Interact- What is Grace?

Today I started my Tuesday morning bible study at church. I am so pumped & so happy to be involved with such a great group of women. Not to even mention how grateful I am to be able to have the opportunity to get to study The Word with these ladies. Our group has 30 women in it ranging from a junior in college to women with 6 great-grandkids.

We are studying Galatians & Ephesians. Each week will dig into one chapter and discuss. I can't wait to get started and see what God will reveal to me.

Ascher was in a different room today. A big boy room. They had a little schedule when you dropped him off that said 9:30-10 buggy ride, 10-10:30 indoor play 10:30-11:15 music. He was in the infant room before and just played in a swing basically. Now he gets a snack, and to crawl around everywhere. When I picked him up he was PASSED OUT! He didn't wake up when I took him from girl, walked to the car, put him in car seat, took him out of car seat, and he slept for another hour when we got home. He was so tired! They said he loved the buggy ride and flirted with all the workers-- go figure ; )

They asked us today in bible study- "What is Grace?" When you think of the word Grace, what do you think? How do you define it? I'm gonna mediate on it this week- please share with me your view of Grace...


^{Galatians 1:10
10} Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people?If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Our 3 day weekend

Last weekend we were busy busy busy! Saturday I woke up and took Ascher to Natalie's parents house (they live on land) and we took some super cute photos of my little man.

After photos we came back and took a nap. We had to take them early so that it wouldn't be too bright- along with his nap time is 10:30ish. He is doing this new thing where he goes to sleep on my head! 

At 12:30 Taylor & Eric dropped off Emerson and Ella so they could go to Eric's best friend's mom's funeral. I helped Justin for 30 minutes then I left to go get my hair cut. : ) I am so glad I got my hair done! It was in desperate need! I didn't even realize it was THAT BAD!! YIKES!

I already had it scheduled and we didn't know we were gonna watch the girls until Saturday morning so Justin was on his own with 3 kiddos! He did great! I was back before long and he did great. Once I got home, it wasn't long until Ascher & Emerson were ready for afternoon naps. The babies went to sleep while Ella and I played on the Ipad together. This is how Justin babysits:

Sunday was low key. I woke up sick so I took some medicine and when Justin got up I went back to sleep until 11:30. I was miserable. Still felt pretty miserable all day. I went over to Natalie's to craft for Valentine's day. We made LOVE banners and wrapped canvas with cute fabric to put a letter on it. I haven't finished my canvas cause I don't have a K but Kristen finished both and hung them up and posted a pic so I stole it to share with yall! I am sure she doesn't mind. I'm gonna Valentine decorate tomorrow! : ) 

On MLK day, I woke up and got ready to SHOP! I met Ragan & Chelsea at the outlet malls in Houston for the day! It was so much fun! I did some damage and had a blast! Granted my first three purchases were for Ascher, Justin & Hadley. After that the girls said I had to buy something for ME since that was the purpose. I was on a misson for brown riding boots. I couldn't find any and had all but given up and we went into Nine West on our way out- there they were. ONE LONE PAIR. a 7.5. yikes. not sure I would fit- I put them on-- it was like the glass slipper! PERFECT!! $175 on clearance for $39!!!! I'd say I got the deal of the day!!

You can't see them that good- but this is the only picture I took. Anyways- we had a great weekend and this week we are going to be super busy! Justin has to go to some jobs, run to Houston for the day, I have bible study, MOPS, Aschers 9 month shots and a Ladies Night Out. Busy week!! 

WIR- Week in Review

Monday:

• Finished my second book of the new year. What?!? I've got to start going to bed instead of staying up into ungodly hours of the night. So far I've read Safe Haven by NIcholas SParks and Matched by Ally Condie. I'm gonna start the second book in matched series tonight. 
• Ascher loves to pull up on everything. He doesn't even need anything to really hold onto. I caught him standing at the back door banging his ball into the window & of course, trying to eat the window 

• We had spaghetti for dinner. Sounds so boring but it was so good. I hadn't made it in a long time. 

