Such a perfect day...

Today we celebrate 6 wonderful years of marriage. Crazy in just 6 short years we've been blessed with a wonderful home and two beautiful kids. God has a BIG plan for us and it's awesome watching the plan unfold as we walk the path He has laid out for us.

Just for reminiscing purposes - here are a few of my favorite wedding pictures. That day was absolutely perfect. Praise God!

Lord, I pray you continue to smile upon our marriage as we strive to let you lead us. We lean on your for all our needs. Thank you for our blessings and our struggles. We are better together as a cord of three strands that is never broken. Amen!

 

A blessed decade!

Today I turn 30 years old. Hard to believe I've lived 3 decades. And I don't feel 30, I still feel like a teenager some days. But as I was reflecting back on this past decade I realize a lot happened. So I wanted to make a little list of it all. It started with college and ended with a wonderful marriage and 2 kids. WOW! God has really changed me in these 10 years. So very grateful...

1. Attended college at Kennsaw State University
2. Attended college at Reinhardt College
3. Declared my major as Business Entrepreneuship
4. Met Natasha and her mom (here's where the path turned)
5. Met Gregory
6. Graduated with honors - Bachelors in Business Entrepreneurship, minor in Accounting & Management
7. Moved to the big ATL and worked at Van Michael
8. Realized I didn't like working at such a big salon
9. Moved to Alpharetta and lived on my own for the first time in an apartment
10. Got a job as an account executive at Beneficial
11. Started management training 
12. Got engaged to my soul mate!
13. Gregory graduated college and we got married 2 weeks later on the beach that I grew up going to with my grandparents every summer!
14. 2 months later we bought our first house 
15. For 3 months we watched our home be built then we moved in!
16. I decided to leave the corporate world
17. Was offered a job at North Point
18. Joined a mentor group that would really grow me as a woman (thanks Regina)
19. Got to be a matron of honor to my life long best friend
20. Went to Cambodia for the first time 
21. Got pregnant
22. Had a healthy sweet little boy - Finn Wallace
23. Started attending Birds on a Wire group
24. Changed jobs to work for North Point Resources
25. Lowered my hours to focus on family
26. Ran a half marathon with G
27. Got to be a matron of honor to my sister
28. Celebrated 5 years of being married to my soul mate on a cruise to Bermuda
29. Went to Cambodia again
30. Got pregnant again
31. Now just waiting to deliver another sweet baby! 

I praise you Lord for all the blessings I have. I also praise for all the difficult times as you have simply pulled me closer to you through each one of them. 

Father and son

Pictures taken on Sunday, April 1st outside at the Avenues of Forsyth. 

I just love seeing my boys together. They are so cute! The love they share is something special. And it makes me smile to see them together. 

I know that relationship being built is so important. G is leading Finn to be a leader himself one day. I have to brag on my husband and say he is doing an awesome job so far. 

I know he is taking the lead from several great books and being mentored. Below are a list of the books he'd recommend. 

1. Raising a Modern Day Knight by Robert Lewis

2. Better Dads, Stronger Sons by Rick Johnson

3. Personality Plus for Parents by Florence Littauer

And last but not least, here is a link to the mentoring program G did last year. He still meets with his mentor now that the year is up. But for him, I know this program was life changing! http://www.radicalmentoring.com/

Baby shower #2

On March 24, I had a wonderful shower thrown by my two sisters/best friends - Natasha and Kristen. It was a great time! They both did a great job putting a beautiful shower together for me. See pictures below for how wonderful it was.

I feel totally blessed to have had 2 showers so far to celebrate this miracle #2. We are getting the house ready this week. Baby is only a month away!!!

 This was a tree of encouragement for me. Everyone wrote on the baby outfits.

 As guests arrived, they put their thumbprint on the trees. This one had pink thumbprints for Selah.

 And this one had green thumbprints for Micah.

 The framed invitation - so cute!

 Little onesies going up the stairs, the theme was yellow and grey.

 Punch and mimosas. Man, I sure did want a mimosa :)

 Mason jars for cups

 The food was all my pregnancy cravings - Mexican, spicy, girl scout cookies, and apples. Kristen even made a fruit pizza bar - sugar cookies, with cream cheese icing, and all types of fruit to top it.

 This was "wishes for the baby" that all the guests filled out. So sweet!

 Me and my mom in law!

 The girls - Natasha (sis/best friend), Me, and Mom

 They prayed over me and the baby. I loved that!

 Opening gifts was fun!

 Me and my sis/best friend of almost 15 yrs!

 Nani and I are only a month apart. Wow, I'm so much bigger!

Me with my sweet nephew, Everett. This is Kristen's son. Isn't he so handsome?!

A great afternoon...

This past weekend my good friends threw me a baby shower to get me prepared for baby #2! It was a great afternoon. I didn't get pictures with everyone - but here are a few from the day. Big thanks to my awesome hosts for throwing a great shower. Michelle, Ashley, Jill - you ladies are AWESOME! So blessed to have you in my life. Love you!

My beautiful hostesses (from left to right) Jill, Ashley, Me, and Michelle

 The awesome cake - seriously, so cute and it was YUMMY too!

 I was "showered" with some awesome gifts - diapers, wipes, a few cute outfits, and much MORE!

I was also "showered" with sweet words in cards from loving friends and family!

My Cambodia crew (from left to right) Laura, Me, Jill, and Ashley (Carrie and Claire - missed you!)

My sweet friend, Ashly and I

Work friends (from left to right) - Dawn, Michelle, Jana, Me, Christy, and Allison

Last but not least, me and my mom!

Christmas traditions

Every family has them!

