splish, splash

i am not sure what the weather may be where you are reading this (if you live outside of the houston area), but around here we are all ready for the neighborhood pools to open.  in the meantime, i decided to make a special purchase for brendan...a pool!  i found an inflatable pool at target within the price range, size and simplicity that i wanted, and i purchased a swim shirt and swim hat because it is still unclear as to if he will forever be fair-skinned like me or turn to tan in the summer like his dad.

the cold water was a bit uncomfortable at first (and i can attest to that since i got in with him too), but he started crawling around in no time.  upon discovering that the outside had a neat pattern, brendan made it his goal to try to pull down the side of the pool to see the pattern better.  i cannot wait for our next swim time!

 

 

 

 

 

easter

our Easter was quiet and low-key this year which was nice after our whirlwind month of march.  brendan was treated to baskets of goodies from his great-gammaw, uncle john & aunt beth, and grandma & papa and we celebrated Easter morning with a veggie tales DVD, Easter toy, and bubbles in his Easter basket.  even though he will not remember this Easter and does not have the attention span for a full-length movie, we wanted to start from the beginning the tradition to include and recognize God amidst the candy, eggs & toys in his basket on Easter morning.  for an almost eight month old, we thought the best way to do that would be through a veggie tales movie.

because we did not have a traditional, big Easter lunch planned, i wanted to still have a couple of fun things for us to eat in honor of Easter.  i made my very first cake from scratch:  a strawberry cake with lemon glaze.  i must say it was quite delicious.  i was also inspired by another pinterest-find to make us a crescent breakfast ring for Easter breakfast.

we tried taking a family picture at church after the service but we were incredibly awkward-looking thanks to the sun in our faces.  thankfully, my guys were good sports and endured a few more pictures at him with some help from my tripod (and our neighbors' yard).

the most special part of the day was the worship service at church.  the musical part of the service was phenomenal and the song choices were some of favorites, to add to it.  the message delivered was a powerful reminder that because of Christ's obedience and death on the cross, we are in Christ just as he is in the Father and the Father in Him.  what a precious time of self-renewal and challenge to be an example of Christ to those around us, particularly our son.

the same page

what an honor it is to share with you how proud i am of my sister-in-law and friend, shauna pilgreen.  not only has she co-written a book, the same page:  living your happily ever after, but the book is available today!

from the early stages of development, i fell in love with the core theme of the same page:  a story of a mother and teenage daughter in the middle of every typical mother and teenage daughter relationship.  what i did not know was just how much i would connect to each character until i was holding the book in my hands and reading the story, both stories, from start to finish.  you see, the same page is a unique book because one half is the story of independence and a journey of self-discovery from the viewpoint of the teenage daughter, and on the flip side (literally) you have a mother with unfulfilled dreams and a heart full of love for her daughter.

my heart immediately connected with the heart of ysabel, the daughter.  as a teenager, i was just as independent and determined that my mom could not possibly understand or connect to my life.  don't get me wrong, my mom and i had a pretty good mother-daughter relationship.  just as most teen girls though, i was convinced that regardless of what she said, i knew what was best.  thankfully, we both came out of that time in life for the better.  she never gave up on me, and she allowed me to learn from my mistakes.  as an adult and mom, i can relate to my own mother as well as adela of the same page because i want the absolute best for my child.  as hard as it is and will continue to be, i want to allow him to make mistakes, learn from them, and come out better because of the experiences.  i want my love for him to reflect God's love for us as adela's does toward ysabel.

i am confident that girls and women of all ages can find themselves in one or both of these characters.  we all have dreams.  big plans for our lives.  goals we want to accomplish.  the best part is that all of that and more is ordained by the King.  this is what the same page is all about.  we are all daughters.  some of us are mothers or will be mothers one day.  we all LOVE fairytales...and happily ever afters.  shauna and co-author courtney bullard bring all of us together through the same page.

i hope you choose to discover this love story for yourself because ultimately it is just that.  a story about our King and His love for us.  if you would like, you may purchase the same page from amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com .

bluebonnets

bluebonnets are a springtime treasure here in texas.  i had been looking forward to these pictures for quite some time, knowing that the window of opportunity for really good bluebonnet pictures can be fairly small as the temperature starts to rise.  brendan played along for a little while but then made it clear when he was done with pictures.

happy easter!

from lee, lindsey & brendan

nice starter smile...drool and all

 

what an intriguing egg!

you want me to sit here for how much longer???

 

yea, i'm pretty much done now...

i tried to warn you i was done.  now i will just eat my basket until we leave.