Tuesday

• Freezing outside!!!!! I didn't want to do anything because it was so cold! So instead we played inside and kept warm. 
• Ascher wants to crawl everywhere. And it doesn't mater if there isn't enough space for him either- he will make space or cry about it. 

• I think he might finally be getting teeth. He has screamed all day. Granted he also has an ear infection but he seems to be drooling more. He is crying like he is in pain. Breaks this mamas heart. 
• We went and visited our neighbor tonight. She is super sweet and I like to catch up with her whenever we get the chance. Ascher thought her dog was hilarious. He crawled after her the whole time. 
• How could I forget what happened today?!?!?!? Ascher said mama for the firs time!! Granted he was in his crib screaming for me to come get him but a mama is a mama and I'll take it. 

Wednesday

• Justin made my day when he texted me that they were coming into town for lunch. (He works 45 minutes away). He wanted to know if we wanted to meet him at Fuzzy's for lunch. UHHH YEAH!! I hurried and got us ready and headed out the door.
• It made my day to see Justin half way through the day. I think he liked seeing us too. Even Lee, his buddy, said- good maybe now you'll be in a better mood. They laughed and said they were kidding- but still makes my heart happy that Ascher and I could turn Justin's mood around.
• When we got home from lunch- I went into super cleaning mode. I told Justin if he was sweet to me all the time the house would always be spotless. : ) I was in such a good mood from lunch that I wanted to make sure he was happy when he came home. 
• This is normal right? Pip is small enough that I just pick him up, put him in high chair and he eats all the fallen food. : ) Normal right?????

Thursday

• Today I woke up and felt like crap. I had a headache, tummy ache- the works. So I drudged through the morning until nap time. Then when Ascher went to sleep I laid right down with him. And he was so good- he slept for 2 hours! He never sleeps that long!! This is how I woke up. *Excuse my fake sleeping- Justin always makes fun of it*

• After nap I felt much better- we ate lunch then headed to Target. Baby food & formula was on sale. Score! 
• I got Ascher this super cute nautical sweater. Go DG! I am training him up in the Delta Gamma ways...

Friday

• Justin went to gun range on his day off with a buddy from work. He is on such a gun kick. It has gotten a little ridiculous.
• I cleaned out all of Ascher's 9 month clothes : ( Tear
• I also made this collage of Ascher's photos- how depressing is that!? I mean on one hand its beautiful- he is growing up and is healthy and happy- on the other hand- so depressing- I want my little snuggle bunny back.

• Is it sad how excited I get about new knee high socks!? I love them. I live in them in the winter! I am so cold all the time. You like the little foot in the corner? haha

• I have been so sappy today. I have thought so many times how much my heart could explode the amount of love I have for my little boy. Every thing about him makes me smile (minus the rolling over while diaper changes). Watching him explore new things, getting excited when he sees something he wants as he crawls real fast to get to it, getting stuck under the kitchen chair and having to figure out how to get out- whether he crawls under or over the ledge (he does both)- but today my favorite memory is putting my sweet baby to sleep. He has a cold again and so I had to clean his nose (which he hates) and even though I was the one bringing his tears, he still wanted me to hold him and as soon as I picked him up- he lay his little head on my shoulder and snubbed a little and then was ok. I went to lay him down and he turned into me and held my hair like he always does and took a deep breath- like I'm safe- I can sleep. and he drifted away into sleep. I laid there watching him sleep for a minute unable to comprehend the love and joy he brings me. I came out into the family room and scrolled through my facebook album of his monthly pictures and I couldn't help it, I started crying. Like can't breathe crying. What happened to my little baby!? I love him so so much!! *sorry for the sap*

My Birthday Weekend

Last weekend I turned 26! This time last year I was 28 weeks pregnant!! Here we are last year.

