The one with the kissing... {B.N.D.5}

Day 5, is the one with the kissing... Have you ever seen The Princess Bride? Well, if you have seen the movie then you know it's one of those types of movies you either love or hate. I, of course, happen to love that movie. It has SO many great quotable lines in it! Like...

Inigo, "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

Miracle Max, "You rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles."

Valerie, "I'm not a witch, I'm your wife."

Inigo, "Fezzik, are there rocks ahead?"
Fezzik, "If there are, we all be dead."
Vizzini, "No more rhymes now, I mean it."
Fezzik, "Anybody want a peanut?"
Vizzini, "DYEEAAHHHHHH."

Westly, "As you wish."

Vezzini, "INCONCEIVABLE!"

It's a classic! Anyway, I decided to name this post "the one with the kissing" because it has (at least) one kissing photo in it. So, before I start... You can decide like the grandson in the beginning of The Princess Bride if you wish to continue ("Is this a kissing book???"). Just to be fair... You've been warned.

 Once our summer slowed down and Brandon had wrapped up his summer schedule, we were able to get away, just the two of us for a few days. YES, you read that right... A few days, just the two of us. By ourselves!!!

 Me and this big hunk of man flesh had a blast together. 

 We had missed out on a lot of sitting and talking over the summer months and over this weekend we really got to just sit and rest together, stare at each other, pray and read scripture with one another, just be. together.

We started off our trip by staying the night in Marble Falls (which is where the picture above was taken. we were out on our balcony reading the Word together and sipping on coffee out in the morning air.). Our first full day, we actually spent most of in the car driving... Something we both enjoy doing sometimes. There's just something about taking in all the scenery and conversation, not being in too big of a hurry to get where we are going. It's nice. By the end of our day, we eventually ended up in San Antonio! Which is where we spent the rest of our weekend.

Here is one of our first glimpses of our hotel, the Drury Plaza. 

 The beautiful lobby. These are the "Ooooh... Ahhhh..." pictures. 

It was pretty snazzy :)

 Our sweet suite

 Brandon's fan. Haha! He takes it everywhere. A learned trick from his momma! 

 The view from our windows

My 32 week Baby Bump (who joined us)

 Part of the beautiful River Walk. You could actually walk out of our hotel lobby and walk right out onto the River Walk! Very cool, if you ask me.

 Schilo's

 It's an old German Deli we had visited in the past. We were glad to find out it was right down the street from our Hotel. It made for a convenient lunch spot one day!

 Not to mention they have the best homemade Root Beer, that they serve in frosted glass mugs.

 Mmm... De-licious!

 The company was good too :)

 Of course, you can't take a trip to San Antonio and not visit the Alamo!

 More of the River Walk. 

 One of our favorite restaurants... Saltgrass! Can you say, Steak?!

Oh yes, we did... We ate good. 

 Then we walked it off on the River Walk. Isn't it romantic at night??

 One of the reasons we picked our hotel was because on the 22nd floor, there was a Pool and 2 Jacuzzis on the rooftop! 

 The Pool

 One of the Jacuzzis 

And now....

 The view.

 It was beautiful. 

Ahh! And there it is! The kissing!

(that wasn't too bad, now, was it?)

We had an amazing time. Relaxing. Restful. And by the end of it we were geared up for a the rest of our vacation week that we would spend together as a family (which you might just be reading about tomorrow...). 

To my Love, 

Thank you for serving. Thank you for leading. Thank you for teaching me and teaching our boys what it looks like to follow Christ. You are (and will always be) my favorite person. Thank you for laughing with me, at me and helping me laugh at myself. I am having a blast living this life with you! I love you. ~ Your Teddy 

Just like Daddy

I saw an add a while back where a little boy was wearing his Daddy's shirt, tie and shoes. I got the idea to dress all of our guys up in their Daddy's clothes and this was our surprise present for Daddy for Father's Day. It was fun dressing them up and they LOVED it! They giggled and talked about being just like Daddy. They were fascinated at how much bigger his clothes were than theirs. They talked about how much they want to look like Daddy and be strong like Daddy when they "get bigger".

P, "I'm gonna have a beard too! Just like Daddy." 
T, "Well, I'm gonna have BIG STRONG muscles like Daddy."
P, "OH... me too, Twristan! "

It was really a special thing to listen to. They love their Daddy and want to be just like him. The funny thing is, no matter what they do, they will end up being a lot like him. They already are in so many ways!

