insta-friday {valentine's edition}

I am so so so in love with the camera on my phone.  Not just that it takes super pictures for a phone, but also that it's just THERE, easy and accessible and I take way more pictures of our normal everyday than ever before.

Here's a peak back at our Valentine's week via my phone.

We started the week out with a family date night.

 Shopping for new shoes for Daddy

And then dinner at Olive Garden.

My girl knows how to order - chicken alfredo is both our fav!

It was Mr. Gavin's first family date night - and I think he loved it.

We also took the kids to Walmart to spend their gift cards from Uncle Jason and Aunt Stacy.

Mason spotted something he really hopes to get for his birthday.  He took this picture so that no one would forget about it.  Daddy was proud.  We need some OU stuff around here I guess.

 Here's the only picture I got of Taylor's Valentines for preschool.  On the back we put Matthew 5:16, "let your light shine before men..."

Thanks Pinterest!  But no thanks to Walmart and the 2 packages of glowsticks that we bought with all the glowsticks glowing already when we opened the package. I realize that 10:30pm runs to the store to pick up forgotten school supplies will be inevitable down the road - but really, for preschool?  Man, that's starting way too soon.

For lunch on V-day we met Daddy at Arby's.

And thanks to a fussy little baby, Mason and I got to finish lunch alone while the rest of the fam went to the car.

I told Mason it was our "date". So we decided to take some pictures.

Daddy came home with guns and roses for all of us.

Well, a gun for the boy, and roses for his girls.

And we had a heart shaped pizza for dinner.  Half sausage for mom and dad, and half pineapple for the kids.

Now we have a birthday party to prepare for in a few weeks.  And if a certain little boy can stop changing his mind on what kind of party he wants every other day - maybe I'll have more than 2 days to plan and get things done for it.

gymnastics

The few times we've caught gymnastics on TV, Taylor has loved it!  She runs and puts on her American flag swimsuit and comes out to the living room to do gymnastics too.  A few times Daddy has made her a temporary balance beam in the garage, promising that one day he will make her a real one.

She begs us to help her do cartwheels and flips.  We try to talk her into just doing somersaults.  We're not really sure how to help her do a flip - in a safe way.

She's been begging to start gymnastics class, so we finally got her enrolled in one.

Saturday was her first class.

 Thanks so cousin Sydney, she already knew how to do a bridge!

 This little guy has to wait his turn for Tae-kwon-do in March.

So for now, he just sits and watches patiently and perfectly.

Haha, who am I kidding.  Luckily there are some fun things to keep him busy.

Her teacher is absolutely wonderful with the kids!  It was so fun to watch.

 She was very serious the whole time.  Not many smiles.

But we are learning that that is her personality in new places with new people.

But we could still tell she was loving it. And she was definitely all smiles afterwards.

our "big" kids

Seems like posts these days are filled with the cuteness of a sweet little baby.

But I don't want to forget about capturing these 2 little ones. Or shall I say our "big" kids.
They definitely took advantage of the unbelievable and strange winter weather we had for weeks.

Yes, in shorts and bare feet.
A few mornings last week Mason spent 2 or more hours outside playing.  It was lovely.

 Taylor is getting to the age that she really really wants to help me with any thing Premier related.

I showed her where to put the labels on my new catalogs and she labeled several packages for me and did such a good job.

Mason is into Legos these days. It is SO fun to watch him get so excited and so proud about his little creations.

We've also been adding some fun decorations around the house.

Daddy keeps coming home to find more prettiness around him.

The kids begged me to build a fire this day.  Building them isn't the hard part.

It's the keeping them going that's hard.  You know, with the distraction of 3 kids.  It's hard to stay attentive to what the fire needs too. 

But I was so glad I did.  It was SOOOO cozy and we had such a wonderful time hanging out in the living room all together.

Are you getting ready for Valentine's Day?  We are celebrating tonight with a family date night.  Then we are putting Taylor's valentines together this weekend and making a mailbox for her first ever Valentine's party.  And yes, we are doing something from Pinterest!  Isn't everybody?

Paper Valentines from Walmart may be discontinued in the near future with all the Pinterest ideas I'm seeing everyone doing this year!

gavin goes to rally

Being only 6 weeks old, means that you get to stay really close to Mom and Dad most of the time.

Even for Mommy's business trips (Reginal Rally).  Let me tell you, it was way better than 2009 when I went to Des Moines and left my almost 3 month old at home.  I pumped the whole weekend.  And the 6 hour car ride home turned into a 10 hour ride because of a snow storm (ultimately meaning I had to also pump in the CAR!).  So not fun!

