fire trucks!

We had so much fun at the fire station with some friends this week!  We heard some about what they do and got a tour of their building and then we got to see the real firetruck, which is what all the kiddos were waiting for! :)

Austin's first time at the beach!

Last weekend we went down to Galveston for the morning with some friends and got to introduce Austin to the beach for the first time!  He loved the sand (and even managed to eat a little of it! :)), but was a little concerned about the water, ha.  He  wouldn't take his eyes off of it when we brought him out in it.  We had such a fun morning hanging out and playing!

Love this

Right now, I am loving these words by Ann Voskamp.  I first saw them a while back on her blog, then at a friend's house and then they came to my mind again last week.  Yesterday, I printed them off and hung them in my bathroom, where I'd see them every morning.  Love, love, love.  Pretty much every line of it gets me.

Playing just got a whole lot more fun...

Last week, we pulled the little piano toy and the doorway jumper down from the attic and Austin is loving it!

Today

Today, both of my boys are sleeping, the dogs are sleeping, and the house is perfectly quiet.  We spent the morning at the doctor for Aedan's 3 year and Austin's 5 month check up. Today's visit included shots, which I hate, hate, hate.  Both boys looked perfect and are growing and developing just like they should, and for that we are so grateful.  I know that's not a given because we know too many parents with sick kiddos, so it is something we're thankful for every day.

Today started off with some early (for him) morning cartoon watching, which was a treat. Instead of our normal morning routine, I gave in to Aedan's request for a little Curious George and Dinosaur Train and we just snuggled on the couch.  We had a nice, leisurely morning and when baby brother woke up around 845am, we got up to get ready to go to the pediatrician.  I was about to bathe the boys and then checked one last time to see what tine the appointment was, just to be sure it was at 945am.  When I pulled up my calendar, it said 915am instead though--so in about 10 seconds, our morning went from relaxed to a mad dash to get out of the house.

Once we got to the pediatrician's office, as it turns out, according to receptionist, our actual appointment was for Tuesday morning.  Sigh.  We made it (almost ) on time, but were there on the wrong day.  Not even sure how that happened.  Luckily, they were able to squeeze us in, but it made for a long morning.

Tennessee Road Trip!

Life is better with a little adventure thrown in. 

• "Life is either a great adventure or nothing" ~ Helen Keller
• "The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page." ~ St. Augustine
• "All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware." ~ Martin Buber
• "The journey, not the arrival matters." ~ T. S. Eliot

I could go on, but I won't. 

The Thursday before the long fourth of July weekend, our plans for the weekend fell through and Landon and I found ourselves with absolutely no plans for the entire weekend.  An extreme rarity in our world. So around 6pm, as he was on his way home from work, Landon called me and asked if I wanted to go on an adventure.  I laughed and said sure - as I am always down for an adventure - and he told me to pack our bags. 

5 months!

Sweet baby boy--what in the world?  I cannot believe that you are 5 months!  It seems like you've been with us forever but still--5 months just seems crazy!  Either way though, this has been such a fun month!  You've started moving and wiggling and laughing and rolling and are just a ball of sweetness and fun in our lives.  You are such a good, good gift from God to us and we love you so, so much!

Aedan's 3rd birthday party, train station style :)

We celebrated Aedan's 3rd birthday at the railroad museum (or, as he calls it, the train station :)) this year and he loved it!  It was a bit chaotic, but I think fun was had by all--or at least by the birthday boy!  And really, that's all that counts, right? :)  He still talks about his party and seeing the trains and how Lilly, the person from the train station who helped with his party, would say, "Choo choo!  All aboard to Aedan's party!" and "Welcome to Aedan's party!".  Sweet boy--it was a fun day!

We began preparing for his party a few days before and his job was to help us with Aedan's trail mix--the party favors.  We basically just mixed up all of his favorite snacky foods and he was in heaven, ha!

36 months/ 3 years old!!!

My precious Aedan, how am I really writing about you as a three year old already?  Seriously, it feels like there is no way that three years have already come and gone since you were born!  We love you so much and are loving this age so much.  You are so full of life, of fun, of laughter, of silliness, of adventure, of play, of love and you just make our family and our lives so much better!  You are such a good to us from our good God and we thank you daily for you!

God Made Me Special

Austin Douglas--4 months, 1 week, 1 day

The Friday before Aedan's 3rd birthday, my brother and sister in law took Aedan out for a day of fun, so I had the whole day to get ready for Aedan's party--and some uninterrupted QT with little Austin, which I loved.  It was his first day as an only child!:)  After a quick trip to Costco to buy the last of the party food, we spent the rest of the day at home.

June 25, 2014

I still can't believe we have a 3 year old. Seriously, where does time go?  We had such a fun time celebrating him though!  The night before he turned three, we all piled in our bed to watch a little Curious George and then when it was time to go to bed, he asked to sleep in our bed--and how could we refuse that cuteness? :)  So. he snuggled up beside Daddy and went to sleep.  Sweet boy.  I fell asleep that night looking at my family (seriously, one of my all time favorite things is when we're all asleep in our room, dogs and all--something about it just feels so nice to me!) and thinking about how, 3 years ago at that time, we were in the hospital in labor, just hours away from meeting our sweet baby.  And now we have another little one too.  Crazy!

life in pictures

It's Monday afternoon.  Both boys are finally asleep and even though there's a ton of other things I should be doing right now, I'm feeling the need to write a little.  I've been taking pictures and editing pictures and uploading pictures but somehow haven't been able to find the time, or motivation when I do have a few minutes of downtime, to put some words with those pictures, because choosing to blog is choosing to not do something else, which means that whatever that something else is will need to be caught up on later.  But oh well.  Such is life, I guess.  And after not blogging for a while, I miss it.  I really do.  I miss writing and I miss reflecting and I miss having life documented.  Landon and I listened to the audio books of  A Million Miles in a Thousand Years and Love Does a few months ago and they've really stuck with us--they're about living a good story.  So we're still seeking God and searching and trying to live a good story.  And good story or not, our story is our story and I love having it written down. :)