fewer and farther between

are these moments with each addition to our family


so thankful my sweet husband enabled this nap today!

a little thanks

i love to write thank you notes. it's a good thing too as i have quite a list i'm working through...acknowledging the dear people who have made sacrifices for our family. we have been overwhelmed with meals and kindnesses from neighbors and our church body since miles was born...an incredible blessing. i've been cooking a little again lately and i'm so thankful for that too.
look who started smiling yesterday!



working hard to make him smile...


i turned 28 last week as well and felt so cared for by my sweet family and friends...undeserved thoughtfulness... from a latte on the doorstep to a spontaneous visit with encouraging conversation and bathroom cleaning. thank you kelly!

lap full of blessing


we dropped (and broke) our new camera, but we brought out our old flashless one so we can capture a few of the abundant graces we experience every day.
miles took his first run yesterday, we are so thankful to borrow that triple jogger...i think it will help my sanity. marit has been asking to go running since i had to quit at 20ish weeks pregnant. the weather has been incredible and our little circus had so much fun in it yesterday!

when she grows up

marit loves her bike (it was a hand-me-down birthday gift). thanks jen and mary rushton! as you can see, her little legs are not strong enough to propel herself without a little help from daddy and a rope. however, lately she has been saying such cute things about growing up:
her
"mommy, i think i'm old enough to get married now"
me
"oh yeah? who are you going to marry?"
her
"daddy"

on a recent daddy date:
him
"marit, what do you want to do when you grow up?"
her
"oh, i want to drink coffee and hold kittens!"

she definitely knows how to enjoy herself!

another plug

my wonderful brother and his wife (above with my grandma right before they left) are in india for a bit, but before they left they recorded some beautiful music they arranged over the course of their time in church-music ministry. the album is finally ready for downloading/streaming/ordering. the album is mostly reworked hymns and will leave you encouraged for sure!

new old hymns

as a sleep-deprived mommy of a newborn and two busy toddlers, my time in God's word has been somewhat unpredictable. marit sometimes naps, but it is a rarity and we have been rising early for some reason or another. i am always so thankful for uninterrupted devotional time and personal study of the Bible is irreplaceable, but when i am in the midst of an exhausting day and feeling so weak and spiritually frail, i have been reminded of the importance of singing my faith...to remember who i am in Christ, to speak truth to my heart, to allow Jesus to change me with the Gospel. we heard this sermon by kevin twit (10/31) on the reformative power of worship recently and it was so encouraging and convicting. i love, love to sing...one of my favorite things to do, but even if it isn't one of your favorite hobbies, we are all called to sing our faith.

all that to say that the hymns, old and new are an incredible wellspring of rich truth, theological principles, real redemptive suffering. i love indelible grace, red mountain, but it has been so long since i bought anything on itunes that i forgot how to do it. yesterday i downloaded sandra mccracken's new album in feast or fallow and let me tell you, it is GOOD. you can listen to all the songs and read a little about each one on the website. the album is a mixture of old hymns with new melodies and new hymns she wrote. it spans a broad range of experience, from simple thanksgiving, to grappling with suffering. here is an acoustic version of the title track.

footed sleeper love

hardly anything cuter, in my opinion, than little people in their pjs...



we've been trying to keep the munchkins a little warmer at night because they sometimes wake up cold. they are such active sleepers that they usually don't stay under the covers.


what color do you think his eyes will be?


here miles is contemplating the fact that he is about to sleep for 7 hours in a row! you may never have met a more thankful mama for that simple gift of grace that one night of sleep is! it is certainly not a pattern yet, but i am thankful nonetheless.

the first three weeks

miles will be three weeks old tomorrow and adam goes back to work so i wanted to put some pictures on the old abandoned blog so i don't forget these days. in short, this adjustment has been exhausting and has made us all feel a little crazy. however, we are totally in love with baby miles and we are thankful for so much grace...seen even in the life of this precious, fresh new one. he is a blessing to our family for sure.
so in the past few weeks we celebrated graham's 2nd birthday with family and yummy cupcakes. thanks for the directions tara...the picture does not do them justice!




adam insisted graham get a few manly toys for his birthday so he can stop wearing marit's princess/ballerina dress-up clothes. so, here is our little soccer knight


adam has been teaching him to rescue his princess ballerina sister from "dragons"

reading lots of stories together lately

my handsomes

miles' first bath is a family event (and the kitchen is a bit of a mess)



imitation is so sweet

we've been swaddling and burping baby dolls a LOT lately

the real baby is even better

graham gives miles kisses all day long

enjoyed lots of adventures with daddy

our first whole family outing...to the greenway!

their daddy-daughter relationship has been really special lately...marit asked adam to make her all those hearts she is holding and they have sweet little messages on them. they are her prized possessions right now

stretching

fall is here finally and it has been beautiful lately