Bum Bum Ba Bum

So many new beginnings to celebrate! First Terry and Ansley's Wedding was so wonderful, she was radiant... it was much more emotional than I had anticipated, but with me... you can assume as much!

Laughing moments:
Ansley's face when she saw the dancing duo of Lyndz ans Keri Live!
Amy crawling under the table to get out for our speech
Me taking the aisle alone and the coordinator throwing me under the bus by sending me out too early ( then later when i reached the end of the aisle, Lyndz's face like "what the heck are you doing lol")
Ronnie dancing up on JBlow and him standing there, mystified

Crying moments:
Me and Amy giving our speech at the rehearsal dinner and my part going down through my tears!
Terry's face when he saw his beautiful bride! Every woman wants to see their future husband so overwhelmed that he gets to have her for life... and I got to see that for her, first hand
Ansley's last dance with Terry before she left ( I remembered my own dance then)

Then off to Amy's Bach Weekend ... I was only there for a little over 24 hrs, but a lot to take in for sure!

Laughing Moments:
So many I can't recall....

Crying moments:
Not so many crying moments unless from overwhelming laughter like the time that Amy played her recorder for the entire Pat O Bryan's crowd, or when she kissed a bald mans head (poor guy!) or when she stood up and announced her first nights love with Landry to a room of 40+ strangers! Or the moments when she did her cheer, first rehearsed by Tarra.. "UN-B lievable!"

(Apparently I didn't get the memo on the sorority squat!)

Here she comes.... walkin down the street....

(And Amy played...)

The Cherry Anniversary
We love Meg and Ronnie and wish that we could see them more than we do... we always think "man we wish that Megan and Ronnie could be here for this... or that" or that we could just call them up and have a game night or reality TV moment shared with them. We laugh so much when we are together. They celebrated their anniversary this past weekend, and so in honor of the "Cherry's" Kehnley had a cherry photo shoot!

All these events, at their core, have the same message to me...it really is amazing to have so many people so close to our hearts even though they don't live anywhere near us. This weekend reminded me of that so much. Me and Lyndz stayed up late talking like the old days and God kept telling me that His plans are for good, and His plans are eternal, and though we don't see the fruit right away and we may not know what His promises always mean they are always on the horizon. A truth that is often hard to wait on but makes each new day so exciting to see what God is going to do and teach and change in us. it made me realize I would rather spend my whole life waiting on God's goodness than wasting energy spending time trying to make my own way, knowing it will never match up to His.

I remember a day I was close to graduating and I was running at Higanbothem (spell check) Park, like usual, but I couldn't get the future off my mind. I was close to ending this chapter of my life, I was engaged and I knew we'd be moving. I didn't know where to, I didn't know what job I would have or where I would live, or who my friends would be. I was scared to say the least, because isn't that what we do when we face change? Even the ones who love change have a tinge of fear at the though of the unknown. In those moments, God's soft still voice broke through he music on my IPod and said "when have I ever let you down?" "when have I have not given you more than you dreamed of, more than you knew you could handle, and more joy than could be express... when have I ever broken a promise to you? When have I ever disappointed you. Not in the midst, but after all was said and done, who made a way for you? Who loved you? Who held you in His hands?"

I couldn't help but look back over my life and time after time, God had been so faithful to me just like the scriptures said. It wasn't always easy or what I might have chosen at the time... but looking back, it was a wonderful life. His presence was always there, He had changed my heart in so man ways, restored relationships, deepened my trust, broken down walls, lead me to incredible worship, shown me the mysteries of Himself, freed me from sin and captured my heart. He was showing me His goodness... and so any time I start to doubt I remember that moment where I was able to praise my God for all He had done, and all He was yet to do... and I am still here to say that His will is always good.

Kiki's new grove...

So Kehnley is called KiKi by some of her friends, and she is learning some new moves. Enjoy!

One of which is the purse drag.




And the other is the diva shoe clap.

But most importantly, her new home...

We found out this week that in two very short weeks we will be able to call our new house, Home! The plan is we will have our keys on the 18th and it will finally be ours. To be honest, this isn't about a new home for us, it's much more than that.... it's about a new beginning for our family and seeing something God has planned and purposed come to fruition and that's so exciting. It hasn't always been easy to wait for... but we have learned to depend on Him so much through the process. Thank you for your prayers!

Mothers Advice

So I have a 13 month old who doesn't like her bed...I know that most babies don't sleep well or like their beds or want to be confined especially when they learn that hey have legs that can move and get them around at rapid speed into any new mischevious dealing at arms reach....but what about when you are weaning a child and they won't sleep. Kehnly won't even lay next to me without wanting to nurse. She wakes after a few hours of sleep wanting to nurse...or be held (but only while I am standing up b/c the second i sit down or lay down.. guess what? Yep, you guessed it...nurse!)

WWJD... I keep wondering if God made babies to want to be held, why do we fight it? Why do we try to put them down and force independance on them... how many grown men and women do you know still sleep in their parents laps? Eventually they start sleeping through the night, so why do we rush it now? I know what the dr.s say and I know what the books say (BELIEVE ME, if there is a book about it i have read it) so I am asking some moms out their what THEY have done or are doing or know of others doing to help with this seperation anxiety.

