Seriously- where did the summer go?
I can't believe it's almost September...
or that my baby is 3 and starts Pre-STOMP tonight at church...
And preschool next Tuesday.
It's MADNESS, I say!
Anyway, tomorrow night is meet the teacher night at "school."
I'm so excited about the two ladies teaching preschool.
I love both of them and I know that John Mark will too.
These pictures are from last night.
JM decided that he wanted to sleep in "just boxers."
And he looked so cute, I had to take pictures.
It was three years ago, RIGHT NOW, that I was laying in a hospital bed, getting prepped for a C-section...
Oh, if only I could have truly known how my life was about to change.
Actually, I take that back...
I'm glad I didn't know.
Not knowing was (and still is!!) half the fun.
So I thought we'd take a little step back in time and see what each year has held for us
This photo was taken pretty much as soon as JM was born.
I can still remember how sweet he was, how snuggly and warm.
It seems like yesterday... and forever ago all wrapped into one...
That first year was full of SO MANY firsts...
teeth, sitting, crawling, walking, babbling...
first car trips, play dates, ice cream...
To all you new and soon-to-be mommies:
TREASURE THIS BABY TIME!!
They grow up wayyy too fast and before you blink,
you're at:
As we move on into the next year, we had more growth and changes...
I think that this year brought more changes than a little boy should deal with...
I wonder what this year will hold...I have to say, after a long summer,
I think we're getting somewhere.
In fact, I think I would say John Mark is 90% potty trained.
Ok, ok, so maybe it's more like 85%...
Anyway, I've learned some things through this whole process.
For example,
Just because he says he wants to wear big boy underwear,
and he promises to tell you when he needs to potty,
doesn't mean he will.
In fact, he might just empty his bladder right there,
while looking at himself in the mirror,
leaving a giant puddle in the floor of the store.
And just when I convince myself he's too young,
that maybe he can't control it yet...
I find him in a friend's playhouse,
"maybe going poop"
And when I beg him to hold it,
he actually makes it to the potty.
Thus proving to me that this is a matter of the will.
And the will in question...
well, it's pretty darn strong.
I've also discovered that potty training leads to some interesting
(and by interesting, i mean hilarious) conversations...
Like the day he announced...
"Mommy, i need to pee-pee FIRST
so my poop has something so swim in."
I have been married for 5 years.
FIVE years.
That sounds like such a long time to me.
And yet it seems like a day ago...
Five years ago we said our vows,
each with different picturs of our life.
We both had our plans and dreams,
and while of course we had talked and planned,
each had our own secret hopes...
our personal dream of how our life would turn out.
If you had asked me then whose dream would win,
I would have said mine.
I always get my way.
But to quote the mister:
"baby, you completely underestimated just exactly how okay i am with the rest of the world not being okay with my decisions."
A truer statement has never been spoken.
And you know what,
I'm glad he "won."
Life is simpler his way.
So in short,
Nothing is as I ever imagined it.
Nothing has gone according to my "plan."
Everything is better.
"I was a little girl
alone in my little world
who dreamed of a little home for me.
I played pretend between the trees,
and fed my houseguests bark and leaves,
and laughed in my pretty bed of green."
--priscilla ahn
Isn't it so true that we are bent on forgetting.
We can go through something so powerful,
so life-changing, so totally GOD...
and years later we've completely forgotten.
“But watch out! Be careful never to forget what you yourself have seen. Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren." Deuteronomy 4:9
Today at church, we remembered.
It was moving to remember-
Christ's sacrifice...
His sovereignty...
His power...
It was powerful to remember-
how He saved me...
how He changed me...
how He lifted me from the pit...
It was awesome to remember the stories-
of His faithfulness throughout the Bible...
of His salvation in my own life...
of His hand in the lives of friends...
May we never forget.
"When we walk through life's darkest valleys
We will look back at all you have done
And we will shout, 'Our God is good!!!'
For He is the faithful one...
We will remember the works of your hands
And we will stop and give you praise
For great is your faithfulness"
--Tommy Walker
I was mildly scolded by some of my faithful followers this weekend when visiting my parents, so I will try to do better at updating!
Here are some recent photos of John Mark and a couple of funny stories about the goober.
I have to say- having an "almost 3 year old" is teaching me a lot about myself. For instance: I start a lot of sentences with "I Think". Also, I use the words maybe and probably quite a bit too. John Mark tends to enjoy putting all of those things together into one sentence, which makes for some hilarious thoughts, I'm not going to lie.
Also- I think maybe (see, I just typed that from my thoughts without even realizing what I was thinking!!) I text a little too much...
proclaims: "Hey! Don't pick your nose. That's gross!" He was talking to Amy's youngest son, Aiden. So funny!
story, since we haven't had one of those in a while. We're working on potty training, really we are. And we are just SO close.....
the river in Tulsa
park on the River
"look, mommy- i'm a turtle"
new best friend, hudson
We are home from camp.
