best friends

yesterday, after church, we were riding in the car, and Andrew asked me, "So who all have you told about this CFA (aka chic fil a) thing?"

and I replied, "Oh, just our families and my best friends."

and he said, "Who are your best friends that you've told?"

and I said, "Oh, you know... Melissa, Rachel, Sarah Kenoyer. Oh! And Debbie, Stacy Leemkuil, and Rebecca. Oh... and Angela, Carol Napp, Morgan, Karie, Rozanne, Karissa... Oh! And Sarah Jacobson... and Carol Oakley. Oh! And Charity. And Bridget. And I think that's it.. Oh! And Laura! And I really think that's it. Oh wait. I think I may have told Kathy Dummer, too."

Andrew- "Wow! you have a lot of best friends."

And that's when it hit me. I have a lot, and I mean a lot, of best friends. And every single one of them is a gift from God. I really, really want Andrew to get the CFA job. It's his dream, it's my dream, it's what we yearn for. However, it would be torture to leave behind these best friends. If God chooses to keep us in Columbus, I will be so thankful to be able to stay with my family and my friends. If God chooses to move us to GA, I will lean on Him and trust that He will fill my "best friend void"... with Himself, my husband, and possibly new friends. But for now, I'm just so darn thankful for all the friends He's given me here!

abundant blessings!

this precious little lovebug is 12 weeks old today and he is such a blessing to our hearts!!

He loves to smile, loves to be held, loves to sleep, and loves to be with his family. he is such a joy!

Jasper and I were reading the Bible this morning, and we read Psalms 92:1 that says, "For it is good to give thanks to the Lord..." What a wonderful way to start out our morning! I asked Jasper what things he wanted to give thanks to God for, and he said, "Mmm.... My flashwight and Bwody." He truly loves little Brodybug (and, apparently, his flashlight), which is such a joy to my mother's heart!

I got started thinking about all the many things to give thanks to God for, and my list of things and my heart were overflowing.... Here are a few of my thoughts...

The last few weeks with Jasper have been rough. Really, really, horrible, this-is-my-nightmare type of rough. I started having serious, intense panic attacks during the day and horrible anxiety attacks at night (due to J's behavioral issues). I couldn't eat. Could sleep. Couldn't drink. Couldn't stop crying. I dreaded morning time because that meant Andrew would go to work and I would have to face the day, with Jasper, alone. Jasper was doing things that we never dreamed he would do. Our lives were truly miserable, despite constant discipline, taking away his privileges, talking with him, cheering him when he did things right, explaining when he did things wrong, more discipline, etc. It. Was. So. Awful. Anyway, my panic attacks were so horrible that I couldn't even function anymore, and last Monday afternoon, as I was sitting on my kitchen flooring, bawling uncontrollably, I called my pastor for counseling (with Andrew's blessing). Pastor Sol counseled us from Scripture and gave wonderful practical advice and within 24 hours, Jasper was back to "normal" and my panic attacks were gone, for the most part.

Our nightmare lasted for 2 long, long weeks with every night being a sleepless night due to J's tantrums. My milk supply for Brody vanished. Household chores came to a screeching halt. Alone time with Andrew was non-existent... due to J's tantrums. I feared for Brody's safety, I feared for Jasper's safety, I feared for everything, and with good reason.

We are thankfully done with our nightmare now, and as I look back on that trial, I have SO, SO, SO many things to give thanks to God for. Here are just a few of the things that I would like to give thanks to God for...

