holiday, part dos

just a few reasons why i love coming to iowa for christmas:

1) my little snow bunnies

2) my mom's homeade eggrolls; which pair wonderfully with...

3) lots of boxed wine stored in the garage

4) snowstorms!

holiday, part uno

a day in the life of....

carter stuck in a cabinet. this happens a LOT.

eden playing beauty parlor.

snowflake

yes, it is snowing for real in houston. it's like i'm home in iowa. except that in iowa, it takes about 4 more feet of snow/ice to cancel everything, while here, they started doing it while it was just raining this morning. gotta love the south. it's scary out there.

i think i can

success rate of black bean to mouth-3 times out of 29 attempts

Hope

(our homemade advent calendar)

The first week of the Advent season focuses on hope/prophesy/anticipation of Christ's arrival. How amazing that God told the world over and over that His son was coming, down to the specific details, long before it happened!

"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." Isaiah 7:14

look at me, y'all

carter is pulling himself up--barely, but he can do it.he is such a different baby than eden; while eden was content to just sit in one place, carter is into everything. he can get himself from one room to the next faster than i can turn around. now i understand why there is an entire aisle in babiesrus dedicated to keeping children out of stuff. here are just a few items i have taken out of his mouth:
-connect four coin
-piece of deflated balloon (yikes, i know)
-lucy's dog food (ick)
-that nasty little white cap on the base of the toilet (ick again)

little brothers

carter's favorite thing to do is pull eden's hair. he has literally pulled out clumps of it. that's what little brothers are for though, right?

simple and thankful

just got back from a fabulous trip to dallas to spend thanksgiving with our sweet friends, jason and angie (and their sweet kids, and angie's sweet family too). we had wonderful food and it is always fun to catch up with good friends.

of course, as i reflected over the week about things i am thankful for, i couldn't help but be a little bit homesick for iowa and my family. for some reason, fall is when i get the most homesick for the midwest and my family. i could list thousands of things i am thankful for, but i really just wanted to mention one--my mother. my mom was diagnosed with cancer about a year ago. she is healthy and fit and it was a total shock; for me in particular, as i am one of those people who suffers from (and prays continually against it!) the ironic and contrasting worldview that 1) my loved ones are invincible, yet/therefore 2) something really bad is always looming because i am sinful and that is what makes sense in a fallen world. so, when my mom was diagnosed, it was like i was waiting for it to happen. how shameful of me!!!! but let me try to put my selfishness aside. my mom (and dad who stands strong beside her in faith always!) has handled this experience (is it weird to refer to having cancer as 'an experience?') with the most faithful grace i have ever seen. that is not to say she hasn't struggled or questioned or cried or felt any of the emotions that may come with something as devastating as cancer. but she trusts that God will give her peace and carry her through this battle. and i (we!) will continue to pray for healing every single day!
so. this thanksgiving-and always, every moment-i am thankful for my beautiful mother.

that little dude

for the past couple days, eden has been refering to her little brother not by name, but rather, 'that little dude'. as in, 'that little dude is looking for you mom' and, 'that little dude is hungry you guys', and, 'that little dude is stinky. could someone please change that little dude?'