I am beyond exhausted.
Not to mention every part of me hurts.
I am too old for my competitiveness...
But it was totally worth it.
My team took REC CHAMPS.
I'll post pics and stories tomorrow.
For now, I'm going to take some Advil PM and sleep.
Tomorrow I get my boy back!
It's been 10 years since I graduated from high school.
It seems like yesterday and a lifetime ago, all wrapped into one.
Micah and I were talking about how different life is than we thought it would be when we graduated from high school.
Here are some things I NEVER thought would happen:
-living in Edmond
-being married to a student pastor
-being a member of a HUGE church
-loving that huge church
-running half-marathons
-spending weeks every summer at camp
(Speaking of camp, we're headed to camp wow with 210 MS students tomorrow. If you think of it, say a little prayer for us!)
Anyway, while I never would have picked this life for me,
my God has written every day in my book...
and I'm so glad He holds the pen and not me!
Today was John Mark's last day of "school." He has had such a great year. I have been so blessed by his awesome teachers, and he truly has learned so much. They gave us a book filled with pictures they made with their handprints each month of the year. Look how much his hand has grown from October to May...
Man, oh man... this kid is FUN-NAY!! I seriously need to keep a pencil and paper with me at all times just to write down the hilarious stuff that he says. Here are some of my most recent faves...
I'm finally getting around to posting the pictures of Micah's birthday celebration at Cuppies & Joe. If you live in Oklahoma City and you haven't been there... you must go now! If you live somewhere other than Oklahoma City, well you should go too. And come say hi to us when you're there!! It's the cutest, sweetest little coffee shop with AMAZING cupcakes. (I don't work for them- I promise!)
Anyway, we met some friends there for cupcakes and coffee. It was such a fun time. There were lots of kiddos running around, so it was a little crazy... but definitely a good time. Here are the pictures!
um... i want that cupcake
he's so grown up!
my sweet niece, elliana 
a glimpse into their future perhaps? 
seriously- i love this girl!
"ca-line, urs my best friend" 
sweet baby logan came to micah's birthday
work buddies 
jamie sat on wehunt's cupcake... 
don't worry- he ate it anyway 
i love these girls! 
Today was the OKC Memorial Marathon. I ended up running on a relay team with an awesome group of women from my church. I did the final leg- 10K, or 6 miles- thinking I would just take it easy and not have to push myself too hard. Plus I wanted to try and improve my 10K time. Once I realized that my leg of the relay was entirely uphill, I wasn't as hopeful for my goal time of 9:00 miles. But then I had to run INTO the wind. For those of you not in Oklahoma today- let me just tell you- it was crazy windy!! There were points in the race when I literally felt like I wasn't moving because the wind was pushing on me so hard. But I finished in just over an hour, so slower than I had hoped, but still finishing.
I've been a little mopey about running since I decided not to do the full, but my sweet friend Natalie gave me an attitude check tonight. So I leave you with the fact that 6 miles is still good, and I will hold my head up high and stop saying I "just did 6 miles..."
PS- I'm sorry for my lack of updates. I have a ton of pictures and cute stories to post. I'm off work tomorrow, so I will have a whole new blog hopefully sometime tomorrow afternoon!
Here is a video from our church services over Easter weekend. These testimonies are so powerful. Try to watch them without crying. I dare you!
Today we were eating lunch after church.
Out of the blue, John Mark looked at me & Micah and said:
"Jesus died on the cross.
He loves us very much."
Oh my gracious.
I started crying right there.
Oh, how I long for him to know this...
to hear the Savior call His name...
to follow after Him all of His days.
My poor baby is sick. It all started on Sunday night. When we came home from church, he told me that his tummy hurt. I just figured that it was because he was hungry. I fixed him lemonade in his rocket cup (his newest obsession, both the lemonade and the cup) and turned back to the kitchen to find something for Micah and I to eat.
I heard John Mark crying from the playroom. When I turned around his shirt was all pink and he was crying. He said "sorry i spilled my juice my mom." I looked at his cup, which was still basically full, but I could tell from the spot on his shirt and the floor that SOMETHING was there.
And then... he just started puking. Oh, poor baby- it was so sad. He hasn't thrown up at all since he was a baby, so he just kept telling me that he was sorry for spilling his juice. After that he acted much better, so I thought that maybe that he had just eaten too much candy this weekend. We put him to bed and he started to go to sleep. But then I heard him say "my tummy hurts" from the other room.
Let's just say we had a long night of cleaning up... him, the bed, his sheets, every single old towel in our house... Monday he laid on the couch all day and was just so pitiful. He wouldn't even laugh at his cartoons.
Anyway, it's been a sad couple of days. But I do have to mention that I have the BEST husband in the whole world. He mopped up pink puke and cleaned carpet while I was taking care of John Mark.
silly boy
with "Ranga-Roo" at VBS