1. That God sustained me during this hard time. That He gave me grace and strength for the days that comes only from Him. That I can find refuge in Him during trials (Psalm 91:1-3).
2. Wise, godly, practical counsel from our Pastor, who counseled me on the spur of the moment with no heads-up.
3. Prayers and listening ears from our parents.
4. Prayers and listening ears from our friends.
5. Friends who take Jasper for the day so I can sleep and cuddle with Brody.
6. Parents who take Jasper for days so I can sleep and cuddle with Brody and Andrew.
7. Instead of watching videos before bedtime, Andrew and Jasper now read the Bible together before bedtime (this change happened solely b/c of the "nightmare")
8. The opportunity to share with other struggling moms the Scripture and practical advice that Pastor shared with us.
9. A husband who loves and comforts me.
10. A husband who comes straight home every night after work, even though he knows it won't be fun.
11. A friend who dropped everything, put in her contacts, and was on her way over here b/c my panic attack was so bad.
12. A new, biblical way of parenting that we hadn't thought of before this nightmare happened.
13. I'm very thankful that Brody takes a bottle of formula SO well (Jasper would never, ever take a bottle). Although my milk supply has vanished, Brody very seamlessly switched to formula and we have been given a lot of formula and babyfood for free!
14. That Jasper still dotes on and loves on Brodybug.


Other things that I'm giving thanks to God for today...
15. That Andrew had a positive phone interview with Chic Fil A the other day.
16. That Andrew and I got to have a date monday night.
17. I'm thankful for beautiful spring days.
18. I'm thankful that Jasper and I got to ride our bikes together for the very first time today (today, for the first time in history, Jasper learned how to pedal his bike by himself.... he now is quite the speed demon and we rode our bikes, side by side, up and down the street together while Andrew was home with Brody)
19. Hot suppers that are "easy on the wallet."
20. Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, and Grandparents who play, talk to, read to, and love on our boys.
21. Our long afternoon naps today.
22. A girls' night out tomorrow night,
23. A husband who sweetly encourages me to have a girls' night out tomorrow.
24. For spring skirts and summer hairdo's.

And so, so, so much more!!

Brody's favorite person

So Brody has a favorite person... well, a favorite animal, I should say. It's his yellow lion. He loves this lion more than life itself and always has smiles, grins, and coo's for his lion.

Today I was getting lunch ready... well, attempting to get lunch ready (I just kept getting distracted by all the cuteness)... and Brody just smiled and giggled and smiled and giggled at his lion for about half an hour. I couldn't resist. I forgot about lunch, grabbed the camera, and took about 40 pics of sweet Brody. Here are a few.

2 questions

Jasper asked me 2 questions yesterday.

Question #1

We were playing together yesterday and Jasper looked up at me, gasped, and said,
"Momma!! Where's your's baby bump?" (baby bump = my 9th month, huge, ginormous pregnant belly)

Now, I thought this an odd question b/c I have not had a baby bump in 2 and a half months and Jasper's just now realizing that it's gone?

me- blink blink "sweetie, it's gone."
Jasper- "Why's is it gone?"
me- "I don't have a baby in my belly any more, so I don't have a baby bump."
Jasper- "Dat's cwazy!! where'd da baby go? what happened to da baby?!"

and it was at this point that I was thinking either 1 of 2 things happened:

1. I have been an epic fail as a parent in explaining that Brody, our 9 week old baby, the baby who we have called Brody since we found out he was a boy last August, was, in fact, the same baby that was in my belly.

OR

2. Jasper takes after some of my more "flighty" tendencies and sometimes, the finer details of life escapes him. (aka on occasion, we're not the brightest bulb in the shed)

Question #2

Jasper keeps asking me, repeatedly, daily, constantly, all. the. time.... why Brody's hair has melted. Try explaining infancy baldness to a curious toddler.
It's an exercise in futility.
And he truly thinks that it melted. As in, it got warm and the sun melted Brody's hair off his head. It's so stinkin' cute but I've run out of ways to explain infancy baldness to Jasper, so now, being the super mom that I am, I just go with it and agree that the sun melted Brody's hair. Pick your battles, right?

brothers??

everyone keeps telling me that Brody looks just like Jasper and I honestly didn't see it. Until this afternoon, that is. I started looking through all the baby pics, and I gotta tell ya, they look an awful lot alike.

Let's see what you think...


Who is who?

and again, who is who?