the almost family photo...

the picture above is our new 'family photo'... mostly because all of the others looked like the one below... i actually kind of love it though, it has the essence of abel, but chris + i are the focus which is usually not the case in most pictures from the past year.

abel was mr. grumpfish (i suspected it was his teeth + when i met his GIANT molar the next day, i fully understood why... ouch) and no amount of playing, tickling, or laughing was going to change his mind. he wanted to be left alone to explore + so after a few valiant efforts we just went with that. lucky us, chris + i got a few pictures like the old days, just the two of us. i'm so happy we did. it's really important to me to have photos around our home of our kids of course, but it's equally important to me to have photos of us as a couple. i want our kids to grow up seeing the love between husband + wife. their parents. i want them to know how much we love each other + how important our marriage + relationship is outside of them. it can be a hard balance. i've struggled + also learned (still learning) a lot about balance since we added a baby to our mix. it's easy to get caught up in your kids, especially if you are the one home with them 24/7, but one of the things i remember most from our marriage prep was to prioritize your spouse always... once your kids are grown + have their own lives, it'll be just the two of you again + you'll be happy that you nurtured that relationship through it all. i am NOT perfect at this. i have an extreme personality. the air in the car is either 90 or 60. the music is either loud or off completely. i have a tendency to get over excited + throw myself into things 100% and not have balance at all. maybe one day after a lot of practice, i'll be better at this... i don't know, but for now, i'm thankful that chris can be open + honest with me + tell me if he feels an imbalance. because i want to be the best mother, yes, but i also want to be the best wife equally as much. anyways, unplanned ramblings :) point being. we didn't get your traditional 'perfect family photo', but it's the perfect one for us right now + i love it.

why we 'lick the spoon' + you should too...

you know you've done it at least once + if you're being honest, probably a lot more than that. growing up, we loved when my mom would bake! we got more excited about getting the mixing beaters, the spoon, or best... the BOWL, than we did about what she was actually baking! some might call it bad parenting, ya know... with the raw eggs + all of the other silly worries that have polluted 'the new generation', but i think it builds character... 

okay not really, but it definitely makes for fun memories + traditions to carry on to your own families! i intend to let all of our kids 'fight' over the beaters, only to find out that the 'loser' gets the spoon, which has waaay more anyway + that they'll all get to share the bowl in the end.

that's my two cents... ya know, since you asked ;)

 so, i let abel lick the frosting spoon. if it's the worst thing i do this year... i think we'll all be okay!

happy weekend!

to love another...

they say it happens as naturally as the first time, but it's still hard to imagine having any more love in my heart than i already have at this exact moment. we love abel more than i ever dreamed we were capable of, our hearts revolve mostly around him + every little thing he does. so you mean to tell me that adding another little to our clan wouldn't take away from the love we have for him, we'd just get MORE???!! i believe people when they say it, but it's still too crazy to wrap my head around + i feel like it's probably one of those things that you just don't get until you actually do it + your like, 'oh, i get it now.'

in case you missed our announcement yesterday... we decided to go ahead + find out for ourselves...
bump number 2 is scheduled to arrive on september 4th-ish!

we are overjoyed + beyond excited. already wondering what gender this little will be (no, we don't have a preference). name gaming. planning + praying, and spending as much time together as a family of 3 before 'we three' becomes 4. abel is going to be the best big brother ever, he's already getting so much practice with his cousin + it's just his nature to share + be sweet, so here's hoping that continues :)

we are full of joy over here. thank you jesus.

just stopping in to say...

over the weekend.

the picture above is one of my new favorites. i don't know if it's the men in my life + how cute they are together, the gorgeous view from our home, or the perfect yellow slug bug in the background... probably all of it combined. the past weekend was such a great one. i couldn't tell you what exactly was so great about it, but just that it was one for the books. i even remember one particular time looking at chris + telling him how good our life is + him smiling back like he agreed. i love how sometimes it's in the non-eventful times, no holidays or celebrations, just the regular old saturdays when everyone is home + together that feel most special. this weekend was one of those. the weather was warmer for a change + we got outside as much as we could. abel cried real tears every time we had to come inside, he ADORES adventuring in the warm sun... so that is exactly what we plan to do every sun day for the rest of our lives. 

^^^what a cutie, i love him