life lately

here are some words that i would use to describe "life lately":

*fun

*busy

*exciting

*enjoyable

*encouraging

*inspiring

*smelly

*tiring

*reflective

*blessed

*refreshing

maybe these will help explain my choice of words....

 this past week my boy has been sick.

when i became a mom i kinda forgot about that whole cleaning up vomit & diarrhea thing. 

when you have a newborn, spit up & baby poop are kind of exciting in a weird "i'm a new mom & i love everything about my baby" kind of way, you know?

this was, well, not quite so exciting.  

i think i did more laundry this week than i have all month!

so this week required us to lay low, but when baby boy is sick, it means quality snuggle time.

i did need a lot of coffee though. 

thursday night i was pretty concerned about dehydration so i asked a few friends to pray & friday morning, wouldn't you know he woke up at 6:30 am like nothing ever happened! 

the power of prayer!

but before this week....

 a roadtrip to visit my BF & Eli's future wife & brother-in-law

props to all moms of 3! getting 3 kids out the door is a job! 

"cheers" after fun at the gym!

 getting out to enjoy some sorta warm weather

(we take every opportunity we can!)

some bounce house fun

eli's finally starting to say some words & one day i found him wearing mike's press pass, pointing at the picture saying, "da, da, da"

so sweet!

 

donut date on fauschnaut day

mini-date with my love

this will soon be our new bookcases!

i'm finishing up the soul detox reading plan with she reads truth....good stuff!

ok so i have to explain this.

a couple of weeks ago i got a message from an old friend who recommended i try out for a Wal-Mart commercial.  She was trying out for one in her area & informed me that they were looking for moms in my town as well.  i thought, sure, what do i have to lose?

so here i am before my big skype interview trying out some reactions i thought they might like.

i did end up getting a call back to be the "alternate mom"....yes, the understudy.  

so i may not have caught my big break this time, BUT they did tell me i was on the priority list for the next time they come film here.  

don't worry, i'll keep you all in the loop!

being the "alternate mom" meant i had to be on call on the day of filming & therefore had to be ready & waiting should they need me.  you know, just in case!

so the night before i asked mike to help me look through my closet to help me find something to wear.

i mean, i could've been on tv so i had to look good, right?

my normal yoga pants and sweatshirt that i'd been wearing for 3 days just wasn't going to cut it!

the producer had sent me a dress code ~ all the things i could not wear. 

and all those things i couldn't wear, yeah, those were all the things i had in my closet.  

get a load of this ~ my husband actually told me i had nothing to wear!

can you believe this?

what man tells this to his wife?

that just meant an emergency run to Target!

remember, this could've been my big break.

and while we were there, we had a little family fun!

oh yeah & then there was valentine's day too...

first, the hubs let me have some "me" time so that i could work on a project.

now we finally have something hanging on our blank walls.  

then we exchanged gifts.

my hubs gave me an ipad mini!

WHAT?!?!?!?!?

i was so blown away!

 i cried.

(so in this post when i said i couldn't remember when i last cried, totally forgot it was this moment!)

it was awesome!! 

and still is awesome...i love it!

then we grabbed dinner from chipotle because it's one of our favorites!

whew! that was a lot. 

i hope life has been ___________ for you lately too!

(fill in the blank with any of the positive words listed above. i wouldn't want to wish you a smelly, tiring life, of course!)

{insta}week

alright, can someone please tell me how it's possible that november is almost half over????

my birthday is next week. {insert big smile here}

thanksgiving is next week.

christmas decorations are popping up everywhere.

i mean, we are definitely having fun, but i feel like i must have missed a few weeks somewhere.

 good thing i'm an instagram addict!

i spent the beginning of this week visiting one of my favorite people, my bff, bethany.

here's eli & i setting out on our roadtrip

then we got stuck in traffic.

buzz kill.

but we made it, and we had a blast.

i love that though we don't get to see each other often, we just pick up where left off.

sure, we have things to catch up on, but we still laugh & laugh & reminisce about the crazy things we used to do. 

