Exersaucer Comparison and CHUBS

I've been trying to take more pictures for Nathan while he's gone, but I haven't done such a good job of uploading them! I've also completely slacked on Deacon's monthly posts, but it has just been a crazy season. Today I'm beginning what I'm referring to as a week of nothing. We have no plans until Saturday. So, Monday through Friday, the boys and I will be chilling at home and running necessary errands only. No making play dates, no visiting family. We are just exhausted and their little routines have been turned upside down, so we are making a point to hang out at home. I might take them to the movie theatre to see Smurfs, but I will time it around naps.

So, I have some pictures to show you that I've taken but haven't blogged.

I don't say this to brag, but only to document, at this stage in his life, Deacon is the best baby I have ever been around. He is so easy going and sweet and happy that he is just a joy! He is really loving being upright and he LOVES this exersaucer. I need to drag the jumperoo up from the basement too.

I happen to have some pictures of Manning at almost exactly the same age in the exersaucer too, so here's a little comparison for you. :)

I think they look a lot alike. Deacon is chubbier, so his cheeks are bigger, and his hair is a little darker. I have to say I think I have two beautiful boys! :)

Here's what happened when I tried to get a picture of them together for Nathan:

And because I'm a slacker mom, here is Deacon's official 5 month photo taken a few days late and blogged about even later than that.

Deacon is wearing size 3 diapers. He weighs about 19 pounds. He is still only having a bottle, but I plan on making him some baby food today or tomorrow, so we will start that soon! I'm going to start with sweet potatoes, avocados and bananas as recommended by wholesomebabyfood.com. He drinks an 8 oz. bottle every 3-4 hours during the day, and once in the middle of a 12 hour sleep stretch. Hoping when we start that baby food he will drop that nighttime feeding. ;) Like I said before, he is just a joy. He has started to giggle and smile almost every time he sees my face. He always laughs when I kiss or nom on his cheek and he LOVES watching every move his big brother makes. He is content to lay on the floor and chew on his toes for what seems like hours a day. He rolls from back to tummy and tummy to back no problem, and he is starting to really get up on his knees. I have been knocking him down. I'm not ready for two mobile children. Okay, I'm kidding. Maybe. :) I love getting to be his mama!

Oh, and since it's hard to tell how chubby he is in the picture above, here's one that I took after his bath a few days ago. It makes me laugh.

My Parenting Advice

Today I'm linking up with Show Us Your Life Fridays at Kelly's Korner. Today's topic is parenting advice. Before I get proverbial tomatoes thrown in my face, I just want to say, I do NOT claim to know everything about parenting, but I am pretty confident in my parenting abilities with MY children, so I thought I'd share a few things in hopes that maybe someone would read it and not have to learn some things the hard way like I have.

• You know your child better than anyone else. If you're not a parent yet, even if you have the most amazing parents and in-laws in the whole entire world (like me ;) ) they WILL try to tell you how to do certain things to take care of your child that you won't agree with, and that's okay. You're their parent and it's okay to tell your parents or in-laws that. 
• Disclaimer: I do think if your parents or in-laws come to you with a valid concern regarding something that actually affects your child's health or well-being, please at least consider it before you dismiss it. 
• Mommy Instinct- You get it the minute you potty on that stick. From small decisions like what color to paint the nursery to big decisions like if and when to vaccinate your children, you're in charge and you HAVE to have confidence to trust yourself. I think it boils down to the fact that no one in the whole entire world could possibly love your child as much as you do, so you're the best person to make the decisions for them. Of course, your relationship with God also plays hugely into this, but I'm not here to preach. So, trust yourself! If your child is sick and a Dr. tells you it's something that will go away on its own, but you just don't feel like that's right and you want to drive an hour away to a different urgent care, DO IT. You might make a trip for no reason, but you also might make a trip that tells you your child is very, very ill and requires admission to the hospital. (Yep! Happened to me!) 
• Schedule- Children THRIVE on a schedule. I know I've blogged about it before, so I won't go on and on, but I truly believe that your child needs a schedule, and it has to be based on their routine, not what is convenient for you. For the first year of Manning's life he slept every night from 6:30 PM to 6:30 AM. It killed me that I only got about 45 minutes with him on weekday evenings and that we couldn't go out to a late dinner, but the few times we tried to go against his schedule, it backfired. People might think you're crazy, but when your one year old sleeps 12 hours a night consistently, let them talk.
• Finally, you CANNOT be everything to everyone. As a mom it is SO easy to put everyone in the world ahead of yourself, but there is nothing worse you can do for your parenting skills. I promise if your house is clean, but you're only sleeping four hours a night to make that a reality, you're not being the best parent you can. It would be much better for your house to be messy and you get eight hours of sleep. I still struggle with this myself. I hate leaving Deacon with others. Because I've been a SAHM and never HAD to leave him, I never WANT to leave him, but that's not good for me! Everyone needs a break. Even if it's just a trip to the grocery store alone. You deserve it. 
• On that same note, in order for your spouse to be a good parent also, it's important for your marriage to be strong. This means making date nights a priority, and doing what you can to help each other out. Praying for each other. Making each other's lives easier in the small ways. This is something I know all parents could improve on. :)

