He Turns 2!

We celebrated Deacon's 2nd birthday while we were in Florida.  He was quite pleased to have a "queen" cake.

Thomas the Train from Daddy & Mommy.

"Queen" jammies from Uncle Jay & Aunt Lisa.  He is very fond of these.  Most mornings I ask him what he wants to wear and he says, "queen jammies!"

Florida Trip 2012

Wow.  It's been a while.  Life here has been c.r.a.z.y.  In the past few months, we've celebrated Christmas, took a trip to the sunny south and celebrated a 2nd birthday for a very special boy.

In January, we flew south and enjoyed a vacation with Dad & Mom Sink and Jason & Lisa and their family.  We enjoyed our time there immensely.  It's amazing how the sun can change your mood instantly!  We're counting down to spring here in Ohio.  Although it's been a very mild winter, it still sounds nice to go outside without having to wear coats!  Here are some highlights from our trip.

January 14th...Deac's 2nd birthday.

Enjoying dinner with cousins.

Pool time.

There is nothing like the beach!

It was such a blessing to have Grandpa and Grandma there to help with Nora!

4 months old!!

An evening stroll along the beach put her right to sleep.

We really wanted a family picture on the beach, but with all of the wind and an uncooperative 2 year old, it didn't happen. :)

From Ours to Yours

From our family to yours........

May you find peace, love & hope in the One who came as a babe to save us!  Praise His Name.

Tis the Season

Tis the season to deck the halls and spread some joy!  We love Christmas time & look forward to starting traditions with our own little family.  

Playing Christmas carols with daddy.

Deacon loved "helping" decorate the tree.

Little Bruiser

We had a first.  We got to take the 30 minute stroll to Children's Hospital on Friday night.  It was the first of many battle scars, I'm afraid.  Deacon was jumping on a pillow and hit the corner of a wooden box that we keep his books in.  Thankfully, Brent had just walked in the door, otherwise I'm not sure I could have handled it.  I didn't realize it was as bad as it was, until I went into the bathroom to check on them & there was blood everywhere.  This is not something a mom ever wants to see.  Her child screaming as blood runs down his face.  We chatted & decided we would take him to Children's to have them check him out.  We told Deacon we would stop and get him some fries.  (he liked that idea)  So from Troy to Children's he ate his fries & sang along with his songs.  My mom & dad met us at the hospital to help with Nora, which was such a blessing.  They checked him out and determined that he indeed should have some stitches.  Another event I hope I don't have to experience.  Him being strapped down on the table, wondering why people are doing this to him (and why his mommy & daddy won't stop them!)  It was heart-breaking to me, but we made it through.

The battle wound.

  

Patched up by mommy & daddy and waiting in the waiting room at Children's.

He enjoyed the waiting room.

Then we made it back to the room and they put on a numbing cream to numb the skin before they actually injected him with the lidocaine.

All stitched up with popsicle in hand.  Ready to go!

The next day, he's back to normal.  He's making his mommy a tad paranoid when he runs around!

Praying we don't have to go through that again anytime soon.

Last night we were counting a couple of blessings.

*Blessing Number One:  Brent was home.
*Blessing Number Two:  It happened on a Friday night, which meant Brent would be home 2 days with us.  This was very comforting to me.
*Blessing Number Three:  It was minor.
*Blessing Number Four:  My parents were there to help with Nora.

We are thankful to our Father for his abundance of Grace last night.  I'm not sure how I would handle anything major, but then I wasn't sure I could handle this either.  In having our own children, I have learned how much our Father loves me.  His love is amazing.

Farmer Boy

Last weekend Brent helped his dad in the field.  Deacon was quite excited to be able to ride in the tractor with him.  Apparently Brent had Pringles in the tractor, because the next day I was asking Deacon about his ride and he said, "Pringles!"

Life lately.

It's been a fast 5 weeks.  Much faster than the 5 weeks before Nora was born. :)  Deacon has adjusted well & I'm very thankful for that.  It definitely hasn't all been easy and yesterday I was ready to turn in my 2 weeks notice as a stay at home mom, but the Lord's mercies are new every morning!  Today has been much better.

Nora's first walk.

A couple of weeks ago we went to the Lost Creek Preserves Fall Festival.  Nora wasn't all that interested, but...

....Deacon had lots of fun.  

I was quite proud of him when he rode the pony all by himself.

Time to pick out a pumpkin.

20 months old.

The other day I was out in the kitchen cleaning up things.  I put in the movie Cars ( a new one for him) and came in to check on him a little later & I found this.  A first for him!

Nora at 4 weeks old.

Unlike her brother at this age, she enjoys her hair being washed & with all of that hair, she gets a lot of head  rubbing which results in lots of grease!

The last few weeks has once again showed that life is so short.  With the passing of Jerry a couple of weeks ago & then my brother-in-law's mom last Friday, the Lord brought a couple of things to my mind.  Do the ones I love, know that I love them? Do I tell them?  Do I show them?  It's something I've been pondering lately.