Mississippi

first flights and surprise birthday celebrations 

new houses and water fun

great grandmothers and green grass and lots of sliding

warm weather and swinging

lots of cousin time

and snuggling with new babies

and grandparents

we love mississippi

saving memories {perpetual calendar update}

ya'll, last week was one of those weeks
not bad, just looong

covington had a little virus that turned into a strange rash - nothing too bad but we haven't been ANYWHERE except the doctor in a week. the day we went to the doctor, i was all like 'covington! get excited! we'll get dressed to go to the doctor in 90 minutes!!'

of course, it was also the week that james got crazy busy with school midterms and a million reports due at work so we got to see him in 30 minute increments

and then on top of that, i decided to give up diet coke because...well i can't remember because i haven't had any diet coke in 5 days (that's huge)

and did i mention the high on the first day of spring was 26 degrees?

it wasn't a bad week at all and i'm so, so, SO thankful to be able to be here and stay home through all the rashiness, but the truth is the days were starting to run together.

thing are getting just a bit monotonous. 

it's these kinds of weeks that im glad that i do this little perpetual calendar every night

i got the idea from {under the sycamore} and started it a couple years ago. each night i write down a little thing that happened that day. somedays they're big, somedays they're small. the first year, it was totally boring to do because there was nothing to look back on, but now it is so fun to look back on all the nights we ate with joy and jason in chattanooga and the many $3 movies we went to pre-covington and how we were so excited that covington was staying awake a little bit longer last year at this time.

so next year, i'll remember the long week home with the rash (because i'm not trying to erase the longer days), but i'll also remember that covington started giving real hugs this week and that he's walking like a champ and that my parents surprised us with a huge order from Omaha Steaks (yay for meat!!) and that james was matched at wheaton's counseling center for his practicum next year (yay for working super close and getting college holidays!).

   

besides all that, it's actually good just to keep track of things - when was your interview? when did covington roll over? we've gone to look up things more than once 

so the sick days at home might be long but so much good happened last week that might have just gotten lost in the monotony if i hadn't written it down.

 i've seen some really pretty journals they're making now so you don't have to make anything. so go start one now! it's really fun

and if you get a late night text from me reminiscing about the time we went out to eat 2 years ago, now you know why :)

sweet friends and fun times

so i was looking through blogger and realized that i'd started a bunch of posts and never finished them - i can't even blame that on pregnancy brain anymore :) so here's one from november...

have i mentioned how much i love it when people come visit up here?
luurve it.
i'm so thankful to have had lots of great visitors in the last year and a half. so so thankful.
a couple weeks (months) ago, out sweet friends Joy and Jason from chattanooga came up and we had lots of fun doing some sightseeing.

we finally made it to the sears (now willis) tower. the views were great and i looove heights, so stepping out onto the glass was so so fun. joy and jason did a handstand on it because they're just way fun like that.

we also went to my first broadway play - i love lucy - which was so good and finished off the night with the biggest chocolate mousse cake you have ever seen. it was a great weekend. now if we could only erase the 700 miles between us...

one year, part 2

the birthday boy was not exactly in the mood for picture taking, but we tried our best. we had some sweet friends over for homemade pizza and cake but because we're apparently only obsessed with our child, we took no pictures of them - we're hospitable like that :) the balloons we got covington were quite the hit, which is good because they're the only thing we got him :) he'll never know... he started taking steps the week before his birthday and has gotten better every day. he gets so proud of himself! his smash cake was a huge hit - half of it ended up in his lap but he did manage to take down quite a bit of it. i think he liked it :) happy birthday to covington!

one year

oh guys

this little boy is amazing

he has my whole heart and i can't imagine life before him. 

he's some kind of special

and he's a whole year old today - 

the best year ever. 

that smile.
those cheeks.
those blue eyes.
that toothy grin.
i just stare too often that i'd like to admit.

it's so hard to believe that we didn't even know him a year ago.

this month covington is...

loving -  his instruments, especially the keyboard, rolling his cars, stacking up blocks, and playing with the boxes that all his toys go in

getting into - the bathroom and garbage cans. oh the fun. oh the germs.  and stairs - he looves stairs.

eating- anything and everything - avocados, green beans, pb&j, bananas, cheese sticks, oatmeal with applesauce, chicken sausage, grapes, pasta, sweet potatoes, and anything in a squeezie pouch

sleeping - still an hour in the morning, two in the afternoon, and 8 to 8ish. we're so spoiled with this one.

saying - a whole lot of nothing. lots of babbles, no words yet.

moving - a few steps at a time and then sprint-crawling. he's also becoming quite the climber. and a bit of a dancer.

he's also busy growing a mullet.

he's my favorite.

happy birthday, sweet boy. i hope you know how much we love you.

5-7/52

“a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013″

5/52 - watching him sleep never gets old

6/52 - his favorite place - holding onto our legs

7/52 - camera curiosity 

1-4/52

have you heard of that challenge to take a picture every day for a year? well i know myself and that would quickly turn into a chore but i still like a little encouragement to get out the good camera and take some pictures. over {here} i saw the challenge originally {here} to take a portrait of your children every week for a year. i can handle every week. so here's the first 4 from this year:

1/52 - last days in MS

 2/52 - a partial nose scrunch 

funny enough, i think the scrunch only lasted a couple weeks

 3/52 - playing guitars

some of my very favorite times

4/52 - sprinting 

11 months

11 months

we got back from spending christmas in ms and i felt like he'd grown a foot while we were gone! he was into everything! he was pulling thing down that he hadn't even noticed 2 weeks before. 

this month he's...

waving

scrunching his nose when he smiles

clapping

clicking his tongue

playing by himself in his room (which makes me happy/sad)

pulling up on everything

standing for a few seconds longer every day

jumping

getting his sixth tooth

sprinting toward the bathroom if we forget to close the door

eating anything

laughing  (best sound ever)

he is so. much. fun.

He is faithful

God is so faithful

that's the biggest thing that the Lord has taught me in all of the unexpected adventures of the past couple years. He is so faithful and he will always provide.

this past summer - for the third summer in a row - i was looking for a job.

when we moved to chattanooga, i applied and applied and applied for months but didn't hear anything. then i got 2 interviews on the same day in july and ended up getting to teach at a magnet school with the best girls ever.

when we moved up here, we totally accidentally stumbled across harvest christian academy where i got to teach last year. teaching at a school where the  main goal is to share Jesus was amazing.

so this year, we were looking for something closer to wheaton - it took me about an hour to get to hca - and part time, so for the first time, i didn't even know where to start looking.

but God is faithful.

late in august, i found a little homeschool group that needed a part time kindergarten teacher. kindergarten is my very favorite. 6 little girls, covington and lots of crafts. it doesn't get better than that.

covington and i also babysit a couple days for 2 different families (and i've asked God to cancel all my prayers for twins - one day a week with 2 the same age is enough for me :)

                            

 it's so neat to see how God knew so much better than me what we would need - covington loves getting to be around other kids and playing with different toys and we're gone just enough to keep us from getting bored at home. i'm so so thankful for all the time that i get to spend with covington and am soaking up these sweet days that are going way too fast. 

i love my kid so much...

have you seen the movie 'what to expect when you're expecting'?

my favorite line is

"i love my kid so much, i'm sometimes afraid i'm going to eat him."

i get it :)