Well, I think that's all I'll say...I could go on and on with my opinions and advice, but nobody would appreciate that. :)

Happy Weekend!!!

Lots of Things

Thank you all SO much for your kind, encouraging responses on my last post. Not a single person made me feel condemned or judged, and I so appreciate that.

Today I wanted to do a post that covers a lot of little things that I have going on and on my mind.

I never updated on here, but our flight back with both boys was fantastic. It was very stressful for me, but my kids were rockstars, and I think they did as great as could be expected for their ages. I will say that we started the morning off with one man making a nasty comment about me bringing kids on the plane. I'm not sure what it is about our society that views children as a nuisance rather than a treasure, but it's certainly disappointing.

After almost four weeks away from my home, it felt very good to sleep in my own bed last night, and I think Manning agreed because he slept later this morning than he has ever slept before! I realized last night that I don't even know what day our trash comes. I sure do take my sweet husband for granted when he's home. I miss him so much right now, and the boys do too! Manning talks about him every single day.

I know a lot of people have already blogged about the great Erin Condren deal on Plum District, but I wanted to share in case any of my non-blogging friends hadn't heard yet. My friend Laura was so sweet to gift me with this deal so that I could purchase a Life Planner, so I can't provide a link to earn mine for free, but if you click here you can read exactly how to get the deal for as cheap as possible and if you click here to purchase that specific Erin Condren deal Laura can earn her planner for free!
*If you use my link to Plum District I can earn $5!*

Since Manning was born I've always gotten comments about how much he sleeps. I know that sometimes I drive people (especially my mother-in-law) crazy with being kind of a nap nazi, but he has been a great sleeper for so long that I try to stick to his schedule. It makes life easier for everyone. I realized this weekend why I think he sleeps so much, and why I'm okay with it. Here's the thing. If Manning is awake, he is moving. You can strap him down to a high chair for him to sit still, but that's about it. Even as much as he loves watching movies like Cars or shows like Yo Gabba Gabba and Sesame Street, he NEVER sits to watch them. He runs around, dances, plays and never. stops. moving.


Thirty-One launched their Fall/Winter catalog this week, and it is so. amazeballs. AND everything is 15% off! Visit my site to place an order! And, if you're interested in selling thirty-one, PLEASE let me know. It has been so great for me already, and I know you'd love it too! You can click Join My Team on my site to start selling today!

Some of my favorite new products are the Expand-a-Tote Day Extender and the Ruffle Cinch Sac!

Lastly, I wanted to ask- when do you read your Bible or do Bible Study? I just can't seem to figure out a good routine for it. I would get up before the boys, but they don't wake up at the same time everyday so that's really hard to plan. Maybe I need to choose a set time every morning, or maybe I should find an activity for Manning to work on after breakfast so I can do it then? Any suggestions?

I hope y'all have a great week!

Hone$ty

The time has come that I've decided to be brutally honest with y'all about some struggles Nathan and I have been dealing with for the last few months. Nathan pretty much gives me free reign on this blog, but I haven't run this post by him, so if it disappears you know why, but I honestly think he will be okay with it, which is why I want to share.

