Another post, mainly for the adorning Grandmas :)

 Forgive me, I just can't get over how adorable Brody is in his big boy undies! His little bottom is oh my word just too much cuteness!!!! Especially when daddy walks into the room and B yells, "I need to tackle!" So daddy assumes position and B becomes a spider monkey :)

 Then Aubs girls discovered what a puddle was. For the amount of princess she is, I'm shocked how much she LOVED getting wet and muddy :)

Brother eventually joined in on the fun, however, he was a very naked J-Bird which means I can't post those pictures ;)

We are safe from the last two days of horrific tornado outbreaks. With extremely heavy hearts we are thankful to have, yet again, escaped the devastation a tornado brings. The F-4 from yesterday that hit Moore, Oklahoma was 2 hours south of here. We had our shelter (our bathroom) ready for the second day in a row, if the sirens went off. Gosh, the clouds did look scary. I'm trying to write something profound and encouraging but the words aren't coming. It's really even difficult to find words to pray because I just simply don't know what to say. I will say this. In these moments I find the most comfort from opening my Bible and reading. That's it, just reading. There is something so extremely powerful and comforting about having my Bible open and being wrapped up in the words of God Himself! 

Mike's brother lives very close to Moore and they also are safe. Mike is already busy at work figuring out dates to take teams to help with the cleanup.

 

Anyways, Meghan graduated a week ago! My dad, brother and sister were able to make the trek down here :)

We had a fun lunch party afterward for her, complete with this yummy, yummy cake!!

It was really neat, toward the end of the party we all prayed for Meghan and this next adventure in her life.

So Brody ADORES his Uncle Spencer! ADORES! They are inseparable when together :) Above I'm pretty sure Brody is stealing Spence's nose and eating it ;)

We celebrated Mother's Day a few days after. Mike wanted to celebrate the whole day instead of just 1/2 the day with church. He blew my mind as he really did have the whole day planned! We went out for breakfast, then a picnic lunch at the park, an afternoon nap and then a date (just us 2!) to end the day. So fun! This was Aubrie's first picnic and she loved it :)

 We brought leftover cake for dessert and forgot forks. Brody thought it was the coolest thing that we dug in with our hands to eat it ;)

We even got to feed the ducks. For our animal loving boy, this was the greatest thing! He did really well and wasn't even scared one bit. He made me scared with how close he would get to them though.

Have I mentioned how much  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being a momma!?? I'm still not sure when I became an adult or why in the world the Lord trusts me enough to raise kiddos, but goodness I LOVE it! :) And we do make pretty cute kids, right?!

10 months!

 10 months!!!! The Girlfriend is 10 months old! In 2 months we will be celebrating her 1st birthday and goodness in one year (I'm sure it will feel like!) Daddy will be walking her down the isle! "Enjoy EVERY second, don't blink, keep snuggling my babies as long as they let me" is what I find myself repeating often times because I look at them and can't get over how quickly life is flying.

 These monthly pics become more and more difficult. This month was the hardest...because....AUBS GIRL IS CRAWLING!!!! Her very last night of being 9 month old she decided to do it :) She's memorized by our house :) Mike and I keep singing the Aladdin song, "A whole new world, a dazzling place I never knew" hehe. This newest accomplishment as brought so much confidence about herself. Not only is she crawling but pulling up on everything :) She's adorable because she continues to be way, super cautious about every move but yet she does what she needs to do :)

 

• Continues to wear size 3 diapers 
• Sleeps from 8pm-8am (is the goal, lately big brother has been known to tickle her awake in their room at 6:45am!!) Then 2, 2 hour naps a day at 10:00am and 2:00 pm
• Eats really whatever we are eating, which makes us eat super healthy ;) Then eats from me 4 times a day.
• Received her first discipline this month. She threw food from her highchair to the ground, deliberately, yea it was really sad :( She definitely does not carry Brody's strong willed personality because she really has never done it again :)
• Is jibber jabbering all the time :)
• Sleeps with Rain the Monkey and Molly the Monkey :)

 Brody painted with water colors over the weekend. What fun! I'm not sure what was more fun though; the water colors or getting to put on an old shirt of daddy's as a paint shirt :) Cute, cute, cute!!!!! He is in for a rude awakening, I think, with his sister being mobile now :)

