Hope he's not doomed!

I guess this is what happens when you have a big sister.
Emma has a drawer of "princess" stuff. She really doesn't play with it very much, and she's really not into princess stuff..but I walked into the play room the other day and this is what i found. Liam didn't seem to mind.
Sometimes I do get a little worried because Liam plays with so much of Emma's stuff. It's hard to want to go buy new stuff for your 2nd child to play with when you already have so many toys..but then I start to feel bad that all he has to play with is babydolls and "sister's leftovers". i did recently buy him a john deer tractor, so i guess he's good for a while.

Gosh, I love this man!

Enough said!

Yep, I'm lazy!

So, Emma got a bike for her birthday..on January 7th. She has been riding it around inside for a little over a month now. Mostly because I've been too lazy to let her take it outside. See, that would mean that I would have to go outside and follow her up and down the street while she rides it. (Yep, I know that's pitiful). So, we've been making her ride it around inside, which she really has enjoyed.
But yesterday after bumping into furniture for the 100th time and almost running over Liam once again I finally broke down and took the bike outside. She had a blast! And so did Liam. And the weather was perfect! It was a lot of fun...guess I can't be lazy anymore.

Growing up!

Ever try to get a 3 year old and a 10 month old to sit still? to sit still and smile?
Emma has been a challenge for quite a while, which is why I haven't had her picture professionally taken since she was a year old. Liam has just started to become difficult. You kind of get used to them not being mobile...then the crawling begins! He's been crawling a while, but I guess I hadn't tried to take any posed pictured before today. UGH!!
Emma actually did well. Liam did not. He was far too concerned with grass, leaves, dirt. Emma continues to say "Liam, you were not good in the pictures. You do not get a treat." Guess we're in for years of this to come!

It seems as though Liam is just growing up overnight. I think it goes by quicker with the 2nd child. He is everywhere! He's just conquered the stairs, which makes me very thankful that we have a baby gate at the top and bottom. He has started to stand for about a minute or so but still not steps. Brad thinks he's gonna walk soon cause his toes are so long. But I remember when emma was little and people would always say "She's gonna walk soon"..and she didn't walk til 13 months. But we're in no hurry. He's quick enough just crawling.
And he's so much fun. He's so happy and loves his sister. It's a joy to watch the two of them together. I feel so blessed every day that I get to stay home and watch the two of them grow together!

Finally from Georgia...again!!

Ever feel like you're just throwing money out of the window? Well, that is how I feel right now.
Let me start from the beginning...
Last weekend we were headed to Sharptop (a YL camp in North Georgia). I had to drive my car because Liam was going with us..and I asked 3 of my high school girls to ride with me.
All is well as we are driving along, singing, talking..when we pass a cop. I knew I wasn't speeding. The speed limit was 65, and I was going 73. Well, I guess that's speeding, but it only matters if you're going 10 over, right?
Anyway...my heart sinks when I see the cop's taillights come on and he pulls onto the road. I knew immediately he was coming for me. Sure enough he was.
I knew as soon as he walked up to my window that this wasn't one of those cops you were going to talk your way out of..."Ma'am, I stopped you for your excessive rate of speed"...I was doomed. The girls all wanted me to start crying. This has never worked for me in the past, and I could tell it wasn't going to work with this guy.
He disappears for a while and finally returns, "Ma'am, are you from Alabama or Georgia?" I say "Georgia. I just haven't gotten a new license yet". ( Although we have lived here for almost 3 years..I did not say this however). He proceeds, "Ma'am, you have 30 days to get a new license when you move to a new state. AND this license is expired."
WHAT!! I had no idea. Well, I knew the part about needing a new license in 30 days, but I did not know my Alabama license had expired. So, he proceeded to give me 2 tickets..one for speeding (turns out the speed limit has just changed to 55 when he clocked me) and one for an expired license. He then wouldn't let me drive away since my license had expired. One of the girls had to drive. He said if I was caught driving I would be arrested immediately.
I then faced a dilemma. Do I follow the law and let one of the girls drive or do I follow YL rules, which say that a teenager isn't supposed to drive? I chose to follow the law until we got right outside of Sharptop..i drove into camp.
So, when we got home I went to get a new license...as you can see. It only took 2 1/2 years to get to the DMV...I mean how am I supposed to get there with 2 kids? I haven't even had my teeth cleaned since Emma was born. She's 3, by the way.
I am officially from Georgia again...and I would say that sadly it took getting 2 tickets to make me go get a license. And that part about throwing money out of the window...this whole ordeal ending up costing $272.00 If anyone would like to contribute, let me know.

Still lovin' it

This summer it will have been 14 years since I first went to Frontier Ranch. Brad and I have both been YL leaders for 10+years. And we just got back from our umptenth trip to Sharptop Cove.
Things have changed over the years of being involved in Young Life. College, Marriage, YL Staff, many many moves, lots of high schoolers, numerous YL camps, kids of our own...but through each different stage one thing has remained constant...a burning desire to love high schoolers. It may be a little different than when we began..Liam has been to Sharptop twice in the last month, we're toting toddlers and strollers when we go to do contact work...but we both still love it. It brings us life and joy. We know without a doubt that it's a "calling", and the Lord has clearly called us. And we are so grateful for the chance to share Christ with kids that are living in a screwed up world and need to know His amazing love. Here's to 14 more years!!

Happy Birthday Emma!!

The last few weeks have seemed crazy. From Christmas to New Years to Emma's birthday, it's been sort of a whirlwind. I'm happy to say that we had an incredible birthday party yesterday. The weather was perfect..and we actually pulled off an outdoor party in January. We rented a jumpy house..which Emma has been talking about for weeks and there may be a major meltdown when it is picked up tomorrow. Cupcakes and ice cream were had by everyone (although we have 30 cupcakes left over that I feel obligated to eat as quickly as possible).
Emma got her first bike and lots of other great toys. Sadly, they've already all been taken away several times. I think it's just too much of an overload for a 3 year old to process that many toys at once. I think they cause some sort of craziness that she can't really control. So, we've decided to give them to her slowly. That way her birthday will last for months!
I am glad to sit down and take a deep breath. I couldn't have asked for a better day, but it took a lot to get ready for it. It'll be nice to have nothing to do for a while...except play with a lot of toys:)

Emma modeling some of her new stuff!