Seasons of Change...

The leaves have changed, the air is getting colder...fall is here! It is beautiful! I love the fall and all of it's beautiful color it brings. I am not a huge fan of hot summers, so when sweater & scarf weather comes...I embrace it with a grin. :)

Just like seasons change...so does life. This past weekend, my husband and I announced our resignation as the worship & arts pastor to our church family. We formally resigned to our senior pastor and board of elders back in August, and just notified the church body that we will be here through the end of the year.

Change is hard and uncomfortable...but often necessary. David and I have felt "stirred" for about 9 months----unsure if it was our own emotions or truly God speaking to our hearts....we stayed silent and prayed. In August, we felt confirmation in our hearts and took a HUGE leap of faith in resigning. While we do not know for certain where exactly we will end up....we are trusting in God that we made the right decision and trust He has our next place in the works.

This has been a difficult summer, as you have read in my last month's post. Knowing that we're leaving, without anyone knowing, and not knowing where we're headed has made it at times unbearable. However, this time has brought David and I closer than imagined. We have prayed together like never before and have encouraged each other to trust the ONE who has called us on.

Coeur d'Alene has been our home for the past 6 years. When we came here, David and I had only been married a few months and were fresh out of college. Here we grew in our relationship as a couple and began our family. We have loved every second here! We have been blessed beyond belief, made lifelong friends, and partnered with incredible pastors. It will always be a special place----our roots so to say.

We look forward to a new adventure and for what God has planned. Scary? Absolutely terrifying. Exciting? Yes. :) So, now, we wait some more....pray even harder....and anxiously seek God's will for our lives. I will keep you posted when we find out what that is exactly. Please keep us in your prayers.

Philippians 1:3-5 says

“I thank my God every time I remember you.
In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy
because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now...”

Life....

Well, I have officially been awful at keeping up with my blogging. Never thought 2 kiddos would make it this difficult! It is.

Lots has been happening. Ollie is 6 months old, has 2 teeth, sits up, rolls like a rolling pin, and has quite the humorous scoot-crawl down to an art.

Liam just turned 3 and celebrated by having a fun monster party at the park. I will post pics soon! It was super cute and such a blast. It is weird seeing him with "friends" goofing off and acting like a boy rather than a toddler. I miss him being my baby! Time has gone by much too quickly. Before I know it, I will be planning Oliver's 1st birthday. Boo hoo.

This has been quite the summer. My dearest friend, Chelsea (aka the "che" from bebe-leche) up and moved to Georgia with only a few weeks notice. So sad! I miss her a ton! But, hopefully she will only be there temporarily and we will be reunited again soon. My first born (a dog), Winston, tragically died. His death was horrendous and completely unexpected. He got bit, really bad, from the neighbors black labs (whom he loves to taunt). This time it was fatal. From the moment we discovered him bleeding in the kitchen, to the moment we said goodbye at the vet, it was all under an hour. It was heart wrenching. I still miss him so much.

Liam talks about him a lot and at random times....which makes it harder. It affected him. So sad. We won't be getting another dog anytime soon. He was extremely close to our hearts and could never be replaced.

That, in short, is a snippet of what's been going on in our lives lately. We miss our friends and we miss our dog. We love our ever growing, silly boys that make us laugh and make us cry from lack of sleep. But, we love our life.

Til I write again....

DIY Baby Legs

If you haven't seen Babylegs yet, you should. They're adorable....but kinda pricey for what they are. My friend Chelsea recently bought a super cute pair for Oliver, and I bought Liam a pair (for a whopping $12!) when he was a lil lad and I loved them for when he was crawling (protected his knees while wearing just a onesie).
In the meantime, I have found several online tutorials on how to make these cute little legwarmers yourself! All of my blog stalking pays off...eventually, when I finally get around to creating something I found. Well, I made these. I made Ollie 3 pairs to be exact. They are so fun to make and much cheaper than the name brand Babylegs.

The tutorial I used and liked best was from Natasha at Samster Mommy blog. You can find her amazingly detailed and easy-to-follow tutorial here.
Here are 2 of the 3 pairs I've made using ladies funky kneehigh socks from Target ($2 a pair). The 3rd pair I made are the ones Ollie is wearing. They're my fave. :)
Here is Ollie, proudly sporting his new DIY babylegs!
Despite Daddy thinking that they are a little too Jane-Fonda-circa-1980 for him...
....diaper changes are a breeze with these bad boys and I happen to think they're freakin' adorable!

I mean seriously...what's not to love about these cute little legs?Now go buy some socks, and MAKE some! :)

This So Called Life.

Well, gosh, it's hard to find the time to update this ol' blog.

Life has been busy with 2. Liam is doing well and loves his "baby brudder". He has been doing awesome being potty trained---but has experienced a few accidents here and there since Ollie was born. He also somehow managed to find an old binky of his that he now likes to "play" with. Not so cute seeing a 2 1/2 year old trying to talk with a binky in his mouth...but, hey, it keeps him busy and he thinks he's pretty cool to have something like Ollie. Thankfully he just carries it around most of the time and it doesn't go anywhere other than home. Liam has started referring to David and me as "Honey". Also pretty cute.