Keeping this picture a secret wasn't as easy for some as it was for others. Tristan understands the idea of secrets for the sake of a surprise and did a great job waiting in anticipation until we revealed the picture to his Daddy. Peyton, on the other hand, is nearly incapable of keeping secrets. I say nearly because sometimes he forgets about it and the secret is safe. This time though, he did not forget and he so badly wanted to share this special news with his Daddy. Thankfully, Peyton is 3 and at times has a hard time getting out what he's really trying to say in words that work together so you can understand them. Because of that, there was an idea floating around in Brandon's head that he was getting something to do with his clothes for his birthday... :) I guess, the secret was safe after all.

Brandon, of course, loved the picture. He shed a few tears seeing them in his clothes and even hearing their stories about being like him. It is overwhelming to know you have 3 (and soon to be 4) people striving to be just like you.

We talk often about the weight of our job as parents. We are to disciple our children through the Word and through our actions and deeds, teaching them what it means (and looks like) to follow Christ and serve Him as the King of our lives. It is NOT an easy job.

They watch us. They mimic us. They want to be just like us.

Does that scare the mess out of anyone else?!? I mean, seriously! Who wants their children to make the same mistakes they did/do?

In the midst of my near panic over the thought, God brought these verses to my mind:

"Therefore, be imitators of God as dearly loved children and live in

love, just as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a 

sacrificial and fragrant offering to God." 

Ephesians 5:1-2

Thankfully, I have someone to imitate too. Just like my boys imitate their Daddy, I'm supposed to imitate my Father, through following His son. Living a life of love and self sacrifice, all to the glory of God.

I pray that as I follow Christ, making Him the center of me, imitating Him even as a child would... My children will continue to see less of me and more of Him. As they try to be like us, they end up being like Him.

Here's a sobering thought: Even if I don't follow Christ, strive to be like Him, or try to teach my children to follow Him, with intent to disciple them through Truth... I am still teaching them. Leading by example. And they will still follow me.

Bling!

I wasn't going to do this but one of the last times Brandon left for the weekend, he took my van keys with him and if it hadn't been for the spare set (which I found in his car after looking for 20 minutes) I would have been stranded. So brace yourself for a funny story that involves my hubby.

A few weekends ago, Brandon spent his weekend on a hunt. He went out to a ranch in West Texas and worked with a ministry that takes young students out on hunts and spends the weekend pouring into them spiritually. It really couldn't get any better to him than that: Ministry AND hunting?! Wow. He had a great time.

Prior to him going we had been having an ongoing debate about both of us wanting to get some new earbuds and who really needed them most. You see, I washed a pair of earbuds (his) that he had left in his pullover pocket. Okay, so I might have neglected to check the pocket but regardless, they were washed.

Surprisingly, even after the earbuds were washed, they still work! Crinkled, curly and all. They work. But he wanted new ones.

The earbuds I have been using aren't the most comfortable and the left ear piece is a little broken. So I wanted new ones.  

We were talking on the phone while he's on his way to his weekend-ministry-hunt and he tells me before he left he bought some new earbuds. He bragged about how he got a heck of a deal and only spend $6 on them! He was soooo impressed with himself for finding them. Punk. Well, I pretended to be happy for him. And I got over it and went on, enjoying my weekend with family.

Fast forward to him coming back. I asked him about his weekend, the youth, the hunts, etc. Then I asked how he liked his new earbuds.

He says, "Yes, I like them... it's just... well... I didn't realize when I bought them that they were 'BlingBuds'."

Trying not to crack a smile I ask, "And what exactly are 'BlingBuds'?"

And then he showed me... 

Brandon wearing his "BlingBuds"

It was then I completely lost it, "Bahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!"

It doesn't get much better than that. Does it? 

Oh and by the way... he still uses them.

Valentines.

We have been valentines for nearly 10 years now. During those 10 years we have done some really neat things for each other to show our love in unique and special ways. I can remember one year Brandon (knowing my favorite candy was skittles and that my favorite skittle was the red one) bought a box of chocolates, threw away the chocolates and filled it with red (yes only red) skittles! If you can get past the fact that he threw away perfectly good chocolate (it took me a while) then you can see how sweet this was!

