Wordless Wednesday: Pox'd

(day 3)


(day 4)


(day 5)
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Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for:
*the 70ish birthday wishes I received yesterday, my phone was literally blowing up with notifications.
*a surprise visit by two of my bestest friends, and Liam's betrothed. So thankful for our time together!


*the hundreds of sweet things my husby does for me everyday.
*the opportunity to take a quick weekend trip to Colorado! Already enjoying the drop in temperature!
*a relatively painless flight with the wiggle worm! So proud of him!


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It all started with a splash!

Today is my 27th birthday, but it also marks the 9 year anniversary of the day that I met my sweet husby!

It was Sunday, August 24, 2002, and I was 18 years old. I had just finished a week long freshman orientation at John Brown University and to kick off the school year they threw a pool party at the Aquatic Center for all new and returning students. It had been a rainy day and was fairly cool for late August, so I had no intention of getting my purple paisley tankini* wet, or my long blonde braids for that matter.

There were students milling around as far as the eye could see, and everyone shared my opinion of swimming that evening--the pool was empty! I saw a really cute boy with long, curly, black hair across the way wearing red swim trunks. I asked a few friends if they knew him, but nobody knew who he was. I stood around chatting with some friends and singing to the Train cd that was playing. When out of nowhere two boys I went to high school with ran up and pushed me into a chair. They picked me up, in the chair, and carried me above their shoulders singing "Happy Birthday" for all to hear. I was mortified, and angry, as I realized they were going to dump me into the cold, empty pool in front of the whole school!

I started pleading with them to put me down, not in the water! As I turned to my right to threaten to tell Hendy's mother, I realized that there was a third boy holding the back of the chair. It was "red trunks" guy! I had no time to threaten his life before I was in over my head and being repeatedly dunked by the boys who had jumped in after throwing my chair in the pool!

I finally managed to shout at him and ask why he had thrown me in when he didn't even know me!? His reply? "I'm Ryan Hawk, we're going to be great friends."

And the rest, is history.

(oldest pic I could find of us that was scanned, 2005ish)

*May that tankini rest in peace. It was my favorite suit to wear when we would break into the hot tubs after hours at a hotel in Springdale, AR. Since we would go after hours, they had usually just shocked the pools and the swim suit literally fell apart from so much chlorine exposure. Sad.

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for:

*restful days off
*our incredible TVC homegroup. Seriously, love them.
*vanilla almond tea
*my crawling, exploring, busy little child
*family snuggle time (Ry's head got chopped off, whoops)



*my precious little family, complete with wild puppy dog

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Trains!

My sweet husby had a birthday on Friday and as part of his "day of fun" we went to Cheekwood to see the Trains exhibit!



This was our first time to visit Cheekwood, and we loved all of the gardens and the museum inside the old mansion. I definitely recommend it as a fun date place or family outing!



Thomas was even there! Liam is still too small to enjoy trains, but luckily Ryan and I were enamored by this super fun exhibit!

Happy Birthday, Darling!

Here's to making 28 great! We love you so much!

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Gluten Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Last summer I posted my tried and true whole wheat pumpkin chocolate chip muffin recipe.  These muffins are a staple in our house, they might even be more prevalent than milk and bread.  I make them as fast as we eat them, so yummy!

However, Ryan has been gluten free since May and I have had to adapt my recipe a bit to accommodate his dietary needs, and I can honestly say that they are better than ever!

Here's the updated recipe if you are gluten free, or just wanting to try something different:

In a large bowl, combine and mix well:
1 C. GF all-purpose flour*
1/3 C. almond meal*
1/3 C. ground flax seed*
3/4 C. sugar
1 TBS. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. xanthan gum*
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 C. semi-sweet chocolate chips (I prefer mini)

In a medium bowl, whisk together:
1 stick melted butter
1 C. canned pumpkin
2 eggs

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir to combine (don't overmix!).  Divide into muffin tins and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  Enjoy!

*I have had a lot of success with Bob's Red Mill products and use them for most of my specialty flours and ingredients.

Rocking Chair

While we were in Arkansas recently, I got to let Liam bird play with one of my favorite toys from my childhood! I got this rocking chair for my first birthday, so it is almost 26 years old and still looking good!



