Independence Day 2013- Creole style

This was the second time, since being married, we weren't able to spend the forth of July with Jeff.  He was recently relocated to a job that is ten hours away some where in Texas. =( The kids and I embarked on my first ever "road trip" or at least half way we were alone. I had the privilege of taking my uncle Russ to the "Big Easy" aka "NOLA" and we stayed with our dear friends a few days before we came back home.

Here is a little snap shot of my patriotic duo before we left on our trip!

Uncle Russ and I always have fun on our trips. There is good conversation and good laughs. The last trip we took together, we made plenty of funny memories as we whipped our heads and "caught" the person driving next to us looking at us. This time- we had Ruth. Baby Ruth. Layla's beloved "baby."  She looks so real when we take her places that people actually think I am irresponsibly lugging a child around. So I held her as I drove and Uncle Russ bounced her on his knee." It's OK Ruth. We got cha!"  Yes, we looked like the worse parents ever. And No. It wasn't responsible. But hey, life is short. Laugh a little. =)

 

(Hey, don't judge)

                                                             
We got to New Orleans with little time to enjoy the quarter.  So Uncle Russ, the kids, and I took a quick stroll through down town and then he caught the Mega Bus home. Pretty cool ride back home to Mobile for $17.00, I say! I sure hate to see him go. He is SO much fun and it was nice to have family here for a while. Much love to ya, Uncle!

(Can you see Uncle Russ riding shot gun, top level?!)

 

 

Dwayne and Annette treated me to Drago's Seafood while their girls kept the kids (I only had to bribe Layla with candy).  And let me just say- the charbroiled oysters were a buttery, charbroiled delight! Can we say YUM!!?!!

(LOVE this couple)

We also made a trip to uptown NOLA and got to visit with (Jeff's) Aunt Carol. She is so much fun and such a pleasure to be around. I am blessed to know her and get to be a part of her life. The kids adore her as well. Gavin caught lizards (imagine that) at her house. Then, we had a quick, sit down lunch at her house and then made a trip to Sucre' with Melissa and Charles. A little scoop of heaven in a small, flower shaped bowl! I will have to say that while the ice cream and melted Smores cake was a delight, one of my favorite things was people watching and the culture. Everything in NOLA is unique. From the shops, to the people, to the sidewalks, to the bus benches, to the trolley, to the electrical poles. Yes, electrical poles. Check this out.

(In case you can't tell what this is- that is LAYERS of old signs, staples, and nails)

 

 ("You are in Saints Country" says the sign behind me

and Gavin- well, enough said)

("Red Beans, Pinball Machines, Chicory Coffee, and Hoodoo Queens.

File Gumbo and Pralines. Everything's Hot Down in New Orleans")

(Even the stop signs have character!)

 I didn't get a chance to snap a picture of Layla stuffing beads up her shorts at Sucre. But hey, we were in the "Big Easy" after all.

 

We ended our trip with a crawfish boil! Such a Cajun way to say good bye. Gavin even ate a few handfuls of them. He peeled them and everything! * Proud moment * Dwayne and Annette are so good  great to us. I feel like I am living like a Cajun queen while I am there.

(Davin and Gavin- best buds-grubbing down. And Pie in the middle)

I could go on and on about how much fun we had. Such as how much joy I had in watching Gavin catch all the tree frogs suctioned to the Burke house. Or how he spent his days scooping out whatever he could catch in a net from the canal. Or the kids playing at the neighborhood park... and visiting with extended family (bc the good Lord allowed us to cross paths), or walking up and down Magazine Street with family, and snapping pictures of Café Du Monde coffee and Mardi Gras masks in a souvenir shop with a great Uncle, or enjoying family (where nothing has to be said to laugh). God has blessed me with the best friends and family- both near and far- and my life is so rich because of it!

 

We missed you, Jeff! Love you!

 

Bye-Bye Diaper Days!

 I have not kept a journal...a blog...a notepad..or index cards of Layla's milestones. I find my self being too with Jeff working 14-18 hours days to remember to sit down and right a few things down. Things I think I will never forget have somehow hit the delete button in my brain. So! Here I am- to officially type it in text that: our little lady is fully potty trained!!! Last night marked night four of her sleeping in panties. I am super, over enthusiastic about this! She insisted on wearing panties to bed a few nights back and we haven't looked back since. I promised myself that with kid #2- I was NOT using Pull Ups. And where I would like to take credit for some of this- she was just an easy one to potty train. So, for you Miss Layla: Once you got it- you GOT it! You are two years and 7 months old.

