Searcy Weekend

What a great weekend :). Westin did fabulous on the 15-hour drive, and yes, we made it in 15 hours... we were gearing up for many stops and more like a 17-hour drive, but Westin was a serious trooper. Here's the recap, for those of you who prefer the picture recap, scroll down:

Early Thursday morning (4am) we hit the road. We're really glad we did because Westin slept for the first four hours which really helped the trip go quicker for him! And us! We were able to stop in Conway to see Chuck at his Lenny's and then made it in in time to hang out with Carol, Kim & John for a little bit. It was SO great to see everyone!

Friday Kreg went golfing with several of his friends and we had lunch at Mazzio's-- it's funny what foods we miss from our Searcy days :). We were also able to see Josh & Jessica Friday, which was a treat. We miss our Harding friends so much! Jessica found a tick on Westin that night which was a little scary for me... I had visions of tick fever running through my mind and was sure we needed a match to back it out, but Kreg just picked Westin up and pulled it out of his back. It didn't even leave a mark so I guess everything was fine :).

Saturday, Westin got to spend some time at "The Farm," and of course he loved it! He was especially taken with the cows. He also got to sip some sweet tea on the front porch swing with Kreg & Mamaw. We had Lenny's for lunch (yay!!) with Neil and his lovely fiance Jackie, then watched the US World Cup game at the Kee's house-- again, so great to get to see our Searcy friends! Later that evening the whole Jones/Curtis/Kell clan got together for a delicious meal at Carol's house! It was fun for me to watch Westin interact with his cousins-- he's not used to having anyone his age around all the time. He LOVED it, and got to practice sharing... which was good! These two families have known each other for FOREVER, but this was getting to know them as family, which I think will be a very easy transition.

Sunday was the big day! We all worshiped together at Downtown, then Kreg, Wes & I had brunch with the Young's and the Ward's. Then it was time to get ready for a wedding :). The ceremony was just perfect. I, of course, only got to see the very beginning before Westin decided he needed to get down and move. However, we did video it and it was just perfect. This being the musically inclined and talented family that it is, all of Craig & Carol's kids sang "The Lord Bless You & Keep You" to them, which sounded fantastic and brought some tears to many eyes. Sunday night after the wedding we had pizza with all the "siblings" and played an exciting game of "Harding" Faces, which Rees & Shanna made up... it was hilarious.

Monday morning bright and early we made the trip back! Since then, Westin has come down with roseola (it looks a whole lot worse than it is, apparently) and Kreg has been utterly exhausted at 8:30 pm every night... needless to say, we're still trying to get back into routine :)

Thankful for Kreg

Kreg is fishing in Arkansas this week so Westin & I are missing Daddy! I'm so thankful he has this opportunity to spend time with his Dad, Uncle, and Grandfather. I know he will make precious memories that will last his lifetime. He's also very much in need of some R&R! He would never say that, of course, but he's been working so hard lately and just like Westin & I, he hasn't had a full night's rest in a long time! :)

All that being said, we miss him! It's just not the same without him here. I have to brag on him though, because he's just so thoughtful. He's always been so good about making sure I know he's thinking about me when he's not with me. This time, he planned out a scavenger hunt for me to do the first morning he was gone. I don't know how he pulled it off, but he hid all my favorite little things around the house, each with a clue to the next... and I didn't run into any of the "objects" before I was supposed to! When I got back from taking him to the airport Tuesday night, there was a letter to me on the bed with explicit instructions not to open until Wednesday morning... so of course I couldn't sleep Tuesday night! (that, and when you're used to sleeping with someone, you sure notice when they're not there...) Wednesday morning first thing I opened it up and found my first clue... when I was finished, I was stocked with peanut m&m's, pure cane sugar coke, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Roman Holiday, a yogurt for breakfast, and a new straight iron (my old one had been refusing to stay hot for the past several months... he's so sweet to notice!) I'm so thankful for him!

Even Westin is a little out of sorts. He keeps making his way to the front door saying, "da-da, da-da!" And I tell him Daddy went bye-bye with Papaw... I think he understands :) Either way, he misses his Daddy. It's been fun to watch their relationship progress over the past few months. Westin adores his Daddy... and the feeling is mutual! By the way, he is officially walking now! Thanks, cousin Tiff, for bribing him past the 2-3 steps he's been stuck at for the past couple months! :)

