happy happy birthday baby!

Yesterday was Zach's 26th birthday. For the next 4 1/2 months we will actually be the same age! How exciting for me! Having a birthday on a Sunday usually means there will be a lot going on. Zach was at church from 8ish until 3ish because they had a special practice after church was over. He got to come home and relax for about 2 1/2 hours but then it was on to Olive Garden to save a table for all our fabulous friends who were helping us celebrate. Unfortunately it took a little longer than I had thought. By the time we sat down Micah was already ready to go. Not good! I did my level best to keep him semi quiet and appeased but a different part of his personality was still seen by all. I think the Lord was trying to make me swallow some pride!

We made it through a yummy dinner and braved our way through the nasty weather back to our house to have dessert, drinks, and games. Super fun! We played a round of Taboo and then half the group had to head home to get much needed sleep. (thanks for staying up past your bedtimes!) Six of the group stayed (because they didn't need to get up early) and we played Mad Gab. That is not an easy game, but it is very humorous to listen to.

Pictures of our entertaining evening
*Make sure you look at the multitude of confused faces during the games!

deeper still

I spent this past Friday and Saturday with 18,999 women at Philips Arena in downtown Atlanta for Deeper Still. Deeper Still was a woman's conference sponsored by LifeWay and the speakers were Priscilla Shirer (daughter of Tony Evans), Kay Arthur, and Beth Moore. 13 women from our church went together and it was a weekend full of God's Word, Grace, Mercy, Worship and Fun!It started Friday night evening. We got there early to gets seats. I personally had no idea of the mad rush it was going to be to sit down. My goodness! Priscilla spoke the first night and she was my favorite of the three. She spoke from Exodus on being in the "wilderness" and the reasons that God allows us to go through struggles. Very good. She was better at analogies than anyone I have ever met. Her stories and scriptures went together so seamlessly you didn't catch until she was done! After it was over we went back to the hotel and of course stayed up too late talking. The people in my room had an awful nights sleep because our room was HOT!

Bright and Early the next morning would stood in line for breakfast, then stood in line for seats and then listened to Kay Arthur. I'm pretty sure she has the entire bible memorized. It was seriously amazing. I have a long ways to go before I could even come close! She was really good too. Very firm in her beliefs and so knowledgeable in the word.

After lunch there was a panel discussion which was very entertaining and then a break and then Beth Moore spoke on John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We could see His glory, the glory of the one and only who came from the Father full of truth and grace.

I am still pondering on the things I got out of the weekend. So much to hear it such a short time! The main thing centered around the word TRUTH. Truth can't come from us because Truth is God. You know Him by His Word and through His Son and there is no other way. For something that sounds so simple, it is so hard for so many people to believe! Praise God He lifted the blinders from me long ago and is still continuing to help me see!

**Thanks Leslie for watching Micah on Friday so that I could leave with everyone else.
**Thanks Gina, Magda, Andy, Dale, Martha, Dana, Leslie, Mary, Alicia, Lori, Delyn, and Stephanie for making the great weekend even better!
**Thanks to my in laws for taking care of my handsome husband and son while I was gone.

living with blue bear

Micah has many friends in his life but the one that is placed above all others on his list is blue bear. Blue bear is his buddy and don't try to make him your buddy because there will be none of it. Micah has slept with blue bear since our friend Magda gave him to him as a newborn. (Which reminds me...Magda where did you get that because we need to have a spare just in case!)

Last week he became super attached to him while Zach and I were away so I am suffering the consequences this week. Blue bear has accompanied us almost everywhere, however he stays in the car when we go in stores, church, the park, etc. I can see how easy it is for parents to let their kids cart around old (and sometimes dirty) objects because (1) it's much less drama and (2) it's so darn sweet and cute at the beginning. It's not until the so called object has been dragged everywhere and looks like a walking germ that you start to think maybe we should have some separation!

Here are some pictures of Micah and blue bear's friendship thus far!

cookies and milk

My favorite snack would probably be cookies and milk. LOVE THEM! Oreos, chocolate chip, macadamia nut, peanut butter, etc etc etc. This morning while I was sitting with Micah eating breakfast I happened to see a bag of chocolate chip cookies on the table and couldn't resist. I already had a glass of milk so what better way to finish it. Micah saw me dunking my cookie and had to try it so I broke off a little piece and handed him the cookie and the milk cup.

