Such a boy

This what happens when you decide you have to poop while you are in the tub...

Big boy!

Too bad we didn't quite make it in time...

We ended up with a floater in the tub. Ewwww!

That dirt...

You see that dirt in this picture?  The dirt right in front of us?  I still remember when we first got our wedding pictures back.... I LOVED this picture - so much symbolism with us holding hands, one foot forward heading out into our married lives.  But I HATED the dirt!  I felt like it ruined the whole picture.  

But we got married in May and while the grass was beautifully green and the tulips had already started blooming, this particular flower bed at the park was still just dirt.  I hung this picture on our fridge at our old house and for so long I wished our photographer would have found a spot with beautiful tulips or at least somewhere without the dirt.  

I smile now looking at the picture..... and you know what, I love that dirt now!  That dirt totally epitomizes our journey.  11 years later (almost 12!) and without that dirt we never would have made it to the green grass on the other side.  

  

We had no idea at the "dirt" that was waiting for us as we got ready to start our family.  We had no idea how hard it would be to walk through the dirt.  There were times when that's all we could see was the dirt.  It was at those times that we had our heads down, rather than looking up.  We were consumed by the dirt.  

Had we just lifted our heads, we would have seen the green grass in the distance.  How true has this been in my walk with God?  It is the times that I keep my head down that I get discouraged, I feel "stuck" in my current situation.  But when I lift my eyes to Him, He gives me hope.  When we dig into His Word, He shows us that He overcame the dirt to bring us new life - new life in Him.  A new life that requires us to keep our heads up, our eyes on Him.

One of my favorite verses in our infertility journey was Jeremiah 17: 7-8

"But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him.  He will be a like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.  It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.  It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."

I studied this verse, I meditated on this verse.  I could do another whole blog post on this verse...

But one day, I focused on the first word - the "but" and decided to take a look at verse 5-6 to figure out the context....

"Cursed is the man who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord.  That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes.  He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, it a salt land where no one lives.:

Yikes..... sounds an awful lot like the dirt....

Today, I am praising God for using that dirt to bring us to the green grass.  I am praising God for rescuing me from that dirt, when some days it was all I could do to reach out my hand to Him and ask Him to pull me out.  

I am praising God for giving us the dirt not only that He could bring us closer to Him in it, but that He could use that dirt to bring us to where we are today.  

My plan was tulips.... my plan was genetic children of our own.... my plan seemed so much easier...

But His plan....... It was perfect!

And you see how the green grass in the first picture gets greener the further you look in the distance......

Yup, it sure does!!  God is SOOO good! 

I hung these 3 pictures on our wall so that I can remind myself daily that without the dirt, without the heartache and pain there wouldn't be the green grass.... there wouldn't be my Kennagirl and my sweet Bubbers.  

And to remind myself to keep my head up, not focused on the dirt but focused on Jesus and on His plans for me.  

Sassy boy

Look mom. I can climb!

15 months.....

Only a few days late, but it's here - 15 months..... I'm running out of "months" I can write about.  You are growing up tooooo fast Bubbers!!

I will say that you are SOOO much fun these days.  You love to just wander around the house all day long.  From time to time you will bust out in a dance (with or without music playing).  You will spin in circles until you can't stand anymore.  You are such a happy and content little boy.

You continue to be obsessed with all things boy:  wheels, cars, balls, remote controls, bobble heads,

You were SOOO excited I let you play with daddy's bobble head...

mommy's keys and puppies.  You still don't really say any words, but you have mastered the grunt. Like I said, you are all boy!

You discovered Net.Flix this month and you get so very excited every time I turn on the TV and you see all the puppy shows.  We watched one of the Buddy movies and now you and Makenna are in love with them..... I think Snow Buddies is your favorite because you think the Husky looks like your friend Nala.

You still do not sleep well at night..... at all!  I'm going to blame this month on teeth maybe?  You have been getting up at least once if not twice at night.  Thankfully the last 3 nights you have slept through the night so hopefully we are one to a new trend!

You do take 2 great naps during the day - usually from 9:30 to 11ish and again from 1:30 or 2 until 3 or 3:30ish.  You eat like a champ,  Your favorite food is your morning smoothie.

You are a pro at climbing up the stairs but still can't figure out how to climb down them.  You just want to walk right down but you don't realize you will fall if you don't turn around.

You really enjoyed your first time sledding this month.  We went over to the neighbors house and both Maddie and Ben wanted to take you down their little hill.

You had a hard time walking in the snow

but were very excited when I put you up in their playhouse to play

Once you got cold, though you were DONE!  You started screaming and kept screaming until we got home from their house and you had a chance to warm up....

You are working really hard at trying to figure things out lately.....

You were determined to get that triangle through the hole...

Almost... got....it....

Oops, tried so hard you fell right over...

Cheater...

We are slowly starting to wean you off bottles..... You still demand mama's milk when you wake up and before bed.  During the day you get a bottle when you wake up from your nap, but usually only if you are a crabby pants.

New Year's was a lot of fun.... we had the neighbor kiddos over to play

Mama couldn't resist getting a little more use out of that cute bow tie

I'm pretty sure you think you are a Golden Grahams model in this one...

Overall you are just a very busy little boy....

You are so very content walking around the house and seeing what kind of things you can find...

You love this little piggy

And you LOVE it when the neighbor doggies are out to play...

Daddy has been spending lots of time with you lately and you love to give him a run for his money..... You get SO excited to see him when he gets home from work.....

But you are still VERY much a mama's boy.  Which is perfectly ok with this mama;)

Love you, Bubbies!!

Fresh Air!

The weather was beautiful today so we got to get outside for a little fresh air!

Alex discovered basketball...

I think I can do it...

Look mom, I got it!

Daddy, can you give me a lift?

Oh yeah!

Action shot..... down he goes..

Anyone need the lawn mowed?

He LOVED being able to just walk around outside.... And there is Makenna WAY off in the distance on her new swing car.