I thought he looked like such a big boy! He was definitely proud of himself and kept smiling and rocking away! Too cute!









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Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for:
...having a lovely, lazy day off to play with my sweet son.
...steel cut oats, Godiva chocolate bars, boiled potatoes with butter and fresh herbs (not together).
...morning naptime with Gussy boy.
...frames at target inspiring me to finish the nursery, finally.
...etsy & shutterfly for helping to fill those frames.
...shark week! And this photo it inspired:



...air conditioning! Goodness, it's hot!
...two different fro-yos in the freezer! We've been out for a few days and that stresses me out!
...my sweet husby laughing hysterically while watching wipeout!
...not having to wake up at 4am tomorrow.

Wordless Wednesday: Beach

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10 Months Old!

Dear Liam Bird,

First of all, you are sharing your monthly birthday with the birth of a very special lady, your Great Granny! Happy Birthday Granny Girl, we love you very much!

(with Granny just the other day!)

I cannot believe you are 10 months old, I'm not sure that I am okay with the double digits! This past month has been really fun though, I love watching you grown and develop! Each stage seems to be more fun than the last, but I don't want to rush your growing up one little bit! For the record, you are getting more difficult to photograph with "Norman" with each passing month. You are just so busy and so excited to see you friend that your wave him around and make everything blurry! I have a feeling, I need to just get used to this behavior!

You weigh 21 pounds (50th%) and are 29 inches long (60th%)! We are so proud of all of your little rolls and dimples, it's amazing to me that you have quadrupled your birth weight in less than a year! Good job, little piggy! You wear mostly 9-12 month clothing, but can still fit a lot of 6-9 month onesies and jammies. When we are traveling, you wear a size 3 disposable diaper.

You are a superb little eater and will eat anything you get your hands on! New foods this month include: salmon and macaroni & cheese. When we are out to eat you mooch off of our plates eating baked sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, apple sauce, rolls, refried beans, tortillas, mexican rice, etc... You got your first tooth (bottom right) this month so I'm sure that will open you up to even more foods soon! You eat three meals of solids each day; usually a variation of oatmeal + yogurt/cottage cheese + a fruit/veggie. You are nursing 4 times a day and if I'm at work, you are taking your milk in a sippy cup! Yay, no more bottles for Liam!

You are a champion sleeper, for which we are so grateful! You usually sleep between 12 & 13 hours at night and are still taking two 1 1/2-2 hour naps each day. You definitely like your sleep and get grumpy or "floppy" as daddy likes to say if we mess with your self-imposed schedule too much.

You love to play with anything that can fit in your mouth including, but not limited to: daddy's ears, books, your exersaucer, the fireplace screen, table legs, laundry baskets, and actual toys. You are a dancing fool, anytime you hear music you bop your little head around and smile so big! You also wave your arms around as if you are drumming, which we of course delight in. You are sooooo close to crawling, it's driving us crazy! You have stopped just rolling to get somewhere and are now "inch worming" or army crawling to get to where you want to go, you rock on all fours so much and I know you can crawl if you would just make up your mind to do it!

Your personality has really developed a lot this month. You are still our happy, smiley, laughing little wiggle worm. But, that "strong-willed warrior" has started showing up a little from time to time as well. You definitely know what you want and do not like being told "no." We have gotten into a few battles of wills regarding my necklace. You don't understand why I won't let you rip it from my neck! We are hoping to train you to be a good, sweet boy, so you will continue to hear "no" from us even if you don't like it. You babble and squeal constantly! You haven't added any new words this month, but your vocal cords are still getting quite the work out! You love being tossed in the air or turned upside down, either is always a sure bet to get you smiling and laughing. So, we do both a lot!

We are so incredibly glad to be your parents. The Lord blesses us everyday through your sweetness and grows us through the challenges your throw our way. Wiggles, I could go on and on about how cute, sweet, and loved you are, but instead I'm going to hit publish and go squeeze you!

Love you forever,
Mama

Prayer Request

Will you guys please pray for my cousin, Lee and his girlfriend, Danielle? They lost their baby this morning. He was born 13 weeks early. They named him Christopher Jackson. Thank you.


*Monthly update will be posted later today.

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