no life doesn't slow down

It's been a while since I've updated this. My how life is fast and full.
May is almost over! We celebrated our 6 year anniversary this month. How special it is to share year number six with this wonderful man by my side. He is an amazing friend, leader, daddy to our son,and love of my life. Sharing this year with our son in our lives was even more special. I am blessed to know Jonah, and to have the honor of being by his side. I learn so much from being with him. I learn how to love deeper, care more, listen more, show more compassion, hold my tongue more, be a better friend, have a deeper faith, and on it goes. He's my knight in shining armor and say that without any cheesiness intended. Truly, my romantic, loving, manly man fills me up to overflowing, and I am so thankful for him.
Now here we are at the end of May, looking closely at June.
I knew May would be crazy, but I also knew June would run right into it without much chance of life slowing down. I can see that is happening now. Here we are on the verge of welcoming June, and I can hardly believe it.
June.
What does this mean?
It means we head of to the DR for a mission trip. It means Oliver stays behind with our in-laws for 9 days. It means Oliver turns ONE! It means I turn 30! It means work ends, summer begins. It means Oliver is weaned.
Is that enough to keep one busy?
Wow, I thought my mind would be spinning at this point, but I'm doing okay.
Next weekend we will drive to my in-laws, settle our son in with them and drive to the airport to fly out for 9 days. I can hardly believe that it's here almost upon us.
Surprisingly I'm doing okay.
I know it will be tough driving away, flying away, and sleeping away from our son, but I know that I have been preparing for this too. God has been graciously stepping in, lovingly filling me with His presence, His Spirit and calming my spirit in the process. I have been praying for this trip, for the people we will minister to, for the people that will be going on the trip, for safety, for sweet Oliver who will be back here in the states.
And I'm still getting ready.
I have been praying for this trip, for myself especially. I know my heart will miss our son, but I am also ready to see what God has for me. What He has to teach me, how He can use me. I'm also excited about the time with my husband. It will be just us (plus 28 other people). Just us, without Oliver there. And while we'll miss him, it will also be a growing experience for us to go and do this together.
I'm so thankful that we are able to do this. For the way the details of this trip have been orchestrated. Truly God keeps taking care of everything, right down to weaning Oliver. Our passports are in hand, another answer to prayer as we weren't sure they would arrive in time. And we are ready.
Oh our bags have yet to be packed, and the house is yet to be locked up, but when we get to that point it will be time. In my mind, in my heart it will be time.
I have felt that God has been preparing me step by step for this trip. And with each step comes peace. Peace that another item is checked off. Peace that the days are creeping closer. It's been amazing and I didn't expect it. I am learning what it's like to live your life in faith, to live your life trusting in God to meet you and lead you when you come to the end of yourself, the end of what you feel your limits are. He lifts you up and takes you even farther out over the edge of the mountain than you thought you could go. It's truly an elated feeling knowing that He is providing and guiding you.
There is no place else I would rather be.
And so we count down now. To June.
It will begin this week. Let it roll in!

