Livi is FOUR!

Dearest Livi,

Today you are FOUR and you are FUN!! Your heart and love for life is contagious. Your joy and adventure for life challenges me.  With all this adventure and love for life presents some challenges for your daddy and I. You definitely keep us "on our toes" between red marker on the wall,  purple marker used as eye shadow, or all the pantry grazing! We were secretly impressed with how you kept the "eye shadow" on your eyes, though. I remember saying to your daddy, "She actually did a really good job!"  

Things you love right now:

*FROZEN! You love anything & everything from the movie Frozen. Elsa is your favorite. You love to sing "Let It Go" over and over at the top of your lungs and dance like Elsa!

*To SING!You sing along to songs on the radio as well as Frozen songs like "Let It Go" & "Do You Want To Build a Snowman?"

*To DANCE! You love to dance, especially with Daddy! Oftentimes you'll just walk up to daddy and say, "Dance with me, Daddy". I love it that daddy doesn't hesitate for a second - he just starts dancing with you! You will always be daddy's little princess!

*To DRESS-UP! I don't even want to count how many princess dress up outfits you have but I know it is teetering on more than both my hands can count.

*To CHANGE clothes! Only about a gazillion times a day! Seriously - you are never home for more than 5 minutes before you either change outfits or change into a princess dress.

*To COLOR/DRAW! I can always find you coloring or drawing something on the coffee table. Your daddy and I (& Sam ) will never run out of pretty pictures!

You seek praise from daddy and I and we don't hesitate for a second to give it to you. Remember, you are beautiful - "inside annnnd out"! Never forget that God made you beautiful in your heart first and foremost.   

Happy Birthday to my little princess! Never stop singing, dancing, and twirling! I can only imagine the next "adventure"!

Love,

Mommy

Dear Sam, Age 6

Happy Birthday!!!

Where in the world did these last 6 years go? I still remember the long overnight labor with you and bringing you home from the hospital as if it were yesterday.  I was definitely a clueless new mommy back then.  As I was telling you last night before bed, you made me a mommy for the first time & that will always be super special.

Six years old, eh?!?! Well, let's see...here is a list of some of your favorite things these days and what you are up to.
-You are in kindergarten & learning to read. It has been fascinating to watch you learn to read.

-You are a pretty social little guy. You are always super friendly to people and initiate conversations with your friends.
-You want to be a firefighter when you grow up. I don't know if it was the 2 crazy summer wildfires that we had here that spurred your interest in this or what but you have consistently told me this off and on for over a year now.
-You love to play board games and the Wii

-Your favorite show to watch is Pokemon and you love everything Star Wars and Legos!

-Your favorite "friends" at bedtime are Elmo, Scraggy (Pokemon) & Jake from Jake & the Neverland pirates.

-Your favorite color is red.

-Your favorite snack is Cheez-its & milk (I wonder who you took after on that?) ;)

-Your favorite sport to play is soccer

-You just told me the other day that you want to live in Utah when you grow up...hmmm, we have never spent any time there other than to drive through. It sure is a pretty state

-You can recite all New Testament books of the Bible in order (you beat me at that!)

-You love learning scripture verses for Awana

Seriously, is this the same little boy that graced us with his presence six years ago?!?! My life will forever be different and better because you are here!  You will always, always, hold a very special place in my heart. As I say to you each night, I love you to the moon & back!

Love,

Mommy

2013 in Review

1. I figured out a few things about me personally that I am working on...books like "Unglued" by Lysa TerKeurst and "Grace for the Good Girl" by Emily Freeman have been eye opening & convicting. I am learning to Let Go & make Imperfect Progress!

2. We had fun trips with family this year! In May all four of us spent a week at a beach house off the the Oregon Coast with Ben's family. It was a surprise for my mother-in-law's birthday. Then, in December, we went to Disney World with my parents, my mother-in-law, sister-in-law & 2 nieces. This was the first time both of our families have been together since our wedding!

3. There was heartache. In May we lost my 27 week old nephew who was stillborn. I will never forget the night my mom called me to tell me that they couldn't find a heartbeat or my brother asking for prayer. That week was so hard with many tears - it was hard to not be in St. Louis with them, it was hard to grieve someone I never even met and it was super hard to know that my brother, sister-in-law & my niece were going through yet another hard time this year. I am looking forward to 2014 with them in mind & hoping/praying for a better year for them! In addition to my sweet nephew, Beckham, I grieved the loss of my last living grandparent - my paternal grandmother. The timing of her death overlapped with a work retreat I was privileged to attend so I wasn't able to go to her funeral in Ohio. It was hard to not be there, but I am thankful for technology and the ability for me to make a video message for the funeral.

4. Books! I finally read Anne of Green Gables. Evidently I missed that boat years ago! I enjoyed it and look forward to the other books in the series. I was also challenged by books like "Anything" by Jennie Allen and "Radical" by David Platt. 

