First nephew/cousin!

"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.  Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth."                                                                                          Psalm 127:3-4

Our first nephew and Isaac's first cousin arrived today!  Matt is the oldest (and only boy) in a family of girls.  The oldest sister, Leslie, is two years younger than Matt and we have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of her first child, Westin James.  He was born today weighing 7lbs 4 oz. and measuring 19 1/2 inches long.  We are so excited for Leslie and her husband, Brian.  Unfortunately, they live in Florida and our visit in June can't come soon enough!  Wish we could be there!

Leslie and Brian before the arrival of Westin

My beautiful sister-in-law holding her precious baby for the first time

Isaac's first cousin and future playmate at family get-togethers

Congratulations Brian, Leslie, and Westin!!!  Wishing you many sleep-filled nights!

Sprinklers

Isaac and I went outside to play today.  It is such a simplistic, joyful thing to watch him explore the outdoors these days.  While we were outside the sprinkler systems came on and he decided he wanted to play in the water.  At first, he tried to stop the flow of water with his hand just as if it were a faucet, but he couldn't tell that the sprinkler was rotating slowly.  It was absolutely hilarious when the sprinkler made it's way around to spray him right in the chest.  The look on his face was priceless and he didn't know where to go to escape the sudden burst of cold water!  But from that point on, it was his mission to be in the "line of fire" as much as he could.

I love the world of little boys!  If there's mud, they'll play in it (or eat it).  If there's water, they'll splash in it.  If they can throw it, they throw it.  I love his curiosity!  He's already grown up so fast in his (almost) two years and I wish the days didn't seem to go by so quickly.  This stage of the so-called "terrible twos" has its own new challenges, but this stage of curiosity, exploration, and discovery will be over all too soon.  For now, I'm thankful to God for the blessings of belly laughs and giggles over the simplest things.  :)

Weekend Adventures

We live an hour from Wal-Mart!  But as crazy as that sounded when we moved to west Texas, I've grown somewhat accustomed to driving.  But days like Friday make it somewhat difficult.  I am such a tight wad, but we finally couldn't ignore that "Maintenance Required" light on our dashboard anymore. In the back of my mind I knew it was referring to the oil change that we seem to be stretching to the 3,500-4,000 mile mark these days, but I also knew we needed to have the timing belt (whatever that is) changed in our Honda Accord. Matt and I have had countless conversations about how it's cheaper to maintain a car than to fix something when it goes wrong, but still...it seems so expensive and I am all about not spending large amounts of money.

So I made an appointment with the nearest Honda dealership (again...an hour away) to get the timing belt and water pump changed. At some point in my conversation with the service department boss guy, I mentioned that I would have to schedule a time when my husband could come along with our other vehicle due to the fact it would be a 4-6 hour wait time. He was so nice and told me it was no problem for them to take me back while my car was being serviced. Sounded good to me!

So I made an appointment for Friday morning. But then I realized that this guy probably didn't put two and two together that I live an hour away from the dealership. In addition, hubby had to work Friday morning. But I thought, "That's no problem. I'll just have them take me and Isaac to the mall. We can shop around and then when we get bored, we can walk next door to the Target, Kirkland's, Ross, and whatever else jumps out that's in walking distance." However, when I thought about just how long it would be for this pregnant mama to tote around a toddler in a stroller for 6 hours, it didn't sound so good anymore.

Thank goodness my knight in shining armor came and rescued us from endless wandering around Target and treated us to lunch at McDonald's.  Isaac was quite a happy camper.

He climbed up on the "little kids" slide all by himself!  Just look at that determination!  Then he decided he would be even braver and play on the "big kids" playground.  He didn't get far, but he had a heap of fun in the entrance "bubble" and attempting to climb up the slide.  Before I know it, my eldest child will be flipping off his shoes and climbing around the tunnels and towers with all the other stinky feet children.

 After some other errands and wandering around the mall (again), we went to the Honda place to wait for our car and they gave Isaac one of those HUGE balloons they put on the cars.  It provided endless minutes of entertainment...until it came off the string and floated to the ceiling.  Thankfully, one of the salesmen felt compassion for our poor, balloon-less child and gave him a replacement from the nearest new Honda.

The next morning we hung out at a garage sale held by several of the ladies from our church.  It turned out to be a chilly morning because of the wind.  And unfortunately, mommy underestimated how cold it would get.  Thankfully, one of the little girls in our church had a jacket for Isaac to wear.  It was somewhat big for him, but it made for a cute picture.
 

Hobbit?  Or Little Red Riding Hood?

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Then on Sunday we had our spring revival at our church with a youth mission trip spaghetti fundraiser for lunch.  Quite a busy day, but it was awesome to see and hear what God is doing in the lives of our church members.  I know for me, personally, my life seems like one big routine sometimes and unfortunately that affects my walk with Christ.  But I'm thankful for focused times of renewal.  It's great to be reminded of the sacrifice that God made for me and how my time on earth is just a moment compared to eternity.  Far too often I get preoccupied by the "worries" of my day and forget that serving Christ is a joy, an honor, and there are others that need to know the saving grace of God.  

I'm officially a blogger!

Well, I decided to start a blog. We live in a small, west Texas town and the closest family is six hours away...but traveling with a small child, the trip easily turns into about eight (at minimum). Not long after we moved to west Texas in January 2009, some friends encouraged me to start a blog. And now, over a year later, I've actually started one. The more I thought about it, the more it sounded like a great idea. Our house is full of excitement these days with a 21-month old and another baby on the way. And while it's hard that our family doesn't have the opportunity to experience all the random, new developments of our son or see my belly grow bigger by the minute (it seems), I'm excited to have an avenue to post videos, pictures, and those exciting events and memories that I want to remember myself, plus share with family and friends that we rarely get to see these days. And sometimes, Facebook, as great as it is, just doesn't cut it.

So I'm sure that the predominant theme of my blog will be my son and my daughter (when she arrives in August). I'm a stay-at-home mom and I LOVE it! I absolutely love getting to play with my son all day. Or see him put on his favorite hat (an old Country Crock butter bowl) and drive his little cars around the house. I love that he is my little helper when I unload the dishwasher (his specialty is putting away the silverware). I love that I get to be here for his afternoon nap. Before we moved to west Texas I had a great job at the University of Oklahoma. I loved what I did! I had a great boss. I had excellent benefits. A nice office. But it still doesn't compare to being a SAHM. My kids are only little for so long, and I love being here for all the "first" big moments. I'm so thankful to God that he has faithfully provided for us, and I'm thankful to have a hardworking husband who supports this decision for our family. Other than that, who knows what will come from "Letters from Mommyville." I'm a wannabe interior designer and I'm always on a "find cute projects that will decorate my house on a budget" kick. So whether it's cute craft projects or something God has taught me through His Word, I hope you are encouraged and uplifted through my blog. :)