Just look at the joy it brought~

M & M: Beach Trip days 4-6

OK so I decided to make this two posts. Now taking a break will be so much easier for you!!! Just make sure you read 1-3 first or you could be totally lost. Well probably not but atleast then you will read more of my blog and make me happy!

Day 4: Seaside! We spent most of the day walking around the cute little town of Seaside. For those who don't know this is where the movie The Truman Show was filmed. There was a lot of new construction which was kind of sad because it took away some of the charm, but it was still pretty cute. We walked in a lot of stores and bought nothing because it is all ridiculously expensive, we checked out the cute beachy houses and imagined what it must be like to have money to buy one, ate lunch at a taco bar, and took tons of pictures. We ended the trip by eating frozen yogurt. Yum-o!
Day 5: The boys woke up around 5am and went fishing. It was the last day of their license. I think they may have caught one thing, but I'm sure they had great bonding time. Steph and I went to the beach for the morning and got some sun. We were trying to save up our energy for the evening. That night we went to Baytowne Wharf. It is the coolest place I have ever been while at the beach and was probably my favorite thing we did all week, but only by a little. I am determined to go there on a family beach vacation because everything you could want or need at the beach is in this one community. We got there about sunset so the view right off the bat was incredible. The shops were awesome, the restaurants were awesome, they had an awesome playground and that night they were showing Wizard of Oz on the lawn. Can you think of a better place to chill with your family!?

After Baytowne Wharf we went to Big Kahuna's in Destin to play putt-putt. I got two holes in one but considering I also got a few bogies it wasn't my best night. Zach won by how much I don't know. His prize was a cherry slushy from Sonic. What a win!

Day 6: Last Beach day! We spent all day at the beach...I seriously mean ALL DAY! We took advantage of every ray the sun let loose! We also flew a kite! It was the easiest kite flying experience of my life because the wind was so strong all you had to do was let it go and off it went. It was Justin's first time ever to fly a kite so that was pretty cool. Our kite's name was Oscar and he was an Osprey. He only got two good flights in though because he was a cheap Osprey!That night we went to dinner at Uncle Ernie's Bayfront Grill. It was so yummy! We sat on the deck right by the water and got to watch dolphin's while we ate. It was a great and relaxing way to end the week.

It's funny how quickly vacations can go. It felt like we had been planning this week for so long and then it just ended. You also get so wrapped up in what your doing while your there that you can't really appreciate it until you get home. That's how I feel about it anyway. I looked back at the week at all the fun times, moody times, semi awkward times, tired times, and straight out fabulous times and have realized that you can never look at one specific incident to decide if something is worthwhile. You absolutely have to look at the whole picture. It's like this in our lives too. There are many times when you are concentrating on one incident in your life and you get so mad, sad or depressed because all you are thinking about is that one thing then, hopefully, you remember that God is Sovereign!! All those small incidents both good and bad make up the life that He has given you. It is not until you concentrate on that whole picture that you can truly praise Him for what He is.

*Amazing what a little trip to the beach can teach you!

M & M: Beach Trip days 1-3

Last week Zach and I traveled down to Panama City Beach with two of our best friends Stephanie and Justin. I am not going to bother telling you about them because I mention them in like every other blog post so by now you should all be acquainted! We had decided to not bring Micah on the trip. We went to the beach last year with two of our other best friends Matt and Leslie and had Micah and Isabella with us then and while it was a fun trip there wasn't much beach time involved since we had a 14 month old and a 4 month old in tow. Zach and I have frequently ask ourselves what we were thinking. I guess our naive parenting minds assumed he would sit quietly under an umbrella while we lied around. So not the case!

We were temporarily childless and staying in a great beach house (thanks to Justin's dad Tommy) which gave us unlimited possibilities to do everything you can't do with a toddler. I missed my little boy terribly but still I had a blast!! There is a good chance this post could be kind of long because I am planning to give you a day by day update with pictures included but I won't cry if you don't read it all at once. Feel free to take a break whenever necessary!