Okay, here goes.

When Nathan and I got married, we were broke by most people's standards. We had a small savings account from his deployment, and we were counting on his income from the GI Bill to pay most of our living expenses. We financed my education through student loans, the National Guard paid for his, and we both worked as much as possible to meet ends meat. While we had to budget and be smart with our money, we really never struggled, at least that I can remember. Every night after I collected my tip money from waitressing, I'd deposit it in the bank so that I didn't have any temptation of spending any cash frivolously. We had one joint credit card that we used a few times for emergencies and quickly paid off. When the place where Nathan was working part-time closed unexpectedly, we had some stressful days, but he was able to quickly find a new job that paid better and provided better hours. God's hand was all over our financial situation.

As time went on, we slowly got a little looser with our budget. Nathan finished school and began working full-time at the air base in hopes of getting a permanent position there that would pay a very good wage compared to what we were used to. It was a time of plenty for us. This is what is so stupid. During the time where we had the most money, we (and honestly, I blame myself for about 95% of it) accrued some really stupid debt. I guess it made sense to buy an expensive TV on a credit card with no interest for 18 months because I thought the monthly payment would be no problem, and it wasn't, until Nathan lost his position at the air base when Manning was only a few weeks old. Nathan then had to take his college degree, and put it on a shelf, and start working at his old college job at L0WES for not much more than minimum wage.

Because I was still working, we were doing okay. Then I got pregnant again. Nathan still wasn't finding any job, and we knew he couldn't stay at the same job for much longer. His talent and knowledge was being wasted. We made the decision that he would pursue a full-time career in the Army. He was able to qualify for an officer position and we knew that this would provide the income we needed for me to be able to stay home with both of our boys. Nathan was supposed to leave in April, so he quit his job in March in order to spend a few weeks with us as a family while I recovered from my c-section and was home with the boys.

*This is the part where I could also go into a long story about how L0WES wouldn't work with Nathan on some military days he was required to pull, and how we could have gotten that corporation in a lot of trouble but Nate wanted to be the bigger person, so he just quit a few weeks earlier, but that's not the point of this story.*

Within a few days of Nathan leaving his job, we got a call from his Army recruiter that he would no longer be "hired" as of April and would now not be leaving until July. Three months with no job. Too short of a time to get one, too long of a time to go without income. Luckily, Nate's best friend owns a business and he was able to provide Nathan some temporary work and income, but it still wasn't nearly what we were used to making. So, on top of the frivolous debt we'd built up, we were now accruing more debt to get by paying some bills. We basically had the bare minimum to get by for months.

Now, Nate is gone at his training. They told him immediately that although he started July 1st, he shouldn't expect a paycheck until August 1st. Nathan also had to spend over $500 on supplies for his school and over $200 on travel that still hasn't been reimbursed. Because of the generosity of our parents making a few small loans to us, we have been still scraping by. I learned yesterday that there's a chance that he still won't be paid on August 1st.

My point in telling you our story, with no pride left in me is this:

• Do not EVER judge someone's financial situation because you never know when you're going to be going through something similar. Trust me. This has been a very humbling experience. 
• My God is bigger. I am so, so leaning on that truth right now. 
• The difference between needs and wants has never been more apparent to me, and I really, really believe this will make permanent impacts on how we spend our money in the future. And, to that end, this is not our money, but God's money, and it is our job as followers of Christ to be good stewards of what we have been given.
• Lastly, I'm thankful for this trial. Today in church our amazing pastor talked about how God allows things to happen in our lives so that we can grow, and I began to think about how much this one trial has changed me and Nathan. We live in a fallen world. A world that places more value on name brand clothing than on children's lives. I now know, more than ever, that God is calling us to be brave and go against this world's values. Nathan and I have been talking about adopting since we were married, but I now know that God is teaching us that just because we will live with less to make this dream a reality, our hearts will be full and our needs will always be met by him and him alone. There is nothing we can do or have done to deserve his goodness and blessings that I know are just around the corner. 

