Merry Christmas! Happy Birthday Jesus!
May our days be filled with more compassion and less consumption, more gratefulness and less gripe, more laughter and less stress, and mostly…more Jesus and less of everything else.
**I’ll be back posting more after January 6th! We are headed to the DOME for Passion 2012. Join us on the journey…we treasure your prayers as 40,000+ students will gather to bring glory to Jesus. Incredible days ahead…
She’s such a doll baby.
Bryson and I have been at planning meeting for Passion 2012 the past few days. My head is spinning with all the details and logistics but my heart is full. So grateful I get to be apart of this movement to gather college age students and bring glory to Jesus! While we have been working away, the little people have been hanging out with Mimi and Pop Pop. Yesterday they got to go to the birthday party of Nash’s best friend Cole. I love this picture of — check out Nash’s joy in this pic!
Grateful for my in-laws and the way they care for, love, and serve us. We couldn’t do what we do at Passion without their help in this crazy busy season! Grateful!
Nash is a finger sucker. Since birth he has sucked his two middle fingers. I was thrilled that he wasn’t a binky baby and instead he learned early on to calm himself by sucking his fingers. It was adorable, too. But that season has come to an end because his teeth are showing the affects of the 4 year old bad habit! One tooth is headed back and the other forward! This is going to be a hard habit to break and a new parenting challenge opportunity. We’ve tried a few little things the past 6 months to make him more aware of the habit and have talked a lot about how he is a big boy and needs to stop sucking his fingers. Though in his heart he is willing and open to stopping, like any bad habit, it’s just really tough to stop. I have done tons of research,spoken to our doctors and dentists and consulted with some other mamas. Finally this week we decided to take the plunge and get a finger guard to assist us in the process. I say “us” because this is a family thing and I think it will take each one of us to help the sweet guy break this habit.
The finger guard Nash wears at night.
Sleeping sweet boy...It looks like it is working! He would usually be sucking his fingers all night long.
The guard came in the mail yesterday afternoon and Nash wore it successfully al last night. He was so proud of himself this morning!! Beaming! We decided to make a big deal of his successes on this journey, so he and Bryson went out on a father and son dinner date tonight.
We have also been reading this book…
(I hate the cover — do mama and papa really have to look so angry with sister?!) When I read the book to Nash, I tweak it a little to make sister’s habit similar to Nash’s. He loves it and it seems to really help him understand why we need to break the habit. We decided to follow the Berenstain’s advice (like the story) and instead of giving Nash a prize at the end of 2 weeks if he successfully stops sucking his fingers, we did the opposite and gave him the prize after the first night (hence the giant lego spaceship in the picture). The rule is, he may keep the toy as long as he doesn’t suck his fingers. But if he does suck his fingers or takes his guard off at night he has to give back the toy for the rest of the day. I’ll let you know how our strategy works out! Every kid is different, but Nash agreed to and was excited about this plan so we are going to give it our best shot!
The funny thing is, as much as I want him to stop, it’s so bittersweet. My baby’s not a baby anymore! Sniff, sniff.
Anyone else have suggestions for helping your little people (or grown people) break a bad habit? We all have them…
party is set...
My oh My, My Meyer. Oh how we love you sweet My My. She awoke to the singing of her big brother and big sister singing her praises and a loud Happy Birthday song — over and over throughout the day. She loves being sung to. Evyn wasn’t quite sure about sharing the “princess” accolades and attention given to Meyer, but warmed up to it after she and Meyer were both equally decked out in pink. Evyn helped dress them both. I can not believe Meyer is one! In some ways it feels like this past year zipped passed us, and in other ways I look back and stand in all awe of all the life we have lived in Meyer’s first year of life! Sweet girl has already lived in 3 houses in her first year! She’s going to be a mover and a shaker. Never have a met such a sweet spirited and easy going baby. The two before her were certainly sweet peas, but one of the special things about Meyer was and is her kind spirit that already oozes from her. You see it in her eyes, her easy smile, and calmness. Nothing gets her too rattled. As she enters into her more independent phases of year one and two, I pray these traits remain. Even in her older years, these characteristics will serve her well. She is precious and just as her name proclaims over her, she is a light and will one day be a leader. My prayer is that she will live in such a way that her light will lead others to Jesus. We love you “My My”…Happy First Birthday precious one.
always proud parents...
Happy Birthday dear Meyer...
looks like the candle is burning my nose -- but I love this picture because of how sweet Meyer's smile is! So look at how cute she is and not at the fact that I have a flame up my nostril.
Life is good.
I love my new toys!!
My own piggy bank! This thing is heavy.
love this baby.
Mimi & Pop Pop and the whole gang celebrating Meyer's Birthday!
the party decor
Homemade pom poms... and birthday banner. I'm pretty proud of myself.
Birthday euphoria. I LOVE ALL THESE PRESENTS!! 
Birthday = explosion of PINK!
Now this is a cool birthday gift...my brother!
Love you lil' Birthday girl!
This time last year I was counting contractions in between bites of Thanksgiving Dinner. Where has the year gone?! I’m pretty sure I swore that I would never eat Thanksgiving dinner again while I was throwing it up once active labor kicked in (TMI? Probably, but that’s how I roll!). I’m glad my memory is foggy on that proclamation, because I would have been very sad to forgo the yumminess of Thanksgiving dinner this year! We celebrated the day with Bryson’s parents, sister and her family. I kept feeling like something was missing, but then I remembered that the past two years have been pretty epic Thanksgivings…last year going into labor with Meyer and the year before Bryson and I were in India traveling when we got the call that we had passed court and Evyn was our daughter. So, no offense to those whom we celebrated Turkey day with this year, but I missed that epic feeling that I have had the past two years! But regardless of the lacking life-changing moments, it was delicious and full of fun! We were thankful to have The Wherry’s here for a visit and get to spend some time with their sweet boys. Nash and Evyn especially loved hanging out with them!
We really do have so very much to be thankful for. Jesus is good.
Here are some pictures of the little people enjoying the festivities.
Cousins...
mimi!
This food is goooooood!
But helping with dessert is REALLY GOOD!
We exchanged early christmas gifts with the cousins and Meyer was obviously excited about her new book...
Nash loving the supper...
Evyn was beyond Thrilled with her new princess shoes and accessories!
And matching pj’s courtesy of Mimi. This is fun until they are about 10…then it becomes really mean. I’m just glad the don’t come in adult sizes. 
We just finished celebrating Meyer’s birthday so I will post on that tomorrow! Good night friends!
Miss Meyer is working hard to figure out how to stand and walk. She can now pull herself up on anything but just can’t seem to get her feet moving once she is standing. No matter how many times you watch a little person learn to walk, it never gets old! It is so precious to see her reach these little milestones and beam with pride. It won’t be long until she is chasing her big brother and sister! How is my baby getting to be such a big girl!
