Happy Anniversary!

We've been married for 7 whole years!  For some reason 7 seems like a long time to me.  I think because I've heard people talk about the 7 year itch or maybe it's because we have 2 little ones now.  It really might be because I don't feel old enough to have been married 7 years! 



I feel extremely blessed to have such a sweet husband.  I really value having Mark as my teammate.  We work so well together and our home is really fun.  We have a great time just being together as a family.  Besides enjoying being together it's been really fun to look back over the 9 years or so that we've been together and think about the ways that we have changed.  I'm sure that I've made some changes but Mark has made some huge changes over the years and it's been really fun to see God working in his life!

Here are three of my favorite growth areas/changes that I have seen over the course of our relationship (in no particular order)...

1.)  Mark has become competitive/athletic.  He didn't grow up playing sports or competing so it's been fun to watch him learn to push himself physically.  He now runs on a consistent basis and this year he has learned to swim!  Woohoo!  I'm really thankful that we are able to share some of these hobbies now.  :-)

2.)  He is not nearly as anxious / nervous as he used to be.  He used to have to take medicine because he had panic attacks.  He hasn't had a panic attack in years and he's able to calm himself down when he gets anxious.  He used to only be able to sit in the back row and on the end of a pew at church.  Of course those are still his favorite spots but he can now handle being in the middle if needed.  :-)

3.)  He reads the Bible every day and works on applying it to his life.  He used to attend church on Sundays and serve wherever needed which is awesome but now there is some depth there.  This is one area where I have struggled since having kids but he has been so been growing like crazy!

We celebrated our anniversary by playing hooky from church (which hasn't happened in ages).  Actually, Mom and Vern were in town for our cousins graduation party and offered to come babysit the girls so that we could go on a brunch date.  I have wanted to go to "Canoe", a restaurant in Atlanta for years and I finally made it happen!  It was such a treat!!!  The picture below was the view from our table...a soft breeze, perfect temperature, next to a beautiful garden and the river!  I was telling Mark that fancy restaurants in downtown Atlanta or Buckhead are nice but that the atmosphere at Canoe was exactly what I love! 















The food was delicious! And the peace and quiet that Mark and I had together was wonderful. I wanted to sit at our table for hours!!! Every once in awhile I get that feeling of peace and joy in a moment and I think I might just burst at how thankful I am!  I often catch myself thinking "WOW! I could have never imagined that I would live a life so spoiled." I don't know how else to describe it. I just feel overwhelmed at all of the goodness in my life that I don't deserve. I felt all those feelings today sitting across the table from Mark and I just did not want to get up. :-)















A silly side note...when we got married 7 years ago I somehow ended up with an extra bridesmaid dress.  The dress was 2 sizes smaller than anything I have worn in the last 15 years.  After we got married I decided to keep the dress for one day...today was the day.  I managed to squeeze myself into my bridesmaids dress 7 years after the fact.  I even got a compliment on the dress and Mark said, "Do they know that's it's 7 years old?!"  Pink never goes out of style.  :-)

Phone Dump

Here are some recent photos from my iphone...

I have no idea where Caroline got this idea but the other day she put two spoons in her yogurt and declared that they were having a "dance party."  Very romatic.

Gigi made another visit!  We are always glad to see her.

Libby is in full teething mode and loves to chew.  I handed her an apple slice the other day and watched closely as she chowed down.  I also think we may have a Linus on our hands in a few months.  She loves carrying around socks and I'm thinking it may turn into blankie love once she gets one in the bed with her.

I want so badly to grow a garden but was too big a chicken to start one this year.  We decided to start with "Bob" the tomato plant and see how we do.  Caroline has enjoyed watering him and watching him grow.

Caroline has been playing in her room a good bit before/after naptime.  The other day I walked in after nap to find her all dressed up and ready to go.

I got her dressed the next day in a sweet little dress that Aunt Lindsay made for her. 

First Year Down

and many more to go!  Caroline just finished her first year of preschool. She always seemed to enjoy going to school and for that I was very grateful.  We loved her two teachers.  They were both very low key and sweet which is just what Caroline needed. 

