the one where i introduce the newest spain baby

meet cooper.

aka super cooper

aka couch thief

aka stinky dog 

aka nimrod (what Riley thinks we should call him)

aka momma's boy

{sorry for the crummy cell phone pics)

{yes, i realize i look a tad freaky in this picture, but avert your eyes to those EARS!}

The one with a view

I'm typing this post from my phone.

I had to bring our little Riley to the ER this afternoon. Poor guy had been sick for three days. I wasn't tell concerned until he went a full 24 hours without eating or drinking.

We called the dr and she told us to go straight to the ER! So off we went and now here we are. Camping out in room 431. Pigging out on purple Popsicles and looking out the window at the pretty pond!

I'll try to update when we know more.

the one where the kiddos are sickly

it's MONDAY! why do my children get sick on mondays? i guess they don't like mondays just as much as the rest of us. technically Riley got sick yesterday morning but we thought he was 

fine since a few hours later he seemed much better and on the mend. 

this morning, not so much. i found poor Riley hiding behind the recliner 

with his puke bucket (yep, we sure do have a puke bucket!) crying. 

a few minutes later he was passed out on the floor. 

when Riley is sick he refuses to sit on any furniture. he says he is afraid he will 

get it dirty. kid does not like to get dirty. 

Sammy hasn't gotten sick yet but he is congested and sleepy. both boys are passed out as 

i type this up. we are usually outside playing by now. my poor boys. momma sure does hate it when they are sick. so far neither have a fever and Riley is the only one who has gotten sick. i don't think 

it's time for the dr just yet but i do have them on speed dial just in case! 

please pray for my babies, would you!?

look at them, aren't they pitiful? 

(puke bucket and all. just keeping it real, y'all) 

Lord, you love our child as You love all children,
Bring healing to our child who is not well.
Stay by his side and comfort him through this trying time.
Keep us ever mindful of Your loving presence
Bless us with Your powerful healing and comfort us also.
Thank You, Lord, for hearing our prayer!

the one where i tell y'all what i am not

y'all, i turn 30 this year. 

THIRTY! 

i'm kind of in denial about this whole turning 30 thing. not quite sure why, it's not that i feel old. 

i think it's just because there is so much emphasis put on the big 3-0 birthday. 

i may be in denial about turn 30 but i am NOT in denial about who i am. 

i used to be. and sometimes i still have some insecurities but for the most part i 

wouldn't change the me that i have become. 

this next year, the first year in my thirties, i am going to fully embrace 

who i am and not on what i'm not. 

so i did a little soul searching and have discovered a few things that i am not...

but that i am okay with not being. 

~i am not a good cook. by any means. i actually really dislike even thinking about cooking. it scares me. growing up i had zero interest in anything kitchen related. i used to wish to be the wife who loved to be in the kitchen but that's just not me. (that's why i married a man who can cook. baha!)

and i'm okay with that. 

~oh how i wish i was obsessed with keeping my house clean. but i'm not. again, this is one of those things i never had an interest in and was never made to do as a child so the cleaning bug just never attacked me. have y'all noticed a trend just within the fist two things...i am NOT a domestic goddess by any means. 

and i'm okay with that. 

~i wish a was one of those crazy-sports-fanatic-wives. the one who gets all decked out in team colors. one who knows all the rules to all the sports her husband loves. i've tried to get into it a few times but it just didn't work out. 

and i'm okay with that. 

~i really want to be a runner. so much so that sometimes i think i actually am. i look at running magazines, websites, blogs, shoes, running gear...everything. i did run a 5k so at one point i was. and one day i will be again. but right now a runner i am not. 

and i'm okay with that. 

~i've always dreamt of homeschooling our children. i still really want to. but right now they are both doing well in a public and private preschool setting. they love it.

and i'm okay with that. 

~as a child i just knew that i was going to be a teacher. as time went by i changed my mind and decided i wanted to be a nurse when i grew up. i am currently in school taking all my pre and co-reqs to get into the nursing program. but my husband and i (prayerfully) decided i would take a year off from school to focus more on our family and home. 

and i'm okay with that. 

~in school i had just a few close friends. in junior high and high school i used to pray that God would bless me with many more friends. as i grew older and wiser i realized that i didn't really want more friends at all. i'm a hermit, y'all. so the fewer friends the better. (baha!) i have a wonderful handful of friends that i couldn't be more thankful for.

and i'm okay with that. 