I cannot believe my sweet little Oliver is already creeping up on 2 months! Seriously? Where did the time go? If someone finds it, please let me know.

Oliver started smiling....which I should be writing in his baby book....if I had a baby book...I would write it down. I find myself giving Ollie the dreadful "2nd child treatment" that I always said I wouldn't. He has no baby book, and I am already behind on taking photos.

Poor Ollie. Poor 2nd borners out there. Poor me.

I am beginning to feel like a REAL mom. Finally. Two kids laters, it's kicking in. By the end of the day, I literally have spit up on more than one piece of my clothing, paint on random parts of my body from trying to get a wild 2 year old who loves to paint....himself...into the bath tub, I've yelled, screamed, and pulled Liam off of his brother for being too "affectionate", I keep finding toys, bills, junk mail, magazines, and thank you cards that needed to be mailed months ago all adorning one small coffee table, KIX cereal scattered under the kitchen table, KIX cereal scattered on top of the kitchen table, and finally crawling into bed only to be stabbed in the back by Thomas and Lightening McQueen, then being quickly summoned by Oliver who's crying the "binky-just-fell-out-of-my-mouth-and-it-woke-me-up" cry.

Somehow, I've kept myself together----even though the house suffers and recovers then suffers again. Kudos to my mom and all moms who have more than 2 kids. I dunno how you do it.

Life is different with two. Busier? Yes. Better?....Getting there. Wouldn't trade Oliver for the world, but life is busy.

Lots of people asked me before Oliver was born whether or not I thought it would be hard to love him as much as I love Liam. It's a valid question....but I can honestly say, I am SO in love with little Ollie. I am SO in love with big boy Liam. And I am SO in love with my handsome David. Never knew it was possible to love 3 boys SO much. But I do.

I am blessed.

Now, on that sappy happy note, I will leave with this....a video of Liam's affectionate displays and a video of Ollie's sweet smiles.

...and baby makes 4...

As you can imagine...I am very busy, so I haven't had any time to actually blog about my most recent adventure: the addition to our family. So, I will keep this short, as I should be napping right now.

Oliver Duncan
April 6, 2010 @ 9:02 PM
8 lbs 2 oz
20 1/2 inches long

Stay tuned for more photos, the actual birth announcement, the completed nursery, the birth story and of course some recent crafts! :)

Now, I gotta go sleep...

Yellow & Gray...oh how I love thee.

Well, ya'll thought I'd change my mind between November and April about my yellow and gray kick for the baby room.....

But...I stuck to my guns and saw it through. May I just say, It's looking pretty darn cute. I will be posting sneak peek pictures of the room soon! But, for now, I will leave you with this...

this is the dresser/changing table from IKEA that I found online and fell in love with! And my sweet mom paid for it...making it so much better. Thanks mom. :)

It gets even better, the insides of the drawers are yellow and white striped! So cute.

Stay tuned for the full reveal!

Royal Throne---Feeling Like A Queen!

My week has been filled with lots of potty talk, treats, stickers, accidents, and so so sooooooo much JOY. :)

I was praying Monday morning while I was in the shower (ok, so, honestly it was more like afternoon) about Liam's potty training and whether or not to start trying again. David and I attempted a few months ago right when Liam turned 2, only to find out he was SO NOT ready and the whole weekend attempt ended in tears....on all sides. So we decided not to push and held off.

Well, I was praying for discipline for David and I to be consistent with sticking to it when we do start up again. But I also prayed specifically for Liam to be MOTIVATED to go on the potty.

No joke, probably an hour or two later, Liam wanted an oatmeal cookie (that David so graciously got twisted into making from scratch the other night). I saw this tiny toddler's humble request for sugar as an open door, so I made a deal with him. If he would try to go potty, then he could have a cookie. Thinking nothing of it, I helped him onto his "Royal Potty" which makes music when he is "successful"....and was soon informed that he wanted the door shut. Ok, easy enough, he's just gonna play around for a while and then be done. I ran down stairs to check my email while he hung out on the throne....a couple seconds later I hear the trumpets sound and some majestic tune followed by a cute little voice yelling "I did it Mommy!"


I sprinted up the stairs...somewhat nervous because he knows how to make this potty make music by tipping it upside down and pushing the music button underneath....and he also tells me "he did it" every time, even when he doesn't go. But, this time, it was for real!

I have never been so excited over seeing urine! I jumped up and down screaming and clapping! He got a sticker to add to his potty chart, lots of high fives, a special phone call to daddy, and of course, the much desired and deserved cookie.

Making a long story even longer....he continued to want to go potty about 4 more times in a span of 1o minutes. The day resulted in about 10+ successful pottys on the toilet, and even ended with a quick outing in the car in which he stayed dry in his undies!