So, I'm not sure if putting all of that out there will help any of you, but I just needed to get my thoughts out and share some of what I've been learning. My youth minister once told me that you should pray for a storm in your life. That if you truly trust the Lord, when everything seems to be going super smoothly, you should pray for a storm so that he will build you up to be closer to him and less complacent, and although I didn't ask for this storm, I'm truly praising God through it and I do know that he will bring us through it, and that we will be better for it.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support during this time. If you have any questions about anything in this post, please e-mail me or leave a comment. I have nothing that I won't share, and I always try to respond to any questions y'all might have. Thanks again.

Very {P}interesting...

I'm a little late to hop on this link-up, but after several weeks of ignoring my Pinterest account, I found myself mildly obsessed with it this week. I don't have a lot of pins compared to some people, but I am OCD in a way that I will only pin with a purpose. No pinning for me unless I plan to try the recipe, duplicate the outfit, print the printable etc. I'm all about cute pictures of rooms, but unless I plan to use the design elements someday, it ain't getting pinned. To each their own, right? 

Oh, I have to also mention that I introduced my little sister to Pinterest and she is in. love. She doesn't blog, so for some reason I kind of thought she wouldn't care for pinterest either, but sister has some SORE thumbs from pushing those virtual pins. 

Right now I'm on a spending hiatus, but I've been thinking a lot about what clothing elements I'd like to buy when I have some extra money. Since I was pregnant for like two straight years, I don't have a lot of wardrobe right now, but I also want to make the best use of what I have. 

I have all of the elements of this outfit in my closet, but I'm not sure I would've put them together this well. 

I am ob.sessed. with these pants. Until recently I worried a lot about what others thought of my wardrobe (and of me in general) but I'm working on letting that go, and I'm starting now. If I like the way I look and feel in something, I'm giving it a try. 

That said, I'm definitely going to continue to wear jeggings. I love how comfortable and versatile they are, and I think these red ones will definitely be finding their way into my closet. 

And this, this my friends, is Kendi. Kendi is my fashion guru...I mean...guru I've never spoken to...so maybe I mean she's my idol, but idolatry is a sin...I LIKE HER STYLE. There. And I sort of (really) want to be her best friend so we could go shopping together. Check her out. 

Along with wardrobe, I'm always looking for cute, functional ways to wear my hair, especially because it's at that horrible stage where I'm growing it out and it's too long to be short but too short to be long. You ladies all know what I mean! 

Oh, and lest you think I'm only focused on appearances, I have many other boards such as a board with all of my plans for Deacon's bedroom whenever we move (and he has one). 

This is a Dr. Seuss quilt from PBK. I don't want him to have a Seuss room, but I want him to have this quilt, or one a lot like it. 

And on the home front, because we will soon be living in base housing (hopefully and likely) I want to find ways to make our home our own and where we can take the same elements and plug them into whatever home we live in. Well, my understanding is that most base housing has white walls and basic flooring. 

I saw this picture on a few blogs this week that were completely unrelated to home decor, but I was so struck by how Heather Whittaker has used funky, repurposed decor items to decorate a backyard space perfect for fellowship! She took a yellow chandelier, purple metal chairs, a metal bench with sharpie signatures and a funky wooden table. I think that it looks amazing, inviting, and very practical. 

So tell me, what are you pinning? If I'm not following you please leave a comment so I can. Oh, and if you're interested, you can check out the rest of my pins here and my sister's pins here! 

If you want to see what everyone else is pinning, visit Stefanie's blog today! 

Have a great weekend!

Build-a-Monkey?

One of the things Kourtnie wanted to do with the boys while we were visiting was treat them to Build-a-Bear. Since today was our last full day here without her having class, we decided it was now or never.

Kourtnie saw that they are having a big Smurfs promotion because of the new movie, so she thought she'd help M make a smurf, but I warned her he might be persistent about another choice.

We arrived and Kourtnie decided to let Manning choose between a smurf and a monkey. Of course, he chose the monkey. It's kind of appropriate because right now the way he says any word ending in -key or -kie becomes a hilarious mix of that sound and too much back tongue against the roof of his mouth. He has also become lazy and no longer says "eat" but says "e e e e e" while signing please. Anyway, he reminds me of a monkey daily.




