peace

i do not typically write serious posts, i.e. posts that do not include pictures or updates on life events.  however, i shared this with lee today and we both thought it was worth sharing here.

every morning when brendan wakes up to eat, anywhere between 4 and 5:30, i get up and go to him when i hear him on the monitor.  during the night, there are always the occasional sighs or grunts in his sleep, but i know he needs me when they turn into a sort of cry.  i get up and go in his room, using my phone as a light.  lately, i have started holding it near my face so he can see me.  when he does, he is calm and eager to be held.  we spend the next little while together as he eats and then falls back asleep.

the moments between him falling asleep and me laying him back in his crib are some of the sweetest times of the day.  i love sitting there feeling his sweet little baby breath on my cheek.  i know this is one of those phases of his life that will not last forever so i cherish each morning like this.

last night, i started to think that sometimes our relationship with God can parallel this.  God desires for us to cry out to Him in our moments of distress, trouble, uncertainty.  however, i feel i fail at this more than i succeed.  all too often, i think i can handle it on my own.  my first reaction is not always to go to God before trying to figure it out myself.  God is waiting to bring us a peace that passes all understanding.  He is our greatest comfort and in His arms we can find those sweet, still moments of peace in life.  i pray that i can live life in a way that calling out to God in the hard times (and the good) is second nature.  the peace i can find in His arms is far better than anything i can attempt to create myself.

family photoshoot

 last weekend, we had family photos taken for the first time.  my friend, amanda jones, is an amazing photographer whose skill is just phenomenal.  i wanted to share these with you...some have already been seen on facebook but others are new.  if you are in the houston area, you should definitely look into having her take your family shots or child's photos.  if you don't live in houston, it would totally be worth bringing her to you, but that's just my opinion :).  she said turn-around for the fully-edited CD of prints would take about ten days, which i was totally fine with.  they arrived less than a week after we took them.  awesome!  i ordered a 16x20 photo canvas of one of the shots that i bought with a groupon-type deal (there is currently a new deal on savemore.com for a 18x24 canvas print for $38!), and i cannot wait for it to come in and go over our fireplace.  also, some of these or others yet to be seen might be showing up on our Christmas cards!

lately

life has been crazy busy the past few weeks, as i mentioned in the last post.  busy is not necessarily a bad thing though.  we have done a lot with friends from our small group class at church.  we have also had a couple of football watching hang-outs with people i work with.

meeting his friend, titan, who is only 9 days younger (his mom, jenn, and i work together)

we are loving life with brendan as he has reached 3 months old and developed his own routines.  he sleeps pretty well through the night most nights, which is a huge help to us.  he loves his sitter and she is wonderful with him.  he is smiling and laughing ALL the time.  just last night, he rolled over from stomach to back for the first time, and then proceeded to do it two more times before tiring out.

first time in the bumbo!

check out those lips!

first time facing forward in the baby bjorn

last friday night, lee and i went out on a date to celebrate our three year anniversary...wow!  we ate dinner at a wonderful restaurant in houston and enjoyed some really great quality time together.  the evening out was good for us individually and even better for us as a couple.  many thanks again to our good friends, austin and emily, for watching brendan so we could enjoy such a special evening.

zeppole:  doughnuts with nutella for dipping; our dessert on our date.  YUM!

if you are still checking in to see how we are, thanks and please continue to do so.  just forgive me if the updates are not as often as they should be :)

uncle ben and aunt shauna

first of all, i apologize for the lack of blogging lately.  to be honest, i never really have time to even get on the computer during the week, and if the weekend are busy....well, that's how i got here.

anyway, a few weeks ago we were so excited to welcome ben and shauna to houston and introduce them to brendan.  this is the first time they have visited us here in houston so we treated them to all of our favorite restaurants and took in all of our time together during their 48 hour visit.  for those of you who do not know, ben was actually my boss in college, shauna was one of the women who invested in me in college and became a dear friend in the process, and i babysat elijah and sam long before lee and i were together.  we find it very special that we are all now family.

we ate far too much good food and shared way too many laughs to stop and take many pictures but here are a few.  brendan had a blast with his uncle ben and aunt shauna and cannot wait to meet his three cousins at christmas.  in fact, brendan was quite mesmerized with shauna as you can see by some of the smiles she caught on camera.

ben & shauna had trouble saying good-bye so they tried to take brendan with them :)