This all reminds me that I never got a chance to blog about our anniversary! We celebrated our 2nd anniversary on May 31st (our first anniversary we were a little busy with a move and a new baby and a new job, etc...) and we decided to do it up a little! My parents were kind enough to give up a good nights' sleep and watch Westin for the night while we went up to Estes for the night. We drove in and met my grandparents who took us to the Twin Owls Steakhouse, which was amazing! A beautiful location and great food! (Great company, also, of course!) We had a hike to Gem Lake, a couples' massage, and lunch at Poppy's planned for the following day... about 4:30 am that day, Kreg woke up SO sick. (So much for getting a good nights' sleep! Poor guy!) But, being the trooper and man's man that he is, at 7:30 am, he decided he was NOT going to miss the hike or the couples' massage (lunch was out of the question:))... so we made our way to Gem Lake, which was a gorgeous hike! I'm pretty sure I was able to enjoy it more than he was, so we will have to go back. Total, it was about 3.2 miles (not flat miles, mind you) that he conquered with a very upset stomach. We then made our way into town for our couples' massage on the Big Thompson River! It was so wonderful! Kreg even started feeling a little better afterwords... not quite enough better to do lunch, however. He went back to the cabin and slept the rest of the afternoon and my parents drove up with Westin and we had lunch at Poppy's together. I was ready to see my Westin! It was a wonderful time with Kreg, but we both agree that our little family is just not complete without our Baby Wes.

On a side note, I decided that I was asking too much of Westin to learn to fall asleep by himself AND cut out two more feedings... so... we're working on the weaning part (which is going very well, most days), and will attempt the sleep training again when we get back from Arkansas in a couple of weeks. Thank you SO much to all of you who have given me your feedback on what has worked for you. I appreciate your advice very much! ALSO-- I picked up my precious mother-in-law's wedding gift the other day :) :) I can't blog about it yet, but I'm excited about it!! Stay tuned...

Fragile

This year has been full of constant reminders of how fragile and precious life is. This past weekend Kreg, Westin, Kortney and I made a "quick" road trip to Salt Lake City to attend a funeral for my precious friend's 25-year-old husband who passed away last week from complications of testicular cancer and leukemia. The trip was exhausting on many levels, but I'm so glad we went. I was so thankful to see all the love and support that has been poured out for my friend, Karen.

Last night, my 31-year-old cousin, Stephanie, passed away from complications of ovarian cancer. It's been so hard not to give in to the questions swirling through my mind-- "why?" being the main one. I know none of us are exempt from death and it is impossible to predict how many days each of us have left.

Mostly, I am filled with thankfulness for the health and safety of my family, and with a renewed sense of what is really important. It's so easy to get caught up in our day-to-day routine that we forget to stop and think about how blessed we are, and about what our daily focus needs to be. When it comes right down to it, it doesn't matter if my house is clean. It doesn't matter if my laundry is done. It matters that I've taken care of my eternal salvation, and done my best to instill that desire in those around me, especially my children.

PS-- I'm working on weaning Westin AND helping him sleep on his own (he is NOT a napper and he still wakes up 3-4 times a night)... poor baby is distraught and I am drained. If any of you have any advice or words of wisdom, I am OPEN to it.

Party Time

At long last, I am determined to take a moment to sit down and re-cap our first birthday party adventure! I had every intention to do this the day after, but now, two and a half weeks later, not only have we celebrated Westin's first birthday, we've also celebrated my mom's birthday (the 20th) Kortney's birthday (23rd)my parents' anniversary, and our anniversary. We've also hosted the Harding Academy Chorus (please come back, we enjoyed you so much!), spent memorial day weekend in Estes Park... needless to say the past couple of weeks have gone quickly! And June is shaping up to look very similar. We are so thankful for all the activity in our lives and all the wonderful blessings we are constantly being showered with. Our God is so good!

We had a great time with Wes on his first birthday. We celebrated that Friday by having lunch at Chuck-E-Cheese. It's so fun to watch his excitement! Pizza is definitely his favorite food "za-za" so we had a pizza-filled weekend. Then, Saturday morning we had all the family in and we had another party! Westin was so blessed with so many fun things and cute clothes :) We had homemade pizza for lunch and cake for dessert. I had SO much fun making his cake! Ok, I had so much fun with all of it. It was a great way to celebrate this sweet little boy that has enriched our lives so beautifully. I continue to enjoy my journey through motherhood and am sure I will enjoy each phase in his precious life. Thank you, God, for Westin!

To My Son

My darling Westin,

Today is your first birthday! Everyone warned me this year would fly by, but there was no way for me to prepare for how fast it really did go! You have been a constant joy in my life and I am so thankful I was blessed to become your mommy.

You have taught me more in these twelve short months than I will probably ever teach you in your lifetime. I've learned so much about you, about myself, about life in general, and most importantly, about our Lord.

I've learned that I CAN function on less than a perfect eight hours of straight-through sleep! I've learned it is possible to physically hurt when someone else hurts, and that there is no greater joy than watching your child's delight. I love to watch you learn and discover! You are such a bright little boy and I know the joy of discovery has just begun for you. I hope and pray that you and I have many, many years to discover new things together. You are so active! You love to do things fast, which you get from your Daddy. I know one day soon when you decide to give the walking thing a chance, you're going to be ALWAYS running!