This year I had a weekend long celebration. On Friday, Justin and I went to Wings N More with Natalie and Issac. The babies tagged along and did great. They had fun eating  throwing their food on the floor. I can't believe I forgot to take any pictures. We were just having so much fun I forgot. We ate dinner and chatted and headed home to get the babies in bed.

Justin had to work Saturday half day. Mom got here around 9:30 on her way to Dallas. She is keeping Hadley, my niece for the first week Jessica has to go back to work. We hung out and I showed her my latest  snapfish books. : ) Justin got home and we all just hung out and enjoyed watching Ascher play. We all ended up taking a nap in the afternoon- which is so unlike us but apparently we all were tired. Mom brought cupcakes from my favorite place in Kingwood. We ate cupcakes before Justin and I went on a date night to Chilli's. YUM! We used to always go there so it was nice to eat again! They have the best queso!

 Ascher looks like he is ready for some cupcake!

We had a wonderful date night and Ascher was perfect for Mom and was asleep by 8 like a good little boy. After dinner, Justin and I went to Best Buy and bought me a printer! Woohoo! I loved my printer in college but in the many moves since then I lost one of the cords and never could get it to work again. We had a few crappy printers but nothing that ever worked more than once so my parents & Justin got me a fancy printer! I love love love it! It's wireless and I love being able to be in one room and print to the other! Thanks Mom & Dad & Justin!

Sunday was my actual birthday. I woke up and fed Ascher in bed. While I was feeding him, Justin brought me cinnamon rolls in bed! My favorite!! YUMMY! After debating going back to sleep or not- I got up and chatted with Mom before she got on the road. After mom left, I gave Justin a little smirk and slid back into bed. Woohoo! Daddy let me sleep until 11 am! It was heaven! Best birthday present ever!! Once I woke up, I did normal things for the day- cleaned bottles, picked up the house, cleaned out the study so the printer would fit. I didn't take one picture on my actual birthday. Sad. I don't think I even put make up on though so its probably for the better. ; )

It was a wonderful birthday weekend and I look forward to what 26 will bring!!

Randoms from the Week

Tuesday 1/8:

1. I love rainy days. I haven't gotten out of my pj's all day. And I don't plan too.
2. I do wish though it would warm up a little. I am ready for walks to the swings and being outside again.
3. I love hot chocolate. Justin drinks coffee every morning and I am always still freezing so I started drinking hot chocolate every morning. hmmmm yummy warms me right up.
4. I made a delicious crock pot dinner tonight. SO easy. Delicious & Easy
5. Ascher woke up from afternoon nap with 100.5 fever. Gonna keep an eye on him. Look at how he napped. Comfortable...I think not.

Wednesday 1/9

1. Rainy again. PJ's all day again? Why yes I think I will. Yesterday all I did was shower and put pj's right back on. 
2. Called doc about Ascher- took him in (which means I had to get dressed-yuck!) and I was right...ear infection. Poor little guy- no wonder he's been a fuss bucket.

   3. As fussy as he was today- he still pulled up on everything. 

4. Tonight Justin and I were going through our bathroom drawers and both of us came across old contacts we had. Both of them being boxes of colored contacts. We put them in- we got a good laugh out of it. Justin's were blue. It looked creepy! Mine were just enhancers...I liked them. I might get me some next trip to the eye doctor. Anyways- we took pictures but they are too funny and embarrassing to show. Haha!

Thursday 1/10:

• Pip and Ascher are really BFF. I love they have this bond. They are too cute. Granted, Pip sometimes is grumpy and doesn't always want to play- but mornings like this melt my heart. I love when Ascher turns around to try and chase after him and face plants but continues laughing. 

