He is with you!

I have been feeling soooo blessed in my life lately, and decided I should share some of my blessings publicly. I thank God all the time for my wonderful life. I have a Christian husband who is kind and loving and lets me stay at home with our children. The boys are beautiful, sweet and healthy. So many of the blogs I read involve infertility, or sick children, or worse children who have passed. My heart breaks for these people. Josh and I are so lucky to have such wonderful, fun, happy family that we love to spend time with. Our parents and extended family mean more than anything to us. We love you all. We also have amazing friends who are always there. We love you too. What I am trying to say is through the ups and downs that life has given me, us, our downs are still ups to some people and for that I am grateful. God is good!!

I borrowed this next part off of a blog that I read. It reminded me that God is with me always, and I thought maybe it could remind you too!

He Is With You
There’s a time to live
And a time to die
There’s a time to laugh
And a time to cry
There’s a time for war
And a time for peace
There’s a hand to hold
In the worst of these
He is with you when your faith is dead
And you can’t even get out of bed
Or your husband doesn’t kiss you anymore
He is with you when your baby’s gone
And your house is still, and your heart’s a stoneCryin’ God, what’d You do that for
He is with you
There’s a time for yes
And a time for no
There’s a time to be angry
And a time to let it go
There is a time to run
And a time to face it
There is love to see you
Through all of this
He is with you in the conference room
When the world is coming down on you
And your wife and kids don’t know you anymore
He is with you in the ICU
When the doctors don’t know what to do
And it scares you to the core
He is with you
We may weep for a time
But joy will come in the morning
The morning light
He is with you when your kids are grown
When there’s too much space and you feel alone
And you’re worried if you got it right or wrong
Yes He is with you when you’ve given up
On ever finding your true love
Someone who feels like home
He is with you
When nothing else is left
And you take your final breath
He is with you

"The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18
"I will never leave you, nor forsake you." Hebrews 13:5

What the HAIL?

We were just attacked by a severe hailstorm. Unfortunately our poor trucks have massive dents all over from the golf ball to tennis ball size hail. The storm came on strong and fast and left just as quickly. It probably lasted 20 minutes and then the sun came out. Gotta love Texas Weather! (Those spots on the pictures are hail falling from the sky)

Busy Busy

We have been very busy around here lately. Jaden had his last soccer tots last weekend. I am not sure how much he learned. He had alot of fun though, and that is what it was suppose to be. Here are some of the highlights of the last two weekends.

Uncle Sam and Aunt Jessica came for their first visit since Brody's arrival. They were here Christmas day while I was in labor, but went back to Houston that evening, because I was certain the contractions I was having were just Braxton Hicks and that I was not going to have the baby for at least a few more days. Little did I know it would be that night, well technically he wasn't born until the next morning. 1:51 am

Bear has finally started smiling for the camera, he has been smiley now for awhile, but when he saw the camera, he gave me the deer in head lights look. Well, as you can see, that is all behind us now. (mostly)

It is almost impossible to get a good picture of all 4 of us, here is the best one from this weekend. I know what you are thinking, not so great. I will keep trying. We went to my parent's house this past weekend. One of my best friends mom passed away from cancer, so Josh and I went to the funeral. We tried to make the best of such a sad event and did some fun things while we were there including riding the 4 wheeler around the pasture to look at the longhorns and down to the creek to throw rocks in the water for Duke. We also ate out alot, went to the beach, and Josh and I went to a local bar for a date. Let's just say we won't be going there again anytime soon.

YEE -HAW

I decided I might be an overprotective mom, Jaden was the only little kid with a life jacket on. Hey, better safe than sorry. At least I didn't make Brody wear one.

Rolly Polly

Brody is growing like a weed. He will be 3 months old on the 26th, and I can't believe how fast it is going. He is taking longer naps during the day, only waking once or twice during the night and rolling over every time I put him down for tummy time. The first time Brody rolled he was 6 weeks old. I thought it was a fluke until the next week when he rolled over 5 times in a row. Since then he has been a Rolly polly. He is getting stronger and I can tell that he will be crawling before I know it. Sounds crazy to say about a 3 month old, but Jaden performed all of his motor activities early too. He was practically running at 10 months old, so apparently my baby boys are just motivated to get moving.

Fun Facts & Cute pics

Here are a few things I've learned (mostly the hard way) over the last couple of months...

1. Pushing Jaden on the swing while I wiggle Brody in the stroller requires a ridiculous amount of concentration, like rubbing your tummy and patting your head.

2. Do not change your newborns diaper while wearing a white shirt...poop can travel farther than you think.

3. It is possible to be completely exhausted after only being awake for thirty minutes.

4. Most days are wonderful, but some days you just want to call Grandma for reinforcement.

5. If it looks like poop on your knuckle, it probably is.

6. If one errand with both kiddos goes well, it is better to quit while you are ahead.

7. Your arm is longer than you think and you really can drive while holding a pacifier in the baby’s mouth, though not recommended.

8. If a day of errands begins with one baby screaming bloody murder because he is hungry, one toddler screaming because his eyelashes have folded in on his eyeball, then it is better to go ahead and call it a day.

9. As soon as you think you've got it under control then you are asking for trouble.

10. A two year old can definitely smell desperation.

11. It can take an hour or more to get everyone dressed, changed, fed, packed and out the door.

12. Sometimes it is better to not look in the mirror.

13. Even when a bubble bath abruptly ends after five minutes...you still smell good.

14. You should always wear underwear because you never know when squatting down to pick up your son's toy will cause your pre-pregnancy pants (that you've squeezed yourself into) to split wide open.

15. Josh say's I couldn't have 14 facts, so here is number 15. The bottom line is, I am totally out numbered!

Highlights from our Vacation

We roasted marshmallows
Jaden tried out his new tube that I painted for him

big brother, little brother

grandma & grandpa with the boys

Jaden calls my mom b-ma, and my dad papa

The boys and I went to my parents river house in Leakey this past week. It was Brody's first long trip. He did great! Jaden had so much fun he didn't want to come home. We rode the 4 wheeler at least 5 times a day, threw rocks in the river, chased ants, chased deer, chased frogs. Let's just say, Jaden is a runner. We all took turns running with him. Brody just took it all in. He is really smiley now, and even let's out a belly laugh from time to time. He is 2 months old. I can't believe how fast the time has gone. At his checkup, he was 12 lbs 8 oz, so he is quite a big boy. We all adore him, and Jaden can't wait til Brody can chase deer with him.

Jaden chasing the deer in Leakey