{of course post babies, it takes us a little longer to remember some of those things}

one purpose for our visit was to meet eli's future wife, baby izzy.  

 we decided that we needed pictures of them as babies together so that when they get married in 25 years we can break the pictures out at their wedding. 

we tried to get pictures of the boys {she also has an almost 2 year old, bauer}, 

but photographing two active boys: not so easy!

those pics are on the camera & someone borrowed our camera, 

so you'll just have to take my word for it.

we were very sad when it was time to come home. 

oh how i wished we lived closer! 

but it was good to get home to see daddy since last week he had been out of town for work.

lots of snuggling happening around here!

while we were at b's, eli had fallen down {what's new? #storyofhislittlelife} & on wednesday, he woke up with his very first shiner. 

one of my friends & followers on instagram threatened to call social services on me.

sometimes i wonder if i'll have one of those accident-prone kids.

be one of those moms that the nurses in the er have on the radar. 

so about every other week i contemplate getting rid of my facebook account for so many reasons, really, but i haven't brought myself to do it yet. 

and this week, i found one more reason to keep it.

i used it to my advantage to request the donation of old matchbox cars to my car-less son.

within minutes of hitting enter, i was hit up with numerous willing donors. 

would you believe that i searched yard sale after yard sale & found not one little car?

he was so excited! 

he loves them!

i haven't done a great job this week with keeping up with she reads truth, but here's a verse that spoke to me this week.

especially when one of my tasks this week was folding bulletins:

i really don't mind doing it; 

it's hard to imagine that folding paper could be something done "unto the lord". 

but it seems pretty clear: not some things or once in a while or half the time.

WHATEVER you do. 

makes you {me} think about how you {i} conduct yourself {myself} in all things!

i could

have you ever been afraid to pray for something because you know God could use that prayer to cause major waves in your current calm?
i'm in a place like that right now.

i just finished a study on Philippians with She Reads Truth which was phenomenal!!
i've read through this book before, heard sermons on it, but this was like reading it with brand new eyes.
{something i've been praying for for a long time}
paul was just an amazing man.
that's it.
that's all there is to it.
amazing.

how many people do you know that could write a letter from jail to encourage & love on people for the sake of Christ?

there was one verse that stuck out to me:
"...for I have learned to be content, whatever the circumstances."
{Phil. 4:11}

after reading this, i thought, Lord, i want this to be my prayer.
but then i retracted that statement.
i was afraid!
what would this mean?
how would God shake up our world to make this be a true statement?
what will i have to sacrifice?
i don't know if i'm ready to be shaken.

then today i came across this song:

i could just sit where i am.
i could just play it safe.
i could allow fear to dictate my next move.
i could miss out though.
i could miss what wonderful things God has in store for me.
i could miss out on a transformation that draws me closer to Him & who He wants me to be.

but what i long for is to go higher and to go deeper.
i long to go where He leads me.
for His mercy light my path.

{insta}week

so i guess if sandy wreaks havoc on us this week, this could be my only post until we emerge from our storm shelter.

i did decide to go to the store last night to grab a few things just in case. 

you know, stacy's pita chips, life cereal, sandwich ready tuna packets, apples, oranges & bananas.

yeah, water too...the last 2 cases in the entire store!

i really didn't want to be one of those people though. 

people are crazy! 

here's a peak into my week:

anyone else love raking leaves?

yeah, me either.

i raked twice this week but you would never know!
maybe sandy will take care of them for me?

my cousin donated some cupcakes for the food pantry on tuesday, and since it was our trick or treat night {if you're not from around here, yes, it's weird}, i decided to decorate them to hand out.

i attempted to make my own frosting, which was "eh" in my opinion. 

i added some candy corn to redeem them!

just a few shots from she reads truth this week.

we just started a study on philippians.

good stuff!

everything is a step for this little one latley.

baskets, bins, mike's work bag, toys.

if it holds him, he climbs.

on thursday i got to go to the orange tour.

it's a one day conference that goes around to various cities throughout the country.

this one was held at national community church.

i'm thinking a separate post will come later with my thoughts on the day. 

we've been into homemade pizzas lately.

i love it because i can enjoy whatever creation i want with no sauce!

{yes, i'm a weirdo & don't like pizza because i don't like tomato sauce}

i attended a baby shower this weekend to which we had to bring our own tea cup.

i'm not much of a tea person, so i don't own tea cups, but my mom gave this to me a couple of years ago for such occasions. 

someone gave it to her when i was born, and i love it! 

this week i taught pre-k, and as i was preparing materials, i was so thankful for this awesome reminder!

and speaking of pre-k, this had to have been one of the sweetest things i've ever seen.

he was just sitting there "reading" his bible, tucked in his little cubby hole for the longest time. 

today our church celebrated its 5th birthday.

we started with just a handful of us in our pastor's living room, and have grown into an awesome community & family. 

we are so blessed to call this our church home.