Here the nice employee is explaining some ridiculous part of the "ceremony". I told him to make the monkey floppy not stuffed hard. He did not listen, but by diggity we closed our eyes and made a wish.




And this is the part where they tried to get my child who is afraid of the vacuum, not because of lack of exposure as my mom believes, to step on a pedal to stuff the bear. He raised his feet and went limp. Whatev.



And "washing" the monkey with air didn't make any sense at all to him.



In the end he was pretty pumped that he had a new monkey with a "TRUCK" (Disney Cars to most people) t-shirt. M did take Key the monkey to bed tonight and went down without crying for the first night since Nate left, so that's worth Kourtnie's $18.




Oh, and little brother was pretty geeked out over his Brainy smurf too. He said it reminds him of his dad. :)

-Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

4th of July

We were in Savannah for the 4th of July, so we went with Kourtnie to some of her friends' house for a BBQ. Both of my boys stayed up later than they ever had before, and we had a good time. I love their new jumpers from SheSheMade.

Of course baby brother couldn't let me snap a picture before he spit up. That's just life I suppose. 

A few days later I tried to get some brother pictures, and this is the comedy of errors that is my life...

Stone Faces

Now I'll smile so big that Deacon can't help but stare at me...

KISSESSSSSS! That bed head kills me.

Have a great weekend y'all!

Thirty-One {Giveaway} Winner!!!

Thank you all so much for entering to win the Thermal Tote from Thirty-One! Remember, if you're interested in purchasing anything, this is the link to my shop!

We have a winner! Because some people received more than one entry per comment, it took some effort to count these out manually, but I used random.org

and entry #83 was...

Amanda of the Meet in the Middle! I hope you enjoy your thermal Amanda!


Through the end of July, you can purchase a thermal for 31% off with any purchase of $10!

A- send me an e-mail or a tweet with your address!

Link Yo' Ink

Today my friend AP is hosting a blog link-up of tattoos today. Ashley recently got her first tattoo, and her story is so beautiful. A lot of people don't like tattoos, but I think that the meaning behind tattoos can make them very beautiful. So, I'm joining in the link-up to explain my tattoos!

I got my first tattoo on our honeymoon in July of 2005. I had always wanted a tattoo, but I totally over-analyzed what the tattoo should be and I kept putting it off. While we were on our honeymoon, I guess I was on some sort of a love-high ;) and I decided that I knew just what I'd get a tattoo of. Nathan already had a tattoo on his right hip...it's the symbol for his favorite band A Perfect Circle- the two crescent moons form the circle.

This was a picture I took myself with my iPhone camera, so it's slightly warped, but you can see below what the symbol really looks like. 

While I was debating what I should get, I remembered how our wedding vows talked about how our love should be like our wedding rings, a perfect circle, never ending. So, I got a matching tattoo. Nathan has a blue symbol, and mine is orange.

When my sister turned 18 she started talking to me about how she'd like to get a tattoo, and we decided to get matching tattoos as well. Since we only have each other as siblings, and both of our names start with K, we decided to get a k tattoo.

I also have plans to get a few more tattoos. I'd like to do something for my kids, but I haven't put my finger on just what I want yet, so for now that is on hold. The next tattoo I plan to get is on the inside of my left wrist- Jesus in Aramaic. It will look like this:

ישוע

The reason I selected Jesus is because of my faith, and Aramaic because that is the primary language that Jesus spoke. 

Do you have any ink? Tell me about it in the comments and link up with AP!

*Don't forget to check out my Thirty-One Giveaway post and enter to win!*

Thirty-One {GIVEAWAY!!!}

I recently signed up to be a sales consultant for Thirty-One. I am loving it so much! It's the perfect opportunity for me to make some extra money while I'm still staying home with the boys!

Did you know that you can start too, for only $99! And you get over $300 in products when you sign up.

I earned about $500 in my first two weeks, so it's definitely worth the investment.

Maybe you're not interested in selling, but you like the products! Well, you can shop online through my personal thirty-one website, and the products are shipped directly to you.

Thirty-One has SO many cute items!