 

I also know that they thought a lot of her because they were very protective of my sweet girl!  One of the last days of school was "water day."  As soon as the I arrived one of her teachers walked up to me and said, "Caroline uses a lot of words.  Please tell me what she told you about Ms. Sarah* (names changed to protect the guilty)."  I knew exactly what she was talking about so I reported back to her what Caroline said.  "Ms. Sarah said no spin on the swings.  I cry and cry and want my mommy.  My mommy come soon.  No spin on swings at school, only at home."  Her teacher confirmed the story and then said, "I was so upset that Ms. Sarah said that to her.  She was not being bad at all.  The next day I watched Ms. Sarah to make sure she didn't say anything to hurt Caroline!"  The story made me giggle but I was glad to know that her teacher felt so protective of her.  :-)

After that story it didn't surprise me at all to walk into water day and find Miss Caroline the only one on the swing with all the water activity, parents and children in another area.   

Thankfully I was able to drag her away for a bit to paint...

and enjoy some other water fun!

We were very thankful for our little preschool and look forward to going back in the fall. 

Red Head Redeemed

I am still shocked that I have a red headed daughter.  She has the sweetest disposition and of course I think she is beautiful!   It's funny because there are times I look at her and can't believe she is mine!  People are always asking where she got her red hair and I can only thank God for answering my silly prayers.  I had always wanted a red head.  ;-)  Mark and I both have had hints of "red" in the past but nothing compared to the red of little Libby! 

The only true red head that we know of is couple of generations back and there is quite the story that I have been wanting to blog about.  My grandmother, Granny, went to live with Jesus a few years ago so it's hard to put some of the pieces together but we do know a few things.  Granny was head over heels for her high school boyfriend,  Tom, so much so that they secretly eloped at the tender age of 15.  Granny gave birth to my precious mom 9 months later.  No one really knows which came first...the pregnancy or the marriage and it doesn't really matter.   My great-grandpa, Pop-pop, understandably wasn't so happy about his sweet daughter being pregnant.  He kicked her out for awhile and she moved in with Tom and his mother, the red headed witch (at least that's what Granny called her)!  As the stories go, the red head was not the nicest of ladies.  She liked to be in control of everything.  She was also, as my mom put it, "a lady of the night."  Granny said that she would kick her out of the house, 8 months pregnant in the heat of the summer whenever she would have a man visitor over.  Granny and Tom had one more little girl together, my Aunt Lisa, and not long after they divorced.  Granny would later say that she thought the red head had a lot to do with her and Tom's relationship not working out.  As I grew up I remember hearing Granny say many times that red heads were just no good.  I even remember trying to reason with her at one point and saying that not all red heads were bad news, maybe just a few.  However, Granny insisted that red heads were just trouble.  Granny was a little quirky like that. :-)

When I think back on this little piece of family history it is so hard for me to comprehend it all.  While not perfect, my life has been a fairy tale compared to the struggles that my mom and Granny faced.  Certainly, Granny made some poor choices along the way.  However, she did the best with what she had and as she aged she sought God in her life. 

My Mom made the same decision to seek God and it has made all the difference in her life and in mine.  Mom never knew her earthly father, Tom.  Her last memory of him was when she was 3 or 4 years old.  She says she can't remember what he looked like but she remembers that he took her and her sister to see some ponies.  She remembers her younger sister sitting on the pony and she was watching.  I can't imagine the sadness that my mom has felt in her life not knowing her earthly father.  However, I know that my Mom has rested in the love of her heavenly father. 

When I look at my little red head I see Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to give you hope and a future."  I know that whatever God has in store for Libby is much greater than anything I could dream up.  Our family is in such a different place now than we were just a few generations ago because of God working.  When people ask me, "Where did she get that red hair?"  I immediately think of the red head and then think about how awesome it is that our little red headed Libby (and her red headed cousin Kelsey) are going to redeem the red head in our family.  Libby will have the opportunity to know the love of Christ and to claim it in her life.  I'm truly thankful that there is no fear for her future.  While our earthly families may have been caught up in muck in the past, our heavenly father has adopted us into his family and we have new roots to dig deep in His love!

