Thursday, February 21, 2013

Benjamin - 5 Months Old!

Our sweet baby Benjamin is 5 months old today! Where in the world has time gone? They say that the days are long and the years are short, but I honestly feel like every day is too short to enjoy this bundle of awesomeness! No, really. I wish I could press the pause button on life with my two amazing little boys. They are both growing up way too fast!

Benjamin continues to impress us with his mild-manored ways. Of course, we do know that he is yet to become mobile and that changes everything in an instant. But we are thoroughly enjoying this stage of cuddles and giggles! It is so very precious to us!

With two teeth and a track-record of great eating, this little {big} guy is just about ready to start solid foods. I have introduced tastes to him {carrots, pears, cereal, etc.} but solids are not a regular part of his diet yet. I know he's going to LOVE eating more and more {like his big brother}!

Benjamin smiles all the time! Even when he may be having a hard day {TEETHING}, he can't help but smile when he gets a glimpse of his momma, abba, or brother! It is so tender & sweet!

We thank God for the blessing of Benjamin Henry and can't wait to see how he continues to grow!

Lovin' rice cereal!!

Love is...

Meredith 5:14 PM 1 comment Edit

My last post was pretty pitiful. I felt like such a failure until the Lord encouraged me through a lovely friend that I need to show myself GRACE when it comes to this whole photo challenge. It is called a challenge, but I'm supposed to be having fun and creating memories! So this week was a lot less about the pressure of keeping up with the list and more about capturing great moments and ~~trying to~~ being creative :)

Here, there are only three days from this week that I decided to include in this post.

"Love is..."

"Perfect"

and

"In your hand"

Of course, I don't really believe that love is a McDonald's breakfast, chocolate donuts, a box of chocolates, and Roses. However, the man who I love more than any other human in the world decided to surprise me with these yummy treats on Valentine's Day. He really does know the secrets to my heart :) He went out before I even woke up and we enjoyed these yummy treats before the day started with the boys. I loved it!!!

And "perfect" was last night's YUMMY, YUMMY banana split that I shared with Joshua! We went out to a great dinner with my parents as they were in town, and then made a pit-stop at Graeter's.

Lastly, "In your hand." Nothing, in all honesty I'm learning, is really in my hands, but for the sake of a photo, I decided to hold my sweet Samuel's hand. Love it.

THIS is love. My precious gifts from God. {Photo credit: Paige Roach}

Had to throw this pic in. My parents came for a visit to Louisville and it was such a nice time. It was short, but sweet. They are getting ready to celebrate 30 years of marriage coming up in March! Love.

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:10

Photo-a-day? What?

Meredith 10:06 AM 2 comments Edit

Sigh.

I have failed at my attempt to take a Photo-a-Day. Or at least to post them. I have been pretty good {ok, maybe 75%} at taking the Photo-a-Day from the list that this website has made. However, I have miserably failed at editing and sharing the random photos I have captured. Instead of a fun challenge that gets me taking pictures with my DSLR {or sometimes my iPhone}, I feel enslaved to this list and then guilty/sad/annoyed/frustrated when I find another day pass that I haven't been faithful to this challenge.

Grr. I strongly dislike this predicament that I'm in. I LOVE capturing every day moments, which I believe I do, especially with my iPhone. But, I don't like the list. My husband has encouraged me to keep going and not worry about the photos that I haven't taken. . .

So, I think I'm going to TRY and continue this challenge but with less pressure. I hate quitting when I've started something, so I'm not saying I'm quitting, but I'm not going to get bent-out-of-shape when I don't have my blog updated every Sunday with 7 different photos from the week. I'll probably post my favorite from the week and store the others in a file.

Just had to put that out there.

Samuel - 22 months!

Meredith 11:34 AM No comments Edit

Today, Samuel is 22 months old!

What a HUGE blessing this little guy is! He is always keeping us on our toes and helping us grow in love and patience ;) He still LOVES his Monkey, all types of food (especially yogurt and ice-cream!), and being tossed around by his abba! He enjoys touching the screen of all electronic devices and playing the instruments on momma's iPad. He has recently enjoyed Thomas the Tank Engine toys and loves banging on the snare drum that he got for Christmas (just like his grandpa).

This kid never stays still and has the energy of the Energizer Bunny. Although it can wear momma and abba OUT, we just LOVE our active, precious, sweet, persistent little boy! He brings so much joy to our lives as he learns, plays and grows!

Benjamin - 4 months old!

Meredith 7:27 PM 1 comment Edit

I can't believe my baby is already 4 months old! I definitely think this is when babies begin showing more personality and are so much fun to love! We love this little guy and can't imagine life without him. He is such a joy and brings smiles to all our faces. Samuel is just LOVING having a little brother around and takes every opportunity he can to pet Benjamin's soft, little head. It's so cute to watch Samuel love his little brother.

Benjamin is doing so well, growing fast, and getting well-acquainted with the world around him. He is 18.9 lb. and 26.25 in. BIG boy just like his big brother! We will start on solid foods soon and I just know he's going to be a fan. Looking forward to this new stage but it does make me realize how fast he is growing up! {Sigh} He is also sleeping wonderfully, giving us a good 11-12 hours a night. This is so helpful to allow more rest for momma and abba!

Benjamin is such an easy-going little guy. Napping pretty well {for the most part} and nursing even better! He holds his head and upper body up very well during tummy time which is probably why he has begun rolling onto his back in the middle of the night. He looks like a little turtle, helpless to flip himself back over. :)

We are so grateful to God for this little guy and look forward to seeing how he grows and changes.

{Had to throw in one of this handsome fellow stuffing his face with popcorn ;)}

Photo-a-Days 1.12-1.19

Meredith 2:33 PM 1 comment Edit

So I've decided that I'm going to post each week's (or so) photos on one blog post. It just gets a little too hectic to try and post every single day with all the different responsibilities. And I'm okay with that.

Photo-a-Day 1.12: Surprise

I was keeping some balloon stickers for a rainy day so that Samuel would have something fun to create with and draw on. So this was my surprise for him :)

Photo-a-Day 1.13: Circle

FAIL.

Photo-a-Day 1.14: Something yellow

Photo-a-Day 1.15: An ordinary moment

Photo-a-Day 1.16: Two {of my favorite} things

Ok, more than two. I LOVE a good Cinnamon Swirl coffee cake with a hot cup of coffee. This happens to be a decaf mocha. I also LOVE when I get a minute away to relax and read. And I LOVE The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace.

Photo-a-Day 1.17: Ready

Interesting how my day started off in Luke 12 where Jesus is warning to be ready for the Day of the Lord.

Photo-a-Day 1.18: Shadow

FAIL. {But I do plan on shooting a shadow soon. I don't think I stepped out of the house for more than a moment on this day because of the cold weather, however, I look forward to capturing the perfect shadow soon!}

Photo-a-Day 1.19: Delicious