Chocolate, marriage, pizza... and more

This past weekend we went back to Ohio for a family photo shoot and a little party for Jake.  A lot of our friends and family got to meet him and we were SO thankful for everyone who was able to come!  Trying to run around with a 3 month old (eek getting so old!) who doesn't like his car seat very much can be draining, so it was wonderful that my parents threw a get together at their house for anyone who wanted to meet Jake. Obviously, pictures were taken.  However in between getting adjusted back here, work, and getting ready to leave for TX tomorrow, nothing has been done with them.

So, in the meantime, here are some fun things I've found around the web lately :)

Love this about paying careful attention to your marriage.

Excited to get this book.  I may even pre order...

Some of the best homemade pizza I've had :)

chocolate coconut cupcakes

Love.

Comfortable, cute style. What I'm going for these days.

How cute are these spice covers?

Phone Updates Round 2

Happy Friday :)  This is the end of the phone pictures... for now...

Jake doing tummy time with his friend Claire.  Let's just say about 30 seconds later they were both crying. Maybe we pushed them too far?!

Passed out from tummy time :)

Hanging out at Sara's house! Lucy loved playing with Jake and Claire.  Jake needs to lighten up a bit.. he always looks so serious! On another note.. I'm digging Claire's adorable capris.

Jake loves bun bun :)

:)

He loves baths!

So glad there was a chilly day so I could put him in this outfit!  At the rate this kid is growing.. he definitey won't fit into it in a month!

Bun bun tends to slowly...

overtake Jake lol

Woo hoo got my "official" degree in the mail!

My sweet sister in law picked up this onesie from Switzerland! It says cuddle bear :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Phone Updates

Pictures seem to accumulate on my phone way too easily these days.  So I regularly need to do something with them.. and it seems to make sense to post them here.  I'm sorry if you get bored of these photos... if you do, don't check tomorrow.. because there will be more lol

We met up for lunch at a port with our small group.  Dan and I got there early (gasp! that never happens) so we took advantage of the time and did a mini photo shoot by the water

Trying to get a family shot.. sorry Jake

Jake!  We need you to look at the camera!

I swear we're not choking him.  He's having fun. Really.

By the water.

I love how his hands were so delicately resting on his legs lol

The group ready to head out!

Jake rolled from his back to his stomach the other day.. and like a good mom I definitely missed it.  Yep I was doing the dishes when I heard him crying and saw him stuck on his stomach lol

Hanging out on his side :)

Get excited for more tomorrow!

Things I'm loving these days...

sometimes in the morning I let Jake sleep next to me while Dan gets ready allowing me an extra 15 minutes of sleep. I'm  not into co sleeping, but I really like those couple minutes :) via

They sang this song on the today show. One of the perks of being a stay at home mom.. getting to see the summer concert series :)



yep. bangs. I finally did the deed again and cut them. We'll see how long they last.



coffee. in particular iced coffee. Sara at Bible study makes it REALLY good via

Yes Fall. Dan thinks I'm crazy but I'm SO excited!! via

Leaving Jake in his diaper so I can see those cute little rolls :) via

Goodness + Love

I grew up attending a more traditional Methodist church.  Every Sunday we sang hymns - and to a middle schooler they appeared just a *tad* lame.  It felt like we were singing the same thing over and over again.  I honestly couldn't wait until we finished some of them.  My brothers and I even had our favorites and to no one's surprise they were usually the shorter ones (anyone ever sing Jesu?! lol)

Then we started attending more non denominational churches.  Their "hip, contemporary" music was much more interesting to me and I would consider it more my style.  However, the problem with this thinking was that I was making worship all about me: What I liked. My preferences.  It was not about worshipping God, I was essentially concerned about if the music was suiting my needs.  Only here in America can we have churches that offer three different services with different types of music to suite our needs. 

Well before I go on more of a rant about something that probably could be discussed in a whole other post, I wanted to tell you about my new excitement and fascination with hymns.  Over the past few years I have really listened to the words in some of our ancient hymns and holy moly.  These writers had one heck of a walk with God.  They said things like this:

{All found here}

This past week we sang the song "Blessed Assurance" and in it are the lyrics listed above "Filled with his goodness, lost in His love."  As those words scrolled across the screen I couldn't help but think how powerful they were.  Very rarely do I stop (even though I should more) and ask myself when I am singing a song, is this true of me?  Are these lyrics declaring real truth in my life or am I just reading the words? 

