Tiffany's Blue

Today was an eventful day but amazing. This morning we went to our friend Macyn's 2nd Birthday party. I am so sad that the picture to the right is so small (I couldn't make it any bigger) because seriously it is so stinking cute! This is Macyn and Moses the first day that the met, almost a year ago. It is so crazy to look back and see how far they have come since the time this was taken. Moses walks now and has hair. Macyn scoots (which is the cutest thing EVER). This is one of the many families that God has blessed us with since moving to California. At the party Moses went on wagon rides, fed some ducks, chased bubbles, ate too much cake and drank too much juice, and played with tons of little friends. It was such a great time!

After the party I came home and Jarrell was off work! This was a miracle friends, he has been working so much lately. He and my friend Liz had made secret plans for me though, which turned out to be amazing and exactly what I needed. Jarrell watch the kids while Liz pampered me :) She took me out for coffee, pedicures, and lunch. There is nothing like getting

spoiled and spending quality time with an awesome friend talking about life. I always pick "safe" colors when I get pedicures, but not today. I decided to get a color that is basically Tiffany's Blue. Every girl needs some Tiffany's Blue in her life right? Since I didn't get the little blue box at least I can look down at my toes and smile.

After our time together I came home and got to spend time with my family. I love it when we are all together. Moses is such a sponge right now. He is learning so much, so quickly. In the last couple of days he has learned to say sister and sissy. Also, he learned to climb in and out of his crib without hurting himself, so it may be time for a toddler bed (He learned to get out of his crib along time ago but would hurt himself so he stopped doing it). He has been teething for a while and he just popped through four teeth so now he has sixteen teeth! Which reminds me, he was running around like crazy the other night at our friends house and fell down. He was crying really hard but we couldn't figure out what had happened. Well I realized the other day that he had chipped off part of his front tooth, so now I am calling him Chippy.

That was pretty much my day in a nutshell!

How the Time Flies

My life has been crazy busy lately! Jarrell is still working long days, so I just don't have the time to myself that I need, but I keep telling myself that it is temporary. Lately I have been trying really hard to say a prayer and be thankful for something every time I feel like complaining. This has been awesome for my attitude and has given me a lot of new perspective.

I can't believe that Emery is already a month old. Here is a little update on her:

*She is 10 lbs. 1 oz. (90th percentile) She is such a chunk, she gained 1 1/2 pounds in two weeks!

*She is 22 inches long (also the 90th percentile)

*She is making all kinds of sounds. I can't believe how vocal she is already. Moses definitely was

not this vocal until much later.

*She slept six hours in a row the other night, which was amazing!

Emery,

Baby girl, I love you so much already. I can't wait to see you grow up and find out more about the amazing person that God has created you to be. I love how you are such a cuddle bug and want to be held all the time. You bring so much happiness into my life. I love you.

Moses is sixteen months old now. Here is an update on him:

*He is 33 inches and 22 pounds (tall and thin like his daddy)

*Recently learned to say bubble and Elmo (Melmo) but his favorite word is baby.

*He can point to his ears, eyes, mouth, nose, and belly button. He loves bellies and tries to lift up everyones shirt to see theirs.

*He is such an active little boy and loves to play in water the most. Recently we were at someone else's house and he took off running out the door and ran straight into their pool with his clothes on and someone had to rescue him!

Moses,

My sweet little boy! I can't believe how big you are already! It seems like just yesterday you were born. You are the happiest little boy I have ever met and I love your big huge smile and your love of life. I truly believe that your purpose in life is to bring others happiness, because everyone that meets you falls in love with you. You are such an amazing big brother and I can't wait until Emery is old enough to play with you. Thank you for all your love and kisses. My life wouldn't be the same without you. I am so thankful that God gave you to me, my little miracle baby.

Community

I really don't have the adequate words to convey what I am about to say because how I feel is so much deeper than I can express, but here is my best try:

I have been brought to my knees and to tears lately by the wonderful friends and family that God has blessed us with. Even as I try to type this I am tearing up. There is no greater feeling in the world than knowing you have people around you how believe in you, love you, and support you in whatever way you need. We have such an amazing community here in California and it is incredible to me because we have only been here ten months. It is humbling because these people are truly expressions of God's own love towards me (and my family) and it is overwhelming.

