God is Good

I didn't want this week to go by without publicly praising God for this anniversary of sorts. 2 years ago this week we were in Iraq and were struggling to come to terms with the loss of our first pregnancy. I thought that was the end of our story... but God had a different ending. Two weeks later we would see the heart beat of our baby and find out that we had been pregnant with twins but still had a healthy baby. As I was watching H laugh and play this week I remembered those weeks 2 years ago and what God did in my heart through that time. Even if the story had ended as I expected instead of with a baby, God would still be just as good.
He has been showing me this again in new ways, that he has a Father's heart and longs to give us good things. In the same way that I love to make H happy and do things with him and for him that bring him delight, God has a heart even more like that towards each of His children. As I have been praying for other loved ones in my life who are going through difficult things, I have felt the need to pray that they would experience anew the Father's heart of goodness. The way that God enjoys each of us and longs to do good to us can get lost sometimes when we are in really painful circumstances. I don't claim to understand why God gives and takes away the things He does, but I am certain of His goodness towards us. So, today I just wanted to say, Thank you, Lord. Thank you, for your goodness to us 2 years ago when we were deep in grief and thank you, for your goodness to us today as we delight in H daily.

“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! Matthew 7: 9-11

91%

I recently took H to his 15 month appointment and he is one big boy! Particularly in terms of height, he is almost 3 feet tall and in the 91st percentile for height! His head width is in the 86th percentile and in weight he is in the 63rd percentile! What a big boy. Recently, I find myself staring at him in disbelief that he is so big already! Here are some pics of him I've taken this week.


Cuddling with Daddy


He's been sticking out his tongue a lot lately.


H's first taco night. Venison tacos no less! He loved them.




I love this kid...


What a climber! He can already reach the table and counter tops!

Weekend Review

We've had a super fun and relaxing(ish) weekend! I chaperoned my first high school event and it was actually kind of AWESOME! I took a small group of girls to the It's A Girl Thing Conference Friday night and all day Saturday.


I invited some of the girls on my caseload, so it was really good to spend some time with them outside of school talking about things that are important to them and giving them God's perspective on things like sex and self esteem. One of my girls told me after the event was over, "This was the most fun I have ever had!". I feel really blessed to get to love and encourage these girls in their academics and in their lives.
The worship leader was Jami Smith and her new album is straight from scripture. It so blessed my heart to worship with her this weekend! You need this CD!

I've also been working on some crafting projects that I wrapped up this weekend. We are going to my cousin's wedding in Oklahoma in a couple weeks and so I wanted to make H something to try and keep him seated and happy for an hour or so. I saw this awesome tutorial over at Serving Pink Lemonade and was like "PEEEERFECT!" That is why I so love my fellow bloggers. You all are so talented and have such great ideas that I don't need to have any original ones, I just copy yours!


Here's my take on the airplane tray cover!


Complete with peek-a-boo door, zipper, ball to throw, crinkle heart, car and road! I'm hiding it from him until our trip, so let's hope this keeps him in his seat and not screaming!

I've also been wanting to make a wreath for Spring. I've combined a couple of other people's great ideas to make my own. I LOVE the yarn wreath look like this one from my friend Melissa and I also came across this felt flower tutorial that I LOVED. So I combined the two to make my own spring wreath.




The flowers turned out really pretty! Jeff says I can't wear them in my hair though...they are a little large.

Belated V-Day!

I took pictures to post on Valentine's Day... I even took them the day before... but here I am just now posting them.


H had his first Valentine's Day party at school! It was fun to make little pink cupcakes for his class!



My sweet husband got my car detailed for V-day (it is what I wanted) so no more cheerios and trash - for at least a week or so? And to top it off he let me buy a way too expensive purse! The Kate Spade sample sale is going on this week and they are having huge sales!! I haven't bought a purse since before we moved to Iraq so I really wanted to get a new one. This was obviously more than my monthly 'allowance' (I use quotes because I tend to spend more than 'allowed'), but hubs agreed to let me pay it off in installments and won't even charge me interest. Right, hubs? He was a little vague on that point... =)



Isn't it beautiful? Happy Valentine's Day to me. I got hubs some socks... he really wanted them? I know... he wins, or do I? I like to think of it as a win win.

First Words

Here's our busy boy talking away!

Finally...projects

Here are some Christmas/birthday presents that I'm finally finishing up!

Subway Art for H's room


I made this using the Cricut that husband got me for Christmas! =)

Here is a shirt I made for my friend for Christmas


It was really easy! I cut the sleeves to make 3/4 sleeves and then used the cut sleeves to make the ruffles. You can read about how to make the ruffles here

This was supposed to be H's birthday present... it didn't get finished until after Christmas... he really likes it though! I found this great tutorial and decided H needed a floor cushion. I used a heavy weight knit fabric, which makes it really soft, but it doesn't hold it's shape as well as an upholstery fabric would.





Also in the works, baby shower gifts!! So excited for all of my pregnant pals! And now I have an excuse to practice sewing baby things!!!

Growing Up

It has been wonderful to have 2 weeks off work to spend with H... but let me tell you, we are entering a a much more 'challenging' stage of parenting. It is really fun to see him growing up and developing more of a personality, but I guess I thought we had longer before the disobedience and limit testing... adventures in parenting here we come!
In other news, I registered to take the GRE in February. I decided (with some sister
persuasion) that there really is no good time to go back to school and that if it really is what I want then I just have to do it. So, here goes nothing!


H's first meeting with Santa Claus. It went about as well as expected...


My new favorite picture of our little man and all of his 11 teeth!


After several attempts...this was the best Christmas picture we were gonna get.


Playing at Grandma & Grandpa's house!

H looooves to be outside. He goes to the door about 20 times a day and tries to open it - fortunately he can only reach the handle, he can't turn it yet. Happy New Year every one!