Right now I use the Organizing Utility Tote as a diaper bag everyday! It's also great for many other uses like scrapbooking supplies, cleaning supplies, office products, and as a school bag!

Another really great item is the Pop Crossbody bag. I love it. It's an adorable purse.

The best thing of all about Thirty-One is that you can personalize almost every item for only $6! You are able to choose your font style, color and whether you'd like a monogram or full-name or initials etc. The possibilities are endless.

If you place an order in July you can purchase select fall items for 31% off as part of the Fall Preview Sale!

All you need to do to place an order is visit my personal website by clicking here!

ALSO---I'm offering a very special giveaway! One reader will win a FREE thirty-one fall thermal tote!

Here's how you can enter to win:

1 entry- leave a comment on this blog post
1 additional entry- follow my blog and leave a comment saying you did
1 additional entry- tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment with your twitter name
1 additional entry- facebook about this giveaway and leave a comment saying you did
5 additional entries- make a purchase from my event on my thirty-one website and leave a comment saying what you purchased

So, there is a potential for NINE total entries per person! Giveaway ends July 15th at 5 PM CST.

Don't forget to leave a way for me to contact you if you're the winner!

*Must live in the US to be eligible for this giveaway- sorry, I don't want to mess with international shipping!*


If there are any questions, please contact me at kodibevelle {at} gmail {dot} com.

Body Image

Last night I read a blog post that had me so fired up I could hardly calm myself down to go to sleep. My friend, Megan, blogged about an ignorant comment someone made about her baby girl E regarding her size. The reason I got so fired up is because this issue hits pretty close to home. For as long as I've remembered, I could guess at LEAST back to 2nd grade, I've felt insecure about my body. I was very active when I was young, participating in summer softball, dance, and for a short time, even karate. 

Looking back, I laugh at pictures because I have distinct memories of feeling insecure about wearing a certain outfit or feeling too chubby to take a picture in a swimming suit, but now, looking back, my body looked fantastic. The reason that I felt so terrible about myself wasn't because of looking in a mirror, but rather it was the result of comparing myself to my friends. I never understood why my best friend could be a size 4 when I was a size 10. I wished I had a bigger chest, smaller thighs and skinnier legs. 

When I was in high school, I tried out for Freshman cheerleading. I had been a cheerleader in 8th grade, so I was pretty confident that I'd make it again for our Freshman year, but I didn't. All of my friends who had cheered with me in 8th grade made it except for myself and one other girl. I was heartbroken, and I just knew it was because I wasn't as thin and ideal for the cheerleading uniform. Then I tried out for dance team, and although I'd had years of formal dance training, I was beat out by pretty, skinny girls who had no dance experience or talent. Again, I knew my thighs were a little thicker than most girls, so it made sense.

Then, when I made cheerleading for my Junior year, I remember being so embarrassed that I had to have a skirt a size bigger than the next biggest girl on our cheerleading squad. I didn't try out for college cheerleading all because of my size. I also didn't date at all until my Senior year of high school. Nathan had to ask me out three times before I said yes, not because I wasn't interested, but because I was just sure that he would break my heart when he realized he was too good looking for me! (I'm very thankful that all these years later he still hasn't! ;) ) 

After Nathan and I got married, a switch flipped and I became really happy with my body. I mean, other than the annoying comments from well-meaning family members or insults disguised as jokes, I was fully confident that I had the body of a woman, and I was okay with it. Here's where I get to my point...yes I do have one...for some women, that switch never flips. Some women are never able to get to a point where they're mentally okay with the size of their body. Some moms never take their kids to a swimming pool because of how horrible they feel about themselves in a swimming suit. Some ladies never fully enjoy a single dessert because they can't erase the thought in the back of their mind that they shouldn't be allowed to enjoy it, that it's adding to their cellulite, that they have an obligation to "work it off" next time they're in the gym. 

This- is a tragedy. This is why some girls and women have eating disorders. This is why some women can't relax enough to surround themselves with a group of good girlfriends that they can't "measure" up to. This is why some women never go to Sunday school, church, and MOPS. This is why some women wear whatever clothes they can find to hide their "flaws" instead of the clothes that they really love on mannequins. 