I go on spurts where I blog almost every other day and then sometimes there are a couple weeks between. There's no reason to my madness! Mostly I've been working lots which I'm not a huge fan of, but that extra does put more of a dent into my dream car fund! I'm such a mom because my dream car is a Honda Odyssey. I find myself drooling almost when I see one on the road or in the parking lot. I do enjoy my Pilot and I really enjoyed it with no kiddos. However, I'm so short that my shins are constantly bruised from putting kiddos in their car seat. So one day....I will have my prize and may never get out of it ;)

 My sweet Brody is getting so big! Our newest routine of the morning has been "Coffee and Milk Time". We both get our most favorite beverage, B picks out a book, and we sit on the couch snuggling, reading and drinking! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this newest tradition! :)

We celebrated Mike's 21st birthday (ha!!! do you believe me?) last week! We surprised Mike while he was teaching at the college. We walked in with balloons and donuts which made for some really happy college students ;) The day before B helped me make daddy's ice cream birthday cake. His job was to place Peanut Butter Cups into the blender. He's so my child because once they were unwrapped he would say, "Oh, it broken" and then eat it! How can I get upset with a child who is simply doing what is modeled for him? :) Brody had so much fun with the birthday day that for days after when we would have some cake he thought he needed to sing "Happy Birthday" all over again! 

The kiddos have begun playing with each other! This is how I found them the other day playing with Brody's cars :) They are just best pals!

Aubs girl has her 9 month appointment today (even though she's days away from 10 months old!)! She weighs in at 18 something pounds placing her in the 47% tile and her height is the 76% tile. She is one tall girl :) The biggest news here is that she has a room mate! Big brother moved into her room yesterday officially to make room for Auntie to move in next week. Their room is a cute mix of pink flowers meets Lightning McQueen :)

Tiny side note. I'm sitting here eating the Mega Stuffed Oreos (I promise you the Lord wanted me to have them because while at Wal-Mart they pretty much jumped out at me, really!). Anyways, they are SOOOOO good!! Oh my it's really difficult to exhibit self control and not eat the whole bag!

 I'm pretty sure if you asked Brody what he wanted to be when he grown up he would answer, "I want to be daddy!" He does everything Mike does. He wants his hair to look like daddy, he wants to go to work like daddy, if Mike has a hammer in his hand Brody needs a hammer in his hand. It's super cute. Over the weekend Mike was raking with our only rake. Not a problem though the broom worked just fine for the boy :)

 It was a gorgeous day to be outside! Aubs loved sitting on her blanket while watching her boys :) Sweet girlfriend had a rough night last night with a cough and lots of congestion. This morning I took her to the doctor to find out she has another ear infection :( She does weigh 17lbs 15 ounces though :) Poor girl even vomited twice today. Hmmmm.....maybe she has a bit more than an ear infection.

This is how dude a lude looks lately at our house. A shirt and just undies on. Yep you read correctly. Big Boy Undies!!!! Randomly we decided to toss the diaper thing and it has worked!! He has even been taking his naps with undies on and stays dry. Yahoo!! Him and I went grocery shopping this afternoon and he stayed dry! So proud of him! And his little diaper rash bottom has never looked better :) Isn't that big boy undie bottom just the cutest thing!!??

Funny story. I was in the process of putting Aubrie down for a nap this morning when she vomits ALL over herself, me and the carpet. You know those few seconds you just stand in one spot trying to figure out your next step when something unexpected happens? Well I was smack in the middle of those few seconds when low and behold Brody run into the room yelling, "I have to go poopy mommy!" Of course, right!? So me and my puked covered girl (who was very happy and content by the way) walked big brother to the potty (did I mention we were dripping puke in the hallway?). The life of a mom! Gosh I love it and wouldn't  trade it for anything :)

And finally my little nugget of Truth . I read a few verses in Romans today. What stuck out to me was this, "faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." Romans 10:17. How is your faith today? Have you been in the Word (the Bible) to get to know God more? This is the only way to really get to know Him and have a relationship with Him. So open it up, learn from Him and be encouraged today!

 Oh my! Those eyes!! I just can't get enough of those big, juicy, brown eyes! (And that trail of drool dripping down her face ;)!!!! Yesterday Aubrie wore an outfit that had a small tutu around the waste. As soon as Brody saw her he said, "Oh, Aubi! Your a pincess. So petty" Melt my heart into a big old puddle! Miss girlfriend has also shown some desire to crawl! Whohoo!!! She gets up on all fours and sport one big smile before the face dive into the floor ;)

Brody (and daddy) the sharks! BIG breakthrough yesterday! We've adapted to the slow potty training way. When we are home Brody will wear his undies and the timer goes off every 30 minutes to remind us all it's time for B to use the potty. Last night Brody ran up to be and said, "Mommy, I need to go poopy!!!" We ran to the toilet, he put on his poopy face and splash! My boy went poopy in the potty!!!! Yahoo!!!

