Being Real

I use this blog to chronicle our life; our steps towards building our family, growing closer to God and, well just our ordinary life. One of these days I'd like to print off our entire blog and have it turned into something scrapbook-ish. This truly is a journal of our life as we try to become who we're supposed to be.


I try to be 'real' when I write and not hide behind facades and written languages. But then people tell me how they love to read the blog and how rooted in faith we are, how together we have it all, how we're always so positive and upbeat. And that's when I realized that maybe I'm not completely honest when I write, maybe I hold back when things are difficult and maybe, just maybe this blog isn't as authentic as I want it to be.

So here it goes, I'm going to be real.

I am horribly insecure.

My house isn't always clean.

I struggle with knowing what to do 'next' in life.

Love to cook from scratch.

I am fiercely independent and hate asking for help.

Horribly clumsy and uncoordinated

Love nature but hate camping.

I hate answering the phone and am forgetful about responding to voicemails.

Fiercely devoted to my friends and family.

Extraordinarily sensitive.

Rarely miss cable (except when I'm up late at night and realize Friends reruns would be on.)

I'm obsessive about order and get antsy when things are out of place.

I see my Mom everyday and most of the time I love it.

However I'm bad at calling my brothers and grandma regularly.

Try to live green but love my SUV.

While I love to eat healthy, I eat fast food too often.

I talk about winning the lottery but have never played.

Chocolate is like a drug to me :)

Madly in love with the 2 men in my life.

I rarely wear make-up and don't even know how to put most of it on correctly.

Relish Saturdays spent at farm markets and craft fairs.

Neurotic about boiling Gabe's bottle nipples and pacifiers.

I'm not always honest when someone asks what's wrong.

I love to take pictures even if I'm not the best photographer.

Think cloth diapering could be a way of life.

Want to learn to live with less but always want something more.

Sometimes take Gabe out with a smudged face or messy clothes.

Baking is cathartic for me.

I forget to pick up groceries when our cupboards are bare.

Rely on myself when I should rely on God.

Take medication daily but hate the idea of giving medicine to Gabe.

Sometimes forget to recycle.

Love cleaning my floors but don't do it often enough.

Would love to be perfect.

Who wouldn't want to be perfect? But perfection is fleeting while joy can be found every day in any circumstance. So instead of worrying about being perfect, dwelling on my insecurities and worrying about the day-to-day stresses, I'm going to start looking for the joy in my every day life.

So that's me in a nutshell... or a blog post!

In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy. Philippians 1:4

Life's a Beach

Otherwise known as the post with way too many pictures! But there were so many cute pictures taken that it was hard to choose. But as there were over 75 pictures taken, I did narrow it down a lot! You can thank me later!

So if there was ever any doubts about Gabe liking the beach, there's none now! He loves splashing in the water, sitting in the sand and just soaking up the sunshine. Of course he was heavily slathered in sunscreen, but that didn't damper his fun one bit!

Hope you enjoy looking at Gabe's first beach adventure. Because of the great success there will be MANY more to come!

The fun began even before hitting the water!

First time feeling sand on his feet.

Isn't that smile the best?

Let the water fun begin!

Trying to taste the water!

Gabe loved to splash.

Fun in the water!

Sarah and her "I don't wear bathing suit self" - I love you Sarah!!!

Gabe and Sammy relaxing on the blanket

Life at the beach... well, it's the best!

Breaking News!

This just in! Gabe wanted everyone to know that he has his 1st tooth!

See it right there, above the little light circle on the right?

It's right up there... see it?

And he's pretty excited about it!

Better pictures to come when it has popped up a little more, but Gabe just thought you'd want to know!

Crazy Days

The past 8 weeks have been crazy busy with Matt's school schedule. Crazy busy for Matt who works a full work week and then goes to class Monday through Thursday nights and crazy for me because it's just me and Gabe while Daddy's away.

The first week are so were really hard because Gabe would get so sad when 5:30 would roll around and Daddy wasn't walking through the door. Because as much as Gabe's a mama's boy, he's sticks to Matt like glue when they're together.

To counteract our missing Matt (Daddy) we visit him during the week. Our favorite place to go is the park in Valley City where Gabe gets to see his Daddy,

go for walks on the path, swing on swings, have a snack and of course, climb in trees!

Visits with Daddy are just the best! And just a few more weeks until Daddy doesn't have class 4 nights a week!

My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, "You're tearing up the grass." "We're not raising grass," Dad would reply. "We're raising boys." ~Harmon Killebrew