Happy 2nd Birthday Daniel!

Dear Daniel, I can't believe you are 2 years old today!?! It seems like just yesterday we were holding you for the first time.
A year ago we were celebrating your 1st birthday, cowboy style. You have grown so much since then, physically and developmentally.

This weekend we celebrated your second birthday with your favorite characters, Buzz Lightyear and Woody from Toy Story. You are much more into opening presents this year than last and I think you understand that today is your birthday, you say, "I two."

Some memories I love about you that have happened or you've done recently are:

Climbed into your rocking chair to read Bible stories all by yourself (I was doing my homework for my Bible study and I think you were imitating me)

Your daddy picked you up out of your crib when he got home from work & you were already asleep and he rocked you because he didn't get to see you much that day.

You said, "Good job Mommy" when I helped you build a train track for your choo choo trains. You love to play choo choo trains, one night you and Daddy played with them and built a track before bed, it just melts my heart to see you two play together.

You get a wildly excited look on your face and come running into my arms when I pick you up from the nursery.

You are starting to say, "I do it!" alot now, and exerting your desire for independence.

You know how to get a chair from your little table and push it to where ever it is you want to go to reach something or see what I'm cooking.

Your modes are run, run, run, or sleep. You also like to jump and climb.

You love Buzz Lightyear, tractors, lawn mowers, bicycles, & trucks!

Your favorite food is Macaroni & cheese, you also like apples, grapes, & bananas, cheese sticks, goldfish, and cookies. :)

You weigh a little over 25 pounds.

You are still sleeping in a crib, but you climbed INTO your crib about a month ago so we will be transitioning you into a big boy bed soon.

You still love your pacifier, you call it a "pappi" - Daddy would prefer you only have it at bedtime and naptime, but sometimes Mommy isn't as strong as Daddy and gives in, mommy is working on this.

You are a very friendly, happy, energetic, little boy and we are so in love with you! You bring us so much joy and you also make us see our weaknesses. We are at times humbled by you and also get a glimpse of what God must think of us when we disobey and also a smidge of the love he feels for us too. We couldn't imagine life without you Daniel and are SO thankful God blessed us with you! We LOVE you SO MUCH, to infinity and beyond! Happy 2nd birthday little buddy!

A Wonderful Mother's Day

I had a wonderful Mother's Day this year! I got to spend it with my two favorite people!! (Last year I worked on my first mother's day.) Mike made me waffles for breakfast, before we headed to church. I can remember not too many years ago that going to church on Mother's Day and Father's Day was very painful for both me and Mike because we so longed to be parents. It was nearly impossible to get through the services without crying. I choke back happy tears now, that God so faithfully answered our prayers! After church we had a picnic lunch at a local garden overlooking a beautiful lake. The weather was perfect and I couldn't have been happier!


To GOD be the glory for this little man who calls me mommy!


This picture totally cracks me up because it is SO Daniel! He's got a stick and he must have thought it would be funny to mess up my hair with it! Haha!! Love that boy! You can almost hear him saying, "aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh"



So typical of this little dude to play with his stick in the "wa", as he calls it.



I love you buddy!




Playing on the playground after our picnic.



Daniel was being so sweet to Mike, he started kissing him on the lips many times.




Thank you God for this man and this young man whom I love SO much!!!





We missed being with our own mothers on this special day. I love you mom and am so thankful that God gave me to you to be my mom, you set such a wonderful, godly example of what being a mother is all about. I'm also thankful for my mother-in-law who raised an amazing son and who loves me like I'm her own daughter. All my aunts, grandmothers, sister's-in-laws, and friends are also such wonderful mothers and each one has taught me more about this incredible role I am now honored to have. And to any of you who read who desire to be mothers, I pray for God's peace and comfort during your trial, that you would trust our heavenly Father and place your hope in Him! And I pray that God would answer your prayers and give you the desire of your heart.

