A Time to Breathe, Rest, and be Together!

Every year when September rolls around I begin the dress hunt as if I was 17 getting ready for my high school prom again. Chris' works for Discount Tire and last weekend we went to Albuquerque, NM for the annual company party. It is a formal event as you can see. Though sometimes it is stressful, it is fun to have a reason to get all dressed up with my man, eat fancy food we could never afford on our own, and take a twirl around the dance floor. It is a quick trip, we left on Saturday and came home on Sunday. But this year we arrived in Albuquerque at 8:15am and had the entire day to do whatever we wanted. Chris took a nap and I went and laid by the pool and read a book. With little ones running around I feel like it takes me forever to finish a book so it was fun to have so much time to read without any interruptions. (even though I love my sweet little interruptions) It was such a relaxing day and weekend besides the really BAD sunburn I got on my legs. It was a good thing I went with the long dress instead of the short because my legs looked like lobster legs.

Chris and I got lots of rest and were able to spend some sweet time together.

Easter 2010

All of us before church, I am so blessed to have each one of them, ;) !

My sweet boys, I love the green and purple!

Cheesy grin and squinting eyes, oh but so handsome~

Sweet boy with drool all over his sweater!

Easter morning breakfast!

Daddy and Collin watching brother hunt eggs!

Yummy Eggs

Grandpa and Collin

Carter hunting eggs...

We spent the evening at our friends house the Ryden's and had a blast with lots of friends and all their kiddos. 

Collin and the girls, he has great choices for a future wife, ;)

Carter busy at his second easter egg hunt of the day!

It was a great Easter and we enjoyed celebrating our Risen Lord with lots of family and friends.

Thanksgiving 2009

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We stayed in M-town and made the rounds to our family that lives here. We have so much to be thankful for. When we woke up on Thursday morning, Carter came and crawled in the bed with us. We laid there and talked about all the things we had to be thankful for. We talked about his family, his home, his toys, his school, and his church. We are so thankful for these things but most of all we are thankful for our Lord Jesus Christ.

Collin's thanksgiving plate!

Collin getting ready for his first Thanksgiving dinner!

Carter and his cousin Faith enjoying their Turkey! (and yes Carter is eating a whole turkey leg)

He loves drumsticks! He eats them down to the bone like a grown man!

My Family, whom I am the most thankful for!

These are the matching outfits I made the boys for Thanksgiving! I have to say I was really proud of myself! Aren't the adorable?

BIG "C"

little "c"

Our Trip to Weatherford!

Last week the boys and I spent the week at my parent's house. My brother and his family came down for the weekend and we had a great time letting our kiddos play. My Mimi was also at my Mom's so I enjoyed spending precious time with her as well. Here are some pictures of our week in Weatherford:

Collin with his Aunt Lauren

Aunt Lauren and the cousins playing...

Carter and Katelyn being sweet

Uncle Blake reading the boys stories before bed!

Great Mimi with her great grandbabies

Collin and Katelyn

Mommy and Collin

(I love this pic)

Carter pretending that the tinker toys are tools and his undie's are his tool belt....

this kept my parents and I laughing all night

Weekend Fun

This past weekend was Chris' annual company party in Albuquerque, NM. It has always been such a fun weekend to be away, dress up, and relax. Since Nana and Papa were going out of town for their wedding anniversary, Mimi was coming in town to watch the boys. All along I didn't feel good about leaving Collin at home. I knew that my mom could handle it (after all she did have 4 kids of her own) but I didn't think that I could. So last minute, on Thursday, I started making phone calls to try and find a babysitter for the night of the party. I told Chris that I just couldn't leave Collin at home. He was too young for me to be away from him that long. So it all worked out. The resort we stayed at had a babysitting service that came to our room the night of the party. Collin took his first plane ride this past weekend and was a champ. He did perfect and I was so glad we were able to take him along. 

His first plane ride....

f

Me and my Honey!

All dressed up, the night of the party! 

( I like to call it our adult prom...)

Collin and Daddy in our hotel

 

Collin looking out the window, we were on our way home...

Carter had a great weekend with his Mimi. He had lots of sugar and played hard. I guess that is what Mimi's  are good for. We were glad to get home to see him as well. Carter has been so sad lately about his Daddy always being gone. He came to the bottom of the stairs the other night while he was supposed to be in bed. He was sitting there crying and when I asked what was wrong he told me "I'm sad." I asked him why he was sad and he burst into tears saying "I wan my Daddy!" Oh, it broke my heart. I will be so glad when Chris is done with school. I can't stand for Carter to be "sad".  He loves his Daddy so much. I'm so grateful that they have such a wonderful relationship and it will be much better when Daddy is there for bedtime again. One more year, we can do it.

Collin is doing great! He has two teeth!!!! Can you believe that? He sleeps well and is such a happy baby! He is 4 months old this month and changing so fast. He has his well check on Thursday. I am curious to find out how much he weighs. I will let you know!

Our Family

"Oh the Lord is good to me......."

Our first family picture since the hospital!

Four Year Anniversary!