We are only 2 yrs into this. And we didn't do much of any purpose before kids. But here's what we do now...

• Adopt a child for Christmas that's the same age and gender as ours. We shop for them as a family.
• G collects stuffed animals with his class and we take them to Scottish Rite as a family.
• G decorates the outside of our house and I decorate the inside!
• We go to Kinsey Farms to cut down our Christmas tree.
• We all pick out an ornament that represents us
• We watch Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer on Christmas Eve in our new Christmas pjs.
• We don't travel anywhere on Christmas day. Being home and celebrating our Savior's birth togetheris the BEST!
• On Christmas morning, G and I cook breakfast together. When Finn (and next addition) get up we open stockings, then eat breakfast together, and then do present time! All presents are wrapped.
• And starting this year, our Christmas meal will be all be Puerto Rican style foods!
• The day after Christmas, we go shopping and get pjs for the next year and more decor - cheap!

Lets spend some time sharing...what are some fun things you do for Christmas?

Emotional

So, I know I'm a woman. And sometimes women are emotional. But my goodness this past week has been a whirlwind. I feel like every time I sat down, I cried. I cried yesterday watching The Office. I cried this past Saturday when I got home from the wedding. I cried watching Gregory put Finn down and rub his back. Ok, come on - what mom wouldn't cry at that? It was so precious!

What is wrong with me?

I did have a lot happen so it's taken a toll on my mind. I ran a half marathon with my husband, was surprised to a family celebration for my 29th birthday, stood beside as a matron of honor for my little sister, and then was spoiled for Mother's day yesterday. That's been my last 8 days.

So - I think it's ok to be emotional. I just have to remember this truth...

DON'T let your emotions take over! You can't trust them.

It's ok to feel happy and sad. God gave us all those emotions. But the moment you let your emotions control your mind you take yourself down a rocky road. Or when your "feelings" make you angry, jealous, or anything not of the Spirit - that's when it goes too far. So even in the midst of a lot of activities keep your eyes focused on Jesus. As I usually say - MORE of you, LESS of me. Thanks God for an awesome week - it was great to see all that fruit from you!

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:9

Being a mom

Today is Mother's day and I've only been a mom for almost 2 years. But it has changed me. And changed me for the better.

Yesterday at my sister's wedding I found a cheerio in my pocket. And I just had to laugh. Being a mom is such a blessing. I read a book before I had Finn called Sacred Parenting. The book basically describes parenting as a way for God to pull you to him. Now after having a child, I know that's true. I love the way God has molded me since becoming Finn's mom. And I'm learning something new everyday.

I wanted to make a top ten list of what I love about being a mom in honor of Mother's day. So read and enjoy. Hopefully this will make some of you moms out there smile and give you ladies without kids yet something to look forward to.

I love being a mom because...
10- I have a son who is a spitting image of his incredible daddy

9- of the way I feel a different type of love that I never felt before when I first saw his sweet face

8- it forces me to stay home when he's having a boundary testing day
7- I finally understand how God feels about me - an unconditional love
6- I never got to talk about poop as much as I do now
5- it's now a treat to have alone time or a quiet meal with just my husband
4- I get the opportunity to teach Finn about Jesus and God's love for him
3- I have a mommy's boy

2-of the way Finn touches my face while I pray for him
1-of how my life will never be the same

The power of God!

The picture above is of my and my sister Natasha. She is getting married this weekend ( May 7th). I am so thrilled to be her Matron of Honor. My point is writing today is to say - the power of God is incredible.

I have known Natasha for almost 9 years.  I am grateful to her because she introduced me to her brother - Gregory. Natasha and I's relationship started out great and then it got rocky. But we are proof that God can reconcile any relationship.

I want to encourage you today. If you have someone in your life that there is a wedge. Pray, apologize, accept apologies - do whatever you need to. But most of all, trust God. He is all powerful and can reconcile any relationship regardless of the issue or the amount of time that has gone by.

Wordless Wednesday

Who/what are you listening to?

There was a series done last year by Andy Stanley and Jeff Henderson called Game Plan.  It was just life changing for me! Here is the series description:
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Discovering God’s plan for our lives can be frustrating. Some have described it as the most challenging experience of the Christian life.

 

But it shouldn’t be.

 

It doesn’t have to be.

 

After all, God is the preeminent communicator. He created communication. And as your heavenly Father, he wants you to know his will for your life.

 

In this 6-part series, Andy Stanley and Jeff Henderson explain, in the most practical ways imaginable, how to discover and embrace God’s game plan for your life.

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In part five, Jeff preached a message that really changed things for me. The message was called A Word from Coach (you can download an mp3 for $1).  The main take away I got was "the people you listen to are a preview to the future you." Basically, everyone and everything you listen to shapes who you will be in the future.

So-my question for you to think about...Who and what are you listening to? 

If you are a mom - hopefully you have some resources and support. Because I know this is all tough to balance. I have to recommend you check out Birds on a Wire. It's an awesome ministry for us moms.

If you are a dad - I can recommend my husband's blog. He is blogging about how he's learning to Raise the Next Generation. Check it out - I know I'm bias, but I think it's awesome! He definitely will make you think.

Please comment if you have suggestions for singles, college students, etc...

Ok - that's it folks...have a GREAT day!

Snow day 2011!!

Over the last few years, I've had many times that I want to keep etched in my brain. This morning was one of those. We went to bed with no snow and woke up with close to 7 inches. It's cold, beautiful, and exciting outside. So we got all bundled out and went exploring! Here's some videos and pics. Hope you all are staying warm and enjoying the memories with family on this snow day!

Checking things out

 Guess he felt like sitting

Daddy and son just hanging out!