Day 1: BEACH!!! Beautiful!!! It was so breezy and beautiful on Sunday. Very dangerous for your first beach day because it's a great way to get FRIED and then have a miserable rest of your trip. We did pretty well except for Justin's burned face, Zach's burned chest, and my burned booty. Ok so Stephanie did well.
Day 2: To give our skin time to heal from the first day we decided day 2 would be perfect for shopping! We drove down to the outlets in Sandestin and spent a lot of time and a lot of money. The boys racked up! They both looked so handsome in their new work clothes and it's always great to have someone else their to encourage Zach to actually spend money on himself. On the way home we stopped at Camp Helen State Park. Very cool apart from the old insane asylum type buildings and the signs saying beware of crocodiles, but I am a scaredy cat and am always envisioning the worst so don't take my word as truth! We walked down to the beach there and took pictures under the old pier. Very cool. I love old piers you know the ones just sticking out of the water. It makes me wonder what it used to look like and who used to play there.


Day 3: Justin's dad had gotten us all a Pontoon boat for the afternoon. We drove down to the harbor in PC and set out for Shell Island. Earlier that morning the boys had gotten 3 day fishing licenses so they were eager to see what they could catch. We through the anchor not far from the bay side of the gulf and walked across the island to the ocean side. The water was GORGEOUS! Much nicer than the seaweedy water we had the first day. We swam and threw the football. I ended up going to sit on the beach and let the waves crash on me when I saw the other three coming in to shallow water pretty quickly. A nice sized shark was swimming about 10-20 yards from where we had been swimming. That put an end to that pretty quickly. The rest of the afternoon we sailed/drove whatever around the water spotting dolphins and trying to find good places for the boys to fish. It was a great day!

week away

Home Sweet Home! We got back this evening from our fabulous and relaxing trip to the beach. I will share pictures and stories from that in the next day or so when I have the energy to walk to the kitchen, pick up the camera, walk back to the computer and download them. Now is not that time though!

While Zach and I were getting some quality time with friends and each other Micah was being SPOILED ROTTEN in the great city of Enterprise, AL. He spent the week with my parents, his Mimi and Papa, my brother Tim, my brother David and his wife Christina and their precious little girl Haley, and also my sister Jen and her little butterball Keelie who had come down to visit for the first part of the week.

I of course called about 2-3 times a day just to see what he was doing so I could envision it in my head as I went about my vacationing and each time I heard him having a ball in the background. They went swimming, went on walks, and played played played! I kept receiving text messages from Tim telling me all the things they are letting him eat, drink, and do that I don't. I even got a few pictures of the spoilage!


Here are the top 5 things he learned/did while we were away.
1) ate coconut cream pie
2) drank capri suns
3) drank diet coke
4) learned how to beep his nose (says beep when he touches his own nose or someone else
5) stayed up late (they are central time zone people)

I am glad he had fun with them since he doesn't get to see them a ton, but I was definitely ready to take him back. It's going to take awhile to catch up on all the hugs and kisses I missed this past week, but I am up for the challenge!

shoe obsession

Zach and I are going to the beach with Justin and Stephanie next week (yay) while Micah stays with his Mimi and Papa in Enterprise, AL. I have been running around all week getting ready. It's a job to go on vacation!

One thing I had to get before we left were some tennis shoes for Micah. He has a pair of frocs (what I call fake crocs) and another pair of sandals but no tennis shoes. We went to stride rite so I could get him measured correctly and since they had shoes on sale I bought him a pair. I wish wish wish I had a small camera to carry around in my bag at all times because the look on his face when the sales lady put those shoes on him was priceless. He was SO EXCITED! He just stared with this look of awe and kept saying shoos, shoos over and over. It was even cuter we he got down off the bench to practice walking in them. He stomped and kicked and walked all the time looking down to see what those new shoes were doing. I let him wear the new shoes out (mainly because the sandals he had on were a size and a half too small!! I felt so bad for his litle feet). He has been bragging about them ever since!!!

family photo shoot

A few weeks ago our neighbor approached us to do some pictures. She is starting a photography business and needed faces to put on her website. We gladly agreed to be her models! She did some pictures of Micah on his own and then pictures of all three of us. They turned out GREAT!! I'm not going to post them all but here are a few of our favorites!

