Thanksgiving 2013

This year we headed to Monroe for Thanksgiving with my side of the family. And it was quite the gathering! There were a ton of people and Beau had a blast. And overwhelmed blast. He got to meet his great grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. It was a great time with food, family, and fun. It could not be beat! 

The holidays are so much fun with this little guy. Christmas is for sure going to be a BLAST!!

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name." Psalm 100:4

Letters to Beau #2

Dear Beau,

Happy 2 months little Buddy! You have had such a big month. It's been half your life and that's nuts. 

Some of your favorite things to do are hang with your family. You love your Nana Sue and Ghee and your Nana Potts and Papa. You also love your cousins and your Aunt Bok. William is your best friend so far. And well, your only friend. 

This month you celebrated your first holiday. It was Halloween and you were Mickey Mouse. You hated your costume. I put you in black tights so you would have black legs like a mouse. And you were a pissed off baby. But, it's okay I put your dad in green tights our first Halloween. He was the grinch. You guys put up with my antics. You are just learning young. 

Another first was your first time at church. You made it halfway through the sermon, but you loved the music! You will get better about listening to the sermon ;). 

We also went to Monroe for a few days. You had a sip and see there and everyone loved you. You were a big hit! You have become such a smilie little guy and it's absolutely adorable! 

I suppose your biggest to do this month was to go to the doctor and get your shots. You handled them like a champ! You gave the nurse the biggest smile right before she stuck you. Poor little guy, you didn't even see it coming!! You are also a big guy that has grown a ton! You were 12 lbs 4 oz and 22 1/2 inches long. You have a huge 16.1 inch head. I measured my head and it's only 20 inches. You take after your daddy with that big noggin. Let's hope it's filled with his brains too. 

I know this next month is going to be so much fun! We will celebrate thanksgiving and see lots of family. I cannot wait for all of your new adventures. 

 

To the moon baby boy,

Mama

 Your daddy loves you so much too. You are his special buddy! 

Beau's Newborn Pictures!

These are just a few of my absolute favorites! Mauri did a fabulous job. And, well, Beau is a pretty cute subject!

Cousins!

Hanging with his best friend. 

My Daddy made this beautiful cradle. Such a special picture.

Looking at these pictures it is crazy how much he has already grown! 

Happy Halloween!!

From the cutest mouse and pumpkin on the block! 

In full disclosure, Beau, you HATE your costume. It could be due to your mother putting you in tights. But I'm unclear. 

Real Life: 

🎃 Happy Halloween Anyway! 🎃

Letters to Beau #1

Dear Beau,

Well, it's the middle of the night and for a change I am the one awake not you. So in the quiet and calm (a rarity since your arrival), I have let my mind wander which is something it is quite good at doing. 

It has been such a joy becoming your mama and a whole lot of fun. Sure there have been hard times, but I attribute that more to the fact that we are just getting acquainted with one another. It's odd to love someone so much that you really have just met. All this getting to know each other has let my mind wonder about the future, specifically your future.

Please don't get any ideas that I want you to grow up too quickly because son the opposite of that is true! J.M. Barrie said it best, "Young boys should never be sent to bed. They always wake up a day older." This truth is already hard and you are only 7 weeks old. 

So knowing that you will grow older, I have to wonder what your little personality will be like. Will you be impulsive and loud like me? Or quieter and steady like your daddy? Or will you be neither and have your very own speed? Will you like baseball or football or piano or guitar or art or tennis or golf? Will school come easy or will you have to have patience to learn the hard things?

As your mama, these are the easy things to wonder about. I look forward to your first jersey. It's silly, but true. But I want you to know that these easy, fun things to wonder about are also so very not important. As much as I will love to cheer for you, if you never play one down, one inning, one game, one song, one anything I will still love you and be so proud just because you are you. 

Do you want to know the most important thing? It's the hard thing for me to wonder. Because it's the big thing that I know the Lord has entrusted your daddy and I with. I wonder if you will grow to walk with God. Not just a Sunday morning every now and then, but a deep relationship with Him. We pray every night that you will grow to know God early and trust Him. We pray you will be a man of courage and conviction. Something that is not always valued in this world, but we are promised and hold tight to the fact that our treasures are not here. 

