baby daddy

my sweet husband is over an ocean today in beautiful switzerland. considering he has been apart from us this week --it has made me all the more aware of just how much he does with our kiddos. he is possibly the most involved dad i know. i know that he takes the role of father very very important, and he doesn't take lightly that God has entrusted him with these two precious ones. he is so patient with them, loves to teach them flips and somersaults, loves to take them swimming, and makes them breakfast every single morning. yes folks, he's a superdad.
our kids LOVE their daddy.....and as you can guess, i do too, very very much.

{this picture was taken over in croatia for the new record he is recording. he's a creative genius AND a great dad. and you can see where our kids get their good looks}

let them eat cake!

abey baby

oh little boys are too much fun. our baby boy turned a year old! we had a fabulous little party in st. louis with our neighbors who love him dearly, who have babysat, and who give him lots of hugs & kisses.
he is a doll. such a lover. so laid back but definitely sensitive and passionate. we often say that he is an 'easy laugh'-its easy to make this little one smile and he is so ticklish!
we are so thankful for him and for the love the maggie has for him. they are starting to 'play' together and is so very sweet.
happy birthday our dear son!

new do

abe's about to turn one. so we had to commemorate right? and his hair grows a mile a second so out came rocker baby! he wouldnt let us near him with the electric razor so we had to just use scissors so its a wee bit un-even. but hey, he looks awesome.

hugs

morning date

we have wonderful neighbors. one of which is beca, in the picture with maggie, who graciously agreed to babysit in exchange for chocolate chip cookies! what a deal! she not only babysits but gives maggie & mya and the other little neighbors lessons in gardening. most days, maggie asks if she can help ms. beca water her flowers....even if beca is no where to be found. maggie loves to water flowers. beca also lets them dig for worms, another recent passion of maggie's.
so beca babysat during the day, which might be the best kind of babysitting there is. as soon as we put abraham down for his morning nap, we headed out to the botanical gardens by. our. selves.
it was great to have no agenda except to walk around and enjoy the flowers. the gardens truly are amazing and i spent most of the time in the rose garden, saying "i cant believe it smells so good!" it was great to be on date and not get sleepy eyes or worry about staying out too late. we enjoyed every second of it!

mind numbing

i love being a stay at home mom. i hate that title but love the job. i actually love it way more than i thought i would. i love the rhythm of my days. i love having days when i stay in my pjs all morning and fold laundry and drink 3 cups of coffee. i love seeing every new smile, new step, new phrase that my children learn. i love knowing what maggie means when she says something obscure but i know she is referring to something a friend said or some little bug that she dug up.
i also love cooking every night and tucking the kids in bed and reading or watching online tv. every day i am surprised about how much i love being a 'home-body.'
but this is also what surprised me- this life, this life that i love-its mind numbing!
there are parts of my brain that havent been stretched or seen a fire in their synapse all year. when mojo begins to talk theology at dinner my eyes glaze over. its just too hard to follow! {although i will admit, that happened before i became a stay at home mom}
i miss being engaged with life around me. pouring my life into something else besides my home. we are better people when we take care of ourselves. sleep, exercise, eating right, etc. but that also is true of taking care of the gifts God has given us. if we dont use our gifts, they slowly begin to eat away at us. Ravi Zacharis says something like, "if you ignore the gifts then the gifts will turn to bitterness."
so a few weeks ago i decided to start volunteering! i am currently filling out the {massive amounts} of paperwork for the job. there are quizzes to take and training to be had. but i am moving forward and am already filled with new energy and new excitement!
i am going to be volunteering at a hospice.... and hear me when i say, i definitely don't feel like i am gifted or have any wisdom at all to give to those that are dying. but i do know that i have been gifted with listening skills and a willingness to sometimes go into dark places with people. and quite frankly, i want to learn how to help people grieve.
i am always telling mojo that if a counselor or pastor knows how to love people and families well in the midst of the hardest life 'transitions' then that person really knows how to minister God's grace.
and i am really excited about that. i will be visiting with people that are dying and helping them "tell the story of their life"-to help them feel ready for the next phase. and i will also be counseling families in grief.
here is something i already learned in my training:
"the term hospice has its roots in the word hospitality. during the middle ages a hospice was a way station, a place for travelers to stop and rest, much like today's bed and breakfast. often religious orders established hospices at primary travel intersections so that persons on their way to religious shrines could find shelter. many times these persons were very ill and were traveling to the religious shrine in hopes of a miraculous cure. so by default, these early hospices often cared for the terminally ill."

