Brothers

I was so thrilled when Ford was born,
because I was excited that Brooks would have a brother,
a buddy to play with,
to do boy stuff together,
I wonder how their relationship will grow over the years,
I can't wait to watch it unfold,
I know they will fight and argue like brothers do,
but I pray that they would be great friends as adults,
I pray that they would learn to respect one another and embrace their differences.
I pray that their future spouses may get along one day,
I pray that they might even be best friends,
I pray that they would enjoy each others company,
that they would make each other laugh.
I pray Brooks would set a great example for Ford,
that Ford may look up to his older brother to make good choices.
Perhaps my expectations are too high but I can always pray big right!
I love these little guys so much!

3 months (overdue)

Ford's 3 month pics! (posted a few weeks late)
This sweet little guy is doing great!
Sleeping on his back, sleeping all night, eating lots, naps in his swing, loves the bouncy seat!
Can't get enough of his sweet smile!

Ready for church!

hanging out at Young Life kickball

date with sweet Blythe Goodhead

date with baby Lucy Longo

4 Years

Another year down,
Our 4 year anniversary is today.
4 years and 2 kids later and we are going strong.
I think since we have added kids into our lives,
we are learning the commitment part of marriage.
I think we will be learning this part of marriage until death do us part.
We are learning that love is a choice, it's not always based on feelings.
The times that we don't "feel" like serving one another or putting the other before ourself,
we have a choice,
a choice to uphold the commitment of our vows,
a choice to give up ourself so that we may serve each other like Christ does for us.
It's hard,
we are so selfish by nature,
it's easy to become complacent,
but I am so thankful to have a partner that loves me enough to work at it.
He loves me enough to choose love and sacrifice when he may not "feel" like it.
We both fail,
we both choose ourself time and time again,
but we are trying.
We are mindful,
I don't know for sure,
but I think we may be in the toughest stage of life right now as far as maintaining a healthy marriage and raising young kids.
I'm just assuming this is true because kids are so physically needy in this stage of life.
They can't dress themselves, they can't feed themselves, they can't reason with you,
they can't totally talk yet, they can't get in their own car seat, they can't potty themselves or wipe their own butts for goodness sake!
The kids needs always seem to trump everything else.
So while this time is awesome, it's hard.
So how do you love and care for your spouse well during this time?
That's where we are at,
we are learning,
communicating,
and trying to figure out this thing called life as we go.
I couldn't ask for a better partner to figure it out with.
I am confident that he will always choose to commit to me and our family.
I pray that our marriage would continue to stay rooted in Christ and we would be committed to God's plan for us as a couple.

I have such great memories from this day!

Easter and Athens

We have had some great spring time at the beach!
It's my favorite time of year down there.
I could have stayed all month.
Brooks has had so much fun playing with cousins all day every day.
I'm thankful for my time there.
I realized this Easter that it is really hard to explain the meaning of Easter to a 2 year old.
I think that's ok, he'll get it eventually.
Got some cute pics this year!

He really got the Easter Egg hunt this year, he found the eggs so fast!

This guy is creeping into my heart with his big grins!
He's such a sweet boy and loves any attention he can get.

Trip took Brooks to Athens for the first time for G-Day. I stayed home with Ford, part of me wanted to go and see Brooks see it for the first time but I also love that they got this special day together, just the two of them. Because I know going to games in Athens will be a fun tradition for Trip and the boys. When they got home Brooks gave me a big grin like he knew that the day was special, that it was unique and exciting. I am amazed at how much this kid

knows and understands at 2 years old! I love that Trip has sons to share this Georgia love with him. 

And Ford is getting so stinkin' cute with his smiles, he's such a happy baby! I am loving it!

A sweet afternoon

I just want to take a minute to document this afternoon,
it was a sweet one,
just ordinary,
but sweet.
After Brooks woke up from his nap I "treated" Brooks to some homemade popcorn for snack,
he LOVES popcorn and we don't have it very often.
 I took a moment to sit with him at the table and eat.
Sadly I don't do this often, I usually let him entertain himself in the playroom or leave him at the table while I piddle around the house or feed Ford.
He always gets so excited when I sit and eat with him.
Trip is gone many nights of the week with Young Life so I usually wait to put Brooks to bed before I eat dinner so he usually sits at the table without me.
But anyway, it was a sweet time just to sit and be silly and eat popcorn with my little 2 year old.

Then we "made" some Lightening McQueen  (pilsbury slice and bake) cookies that we picked up at Target this morning.
Brooks loves Lightening McQueen AND cookies so this was a huge hit.
We sat on the couch watching Mickey Mouse club while the cookies baked and B LOVES for me to sit by him on the couch,
so I sat by him and without any prompt he hugged my neck and gave me a kiss on the cheek and said "love you".
Melt my heart!
A really sweet moment in the life of a mom.
We ended the afternoon with a good walk in the stroller with no crying from either kiddos or begging for more snacks and Brooks politely waved to everyone we passed. He did try to keep talking to me while I had my headphones on which was a bit distracting but what can I say, he's a talker!
I don't want to miss the good moments,
I don't want to take them for granted because it can be easy to focus on the tough afternoons, the ones where nobody seems happy and I am just waiting for bedtime to come around.
I don't want to miss out on this blip of time with 2 year old Brooks.
Earlier this week a woman at the shoe store looked at me with my boys and just smiled and said she wished her kids were still this young.
So I have to keep writing this little ordinary stuff down so that I won't forget!

And later this afternoon........

while I was putting Ford to bed, 

Brooks decided it would be fun to fling yogurt all over the dog!

He was so proud of himself with a big grin.

I had to put my stern face on and tell him that wasn't ok but I quickly had to turn around so he couldn't see my face because it was so funny!

Somehow God gave me a sense of humor in this moment rather than me losing my cool.

And I gotta add a cute picture of this nugget in the stroller today! 

I can only hope that his personality is going to be as outstanding as his hair!

First Hair Cut

I meant to post some pics of Brooks first haircut.
We went to pig tails and crew cuts (totally awesome and totally over priced) after his 2nd birthday party.
I thought he would love it being able to sit in an airplane or car,
but the whole thing totally wigged him out!
Which I can understand,
a stranger coming at you with scissors for the first time is a little weird.
After it was done and he saw all the toys there he didn't want to leave.

They did a great job and the haircut looked adorable,

he already looks like he needs another one! 

This kid is growing like a weed!

I am hoping second time around he will love it!