We were up before the sun and off to Kansas City in a convoy of what started out to be 4 cars and became 9 later down the road.

I asked Dave months ago if he'd join me on this trip and hang out at the hotel with Gavin, so that he could be there for me to feed.  The hotel is less than a block from the convention center, so I knew either I could walk back and forth at feeding time, or Dave could bring Gavin over to me.

I am so thankful that he went with such a willing heart.  I kept thinking it was an ideal weekend situation for him.  Stuck in a hotel with nothing to do but veg out, watch tv, nap, oh and watch a tiny baby.

But I realized it wasn't as ideal in his book.   He wasn't dreading it, but definitely was worried about being cooped up and bored for a day and a half.

We had a huge suite (even though my reservation was just for a normal king bed room) and a lovely view of the Power and Light District.

But just a hello from our window is all we could give. 

We didn't get to enjoy any of it like we did last year.

I know that some day Gavin will really appreciate the fact that he was present for the revealing of the Spring 2012 line of Premier Designs Jewelry.

Dave ended up bringing Gavin over to the convention center in his stroller for a lot of the time.

It was a win-win for both of us. I didn't have to walk back and forth in the cold, and he didn't have to be cooped up in the hotel.  Not that the convention center was entertaining.  But at least he could do a lot more people-watching.

And I loved getting to spend a little more time with both of then when I wasn't in a session.

  My breaks from sessions worked so perfectly with still being able to feed him on schedule, but I think a combination of just being away from home and having mommy feeding him in strange places, and all the commotion from people, caused him to be pretty out of sorts.

We couldn't get him to go to sleep for the longest time that night.  I think we finally got him down at 1am.  After trying for a few hours.  We didn't bring the pack 'n play because he's never slept in it anyway, and we figured he was young enough to not know if he was just sleeping on a little pallet on the floor.

But he didn't seem to like that very much.

So we tried this instead.

 And he slept for 5 1/2 hours!

 I remembered my mom telling me that they put me in a drawer at a hotel one time too.

What a fun memory!

 The next morning when we opened up the blinds, I couldn't help by grab my camera. I was suppossed to be showering and getting out to my first session, but the natural light and big white bed was too perfect not to have a little photo shoot.

He was a great little traveling buddy.  Even if Mommy did have a hard time keeping her eyes open during the sessions.

dedication

On January 22, we dedicated our sweet little Gavin to the Lord.

In stripes.

Yes, I realize that you can't really tell where I end and Gavin begins.  I just didn't have time that morning to do anything about it once I did realize.

What I didn't realize was that Mason was in stripes also.  Until someone pointed it out to us after we were on stage.

 It was such a neat thing to stand on stage with so many great friends that morning. 

Having friends with the same intentions for their kiddos as we do is so important. 

They help hold us accountable and keep us surrounded by love and support.

They give us a sense of community.  The kind of community that so many don't have.  And that we are so very thankful for. 

This was the first time to dedicate one of our babies since our dear friends' sweet Cora went to heaven. 

And to be completely honest and open, this dedication hit us harder and deeper than with either of our other babies.  

During worship that morning, as we sang the words

 "He gives and takes away...my heart will choose to say, Lord, blessed be your name."

my eyes filled with tears (as usual with this song).

But this particular morning, it was so fitting for what we were about to do.

God gave us Gavin, as he has given each of our other children.  They are His.

And we are blessed, honored, thankful and completely undeserving to be able to be the parents He chose for them. 

He has a good and perfect plan for each of them.  Every moment of their lives were written in His book while they were still being knit in the womb.

He loves them more than Dave and I can even comprehend.

And we must trust him completely with them.

 

 Raising children in the instruction of the Lord is not easy.

But not teaching them the ways of the Lord is like not teaching them how to eat, how to read, how to not touch the hot stove, or how to not run into the street in front of cars.

We teach them these skills to keep them safe and to help them be successful in this world.

And when we truly understand and accept the fact that they were created soley for God's own glory (as we all are)...we realize that our daily instruction and guidance needs to take on a completely different focus than what the world around us leads us to believe.

It's not easy.  And really, it doesn't come natural.  It's a daily commitment.  Sometimes an hourly commitment on the rough days.  And I mess up all the time.

But they are our gift. And as much as I want to believe that I know what's best for them, and that I can keep them safe and that I can teach them all they need to know to get through this life...

I have to remember that they are His.  And by helping my children to know Him intimately, will be the single most important thing I can ever do in their little lives.

We are thankful for the gift that sweet Gavin is to our family.

And we pray that we can guide his little feet, eyes and heart to follow Jesus in all he does.