Almost good bye to the two's...

As I write this we are just a few weeks away from Breyton's 3rd birthday and I have been slacking on the party planning....I guess I keep thinking if I don't plan it then he really wont be turning 3 already! I do love watching him grow, but it can make this momma sad how fast it is going sometimes.

 I mean 3 sounds 'big'...no longer a baby and really not a toddler, but an actual kid. Sigh, can't slow down the inevitable.

The two's have really been my favorite age thus far (as I've said before). We've decided that 2 year olds are just natural comedians because Breyton say's the most hilarious things on a pretty regular basis. You can't help but appreciate their innocence and curiosity!

This past year has had trying days were B has pushed me to my limits. But mostly it's had days full of making memories I know we will cherish forever. I love my momma's boy so much and hope I never forget to remember to enjoy every moment and every stage because Breyton is only that age once and you can't rewind the clock. I will miss so much about the two's, but look forward to so much as he grows!


                                               2 weeks old:

                                         2 months old:

                                                   
                    Day he turned  2 @ his birthday breakfast:

Things to remember~ June

The months are going by so fast I can hardly keep up!

Some of my ramblings and memories of Breyton in June:

1) I thought June was the month B was giving up naps. It was a scary thought initially. Thankfully, it was just a 2 week sabbatical from naps...at least so far. I do think they really are phasing out just a little more slowly which is ok. They don't have to be an everyday thing, but I will enjoy the days they do still happen!

2)We have most definitely entered the stage of 'why's' and 'how's'...and you can throw in the "who, what, when, where" as well. Breyton LOVES asking questions. It's amazing how many ways he can ask a question about one thing!
 Example from earlier:
B- 'Daddy, what's that?'
M-'It's a coyote'
B-'How? How come??'
M-'Umm that's just the way God made it"
B-'When?'
M-'I guess a long time ago'
B-'Why?'
M-'Because he wanted to.'
B-'How?'
M-'Huh? I don't know what you mean'
B-'Oh, ok.'.............'What's this?' ~Ha on to the next question!

3) The crazy vast imagination. I can't possibly type or remember all the crazy stories and ideas Breyton comes up with. It's just such a funny stage-he can pretend he's in the ocean, on a tractor, stuck in the mud or rain, hiding from coyotes, chased by dinosaurs, or catching frogs at any moment and you have to be prepared to play along.

4)Here's a pic of B with his caterpillar toy which he decided one day was named 'papa'....so he would talk to this toy and pull it around saying, "Come on papa, let's go do 'this or that'...". My dad felt honored to have a caterpillar named after him! lol

5) Our cat that we've had since before Breyton was born was killed last month and B asks "where the kitty cat" is all the time. He asked again the other day where our kitty was at and I told him she was in heaven.....he thought for a minute and responded with "kitty cats can't fly". :) Such a sweet mind.

6) Last month he really liked to tell you whether he could or couldn't do something by his self. If he thought he was able to do it by himself he would make sure you didn't help in anyway. Then on the opposite end he likes to copy what he's heard us say- when you asked him to do something he'd say he was 'too tired' in an exhausted voice or 'I just can't do it'.

7)Breyton's first family lake trip was in the middle of last month and it was so much fun. Breyton loves the water and  really enjoyed spending all day everyday outside. My mistake was knocking the 3 of us off the wave-runner on Breyton's first ride...so he was a little scared of the wave-runner for a few days, but slowly started coming back around(my bad!!). His favorite pass time's were throwing rocks in the water, playing with Brooklynn, and watching the guys catch crawdads! A great plus was B slept sooo good down there almost slept in till 9 am every morning. We can't wait to go back for many more trips!

Few pics from June~

Above picture I took of  B who pulled up his lawn chair to watch a tractor mow the field behind our house. I'm sure the man loved having an audience!

Breyton and Brooklynn at the lake

                             

Finishing up a delicious powdered donut:)

Throwing rocks in the water at sunset.

Creating artwork for Breyton's room.

Finally got around to doing the project I've been meaning to do since we re-did Breyton's room awhile back.
Breyton and I really love the way they turned out! They are images of some of his favorite things and kind of sentimental to me since they use 'artwork' of Breyton's from when he was 19 months old that I had been saving.

Obviously this idea came from something I saw on Pinterest awhile back and we made it our own.Basically you take blank canvas and paint it any color. Then you use paper your child has colored on to cut out images or shapes to modge podge to canvas. I used paper B had water-colored on because we do that way more often than crayons. The images I cut out came from the print on B's bedspread in his room to go along with the aquatic adventure theme.


So we started with water-colored paper and cut out images:

Then painted the canvas in orange and blue...then ready to modge podge cut outs. Here's the finished project...which I decided to outline in black marker to make them pop off canvas a little more. Pretty simple and fun art for B's wall.

 

Summer TIme-Putting up the pool and fence!

So Mason finally agreed we could get a pool this summer:) I'm very happy since the summer's here have been getting so hot it makes it rather impossible to enjoy being outside. Breyton and I spend most of our time outdoors, so its going to be great to have a place to cool off that's a little bigger than the kiddie pool option! We definitely tried to start off as low maintenance as possible for having a pool, so we can better learn how to upkeep without getting in over our heads lol. Therefore we went with an easy set pool. It's been up a little over 3 weeks and was a way bigger job than planned with getting it up and all the extras we had to do with it.....such as discovering what we thought was a level spot in yard wasn't level enough and building a fence around it.

