Sun, Rain, and a few of my favorite things

Yes, it has been quite some time since I have spent time writing. Don't get me wrong it's not like I don't have TONS of QUIET time, DOWN TIME if you will. I mean I've got it comin out my ears. I'm practically BORED around here. And in between watching Oprah, eating bon-bons, or sun bathing with a Margarita in hand, it's hard to find time to do a thing like BLOG.

You understand.

SO

Things I love:

Shepherd, OF COURSE, AND his new "Teething Bling." I know, I know it sounds funny. But it's great! They are jewelry that look like cool stone pendants or bracelets but they are really PVC and BPA free plastic, like a teething ring. Well, actually it is a teething ring.

2 things I love- my babies and my jewelry- finally able to peacefully coincide. That's what Seinfeld calls "worlds colliding."

And I like it.

The same place I found his teething bling (I'll be putting up a link on my sidebar today hopefully) I got this AMAZING sling. IN LOVE.

It's perfect for Shep's trach.

As you can see, he's in love, too.

Also LOVE

Big brothers, holding little brothers

Sooooooo Swweeeeeeeett

These boys could not love their Shepiddy Deputy (as we like to call him around our ranch) more.

And I lOVE the Love

happening in this pic

and I love the coral colored pillow to the left, cause I made it and it's the inspiration for my new room decoration project, which has so far included 2 new wall hangings, new pillows, new curtains ( all for less than $20)

That I LOVE

And just try and tell me who doesn't love

The influence of an older brother...

(I swear it's not the tattoo that makes him so wild, though I have to point out that it has been 3 weeks and the tattoo is still going strong. hmmmmm. Maybe it was permanent)

Little boys

wearing underwear hats and

goofy expressions

Cowboys at the park

Mic Jagger lips

Baby boys trying to be like their daddies

Funny 2 Year olds that insist on laying down in the middle of the walking path at the new AMAZING park in our area. I guess he just needed some down time.

Thankfully there weren't any cyclers that came along.

But then again, how would I know?

I was too busy taking his picture to get him out of harms way.

Our precious Shepherd is now 6 MONTHS OLD!

It's so weird though. Noah and I both feel like were in some sort of time warp. It's like the past year just sucked us up into a vacuum. The boys keep growing out of their clothes out of nowhere, friends who just got pregnant a week ago are having their babies. And the boy are wearing the Halloween costumes I JUST made for them... a year ago... and it's time to make new ones.

It's just all a little weird.

But byy the GREAT GRACE of God... we are taking each day.

I still go back and forth between immense gratefulness and temper tantrums. Hopefully I'll grow out of that by at least my menopausal years.

And I'm hopelessly in love with this little boy. Who is still QUITE little. Of course, the camera always adds ten pounds.

He hit a little stagnant phase in his weight gain and everyone was worried, but I think it was just because I started replacing more of his bottle feeds with nursing feeds. BUT the good news is that after 2 weeks, I think we've worked out the kinks and I'm still able to nurse him more. He started gaining again last week and the past two days he has gained 5 ounces! That's a lot for 2 days, which brings him to a grand total of 11 pounds and 15.5 ounces- that's right, almost 12 pounds! As his nurse last night declared, "He's gotten so BIG! He looks like a regular three month old!"

I just love how big he looks in this pic. We were just driving a long when I snapped this shot.

Kidding. He's clearly not buckled in and though I really care for Ms Spears, I try not to emulate her parenting choices when fleeing paparazzi.

And last but OH, NOT LEAST

I LOVE Anniversaries

and my husband of 5 years.

It was 5 years ago on Oct 2 that I stood at the window watching it pour down rain at the hour I was supposed to be getting married. We gathered around and prayed and by the time we were done, so was the rain.

With the rain gone and the air refreshed, we went on to commit the rest of our lives and every fiber of ourselves to each other.

That NO MATTER what comes- illness, dissapointment, delight, or pain. Wether we fail or succeed, I am my beloveds and my beloved is mine.

And it is when you find yourself in those rainy seasons like the one we are in now, filled with circumstances that, at times, seem far from the sun & beauty that eventually came. It is in these times that you see what a gift God really gave you on that day.

He gave me a companion, a best friend, a man that will love me when I don't even closely resemble this kind, gentle, light hearted bride. And even though life isn't all roses and I sometimes feel that the challenges of life have brought out the worst in me, I know there is one man who will still hold me close when I crawl into bed after a long day, often filled with taking my stresses out on him. And it's that kind of love, that kind of beauty that reminds me of the perfect man- Jesus- and after a long but probably difficult and probably wonderful life, I will be able to crawl into his arms and rest, despite all my failings- only then it will be forever.

And that will be the sweetest kind of sweet.

But until that day comes, Thank you Noah for reminding me that even at my worst I am dearly loved and affectionately cared for.

Your just the man for me.

Thank you for sharing yourself, your life, and oh yeah, your genetics, with me. You gave me some pretty cute kids.