easter and such

We had a lovely Easter together. It's hard to believe that it was a couple weeks ago! Now here we are in May and my how it's flying by.
Our little Oliver is now 11 months and his big one year birthday is creeping closer and closer. He's learned soo much in these past couple months, it's been amazing. He crawls (army mostly, although he forgets he's on his knees sometimes), pulls up, crawled up a step and kept going with daddy behind him, eats more of what we eat (chunkier food), stands up in his crib, claps, mimics our faces and noises, says mama and dada clearly to us, waves of course, signs 'all done', and is working on tooth #4.
Goodness I never knew he would change so much SO quickly. Those rolly polly thighs, arms and cheeks are starting to thin out, sadly enough. I knew he wouldn't be a chunka monka forever. And I know that's a good thing!
We are counting down the days now until we leave for our DR mission trip. Well, maybe not counting down, just being very aware that it will be here before we know it. I'm still nervous about leaving our little boy behind for 9 days, but God has been working in my heart to prepare me and I know that once we are there, it will be peaceful and confirming. I'm looking forward to what God has for us there, how He will use us and those He will bring our way. I am also looking forward to the time 'alone' with Jonah. We have never been overnight somewhere without the little chunk, so it will be a growing experience all around. And serving God together is such a blessing. I am so thankful for a husband that leads on with a passion for Christ.
Our Easter was so nice, and we didn't get Oliver a basket- oh horrors, right? Not that I'm against it, all the candy and such, whatever. No I'm not an advocate of the Easter bunny persay, and we won't be teaching Oliver that he exists. I never once believed in him growing up, I only knew of Jesus and the tomb and how He rose again. I did get a chocolate bunny and a basket with treats though, and it was fun. So maybe when he's older, we'll see. We did go to a sunrise service together which was beautiful. I loved being outdoors to see that beautiful morning light and to picture what it must have been like all those years ago when the Mary's walked to the tomb. I think it will be a nice tradition to go to a sunrise service every year. I would even like to try the ones that are even earlier- we had ours at 7:30.
Here are a few shots of our sweet boy, getting all grown up, and a few random ones too.

Business, gardening and such

Here we are in April. I'm wondering where March went. Oliver is now 10 months and moving all over the place. It's been an amazing change from months 8-10. He has been learning new things constantly and it's been so much fun to watch him. His latest discovery is mimicking us. He'll try to do the same face expression or movement that we do. It's hilarious to see this! Sometimes I can just see the wheels turning in his little mind...
Another thing he enjoys doing is putting his toys in secret places. One is a basket near our tv stand. He'll drag his blocks one by one over to it, reach up and drop them down into it. He also likes to take apart his soft stackable rings and shove them one by one through our ottoman that rocks. If he doesn't make it through with one he'll take it out and try again. His little mind is showing us how he is structured in his thought process, and I laughingly try to take credit for that. Ha! We all know though that Jonah is the organized mind in our family, even though I try!
I haven't posted pictures in oh so long, and I will leave with one before I go.
Today though I am venturing into a new exciting endeavor...gardening!
Jonah and I picked up organic seeds, soil, and some non-organic seedlings (couldn't find them as organic). We are digging up a patch in our backyard today to plant our veggies. I'm excited to do this, as I have high hopes for our plants growing and NOT dying, as I tend to do with houseplants. I chose veggies that I know Oliver likes, and we do (except for the peas, blahhhh!) and that are expensive to buy organic. I'm hoping to save us some money there once they come in. I know it will be a couple months before they grow but I'm looking forward to watching them, and teaching Oliver about planting. Granted he may be little and not understand, but I try to involve him even now in my everyday tasks. Training him up!
Other things on our plate:
we are developing our business plan even more, so the grand opening of it has been delayed. By grand opening, I mean sharing our blog and facebook page. Website will be down the road. Our vision for what we want it to be has been slightly skewed over the past sessions. So we are deciding which direction we want to take it. It may turn into a couple businesses under one umbrella name. This sounds complicated but it would all relate into one nice little package.
We are praying for wisdom and timing with this and have peace in knowing God is working out each detail along the way. One of these is an upcoming meeting with a local photography husband and wife team, whose work we kind of drool over. They have a direction in their work that we know we want to go. They are meeting with us next week, just to talk shop. They are similiar in their beliefs as stated on their website and open to meeting with others to share their story.
So that's exciting for us to hear from others in the field.
For now that's where I'll leave as I have a talking little boy at my feet. Someone's ready to eat!

Oliver loved loved loved the huge helium balloons. This is like his second time seeing balloons and he was so excited he couldn't even get his laugh out, there were squeals!

I'm still here!