This comes with me feeling a little sad for her big brother. At a little over a month away from him being seven- he is still wearing Pull-Ups to bed (with no dry nights). After a few medications, a trip to the pediatrician, and another trip to the urologist- they tell me we will revisit it when he is 8. I am praying God will allow his bladder and developmental skills to function as He designed them. I am also feeling that surgery may be needed. I believe he doesn't empty properly because of the frequent urination. And I am sure his "ADHD" (which I don't claim either) plays a big role in it. I will say this: the more I have opened up to talking to other moms about it- the more I hear how common it is. And recently I had a conversation with a lady who had a ten year old who still wet the bed. What it doesn't help with  is Gavin's embarrassment to wear the Pull-Ups to bed. He tells me a lot of nights "I don't want to wear a Pull-Up, I know God will bless me." I know God hears his perfect, little prayers. We will pray this thing through!

I know I speak for both Jeff and I when I say, "I am so proud of our children." They hold the future and I can't wait to experience all the milestones of life with them!

The Bread of Life

If old men will dream dreams and young men will dream visions, then I am seeing something. What is that you may ask? The bigger picture! A few nights ago (on April 11th, 2013 to be exact) I was literally woken up from my sleep. I felt as though my thoughts were speaking out loud to me. I know we, Christians, know that God paid the ultimate price for us, but to be honest: sometimes it's so hard for me to wrap my head around that whole idea. Not in a sense as I don't believe it, but in a sense as really grasping what God did for ME (and all of you as believers).

 Before bed, I baked some zucchini bread. Layla and Gavin's favorite! They love it! So much in fact, that they ate so much that evening it ended up being their dinner. Hey, if it's good enough for breakfast, then it's good enough for dinner! ;) Afterwards, it was our usual bedtime routine and then it was off to bed.

At sometime in the early morning hours (I want to say it was 1:30 a.m.) I was told this: "Just as you made the zucchini bread and did all the work to prepare it and bake it, and just as your children got to enjoy the bread, so did I for you. " It literally woke me up from my sleep. I woke up with such clarity. My children did absolutely nothing to help me make that bread. However, they got to enjoy all the benefits of it! God did the same thing for us! He paid the price and bore our sins and we get to enjoy the benefits of it!

The next morning, I began reflecting on it. I began to think about how I am God's child. God cares about me the same way I care about my children. He wants me to partake in happy, healthy living; just as it makes me happy to give to our children and want to see them happy. Jesus paid it all. He did all the work, he paid the price and here we are, as believers, getting to reap the benefits of it! And the amazing thing is, he used a loaf of zucchini bread to bring this revelation to me! God can truly use anything to bring Him glory! Never before has John 6:35 been so literal. "And Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life: he that comes to me shall never hunger, and he that believes on me shall never thirst." I am so honored to have heard from Him.
 And he said unto them "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." Mark. 4:9

Waiting to Bloom

  Hello, blogger(s)! All one of you who follow my page. Ha! It's been a while since I have last blogged. But my one follower, who happens to be one of my best friends, has convinced me to write again. I use to write poems and such, but lately I have been journaling (but I must I will say that the pen and paper can leave my hand cramping). And speaking of blogs, the Lord lead me to an acquaintance's blog and it was so encouraging to read her candid thoughts about how her not so perfect life was playing out. Seeing her on the other side of that season in her life gave me hope. It also made me want to start blogging so I can read about the seasons in my life later. Right now, we are still in a season of waiting. Where we are very planted and we are feeding the soil and watering our spiritual walk, and praying...waiting on the harvest.
  Nothing put that into perspective better than today. Today, God gave me a revelation. A simple yet strong revelation. About a month ago, I planted some tomato plants. I bought cheap soil because...well...we aren't exactly "rollin' in the dough" or anything, but none the less, I planted them. I have been watering them and the cheap soil was DRINKING up the water. And I noticed today that little yellow flowers were on the plants!  They will miraculously transform in little tiny tomatoes and grow until we are ready to eat them! And here is what God gave me: These plants grow towards the sun. Just as we do. God created every living thing under the sun to need light and water to grow. Just as we lean into the Son of Man and water our spirit, it grows. And in due season, we will reap the benefits of the time we spent nurturing what we planted. And when we are planted...God can bless that. That means we are rooted in His word. And what's even more awesome, is it doesn't matter what "soil" or "condition" you are in. Even the best of soil can't make it through a drought if it isn't watered at some point. And doesn't it seem that we are so thirsty for God when we are in such need of Him? Soaking up every one of His promises because we are so thirsty for Him. Just like the cheap soil. It needed more water than the other "expensive" soil. So, I will keep on waiting, watering, and feeding on God's Word. He will surely bring fruit in due season.