He also has a special football toilet seat that sits on the regular toilet. He calls this the "big one" and now chooses it every time but likes to follow up with the Royal throne....for music's sake.
Running out of oatmeal cookies, I had to get creative with rewards.



Tiny marshmallows that were partially stale were added to the list....As were broken pieces of a rainbow candy cane leftover from Christmas....highly motivating.
This little guy has been sporting many a pair of fashionable undies, which I think look adorable on him! The week has been filled with so much pottying success! We are on day 4, he has had a couple accidents at home. He has made 3 big outings in public (including library story time, trip to the playground with friends, and dinner at a restaurant) and done great! Staying dry every time. He even let the nursery workers at church last night take him potty!

I am proud of my boy, but even more so am amazed at how quickly God heard my cry for help and came to my rescue :) Every now and then an immediate answer to a seemingly unimportant prayer is just what we need to be reminded that He does listen and does care about the small things. Thank you, God.

Pooping on the potty will be another story and require another special prayer.....

Darn you, sugar....

If you've ever been pregnant....you can relate...

Remember this stuff?
Particularly the nasty orange flavored one. Yeah, you know the stuff. Anywho, I had my dreaded glucose test a couple weeks ago and survived.

However, last week at my regular ob check up, I made the mistake about asking what the results were....the Dr. so cordially responded by saying "135". That number means nothing to me....other than currently wishing that was my weight, but not so much. So, she then added that back in the day "140" for the glucose test was considered ok, but now they like to see "130". I laughed and said "Oh, so I'm just in the middle!"

She informed me that it's probably fine, but is going to send me to the lab to do the dreaded 3-hour testing! Ya know the one....the one where you have to hang out at the blood lab for 3 hours, while they take your blood every hour! All while being empty-stomached other than the refreshing sugar drink they supply you with!!! Yeah, so that happens on Friday. Needless to say, I am not looking forward to it.
On the upside, my sister reminded me of a good part....I get to hang out in a room with a couch and TV ALONE for 3 hours! Three hours of peace and quiet sounds kinda nice....I think I will bring a book and make the best of it...I wonder if I can sneak in some snacks...? Kidding. :)

Wish me luck on Friday!

Thinking PINK....

Don't get all excited....NO, this post isn't referring to the sex of my baby...no girl in sight yet. It's still very much a boy as far as I know...

However, I did so happen to fall in love with some girly hot pink spray paint yesterday! It got me thinking...."what can I possibly spray paint hot pink?" Well, I came up with something!

I've had this wreath up on my door for Christmas time....and I figured it wasn't THAT christmasy so I could keep it up a little longer. But!.....the cold weather apparently "popped" the majority of my little berries...leaving ugly white styrofoam in it's place.

See! Ugly. Well, I've seen other cheap crafty people via cyber space simply spray paint these berry wreaths. I've even seen someone touch up the popped berries with nail polish. But, I was determined to use the hot pink spray paint!
I couldn't justify dropping like $4 on a full sized can of hot pink spray paint for this one project....then I laid my eyes on this little cutie! Ringing in at $2.69 and just the right size!I broke off and rubbed off the berries that were too crackled and nasty to spray around, then I got to work. I gave it one really good coat, then when it dried, I flipped it over and got the backsides of the berries....then I ran out of paint, just in time.

Grabbed my glue gun, some super cute red houndstooth (I LOVE all things houndstooth) wired ribbon that I scored at Michael's for 80% off, a cute little glittery word that says "love" for .20 at Michael's (more Christmas clearance) and started to assemble my Valentine's Day wreath.I looped the ribbon through the wreath and up and over my wreath hanger...hot gluing the ribbon to the top of the over-the-door part....glued the "love" word onto a few berry sprigs (we'll see how long before it falls off...there wasn't a very good surface to attach it to) and hung her on the door!

What do you think?"Goodbye" ugly-styrofoam-exposed-washed-up Christmas wreath!

"Welcome", Valentine's Day and the month of LOVE.

Shnazzy Shoes...

Ok, so, I know it's been over a month since my last post...but life has been busy and nothing too exciting to blog about.

Then again...there's always shoes....

The first pair I found at Old Navy on clearance for $5.97...I know...a splurge for me...but they were so cute and I was already on a clearance high...and since I had bought a couple shirts at $.47 each...I figured I could up the price on the shoes a bit. And since this winter weather has been somewhat of a joke...I have already bared the cold and worn them out! Crazy, I know. But my feet looked cute!

The second pair...my zebra sparkle shoes were actually a Christmas present from David's parents! I LOVE them. So funky and different. I have worn those several times already too....who needs spring?

Lastly, I found these cute leather fringe flip-flops at Old Navy for a whopping $.97!!! I bought 2 pairs (not 36 pairs like the last mega shoe find at Old Navy...since I never really sold many of them). I got a pink pair and a brown pair! I will have to wait til spring to pull these off...but, I already have the perfect outfit to wear them with! Can't wait. :)

May you too find some $.50-$1.00 shoes today!