Day 72 S.O.A.P.

I realized it has been a while since I’ve shared a S.O.A.P.

God is moving, sweet friends. (He always is- even when we can’t feel Him.) Last time I read through the bible, I did it alone. Having the support, encouragement and wisdom of a group has made this journey through the bible even more powerful. I can’t get enough. I don’t want to.

I have a verse for you today that I believe is powerful and relevant, wherever you are at this moment.

S- Isaiah 43:1-2 “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by my name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.”

Later in verse four God says:

“ …you are precious to me. You are honored, and I love you.”

O- God is speaking to the Israelites in these verses, and they were special to him. God redeemed them and called them by name to be those who belong to him.

We are important to God too, we are redeemed, and we belong to him.

A- The God of the universe says that we are precious to him, honored and that he loves us-wow. If that doesn’t overwhelm you, you might want to check your pulse.

Life sometimes bombards us with circumstances that shake us (relationships, financial issues, traumatic events, fears, strongholds, etc.) God tells us that when (not “if”, because we all will) we go through rivers of difficulty, we will not drown. When we walk through the fire, we will not be burned up. What an awesome promise. Life can be painful, but our merciful Savior gives us a promise that we will not be consumed. If you are in the midst of a trial, hold on to Jesus. You are precious to him, He loves you.

P- Thank you, sweet Jesus for the assurance that I am loved and regardless of how overwhelmed circumstances may make me feel, they do not have the power to consume me (unless I give it to them). May I remember your promise in Romans 8:28, “God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” You have a purpose in the pain that we experience or you never would allow it. Give me strength to persevere.

The thought of bowing before you one day is almost more than I can bear. Oh, how I long for that day. Until then, may I please you- in joyous times and times of trial.

Easter Wreath

I love projects and I love this time of the year. Spring just makes me feel chipper and Easter overwhelms me with gratitude.

Jackson and I had a great time making this Easter wreath. Jackson enjoyed handing me the eggs as I glued them on and it was a great project to work on color recognition! It's super easy to make, all you need is a straw wreath (leave the plastic on), a glue gun, and lots of mini Easter eggs.

Here's the finished product. Happy Easter!

This has nothing to do with the Easter wreath, but I couldn't help myself. Today we were working on the color orange and Jackson was so excited about his orange lunch. What a cutie!

A Personalized You

Aren’t these shirts adorable!?!

My sweet friend Kristin is a stay at home mom to two beautiful girls. She has been making things for her girls for a while and just recently decided to begin taking orders. I am SO excited to share this with you because not only does she do a fabulous job, but her prices are amazing!

All you moms know how ridiculously priced personalized items can become. Here’s an example of what you might pay for exactly what Kristin made for Jackson. In local boutiques prices are well in the $40 range. I went and bought Jackson’s shirts at Hobby Lobby when they were 50% off. They are usually $3, so I paid $1.50/ shirt. (Even if shirts are not on sale you can print out a 40% coupon at any time here.)

Kristin charges $8 for an appliqué AND name. So, you can get an adorable personalized item for your child for UNDER ten dollars! Kristin just created a facebook page for her new business “A Personalized You”. Here you can view her many creations (which include much more than just clothing- check out Jackson’s precious bucket)!

I have already gotten Jackson some plain jon-jons for the summer and can’t wait to get them to her. Easter is right around the corner, if you’re interested in getting your little one(s) something special for a great price- she’s your girl!

18 Months Old

The following is an insert I wrote for Jackson’s baby book. It’s more or less a letter for him. I didn’t intend for it to be a blog post but I thought that you grandparents, great-grandparents, and aunts who are checking the blog for Jackson updates would enjoy it.

At the end of each age and stage a wave of sadness washes over me because I know pictures and precious memories are all that remain of my tiny boy. I’m now beginning to realize that each stage seems to be my favorite.

I cannot believe that you are one and a half! Wow, two seems just around the corner. I can close my eyes and picture myself rocking in your nursery singing and reading to my big belly and here you are thirty pounds and thirty-four inches (90^th percentile for both) of pure joy. Know how much you are loved, my son. Your Daddy and I marvel at the miracle of you. Although I realize I cannot skim the surface of the love God has for us, having you has given me an inkling of the love He has for us and for Jesus and what a magnificent, unimaginable sacrifice He made for you and me. Above all other prayers, I pray that you will come to know and love our precious Savior.

