Tough Love.

"I don't want my children to be what I want them to be. I want them to be everything God created them to be."

Some days being a Mommy is the hardest work. It seems that I am the last to go to bed most nights and obviously the first one up. I have watched both babies grow and develop right before my eyes. Sometimes these things are harder than others. Although, I think my hardest thing thus far in parenting in being patient even though I know they can do better.

Lately it seems that I struggle with knowing when to stay calm and let things pass by or when to go out of my way to either encourage or discipline. I feel at times that I may push (Charli) them to hard. It is not because I just want them to succeed in whatever it may be, it is because I KNOW they can and will do better once the push is given. This goes for anything from homework to softball.

I struggle with thinking that I am going to be a parent that makes a sport zero fun. For an example, Charli's softball coach continued telling the girls not to look at the ball when they run. What did my girl do when she hit? She looked. So I yelled out on the field and told the coach, so she could be reminded once again. I was picked on by parents for getting her in "trouble" but in my eyes that wasn't it. It is part of the game, you put your head down and dig those feet to the next base. I know she gets it, because I have watched her. I know that she gets writing her name neat but I also get that she is 6 and gets in a hurry.

I was really praying over this issue the other day while we practiced homework. Char got frustrated at me so I sent her to her room, she came back in wearing a batgirl mask and a super Charli cape saying "I'm ready now Mom" and I could not help but to laugh. Thank you God for reminding me just how cute and innocent she is (because Momma was loosing it.) it was such the grand reminder that kids are kids and even when we tough love them, it works. It may not be the best parenting style but it works for me.

Family Photographs

There is nothing in the world that can brighten a soul better than a family photograph full of love and joy.

Each time that I spare a few moments and look through the new photos that For His Glory Photography took of our family, I simply become baffled at the fact that just a few short years ago my life was SO different. God is so good, and he answered so many prayers just by bringing Curtis into my life.

These photographs caught our moments of joy that we share as a family. We are goofy, simple and quiet boring at times as we live our simple life on the beautiful family farm. I have more to photos to share that capture just as much beauty. Thank you Brittany for taking the time to work with our family!

Bryar Wayne is 10 months!

Baby Bryar turned 10 months on August 5th, and it is making my Mommy heart go crazy to think that in just 2 short months we will be celebrating him turning one! It has been such an wonderful blessing being his Mommy already! Just as with Charli, seeing Bryar go from 4 lbs down to 3 to where they are now is amazing. God is SO good!

Bryar has grown so much in the past month and has became such the little stinker. By stinker I mean that the boy is into everything and is everywhere. Just days are he started crawling, he started trying to stand up on his own. Although, he is doing just fine at pulling up onto things so far. We recently purchased a baby gate to keep him from going towards the bathroom, because that seems to be his most favorite room of our home.

He has two teeth and in the last few days he has been working on me. It has been such a joy! NOT. Teething plainly sucks.

Bryar Wayne still hates baby food but has become a huge fan of yo baby and yogurt blends. Recently I have started blending canned green beans from the garden along with a baby food and he really enjoys that! It is not unusual for Bryar to sound like the exorcist growling if I do not feed him quick enough. He is still taking Neosure formula, and has bottles of 6 - 8 ounces.

Sleeping through the night? Ha, no way. Little man is still hungry at least one time a night between 3 and 5. Which is a whole lot better than getting up 3 times like we were.

He is still wearing pamper swaddlers size 2 and his clothing can be anywhere from 6 - 12 months. Our buddy is a long and skinny fella!

His talking is very minimal still, which is very expected. I believe he says "hi" & "dada" the most and only "maaamaaa" when he is fussing. Just my luck huh?
He has started to wave but only at other babies or small children. Clapping and dancing were just picked up in the last week and a half. But the best of all is his new excited/silly face where he scrunches up his nose and squints his eyes while smiling. It is seriously hilarious.

We have started to plan his first birthday party and the theme is going to be farm animals because he loves the cows so much. I have such big plans for his birthday :) But seriously I do not want to fathom the thought of the day he turns one!