We got Brody a step stool that would help him to be able to reach the sink to wash his hands and brush his teeth on his own. Well, he has a little bit more growing to do yet to reach the sink. Don't worry though! The step stool doesn't go to waste. He's brilliant! B carries this thing around the house and doesn't let the frustrations of being a bit short get him down. He says, "I ne to cim" (I need to climb) and gets what he wants. Very self sufficient :)

 

Miss Aubs girl is now a 9 monther! Goodnight! She sleeps from 8pm to 8am and two naps a day. She is busy rolling all over the place but her favorite place continues to be in my arms or at least in sight of me :) She loves attention and hates, hates, hates to be alone! The second she is left alone you would think she cracked her head open with the type of cry she lets out.

 

Girlfriend loves to stand. We all think she may just skip the crawling stage and go straight to walking. She shows not one bit of interest in crawling. Still just the two bottom teeth. Eats as if she will never have another meal again ;) She is beginning to transition to feeding herself! We might just get to put away the food processor :) 

And again, the same from day 1, has one special relationship with her brother! Lately during family devotion time as we are all sitting on the couch, the two simply give each other googly eyes :) Brody tickles Aubrie's cheeks, Aubrie giggles and goes after B and it all happens again. Gosh, we have one good life. There has been some big disappointments that have come the last couple weeks, but really, what do I have to complain about? God is good and His blessings are beyond what I deserve!

It's just a blueberry kind of morning :) Girlfriend tried this super messy fruit for the first time and they are a hit. There really was never any doubt she wouldn't like them, the proof of her love for food is all in her cheeks :)

 Auntie is staying with us this week while she's kicked out of her dorm room during Spring Break. We mixed sleeping arrangements up. Usually we bring Aubrie into our room (well our closet actually, don't judge!). Well we always have talked about the 2 kiddos sharing a room. So Aubs and Brod are giving this idea a test run and it's going great! They both love it. In fact sleeping better then usual (these 2 REALLY adore each other!). I'm surprised I haven't found B in the pac n play with Aubs yet :)

 

I will leave with a nugget of truth that I just read from Acts:

"I saw the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body will also live in hope, because You will not abandon me to the grave, no will You let your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the paths of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence." Acts 2:25-28 

How I needed to be reminded of his constant guidance today! How true that He does fill me with joy each time I sit and open His word or just simply talk to Him.

Brody LOVES basketball! In fact I kinda think he's pretty good at it. I know I'm his momma and am a tad biased, but he's sort of known for his hoops. Sometimes that's how others in the nursery remember him. They will saying something like, "Oh yea that's the boy that plays basketball" or "Oh yea Brody! He made those crazy shots last week!" His daddy is pretty proud to say the least ;)

 Uncle Spencer came to visit last week during his Spring Break! Uncle Spenc loves basketball also so, goodness, thats all they did! To top it off it was March Madness time. I'm pretty sure we dreamt of basketball for a week :) Really though, it was such a fun time of having him down. Brody was is udder despair the first few days after he left :( Every time the garage door would open he would jump up and down yelling, "Uncle Spenc is back!" Heartbreaking when he would find out the truth.

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Mike and I have been following the Dave Ramsey financial plan sense last October. Last Friday we made out very last school loan payment that took us out of debt! (Well of course we have our mortgage). We worked so hard for this accomplishment! So to celebrate we entered into this century with getting I Phones! Technology throws my brain to mush but I'm so excited to be able to take pictures and videos of my kiddos! Really and honestly thats the reason I wanted one :)

 My Grandpa was a barber right up to a few weeks before he went Home with Jesus. He had his own barber shop that was such a staple in our family. We would simply go to the barber shop for haircuts (well the guys would, he never liked cutting girls hair. But the gals often times tagged along because it was fun). Anyways, while we were home I went through some of Grandpa's barber shop things. Immediately I knew what I wanted. I cut Mike's hair and hope to cut Brody's soon and I always talk about needing a "cape" so that's what I took a hair cutting cape :) We used it over the weekend and it was a really neat time filled with lots of emotions. I'm glad I have it and I look forward to every hair cut I get to give my boys because it brings up so many memories. This will be one of the many ways Brody will get to remember his Great Grandpa :)