I am SO thankful for the opportunity to stay at home with you each day. I never thought I was the stay-at-home type and worried that I would be bored- ha! There’s never a dull moment between play dates, going to the park, feeding the ducks at the bay, strolls, church, The Little Gym, the library story time, and our schedule at home. Each morning begins with you screaming “Mommy” from your crib the moment you wake (which is usually much earlier than I’d like) but you’re definitely the sweetest alarm clock I’ve ever had. We have a blast and some of our most precious moments include us still in our pajamas reading book after book and rolling around giggling on your bedroom floor.

You amaze me! You are so verbal and I feel like you say new words each day. I used to try to keep up with your new words, but there’s no hope anymore. You are beginning to say two and three word sentences like: “get it, please”; “big ball”, “blue ball”, etc. A few days ago after I got you your stool you said “Awww, nice”. J One day last week you made your first attempt at “I love you” and it melted my heart. This morning you started jumping over your Boppy and looked up at me, smiled and said “Over boppy.” I asked you if you could go under the Boppy and you picked it up and stood right under it and said “Under boppy”. You are such a smart boy.

Most of your words are recognizable, however some need translation: “mee-ma”= that one too, “vee-veet”= open it, “di-dew”= dinosaur, “ee-ya-me”= Elmo, “doo-dah”= vacuum (your vacumm sings “I’m going to clean the floor today, do-dah, do-dah…”), “happy”= apple and sometimes strawberry and “fur- fur”= sticker.

Some of your favorite things include: “E-I-Ds” (ABCs) on the computer, using your shovel and bucket to “dee-dump” (dig and dump) the rocks and sand, “drive” the car, use the key to unlock and lock the door, milk, swinging, stickers, bubbles, play-dough, crayons, painting, playing with Daddy in the closet, and playing with almost anything that you can open and close. Your least favorites are keeping food on your plate, diaper changes and brushing your teeth (which I would compare to wrestling an alligator).

You are so sweet with your friends. You very rarely take a toy from another child and usually just move on to another activity if someone takes something from you.

You know all of your letters and most of the letter sounds, if I say “one” you’ll say “two, three!”, we’re working on our colors and you often recognize pink, purple, orange, green , blue and red- but if you’re not sure- everything is purple. We just turned your car seat around and now you love to tell me “red- sop!” and “geen- go!” Yesterday you dumped out your alphabet puzzle and put it all back together on your own while naming all the letters. I tried to contain myself but the proud mommy/ teacher in me couldn’t help but squeal. You are so smart and completely amaze us every day.

You are such a joy, my precious child. I will be forever grateful that God gave us you.

Playdough Soup

It’s been so long since my last blog that I don’t even know where to start. Here’s a quick update: reading through the Bible is going wonderfully and we are almost to the half-way point (yippee!) AND Jackson is now one and a half *sigh*, more on both of those later.

On Tuesday, I asked Jackson what he would like to do today to celebrate turning one and a half. I was expecting him to want to go to the park or feed the ducks at the bay. His wish was to eat noodles off a fish plate. Not exactly what I expected, but Mommy made it happen.

We took a trip Clanton, AL to visit dear friends and went to the Montgomery Zoo where we froze our bottoms off and fed giraffes! Here are some pictures of our adventure.

This is a first for me. I am not a take-a-picture-of –my-food kind of girl. When I see others post pictures of their dinner I think it’s odd- or I used to. I think more than anything I’m jealous that my dinners are not photo-shoot worthy. Well, (drum roll please) I was so proud of this dinner I took a picture. (Here’s the recipe- it was super yummy.)

I was so thrilled at how cooperative Jackson was while I prepared dinner. He sat beside me in his high-chair playing with playdough. He was making snakes and balls and having a blast. He was trying to tell me something about milk and playdough when I turned around to see this.

It turns out he was saying “Playdough drinks milk.”- Eeewww. What you can't see in this playdough container is that it is now playdough soup. Oh well, it’s a small price to pay for preparing a meal without having a toddler wrapped around your ankles.

Daniel showed up with a surprise for his little boy tonight. Although they’re a bit too big, Jackson loves them and can’t wait to wear his “cool shoes”.

I have much more to say but I can’t bring myself to since I have dishes that need to be washed, a Bible that needs to be read, exercise that needs to be done (but probably won’t) and a handsome husband in the other room.

I’ll leave you with this video I shot today of Jackson doing one of his favorite things: “driving” Mommy’s car.