Kids Vacation Book

For our trip to Florida my Mother in Law wanted to do something special for Charli since this was her first time going by plane. She packed one of her backpacks full of treats, a vacation book, coloring book, craft and crayons.
(We also had to add in a stuff animal horse, but that is another story.)

The vacation book is something that I thought was super sweet and that she can keep for years to come. I hope and plan to do something similar for every trip now on.

From what I was told she picked up a personal journal at Hobby Lobby, along with scrap booking stickers. She ten designed the book with different things such as:

- Did you try any new foods? If so, what were they.
- where all did you visit on you trip?
-Draw a picture of your and Bryar playing on the beach.
- What was your most favorite thing about the plane ride?

Charli worked on the book on the plane ride home. It was a great way to occupy time as well as a way to cherish memories.

Florida PT. 2

After arriving in Florida we planned a few days of outings for us and Curtis' family. The Tampa zoo and aquarium were the top on our lists, not to mention the beach of course! We had a few days of rainy weather which made the trip to the aquarium perfect.

When we were finally able to adventure to the beach we discovered that Mr. Bryar not only is a water baby but he loved the sand too. It really intrigued him falling through his tiny fingers.

Charli on the other hand isn't as outgoing and even though she has been around the beach (and pools) a lot it took her time to warm up to it. By the end of the week, she was swimming under water without holding her nose or swimmies. If you know how dramatic our girl is, you will know that it took quite a bit of work to make this happen! ;)

It Finally Happened!

I have alway worried myself over the day that Charli would cut her hair. No, not at a salon, I mean with her scissors in her room. I know that most kids do this and really make a mess of themselves and I never wanted Charli to have the sideways bangs that I famously wore half of my childhood. I started to get a little proud in her age and this not have taken place. Then tonight happened....


As I was cleaning the playroom and sorting through bins of puzzles I came to a stack of hair at the bottom. At first I thought "well heck she cut her babies hair!" then I thought that it looked kind of like Charli's! With confirmation from Curtis we knew sure enough that it belonged to our rug rat!

I asked CB if she cut her hair and se quickly replied with a no, as well as her famous "Mom you are so crazy" look. I started laughing at told her that it was totally okay if she did. Then her story changed, she laughed and replied with "yes, I did but I didn't know that I did! It was a long time ago like when i was 5" Oh whatever kid...just be thankful you had really long hair and I never noticed!

Dream Come True!

Today is the end of one journey and will the beginning of the journey that I have anticipated for since becoming a Mother. I will be staying home with our kids and providing care for others to bring in extra money for our family!

I am excited and nervous for this new path that we are taking! We have prayed over this for quit sometime. At one point I felt as if I was getting mixed signals from God when I had a conversation with my boss but thankfully my answer was given to us soon after. :)

My sweet coworkers have been nothing but wonderful since hearing my news. As I came into work this morning they had a cake and the sweetest card for me! I am so blessed to have been able to work with some great people during this time!

We continue to ask for prayers as we embark on this new adventure!

I support!

I have always been a fan of things that become such a commotion that I am a believer in. A lot of Christians are keeping their heads out of the Chick-Fil-A choas but not this girl. Not because I love to fued because honestly I do not. I am not a dramatic type person but I will put my foot down about things that I am a believer of.

The other day I posted on facebook "I never knew that a chicken sandwich could become so policical." Well, to be honest after reading what I posted I started thinking that it was more than likely read into the wrong way. I in no way wanted this to come out as if I am not a firm believer in the rights that we have as Americans. This is not about a chicken sandwich, this is about a man standing up for his God, his faith and his values. This is what America is all about, in every situation. Even if I may not agree with your ways, you still have the right to say and believe the way that you do. This is all about FREEDOM to me.

Do I think that this man was calling out the gay community by saying that they are believers of the biblical marriage? Gracious no.

I am a supporter of religion, freedom of speech and businesses that stand by their beliefs no matter what our liberal (Yes, I JUST went there) media says about them. So today and every other day I support CFA - always have, always will. I love a great business with great morals and ethics.