little ones

J and I had the joy of spending the weekend with these little ones. We watched Miss Ainsley while her parents took some time away to celebrate their anniversary. She is just 4 months younger than Trip. Her little brother is due just a month after our baby girl. We know there will be many more fun family weekends in our future!

Christmas Outfit Photo Shoot

Trip's Grandma Cupcake bought him this adorable Christmas outfit and wanted me to send her some pictures of him wearing it. He was also wearing his dad's red shoes from when he was a 2 year old, which I thought added nice sentiment.

The red shoes were NOT Trip's favorite, as they did not provide good traction for running around the backyard. After multiple falls, our photo shoot took a turn for the worse.

By the end of our little photo shoot, Trip was in full fit-throwing mode - a talent he has become quite the expert at.

Cry ... cover face ... bend to the ground ... repeat.

Please note that he was not injured, hungry or tired. He was just plain mad about those red shoes!

New Home, Lots of Boxes & 3rd Trimester

(playing in our new backyard!)

I have been away from my dear friend the computer for a couple of weeks now and feel like there is a ton to update on ...

In a fairly short period of time, we found a new home, moved, traveled to Missouri and suddenly found ourselves surrounded by boxes and entering the third trimester of pregnancy! We moved out of our beloved (but tiny) rental home and bought a home with room to grow ... just in time for our baby girl!

The best part of the house is the 1+ acre of land that Trip has to run around on. This couldn't have come at a better time. He constantly wants to be outside, and the weather in South Texas is perfect this time of year - between 60 - 75 degrees most days.

The second best part - a regular sized kitchen and dishwasher! In our rental house, we had a half size dishwasher, something I had never seen before and hope to never see again! It seems backward, but a bigger kitchen is much easier to keep clean and definitely easier to cook in.

We are finally feeling settled, despite a garage full of boxes to unpack. We are having fun getting to put our own personal touches on our new home and I can't wait to decorate Anna Kate's nursery. Only a few short months left before she joins us!

Thankful

pictures

I decided to start a separate blog for some of my favorite pictures.

The site is depthofgrace.wordpress.com for anyone who wants to check it out.

I have had so much fun learning how to use my camera and exercising my creativity. Today I took some family pictures for a good friend and a few of my favorites are posted on the new site.

[Here's a sneak peak]

23 weeks

Anna Kate is the size of a large mango and weighs just over a pound! For some reason, this weight struck me as an important milestone. Keep packing on those pounds baby girl!

5 Years

With grand intentions, J and I celebrated our 5-year anniversary last weekend by going to his aunt and uncle's cabin on the river in Junction. I had visions of sipping hot chocolate and romantically discussing the last five years around a camp fire.

Unfortunately, after falling asleep in his contacts and waking up in the middle of the night and tearing them out in pain, our romantic weekend took a turn for the worse. J tried to tough it out before making the decision to drive back into town, but woke up the second morning in a lot of pain and unable to see.

Alas, I became the nurse and designated driver and brought J back home to see a doctor. He was diagnosed with a pretty major tear to his cornea, but no permanent damage, given a high dose of Vicodin, and sent home to rest.

Is anybody really surprised by this story? Because I am not. After 5 years married to my sweet husband, I have come to expect the unexpected. (Although I am typically the injury-prone one in this relationship.)

Needless to say, J and I decided that if we've learned anything over the past 5 years, it is that God's will is perfect. We are not in control, and we praise Him for that. We could not have predicted or planned the path we would take when we got married, and we rest knowing that our future years together are perfectly planned by our Heavenly Father.