How differently would my life look like if I truly was filled with His goodness and lost in His love.  I decided to take some time and search for scriptures that talk about how God embodies these things:

Psalm 27: 13-14

"I remain confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living. 
Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord."

Psalm 23:6

"Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever."

Psalm 116: 12-13

"What shall I return to the Lord

for all his goodness to me?

I will lift up the cup of salvation

and call on the name of the Lord."

Although in the hymn the writer is referring to a time when he will be heaven, the scriptures I found relate specifically to here on earth.  We can see God's goodness now.  We are filled with his love and goodness (fruits of the Spirit: Galatians 5) now.  If I was filled with God's goodness and lost in His love I would....

Trust Him more in every circumstance of my life. 

See the bigger picture and not get bogged down in the day to day stresses.

Praise Him for the smallest things.

Be more thankful.

Share the message of the gospel more.

There are so many ways my life would be changed by the truth from this hymn.  And while I would still call myself a K Love kind of a gal, these hymns and their powerful lyrics are definitely growing on me.





A new favorite

Dan and I have made way too many trips to a little yogurt place called Berry Yo in downtown Arlington Heights recently.  It's probably good we don't live there anymore because this would be a daily stop for us.  They have these amazing little things called "sample cups," and although I'm sure they've figured out that I'm not a first timer anymore, I still pretend that I am so I can sample all 16 of their amazing flavors.  I keep telling myself it's yogurt, so it's healthy.  However every time I can't seem to waiver from their creamy, oh so good custard. Our "date" nights (that have really turned into day dates with Jake) have just stepped it up a notch.
 

2 months

{12 lbs 12 ounces}



I hang my head in shame as this post is almost 20 days late.  We are closer to 3 months than we are 2 months at this point, but I figured better late than never, right? 

2 months was a big milestone for us- Jake started smiling.  I'll never forget the first time he flashed me a quick smile on the changing table.  Up until that point smiles came in the middle of his sleep or through the occasional muscle spasm.  Definitely not something voluntarily done at me.  I told Dan that night I thought he smiled at me but wasn't sure.. we weren't going to get our hopes up.  Now he smiles all the time.  And it is the best thing.  I thought the fact that he was looking at me was fun.  My favorite is when he opens up his mouth really wide before he smiles.  I'm pretty sure he does that because I am always saying "hi!" and smiling at him with my mouth open really wide. However, smiling does have its downfalls.. like when I'm putting him down for a nap and he starts smiling and getting all excited.  I try to tell him this is not the time for smiles.. how am I supposed to walk away from him when he's smiling at me?! Maybe next month I will be able to but not now!

All right, enough with the smile talk.  Here's some other fun 2 month milestones:

• He's holding his head up on his own!
• His facial expressions keep getting better and better. 
• Bath time still scares him every time. You would think he knew the routine by now since we do baths every day. But no. Every time he hits that water he gets the most terrified look on his face. It's hilarious.
• Oh the car seat. How you hate the car seat. Even the other day you were forcefully trying to free yourself from the car seat. I am terrified to drive 6 hours to Ohio the end of the month.
• The floor is your favorite spot. I'm wondering why I registered for the vibrating bouncy chair or swing; all we needed was a blanket and you are good to go.
• I'm in the process of trying to force you to like a lovey (bun bun- I've already named it for you because of Ellie :) You're going to be best friends very soon.
• You hate taking your vitamin D medicine. I cannot wait until we can introduce other foods.. the faces you make will be hilarious.
• You actually laugh when I use the bulb syringe to clear your nose. Crazy kid.
• You are finally starting to get over your gas issues (knocking on wood as we speak..)
• And you are slowly expanding your sleep during the night.  A couple times you went down at 7:30 pm and woke up at 3:30 am! This was a VERY big deal.
• You are SUPER curious. You can only be held upright so you can look around!
• Your hair is slowly growing back... yay!

He brings so much joy to our lives and while we are incredibly grateful for things like smiles, sleep, and cuddling, above all we are SO thankful for our growing and healthy baby boy. 

 

James 1:17
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."

 

Yes.. we are well aware that the 0 to 3 month onesie is skin tight on him. I can almost guarnatee you these will not fit in a month!