I once picked seeds off of strawberries because he didn't like the seeds to get in his teeth. Now I don't know if you've ever counted how many seeds there are on strawberries but I was thinking this would be no big deal. I mean, how hard could it be? Right? Oh so wrong. I think I mutilated two or three because they wouldn't give up their seeds and over the course of a movie only successfully de-seeded 3 strawberries. I covered them and the rest of the berries, that I left unharmed by my tweezers, in chocolate. When I gave them to him I told him to eat the three to the side very slowly and enjoy every bite!

See what I mean. These are only a few of the many things we have conjured up over the years.

This year for Valentines Day I decided I was going to do something simple and sweet for hubby. Like... peanut butter cookies (one of his favorites) iced with peanut butter cream cheese icing (who wouldn't love that?!). This was my plan. Simple and sweet.

Little did I know my husband had a plan of his own... not so simple but so very sweet.

He surprised me with a date night last night! I had no intentions of doing much else but to lounge around in comfy clothes the rest of the day and make his peanut butter cookies. But he told me to get dressed because he was taking me out! We haven't gotten to go out much lately what with a new little one in the picture (not to mention the other two crazies that occupy our house!) so it was such a treat! He arranged for two of our high school students (they are such sweet girls) to watch the big boys and we took the littlest man with us. He took me to Tokyo, one of our favorites in town! We ate sushi and fried rice... sooo yummy! Then on to a movie, The Blind Side... which was great! And then (yes there's more) we went to a coffee shop and drank coffee, ate dessert and enjoyed each others company. We laughed, cried and prayed together throughout the evening. It was such a blessing to get to enjoy each other like that.

Something so simple as a date night to some, was so special to me. I am a mom of three little ones that demand a lot from me. Don't get me wrong, I love my job as a mom and wouldn't trade it for the world. But it is exhausting. And when I get to get out and enjoy time alone with the man that makes me smile bigger than anyone I know, it means a lot. It is a special and cherished time. He gave me "face time" and loved on me.

This might have been the best Valentines Day we've had yet. And I look forward to many more.

Baby, Thank you for loving me in such sweet ways. I pray as we continue to grow together in Christ, in our love and in years he would continue to bless us with great talks, arguments and make ups, inside jokes, nicknames, and lots of laughs. I love you more every day and I still melt in your big strong arms when you hold me. Thanks for doing life with me, I so love doing life with you.

P.S. Now we can enjoy your peanut butter cookies... a day late.

Catch Up!

Where to start? I have a lot to cover! Updates on life, the boys (in and out of the belly), my wonderful husband, decorating status, random things that come to mind, etc. Ok! With my glass of milk and pile of Oreos by my side I am going to attempt to get it all in here. Here we go!

We had our second sonogram done a couple of weeks ago and baby boy had a clean bill of health! The cyst that had been found in the previous sonogram was gone! Glory be to God! He was gracious to answer our prayers and heal our baby. I was 26 weeks the day I had the sono done and he was measuring 26 weeks and 5 days, meaning he's a big boy! Of course we could've told them that he was going to be. The nurse actually said his head was a bit large and again we could've called that too!

I am growing and feeling huge a lot of days. But I also realize I have a lot of growing to do before November gets here! Tristan has noticed that mommy is growing also. He LOVES to talk to the baby in mommy's tummy. Just the other day he asked to talk to the baby. This is what he said:

T "Hi baby, what are you doing? What are you doing in there?"

Me "What's he doing?"

T "Um... he's playing. He's playing in the ball."

It took me all of 3 sec to realize I was the "ball" he was referring to!

Peyton is still oblivious to the fact that he is no longer the baby and that there will be an intruder in November that we will all fondly refer to as his little brother. I am praying it won't be a hard transition for him. He is so good at being the baby! And doesn't love it when I or Brandon hold another baby. Not at all. It might make for some interesting stories and blog posts for our future. Stay tuned...

After much deliberation and prayer we finally came up with a name for this baby boy! His name is Kohen Miles Davis. Isn't that sweet? We love it!! Kohen is hebrew word for Priest (actually spelled Cohen after translation) and Miles is a family name. My great parents last name. It was not an easy decision but we are thrilled with the outcome and can't wait to put a face with the name!

