The Fish Tank

Dear Jackson, I realized that I have written your brother a letter every month for the past 9 months but have written you nothing. I promise I am not ignoring you! I want you to know how extraordinary mommy and daddy think you are so I will try my best to convey in words how very proud we are of you and honored to be your parents. I cannot believe that you are three and a half. The conversations we have and the vocabulary you use blow me away! You no longer are a toddler but a little boy who is molding into quite a terrific young man. I look at you and listen to you talk and often see your future wondering what you will be but knowing that you will be successful no matter what you do! You have an intrinsic motivation and enormous curiosity to learn about things and how they work. We really don't have to push you to learn which is nice. You are very smart and have been extremely curious from the moment you were born. I will never forget your Grandpa Peterson saying how alert you wer...

Grady, Grady, Grady-Do~ Hello my sweet smiley little man! You are 9 months old today and yes, mommy CANNOT believe it! Ugh! Your life is flashing before my eyes entirely too quickly! Thank goodness for this blog so I can remember these precious moments with you! I still wish that I had a pause and rewind button so I could remember and relive some of those special moments with you. You are still as sweet as ever. I get kisses and hugs ALL the time from you and love it! The other day you excitedly crawled toward me, climbed up and over my big belly, nuzzled yourself in my neck, looked at me, and gave me a big slobbery kiss. You often pat me gently on the back when we hug. You also follow me around the house and if I won't pick you up when you want me to you will tug at my pant leg. You have a blast with daddy and love playing with him. You get really excited when he gets home from work flashing him a huge smile and flailing your arms. Jackson is your buddy. He really enjoys playing w...

"The more you affirm who you are in Christ, the more your behavior will reflect your true identity." Victory Over Darkness

Just when I feel like I have failed as a mom, was over exhausted, gotten upset with Jack one too many times, didn't get everything done, blah, blah, blah, God sent me his grace. Grady whined on and off all night because his little top teeth are coming in, Jack got us up at 4am wanting a show and milk, and I couldn't get comfortable enough to go back to sleep after that thus waking up already tired. I was rushing around this morning with not enough time and too much to do. I went to get Grady out of the pack-and-play when I received my grace. He looked at me, leaned in, gave me a kiss, wrapped his little arm around my neck giving me a hug, looked at me again and gave me another kiss and hug. How did my sweet little 8 month old know exactly what I needed at that very moment? God! I stood in that moment with tears in my eyes thanking God for reminding me that we are most blessed in the simple moments. The to-do list will be there again tomorrow and lack of sleep because of your ki...

I am almost 23 weeks pregnant with Wyatt. I cannot believe I am halfway through this pregnancy. I honestly can't remember the first half it has gone by so fast! We saw our precious little angel today and he is as healthy as can be! I just love seeing my little ones on the screen wiggling around waving their hands and kicking their legs. It is the most amazing and incredible experience. Motherhood never gets old; tiring but not old. In 17 short weeks or less, I will be able to kiss this little monkey's toes and sweet lips. I absolutely love having him in my belly feeling his sweet little kicks and bumps. Being my last pregnancy, I am a little sad that I will not experience this again. I will forever cherish this time with Wyatt. I love that it is just he and I right now. I am so thankful to the Lord for blessing us with three healthy boys! If you would have told me last August that I would have three children I would have told you that you are crazy. I thought at one point that ...

Grady turned 8 months old on Christmas. The day after he took off. Apparently he thought he was 8 months old and it was time to do everything. He began crawling that day and pulled himself up to standing a few days later. Now he is a pro. Nothing stops the kid! He loves exploring the house and pulling himself on anything he can. We have begun to baby proof the house. We have had to tell him "no" a few times getting a very sad reaction with lots of tears. It's fun to watch him get Jackson and go after anything that his big brother has. Thankfully Grady is still my snuggle-bug. I hope he stays that way forever! It all started with me finding you standing in your crib after your nap laughing and waving at me. You love pulling yourself up on the train table and walking around it. You think you are pretty cool. You have discovered the gate and aren't a big fan of it. You try to figure out how to get out all the time hoping big brother forgot to lock it. Jackson's room ...

Man-oh-man we have had a cold and snowy winter! We have actually really enjoyed the weather! Ask me again in February and I might have another response. But, for now, we are enjoying the wintry white. We were blessed with a white Christmas. I had hoped this would happen when we moved here. It began snowing on Christmas Eve afternoon and didn't let up until late that night. Jack and I had a blast throwing snowballs at each other, making snow angels, and making a snowman. Scott and Grady opted to stay in the warm house by the fire. Their loss. We had a blast and laughed our hearts out! Ready to have some fun in the snow! Have I not told you before that I am really not a fan of the cold? C'mon people! I guess I'll try to catch some snowflakes. Can you save me from the cold big bro? Jack & Daddy having a snowball fight Incoming... Jack thought it would be fun to do a face plant in the snow. He's a smart cookie;) Making a snow angel I worked really hard to build this sno...

We had a great Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Christmas was definitely different this year. Typically, Scott and I are racing around visiting family. This year we decided not to travel. We decided to stay home and relax and enjoy the kids. Although it was quiet and we missed our families immensely, we had a really nice and relaxing holiday. We went to church for a beautiful service on Christmas Eve. It had started snowing earlier in the day but nothing too bad. When we left church it was seriously like a blizzard. We came out to some serious wind, snow, and ice. Thankfully, we made it home safely and enjoyed a tamale dinner all snug in our house with the fire roaring. I let the boys open one present on Christmas Eve. My parents started this tradition when I was a kid and I LOVED it! We always got jammies. I decided to continue the tradition with my boys and I am happy I did. Jack was actually excited about his Christmas jammies. We read, "The Night Before Christmas," and pu...