Some Enchanted Evening…

 

The Mr. and I recently celebrated five years of marriage. It was such a fun evening and will forever hold a special place in my heart. We don’t normally “do things up big” but for this one, Chad went all out.

We had dinner at a fancy smancy, and toured the town looking at Christmas lights. Then Chad pulled this quaint little B&B out from his sleeve. The place was absolutely perfect. It had me written all over it!

The owner and I spent some time talking about all of her adventures in restoring every piece of furniture in the house. She bought the home in shambles and restored to its original features. She was an amazing hostess and her cooking = phenomenal. I could go on and on about the raspberry jalapeño jam for days!

It was a fabulous evening spent with a fine gentleman! I love you Mr. Brown and I am blessed to be your wife. Thank you for being a husband who honors and cherishes his wife. Thank you for being such a strong leader, my prayer partner, my best friend, an amazing papadaddy, provider, challenger, and for putting up with all my shenanigans.

Strategic Parenting...

Bedtimes, bathtimes, naptimes, diaper brands, solid food, breast milk, no television, Santa or not, trick or  treat, head hitting, bed falling, so many toys, sleeping (mostly not), teething, sign language, flu shots, cry it out, sleeping arrangements, 15 second rule, ok 50 second rule, dog kisses, recalls, dust bunny diet,  dating age, driving, boys, oh my, cell phones, sleepovers, curfews, college funds, etc. 

There are endless choices and decisions to be made in this world of parenting, so much I want to protect my little angel from.  But every day God is showing me just how much mercy and grace He has in store for me.  He’s showing me how to not sweat the small stuff, go on with a messy house,  live in pajamas, and most importantly that love isn’t calculated, researched, scheduled, or even close to being deserved. 

I am by no means a planner, but something welled up inside of me when I became a mother. Something that said I would never measure up, and wasn’t fit for this gig.  I found myself compensating for my insecurities, not seeking the Source, and trying to do it all myself.  I failed. I learned an invaluable lesson that being insecure does not equal being humble, because essentially my thoughts are of myself, good or bad both are wrong.

In a nutshell, this process has brought me to one conclusion, one strategy.  Show her love.  And with a big sigh of relief, this my friends, is grace. 

“If I speak in tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and If I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love I am nothing. “1 Corinthians 13:1-3

6 months...

In my perfect little world I had envisioned myself being a great blogger once our baby got here.Monthly updates were definitely in store. So here we are, 6 months later and I received my huge dose of "reality check" right in the rear! From day one I have been on this journey of learning that grand ol' lesson of  things just don't always go like planned. Maddox has been the biggest challenge and yet one of life's biggest blessings in my life. We are so grateful to raise up this precious little tater tot.

Isn't she just as cute as a button? I love everything about this girl.

Age: 6 months

Weight: 16 pounds

Length: 26ish (I think) dr says she will be taller than her mama, woohoo!

Head: (not that anyone but us really cares...)17

She is sitting up on her own.

She just started crawling. It's definitely not pretty, and she still crashes and burns, but her determination is unbelievable. It's so funny to see her crawling because she is so young it seems like, she's just too big for her britches! 

She is sleeping in her own bed now. This was a hard transition for her momma and papadady. I think we stared at her sleeping for an hour the first time we put her in the crib. She takes 2 two hour naps per day. She is going 6-9 hours at night without eating and sleeps from 8-8. I actually look forward to our 4 am date every morning. It's about the only time of day that she is calm and snuggly! Sweet moments.

She is a great communicator. She doesn't hold back when she wants something. We keep telling ourselves that one day this will be a blessing that she is so vocal, no boys will be taking advantage our baby, ha! Strong willed children are tough, but totally worth it!

She got her two bottom teeth at four months, and now we are working on the top two! 

Maddox is the most active little wiggle worm I've ever seen. She loves to be in her jumperoo, jenny jump-up, and her jeep walker! She wants to be on the move all the time and  is so curious. She is definitely not a laid back baby, and keeps us on her toes. She has learned a couple of very hard lessons in gravity, both that were harder on us than her. (Praise God for making His children so resilient!)

