3 years old!

Guess who just turned three!

We had fun celebrating Dawson the week of his birthday.

We started off the day with a Phineas and Ferb birthday card.

It had an inflatable guitar inside!

Then we opened a few presents.

Here he is with some new cars to add to his ever growing collection.

He loved the batman balloons hanging from his door.

Then it was off to IHOP for one of (if not) his favorite meals - PANCAKES!

(We were too busy eating to pose for pictures.)

Of course I had to do a test run of the cupcakes I would be making on

Sunday for his birthday lunch.

They became our after dinner treat. 

  Blow out your candles!

Time for bed, birthday boy.

bedtime story with daddy.

Sunday came...

now to celebrate with friends!

His repeated request was for a Batman cake.

Simple and relatively easy.

I just printed out the batman symbol and traced it on top of

some black (pre made) fondant.

Add his batman figurine to homemade yellow icing...

Wah lah!

A batman cake.

And I must say, it tasted quite amazing!

Chocolate Applesauce Cake with Butter Cream Cheese Icing.

oh. my. goodness.

Sooo yummy!

Kind of looks like batman is trudging through yellow snow, huh?

But hey, Dawson loved it and it tasted good.

Isn't that what counts?

I had a fun week celebrating you,

Dawson.

My first born.

I love you, sweet boy.

You have changed my life forever.

I love your sensitive heart,

your huge smile,

and those sweet curls.

So thankful for your life.

Thankful to be your mommy.

in between.

oh my goodness.

it's been too long since i last posted.

the little man's arrival has been quite an adjustment

and just now we are getting into some kind of routine.

(well, more or less.)

but in between

the feedings

and cooking,

and cleaning up messes,

and just being with my boys,

i've managed to capture a few

moments with them.

here's a morning with some play dough.

his "tower"... that he is also slicing in two.

we've been

watching little brother

do new things.

like roll over.

and coo and babble.

and punch animals dangling from his activity mat.

here he is

on his 2 month old birthday.

sept 25.

we took a road trip to see my sweet sister

and celebrate the birth of her own little one.

my mom, my sister and liam.

we've partied when daddy is home.

those times are our favorites of the day.

there is always a sigh of relief when

we hear the door open and we see his face.

he's our super hero.

his special power is saving us me from our busyness

and task mode.

i confess, i resist often

and see his presence a lot of times as a way to 

actually get MORE things done.

but on the days that i actually stop

and make the most of him being with us,

i get to capture moments like this:

so thankful for those 

"in between" moments.

slip slidin' away

slip n slide.

i wanted one sooo badly as a kid.

but, my brother, sister and i had to get creative.

we decided to make our own.

we called it the rotten banana.

our knock off version of the wet banana*.

(*link to must see commercial)

ours was made out of a black tarp.

just add some running water.

perfect fun.

my husband and his coworkers

recently conjured up their own version of the slip n slide

during freshmen orientation week 

at berry.

it really outdid any

i've ever seen.

over 200 feet of slipin' and slidin'.

not to mention downhill.

there was also the "kiddie slope".

 for those less adventurous.

or rather, those who didn't want to wait in the mammoth line above.

and guess who wanted to go down.

(with some encouragement from his daddy.)

 getting ready.

and, they're off.

look at him go.

 his hands a little higher than before.

so secure with his daddy holding onto him.

enjoying every second.

i haven't been able to get these images

out of my head.

i can't help but think how

these pictures of my son and his daddy

call me to something greater.

or rather, someOne.

that i would live

with arms up and hands open.

surrendered and trusting

that He is with me.

His right arm around me.

that i would live in the moment.

and not try to control every moment, 

grasping for some sort of self preservation.

that i could stop trying to arrange my life

to avoid inevitable slips and slides.

deviations from my plan.

but to accept His invitation to experience 

them with Him.

the enjoyable and not so enjoyable.

arms up and hands open.

Newborn Shoot with Caiden...Sort of

i had my heart set on doing

 an "official" newborn shoot with caiden.

and then time got away from me.

the other men in my life needed me.

laundry got dirty.

dishes began to pile.

sleep was required.

life happened.

but i did manage to squeeze in a few sweet moments

in front of the camera.

like these.

and then there were flowers

i didn't have to pick.

to go along with the meals

i didn't have to cook.*

that allowed me to catch my breath 

and capture more moments like this.

to enjoy this little one.

with his tiny lashes.

and tiny hands.

tiny expressions.

and tiny feet. 

 tiny gazes.

that melt my heart.

but i must say,

(and i think i speak for all moms)

 tiny rests are the best.

*

special thanks to our church community

for reaching out 

and helping all of us squeeze in a few

more (much needed) tiny rests.