Oceans

 Do yourself a favor and listen to this song. 

The older I get the more I realize the power in these words. 

Be encouraged, friends.

Autumn

It's that time of year! While our days are still pretty warm here in the south, I know cooler weather is on the horizon. The leaves are turning, the wind is picking up, and pumpkin mania is in full effect! I mean today alone I came home from the grocery store with pumpkin bagels, pumpkin cider, and pumpkin granola to go alongside my pumpkin cream cheese and pumpkin coffee creamer that I already had at home. I passed on the pumpkin flavored coffee though- telling myself "we already have plenty of coffee at home" and "it will be there next time". It better be!

It hasn't been cool enough to make my favorite fall soups like Apple Cider Stew, Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup, and Potato Chowder, but I do have Chili on the menu for this week! We have already enjoyed several batches of pumpkin chocolate chip muffins (my mom's recipe is my absolute favorite) and found a few new favorites like these two:

Hooray for autumn cooking! 

I've started on my fall decorations too, though I'm finding out that decorating is more of a process now than ever. This is partially because a) I have three small children at home and b) I like to change things up every year which requires playing around with arrangements over and over before deciding on something I like. Here's a little peek of some of my new favorites this year:

I've kind of moved away from all the really orange, "pumpkiny" decor and tried to choose items that fit more nicely with the color scheme I already have in my house. We still have our bright orange pumpkins outside though, so no worries.

I hope you, too, are enjoying this wonderful season!

Change

I posted this on Facebook, so it is only fair that I document it here as well. It is quickly becoming my mantra these days:

"This is what I've come to believe about change: it's good, in the way that childbirth is good, and heartbreak is good, and failure is good. By that I mean that it's incredibly painful, exponentially more so if you fight it, and also that it has the potential to open you up, to open life up, to deliver you right into the palm of God's hand, which is where you wanted to be all along, except that you were too busy pushing and pulling your life into exactly what you thought it should be. So this is the work I'm doing now, and the work I invite you into: when life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate. And when life is bitter, say thank you and grow."

-Shauna Niequist

"Bittersweet"

I love love love this book so far.

 And would love to write like her. 

Someday. Maybe. One day.

Two

This boy. 

He is sweet, active, adventurous, helpful, strong, a snuggle bug, and the best little eater I know.

He is also mischievous, sneaky, loud, and a total, complete MESS. He can destroy an entire house in no time ... But (unlike his big brother) takes great pride in helping to clean it up too. 

He loves fruit (would eat it all day, every day if given the choice), balls, trucks (the louder the better), cars, tractors, dirt, and stealing his brother's toys.

He's still a mama's boy at heart and I love him oh so much.

A Few of My Favorites

If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you have probably already seen most of these.. 

But here are some of my favorite pictures of our sweet baby girl: 

Party of Five

In the eight months since I last blogged, we became a family of five! Our precious Alexandra Jane arrived on May 22 (her due date) and she is absolutely perfect. We call her our little lady or just "lady" because she is exactly that.. Poised, delicate, and by far the best baby I've had! People constantly comment on how alert she is, her long "lady fingers", and her big, beautiful bows. Her eyes are piercing and give off the sense that, although is she is only 2 months old, she knows exactly what you are saying.

When we named her Alexandra we weren't sure if we'd called her Alexandra or Allie or Allie Jane. So far it seems that she is totally an Alexandra. Something about that name is just sophisticated, regal (I mean it WAS the #1 prediction for the royal baby had he been a girl!), and oh so lovely. 

She is a total mommy's girl, although she gives daddy big smiles every morning and has an especially close bond with Carter. Cooper's interest in his sister is increasing, but I think most of his lovingness toward her is just mimicking Carter's behavior. Better than nothing though, right? She also love, love, loves her Auntie Ash- another true lady at heart.

We are so thankful for our unexpected gift from God, Alexandra Jane!

Photo by Amelia Hambrook Photography

Hope

On Friday morning, I was headed out to do some Christmas shopping. On my way to the mall, a CNN headline popped up. It read something like this:

Police arrive on the scene of a Connecticut school shooting

Sadly, I didn't really give it any real thought other than: "Another shooting?! Geez." That alone is disturbing to me looking back on it. How far have we come from the days of Columbine??

As I strolled through the mall with my two boys while waiting to meet my mom, my husband (who was in Cleveland at the time) started sending me a series of text messages. Each one worse than the next:

Turn on the news

Over 20 dead in CT school shooting

An elementary school

Give Pally (his nickname for Carter) a hug for me

That last statement alone told me he was really disturbed by whatever he was seeing on tv. As the day went on, more information poured into my phone... but it wasn't until late that night after getting my boys to bed that I wept. And wept. And wept. 

For those poor little, innocent babies.

And the brave souls who gave their lives protecting them.

For their families. Especially the moms and dads who would never hear the sweet voice of their little one again.

For the other children in that building who will, no doubt, forever be traumatized by what they experienced.

For the first responders. God only knows the sights and sounds they encountered that morning. Carnage that no person should ever have to witness. 

And also for the perpetrator of these crimes. Because how far into darkness do you have to go in order to commit such heinous, evil acts?

With each passing day and each new news report, I am reminded of how broken our world is. Yes, our gun control laws need to be seriously reevaluated. And yes, our mental health system is completely dysfunctional. But we, as people, are broken and lost and in need or someone to save us from ourselves. 

And that's when it hit me. This tragedy came less than 2 weeks before Christmas (which is a tragedy in itself), but what a powerful reminder that there is someone who came to save us from ourselves and the depravity of this world. The Advent season is all about waiting and celebrating the birth of a Savior. And because of that we can have hope. 

Long lay the world
in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared
 and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope
the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks
a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees,
O hear the angel voices!
O night divine,
O night when Christ was born!

O Holy Night

Then let us all with one accord
Sing praises to our heavenly Lord,
That hath made heaven
and earth of naught
And with His blood
mankind hath bought.
Noel Noel Noel Noel!
Born is the King of Israel!
The First Noel
"And then, just when everything is bearing down on us to such an extent that we can scarcely withstand it, the Christmas message comes to tell us that our ideas are wrong, and that what we take to be evil and dark is really good and light because it comes from God. Our eyes are at fault, that is all. God is in the manger, wealth in poverty, light in darkness, succor in abandonment."
-Dietrich Bonhoeffer