Here it is.

The dimple that melts my heart....

Father's Day

We had a wonderful Father's Day weekend. The weather was spectacular and therefore we got tons of outside playtime in!

Before I detail how amazing my kids' daddy is, I need to tell you how amazing my dad is.

My dad is the rock of our family, honorable, unbelievably hard working (he NEVER stops moving), fun, loving, respectable and just simply a remarkable human being. He loves God, loves his family and loves his country. He served for our freedom as a pilot in the USAF for over 20 years. My kids love Papa SO much. Thank you, Dad, for everything. For motivating me to be a good person and giving me so much priceless guidance over the years. I wouldn't be who I am if it weren't for you and Mom.

Now that I've said that, I also need to mention my incredible Mom. On Mother's Day this year, we were very busy cleaning up vomit and I never got the chance to post about my Mom. She was and is an amazing mom to my sister and me and is now just as incredible as a Grandma to our kids. She is generous, loving, creative (insanely creative), fun, patient, honorable and is also a remarkable human being. She consistently reminds us all of God's love for us, of His provisions and grace in our lives. Thank you for always pointing us to Christ. Thank you, Mom, for everything.


Okay.... onto Sean. I knew when I married him that he LOVED kids. When we worked in children's ministry at our old church, he was known for getting kids all riled up before we sent them home with their parents. He is seriously a human jungle gym. From the moment we were married, I looked forward to the day he got to be a Daddy. And, clearly, our kids LOVE him. They "crazy" love him. They are sad when he leaves for work in the morning and sprint to the door in the evening when he gets home. He is fun when he should be fun, strict when he should be strict and provides stability and balance. He is truly the rock in our home. Thank you for everything Sean.... for bringing home the bacon and making our home such a fun place to be. We all love you like crazy!

Chirp Chirp

You know the "chirp" I'm talking about. The one your smoke detector makes when the batteries are low. We had some serious chirping last night. I got home last night about 10 pm and immediately heard the chirping when I walked in the door. I asked Sean if he knew which one it was and he thought for sure it was the one in our family room.

Now, do you think we had a single 9-volt battery in the house? Of course not. So we thought it would be a good idea to just take out the battery and deal with it in the morning (not smart, we know...).

We quickly realized that it was not the family room smoke detector, but the one in Reagan's room. Niiiiice. We took out the battery in Reagan's room, (she was awake by now), hoping this would allow her to return to her peaceful slumber and the dumb (yet lifesaving) thing kept chirping! Stink. And.... as if the detectors are now banding together against us, they are ALL chirping. Maybe they're supposed to do this, I don't know. Nonetheless, we now need a handful of batteries. Now one of us has to go the store and buy 9-volt batteries. Being the one still dressed, I hopped in the car and went to the nearest store.... it closed at 10:00. Stink, again. So I went to the next store and found quite possibly the most expensive battery collection possible. Or maybe it just seemed expensive because it was late and I was a tad annoyed.

$30 later, I returned home with 2 packages of 9 volt batteries, a package of AAA batteries (for my new book light!) and a package of pop tarts (hey, they were in the checkout line and I was really hungry.... poor choice, I know, but come on.)

We replaced every.single.battery.in.every.single.smoke.detector and finally went to sleep. No chirping!

For the record, we also believe that smoke detectors are set to only chirp at night. Because at night, you are guaranteed to change the batteries. I would love to meet the person who can sleep through the constant chirp...chirp....chirp....chirp....chirp.....

Happy 2nd Birthday Ian!

My baby is 2......

Really??

2??

We started the day in the 2 year old class at church and then went to lunch with Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Bob. We came home and played outside and then took a long nap... It was a good day! We ended Ian's official birthday bbq'ing with the added company of Uncle Ryan and Sean and Ryan's cousin Katie. Ian opened presents and was more than thrilled with his new Tickle me Elm0 from Grandma Kathy, Grandpa Bob and Uncle Ryan. It was hysterical to watch his interaction with his new Elm0. Daddy also got him a rocket launcher.... that, too, was a big hit.

We get to celebrate again on Tuesday night with Grandma, Papa, Aunt Lish, Noni, Asher and Tatum! Woo Hoo!

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Ian...

You bring so much joy to our lives. Your energy is endless... along with your smiles and laughter. You do everything with enthusiasm and I pray that you continue your life with the same amount of passion. I learn from you daily.... especially how to continually take joy in the small things in life. Thank you for teaching me and making me a better person.

At two years old, you love almost everything you encounter.... especially balls, sharks, airplanes, cars, dinosaurs (Thanks to cousin Asher!), being outside, and your family. You love your sister.... begging for her as soon as you wake up and always greeting her with a smile and a hug. You do torment her a tad... we'll continue working on that. :) Your Aunt Lish has a special place in your heart as you almost melt just saying her name. You repeat anything you hear and have expanded your vocabulary significantly in the last few months. You are still off-the-charts tall.... those silly growth charts predict you'll be as tall as 6'5" (we'll just wait and see!). You are a fairly good eater... typically more adventurous than your sister. If I had to choose, I would say that your favorites things are smoothies and yogurt.

Our prayer for you continues to be that you will come to know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and that you will "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." (Deut 6:5).

My love for you and Reagan helps me understand a little more of what God's love for me looks like. For that, I am eternally thankful.

I love you Ian.... more than I'll ever be able to explain to you in words.

Love, Mommy

What on earth was I thinking???

I decided that it would be a good idea to finger paint today. It must have been a momentary lapse of good judgement.

BUT, I will admit it was fun!

We ended our finger painting fun with a "hands-in-the-air" walk to the bathroom for hand washing.