Love Language

Check out my cool ninja in his over sized sparring gear. Is he the real deal or what? :)

I wanted to make note of something that I have noticed about Carter lately. I have discovered his love language. He has a few, but first and foremost, his love language is gift giving. He absolutely loves giving gifts. On Christmas morning, he is always the one handing out the gifts and jumping up and down watching each person open his or her gifts. He always says to me, "Mama, you're going to love your present I got you! I'm not gonna tell you because I want it to be a surprise." He meticulously plans each person's presents for each birthday and holiday well in advance to actual event....months in advance. He is already planning what to get Coop for his birthday at the end of MARCH! He loves shopping for gifts, hiding them, wrapping them, giving oh so obvious hints as to what they are, and then asking us for months if we still like our gift he got us and do we remember that he gave it to us. He is as excited or even more to excited to give gifts as he is to receive them! I've never seen anything like it in a child. It's such a jewel of selflessness God has place in his heart. Want to see Carter light up and start jumping and suddenly lose all shyness and talk ninety miles an hour? Ask him what he's planning on getting each of his family members for their upcoming birthdays. 

And on the flip side, if you want to make him feel like the most loved little boy in the world, stop by a gas station and pick him up a 50 cent treat....a gift...he feels loved. It's the little slice of life that gives him that little boy grin and writhing hands and bouncing legs. It's his love language.

Love that kid.

So much since Christmas!

A couple of days after Christmas, we headed to Prattville to spend some time with Joel's family. So much fun! I tell you it's like a vacation now that the boys are older. They are so thrilled to spend every waking moment with their cousin Caleb that I hardly see them, and everyone is constantly holding Emerson so it's almost like being kid free! So nice and a great way to spend the last week of Christmas break.

Reid and Emerson. Emerson looks A LOT like Caroline his oldest child. So he loves holding Emerson and going back in time to when Caroline was a baby. I love it. Sweet Uncle and niece :)

Ginny aka GiGi

And the famous and greatly loved Caleb

Bekah aka Henny Hoo

Pop getting some Emerson time. He had her giggling and giggling!

Grammie introduced patty cake...we've played in a thousand time since then!

Julie couldn't get enough of this sweet girl.

Emerson got so much love from her Aunts. We are so blessed to have such a great family who loves us and loves our kids so well. I often think how awesome it is that my kids are growing up with so many people to love on them. I do not take that for granted. Huge blessing.

We introduced the boys to bowling while we were there. Carter fell in LOVE! Says it's his favorite sport and wants his own bowling ball and shoes. Ha!

The guys :)

Emerson is working on her walking skills. She's getting great at walking behind her little walker now.

We all sang Happy Birthday to Emerson, and she got to dig into her second cupcake. Boy oh boy was she a happy camper!

Kisses for Da :)

Love this pic so much!!! Pure joy.

BB and Pawpaw have a Wii, so they brought it for us to borrow. Andrew let Carter play a few times while we were in P'ville, and of course Carter was hooked. Mario Kart is too fun! We all four get in there play and the competition gets hot. We are loving it.

Trying out the new bikes at the park. Poor Dada got his workout.

So we couldn't go to Pville without going to visit our other cousins on my side of the family. Emerson and Hattie are only five months apart. Sweet friends they will be.

And guess what....we went bowling AGAIN. Carter was thrilled and actually got a few strikes (with the bumpers)!

We got some ice with the freezing temps last week. Lots of fun for the boys.

And just a few days later it was 55 degrees, and we were out on the trampoline! That's Mississippi for you.

We have some weather confusion in the wardrobe.

Just playing in muddy water.

Emerson crawled in her room yesterday, put her hands through the crib slats and got her yaya and paci which we keep in the bed. Ha! Little stinker. She knows where the goods are!

So we are back in a routine now, and we were ready. School is back in full force, and life is busy again. Thankful for such a great break filled with so much fun and many sweet memories.

Yearly Verse

It's that time of year again! Time to look behind and reflect, and time to look ahead and plan and hope and pray. 

I've chosen Jeremiah 29:13 as my verse for 2014. It says, "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

Seek:

1. to resort to, go to

2. to go in search of, look for

3. to try to discover, request

4. to try to aquire gain, aim at

5. to make attempt

This year I am hoping to focus on seeking the Lord. To resort to Him; to search for Him; to try and discover Him.

One of the hardest parts of being a stay at home mom is finding time to alone. It sometimes feels almost impossible to get a chunk of quiet time to myself. It seems I always end up having company :) Which I LOVE, but it sure makes it hard to have good, quiet time with the Lord.

So this year I am going to be more intentional about setting aside time to get in the Word and pray, time to seek the Lord.

I also want to do a better job of not being so distracted. I feel like my mind is always in two places. My phone dings or rings, my kids are calling my name, the laundry needs to be folded, and dishwasher finished running, etc..., and I feel like I am not really paying attention to any one task or person at a time. When Joel or one of my kids is talking to me, I want to look them in the eyes and listen, and when I am doing a task around the house, I am going to try and finish it and not stop halfway because I got distracted and headed on a rabbit trail! I think that will help me be a better mom and wife and stay more organized around the house. 

So there you go! Welcome, 2014! Can't wait to see what the Lord has in store!

Another Christmas in the books!

These Christmases where I have young, giddy kids at home are treasures! They think EVERYTHING is amazing. It's a month full of silver dollar eyes, huge gasps and squeals. Gingerbread houses, decorations, reindeer food, presents, cookies and milk for Santa, Fly the elf, our Advent Jesse Tree, Jesus' birthday cake and so many more Christmasy things make for such great fun and memories. Birthdays are a BIG deal in our house (just mention the word birthday to one of my children and watch the reaction), so needless to say, Jesus' birthday is the biggest deal of all! It's the most wonderful time of the year for this mama.

BB and Pawpaw always spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with us. WE LOVE IT! Carter is so used to it that he told me I can't open any of my birthday presents next week until BB and Pawpaw get here to watch me open them. Ha! It's just how things work...if presents are being opened, BB and Pawpaw are here.

On Christmas Eve, the boys get to open their presents from BB and Pawpaw. LEGOS! Of course those were their favorite presents. Poor BB got stuck doing Legos for hours.

Then after a huge steak dinner, we go outside to sprinkle reindeer food.

Then it's time to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus and chow down on cake...specially designed by the boys of course.

Then it's time to hang our final Jesse Tree ornament, have our devotional, and tuck these knuckheads in bed.

The next morning (6:00am!) they start calling out for us, so we all gather in the den all the while screaming at them telling them, "Do not come out yet!!! Mama's got to get the camera!"

And then the madness begins!

A little lipstick for Dada.

We had to try to bikes our despite the freezing temperature. Oh and the water balloon launcher too, but I only got video of that hysteria.

Coop wiped out right after this cute grin. Thankfully it was in the grass! 

Creative gift award goes to Aunt Jennifer. Hooded blankets. So cozy and cute.

Bahahaha! 

What a great day! Thankful for a fantastic Christmas, a fantastic family, and a perfectly fantastic Savior.