So, for the sake of helping even one woman who will read this to see herself as the beautiful woman she is, I'm going to be brutally honest. Whenever I look in the mirror, I see thick thighs and a big behind that I know I inherited from my grandma, who I love and miss. When I see my soft stomach with faint pink lines on the lower portion, I remember the days when that stomach supported the precious lives that grew within it. When I look at my c-section scar, I remember the fear of Manning's heart rate rapidly decreasing and the quick delivery that I believe saved his life. When I look at my hands and see my wedding ring that's just a little too tight, I think about all of the other ways I've grown since I became the wife of Nathan BeVelle, and a slight swelling in my hands seems so insignificant. When I look at my hip tattoo, I remember a more carefree version of myself who was so excited to get a tattoo with her brand new husband that I got one to match his that has a special meaning to us- even if the rest of the world doesn't understand, and as some family members have even said, think it makes me "trashy". When I see the chubbiness of my arms I think about how lucky I am to live in a country where I've never once had to worry about having enough food to eat. When I look at my face and see the wrinkles beside my eyes, I think off all of the smiles and laughter that have helped to form them. When I see the swollen, dark circles beneath my eyes from the long nights of little sleep, I think of how blessed I am to cradle my sweet baby in those dark hours, providing him nourishment. When I try to fit into a pair of pants from a year ago that are just a little too tight, I think about the delicious cupcakes I enjoyed at Manning's birthday party, the amazing seafood dinner that I stuffed myself with last spring when Nathan and I splurged at an expensive restaurant, and the chocolate covered strawberries that Nathan made by hand for me on Valentine's day when we couldn't really afford to buy gifts for each other. 

I wear a size 16 in pants. I wear large or extra-large tops. I wear size 11 skis shoes. 

But, more importantly, I wear love, compassion, grace, mercy and kindness, and those are the things that truly matter. 

My challenge to you is this: Quit making comments that apologize for your figure or size. Quit making comments that make other women feel judged about their size. Quit focusing on size and focus on love. If American women took all of the money, effort and care that we put into our appearance and instead used it toward the betterment of the kingdom of God, what would happen?

Tybee Island & Cars 2

Yesterday (Wednesday) we headed to the beach to hang out for a few hours. My sister lives about ten minutes away & has a parking pass, so it's a free trip!

My sister and I took the boys. We took turns with one of us with Deacon under her beach canopy and one playing in the water with Manning. I took this picture of Manning & Aunt Kiki playing together.





Manning & Mama






We had a great time, until it was time to leave, and then I made one of my biggest mistakes as a mom so far. Kourtnie was busy taking down the canopy and Manning was on the verge of toddler meltdown, so I grabbed the boys and headed to the car. I had Deacon in his car seat in one hand, a heavy bag on my shoulder and Manning was refusing to hold my hand. As I was struggling, a lady came running up to me screaming. I looked toward her in time to see sweet Deacon's head flopping out of the car seat. I had not realized he wasn't buckled in, and he had to be a millisecond from falling out.

I was so upset and surprised that I didn't know what to say. I ended up repeatedly apologizing to the woman. I was and still am so upset with myself for that happening. I normally feel pretty confident and independent when it comes to being a mom, but sometimes I'm reminded how hard it is to do this alone.

Today we took Manning (and Deacon) to see Cars 2. Manning asks to watch Cars every single day so I knew he would love it. He did about as well as you can expect a 1 1/2 year old to do in a movie theatre for two hours, and Kourtnie and I both enjoyed the movie.



After the movie we had to return a few things to Target so I got Manning a few Cars 2 toys. I figured they'd be with the $12 investment for him to be entertained on the way home for our 3+ hours of flying. Oh, I forgot to mention- Manning can say at, but for some reason he thinks all vehicles are "truck" so we went to see "Trucks" today and I bought him three "trucks". He got Lighning McQueen, Mater, and Sarge. figured Daddy would like Sarge the best.











