I LOVE my Husband

On Thursday, Jeremy and I will celebrate our 4 year anniversary. It doesn't seem possible. In some ways it sees like we've always been married I really can barely remember life without him. And in others it seems like I could still slip in that white dress and walk down the aisle like it was yesterday. Recently several families in our church have been walking through chalenges in their marriages and it has reminded us how precious our relationship is and that it must be humbly gaurded and looked after so that Satan cannot gain a foothold.

I feel like we have already lived so much life together. The first year of our marriage was a tough one. Not because we were adjusting to each other but because we were facing some super challenging ministry and life experiences. I am so glad God doesn't ask our opinion when he orchestrates his plan for our life. Becaue even if he had told me all the blessings we would gain from what we went through I'm not sure I could have chosen it for myself. And yet I am so thankful for the way it cemented us together. We survived isolation and uncertainty and came out still liking each other. We have naviagted pregnancy, becoming parents, and becoming a family of four. We have moved five times! God has been so faithful to us.

My husband is wonderful. I have been reminded often lately how much I appreciate him. Some of my favorite things about him are:
-His love for our kids and all his "big" kids
-The way he never complains about how unclean our house is, and even notices when I've managed to get it somewhat under control!
-The way he brings me flowers for no reason at all (yes-he actually does this)
-That he takes walks with me (when we first got married he told me he hated walking and he didn't ever think he would enjoy it)
-the way he constantly reminds me he thinks i'm beautiful

And there are lots more... I want my kids do read this some day and realize how deeply in love with their dad I am. I pray they will always be blessed by the security of our relationship built around Christ.

Jeremy- Happy Anniversary- I love you more today then the day I married you.

Milestones

Well, I confess I am not good with the baby book. And since I have had kids I am no longer good with the scrapbooking. So here is some milestone updates & new pics.

Faith: (almost 6 1/2 months)

Faith has rolled over a handful of times but doesn't seem to care to master the skill. She is such a content baby. Perfectly happy to stay in one place and play (WOW-talk about opposite her sister) She has started in the last week really sitting up on her own. At this point she has no teeth. We go for her 6 month well baby visit this afternoon so I will add in her height and weight. We have tried cereal she is not a huge fan. (See picture) She could deffinitely take in or leave it. I made baby food yesterday so we will probably try a vegetable in the next couple of days. She has also just started clicking her tongue. She loves it- she just clicks away happy as can be. So far Faith's personality seems to be more like her dad- laid back.

Grace: (26 months)

Well I cannot say we have mastered potty training but she is doing well. Mostly she just doesn't like to stop and take a break long enough to go. She is LOVING getting to be outside more. She continues to be an outdoor girl who is constantly exploring. Everyday her vocabulary expands. Her hair is SUPER curly and she is not a big fan of me fixing it. So we usually only fight that battle on Sundays and when we are going out. She continues to like to help whether it is unloading laundry, the dishwasher or now groceries. The other day she was climbing in the back of the van taking out an item, climbing up our steps and delivering the groceries item by item to me in the kitchen. What a good helper! We definitely battle some days (probably because we are so much alike!)

A Mommy Holiday

Well, we had a "Mommy Holiday" this weekend- all town yardsales. Yes, in our home All Town Yardsale weekend is a bi-annual holiday! It is a tradition in the making. Each fall and spring the town of Hannibal has an offical all town yardsale day. What is all town yardsales, you ask? It is a the weekend when there are tons of yardsales and the paper publishes a map of the city listing them all by zones. For the past 3 my mom has come and went along. This time my mother-in-law joined in and I think will be in attendance from now on. We had a really fun time.

My husband seriously laughs at me. Friday morning I go and get a paper. Then I get out colored markers and mark which ones open on Friday & which ones don't open till Saturday. Then I rank which ones sound the best & make a plan for which ones to hit first. We get up stinking early to be there when the open at 7 a.m. There is some serious yard sale competition in this town!

Here were some of the great buys (& memories) this time around:
-$8 A Little Tykes Car (that you can ride in-good thing the Dora car is highly fought over on the day I have extra kids at my house)
-$2 A Dora riding toy (Grace has already got my money's worth she has "rode" everywhere since Saturday refusing to walk around our home)
-$20 Carseat (For Jeremy's Father's Day gift so he can have his own since Grace has been wanting to "Go with Daddy")
-$12 A Leap Frog Learning Pad & 7 Books (what fun!)
-Free Uncontrolable Laughter (Okay gotta explain this one. While Charlene and I hit a yardsale my mom stayed in the car with the girls. When I opened the door to the van I almost gagged it smelled horrible. While we were gone Grace had an accident. She said I potty. I toot- Uh oh- I poop. Oh, and did she all over everything! My poor mother trying to clean her up. She sported some princess pj's that were purchased at a previous yardsale for the remainder of the outing)
-Spare Change (My mother-in-law brought a whole bag. Which was great for picking up cheap items that cost less than a dollar. Uh Oh again- she spilled the whole thing all over some person's garage floor. Needless to say it went everywhere!)

What a wonderful way to spend a Saturday morning. Did I mention I basically have my girls entire summer wardrobe between what has been handed down to us and what we found at yardsales? God is good!!