The most important thing you've taught me this year is a deeper understanding of the love our mighty God has for us. There truly is no way to begin to comprehend the depth of the love He had to have for us to be willing to watch His only son suffer and die for us. The last thing I can ever imagine myself doing is giving you up. I can't imagine what kind of a love it would take for me to begin to imagine watching you suffer the way our Lord did, knowing that I could take your suffering away at any time. Westin, our God is so mighty and so faithful. He loves us so deeply and my most earnest desire is that you will choose to serve Him with your precious life and that someday after our life on this earth is over we will be able to spend eternity together, praising our awesome God. I pray that you will grow strong and healthy and that you will have an unquenchable desire for our Lord. I pray that you will never be satisfied with your understanding, but will continue to seek Him and to find Him.

I love you so much, Westin! I'm thankful for every moment of the past year that we've been able to spend together. I wouldn't trade one sleepless night or one colicy day! I'm looking forward to each new phase of your life and each new memory we make together. Happy Birthday, sunshine!

Love,
Mommy

PS-- we're partyin' tomorrow... will post pics & recap...

mama

Sunday was my first mother's day! Last year I missed it by four days :) It was a great day-- I was able to spend it with my little boy and also with my mom and my grandma.

I started thinking yesterday about how being a mom myself has helped me to see things about my own mom I was too quick to take for granted before. I'm so thankful for the relationship I have with her! I feel like I need her now more than ever before... when I don't know how to deal with colic and teething and temper tantrums... and when I'm not sure what to substitute for condensed milk... and when fevers reach 103... I'm so thankful for her wealth of knowledge and her willingness to not laugh at my ignorance! We are such good friends and that means so much to me.

I'm also so thankful for my grandmothers! I have one grandmother who spent most of her growing-up years without a mother. I can't even imagine! My mind won't let me go there... but she's the strongest lady I've ever met and a wonderful grandmother and great-Grandmother to Westin! My other grandmother is currently spending most of her days caring for her mother who has less than 25% of her heart working. The love and the selflessness that she displays day in and day out is unbelievable!

I'm also thankful for my mother-in-law, who is also a beautiful, selfless woman! I'm so thankful for the blessing she is in my life and for the relationship that we have. I'm also thankful for the wonderful mother that she is to my husband and the precious Nana she is to my son!

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for surrounding me with such a "great cloud of witnesses." I have such a vast resource of examples to look to when it comes to being a great mother-- which is my constant desire. I have so much to learn, and yet, I can honestly say I am enjoying every step of the journey!

My Dream Job

I started my dream job this week! My job description is as follows:

Volunteer position requiring intense training in breastfeeding, child development, early childhood behavior, and interpersonal/intergenerational group dynamics. There is a strongemphasis on time management

, accounts receivable, accounts payable, tracking inventory, procurement, and cost reduction. I am required to work with no supervision or guidance, to make quick, crucial and often unprecedented decisions regarding policy, to effectively guide the Organization in the most profitable direction, to set and meet my own deadlines, and to successfully foresee, and plan for, possible contingencies which may effect the overall direction and health of the Organization.

I am responsible for overseeing, and providing effective guidance to our Junior Member still in the start-up phase, one Founding Member in the established phase, and one Mascot in the puppy phase. I arrange, and lead, frequent meetings between the founding members to set common goals, and to assess the financial status of the Organization. Additionally, both Founding Members work closely with one another to promote the healthy progress and development of the Junior Member, and the mascots, in accordance with shared goals and objectives.

I arrange and host special events. Special events include, but are not limited to, annual celebrations of the anniversary of each Member’s joining the Organization, Industry-specific networking events, recognition and celebration of Organization milestones, outreach events meant to enhance the Organization’s connection to local non-profits, and casual, impromptu events which improve the Organization’s standing in the community. I also source event venues, and liaise with caterers and other temporary contractors.

I am the official Organization Spokesperson at education planning meetings, as well as with medical and other professionals. This requires that I keep abreast of the educational needs and progress of our Junior Member, track and document

any changes relating to the health and well being of all Organization Members, and remain current on legislation affecting the operations, goals and fiscal health of the Organization. I must take immediate action, when needed, to head-off, or correct, potential and actual educational, health, and legal problems facing individual Members, as well as the Organization as a whole.

I also provide therapeutic services as needed, and kiss many, many boo-boos. (from beyondjane.com)

I am officially a stay-at-home mom! I'm so excited and thankful for this opportunity I've been dreaming of my whole life. It really is my dream job, and I'm excited to perform it to the best of my ability. Please keep us in your prayers as we adjust to a one-salary budget. We know it will present its own challenges, but the rewards will far outweigh the challenges. Thank you, Kreg! I love you!