don't blink

I've been told by SO many elderly ladies (mainly at church and at Meijer's) that: "your kids will grow up so fast, don't blink or you'll miss it." While occasionally I blink and blink and hope that I will miss a day, I normally cherish and cling tightly to my time with Jasper.

But it truly does go so, so fast. Today, I was hit square between the eyes that Jasper, my baby, is definitely a little boy now.

We were walking around the neighborhood this morning, Jasper in his Cozy Coupe, when all of a sudden, he stopped dead in his tracks, looked at a garage, then said,

"I like that garage."

I said, "What buddy?"

Jasper said, "I like that garage." and pointed to an indeed lovely garage with a variety of colors on the door and huge, beautiful butterflies glued all over it.

I said, "you like that garage?"

and Jasper very solemnly nodded and said, "yes." and then continued his Cozy Coupe walk.

I was so shocked. My little baby can not only identify beautiful things, but he can also articulate it! He's never said anything like that before.

When we got home from our walk, we went inside to get a drink and Jasper said,

"Daddy fixed our door!" (the lock was broken on it yesterday) and then he tugged on my arm until I was squatting down next to him and he said quite seriously,

"Mommy, Daddy works very hard for us."

Oh my gracious. Our little Jasper can actually talk. Not just a word here or there, but actual sentences that make sense and are relevant! I love it!! He's like a real little human!

(side note- never have I been more convicted about my speech in my life! I beg the Lord to set a guard over my mouth because it's become quickly evident that Jasper says what Andrew and I say. IE He's starting saying, "oh gracious!" a lot, a phrase I use constantly. It's actually really cute. and really scary.)

Jasper and I have had a few really rough weeks lately, due mainly to his 2 year molars coming in, but by God's grace, I think we're coming through the other side and today has been a sweet reminder to me that my time with Jasper is so short and so precious. I read a verse in my devo's the other day in Psalm 90 that says, "Teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom." That has become my fervent prayer as a parent and I'm thankful for the Lord's gentle reminder today that Jasper's growing, my time with him is short, and to cherish each moment.


And because blog posts are so much better with pictures included, here are a few from Father's Day.

green beans!!

Gardening - my most favorite passion in the world!

I love the dirt.

I love the sweat.

I love the smell.

I love reaping the reward of hard work.

I love watching the process of things growing into fruition.

I love the creativity God ordained in how we grow and eat food.

I love working with my hands.

I love how time just seems to stand still while I'm pulling weeds.

I love the chance to think and just be quiet while out in the garden.

And I love doing it with Jasper and Andrew.

And today (drum roll please.....) we harvested our first garden produce of 2013!!!! A very healthy bowl of green beans!

Most every summer evening, you'll find me out in my little garden patch, adding a little dash 'o love and a sprinkle of affection to my plants. Ahh... sweet, sweet summertime!

lovin' the garden!!

On Tuesday of this week, I decided I wanted a *little* bit more produce planted in our garden (aka a lot more produce in our garden), so I loaded Jasper up, we ran to a few different garden centers, got some more seeds, came home and planted, watered, and weeded the garden together. It was so much fun!! Jasper loves working in the garden, mainly due to the water aspect, and I love working in the garden, mainly due to the dirt aspect, so we make a great pair! :o)

here are a few pics from what turned out to be quite the adventure! (by "adventure", I really mean "it will take a miracle for anything we planted to actually grow b/c Jasper was really into eating and throwing the seeds rather than planting them and I was enjoying him too much to make him stop")

rough day

Jasper and I are having quite the rough day today.

It's nothing major.

Just rain. dreary weather. cranky and fidgety toddler. crowded meijer. exhausted momma = rough morning

normal parenting stuff. But it's still been quite the rough one nonetheless.

Andrew and I always, and I mean always, talk on the phone every day during lunch. Today, though, I sent him this text:

"hi love. I would love to chat with you today, but I truly don't have the mental, emotional, or physical strength to talk. sorry. :o( "

As I was putting our groceries away just now, the following verse kept running through my head.

"The Lord is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts and I am helped. My heart exults. And with my song, I give thanks to Him" Psalm 28:7

It's the verse that's always running through my head no matter what.

It was my lifeline when we were going through our infertility struggle, when we were rejoicing when we found out we were pregnant with Jasper, during my C-section operation, during sleepless nights and tired mornings, during good times and rough times.

And I'm so thankful that it kept going. and going. and going. and going through my mind this morning. I love that verse and it's always a huge refreshment to my heart and soul.

But still, if you think of it, please pray for the Ohio Meades today, that we will survive the day.

popcorn party!!

While in Mexico, I dedicated a day to reading, studying, and praying about parenting. I wanted to use at least a little bit of my time to try to grow in my role as a mom to sweet Jasper. During that day, I read through a little book called, "Loving the Little Years; Mootherhood in the Trenches" by Rachel Jankovich and it was a great, great book which greatly encouraged my heart and gave lots of little practical tips about mothering toddlers. One of her little tips was to just have fun with your kids; as much fun as possible. It doesn't have to be big or expensive or anything. Just find little ways to make their lives a blast and to laugh and have fun together.