5. This work retreat I mentioned above was such a special trip! I was invited, along with about 15 other Navigator women, to a "Navigators Emerging Women's Leadership Retreat" in a small Colorado mountain town. We got to stay in a beautiful home of one of our board members (who just so happens to be the same family that a college roommate of mine used to babysit for while we were at IU)!   All of us were invited by some leader in the Navs and they wanted us to have a refreshing/reflective/rejuvenating weekend with other women - many of whom we didn't know prior to the retreat.  I met some really, really neat women and was pampered, encouraged and loved on by some pretty cool leaders. I walked away from that retreat more convinced and affirmed in my role and call at The Navigators. The retreat came at a much needed time - right after the transition from Human Resources where I worked for the past 7 yrs and after a hard 2 - 3 years of stress and heavy workload.

6. This was the second year in a row that I got together with four girlfriends in Winter Park for a long weekend. We all were in a small group/Life Development Group when we all lived in St. Louis years ago. Fast forward about 10 years and only one of us still lives in STL, but we all have committed to getting together (all FIVE of us) at least once a year to hang out, pray, encourage, laugh and be real. Friendships like these are absolutely priceless.  There is no need to explain myself - they just "get" me. They know more about me than I sometimes remember myself. Our daily lives often look very different - single, married, kids, no kids & add to that 5 distinct personalities, and somehow it just works. God knew what he was doing when he put the 5 of us together for such a short season in STL.

7. NINE years of marriage! Ben & I celebrated 9 years this past October. While it wasn't anything fancy, just dinner out without kids, it was nice. The past 5 years have been filled with newborn babies, toddlers and crazy work schedules so there hasn't been a lot of "us" time. To be brutally honest, we didn't "love" the newborn era with kids. Don't get me wrong we love our kids more than anything but that phase wasn't a whole lot of fun and games. We really like this "next phase" with kids that can now dress themselves, go to the bathroom on their own, and turn on the TV in morning so we can get a few extra zzzz's!

8.  Health! Ben and I have been really working hard at eating more healthy and exercising more. We started doing the Shaun T. Insanity workout in 2012 and did it 2 times after that. This year we added another one - T25! With our crazy busy schedule, T25 fits us so much better. The workouts go by so fast!I Along with working out and eating we have been using Advocare products and have really noticed a difference. My brother introduced us to these products and we fell in love with them. Seriously good stuff! If you are curious about these products, let me know!

9. Authentic relationships. I desire more than ever to develop relationships with other women that get to the heart issues. The older I get, the more I am aware of life and its ups and downs and the importance of getting to the real "stuff" of life.  Superficial relationships just leave something to be desired. I am praying through some ways to engage and develop relationships I already have and how that may look in relation to my crazy schedule of being a wife, a mom, working and involvement at my church. I recently started being mentored/coached by a pretty neat lady who has a lot more life experience in the areas of motherhood, ministry and marriage. Such a blessing!

A Life Story...

This is what I wrote for my Grammy's funeral this past July.

Each of our lives is a story unfolding.  In a story there are good chapters and well, not so good chapters, yet in every story there are characters.  When my story is complete, it will not be without mention of the beloved people in my life that helped shape and mold me into the woman I am - many of whom are in this room today. One of the special characters in my story is Grammy Watts.

I didn't have the privilege of growing up in the same house during childhood so when I think of my childhood and my family, one of the first thoughts that comes to my mind is Grammy's house. That beautiful blue house at the top of the hill on Walnut Street. The ride to her house was an adventure in itself. Brad and I still refer to it as the roller coaster road. I don't know exactly what it was about that house that always beckoned me home; maybe it was the fact that it was my dad's childhood home and he and my mom started dating while dad lived in that house; maybe it was the smell of the pine wood floors (I think they were pine); maybe it was all the wonderful antique furniture that held a glimpse into the past; maybe it was the smell of toast in the morning and the sweet taste of Grammy's strawberry jam; or simply the fact that it was in a small town.  Whatever it was, I will always remember walking in the back door at Grammy's house and finding her sitting on the couch in the family room (with that monstrous console TV), doing her crossword puzzles. She seriously could have authored crossword puzzles herself after all those years!

As I think of Grammy today, a flood of memories come; all of the card games we played as an extended family gathered around the kitchen table, the Christmas plays, all of the family sleeping in every nook & cranny in that old house and learning phrases from Grammy like, "Oh Frost!".  A recent favorite memory of mine was visiting Grammy at her apartment in Indiana nearly 10 years ago. I was in the area for a college friends wedding and stayed with Grammy. It was just she and I that night - which was rare. That weekend happened to be only one week after I went on my first date with Ben. I remember talking to her about this special "boy". I told her all about him and she asked if I thought he may be the "One". Sure enough, he was and I'm thankful I got to share that special moment with her. Although, later, when she finally got to meet him, she made the comment that he "looked" Jewish even after I already told her that we met at our church! That was Grammy - always speaking her mind. :)

I will also cherish all the handmade gifts: ceramic bunnies, Christmas ornaments engraved with her initials and the pillows she made for me that have "Love Grammy" stitched on the back, one of which is now on my daughter's bed.

So, Grammy, here's to your long and legacy - filled life! Your story is now complete. My hope and prayer is that one day my story may leave a legacy of love for those around me - just like yours.