1. we took the kids into "big church" this morning where we go to worship with glow sticks!

then tonight we had a party that was such a blast!

2. this is the closest that eli will get to halloween this year. doesn't he make such a cute cowboy?

3. we signed up for the cornhole tournament & we brought it! competitive much? we only won 2 games, but we did shut one team out, so that was cool. 

well, i guess we'll see what happens in the next few days! 

could be a week full of firsts:

first time losing power for multiple days. 

first time losing power for multiple days with a one year old.

first time existing on stacy's pita chips & almond butter sandwiches.

{except that the pita chips may or may not be finished off by tonight}

first time i won't be able to check instagram 86 times a day because my phone is dead.

oh boy! 

have a great week, and be safe if you're in the path of "frankenstorm".

{seriously, why do they do this?}

{insta}week

whoa! three posts in one week!

i know, i'm on a roll!

not to send you on overload, but it is sunday & that means it's picture time!

 last sunday when i came out of church, i had a flat. 

some of you may know the alpha male i married.

some of you may know that's not so very true :)

thank goodness for the manly men of providence community.

funny that our message that day was on relationships: keeping it real & banding together.

why is it that women always have more bathrooms, yet such LONG lines??? 

 this is at the apple harvest festival where we went after church.

 i got to partake in one of the most wonderful delicacies of all time: apple sausage. 

oh.my.word. it is so good.

this year i bought some to bring home!

we're really trying to get a little more organized {key word: trying}

this week we worked in the office.

the boss man made sure we didn't take any unwarranted breaks.

sometimes i think charlie looks like the saddest dog in the world. 

i just love him. 

as i mentioned in the previous post, i've been following She Reads Truth.

just a snippet from my journal this week.

now for two very exciting happenings this week:

1. i finally gave eli a haircut

2. eli has started walking

here is a pre-haircut pic:

it was soooo long & shaggy.  

the back was hanging over his shirt collar. 

it was driving me crazy.

post-haircut:

i tried to get a better one, but when i asked him to look at me this is what i got:

such a monkey!

here's the aftermath.  

it doesn't look nearly as bad as it was for real.

i had cleaned up most of the hair.

the only way i could get it done was to let him play in the sink.

this was also post-haircut :)

i took eli to the library to play this week & that's where he decided to let loose.
here's just a little glimpse i caught:
{just a note: the voice you hear is not eli, though it seems to fit perfectly}

thanks for checking in {again}.
have a great week!

a nugget of Truth

lately i've been so blessed by this wonderful little source of awesomeness, that i just felt like i have to share.  

to be perfectly honest, i didn't want to at first.  

i wanted to keep it as my very own. this "source of awesomeness" that i could have all to myself.

but this morning, God began stirring my heart.

this is not something to be kept a secret because something is happening here.

hearts are being transformed. 

lives are being touched.

souls are being awakened.

this is something that definitely needs to be shared.

a few months ago, i came across a bible reading plan via an old friend's instagram feed. 

{the most likely of places, right?}

as she posted more and more pictures, i became intrigued.

here's what i found:

this is online community of women coming together to study the Word of God & spur each other on in growing in knowledge and love for our Savior.

did i mention it's awesome?

i've been struggling lately {months & months} with getting into the Word and not having it feel like just another thing to cross off my list.  

workout. check.

do the dishes. check.

read the bible. check.

there were so many days that i just wouldn't do it because my heart just wasn't in it & i felt like a fraud.

i started about a week & a half ago in the middle of a study on Ephesians & haven't missed a day.  

i love the comments left by other women that encourage me & make me think. 

i'm inspired by the creativity in the worship through art i see on the instagram feed

{#shereadstruth}

i love knowing that i'm apart of a group of women that have a desire to love Jesus more.
to know Him more intimately.

to love Him fully & completely.

to influence our worlds by His mighty power.

i've been following the blogs of the writers of SheReadsTruth { Kacia, Jessi, & Raechel} & it seems to me that God is doing something in the hearts of women.

i believe God wants to use women to begin a movement of restoration in our homes, churches & communities.  

i pray that i am one of those women. 

friends, we are in a battle here & the time is now.