Check out her site to see more of us and the other photos she has taken!
andreakphotography

lazy/unlazy days of summer

I don't know who teaches children how to act when summer comes around, but I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart. Micah has definitely gotten used to summertime and it's been fabulous so far. I on the other hand can't seem to sit still. I have a million different sewing/scrapbooking/decorating/play/outings in my head that I want to try and do. Oh well at least one of us is getting it.

Typical Summer Day

7:30 Micah turns his light on to let us know he is awake but is not quite ready to venture out into the day. Instead he rolls around in his crib, plays with blue bear, and throws his entire stash of pacifiers on the floor.

8ish Micah lets me know he is ready to get up by either yelling for me or banging on the wall! What ingenuity!
After rescuing him from his bed and changing the night diaper he sits on the couch with me lazily drinking his milk while we watch Sesame Street and dance (while sitting so more like head bobbing) to the music.

9:00 Breakfast time!! Micah makes a mess while eating a yummy breakfast!

Rest of Morning- After breakfast Micah usually heads straight to his chairs and begins pushing. I assume this is his morning workout! After about an hour of pushing, playing, following, etc. he comes to me and says "go" because he wants to go somewhere...anywhere and since I usually do my errands in the morning he's probably right. So off we go to a store, bank, or library.

11:30ish- By this time our little man is getting pretty hungry so he tries to climb into his high chair and keeps trying until I finally take pity on him and put him up there himself.

12:30- Nap time!!!

After nap and afternoon snack he is ready to run wild until Daddy gets home and then he runs even wilder!!!

7:00 Scrub off the days dirt!

8:00 Time to crash *Thankfully he is too young to realize it is still BROAD DAYLIGHT in Georgia at this time. We will be in trouble when he starts noticing!

I will post later about my unlazy days of summer. I have gotten a lot of fun things accomplished and read about a lot of other fun things I would like to accomplish. In the mean time I am having a great time watching my baby boy enjoy his first summer of childhood! I can't wait for the many more to come!

4 years

Yesterday Zach and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary. I know everyone says it goes by fast, but seriously IT GOES BY FAST! Zach loves surprising me with where he is going to take me and I love being surprised (especially if I know I'm going to be surprised but don't know what it will be!) I figured before telling you where we went last night I'd give you an update on how we have spent our first few anniversaries.

1st Year 'the big one'- April of 2005 we went to Paris, yes PARIS for our anniversary. I know April is not technically our anniversary yet, but my partly French husband said all the tourists go in June so we have to go early. I could spend the rest of this post telling you all how amazing that trip was but won't.

2nd Year- For our 2nd anniversary Zach took me to Helen, GA for the weekend. He had fond memories of trips there when he was younger and I had never been. Little did we know it was biker week! OH well. We still had fun looking in all the touristy shops. We also went hiking to some falls and on part of the Appalachian trail and drove on a scenic highway which is one of Zach's favorite things to do. **Did I mention the heart shaped jacuzzi tub in the corner of our room? Classic!3rd year- Our 3rd anniversary was more of a celebration of being able to get out of the house considering that Micah was a mere 3 1/2 months old. We went to a nice dinner and then to watch Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End. You can't be romantic every time!

This year- Last night we went to an amazing Italian restaurant in Buckhead called La Grotta. Delicious! and very swanky! We sat in a side by side booth and actually got to talk. WOW! We spent the whole time talking (and eating of course) and not once (well maybe once) did we talk about Micah. It was so very relaxing and special. Of course there were some humorous things about the evening too.
1) The host who sat us had an Italian accent when we got to the restaurant, but by the time we left he had lost it and was talking like a normal 20 something guy who just wanted to go to a bar after work. haha!
2) Robert DeNiro (think Meet the Parents) was our waiter. Carbon Copy I swear!
3) Same waiter asked Zach if he was old enough to drink and was then shocked to hear it was our 4th anniversary. I'm not sure if we should have been flattered or offended.
4) At the table directly in front of us sat two very wealthy women, one of which had been there frequently and wanted to make sure we all knew that. The owner of the restaurant visited their table every 10 minutes or so and the only things they talked about were his house in Fort Myers Beach and golf.
5) The water refiller was obsessed with his job! Our glasses never reached an inch past the rim. I had to get up to use the restroom 3 times which wasn't easy since you had to move the table out of the way to get up!