On a slightly different note things are going pretty well. It is the busiest time of year for Jarrell right now, so that has been interesting for me. He is working fourteen hour days and will be for awhile, so I am basically a single mom. However, all these wonderful people I am talking about have made my life so much easier. I can't believe that Emery is already three weeks old and Moses just turned sixteen months. Time seems to be going faster everyday. I am really trying to enjoy these moments knowing they are going to be gone sooner than I realize. Moses cuddled up on the couch with me this morning (which he doesn't do nearly as often as he used to) and I was overfilled with love. It is so amazing how much joy a

child brings you. I am so thankful for my kids because they make me a better person. I will leave you with these wonderful picture of my beautiful children.

The Simple Things in Life

Here is a random list of things that I love that all occurred today---> Days that Jarrell is off work and our family is all together, experiencing the joy that comes from my babies and the joy they impart into other peoples lives, caramel light frappes, adventuring to new places, Mexican food, taking long naps, meeting new people, seeing how God is working in different places, gifts in the mail, warm chocolate chip cookies and hope for the future. The only negative of my day was we got in a car wreck (we got hit from behind while at a stoplight) however, nobody was hurt and our car was perfectly fine.

God is definitely opening up some doors for Jarrell and I. Please be praying for us as we are looking into different ministry opportunities. We definitely desire to be where He wants us to be. This is such a simple verse, but so powerful..."Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5 ,6

Two Babies

The good news is that having two babies (Moses 15 months, Emery 2 weeks) isn't as bad as I imagined it was going to be, but it is a lot of work. Moses is going through a terrible hitting phase and is teething so it has been rather challenging dealing with him. I had two big fears before having Emery.

#1- That I wouldn't love her as much as Moses

#2- I was worried about how Moses would adjust or react to her

Fortunately, both of these fears turned out to be false. Moses LOVES Emery, maybe even

too much. Our biggest struggle is keeping him away from her or off of her. The moment she came home, he was in love with her. He wants to get in her bassinet with her, hold her, carry her around, and gets really protective of her around other people. It is so amazing the love that he already has for her. To the right is a picture of him when he first held her. You can see how excited he was!

Emery is such a beautiful little girl and I love her just as much as Moses. I haven't been able to experience much of her personality yet because this child is a sleeper. She literally is only up about three hours a day (on a good day). Moses was never like that, so it is really weird to me, but is super helpful because I can spend quality time with Moses. I can't wait to see her grow and continue to develop.

I am really tired and my house is a disaster, but all in all I am adjusting fairly well. Please pray that God directs me as I am trying to figure out what I will be doing in terms of continuing to stay at home or work.

I Never Knew A Love Like This

One of the greatest joys of being a mom is seeing how much Moses loves me. It can come through a smile, a stroke of his little fingers on my face, or when he crawls in my lap, throws his head back and stares up at me. Even on the worst of days, I think about him and suddenly the problem slowly melts away. Today I snuck into his room while he took a nap (one without resistance) and just watched him. Through him, I understand God's love for me in a deeper way then I ever have.

*The picture above is one of my favorite pictures of Moses. He was about 1 month old and looked so peaceful.

One of the other greatest joys of parenthood is

watching Jarrell being a father and the relationship he has with Moses. Moses absolutely adores him and gets so excited when he hears the key turn in the door when Jarrell comes home from work. I can see so much of Jarrell's personality in Moses. They both love being around people, playing/hearing music, dancing (you should see them dancing to MJ), and are both ridicously persistent when they want something. I look forward to seeing Moses grow into the type of man that his father is. I am truly blessed that I have a godly husband who loves me and our child and would do anything for us, because I realize for a lot of women this isn't a reality.

Thankful

So often I fail to realize all the wonderful things that I have in my life. Unfortunately, I get caught up and consumed in things of this life that don't matter. My biggest desire, as of lately, is for God to change my heart to be a more grateful person and to renew my mind regarding what is important in this life.

Three things that quickly come to mind that I am grateful for are: Jarrell, Moses, and Emery. My family is so important to me and they bring me more joy than anything in this world. I want to start this blog so that I can share the moments of joy that I experience with everyone that I care about.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Jarrell and I. We were in Durham, NC and it was one of our engagement pictures. I can't believe we have been married for almost four years!