I should also point out Manning's new crocs. Somehow when packing I didn't think to bring M any sneakers, so he only had his blue crocs here. It didn't seem like a big deal until we were trying to leave for the movie and I could only find one shoe. Luckily, the theatre was next to Target so I was able to quickly and cheaply replace his torn up blue crocs with a shiny new black pair. So what if they're ugly?! They're comfortable, easy & cheap! And, Manning likes them so much I couldn't remove them from the picture! ;)

Have a great Friday!

-Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Mr. Ramsey

Growing up, my family attended a small Southern Baptist church in our town until I was in 5th grade called Calvary Baptist. Eventually we ended up switching to First Baptist so that I wasn't the only kid my age, but that's another story for another day.

At Calvary Baptist, ever so often on Sunday nights we would have an entire church service dedicated to singing only hymns, and they would take requests. Kind of a Christian version of Total Request Live, but instead of Carson Daly we had the elderly choir director. :)

I was always really excited on these nights because Sunday night services were notoriously more boring than Sunday morning services and often times my sister and I were the only people there that were younger than our parents.

I remember rapidly thumbing through my hymnal at the beginning of the service to dog ear the page of the song I wanted to request that night so I could raise my hand enough times that the director would eventually back down and call on me even though I knew he really didn't want to.

I think my feelings probably would've been hurt if I'd been the only one being ignored but, I wasn't. You see, after every song, a kind old man who could barely talk anymore, would request in the loudest voice he could muster, "253." Meaning, he'd like to sing hymn number 253. His tongue was swollen beyond the confines of his mouth, but still he'd persistently call out 253 until there were no more hands raised and the choir director had no choice but to choose his song.

What was hymn 253 you might ask? It was Victory in Jesus. The chorus goes:

Oh Victory in Jesus
My savior forever!
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood.

He loved me e'er
I knew Him
And all my love
Is due Him

He plunged me
To victory
Beneath the cleansing flood.

Back then, from my childish point-of-view, I thought Mr. Ramsey just really liked that song, but now, I realize that Victory in Jesus is the one song that Mr. Ramsey could request that said everything anyone could ever need to hear.

I pray you'll hear it today too.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Nathan OCS & Savannah

This has the potential to be a long post, so I'm warning you ahead of time.

Thursday morning Nathan went and swore in to the Army full-time, and received his orders for OCS. After hours of paperwork and things like that, he arrived home and we loaded up for our long road trip to Georgia. Because Nathan is prior-service, he is authorized to have his personal vehicle at OCS. Nathan is attending OCS at Ft. Benning, and my sister lives in Savannah, so the boys and I rode down with him to visit Kourtnie for three weeks, then she will fly back to Missouri with us. We left in the afternoon with plans to drive all night. I was more than a little nervous about how the boys would do while traveling, so we thought by driving through the night when they normally sleep would be the best bet.

They did AMAZING. We literally only stopped to gas up and feed Deacon simultaneously, and eat a few times. Manning was completely satisfied with his Cars DVD playing and Deacon slept or talked to the toys hanging from his car seat. Seriously, I could not believe how well behaved they were. Manning got fussy when it was bedtime and Nathan sternly told him to close his eyes and go to sleep. We didn't hear another peep from him.

I drove the majority of the trip, but around 7 AM I hit a wall and Nathan took over. I was able to sleep for a few hours and we arrived at my sister's house around 1. We took showers, got dressed and headed out to make the most of Nathan's only evening with us in Savannah.

We went downtown and ate a delicious supper at Crystal Beer Parlor. Nathan and Kourtnie had the lamb burger. They both loved it, but I did not (I tried a bit of Nate's). Luckily, I ordered something else. I ordered a crab burger with red pepper aioli sauce. Oh mercy. That is my kind of food. It was SO delicious. Oh, and as you can see in this picture, Manning loved his grilled cheese sandwich. ;)

Next we decided to take a walk along River Street. It was so beautiful. I could've taken a million pictures, but I tried to focus mostly on our family. 

We went into the Savannah Candy Company. I thought Manning would be interested to see the taffy being pulled. 

As you can see, Deacon was the one that was fascinated. haha! He couldn't look away!

Manning did enjoy the free taffy! It was still warm when we...I mean he ;)...ate it.