Picture Catch-Up

I was talking with the secretary at the church where I work about how busy we have been lately.  I certainly love my peaceful, quiet afternoons when the girls are napping but outside of that I love to stay busy.  When I look back over our days they are filled with family, friends, caring for others and lots of fun.  It makes me truly think..."my cup runneth over!"

Here are some pictures of all our recent happenings...

Mark is a donut/cookie/all things sweet aficionado.  I kept hearing about Sublime donuts downtown and thought we should make the stop on the way to the zoo.  I think they were enjoyed!

Plaid shorts day at the Taylor home!

Aunt Lindsay took us to visit Tappy the pony.

We also celebrated Cinco de Mayo with the Crowes and a few other families.

While Mark and some of the other fellas were on a mens retreat, we had the ladies over for lunch.  Of course, there are no pictures of the ladies...only the sweet kids.  :-)  They look so grown up at their table.

Confidence

Last night was quite a night at our house.  Caroline was up until 11:00 crying and saying that the thunder from a storm going through was keeping her awake.  She never used the word "scared" so I didn't either.  However, she would not stay in her room.  Everytime I would put her in there she would climb out of bed and run back into my room.  We went back and forth for almost 4 hours and sadly, I finally gave in.  Mark was out of town for the night so I was in the battle on my own and she outlasted me!  She ended up sleeping on a pallet in our bedroom.  After coming into our room to finally lay down she didn't make a single peep.  I can't decide if she was that tired or if she just knew that I was d.o.n.e with her nonsense! 

This event last night was "troublesome" to me because I see it as the first of many, many battles of will.  I know that the actual problem was incredibly small and nothing in the big scheme of things but here is my problem....I have a strong desire for my children to be confident and secure in life.  I know that this confidence cannot come from within themselves and can only come from the Lord.  I do not want them to live a life of fear.  I also don't want them to be dependent on the things of this world in order to be confident or secure. I think so hard about the consequences and responses that I use when I parent because I know that they will stick with her, whether or not they are healthy.  Out of a need for conversation in the midst of my desperation last night I posted on facebook about our mini-drama.  Only a few responded but two folks said to put a fan in her room.  I didn't want to use one last night because I feel that is depending on something of this world to stay calm.  It's funny because this morning one of my friends responded that if I used the fan that she would be addicted to it forever.  Thank you for the confirmation.  :-)

I talked with Caroline many times last night about God being with her and talked with her about praying whenever she heard the thunder.  We talked about singing and taking care of her baby doll who couldn't sleep either.  However none of that worked.  She did eventually fall asleep and for that was I grateful. 

Like I said, the situation itself was minor in the grand scheme of raising a child.  This situation and the many to come bring lots of questions to my parenting heart though.  What will happen next time it storms?  Or what about the next time she doesn't want to stay in Sunday School?  Or the bigger question of, how do I instill a confidence and security in her from the Lord?  Have I given her tools in her heart and mind that she can use? 

 

Special.

This afternoon I was sitting with the girls in the play room.  Libby was crawling around and Caroline was sitting with Mark's guitar in her lap and singing. 



She has been making up lots of songs lately and it's pretty funny.  One of her favorites consists of the verses, "Gigi shut the door, I so very sad.  I have lots of bows in my room.  Gigi shut the door."  Apparently, she was playing to mom's soft spot when she was here visiting.  She kept telling Mom that she was sad when she would shut the door to her bedroom at night!  It's funny that Mom has been gone for almost 2 weeks now and we still here it.  It's pretty funny!

She was singing all sorts of silliness today and then all of a sudden I hear her say, "My mama is so special."  I turned to her right away and said, "Caroline that was so sweet.  You are gonna make me cry happy tears."  To which she replied, "Do it...do it mama...DO IT...DO IT NOW!"  Bah...she wanted me to start crying...thus her next move...singing, "My mama is so special.  My mama is so special."  I could not contain my giggles!

Needless to say I think she is pretty special!  :-)
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