So... when Andrew texted me yesterday afternoon and asked if he could pick up anything for me from WalMart, I immediately asked him to get lots of popcorn because I wanted to start having "popcorn parties" with Jasper. Cheap, easy, fun, and ever since his birthday party, he is in love with "parties" (who wouldn't be?? :o)).

Tonight was our first popcorn party and it was a smashing success!! Jasper got to choose anywhere in our house or on our property to have our party and he chose mine and Andrew's bed upstairs. He just rolled around, squealed with laughter, and shouted with joy; we taught him how to throw popcorn in the air and try to catch it with his mouth, we acted like the bed was a trampoline and jumped like crazy, etc. It was a blast... and not just for him! Andrew and I had a ball, laughing together, pelting each other with popcorn, and just enjoying the moment and our little family. I foresee many, many popcorn parties in our future!!! :o)

a little slice of paradise! :o)

9 days away
jasper spending a fun-filled week with his nana and papa
Andrew and I basking in the sun on our Carribean beach
reading, eating, drinking, sleeping, and swimming
oh, and eating some more
the most amazing time of our lives!!
(did I mention eating?? we ate a lot! a lot, a lot! we're both about 15 lbs heavier :o))

We just got back from the most glorious vacation ever! Andrew and I had the time of our lives in Cancun, Mexico and feel so blessed to have been there and refreshed as we start back to "normal life". :o) Here is a quick (or maybe not-so-quick) summary of our trip! :o)

Our room! My back is to the balcony as I take this pic. There's an AMAZING bathroom behind the bed! It was truly fantastic! Also, there was a tv, desk, and fully stocked mini bar to the side of the room (not pictured here).

Our first moments in our room and on our balcony! Our balcony was an amazing wrap around balcony (a special blessing from the Lord!!!), so we could see north, east, and south... basically, all the way up and down the beach! It was amazing!!

here you can sorta see how the balcony wraps around...

putting my feet up on the balcony :o)

After arriving, we raced down to the beach and just blissfully collapsed under a cabana (outdoor bed with a thatched roof and curtains to pull for privacy). You can see the palapas (chairs under the huts) in the front of us.

Andrew won bingo during lunch one day and got a snazzy polo and a gift certificate for their spa (woohoo!!)

reading on the beach and watchin' the waves!

Catching a glimpse of the sunset while eating dinner at the Lobster House.

Swimming in the Caribbean!

We had the BEST server in the WORLD at Agave! His name is Jorge and he talked and talked with us, told us about his life in Mexico, made the most amazing Myan Coffee for me, etc. He was wonderful!

Manuel was our beach concierge who always set up our palapas for us and made our "beach beds". He also was so, so wonderful and called us "Mr. and Mrs. Meade, my best friends!" and always knew what our fav drinks were and what all our preferences were and catered to our every wish! He was amazing!!

We had the most gorgeous walk on the beach while watching the sunset one evening! The north side of our resort is completely bordered by uninhabited jungle, so other than our resort, it was pretty deserted, which was lovely! No one was on the beach except the people from our resort, so we could quite often go on romantic beach walks and not see another soul!

They had lots of outdoor beds on the beach.

The romantic dinners on the beach!

Handsome hubby!

random beach pic!

Swimming in the lazy river! This was our daily "activity", as we called it. We typically woke up around 10ish, ate a huge breakfast and then went straight to the beach for intense relaxing. Around 4 every day, we decided we should do an activity to get the blood flowing, so our "blood-flowing activity" was to float around the lazy river a few times before getting ready for dinner. Talk about an intense cardio workout! :o) 

Enjoying each other and the balcony before dinner one evening.

Every night, they had various shows in the theator (a madonna show, Michael Jackson, folk dancing, magic show, circus, etc), an open air thing that people could just wander in and out as they pleased. We loved the shows and watched quite a bit of them!

This was our final morning, getting ready to check out (sniff sniff!).

Nothing, and I mean nothing, could have been more perfect on our trip! The Lord just kept giving us all kinds of amazing blessings along the way. From "exit row" seats on the plane (andrew's absolute fav due to the extra leg room) to the free upgraded wrap-around balcony, to the new friends we made on the plane (flight attendants really have fascinating stories!) and in Mexico (Manuel, Fidel, Maria, Mariana, Rachel, Jorge to name a few)... every aspect was just so perfect and the Lord blessed us with so many amazing little things the whole entire time!!

We are so indebted to my parents who graciously gave of their time and lives to watch Jasper for 8 days so Andrew and I could go on this trip!! My parents were SO great and always gave peace to my heart throughout the trip by telling me how wonderful things were and how much fun they were having! The whole "jasper aspect" could have made our trip really hard on my heart, but the Lord was so gracious and my parents were so wonderful, and it seems as though Jasper had just as much fun as we did during those 8 days!

Both Andrew and I are completely rested, refreshed, sun-kissed, a little heavier, and so totally chilled out. :o) Adios!