After Daniel was born, these verses meant a lot to me and I have them written and posted inside my medicine cabinet in my bathroom:

"Great is our Lord and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite. The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for He commanded and they were created." Ps 147:5; 145:9; 148:5

"He gives children to the childless wife, so that she becomes a happy mother! Hallelujah!"
Ps. 113:9

Weekend Getaway

I should have warned y'all that I was going on a blogathon! :)haha!! Back in April, Mike, Daniel and I took an opportunity to get away for the weekend and we were SO glad we did! We started our trip off spending the night with longtime friends of Mike, Blair and Hannah. After arriving on a beautiful, warm Friday afternoon, we loaded back up and headed through gorgeous neighborhoods with large, mature trees, brick streets, perfectly manicured lawns, through a swanky little down town with outdoor cafe's, boutiques, bookstores, restuarants, wine and cigar bars, to a fun little water park. It was the perfect thing for all three of the kids to cool down and burn off some energy!






Just imagine shreaks of laughter and squills!!!










I think Sam is saying, "You're not supposed to drink the water Daniel!!!"






After our fun time at the water park, we enjoyed a yummy dinner out on Blair and Hannah's back deck. Mae and Sam were so cute playing with Daniel. I loved watching the three of them interact, sharing their toys with Daniel and helping him go down their slide. Thanks for your hospitality guys, we enjoyed spending time with your family! Saturday morning we packed up and headed over to Disney, that post is coming next!! ;)

A visit to Mimi's House

Forgive me but I am still blogging about April's events. I have this thing about going in chronological order and so before I tell you about the fun things May has held, I must finish up April. The week after Easter Mike's parents left, Mike went out of town for work, my mom was on Spring break and my dad was out of town for work, so Daniel and I took a road trip to visit Mimi. The day we got there, we headed out to the beach for some shopping, there is a great new park with shops, restaurants, amphitheater, amusement rides that leads to a pier on the beach. After our little trooper had had all the shopping he could handle, we took him to the amphitheater where he could run around to burn off some energy and stretch his little legs. He LOVED this idea!!










One morning we took a walk along the boardwalk and marina, Daniel loved watching some men put their boat in the water.






This rocking chair was mine when I was a little girl. I think my sister, Ashley and I each got one for Christmas one year. I thoroughly enjoyed watching Daniel climb up in it and rock!



Mom and I also worked on a few sewing projects during our stay...A john john for Daniel





And this sweet little pillow case dress for my friend Alicia's, soon to be born little sweetie, Allie Kay.

Easter

We celebrated a wonderful Easter Sunday by going to church, fellowship with family and friends, a delicious meal, and Easter egg hunt!




Last year we traveled to see my family and this year they came to us! Yeah!




I really enjoy setting the table for special occasions! :) We used my grandmother's china and Mike's grandmother's silver and crystal.



My mom used to make these cute bunny salads when I was a child, I just felt we should continue the tradition. They are made from a pear half, sliced almonds for the ears, a raisin for the nose and a marsh mellow for the tail (or you could use cottage cheese for the tail), nestled on a lettuce leaf.




My very creative sisters brought an awesome assortment of homemade Easter cookies that were almost too pretty to eat.




My silly sis, Laura thinks she will never be too old to hunt Easter eggs, go trick or treating, have Santa or the Easter Bunny leave her surprises...she is so full of life and joy and I love that about her!





It was a wonderful day and I'm so thankful that I belong to the risen Saviour! Christ paid my debt so that I can live and he didn't stay dead in the grave, he rose again, that is reason to celebrate every day!

On another note, the day after Easter we said goodbye to Mike's parents who returned to their mountain home. Many of you probably know that they lived with us during the winter, we loved seeing their relationship with Daniel grow and they were a great help to us. We love and miss you Nani and Pa.

