14 Months Old

Not sure where the summer went, or these last fourteen months for that matter. Aaron is growing up so quickly. He's pretty much solely walking now, we rarely see him crawl at all anymore. Each day he seems to pick up speed. He has learned to blow kisses while saying "mwah". He likes to imitate me when I blow on hot food for him. Unfortunately his older brothers have taught him a thing or two and he thinks its funny to ball up his fist and "punch". Of course he gets a great reaction from his siblings, so he continues to do it. It cracks me up when he growls like a monster and he cracks himself up too actually. His favorite word is ball, everything round is a ball to him, even the onions at the store! His favorite food is avocado and he still hasn't really taken to drinking cows milk. This is a great age!

Did I mention the child loves to eat lemons? Yep...you read right, lemons!

We had a blast in Phoenix and this boy loves to swim! He would get angry when we got him out. Just like he gets angry when we take him out of the bath ~ guess he likes water.

Chillin' by the pool in Phoenix! :-)

His favorite part about our new place is the stairs! He loves to give kisses through the railings.

Snuggling with Brendan is one of his favorite things to do in the mornings.

He has officially learned to smile for the camera. What a ham!

Before and After

Here is Gracie a couple of months ago with both front teeth and long hair....


...and here she is now with no front teeth and short hair! I love this age.

Too Uptight

This is one of those things that I just have to post (document somewhere as a memory) because it's actually quite funny, but it isn't a very good reflection of my behavior.

On Saturday evening Gracie posed this question to our family, "What happened to this day? First it was a good day and Mom was happy and then...poof...we're all doing stuff to make her mad!?"

Out of the mouths of babes...

Needless to say I was just a tad bit uptight. Well, okay, way too uptight if I'm being honest. I was sleep deprived and had a headache. The disorganization of the house was driving me nuts! The kitchen was a mess. I was feeling lots of anxiety because there are still boxes all over the place. The school year is upon me and I've done very little planning. So many excuses!

Yet when Gracie made her comment I literally laughed out loud - LOL. And in that moment, all of my "uptightness" dissolved. And then I felt bad because I realized how much my bad mood was bringing everyone else down and affecting the whole evening. Jay and the boys were outside grilling and we were going to watch a movie together as a family. Sad to think that my negative attitude was ruining this special and rare time that my family was spending, just us, at home, hanging out.

It always surprises me when God uses one of my children to get my attention and make a point. But I'm so glad He did because had Gracie not said anything I would have eaten in silence and gone to bed early while they watched the movie without me. Sad to think what a fun night I would have missed because I was way too uptight!!!

Moving

Well, it's official...we're moving. Picked up the keys yesterday.

It has been a long couple of years and in the last several months we realized this was inevitable. Actually, I think my husband accepted that fact long before I did. I was in denial. I was operating under very wishful thinking. I've had many moments of anxiety and sadness over losing this house. My mind would go crazy thinking of all the memories we have here; all the "firsts" that occurred here. My heart would ache thinking about someone else living in our house...actually I was really bitter when I thought about that.

I tried to whip my attitude into shape by reminding myself this was merely four walls -by putting things into perspective as I thought about my friends in Haiti who were homeless or living in tents...still. It didn't work.

"I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:11-13

I would think of these verses in Philippians about being content and know that I should be focused more on that type of thinking, but it was hard! I wish I could say that my attitude was positive and I was confident in the Lord to give me the strength to get through, but that wasn't exactly how I was feeling through all of this. Of course I knew deep down the Lord would bring us through...this too shall pass, right? But it wasn't easy bringing my thoughts and feelings into alignment with those verses.

Somewhere along the way God helped me work through all of those negative thoughts and feelings. Just in the last few months really. I prayed a lot for my heart and attitude to change (and I know I had others praying for me too). I realized that I was giving too much thought and attention to the problem when really I should have been focusing on the Lord all along.

"Therefore...fix your thoughts on Jesus..." Hebrews 3:1

So now here I am with keys to another house and feeling at peace.

"For He Himself is our peace..." Ephesians 2:14

We are able to move slowly, which makes it not as overwhelming. Emmie is begging to set up her bed at the new house because she is so excited to live there! The Lord provided us with the perfect house for our family, with benefits that even here we did not have. I have been praying for whoever is going to live in this house next because otherwise I get sad thinking about it all.

Now I'm trying to maintain a joyful attitude.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." James 1:2-3

I know He is able and I know He does provide...so why am I always so amazed when He comes through and comes through perfectly and right on time???