Tuesday, August 30, 2011

have i said lately how much i love this little boy?







Thursday, August 25, 2011

Marley Dog

Sadly, since the entrance of one Mr. Everett, there has been some major doggie neglect on the blog. I started this blog when we got our original baby Marley. We adopted him in May of 2008. He was a crazy puppy and I spent endless hours exercising him, loving him, and training him. February 2009- enter dog #2. Marley had a playmate in Kai, but also someone competing for my attention. They learned to love each other and settled into life together. We went on walks every day and life was good. March 2010- enter baby #1. I'm sure if you asked Marley (and if he could talk) he'd say he could do without the kid. He likes Everett well enough and LOVES him at meal time; however, there's a lot less Marley time because of Everett. I guess that's just life. The really nice thing about dogs is that regardless of how much time you have for them and how much attention you pay them, they're always happy to see you. So here's to you my Marley dog. My first baby. I still love you lots.


The Paper Mama

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Endless summer

Today I should be going to work. I should be going back to a slew of technology meetings and back to school stuff. I should be looking at student lists, counting books and taking them to my different classrooms, and getting things copied. I should be dreading today...should be, but I'm not. Instead, I'm on vacation. I'm in Hilton Head with Aaron, Everett, and our friends the Lusbys. I'm swimming and relaxing and enjoying my family. Today is the official start of my new career. June 17th was bittersweet, but today is just sweet.





Tuesday, August 23, 2011

baptized

It's been a long time coming, but I finally made the decision to be baptized at our outdoor service this year. I'm not sure why it took me 28 years to do, but I'm thankful the Lord continued to patiently wait on me and continue to encourage me in the the things that He has for me. So, among friends and family, I testified to exactly what God has done so far with this life He has blessed me with:


"My name is Kristen and I want to be baptized today because I want to be obedient to what the Lord has placed on my heart and being baptized is one of those things.

Throughout my childhood, I was raised to know Jesus. I remember as a little girl at church saying "Yes! I want to have Jesus in my heart!" I didn't fully know what that meant at age 5, but I did know that God loved me and that was a start. My parents raised me in a Christian home. We went to church every Sunday. We helped out at a homeless mens shelter, went away on weekend church retreats, and mission trips. Looking back, I could not be more thankful for this firm foundation.  I can clearly see the way this foundation saved me from the heartache I saw in others because they didn't know Jesus. It saved me from some bad decisions and things that I would have certainly regretted later.

That's not to say I was perfect and in fact I wasn't. I made my fair share of poor decisions and selfish choices; but, at the age of 19, I decided that enough was enough. At the end of my freshman year of college, I remember making that very conscious decision to make my faith my own. I decided that I would be a Christian and follow Christ because I believed it, because I wanted to, because it was truth. I made that decision because I knew that Christ had died and lived for me. I didn't believe because I had to or because someone told me to, but because it was really, truly what I believed.

Since then, the greatest gift the Lord has given me is a true, unwavering belief in who he is. He has given me an unshakable faith and has proved faithful. That has played out over the last 9 years as my relationship with the Father is ever changing as he reveals who he is to me; however, one thing that never changes is the way he faithfully walks beside me in this life. Throughout times of heartache and pain and through times of joy and blessing, Jesus is my constant. He is my comfort, strength and joy and I am blessed a thousand times over to be his daughter.

And, the Lord is not done with me yet. He continues to work on my heart, my motives, and my life. He uses people from this body (Providence), my family, my friends, my husband, and my son to show me how much grace I receive and how much he loves me. I trust and believe that until the day I am called home to heaven, he will continue to do a good work in me. Like it says in Philippians 1:6- being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."



 *** Something really important and special for me was that my earthly father could baptize me in the name of my heavenly father. What an incredible blessing you are and have been on my life Dad. I love you!


So there you have it. My testimony. The day was unpredictable weather wise and so we gave our testimonies (there were 9 of us baptized on Sunday!!!) in a pavilion and then were baptized in the Brandywine. I'm so glad that I did it. So glad I can share with you exactly what God has done and is doing in my life!

Monday, August 15, 2011

contagious joy

We love to laugh around here. Life is just more fun that way. My husband makes me laugh all the time and I love that about him. Aaron makes Everett laugh daily too--- I love hearing Everett just laugh. The sound of it is just contagious joy for me. The sound of daddy and son laughing with each other is good for my soul. 

Last night, Aaron was playing with Everett while I ran into Target to grab a few things. I came out to Aaron sitting with him in the back seat and both of them laughing. Aaron videoed it because it was so cute. Everett was laughing those deep belly laughs. The kind that make you incredibly happy and full of joy yourself because he is just so happy in that moment.  I live in these moments. Like little snapshots to keep for a rainy Monday like today. Reminders of what joy looks like.





Friday, August 12, 2011

loose lips

Everett loves to kiss. He does this adorable little pout where he sticks out his bottom lip a little bit and leans in for a smooch.


He's mastered the closed mouth kiss (thank goodness) but he's been cutting teeth for the last month so they're usually wet, sloppy smooches. He humors me when I say I want another one, and another one, and another one. He tries to kiss Aunt Erika through the computer when we skype. He sticks out his pouty lip and lets the dogs kiss him. His favorite smoocher is daddy though.



I love it. He is so sweet and cute when he leans in to kiss me; however, he hasn't quite figured out that you don't kiss just anyone. He tried to kiss the waiter at Victory and the cute girls sitting at the next table, he attempted to kiss a woman at Lowe's last night, and has offered his kisses to more than one kid at church. haha. We're working on it, but either way, I'm loving those loose little lips.





Tuesday, August 9, 2011

The heavens declare the glory of God,
       and the skies announce what his hands have made. 
Day after day they tell the story;
       night after night they tell it again.
Psalm 19:1-2







 
 

Monday, August 8, 2011

lifevest = don't love it


Inspired by my (P)photographer friend Katie, I entered this picture of Everett in Paper Mama photo contest. This week the contest is "whatever" ... I think Everett nailed it. Either way- it was fun to mess around on picnik and look at the different photo editing options. I still use the free version, but the $24 premium package is looking mighty tempting!


The Paper Mama