Buddy, this is my prayer for you. 

"14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. 21 Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen." 

Ephesians 3:14-21

Although you are much too small to understand this now, one day you will. And one day I (and your daddy) will have many conversations about this. But until then, we will love you. Everyday, all day. When it's hard and easy. And hopefully our tiny amount of love, compared to that of your Heavenly Father, will make you see a glimpse of just how long, how high, how deep, and how wide you are loved. 

Because you are. Loved here on earth and for eternity. Please don't ever doubt that. 

To the moon and back baby boy. 

Your Mama. 

Hello World. We're Back.

So, it is an understatement to say that I have missed a few days (weeks, months) of documenting our lives, but we have a REALLY good excuse! Meet Beau.

Beau came on September 9, 2013 at 3:27 am. His story entering the world is a good one. We woke up the morning of September 8th ready for church. I was an overachiever and even put a chicken in the crockpot because who doesn't want a roasted chicken after worshipping the Lord. I'm gonna tell who does want one and that is Bubba, so much so that he didn't eat breakfast in order to fast for the chicken. (this is important). Well, we went to church and kept the nursery the second service.

Everything was all well and good until I was asked by a precious girl to take her to the restroom. Well, I stood up and then my water broke. Not like in the movies, so I was a little confused. Disclaimer, we failed to take the recommended childbirth classes so for all I know this partial water break could have been addressed, I was just foggy on the whole thing.

Church had 5 minutes left, so I decided to not make a fuss. After we left, I explained to Bubba that we may need to swing by the hospital to see if my water broke, but could we stop at Sonic first I would really enjoy a diet coke.

Picture break.

I mean melt your heart

Turns out my water did break so we were having a baby. Fast forward until the next morning (skipping things like labor. I will save that for a guilt trip for Beau when he is being mean to his mama) and Beau entered the world. We were tired and hungry and crazy but so much in love. But we still didn't get to eat our chicken and Bubba sure was sad he fasted!

The next few days were a crazy blur of getting to meet tons of friends and family that love us and Beau so much. It was such a visit fest and I loved it! 

Just chillin' with my Best Friend Cousin William. He beat me into the world by 6 days

Meeting Cousin Caroline

Even though Beau came 3 weeks early, and his parents didn't have their bags packed, car seat installed, house clean, or really anything else the books tell you will happen, we sure are so glad Beau decided to show up when he did. Because what is life without a little bit of adventure and surprise. 

Five on Friday

Since my brain has turned to mush, I figured this would be a fun way to update on life!

~one~

I cannot believe that I am about to be 31 weeks pregnant. That seems like such a high number of weeks. I guess because I vividly remember being nine weeks pregnant and have 31 to go. Crazy. This maybe will inspire me to start some sort of "nesting" that I hear people talk about. I hope this makes you magically an organizer, because I am just not.

10 weeks, 20 weeks, 30 weeks. Woah.

~two~

This is related to number one, but I had a grand plan to clean out the junk in our house before Beau arrives. How is it possible to accumulate so much random junk in such a short period of time, and store it in such strange places? I need a life coach.

~three~

I just got a text from my best friend asking for an impromptu lunch date. I cannot describe how happy this makes me. Friday, you are good to me! I mean a Friday is always great, but a lunch date on Friday is like a tiny bit of weekend fun preview. Also, referring to the 31 weeks pregnant... I love lunch :).

Susie. I can't wait.

~four~

I think I am losing my mind. Yesterday, I ran some errands at lunch and came back out to my car... Only to realize that I HAD LEFT THE DOOR WIDE OPEN.  I checked for a killer or thief and none were present. So, that is good. Also, if we could keep this one a secret that would be great.  Bubba may start requiring I wear a leash as to not get lost in public. 

~five~

It has officially started. I have the itch for Fall. I woke up this morning and it was actually cool. Which for July in Mississippi is a miracle of epic proportion. But, it made my mind wonder to all of the fun things that are coming up. And well, I also really want a new pair of boots. I got to thinking about football, which lead to me picturing Beau in all sorts of LSU paraphernalia. Which means we will have a BABY!! Then its the fair, halloween, cool weather, scarves, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and all sorts of family together time and friend fun. I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. And fall may be on the way. Give or take a few months :).