Quarterly Top 5 Photos

My friend Amber is hosting her quarterly giveaway on the top 5 photos of your children for July, August, and September. She has some great giveaway prizes related to photography so I encourage you to join in! And it's a fun way to share pictures of your children (and/or pets).

Here are my favorite pictures of these past few months in no particular order...

I love this picture because you can see the joy in Jack's face of playing t-ball. I am so glad he likes it as Steve is a big baseball fan and is looking forward coaching little league someday.

It is so hard to get children to look at the camera, so I love this picture! This is from our visit to North Carolina to our dear friends the Clarks. I love and miss these kiddos very much and I hated saying goodbye to them...

This is at my grandmother's 80th birthday celebration in August. I wish I would've taken better pictures of the ocassion, but this is the best one that came out. It was a huge deal to our family to be able to celebrate with all four generations!

This is a picture with Steve's grandfather 'Bepop' taken in July/August. Jack loves playing the piano with him!

This picture cracks me up. Jack is probably thinking 'Don't you all wish you had my bike? Yep I know you want it!'. Who knows what was actually going through his mind...

I am excited about blogging more consistently going forward! And I am hoping even more so in a few weeks when I'm able to share more about what has been going on with us.  

Getting out of our routine

This past weekend Steve was out of town for a family wedding in Georgia. Jack and I stayed home for multiple reasons (long car ride, me being sick, etc) which I was glad for, but part of me wished I could've been up there with him.

Saturday morning I begun making my list of 'things to do' over the weekend. I had planned on having a very productive time while Steve was away... but already I was feeling overwhelmed and the day had not even started.

Another part of me just really wanted to cherish this time alone with Jack. I debated back and forth between being 'productive' and dragging Jack through errands all day or just doing something fun with him just the two of us.

Well my list of things to get done went out the window and we drove down to the beach for the day. I was so excited to get out of my routine and do something different with Jack that he enjoyed. I can't think of something that he loves more than running through the ocean shore.

So we made it not fully prepared to Ana Maria Island. We had a lunch date, played in the park, and then at his request ran through the water.

There is nothing more fun than to see pure delight in his face when the waves crash over him. He loves it! And I love watch him enjoy it.

I did not worry about getting back in for his naptime as I normally do, and thankfully he did pretty well. He definitely has much more energy than me!

We drove through Anna Maria Island and visited shops and houses. It was not something I would normally do, but today practical was not something I wanted to be on Saturday.

We had a delicious ice cream outing. Rarely do we eat ice cream, and when we do he normally has a few bites of mine or Steve's. But today I didn't worry about sugar. I bought him his very own ice cream all to himself :)

We sat outside the ice cream store watching the cars go by and it was perfect. For a few minutes we actually sat down without me having to chase after him!

Most days in the routine of everyday life, it's easy for me to run through the motions and not fully engage with Jack. I'm often multi-tasking and have a million thoughts running through my mind. I know part of it is the adjustment to being at home (being with him all day long vs. a few hours a day)... but I love that Saturday he had my full attention.

I would not trade this day for anything else in the world. I so treasured this day with him!

Multitude Mondays

September 5

742. How we can always count on the honesty of a child's opinion regarding our cooking
743. For a fun drive rapping with Steve and David to 'Big Poppa' and 'Nelly' and somehow remembering all the words- ha!
744. For a fun evening playing PS3 with Lawrence, Steve, and Landon.
745. That despite of our late flight tonight, Jack did really well in the plane and was happy.

September 6

746. That despite disheartening news today, I can choose to trust the Lord and not despair.
747. For Steve taking Jack tonight to grandpa's house so I could have a few hours to myself.

September 7

748. For my sister Elizabeth making it safely to Jupiter today after a long night.
749. For feeling well despite the circumstances.
750. For being able to put together a fancy dinner from the junior league cookbook

September 8

751. For Bethany making us empanadas for dinner tonight, and not having to worry about cooking and cleaning up.
752. For being able to rest this afternoon.

September 9

753. For time to relax with Steve and Jack tonight
754. For feeling confident after researching and praying about our laptop purchase.

September 10

755. For celebrating Jack's second birthday with family today
756. For how much fun it is to watch a little boy enjoy his birthday
757. That even though Jack didn't nap today (and I certainly did) he was happy and enjoyed every bit of today

September 11

758. For rocking a little boy in my arms as he fell asleep, when Steve and I watched the one year olds in the nursery today
759. For the gratitude I feel watching Steve play T-Ball with Jack
760. For good news regarding a family member this evening.

Multitude Mondays

August 29

712. For an encouraging email from my sister Elizabeth today which made me smile.
713. For meeting a mom at the library who shared her beautiful story of adoption.
714. For Jack playing well with other kids and burning off some energy
715. For a phone date with my dad tonight and being able to pray together on behalf of others.

August 30

.716. For an unexpected free frozen cappucino from Starbucks. What a treat!
717. For my father in law watching Jack in the morning, giving me a few hours to pack and do errands.
718. For my father in law making us a delicious rice, chicken, and black beans dinner so I wouldn't have to cook tonight.

August 31

719. That today is Bethany's birthday, and how much I have been blessed by her friendship.
720. For an answered prayer this morning
721. For Revelations 4:11 and how it was one of those verses that jumped out and spoke to me
722. For Jack and I's first trip to the Carolina's! Fun date for us.

723. For a late night conversation with Paula on their porch.
724. For Lawrence's sense of humor and how he can always make others laugh

September 1st

725. For the beauty of a waterfall in downtown greenville.
726. For how much I'm reminded of Venezuela around cascades and lots of greenery

727. For how well Jack and Landon play together, and what a good big brother Landon would make

728. That I can nap on the homes of those I feel comfortable with (and I took a wonderful nap this afternoon!)
729. For getting ideas from Paula on how to cook and eat healthier.

September 2nd

730. For arriving safely in Huntersville, despite that I had to pull over twice on the side of the road
731. For an exciting day of catching up with old friends the Clarks

732. For Shelly's delicious homemade oreo cookies
733. For how sweet and funny Winnie and Miles are

September 3rd

734. For the kids getting worn out at Discovery kids this morning, and them taking a good nap.
735. For a date night out with the Clarks to dinner and a winebar in pretty downtown Huntersville.

736. For Meg the babysitter handling all three children, and being able to put them to sleep.

September 4th

737. For the message and testimony given at church in the morning
738. For Jack doing well in the new nursery and not crying like I thought he would.
739. For a fun ice cream treat at IKEA

740. For an afternoon of children running around a pool and sprinkler
741. For a fun evening of playing card games