I probably don't even have to mention how beautiful she is, pictures are above. I could just stare at her all day long (and I do).

She is a momma's girl through and through.I guess milk machines always win, but she is certainly wrapped around her daddy's little finger. Have you ever seen Chad's fingers? That's a totally different blog, but they are like sausages. So anyways, she is wrapped around his little sausage finger. I love that she is a momma's girl, and I am just enjoying every second of it. I am sure I will not always be her favorite once she figures out the whole little sausage finger thing, (and when the milk comes from wal-mart.)

Everyday is truly a gift. I have never felt more like I was designed to do something than here in these moments being a momma. No days are glamorous, many days are thankless, most days I'm a wreck, some days I shower, always a sacrifice, but everyday is making an impact.

meet the new babysitter...

New Creations!

Once upon a time, a prince charming said to his princess the most romantic words that ever existed. "Do you want to go to Hobby Lobby?" Usually this prince charming pushes the Hobby Lobby baskets huffing and puffing trying to blow the place down, but this day was different! He gave her a budget, but with a catch...

Like a mother bird pushing her little birdies out to fly, (but in a much more husbandly/manly way, of course) "I think it's time you get a booth at the local craft mall" She trembled in her skin a little, because she'd always had the vision, but never the confidence. But, no princess in her right mind would resist that shopping spree, how exciting! So that romantic day turned into a small business adventure.

 Let me give you the tour! Business cards with contact info...

Products in these old drawers I got for free at a garage sale. Silly guy did not see the potential in these, he chuckled and said "honey if you have a use for these they are yours." Little did he know they are now making  money. Well, that's the hope anyway, haha.

School Spirit Car Charms, Go Harvs! Meagan is making the tutus for the booth and maybe even a few other things when she has time aside from her husband, 3 year old, 1 year old, school, cooking dinners, changing diapers, playing pricesses, you get the idea.

My fan club, and set up crew. If there is a certain odor near my booth, please don't be alarmed. You can see the culprit here. This mommy forgot to bring a spit-up rag, so I had to smush it into the carpet to hide the evidence! But it's a great way to find my booth, just follow the smell.

So, there it is folks! I am officially a business woman. I am so grateful to have an encouraging husband that encourages this funky girl to do her thing. (I think he secretly knows it's cheaper than sending me to the looney bin.)

And, there will be a post about how I spend the other 99% of my time shortly. The true princess of this house is growing so quickly, and there is nothing that makes me happier than being her mommy. Even if I need crafts to keep me sane!

second chances!

A couple of weekends ago, my hubby took me on one of my favorite Saturday morning adventures of all times. It all started with a McDonald's chicken biscuit and a mocha frappe, yum. I could write an entire blog about Saturday morning Mickey D's breakfasts, but then my 5 readers would turn into none in a hurry, ha! We figured out we make quite the team at navigating our way through the local garage sales. Here are a few of our finds.

This poor ugly ducky got sold to me for fifty cents!

He got made over into this. I added a magnetic board behind in lieu of the duck burlap that was goin' on before, painted, and then distressed and made a home for it here..

I found this old frame for one dolla.

And made miss Maddox a bow holder. I painted, glazed, and added ribbon to it.

Not a bad day for less than 2 dollars, and maybe I did enough walking, sanding, painting, etc. to burn off that biscuit.

Bold Moves

This week we made a bold move, bold I tell ya. We won't be cruising around in our

much longer. Instead, you will find us in...

Which will bring us 10,000 smack-a-roos closer to calling our friend Dave,

to let him know we're debt freeeeeeeeeeee! We can't wait to say those words, and are looking forward to having financial freedom in our lives. Our desire is to be good stewards with what God has given us. I don't think in ten years when we have no mortgage we will remember not having cheek warmers! Here's an interesting fact for ya while we are on the subject: The bible speaks approximately 700 times on the subject of love, and nearly 2100 on handling money. Stubborn humans.