Friday, August 14, 2009

5 Years Ago Today...

I married my best friend! Aaron, I am the luckiest and most blessed woman becuase you chose me! We've been through so much, and have grown more than I ever thought possible. You have been my rock, you have been my everything. Your patience with me is unbelievable! You constantly challenge me, you love me unconditionally, you show me how much you care about me in ways I never thought possible. You love Jesus with all your heart and I know you strive to honor him as you lead our family. Never in a million years would I have thought I would be this blissfully happy and have so much joy in my heart. Your laughter is contagious. Your eyes are dreamy, your heart overflows with the love of Christ. You are the best Daddy to Caleb, you are the best husband to me, and you are the love of my life. I cannot wait to see what adventures are ahead of us as we continue to strive to be obedient to the Lord and love each other unconditionally. Thank you for forgiving me more times than I deserve. Thank you for the bear hugs, and sweet soft kisses. Thank you for providing for our family so that I am able to stay home with Caleb. Thank you for your honesty, boldness, strength and courage.

In you I see...

Availibility - you are always putting Caleb and I before your own needs. You are readily available to jump into the craziness as soon as you walk in the door from work. Whether it's bathing Caleb, feeding Caleb, helping me out in the kitchen. You are always available.

Commitment - you are committed to the Lord, to our family and to our friends. You are not afraid to dive in head first whether it's friendships, striving to better our relationship, leadng our family spiritually, or your daily time with the Lord.

Discipline - you are disciplined to complete the task at hand, no matter what it is. You set goals and you accomplish them. I lack this in my own life, but seeing you be disciplined in waking up on time, quiet times with the Lord, working out, whatever it is, it spurs me on towards that same discipline.

Honesty - no matter what the situation, you are honest. Even if it's a difficult question that you don't want to answer, you do, and with honesty and integrity. I know I can trust you as my husband and friend to always tell the truth.

Sincerity - your actions and responses to situations are handled with sincerity. You long to do things, serve others, without any ulterior motives. Your heart is big, and it shows through the sincerity of your words and actions.

Teachibility - you have such a strong, teachable heart. We've had quite a bit of counsel since we've been engaged and married, and you've taken it all gracefully and have taken the time to match it up with what the Word of God says. Your teachable heart shows your respect for others, your love for the Lord, and your desire to continue to grow in you faith and grow as a husband, father and friend.

Vulnerability - this kind of goes along with teachability, but in my eyes is completely different. You are not afraid to share what is on your heart, or what you are struggling with. You share because you know that it will help you grow in your relationship with the Lord, with me as your wife, and with your friends. This has been a huge area of growth for you over the past 5 years. Thank you for not being afraid to talk to me, or to one of the guys in the Community Group. The Lord will continue to use your vulnerability to grow you in to the Godly man he desires for you to be.

Love - you love unconditionally. You love me unconditionally. You love me when I feel unloveable. You love me when I feel fat. You love me when I'm struggling to love myself the way Christ loves me. You love me when I hurt you. You love me as Christ loves me. I only hope and pray you feel I've loved you even a frction of the amount that you have shown to me over the years.

Aaron, you are such a blessing to my heart. There is no one else I would rather wake up next to every morning. Or eat dinner with every night. Or watch a scary movie with. Or share a Bahama Bucks with. Or travel with. Or work out with. Or share life with. You are my best friend and the love of my life.

Thank you for the best 5 years of my life!! I love you so very very much!

tears of joy

first communion and prayer as a married couple, what a blessing

"first kiss"

such joy and happiness!

what a handsome hunk!!










Thursday, August 13, 2009

Caleb - 7 Month Pictures

It has been a big month for growing! Caleb is becoming more and more of his own little person every single day, and this momma sure does love to watch!! He's sitting up on his own, completely now, and he's only a few days away from crawling! Guess this means it's time to babyproof the house?!?

Here's a few, ok, a TON of pictures from throughout this month. Notice at the bottom, all of the different facial expressions. It's always fun to refer back to the early on "The Many Faces of Caleb" post that I did back in January, and to see how many of them are the same, yet so many of them are different! I love my little man so much!!

Caleb, Haley (little momma) and Noah!

She is just in love with baby Caleb!

She was so excited to be "holding" him

She always gives him kisses, just precious!!

Dinner with the Selfs at our house last Friday. The kids had a picnic on our livingroom floor!

Caleb just chillin' with daddy

Oh how Caleb L-O-V-E-S his peaches!!

Chillaxin' in Noah's chair, we're going to have to get him one of these!







Sitting up for daddy (the 1st time daddy got to see it!)

Bath time! Probably his most favorite time of the day!










My little sugar!! Ohh I just want to squeeze you!




















He loves looking deeply at the carpet







"Watcha doin' mom?"




Watch out girls!!





Looks like he's praying here, doesn't it?!?










This is by far my favorite one out of the bunch!!

















Seriously Mom, can't you stop with the pictures already?!?