After our long, leisurely dinner, dessert, and (free)champagne we drove around Buckhead and then Downtown Atlanta and looked at big houses and tall buildings. It was just plain fun.

I love you baby!! Thanks for a great evening out!

sleeping handsome

I can't say sleeping beauty because Micah is a boy, although he is pretty beautiful with that awesome blond hair and big blue eyes! I was alone tonight because my musical husband Zach had another concert he was doing. It was really nice though because I got tons of Micah time. I loved keeping Isabella (how could you not), but having more than one means you have to divide your time and attention so the one on one time I used to get with Micah had been less lately. We played, played, played all day today. This evening after his bath we were sitting on the floor and he just came up and sat on my lap. TOO SWEET! We rocked and tickled and sang and laughed and even turned upside down (well he did) a few times.

After he fell asleep I didn't have much else to do so I went and stared at him a few times. I have always been a little overly obsessive with checking on him at night, but this time I just enjoyed the view. He sleeps just like his daddy, which is like a rag doll. He throws himself into odd positions or stretches out as far as he can while on his stomach. However he sleeps, he is still adorable. Sitting in a dark, peaceful room watching your child sleep is, in my opinion, one of the most precious parts of being a parent. Staring at that miraculous creation and wondering what he will be like in the future and how he has been in the past is...I can't even think of a word to describe it.

One day, the Lord willing, we will have more children. And one day they will get older and might not just come plop themselves on my lap, but they will always (at some point) fall asleep and I will be able to look at them and pray for them and wonder what their future holds and bask in the glory of what there past has been.

man noises

All those thoughts that entered your head when you read that title are oh so very true! I don't know how many of you know about or watch Jon and Kate + 8, but I am slightly obsessed. A couple weeks ago Kate was referring to the actions of her little boys when she said, "I am convinced boys are men just as soon as they are born!" I can soooo attest to that! There is such a huge difference between boys and girls, it makes me want to shake those nurture people who think you shouldn't give children gender specific toys. Perfect example, Sunday night Micah and Isabella were playing with her dolls and Micah was eating the dolls fingers and laughing hysterically! Gotta love it!

In her comment Kate was talking about the yucky noises and actions boys/men do constantly and think are fun. I got first hand experience yesterday when my wonderful son Micah learned how to make farting noises by putting his mouth on our leather chair and blowing. After the chair he figured out he could do it with his arm. I guess I just assumed they learn this type of behavior from "those other people's kids" in school, but OH NO! I guess I am now "those other people!"

you're it!

I feel like an official blogger now that I've been tagged by Steph. My instructions are to share five unimportant things about myself. Weird topic but it will challenge my brain so here we go.

1) I only lived in my Florida birthplace for a total of 4 weeks and then was moved to Alabama. I blame this move for the fact that I do not have a tan. Surely if I had grown up in Florida maybe I would not be as white as I am. Oh well!

2) I am an amazing speller most of the time which is shocking because I was a whole language child and not a phonics child. Most of the teachers who read this will understand but for you others it just means sounding out words was not really taught to me and I never knew (until college) why certain letters made certain sounds when you put them together . However I can never spell the word weird or balloon right the first time it's always wierd and baloon. I have no idea why.

3) I keep a teddy bear that my friend Katie gave me in 2nd grade in the door of my night stand. I bring it out every time I am alone or can't sleep. I slept with it up until I got married but Zach said it would be weird (had to fix this because I spelled it wrong) to be laying next to him while holding on to a bear. I think he was just jealous!

4) I can not whistle nor can I make that rrrrr noise with my tongue. It's very sad:(

5) I don't like to wear shoes. I love to buy shoes because they are super cute and society makes you wear them to certain places, but having my choice I'd walk around barefooted all the time. I'm pretty sure I get this from my mother which scares me. (which you would understand if you knew her feet!)

I hope this thrilled you beyond belief! I am now tagging Rachel and Chas and anyone who would like to leave me a comment sharing 5 unimportant things about themselves go ahead because I'd love to read them!!