Hunting Eggs

I'm sorry but I'm still blogging about our Easter weekend, it was SO full and I want to make sure I remember every detail! My family arrived Friday night and bright and early Saturday morning we hit the road running (not literally, but our friend Robby did). We went to see our friend, Robby, participate in his first triathalon, it was so exciting and energizing to be around so many talented athletes as they were transitioning from the bike to running and then crossing the finish line. We are so proud of Robby and I felt priveledged to witness the tears Brooke (8 months pregnant with their 2nd child) shed as she congratulated her husband. As an asside, Mike and I, stupidly, agreed to do this very triathalon many months ago. As the months passed and we slacked off of training, we bailed. Who was I kidding, I hate to run and as I stood there that morning I was so thankful that I was not the one doing all the hard work! Still very proud of Robby for finishing and doing a GREAT job at that!



Shortly after we congratulated Robby, we hurried our way over to our church property where we attended Daniel's first Easter Egg hunt. It was awesome! There was a petting zoo, pony rides (Daniel did NOT want any part of the pony rides, he preferred to look at them from a distance), tons of bounce houses, face painting, not to mention the Easter egg hunt for all ages and a yummy barbecue lunch. Our church invited the community (one of the ways we are trying to be more "missional" and especially people from the sourounding area close to the property and it seemed like there was a great turnout! It was a gorgeous day!




Daniel was in the first age group to hunt eggs. I wasn't sure how this was going to go, we did not practice hunting eggs, but he did great! He knew exactly what to do, minus one time when he picked up a rock...



and another time when he decided he wanted to eat the plastic egg without opening it up to see what was inside :)






He was so sweet, after the hunt, he handed our little friend, Cole, an egg.




Daniel liked eating the candy that was inside his egg...





My parents and sister, Ashley (& Mike's dad - not pictured), got to join us at this fun event, I think they all had a great time watching Daniel.



A rare picture of the three of us



Saturday night we grilled shish kabobs and enjoyed an appetizer of stone crab claws out on the deck, it was a perfect ending to a perfect day with our wonderful family!!!

Catching up on April's events

The week prior to Easter was Spring Break here, and although Daniel isn't in school, our friends are, so that meant a week of fun that we were invited to participate in! Tuesday we got to go to a BIG park with lots of fun things to climb on, the ground is soft and rubbery. Since we didn't have Bible study, some of the girls in our group decided to meet up at the park to let our kids play, we had a blast, sorry, no pics of the park. Wednesday we were invited to dye Easter eggs and eat lunch at our friend's house. Daniel wasn't too interested in dying eggs, I did four of them, mostly we just observed the other kids and I chased Daniel around. :) We wanted to make some special Easter cookies (you read scripture and some of the parts symbolize Jesus bones being crushed, the vinegar he tasted, the tomb being sealed, and the empty tomb) like our friend, Darby did, but then we realized that they are an overnight project. Maybe next year I will try them with Daniel.





Mike's parents were preparing to return to their home in the mountains and somehow we saved a lot of the things we wanted to do until the last minute, then tried to cram them all in! On Thursday, Mike's mom, Daniel, and I drove to a little quaint town north of here for some shopping and lunch in their cute downtown! We ate lunch at a little tea parlor, it had a vintage feel to it and our lunch was delicious!






On Friday, we went to the Jr. Museum. I had not been there since my 5th grade field trip! :) We were excited and it was a PERFECT day to enjoy being outside! Some of our friends from playgroup met us there. I LOVED the board walk that was completely fenced in so Daniel could run free and I didn't have to worry about him falling off!





I think Daniel was excited about seeing the "choo choo"!










It's hard to see, but the black dot in the background of this picture is a bear.




The boys were so cute looking at the animals together! When we walked to this Florida Panther habitat, Daniel said unprompted, "Meow, night night". Also hard to see, but there is a BIG Florida panther sleeping on a big cylinder platform thing.





After we saw all the animals, we let the kids play on the playground for a while. Friday, April 2nd was Mike's birthday and the museum is very close to Mike's new office, so he was able to meet us for a picnic lunch. We LOVED the Jr.Museum and will definitely being going back!