What was I doing on this day 4 years ago? Let's see, I started the morning out in the hair salon where I threw a fit (I was Bridezilla)  because they did a terrible job, then moved to another salon where my maid of honor fixed everyones hair from the previous nightmare. (she was a lifesaver). Then went to the church where I chowed down on Taco Villa before it was time to get into my dress. (which I loved) Spent 20 minutes having my dress laced up before going to see my soon-to-be hubby waiting for me at the end of the aisle.  Then met hand in hand and committed our lives to each other in one of the greatest covenants God created. (and I became Mrs. N...) Then spent another 20 minutes waiting for my bridesmaids to figure out how to bussel my dress, which they never did. (The Groom was the only one who could do it ;) Had a wonderful reception filled with family and friends, and walk away Mrs. N....! Oh, it was a great day!

It's hard to believe that we have been married four years. It has been a busy and ever changing four years of our lives for sure. Let's see, we have moved to College Station, then Chris quit school, we moved back to M-town into one apartment, then moved to another apartment, had Carter, then Chris decided to go back to school, we moved in with his parents, had Collin, and bought a house! Yeah, I would say we have been busy. We haven't always done things the easy way but I don't think I would change anything. I wouldn't change the hard times because they have brought us closer and our character has grown stronger. At times it seemed that life was going to rip us apart but by the grace of God we survived the storms. I thank the Lord daily that it didn't rip us apart. Oh what great joy we would be missing out on now had we backed out when things got rocky. I truly believe that God honors obedience. When you choose to obey his commands for your marriage he blesses your relationship with a new love for each other that you never knew before. It has been so awesome to watch how God has moved and restored our relationship. We might have got knocked down but we didn't get wiped out. I love Chris so much and love the life we are building together. Love is a choice not a feeling. Once I realized this it changed our whole marriage. You can choose to love someone even when you don't feel love. That is the kind of love that God call us to show in all of life's relationships. It truly is a choice. I can't wait to see what all God has in store for our future. I look forward to the next 60 years of our life together. It is so exciting and I wouldn't choose anyone else to share it with! 

Happy Anniversary Honey!

Easter 2009

Carter loved hunting eggs. He was very excited about all the candy inside.

A full basket !!!

Our Family

 They looked so handsome! I don't know why this picture is so blurry?

Thats my baby boy! He is getting too big too fast!

Weekend with Daddy!

Carter's 1st Lake Trip!

Hanging out on the boat!

Mommy trying to help Carter fish!

I couldn't believe he actually wore his life jacket.

Taking a nap on the boat.

Daddy and his Buddy fishing!

We were so blessed this weekend that C was off from Friday till Monday. With him being in school and working full time our time spent together as a family is minimal. So this weekend was a great time to catch up. We debated about going to see my parent's or maybe the lake with his Dad but then decided to just stay home. C had not been feeling well so he went to the Dr. on Friday. Last minute we decided that we would go to Oak Creek Lake for the day on Saturday. We had never taken Carter before so we were looking forward to it. We went out and bought Carter a fishing pole and borrowed a life jacket from a friend. We were all so excited. He couldn't stop talking about it. We hit the road Saturday morning by 6:30. C wanted to be there early to fish. It is only about a 2 hour drive so it wasn't bad at all. As we got closer you could feel the wind beating against the car. I was concerned that the weather would be bad. Hoping and praying it wouldn't, we went on. When we got there the winds were up to 30mph and it was cold outside. The most unideal lake weather you could  ask for. We stuck around for while hoping it would calm down but it didn't. C took Carter to play outside because he was getting restless. We had him bundled up with double shirts and socks. I didn't have a hat for him so I tied his shirt around his head like a scarf. I should have taken a picture, he looked so funny. About noon we called it quits and went home. No boat, no fishing, no water, we were all so disappointed that our day got ruined.

Sunday C asked if we could try to go again. I was pretty apprehensive after the weather the day before. But he talked to his brother who was there and reassured me it was better. So off we went again and boy am I glad we did. The weather was great. It was in the 70's and just a tad breezy. We weren't sure if Carter would be willing to wear his life jacket or not but at that point he would do anything to get to go down by the water. C and him fished off and on the rest of the day. They had some great Daddy son time. We decided to take Carter out on the boat. After 5 minutes we looked down and he was asleep. I guess all the excitement of the day and the vibrations from the water knocked him out. He slept the whole way until we hit some choppy water. He didn't like that so much so he preferred to stay on the dock the rest of the afternoon. But we had such a great time. Nothing blesses my heart more than to see the relationship and time spent between the two of them. C is such an amazing Dad. And Carter not only adores him but wants to do everything as he would say "I do it yike Daddy". We had a great time. Time well needed.

New Family Pictures!

We finally had new pictures taken. We just did a little bit of everything. Carter's 2 year old pics, family pics, as well as a few maternity pics. I was so happy with them!

My sweet baby boy! I can't believe he is 2 years old.

Mommy at 30 weeks pregnant!

I love this picture. I couldn't believe he would hold both of our hands!

Aww, precious!

He has gotten so big!