11 mos.

daddy & hammy

riding in the trailer

hugging my baby boy

first tooth

little guy has FOUR coming through. so its fuss-city around here. but he's a champ and isnt he just a doll?

painting

while raining inside

in the sunshine with friends

play ball

faces

my children have ALOT of hair (i just cut about 3 inches off-which is the third time i've cut in this year!) and also have alot of expressions. we love it. here is Abraham playing with the hose and me trying to keep it out of his mouth...and notice the cut/bump on the bridge of his nose. his first big crash with the floor while learning how to crawl. so sad! he continues to try to do things he is not ready for (like standing on his own) and continues to get bruises on the sweet, sweet face. having a boy is going to be scary!

up, up and away in my beautiful balloon

::update:: maggie did FABULOUS last night! there was no crying, no demanding, only the pure delight of child who is so very proud of herself! this morning she yelled out "i slept without my paci! i can do it! i said 'bye bye paci!'" sweet girl of mine::

it was time. but oh it is hard to say goodbye. maggie loves her paci. and quite frankly, so do we. on long car rides, long nights, early mornings, man, we love that thing. but it was time to say goodbye to the paci. it has become an unhealthy addiction. she is only allowed to have it in her bed. so recently, she'll say, "i'm tired." and go sit on her bed and suck her paci. i'm telling you, its her bff. but its also her enemy.
the last few weeks she's been waking up in the middle of the night asking for it, i mean, screaming for it. um, no thank you. it has to go. and last night at 4am, husband crawls back in bed and says, tomorrow night, we get the balloons.

we've been talking about the balloons for some time with maggie. and how her paci's are going away on the balloons to help other babies. she was very excited about that idea. but this afternoon when it was time to tie them on the balloons she became very hesitant. thankfully, lots of her friends were outside, so we just went and sat on the steps and her friends gathered round and she became excited. (we're so thankful we have little neighbors!)

it was slightly anti-climactic for the adults since lift off didnt take too well. but we took the paci's off and stuffed them in pockets before the kids realized. then we all waved goodbye and sent them on their merry way. all the kids were shouting "bye bye pacis!!!!!!" it was very encouraging for maggie. and her little friend nathan brought her some play-do as a "congratulations, you entered real toddlerhood." she wouldnt put the playdo down.

so we are either in for a night of hell or a night of bravery for the little one. during dinner she kept saying, "i am going to bed without a paci!" and we would clap. we told her if she wakes up then to hold her teddy tight and fall back asleep. she kept repeating that too during dinner, i think to pump herself up.
and when mojo was putting her to bed she would say, "where's the pacis? they are all gone!" i am assuming we are in for a night of hell, but that little one does surprise us so.


good ol' teddy

proud of herself

she asked us to take one of her pretending to sleep without the paci. so funny.

mojo said, give me a pretty smile...and this is what she gave him

proof

that we do go on dates. that we dress up and go to art openings. that we take walks when the night air is cool and perhaps stop in for dessert at a fancy restaurant. that we can still be spontaneous. that we still really, really enjoy nights out alone. that life goes on outside of books, papers, and exams.

spring is here!

flowers, picnics, walks in the botanicals....spring is here!

groupie

apparently maggie has a thing for musicians just like her momma.

this is sam. his momma and i are great friends. they use to live in the same apartment complex as us but now live where its really, really cold. they came to visit last weekend and him and maggie just started playing together like they see each other every week. sam is obsessed with guitars and made up little diddies about abraham the whole time. hilarious. mojo thinks sam looks like a small british rock star. the beatles shirt is fitting. we love that kid.






we loved your visit kelly! hope to see you soon!