Goodness gracious. Where have I been?
Not sure when the last post was. I have tried to post on several occasions but never got to the 'publish' part. We've been busy in March. The month was centered around a 4 day trip to NYC. I do mean centered too. Planning, packing and going to the city was different this time around since we had Oliver with us. I learned a lot from that trip. How taking along a baby does not equal relaxing, vacation-style trip. Even though it wasn't a vacation trip, and I knew it would busy. Take busy and multiply that times 3. Truthfully Oliver did wonderfully. Me on the other hand...
I was truly grateful I was able to go- and bring Oliver, and be there with my sweet husband. He and his job were the reason we went. And it was for an award ceremony. So proud of him and how hard working he is. I'm so thankful we have these past two NY trips to look back on with memories. You learn a lot on your first visit to the big city, and on your second trip it's easy breasy. Sort of.
Now here we are rolled into a new month, and our baby boy turned the big 10 months today. My, can time slow down a wee bit here?
Big decisions have been prayed over this past month and there have been big answers from God. I am thankful for others that pray. I am thankful for God who hears me. My little voice is important to Him and I'm humbled by that. I have received answers to some heart questions and I have genuine peace about the answers He provided. He has also been moving in my family and it's been amazing to see.
I have also been plugging along with our business start up, and we have been blessed with yet another maternity shoot we did last week. I can happily say we are moving forward and are close to launching our business, live!
It's with much prayer and time that this can even happen.
So life is full and not slowing down. Even Oliver is speeding up with his army crawling, half up on his knees, rocking thing going on.
Oh how much fun this crazy life is being a wife, and mom.

A chance to win

Okay so I did it. I entered a contest for a local magazine for moms. I am so not one to participate in something that involves sending in photos of yourself....but I did this time. Please humor me and my appeal for you to vote. Please take a moment or two or three, to vote for Oliver and I. We'd love to win!
http://blackdressredwagon.com/2011/03/feature/enter-our-2011-be-a-star-cover-contest/

To win means, a shot of us (professional shoot) on the cover, and some other good stuff including a trip for two night at an inn. Sounds lovely, since Jonah and I do not have extra money to go towards trips and such, as we continue to pay off our student loans. Not that I'm complaining! I know we will be able to yell out , "I'm debt free!" in time.
But to vote just go to the page I linked above, scroll down to our picture and vote. You can vote numerous times a day, you can go to their facebook page and like my photo there. You can share this with your friends and family members.... :)
Just putting it out there if you'd like to help out a good 'cause'.
Thanks for going along with my shameless plea for your vote.

Quick update

As I finished my last post I read a recent entry by a blog friend I follow:
http://dailypleasures.blogspot.com/2011/03/2-in-12-progress-report.html
I found it to be very encouraging as she set out to do many tasks and wrote out her accomplishments as she went along. I'm inspired and a little renewed to do just this.
More thoughts to come!

Time to be disciplined.

I've been feeling a little scattered lately. The other day I heard the phrase, " too many irons in the fire".
So relevant to how I'm feeling.
My interests and need for knowledge has tipped my scales, and I'm feeling very unbalanced. I keep thinking I'll figure out an organized plan for cooking, cleaning, preparing nutritional meals for Jonah and I and Oliver, find time to finish researching vaccines, finish my laundry....for once, get rid of stuff we don't use, hang frames on the walls, print pictures!!!, keep my quiet time with God at a scheduled time each day....and on and on it goes. I don't seem to schedule very well. Maybe it's my personality- that creative need to be impulsive. But I have never stuck to a schedule. I can make a list, write on a calendar, and think that I will follow through with something for a month, only to fail.
I'm getting to the point where I need this structure for my own sanity. My husband loves to make lists for things. He loves seeing the check mark next to his many many lists of things to do. He'll even add something to a list that wasn't included, just so he can check it off! I'm not quite that way. I write a list. Start doing something, get sidedtracked, or get taken to do something that requires me immediately (diaper change, dinner...etc.) forget I made the list and go on forgetting about it.
Does anyone else have a good solid schedule down for their week? We have a pretty basic schedule, I just find it hard to do all the extra work for all my everyday things. I am getting everyday things done but not feeling it's enough.
Perhaps this post doesn't make a lot of sense. I'm resolved to take this to God. To beg Him for organization, discipline, and wisdom in knowing what things are the most valuable things I should use my time for.
So I'll come back to this again. Soon.