what is it about sirens

that make my normally barking dogs do this:

sweet moments...

We were in the car driving to Christmas festivities with Aaron's family. We were listening to Bing Crosby Christmas, talking and planning and just enjoying these moments in between the running around and crazy-ness of the holiday festivities. Everett started babbling sweetly in the back seat and I grabbed Aaron's hand and just held it. We didn't really say anything, but I knew he was feeling exactly what I was --- that there was nothing sweeter, no where else I'd rather be, then right there in that moment with him and Everett. I could feel the urge to cry rising up in my throat, just thinking about how incredibly happy I was right then. How blessed I felt to be sharing a car and my life with these two people. I'm so thankful for moments like that: moments where my heart feels so full it might burst. Moments that I just want to freeze in time and re-live over and over. There have been so many of those sweet moments this year and I'm just so thankful for each one.

Merry Christmas!

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace
(Isaiah 9:6)

From our family to yours- wishing you a wonderful Christmas and a blessed 2011!


May you know the true JOY of a relationship with Christ and the peace and comfort in walking with Him!

all I want for christmas...

check! Everett's got two of his bottom teeth in! Thanks to Aunt Missy for the adorable bib/picture!

sharing is caring

Everett's interesting and slightly gross first try at sharing...he made me laugh and made the dogs happy for a good 45 minutes

growing up too fast...

Everett is 9 months old today- 9 months!!! He is growing like crazy. Such a sweet, happy baby. He is curious and interested in everything. He's started to understand that even when we take something away, it's still there. He's a crawling pro. We set him on the floor and he's in the kitchen playing with the dog bowls in a few seconds. He recognizes his name when we say it. The dogs are his best buddies. He has the biggest smile and a squeals with excitement when he sees Aaron walk in the door from work. He entertains himself, but loves to be held. It is so cool to watch him grow and develop and discover new things. Everett makes being a parent pretty awesome. There are the occasional fussy evenings, but they're few and far between. We are usually looking at his sweet face and his big, toothless grin utterly content to be his mom and dad. Truly my heart is full, completely and totally. Happy 3/4 year my little love!

TOP 5 MOST THANKFUL FOR...

5- Missy O'Malley. What a true blessing she is. I am SO thankful the Lord provided her to watch and love and care for Everett while I'm at work. She has made him part of her family and it is evident that she simply loves him. What a relief for me, for Aaron. Being a working mom is hard, but Missy makes it bearable. She sends me pictures and email updates of what's going on and what I'm missing while at work. She loves Jesus and is constantly showing that to her kids (mine included) in the way that she lives. Thank you Missy for being such an incredible friend and amazing second mama to Everett!

4- Our Providence Church Family. What an incredible blessing to be a part of the body of believers there. I am so thankful for pastors who preach the word and convict my heart, friends that love my family, invest in our lives, challenge me, speak truth when I need to hear it, and the privelage to be a involved with a group of believers that reaches out to the community of West Chester and worldwide to spread the truth and grace of Jesus Christ.

3- Andersons and Windles. We have incredible parents and siblings. Our parents have raised us up in the truth of Jesus and have encouraged us in it. They have been amazing examples to us in life, marriage, and parenting and we couldn't love them more. Our brothers and sisters are awesome. We have grown up together fighting, loving, and laughing with each other and we really wouldn't be the people we are today without them. Near or far, we love you all so very much.

2- Our little family. Life is crazy and busy, but perfect with each other. We are so in love with each other and with our darling little boy. That doesn't mean we've always got it together or don't fight or get tired of all the jobs we juggle, BUT we recognize the blessings that the Lord has given us in each other. We recognize that life wouldn't be complete without the other. And, we recognize that the Lord has blesssed us beyond measure with Everett.

1- Jesus Christ. He gives reason and purpose to my life. He has saved me from myself. He gives me peace and comfort and the swift kick of conviction when I need it. What an amazing God that I serve!


HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

*Disclaimer: there are so many more people that I could add to this list... family and friends. Know that if you're reading this today, I am grateful for you and your place in my life!

inspired

I am completely technologically illiterate. Okay, not really, but I feel like it sometimes. Problem being, my husband knows EVERYTHING there is to know about computers... so I always just default to him. Hence, my technological illiteracy issues. So, despite my inability to to advanced things like edit my html settings (is that even the right terminology? probably not... haha), I wanted to change to look of my blog. I was inspired by my blogger pal Katie Balla. So, here's my best attempt at an upgrade. I still can't figure out how to do half the stuff I want to, but at least I'm working on that illiteracy issue ;)

Assistance Requested

Well, after hours of scouring cards, creating cards, trying to find cards with the message we wanted, number/size/format of pictures, we've narrowed it to 2! I am feeling incredibly indecisive, so I need some help. I liked that Shutterfly allowed you to personalize them so that you could see exactly what the card looks like; however, I wish there were options for mixing and matching formats, # of pictures, etc. So here are the options:

Choice #1- This is Aaron's choice. He likes the simplicity of the message and all of the pictures. I'm not sold on it because there are so many pictures! Is it picture overload?

Choice #2- I like the wording more on this one, and like that there are 3 pictures. BUT there were pictures that I wanted to add that didn't fit correctly because they were short and fat instead of long and tall.

So, what do you think? #1. #2. Get 25 of each? Tell me what you think.

cutest penguin. ever.