Getting Our Strength From the Son: August 2011

Saturday, August 13, 2011

We count ourselves more fortunate than most because we are surrounded by like-minded families in the same season of life.

There are many families who we are great friends with, and we are so blessed!

Some of our longest and richest friendships are with the Hay and Robbins families. We've all known each other since the early days of college and have been together in too many Sunday school classes and Bible studies to count. We also happened to all start families within months of each other, so our kids have grown up as close friends too.

Over the years we've collected some cute shots......

This picture was taken last week at Emma's 6th birthday party.

I feel stunned looking into these precious faces and seeing big kids.

I pray that they will encourage each other to good character and that the years to come will be filled with too many great memories to count!

Friday, August 12, 2011

Ashlyn

Putting words around all these thoughts bouncing about in my head has been trickier than I expected it to be, thus the delay. : )

Ashlyn is a great big sister. Don't get me wrong, today I witnessed an age old scene.....Ashlyn punching her annoying little brother when she thought I wasn't looking. BUT overall, she is amazing. She loves being the big sister, hero and fun playmate.

Here Preston talked her into a piggy back ride. Clearly, I have been collecting these pics for awhile, we are obviously NOT wearing long sleeves here.......it's like a furnace in Oklahoma.

This was a proud moment for us. When it was time for our annual garage sale (yep, we do one every year and still have TOO MUCH stuff) we asked Ashlyn if she would like to sell any of her toys. She responded that she would actually like to send them to Haiti where our Franzie lives. Franzie is the little girl we sponsor through Compassion International. We explained as best we could that the postal system there is so corrupt that the toys would be stolen before they could be delivered. We easily convinced her that the thing to do would be sell the toys and send the money to Franzie (really we put it in a savings account because we totally intend to visit Franzie in Haiti when Ashlyn is 10). We set up her own little table and made a sign and she used her charm to sell virtually everything. She made nearly $42.

We realized that Ashlyn had the same dress as the Robbin's little girl, Molly.

So we coordinated one Sunday - SOOO cute!

Ashlyn wants a little sister a LOT LOT LOT.

Made princess crowns at one of our little summer playdates.

Notice the long hair.

Grandma, Ashlyn and I went to the Nutcracker last Christmas and Ashlyn fell in love with the excitement of live performance.

Well, our babysitter, Nicole, was in the Children's Musical Theater production of Annie Get Your Gun this July and we knew we had to see it. It was awesome. At intermission, Ashlyn stood up and told me it was the best night of her life, I told her that the show was only half over there was MORE.....her chin dropped.

I love the honesty of a child's reaction.

Super proud moment when she passed the next level of swim lessons -

seriously we couldn't believe it. On the way to the final class we prepared her for not passing, because it was a very challenging class where they really push the kids. She said, "You never know Mom!" (Did I mention I'm crazy about this girl?!?!) In the next level, she'll have to swim on her own in the deep end and learn to dive.....off the diving board!! WHOA!

One of AJ's favorite pictures. Notice her new short bob.

She's with one of her besties, Emma.

Look at all the kids! : ) This climbing wall is in the children's wing at church.

This year Ashlyn was very "into" making my Mother's Day special. She told me more than once to sit down and let her and Daddy do whatever I was trying to do. So I thought it was precious beyond words when I found this note in her bed that night.

I asked her what it was and she told me that she had written it to herself the night before, she wanted to remember to get up right away in the morning so she could help Dad with breakfast.

Can you read it? She's never written backwards before.

"Wake up early." : )

Ashlyn, I cannot imagine a more perfect challenge than being your Mom. Without you, I wouldn't be in the process of becoming a more perfect me! : ) You stretch me and force me to lean into God (& great Christian friends) for wisdom.

There are things we just weren't ready for, like the puddle of tears over a dead bug that could've **sniff sniff** been your "favorite pet ever". WHOA! We thought we had about 10 more years before all the emotions peaked! : )

But everyday has amazing blessing tucked in unexpected places....

praise God, He has packed you with purpose!

Monday, August 8, 2011

Preston

Preston......Ah Preston.......

Where to begin?

You learned to turn door knobs and strip yourself naked somewhere before 21 months, so you keep things interesting! : )

I snuck in one night, several months ago, to check on my precious little angels before heading to bed myself. This is what I saw......and you'd peed all over the bed too. WHY!?! I can't wait for you to have more words so you can explain yourself. : )

You're taking care of your baby bear. Ashlyn was somewhere in the background trying to talk you through your first diaper change. You really are so gentle with babies (real or stuffed).

Spoon.....a useless piece of equipment!

You are curious and imaginative and fearless.

That combination makes your parents sweat!

There it is.....it's that smile.

Years from now, when you're grown, and your wife is expecting your first child, she'll come to me all glowing and she'll naively ask me what you were like as a little boy to help bring her future into focus......and this son, is the smile that will flash into my mind.

I'm going to chuckle knowing it'll be harder than anything she's imagining, but WAY WAY more fun too!

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Dillon

I'm challenging myself to spotlight each of my kids over the next 3 nights. They just grow up so fast! I've been storing up little stories (and we know my brain isn't a safe place to keep those) and taking pictures, I need to get them recorded.

Dillon is now 21 months old, he had a wellness check nearly 2 months ago. YIKES. I had every intention of coming straight home and blogging all the info, but life happens, right?! I believe he was 26 lbs 9 ozs, I don't remember his height but he was in the top percentile - so he's really healthy. But he's not talking much yet and our ped is concerned about that. She's asked us to have Dillon's hearing checked just to be sure, then we'll decide how to proceed. We know that Dillon is bright and can definitely hear, but we don't want to see him fall behind. It's been a time to lean on the Lord for wisdom and guidance. We have never heard a doctor tell us that one of our children is "behind" and it made me feel defensive. Dillon is perfect! I honestly think he's just going to be a man of few words. We'll see!!! ; )

Very few people outside our family know this, but Dillon is a comedian.

He's shy around others, but for us he puts on a show.

Here he's enjoying a bowl of yogurt - he's a mess with a spoon.

He's all smiles.

He loves balls, cars and dinosaurs.

He's happiest playing alone - and having total control over the toys.

"Cheese!!"

Some of our Dillon favorites:

You steal the things that are most precious to Preston and run away with them just to hear him scream (which he often deserves).

You are compliant and you listen.

Every morning you wake up and say "Dada??" and on weekdays I have to say "He's at work" and you look at me and say "Oohh" like you really get what I'm telling you. Two seconds later you repeat "Dada?" and we go through the whole thing again and again and again and again. And every time it makes me smile.

I have never worried if you're getting enough to eat!

You sleep like a champ, even if you are up first every morning. Your Dad and I call you Cockadoodle Dillon and I wonder if you'll always be a morning person. I hope so, in the years to come we'll make some great memories before your brother and sister ever wake up!