(And just for my own reference- this "season" of my life has us at over a year and a half waiting on our house in KY to sale. We have only had two offers. And after both counter offers, we have heard nothing back from either one. I guess the only thing left to do is wait. And water.  And feed on God's Word until the right buyer comes).

Life's a beach!

Oh, summer, where have you gone? How is it possible that we have only been home less than a week and I'm already ready to go back living life seaside style! We had the best time and met three wonderful families. God truly blesses us everywhere we go! We were even able to see my Uncle Russ and Aunt Carol. They were in Mobile so they made a little drive over for a much needed visit. We had some rainy, cloudy days, but that ended up being such a blessing. Layla took after her daddy with having sensitive eyes. She could hardly open them when we stepped on the the white sand when the sun was shining. It made her pretty sad. So the cloudy days made our lives a bit easier! Layla loved going "nigh nigh" in the sand. Her favorite thing was being covered chin to toe in the sand. Gavin's favorite thing was looking for clams that buried themselves near the shore line. After a few days of that, he began to appreciate the waves as he used his boogie board to ramp the waves and he would let them take him into shore! And last but NOT least was crabbing. We all enjoyed that! Well, except when Layla would come up upon some suspicious looking seaweed in the sand. It frightened Miss Layla. She didn't like the "weeweed." Our adopted family would go with us, too. Austin was great with Gavin. Gavin really looked up to him and enjoyed playing with him.  I can't wait to go back next year. My heart always sinks on our way home. Our family time is much more precious now and the beautiful beach and ocean have my heart!

                                              (Layla's favorite beach past time!) 

                                                       (Gavin and his clams)

                                            (all the kiddos we met- such good kids!)

                                               (Austin, Gavin, and Callie, too)

                              (right after bath time! and just before they got back in the pool!)

                                              (After our nightly crabbing adventure)

                                                 (Uncle Russ and Aunt Carol!)



So, back to reality! Gavin starts kindergarten NEXT WEEK! It will be so bitter sweet. I look forward to hearing about what he has learned and hearing him talk about the Lord! I also look forward to packing his lunch and baking him his favorite treats! He tells me he is not at all excited about school because "there will be too much work." HA! However, when I pulled up to the store next to his school, I said "there is your school" he says with much enthusiasm "WHERE?!" I hope he enjoys it and his experience in kindergarten is nothing short of wonderful!

Update on Miss Layla. A princess indeed (as I type, she is sitting in her brother's lap who insisted she sit there so he could show her videos of herself. I said no when she asked and she cried. Look where that got her! Ha! It is so sweet). She is very vocal these days. Now 21 months old, she is talking in sentences. She isn't as articulate as her brother but she says A LOT of words. Almost everything we say. And I understand her just fine! She is neat and tidy and she loves being my big helper. She still loves her paci and her blanket VERY much. She has added baby dolls to that list of things she loves. She totes them around as she rocks them and shushes them to sleep. I love that it her motherly instincts to do so. I have not taught her any of that. Papa and Nana bought her a tin tea cup set. She knew what a tea party was without me having to show her. She went and got it when I asked if she wanted to have a tea party and she poured me some tea. I LOVE that we have a boy who is 100% boy and we have a girl who is 100% girl. And it's pretty fun dressing a girl if I may add! Some things Layla loves: her paci, blanket, babies, watching herself on video (she wants to watch "yay yay" alllllllll the time), she loves shredded cheese (she could polish off a bag if I let her), black olives, cups, spoons, and swinging. She used to have mixed feelings about swinging, but she is very much in love with the idea of swinging. She seems to think that her brother should be swinging right next to her. She even cried once when I told her bubby didn't want to swing.

Skate anyway.

I logged on to edit a previous post. But thanks to my natural blond roots and a bad night's sleep...I deleted it instead.  Seriously?!

