Lovely bits around my home...

Pictures cropped close so as to avoid the never ending messes that seem to accumulate quicker than ever...




...ever since this little precious boy came into our lives almost 8 months ago. Has it really been that long already?! He's the delight of our lives. And we think he's "SO CUTE"!
Jayden says that we should enter him in a cute baby contest because " for sure he would win!"




So, though I don't know what to do first half the time, I continually remind myself that baby comes first and when I happen to forget, his soft little hands on my legs, reaching up to find comfort in my arms, make me pause and savor these fleeting moments of babyhood.

Because, after all... "Cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow", right?! RIGHT.

In the last couple months...

Isaiah has been growing and developing by leaps and bounds. Here are just a few of his firsts.

Grabs his sweet little toes at 5 months.
Sits in his new high chair at 5 months.
Gets up on all fours at 5 1/2 months.
First two teeth at 5 1/2 months.
Sits and crawls at 6 1/2 months.
And for some reason he loves to slap the tops of his hands when he's excited.

All these new things are so precious and such a delight to witness. And even though I'm sad to see him grow up so fast, I am also so grateful that he is so healthy and happy. Each new stage has it's fun things and I really wouldn't want to have to have it any other way.

Beautiful Baby Girl

Remember this gorgeous mama? Shiloh Liberty is now just 1 week old. So tiny and perfect and pretty. And such fun to photograph!

My baby and I

So blessed.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Isaiah is such a content baby. Here he is just lounging during one of the many photo shoots I subject him to (really, I can't help myself... he's just so precious!) He was actually falling asleep towards the end so I picked him up and put him in his cradle and he went right to sleep without a fuss.

Last night I put him to bed at 8:30 and he didn't wake up again until 12:30 and then not again until 4:00! I had such a good sleep as a result and am feeling so good.

Thank you for all your well wishes and congratulations. I am enjoying this new life to the full.

Our Baby Boy.

.Isaiah Michael.

8lbs.15oz.

*the Lord helps me*
*who is like the Lord?*


"You will guide him and keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You,
because he commits himself to you, leans on You, and hopes confidently in you.

So trust in the Lord (commit yourself to Him, lean on Him, hope confidently in Him) forever,
for the Lord God is an everlasting Rock, the Rock of Ages."

Isaiah 26: 3&4

Hands Full of Sunshine

Gifts from a Small Boy

His small hands overflowing
with sunshine-tinted bloom,
He quietly, half-shyly,
tiptoed into the room;
"These posies are for you, " he said,
then hurrying through the door,
Left me with more than flowering wreath,
so much - O, so much - more!

Katherine Edelman

I've loved this simple poem, found in a little book of poetry that belongs to my mother, for as long as I can remember.

Long before I ever had small boys of my own I was enchanted by this verse.

Maybe it's because I was meant to be the mother of these treasures who think of me when flowers
bloom and bring me these offerings of heavenly scent and color.

Yes, always plucked too short for a normal size vase but perfect for the one I've kept just for this purpose
and which now resides on my dresser in my bedroom.

Photos: Grape Hyacinths plucked by son, Marcus, from amongst my tulips in the backyard garden.

On Raising Boys...

"I'm all new at this business... I'm not so sure how to do it right, see?


(But) Ain't so hard as all that. Mostly it just takes lookin' at a kid right in the eyes when he tells you somethin' he thinks is wonderful but maybe to you it don't amount to a hill of beans. You gotta remember that everything is new to a kid...


I'm gonna put hammers in the hands of my boys. I'm gonna let them help me build up this place again, and they'll feel good about what they done, too.



I think a kid... any kid at all... mostly just wants to do good. Sure, they ain't gonna do everything just right the first time, but that ain't a sin. That's just what learnin' is all about. Make a mistake. Try again. Do it a little better next time- and better yet, the next time.


Everything's new and wonderful to a kid... They think they can sprout wings and fly. They believe everything they imagine is possible... I reckon that's what the Lord meant when He said we ought to be like little children. They have faith still. They still believe they can move mountains.


Maybe their souls remember what it was like to be in heaven where maybe they really could fly. Then we grow up and learn about gravity, and we become grave in our hearts. And then we stop believing.


Well, life will turn out hard for them soon enough. It has a way of doin' that, I reckon. But I do not want to be the one to tell my boys they can't move mountains. No, sir. I look at my sons, and I think... yes, sir, Lord, maybe all things really are possible.

Maybe man was meant to fly. Meant to build great cities. Meant to say to this mountain be moved into the sea... and then find a way to make it happen.


That's what I want to give my boys. If I can do that...

(And) Where do (we) begin?


Right here (with our hearts). Listen to him. Look at him. Teach him what's right, but give him room to make mistakes, just like (we) have made mistakes. Someday he may hurt you. Kids do sometimes. It's part of it, I expect. There will be times when you gotta forgive him, like maybe he has to forgive you.

It ain't easy... but it's worth it.

Live every day like that, and love will just happen."

~Bodie Thoene

(excerpt from "Say to this Mountain", 3rd book in "The Shiloh Legacy" taken from pages 153-155)

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I realize that this conversation is between two fathers speaking about their sons... but it rang so true for me as well that I wanted to record it here to help me remember.

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Photos of my boys... just being boys between 2004 and 2009