~i want so badly to be good with words. both spoken and written. i have a habit (sometimes good, sometimes bad) of just blurting things out before they go through any sort of filter. that's just who i am.

and i'm okay with that. 

the where i realize they actually DO like each other.....sometimes

a rare moment.

they had no idea i had my camera in hand or i'm sure this picture would not exist. 

sammy is actually giving riley a hug though it looks like he's 

choking him. but i promise, it's love. 

crazy, rough-not-so-gentle-brotherly-love.

what makes me laugh is if you ask either one of them if they love 

each other they will most likely say, one of the following...

no

not really

just a little bit

kinda 

 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Ephesians 4:32

the one in which i embarrass myself

i couldn't help it. after yesterdays post i HAD to get in a better mood.

i busted out the cleaning supplies, sent the kids outside (don't worry, it's a fenced in yard and they can't climb it...yet!), and got to work. 

but before i got to work i figured i would do a little multi-tasking...

so i did what any stay-at-home-mom would do

(someone out there tell me you've done this too!)

and i put on a facial mask. 

if y'all want to know the secret to cleaning like a pro

listen in...

slap on a facial mask and before you know it you will be transformed into the 

mean, green, cleaning machine.

(i'm gonna go hide now!)

side note: you should really avoid the eyebrows and try not to get so much in your hair. when this stuff dries it doesn't feel so great!!

side note #2: i may or may not have purposefully scared my children while my 'cleaning mask' was on! 

the one where i confess to complaining too much

the past few months {quite possibly a year!} i've been struggling with getting things done. i may get them done but it usually involves a good amount of complaining, trying to get out of it, a little bit of crying, and well you get the point. sometimes it takes all that's in me to slap a smile on my face and get the job done. 

cleaning the house, laundry, homework, work, activities with the children...i could go on and on but i will spare you the misery! pretty much i just hated doing much of anything. well, not really hated, but i struggled with finding the joy in doing the simple and mundane things of my daily life. 

things that i should really be thankful to do. not everyone is blessed with the task of taking care of children. i took for granted my ability to be healthy enough to work and have a great place of employment. went to class only looking forward to dismissal time. when i cleaned the house i forgot to think about those who don't have a house to clean.

i can't believe how much complaining i've been doing when in reality, i don't have much to complain about at all. i have a roof over my head, some pretty awesome kids, a great husband (who can cook!), amazing, Godly friends and the list goes on. 

i was reading my Bible one day and ran across this verse. one that i'm sure i've read a thousand times. one that i'm sure i've heard preached another thousand times. this time i didn't just glide right over it. i stopped there for a while. really taking in the words. reading them over and over again. after thinking good and hard i flipped the pages some more and imagine my surprise when i landed on this next verse. it's quite obvious the Lord was telling me something. can we say, 'there's your sign!'

it's in the Bible y'all...it's not just some silly Chinese proverb or golden rule. it's IN the Bible! of course i knew it was in there, but like i said before - i hadn't paid much attention to the value those words hold until now.

i wont lie. it's hard sometimes doing things without complaining, keeping a good attitude and a smile on my face. but i try, i try.

let me share with you just what verses opened my eyes.
(don't forget to watch the video at the bottom of this post!)

Philippians 2:14-16

King James Version (KJV)

 ¹⁴Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
 ¹⁵That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
 ¹⁶Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.


& 

1 Corinthians 10:31

King James Version (KJV)

 ³¹Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

see!!
and now i will leave you with this little video/song. a reminder in a song to do everything to the glory of God. it's what we're here for!! (and it's not really that bad, is it?!) 

Pencil to paper

Can it be? Is he really old enough to write his name already? Where has the time gone?

This picture sends a rush of emotions through me. 

To think he is no longer a baby,

but a big boy leaning and growing. 

I get tears because he is growing up right before my eyes 

and at the same time I get those crazy-happy-mommy tears

when I see just how much of a big boy he is becoming. 

He's been able to write his name for a while 

but just now is he getting really good 

at it. 

I feel so blessed to be able to be a (mostly) stay-at-home-mom

so I can stop by his school

and witness moments like this.

Moments of tender, innocent learning. 

He's just getting too big. 

Riley Bear,

can you please just say little a while longer?

Pretty please?