• Ear Infections are not my friend. His ear is really bothering him and so he doesn't want to eat and it drives me nutty! He sits there hungry but screams cause he doesn't want to eat. Breaks my heart but also frustrates me!! 
• He was so cute tonight- he watches Pip carry toys around in his mouth so he took one of his stuffed animals (that used to be a paci- until Pip ate the paci off), put it in his mouth and crawled around with the stuffed animal in his mouth. Justin and I were dying. So cute!
• I ordered some fleece lined leggings from Hazel & Olive (a friend of mine started her own online shop- LOVE IT!) and I LOVE the leggings. Even Justin, who hates leggings was like you're never taking those off are you!? : ) Nope...and they were only $12! SCORE! 

Friday 1/11

• Today is Elissa's birthday!! WOOHOO for 26! I love you Lissa!!!

• Doing much better today with eating- now that some medicine is in him- I think that is helping. Actually ate breakfast and lunch...we will see how he does come dinner time.
• Speaking of dinner- we are going to dinner with Natalie and Issac to celebrate my birthday at Wings N More! Woot Woot!! So excited!
• Today Ascher and I had a play date with my friend and old neighbor, Kelly. She has a 2 year old and a newborn. It was a lot of fun. Ascher and Jake played on the swings (her swing set has a baby swing and a big kid swing) and played with his trucks. Granted, Jake would show Ascher his cars and Ascher would eat them. They also wrestled and laughed. It was so cute watching Ascher actually interact and play with another kid. I see a lot more play dates in our future. 
• Guess I should go get ready for dinner- I kinda like doing my week like this-- every night I sit down and jot a few randoms from the day down. I might just keep doing this...

New Years Eve

For New Years Eve this year we went to Pearland to stay with Daniel and Megan. They stay with us during football season so it was nice to go visit them. We got there and all just hung out before Daniel starting cooking away. He made a delicious steak stir fry. Oh my was it good!?!

We also opened Christmas presents from Daniel & Megan. They got us some awesome pj pants. Daniel & Megan always wear themed pants when they are here during football season so they thought we needed to have some too. Justin's are Mario and mine are Marvin the Martian. Too cute! They also got Ascher the cutest Finding Nemo bath toys.

After we ate we decided we needed to take pictures before the night wore on and we all wanted to put on our PJ pants. Don't worry it was only 8 pm. Before we could pose Kason took the camera and had a little fun with Ascher.

Then I made everyone pose by the Christmas tree...

Kason & Carla (with Daniel photo bombing)

and yup...now that the word is out I can share...DANIEL & MEGAN are having a BABY!!!!! She is due July 1st. We have known since the beginning and I have made them take pictures like this every time we are together but I never can post them anywhere because no one knew!! WOOHOO! Secrets out!!

And our little family! I am just so happy. This year has been so full of joy and I can't imagine being happier. 

After pictures we all went and changed but first some family play time with Aschers table...even Uncle Kason had some fun with the table..notice in our picture we are all playing with Ascher. In Kason photo- its just Kason playing by himself with table. Haha!

Then it was pajama time...Carla & I were having fun in our pj's. I love Megan laughing in that one!

I think I was showing off my full tummy and I have no idea what Carla was doing..haha!!Then I made preggers get up and pose with us.

The rest of the night was real eventful let me tell ya. We watched three pretty little liars while the boys played video games. (NERD ALERT) After that we all played Cranium. It was a lot of fun. I tried to get the boys acting out on video but every time I would video it wasn't funny. Go figure. Midnight came. We kissed hello to the new year and goodbye to the last. Toasted with Champagne and went to bed. We got pretty wild- can't you tell? : ) 

2012: A Year in Review

Warning: Extremely long post full of pictures : )

Wow. To even think about the year 2012 and everything that happened this year is unbelievable!  I think I am just going to do a written review with maybe a few photos per month. So lets get started...