I just really want to honor the Lord with everything in my life and that means especially my family, and I want to do what's best for Kehnley. It's not always about being comfortable, or meeting your own needs, it's about the child. We all have heard the saying that once you have a child their needs come before your own, but this, as a Christ follower, is not a new way of living we are supposed to put EVERYONE'S needs above our own!

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: "...
Philipians 2

This is my prayer, that I might be molded to the likeness of Christ.

Wordless Wednesday

Well almost wordless... so here are bach pics from Ansley's weekend O fun... and also just to let all those who are dying for Destin pics, I have made an oath to not post them until I have made my photo album first. I am really falling behind on the albums and I need to do that before I can post them. They are amazing so get excited!

Busy as a BEE!!!

Birthdays and bachelorets....that's been a big part of our July. My dad had a birthday and a week later JBlow did too. Then it was off to Ans' bach party in Austin. Which turned into a crazy adventure for Kandace and I , haha.

Actually I typically get into predicaments, or "adventures" as I like to call them...but this time Kandace got a taste for the first time! (We will get to that later)

Here are a few pics for the birthday boys!

Kehnley had fun playing with her Granny and Grand daddy (her favorite new thing is to knock over stuff!)

All these fun moments with friends and family make me feel so blessed, I know that there are people in the world who are suffering and who are consumed with so many worries and stresses and I know there are people who are lonely and wishing they had family and friends near by and people involved in their lives....I truly am blessed.

Plus, it's my personality to be with people I LOVE IT! I really do.. it doesn't have to be anything special, but I am so happy with others. It's not like I am dependant on others to entertain me or I can't survive alone... I have no problem with that at all, it's just that if I could CHOOSE to be with friends or fam or by myself.... i will choose to be with them, hands down!

News:

*Our house will be ready early! In like a few weeks, we are praying for the 9th of August, please pray for that... it's our only weekend in Houston in the next month

*Bry's new job... he's been moved to outsides sales and it's a huge blessing because it's what he's always wanted to do, it has a lot of new responsibilities and unknowns, pray God will direct him in upcoming decisions and give him peace.

*My job is going to full time this next year, I am excited to be with the kids and I love my school but I have anxiety about being away from Kehnley for he whole day and I have bad memories of my last full time teaching job, pray God give me peace and comfort and remove all fear satan is trying to distract me with.

*I have been praying for some time now for a good friend here in Houston, and I feel like God is really opening doors...I went to the mall last week to just walk and talk with Allison, we are accountability partners and try to meet every week (even though as new moms we find it hard to find time lately), but more than that. It was so awesome to have a friend that is in the same season of life, she is married with a new baby and we have the same passion for the Lord and growing to know Him more and more. It was such an answer to prayer to find a friend like her.

*Lilly needs surgery we can't afford, (the dr. actually said 1800 dollars a leg with a strait face)her knees are bad and I am sure all the running we have done hasn't helped... but we need something alternative to help her out, she good most of the time but it going to get worse.... but seriously who spends that kind of money on a dog surgery!!

Poor Lilly

So here are the exciting pics of our flat tire... luckily after me and Kandace man handled the jack and spend all our energy just trying to get that out of the car some nice Louisiana boys came...Here is a shout out to LA thanks for raising some guys with manners! (an old man passed us and said "looks like you guys have that under control" just before these guys came...we did NOT have it under control!)



Stay tuned more bach pics coming soon!

Oh say can you see......

So for the 4th this year we had a back yard bbq with the fam. Very low key, very relaxing. It was the first weekend for Bry to be home the whole weekend in a LONG time! Kehnley enjoyed swimming and we fired up the grill... I even made a 4th of July Trifile in honor of all our friends, Megan especially :) No worries there was no jam or beef sauted with peas....What do you think meg?

Kehnley had so much fun in the pool hanging out with some of her favorite men!!

Daddy and Papa

This is her on her splash pad we got for her on her birthday... she loves it! (even if she doesn't look like it here haha)

Look at that Elvis Lip

She actually had so much fun she didn't even make it through dinner one of the nights!

We actually are leaving for vacation to Destin for a whole week! We can't wait... summer keeps rolling on! I wonder how Kehnley will like she sand and beach? But first stop...Ansley's bach party is this up coming weekend. I can't wait to see all my girls!!

Hebrews 12:1

It's official... Bry and I signed up this weekend for the half marathon on January 18th. There is no turning back now! 13.1 miles to go :) What a great way to spend our 3rd anniversary! We've been training for a few weeks now and as time goes on we get more and more excited about it. I have trained before, but it's so fun getting to do it together. What makes it even more exciting is that we get to run for a cause! Bry is running for Alzheimer's in memory of his Grandpa Blowey who he loved very much and passed away a few years back. I am running for Multiple Sclerosis for a friend of ours Erin and my Aunt Beth who currently suffer from this illness. There is a growing awareness of MS but there is still much to be done in research for new treatments and cures to BOTH these illnesses. They are so dear to our hearts and it's just one small thing we can do to support and love on people in our lives and in the lives of those around us who are affected by Alzheimer's and MS. We will be sending out an email in the fall about how you can support us in fundraising for each of these.

In the meantime, Kehnley is getting to experience a lot of bumpy roads to the finish line as we take her in her stroller while we train :) She loves it though, she hangs over the edge to see us as we run...

On another note we have two exciting events we are waiting on and anticipating this summer...

The wedding of these to special ladies and their lucky beaus....

Ansley and Terry

Amy and Landry