A little bit of well...I guess you could call it thoughts!

Have you ever sat back and looked at your life and been completely amazed by what God already had planned for you? And you think about the things that you wish you could change or do differently but know if you did it wouldn't have led you to where you are now? I had these thoughts as I was rocking Tre to sleep last night. This is a monster post and I don't do these often...sorry!

I thought first about meeting Tim. When I met Tim I had it in my mind that summer that I was going to have a summer with my "girl" friends only, no more boyfriends. Man that was the best mindframe that God could have planted in me during that time. When I met Tim I knew he was quite possibly the nicest man I had ever met so we started as friends with ties to basketball at UNI and knowing we would be seeing a lot of each other! It didn't take long (at all) before I knew that friend was not going to cut it. Fast forward to less than a year later and we were married!

Then you think a few months later we had the most amazing gift ever...Isaiah John. I couldn't imagine my life with out that little man. He is sensitive, smart, athletic...just so easy going (that would be more like Tim!). He grew up in between Iowa and Texas learning things like saying ya'll at 2 years old and had quite the accent with words like daddy, hands, and my favorite when he said the color brown.

Then there was Ava a few years later. I thank God that he makes kids different and boy was Ava different than Isaiah. She is spunky, doesn't sit still for anything, a little mischievious, but also so cute and funny you can't stay mad long. Even though she can be a little stinker she is still very caring when the time is right for it, and she knows her timing.

After having Isaiah who had fever seizures as a baby and Ava was hospitalized early on for pneumonia/influenza and both having surgery for tubes Tim was pretty sure we were done...that was enough for him. We were blessed with two healthy kiddos that were happy, full of life and just well...wonderful! But then Ava got easier as she got older and Isaiah was getting older that he was such a help with everything that I think I was able to twist his arm a little :) and we have little "Tre man, chubby button sea turtle, buddy, bubbah". When you have two kids and opposite sex you chalk a lot of things up to being part of being a boy or being a girl. Then you have a third child and he is such a combo of Isaiah and Ava. Tre is like Ava that he laughs easily, constantly is moving and knows when he wants to go to bed. However, he is like Isaiah that he is sensitive, cuddly, but also a little more reserved with strangers and picks and chooses who he wants to relate to.

And this is where I ended up last night while rocking Tre with tears in my eyes...that had I not been in the mindset that I was only going to be with friends that summer of 2000 and not even think about dating I wouldn't be where I am now...which leads me to think what I think many, many times..."maybe God does know what He is doing". I tell God many times thank you and sorry I don't trust Him enough...probably more than He wants to hear, but I know He loves me anyway!!

There...I hope that I can promise that is my last sentimental post (for January anyway!) :)

9 months here and gone!!

Tre has grown so fast...time is just flying by. I cannot believe he will be one already in 2 short months!! I try and think back to what Isaiah and Ava were like at 9 months. So I pulled out the old photos and their baby books.

A few stats:

When Isaiah was 9 months old we lived in San Marcos, TX. Tim and I were both in school, he was finishing his student teaching in San Antonio and I was a grad assistant at Texas State for Athletic Training...it seems so long ago! Isaiah had no interest in walking, just wanted to hang out with Tim and I wherever we were going. He was 29 3/4 inches and 24 pounds 8 ounces. We thought he was such a big boy!!

At nine months for Miss Ava: we had moved back to Iowa and were living in Cedar Falls. Tim was lucky enough to get a job with Progressive so we could move back home and we had moved into our home in Cedar Falls. She was a busy, busy little gal...where Isaiah was good with just sitting and watching Ava had to be right in what you were doing and make sure you knew she was around! She was 29 inches and 22 pounds at 9 months.

Our little Tre man at nine months...he is a great combo of both kids and their looks and personalities. He is busy like Ava and really manhandles things, his toys, his food, and us! He is laid back and sensitive like Isaiah though he doesn't like the kids fighting or when they cry (which usually follows the fighting :) ). Luckily this doesn't happen often! He is such a good baby and loves each one of us in the house and takes turns having his favorite. He does a little bounce while sitting when he "dances", waves good bye and night night, and loves to listen to himself laugh. At 9 months he is our biggest kid...and boy is he ever! 30 3/4 inches and a whopping 25 pounds 13 ounces!

We love the kids for how different they are and as I rock Tre to sleep every night I think of how much God has blessed Tim and I!! Couldn't imagine life without these precious gifts!!