January:

6 months pregnant

Turned 25 years old

Passed my sugar test

had our 3D ultrasound

Nursery bedding came in

First baby shower- Storybook Shower

February:

got a ticket for failure to yield to a pedestrian

2nd baby shower (Kingwood)

Emma's baby shower (Natalie)

3rd baby shower (Kingwood)

Justin built us a headboard for spare bedroom

took Maternity photos

March: (best month of the year)

went and saw Blue Man Group

Cambrey came down, went to lake

Baby Shower at school

Emma was born (3-13-12)

went to Carla & Kason to eat with Nana

got solar screens

cleaned the house like crazy pregnant lady

Pip got haircut

Swollen

ASCHER BORN (3-29-12)

Ascher is jaundice

April:

Came home from hospital

learned how to be a mommy

learned how to be a family

got new couches

Ford place messed up my car and I had to get rental car

Went to Graysons baseball game

Chelsea & Garrett got married

Ascher turned 1 month old

May:

went and visited school

spent alot of mornings on the porch & going on walks

had lots of visitors

two month shots

1st Mothers Day

Resigned to be a SAHM

1st time in the pool

Fussy month (upset tummy)

2 months old

June:

went to Kingwood

Ascher met his Great Grandma (Nana)

Baby Dedication at Central Baptist Church

Rolled over

Justin's 1st Fathers Day

Happy Happy Baby

got studio photos for Ascher's 3 month photos

3 months old

July:

Grandma fell

Lake House on the fourth

went to Kingwood (Justin had conference in Houston)

Been married 3 years

Cole's Birthday Party

Pamela's Baby shower

started food (still throwing up everything)

4 months old

August
Kingwood to see Jessica
throwing up more and more
4 month check up

put on prevacid- not helping
Carla & Kason moved into new house

took Ascher to Justin's pediatrian- put him on Neocate formula (worked wonders)
went and visited Nana

Blue Bell Factory with Ragan & girls

Babysat Coker kiddos

Dallas to see Jessica

5 month birthday

Justin trimmed Aschers hair

Justin had spot removed from back

September
Kingwood for Jessica's Baby Shower

Met his second cousin, Ty- who is less than 24 hours older than him
met his Great Grandma Hardy

met my childhood friends baby, Tucker
Sitting up more and more by himself
Dallas for Jessica's 2nd Baby Shower

MOPS meetings
First Aggie Tailgate

Shawn came from Virginia to visit

Went to Houston Zoo with Shawn & Mom

let him have cupcake on 1/2 birthday

6 months old

October
6 month photos at George Bush
Pumpkin Patch

MOPS meetings
Introduced food again
6 month professional photos

Scarecrow Festival with Natalie

Aggie Tailgates

Friends in town

Hadley Ava was born (10-26-12)

took photos on campus with Jamesons

voted

put Ascher in a pumpkin

Ascher's 1st Halloween
7 months old

November
Mom came by here on way home from Dallas
went to Lake House
MOPS Meetings
Cheesecake Factory for Natalie's birthday

Kinley's 2nd Birthday party

family pictures

Dad's birthday

Kingwood for Thanksgiving

Knight Thanksgiving weekend after Thanksgiving
put up the Christmas tree
double ear infections
bought new entertainment center & china buffet
8 months old

December
craft night @ Pamela's

MOPS Christmas Dinner

1st Haircut
Hameedi's came to town
Ate lunch with Nana
Knight Sibling Gift Exchange/Dinner @ Carla & Kason

Cookie Swap
went and saw Santa

Date night to Celtic Women

Crawling machine
Kids Show @ Berry Center with Jameson's
Christmas Dinner with Nana
Christmas in Kingwood

Chelsea & Ragan came to shop- we all bought the same shirt : )

Ascher got a cold
9 months old
New Years Eve in Pearland with Daniel & Megan, Kason & Carla

Wow! What an eventful year. It is so crazy to look back through the year at how we have changed and grown. I am sure 2013 will be another year of change and growth. If you made it all the way to the end- I am very impressed! : ) It took me two nap times to get this done! WOOHOO!! Finished!! Happy New Year!!!