We got some quotes to have a fence built for us, but the pricing was outrageous....so of course without any prior experience we decided to build the fence ourselves. Seemed like the best option, and we are still glad we chose to, but it may be our first and last experience with putting in a fence. Whew, it's a LOT of work.  However, I must say we did a pretty darn good job for having no help! (Except of course for Breyton's "help").

The fence looks pretty good and most importantly has withstood 2 storms, so it must be sturdy enough. We can finally say it's all complete thanks to plenty of hard work. We have already been enjoying the benefits though and look forward to the rest of the summer. Come fall time we have plenty of big plans for turning the fenced in area to a backyard patio for a fire pit, etc to make the area useful year around when the pool isn't up. Excited for the possibilities!

Before the fence:

During the fence building:

And after:

Update on adventures in gardening:)

Some may say I'm easily entertained and I wouldn't disagree with them......but seriously growing a garden has been so awesome. Not that it hasn't been a hard work, but it's rewarding work. I mean just look how beautiful growing food is!!

I've been fascinated at the small stuff and I may be the only one, but watching how plants grow up a trellis without any help is just pretty cool. haha I've been around gardens a lot and even helped pick from them, but I guess because I was never responsible for taking care of it, so I didn't notice all the details God has so perfectly designed. These little vine 'arm' things just grow off the plant searching for anything to attach to so the plant can grow upward and it's neat to watch how fast they can wrap around plus how sturdy they are.

Also didn't realize vegetable plants grow flowers right where the vegetable itself begins to bud and grow.

So now we've come pretty full circle from seed to harvest just waiting for a few slow growers to start producing fruit.....here's a look at the garden from a little over a month ago and its grown A LOT since then as you can see.

Oh, and here's one of my cute little helper.

What to do in the waiting.

The waiting is the hardest part. I've found that statement to be painfully true in my life over the past year. Times like these put to test if my faith is really believing without seeing. Sometimes I want so badly for God's plan to line up with mine(not the other way around)....sometimes the desire for a baby and for Breyton to have a sibling "before it's too late" is overwhelming. Unexpectedly struggling to conceive and then miscarriage are a grief that seems to come in waves.

Some days I'm ok, some days I'm great....and some days the tears flow so so easily.

Each day seems to be a battle in my mind where satan is trying to steal the hope I have and replace it with fear and worry. I'm constantly having to choose what truths and what lies I will believe. Because the fact is the future is unknown......I don't know if or when we will be holding a new baby in our arms, but I do know my God is a God who loves me and promises that He has my best in mind. Does that mean the road is gonna be easy? Oh, how I wish it was...but I read a statement awhile back that I believe is true: God is more concerned with our holiness than our happiness. 

I wish everyday I could easily focus on how God is orchestrating this plan so much bigger than I could grasp and that one day it will all be clear to me....but I can't always...some days I feel stuck in the waiting.

 A place I wouldn't choose to be.

However, I can find comfort knowing this is exactly where God would have me to be. There is so much to be learned in the waiting. If we can choose to let go of the bitterness, the fears, the dashed hopes....then God can show us so much here. We can find a faith, a trust, a hope, a peace in the 'valley's' of life that we wouldn't be forced to learn on the 'mountaintop'.  I won't try to pretend that I don't have doubts, but I can say I have grown spiritually during this trial in ways I can't describe. So what would God have me to do in the waiting?.....Trust. Pray. Listen. Devote myself to his Word. Fill myself with the hope and truths I know I have in Him. And wait.  I can say, for today, God's promises are enough.

......and because God seems to speak to me through music quite often here's the lyrics to a long time favorite song that has resignated so close to my heart lately. 

"Blessings" by Laura Story

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not our home

What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy
What if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise

Wonderful week:)

It has been such a blessed past week  There were a few hard days thrown in there were sadness about our loss can over take me, but as always God is right there with reminders that He is working out a much bigger plan than I can imagine. No doubt I serve an amazing God...no matter the circumstances.

We have been so busy lately which I suppose is a blessing in some ways and thankfully most of it has been fun activities! Breyton and I have gotten to enjoy a crazy amount of outdoor time which we both love! Today we were probably indoors for 1-2 hours total. I'm lucky he'd rather be outside than watching tv anytime!

 We have gone swimming several times in the past week between the in-laws house and great friends and we love every minute in the pool! My niece also came to stay the night this past weekend along with my brother and sis-in-law and I just love all 3 of them...Breyton loves seeing them especially miss Brooklynn and she loves him too! We are so thankful for the miracle she is and how well she is doing is through many answered prayers. She started crawling this past weekend and is making leaps and bounds in every area:) Saturday I got to see two of my best friends and spent the morning at the zoo then enjoyed dinner that night plus icecream afterwards.

Thankful for this week full of sun, swimming, bike rides, baseball, food, and beautiful sunrises and sunsets.....and of course having such wonderful people in my life to share it all with.