Tuesday, January 1, 2013

The Christmas Season


I've pretty much conceded the fact that I'm not going to be regularly blogging any more.  There are a few different reasons for that, some of which I discussed in a post a few months ago.  

However, I still plan to update pictures occasionally, and I just may write a few things here and there if the mood strikes me. :)

These are some pictures from December.  Hope you enjoy them!

 We visited Santa at Bass Pro in Grapevine. Denver had a similar experience last year. He's not into the whole Santa thing. :)


 Denver and KK on Christmas Eve


 waking up Christmas morning


 opening presents


 playing with his new Thomas the Train set


 It snowed ON Christmas Day in Ft. Worth... so beautiful and perfect.


 Fable was made for the snow


 my boys


 wearing his KK's gloves  :)


rolling down the hill in our front yard

Friday, November 2, 2012

October Round-up


We had lots of fun in October. Here are a few highlights...


Family visit to Homestead Farms

We have gone to the same small, local, family farm for two years in a row now. They have a great little pumpkin patch, goats, chickens, a playground, and best of all... it's FREE! :)








Halloween

For Halloween this year, Denver dressed as Frodo from The Lord of the Rings.  We went to our neighborhood Halloween party the Saturday before Halloween, and then he went trick or treating for the first time this past Wednesday. He was certainly a cute little hobbit. In fact, he won the costume contest for his age group at our neighborhood party. What a champ!




 it got chilly, so Frodo had to put on his jacket and traditional Hobbit footwear... Nike Shox




He was a perfect little Frodo, wouldn't you say?

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Hat? Not Quite.


A few weeks ago, Austin started regularly wearing a hat. This is possibly the best parenting decision he's ever made because it led us to discover that Denver has an interesting pronunciation of the word "hat."

See for yourself.

Friday, September 7, 2012

Two Years


0 years 


1 year



2 years


Today Denver is two years old. I think the most common piece of advice that I'm given by moms is to enjoy every minute, because you'll blink your eyes and he'll be grown.

Let me tell you, Denver's first year of life didn't really "fly by" at all.  In fact, it seemed to drag a bit. I might even call it the longest year of my life.

  Time flies when you're....eh... nursing all night long?

Well not for me. Having a baby was very difficult for me, and the year was a long one.

However, I feel like I'm finally starting to understand what all those moms were talking about. Because now, as I prepare for Denver's little two-year birthday party, it feels like it was about one or two months ago that I did all this for his one-year birthday party. 

If his first year was the longest year of my life, this last year has definitely been the quickest. Maybe I'm more cut out for toddler-hood. Maybe I've just grown as a mother. 

Either way, the time is really flying by. If the next few years go as quickly as this one did, he really will be grown in a blink.

So I guess I better stop writing now, and go enjoy every moment. 


Sunday, July 8, 2012

Magic Mic


Is this a blog about how I think Magic Mike is degrading to men and women, and we shouldn't be objectifying anyone, no matter their gender?


Or is this a blog about how obsessed I am with Magic Mike, and how I think every empowered woman should see it?


NEITHER!

It's about my son. And his favorite toy. And how hard I laugh now, every time he plays with it.


Here he is, singing his little heart out...



And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the name of his microphone...

That's right. Our very own Magic Mic.

Denver gives it two thumbs up.



Friday, June 8, 2012

To Tweet or not to Tweet....


A few months ago, I read a blog post by one of my favorite online writers, Jon Acuff. He writes the blog Stuff Christians like, which is often very funny and sometimes surprisingly filled with wisdom.  For instance, I love how he says that frisbee is God's favorite sport, and he pokes fun at Christians for hating Harry Potter, but loving The Lord of the Rings.

This article, however, was different. It seriously made me think, and I've been thinking about it for the last several months.

http://www.jonacuff.com/blog/8-words-from-my-5-year-old-that-changed-social-media-forever/


To summarize, his 5 year old daughter was doing something adorable, and he wanted to take a picture of her. She told him "no," and when he asked why not, she replied, "because I don't want you to tweet it."

Ouch.

My son, Denver, is the cutest little thing I've ever seen. I love taking pictures and videos of him and sharing them with my family and friends. I love bragging about him and how he is so strong that he climbed out of his crib when he was only 17 months old. Or how his "older brother" is his dog, so he prefers to have his bowel movements in the backyard, because that's obviously what big kids do.

And right now he is 21 months old, and would run up and down the street naked if we let him, because he is incapable of being embarrassed or bashful.  But that won't last forever. What about when he's five? Should I still be posting every cute and funny thing he says and does?

And what about when he's twelve? Or sixteen?  Can you imagine in the hallway of his middle school...


Juanito: "Yo Denver, I heard you wet the bed last night!"

Denver: "What the heck! No I didn't! Why would you say that?"

Juanito: "Dude, your mom tweeted it. EVERYONE KNOWS."


As Acuff writes in his blog,


"I also honestly think that when my friend Carlos shared his son’s adoption story on his blog, he and his wife sent ripples online that touched thousands of lives and inspired countless adoptions.
There is great potential beauty in the things we share online. But most of us never stop long enough in the midst of the fire hose that is social media to admit that there is also potential danger.
We don’t have it figured out yet. We don’t have 100 years of precedent to fall back on. We can’t say, “Remember how Roosevelt handled social media with his family? What can we learn from his actions?” If the internet is a teenager, then in many ways social media is a toddler. We’re all just trying to figure it out. And I don’t want to figure it out on the backs of my kids."


I know that as I was growing up, my parents were very intentional about never publicly humiliating me. Even when I was disobedient they were respectful to me, and lovingly handled any situation in the privacy of our home. As an adult, I see the way that my parents' respect for me helped to mold me and shape me into who I am today, and I have a great deal of respect for them in return. I just fear that publicly sharing so many details of my son's life isn't showing him that same courtesy.

Anyway, I'm just not sure what to do.  I have good friends who don't use facebook, or have a twitter account, or blog. They just live peaceful lives with their families, unconsumed with what everyone else is doing all the time. This is becoming more and more appealing to me.

Is there some kind of happy medium though? Maybe keeping my facebook account, but closely monitoring what I put on it about my son? Or changing the settings on this blog so that only certain people can read it? Or closing the blog down all together and just occasionally emailing funny stories/pictures to close family and friends?

These are my thoughts and concerns for the upcoming months and years. I warmly welcome any suggestions or comments.


Sunday, May 27, 2012

Spring 2012


Sure there are a few women out there who are interested in how exactly I healed my diastasis recti. All six of you, thank you for reading.

But I know the majority of the readers of this blog think that Denver is a cutie-pie and like to see new pictures of him.  I haven't uploaded many pictures the last few months, so here is a round-up of pictures from the Spring.

Some sweet, some sassy... Enjoy :)



not super bashful for the camera, is he? 


 Thinking hard about which color to choose


Isn't parenting glamorous? 


My enthusiastic eater 


GIANT BUNNY 


 Play date at the park. All three boys wore the same shirt. Unplanned. That's what happens when your moms shop at Target! :)


Action shot of D trying to demolish something with a croquet mallet. I love this so much. 


His signature "cheese face" 


Another cheesy one 


Drinking an after-nap smoothie with after-nap hair



Our little water baby with Daddy in Destin


This kid took D's ball. The look on his face says it all. "I'm an only child. I don't like to... what's that word? Oh yes, share."


Got my ball back! Got my farmer's tan!
LIFE IS GOOD.


The Lord so richly blessed us with this beautiful boy.
Thank you Jesus.