What a special time of celebrating my Grandpa's life last week. Gosh how we all miss him so much. Will it ever seem real, that he is gone? I do celebrate knowing He is pain free, but goodness, I just simply miss him. At his visitation he had requested that all of us family wear his absolute favorite team, Chicago Cubs. Afterward we all went out for pizza. You would have thought we just walked out of Wrigley Field with all the blue and red we were sporting, it was great! We know Grandpa would have been so proud :)

 

Brody and Aubrie were such troopers though the whole thing, we were so proud of them. We did decide to keep them with a sitter on the day of Grandpa's funeral. Selfishly I really missed those two kiddos that day because they've been such a much needed distraction though the sadness and just two really sweet faces to look at through tears.

 

Those dark,big brown eyes! I just can't get enough of them!!

So we are home now and have vowed that we will not be taking anymore road trips for a really, really long time (not even to Tulsa!). We are staying here in the 'ville. No one here is complaining! 

So anywho.......the Aubs girl is 8 months! I've done a terrible job at doing her monthly updates, so here are a few:

• Sits up like a pro
• Rolls over like a pro
• Perfers standing to anything else
• Loves eating Puffs
• Wearing 6-9 month (but more on the 9 month side) clothes
• Sleeps with her 2 monkeys, Rain and Molly.
• Dropped the 3rd nap. She now just takes 2 two hour naps a day. One at 10 and the other at 2, conveniently when B takes his afternoon nap.
• Really is not liking her bottle much anymore, she much prefers the source of her milk :)
• Continues to have such adorning eye's for her brother.

Mike and I got away on our yearly "get away" trip earlier this month! We went to Wichita, Kansas for a marriage conference that was 2 nights! Goodness how I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE getting away with my husband. Did I miss the kiddos, yea not really (don't judge me, I really don't even feel bad). Of course it was really fun and exciting to come home to them, but it's just so nice to just date all weekend. I mean really we are the reason they are here, right. I'm so glad we've made getting away at least every year a top priority. Already looking forward to next year because I wont be so bound to our frozen milk supply. Really excited for the year we can be gone for a week :)

Grandpa

I love being a daughter of Jesus. I love being known by Him and my deepest prayer is that all of our kiddos will one day decide to follow Him also. Today my sweet Grandpa left us to go be with Him in all His glory. I celebrate in knowing he has heard those words, "Well done good and faithful servant." I celebrate in knowing he is right now bowing before Jesus, I celebrate also knowing that he is in no more pain, all his sickness and pain are gone. 

The selfish part of me, however, is grieving uncontrollably as I find myself a upset with the Lord. I've found myself these last few weeks questioning God's plan. I find myself wanting so badly to know why. Why did he have to take our Grandpa? Did he make a mistake? This wasn't supposed to happen, not like this, not ever, he is my Grandpa! I call these my David moments. In the book of Psalms David shares his deepest sorrows and his extreme joy. He doesn't hold back telling the Lord how upset he is with Him but also doesn't hold back with how happy he is also. 

In the midst of this bone hurting pain, the endless tears and the confusion, I will continue to cling not to what my flesh tells me but  to the words that are treasured in my heart, "Lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge me and I will direct your paths", "I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." I will continue to shout from the top of my lungs, "Great is Your faithfulness, Your mercies are new everyday!" I don't get this at all and frankly yes, I'm pissed that I will never get to have my Grandpa's arms around me on this side of heaven, but I KNOW that He is good, He is good, He is good! Jesus You are good! I'm thankful we've had these few weeks of saying goodbye. I'm thankful Meghan and I were able to go up to Iowa earlier this week and spend hours next to Grandpa's bed. I'm thankful we got to sing around him, pray around him, read scripture around him, reminisce, look at countless pictures and laugh over some great memories. And I'm so thankful I got to witness first hand the incredible love and devotion my Grandma has shown to her husband of 55 plus years. She hasn't left his side. Her hand has been constantly on him for the last few weeks. What a wonderful and perfect example of "though sickness and health" she has shown. 

We will leave early Sunday morning to return back to Iowa to begin Grandpa's celebration of life. Please pray for safety for everyone traveling in from Colorado, Oklahoma and Wisconsin. Below is one of many priceless pictures we took of Grandma and Grandpa. Gosh, he is so missed!