Faith Like A Child...

I know it has been months since I have last updated. A LOT has happened so I have to take it a little at a time. But, first things first. I had to share the MOST important thing that has happened....

Last week, on February 9th to be exact....Oliver was down for a late nap, so Liam (3 years old) and I were making dinner together. Just the two of us. David had to be at the church, so it was just gonna be us at home. Soaking up every minute of alone time with Liam, we sat at the kitchen table and ate our Bisquick pizza (low on groceries...HAD to be creative!). He was chatty as usual and I was loving every second of it. When I was finished eating, I got up to clear my plate, had my back to Liam, when I heard him say "Hey, Mom?" I turned around and said "Yeah.." Standing up facing me, very seriously he said, "I love God." My heart sank a little and I had to ask "What!? You do?!" He answered very proudly, "Yep, I do. And He's in my heart." At this point, I dropped down to his level, grabbed his shoulders and looked at him with a HUGE smile and started to cry. He grabbed my face and kissed me on the lips. Then he gave me a sheepish grin and made me cry more by saying....."Jesus had to die. He got owies on His hands and feet".

The very moment I have dreamed about and wondered about....how it would happen....when it would happen....when he would semi grasp the idea....had finally arrived. I was overcome with joy and it felt so surreal. Best day of my life. The cute thing was, even while I was crying he normally would grab my face and say "mommy you sad? You crying?" But, this time was different. He knew is was happy tears. He just gave me a proud look and let me cry my tears of joy.

While I understand that he is only 3 and doesn't comprehend the entirety of Jesus' grace and what He's done for us. I truly believe he meant what he said. And somehow in the tiny little 3 year old heart of his, Jesus is residing ;) Cheesy, I know. But I am one happy mama.

He talks about that night often and tells me word for word what he said and what it meant. The other day I asked him if Jesus was still in his heart, he answered "Yes" then I said, "what's He doin in there?" Without skipping a beat he quickly answered "He's eatin lunch". HA! Yep, he's 3.

All this to say, I am so grateful that God has made it so easy for us to have a relationship with Him. We don't have to be perfect, we don't have to say a special chant, don't have to do a number of good things, we don't have to regret our past....we simply have to let Him in to our lives. He's offering a gift, all we have to do is accept it and open it! Wow, He's a good God.

"Confess with your mouth.....believe in your heart...."

Romans 10:9

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!