A little recap: Summer time is officially here! I didn't think I would say this...but...I am so happy Jeff's job puts him in a hotel. It's been such a blessing! Having access to a pool all the time has been so much fun! Especially since it gets too hot to do anything else. Gavin has been getting full use out of it! He is our little fish. He always has been. With the help from mom, we would blow in his face as a baby and dunk him. By the age of two, he thought himself how to swim under water. Now, he is doing cannon balls, treading water, and doing flips off the side of the 9 FOOT! He has no fear....imagine that!

I didn't think Layla would share the same love for aquatics. Last year, she didn't take to us blowing in her face as well as her older brother and besides, she has never liked water on her face. But this year, she is proving to us she will be a water baby as well. She will go under and not take in any water. Yay for Layla! Her favorite thing is to walk off the steps and "drop" off the side! She likes to hang on to the side and pull herself over to the steps. And she also likes when we toss her in the air! She absolutely HATES being in a float or wearing floaties. Restraining things are not for her...(she hated the car seat forever for this reason).

The other day we took Gavin to a skating party. He didn't enjoy it so much. It was only his second time to skate. After falling down, he walked off the rink and bowed his head as he told me "I never want to skate again." My heart broke for him for two reasons. 1. He was embarrassed. I remember that feeling. It's so awkward. 2. He already cared what others thought. Later that night, as my head hit the pillow, I was thinking about what I had to explain to Gavin. It doesn't matter what people think. He would only look silly if he didn't get back up and try again. I had to tell him we weren't around to to see the good skaters fall down when they first learned how to skate. It reminded me of a valuable life lesson. It really DOESN'T matter what people think. And I needed to remind myself of that. In this age of Facebook and Twitter, I find myself comparing my life with everyone. And wondering if I am good at enough things or if I made enough of myself. So reminding Gavin of that, was a refreshing reminder that if we worry about what others think, we could miss out on some incredible things in our daily lives! I'm so thankful we were blessed with two beautiful, healthy kids. I thank God for his grace and giving us these children. Because in raising them, I am becoming a better me!

(Skating rink pictures are poor becasue of bad lighting and I used my iphone)

We may fall. We may look stupid. But that's alright! It's OK to fall...the biggest failure would be to fall and NOT get back up!

Train up a child in the way He should go

Today has been sobering to me. As Layla and I made a run into Target, I hung up the phone with my mom. She called me to tell on Gavin. She told me that she called for Gavin to come downstairs (because it time for them to leave) and she wondered what was taking him so long. When he came down, he told her "I cleaned my room, my mom's room, and Layla's room. I know that will make my mom happy." He wanted to surprise me. With tears in my eyes and tears in hers, we were overwhelmed with his thoughtfulness. He has matured. In just two months, our first born will be six. I don't know if I'm ready for it, but that doesn't really matter. It will be here in the blink of an eye. I can't get over the change in maturity. I use to have a little boy who wouldn't sit still long enough to eat and who was asking me for "shockit milk" and now he is approaching kindergarten and his 6th birthday party. I am very proud of him not only as our son, but as a big brother, and for being the faithful child of God that he is. Last night, we said our prayers and I thought to myself "no wonder he was asked to say the closing prayer at his four year old graduation." His prayers are full of faith, sincerity, and innocence. It is no wonder God's word says "Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Matt 18:4). As a parent who is trying to raise God fearing children, this is my biggest proud parent brag.

Something else Jeff and I have noticed is how Gavin has matured into not just being Layla's big brother, but he has become her caretaker. Gavin babies her, consoles her when she is hurt, defends her, and he is even getting her dressed and offering to watch her for me while I clean. Of course, Layla loves it because she is convinced she is his shadow. Wherever he goes, she is sure to follow. I love it. It makes my heart feel as though it is bursting with joy. And let me tell you something- don't think for one second you can scold Layla with Gavin around. He will give you the evil eye and comfort her. Even if she has done wrong (which honestly rarely happens), he only wants her to get a mild "no, no." (That is unless it is coming from him. And if HE hurts her feelings, he is down on her level trying to take back what he just said). His love for her and wanting to please her is so endearing. And she feels the same way about her brother. She wants him near all the time. Kindergarten will be a big adjustment for her too because her other half won't be here with us during the day.

                                        (This wasn't a pose. It was just a sweet moment)

And I can't forget to mention that Gavin is now a yellow belt in Tae Kwon Do. Watch out world, a ninja is in training!

So, ready or not, August will be here before we know it. Khakis, polo's, lunches, and homework. All of this will come too soon. As for now, I will cherish every minute I have with my five year old, bug hunting, faithful, pool loving, little boy. Because he is only young for a little while.....

Train up a a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6