Controlled Chaos

I often hear couples talk about how hectic life gets once children come into the picture. I always thought our lives were hectic because we've been "involved" in a number of things throughout the past few years. Don't get me wrong, Lawton and I love some time to ourselves watching Parenthood and the Lakers, but we also love to be out and about with people. We love hanging out with our friends, going on trips to see family and getting to know new people. Lately this hasn't been as frequent because of the newest addition to our household. She keeps us home bound most days and my life is hectic in a whole new way. We may be home most of the time, but things are still busy, busy.

While all this change was occurring I've realized I will never understand the depths of how blessed I am with the family in this house.  I'm constantly doing things now that have everything to do with my family. Cleaning, cooking, feeding, burping, etc. In all the chaos of my new busy life God has grabbed my heart many times to remind me that He has blessed me abundantly with this beautiful family. A husband who gets up every morning with the baby, starts laundry, unloads the dishwasher and picks up around the house so I can sleep in an extra 20 min. A baby who thinks I'm the funniest momma in the world and makes my heart melt with each smile and laugh. A puppy who is so gentle with children and loves to be close to us. God stops me in the middle of my stressful and overwhelming day to remind me...this is the life, enjoy it. Everyday I try to be thankful for this time in my life and see there is a purpose for God putting me here.

A sweet friend of mine who is the mother of 4 children once told me, "Sarah, these years where your children are small go by quickly. New opportunities will always be out there, but your children won't always be at the age where all they want is you. You have a small window to invest and enjoy them to the fullest."  I'm realizing how right she is. Lord willing, I will have the rest of my life to be out in the hustle and bustle of this busy world to be "involved." Right now I'm okay with spending most days in the chaos of my own home. Our homes are mission fields too. They are the place where we set examples for the children God has trusted us with. The everyday occurrences are pictures our children will remember as their childhood. It's my heart's desire to turn the chaos into teachable moments and find joy in them. To lead my children in a loving relationship with our Savior. It's my mission to be "involved" as much as I can at home and enjoy the blessings of this family. It's hard some days, but to quote my favorite movie (A League of Their Own-best movie of all time) "If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. It's the hard that makes it great." 

Weslyn update

It's hard to believe that our little one will be 5 months old in a few days. I got a little sentimental today and let her sleep in my arms for one of her naps. It was so sweet. I knew that days like this were flying by, so I seized the moment.

She's on the move now, rolling everywhere. The days of leaving her on the bed while I get ready are far over. She eats like a champ too! Seems to be ready for food very soon. I think pureeing peas might be on my to-do list this week. Oh and she and Kobe are becoming great friends. They are very interested in each other. Staring contests are their favorite. Kobe always wins though because he can hold his head up longer. Currently she's learning how to sit up. She can finally extend her arms enough to hold herself up for a little bit.

There's always something new with her every week. We are amazed by the changes but trying to hold onto little baby Weslyn before she becomes little girl Weslyn. I sure hope she likes to cuddle when she's older...or she's going to be really annoyed with me.

The secret is to sing "wheel on the bus" to get a smile. Works every time.

She's very impressed with herself as she learns how to sit up. 

BFF4L. Nothing can separate them. 

The Kitchen

We had our kitchen renovation back in August, but since Weslyn has come into our lives I haven't had the chance to take any after shots. I've been too preoccupied taking pictures of the baby. You know how it goes. Anyway, here is the new kitchen. 

Before

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After

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Thankful.

We certainly had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. It's always great to be in Tallahassee and see family and friends.  To start the morning off Lynn, Weslyn and I did the Tallahassee Turkey Trot. It was a ton of fun!

She beat us by a few feet. Pretty good for her first 5k!

My talented sister took some great pictures of us this year. She definitely needs to quit the whole lawyer thing and take up photography.

It was wonderful to be with family to celebrate the holiday. Everyone had a great time!

Great to see some Graves from Atlanta and NC.

You'll notice there are TWO red heads in the family now!

We wrapped up the weekend with a Noles victory over the Gators. GO SEMINOLES! Great way to end a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.

Approaching Milestones

Weslyn has been a "mover" ever since she came home from the hospital. She refuses to be swaddled and has been picking up her head since day 5. I see some rolling around in her near future. I better rest while I can because something tells me this girl is going to be on the move in no time!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was a great success this year. We had a great time hanging out with family and passing out candy to the kiddos. Lawton had a wonderful dressing up as a scarecrow and scaring the kiddos. See below:

Lawton making his friend "George the scarecrow"

He really went all out to  make him look life like!

Pretty good, huh?

In case you can't tell, Lawton is on the right.

As you probably guessed, when children walked up to ring the doorbell Lawton would move toward them...scaring the living daylight out of some of the little ones. He had to shake hands with one little boy to show he was just pretending and not really a mean scarecrow. He really had a great time.

Weslyn had a great time too. She greeted some neighbors in this cute little number Gigi made for her.

Thanks, Gigi!

All in all it was a great night! Hope you all had a great Halloween too!

8 weeks

I can't believe our little one is 8 weeks old today. Here's some favorites so far..

taking a bottle for the first time. Looks like dad had the magic touch.

napping with momma

hanging out with her brother

picking up her head. Such a strong girl!

taking a paci. Thank. the. Lord.

Gotta love that smile...