brave getting her flu shot she waived them around continuously.  They definitely took the dancing up a notch!

fv  

This guy has needed a haircut for about two months now.  The shaggy look had to go.  I'm grateful for his daddy's patience and the green apple sucker that kept him occupied for a good 15 minutes.

One of the coolest things about the kids getting bigger is their excitement about new things.  Avery loved helping daddy carve the pumpkin. 

Of course, with a daddy like this, it's hard not to have fun :)

You want me to stick my hand in that gooey mess?? Um, OKAY!

Yes, these days they're exhausting.  They require lots of patience and even more grace.  But they are fleeting and will be gone far too soon.  This kind of innocence, it doesn't stick around long.  So I'm going to enjoy every second of it it and do my best to make the most of these days.

A very special baby shower

In (hopefully) less than two months I am going to be an aunt!! My sister is having a baby girl and I am so excited to meet her!

Last weekend I flew out to Colorado, kid-free, to help my mom host a shower for my sister.  We had such a wonderful time together.  It was nice being able to just sit and talk with my mom, to spend time preparing for the shower without interruptions, to relax and rest for a few days!

My mom and I drove up to Fort Collins Friday night to have dinner with Stef and decorate her house.  We had a lot to do in one night but it was so fun to be with the two of them!

 

It was fun decorating Stef's house, it's already so beautiful, it just needed some pink touches!

We are blessed with a BIG family on my dad's side and it was so nice to see many of my aunts, cousins, and my grandma!

So many special faces in this picture! I love each of these women so much and miss seeing them on a regular basis. 

The beautiful momma-to-be! 

I am already counting down the days till December when I get to meet this sweet baby and see my family again!