Tristan likes the name Kohen for his baby brother and has decided that the monkey he often sleeps with is now named Kohen as well. He also wants Peyton to be able to say it. Tristan to Peyton earlier this week:

T "Peyton, can you say Kohen?"

P "Todee."

T "Say Ta Ta Ta... Ko hen."

P "Da Da Da... Todee."

I believe he was trying to say, "Ka" for the 'K' sound but it came out all wrong. We're still working on it. Both, Tristan's teaching skills and Peyton being able to say Kohen.

I'd like to brag for a minute on my hubby. A few weekends ago Brandon had planned on going on an axis hunt that had been on his calendar since early spring. The night before he was to leave on this hunt he got a call that it had been canceled! He was very disappointed and had been so looking forward to the hunt along with spending time with some of his good friends. He had the weekend off and had already lined up people to fill in for him Sunday. So what did he do? He took me off for the weekend! We dropped the boys off with the grands and headed Dallas. We had a great time!

With all that's gone on this summer (Camp, World Changers, Mission trips, Staff retreat, etc.) we haven't had much time together. From the end of May through the beginning of this month he was gone every other week from the boys and me (except for camp when I went with him). So it was very nice to get away with my honey. We have so much fun together. He makes me laugh like no one else. He is the best and I thank God for him every day.

I am so glad this summer is coming to a close. It has been a long one! Fall is quickly approaching, you can almost smell it. Well... I did say almost. I am so ready for cooler weather. This fall holds a lot for us as a family. Like, a third child being born and Brandon finishing up his education at The Criswell College in Dallas. He has 3 classes to complete and he'll be finished in December! Yay!! I am so proud of him for sticking with it. I know it's not been easy.

As far as our decorating expedition going on in our home... I am loving the color!!!!!!!!! I can't even say how nice it has been not to be starring at the apples and finally see some reflection of who we are on our walls. We are far from finished and I would be posting a picture but for some reason I am having trouble loading pictures today. Shucks. I guess you'll just have to wait and see the finished product! (or maybe I'll post a sneak peek sometime next week:)

I had planned on posting pictures along with this post but as I said, blogger is acting dumb for me. So that will just encourage me to post some soon. I have really dropped the ball on blogging lately. I do enjoy it and have said so often that it would be good to sit and blog. But the times I have I've been so muddled in my thoughts, when things come out they just haven't sounded right. I am blaming this on my "pregnant brain".

Hear me out on this. I am convinced when you get pregnant someone sneaks into your home in the middle of the night and snatches the brain you are currently functioning on and replaces it with a "pregnant brain". This brain will not allow you to remember simple addition at the grocery store, cause you to look for your keys for 5 minutes while they're actually in your left hand, forget your own maiden name, not allow you to remember you have already washed your hair twice so you wash it yet a third time and you most will definitely change subjects mid sentence without missing a beat. All the while the people around you are wondering what is wrong with you! I am so looking forward to sometime around November when that same someone will sneak back into my house and give me back my not so crazy non-pregnant brain.

Well, I believe that's it for now. I'm not sure if it's all in here but I am done for the night. Plus my Oreos are long gone. Hope you enjoyed my ramblings. Until next time...

Superman

I mentioned in my last post about being sick a lot with this pregnancy. And though I don't want to harp on it I want you to know I have been v.e.r.y sick. Like any time I'm not asleep... sick.

I have not had the motivation to do much of anything. You know like take care of my husband, two kids, the house and the dog? Ok maybe not the dog. But truly I have had a rough time with this and God has given much Grace to me. And he's also given me another beautiful gift... my husband.

My Superman has been amazing these past 6 weeks. He has given baths, done laundry, dishes, put sheets on the bed more than twice, put the kids to bed, taken the kids so I could have a break, fixed dinner, mopped, vacuumed... this list goes on. You may be thinking in your head... Doesn't he ever do stuff around the house? Yes he does help out a lot at the house but lately he's done so So SOOO much more!

Many evenings (my roughest times) I have fallen asleep on our couch and he's moved me to our bed. Or fixed me a bowl of cereal, glass of ch-milk, or gotten me a pickle when ever I've asked. 

(not all at once, I'm pregnant but not that sick!!) 

I just wanted to say thank you to him and tell you... who ever you are reading this that I am so thankful for my husband and his selfless acts. He has been a beautiful picture of Christ's love for his Bride. I have seen it and I know our boys have as well.

Thank you baby, I love you!