Love!

Less than 7 weeks until our wedding! WOW!

I had to show off what a thoughtful man Tyler is. He gave me these for our one year anniversary of dating! It's four, big, square scrabble tiles spelling LOVE that we can hang on the wall! I don't have time to go back and re-read my blog to see if I ever wrote about how we started "talking" so here's the short and sweet version: We started getting to know each other when I got my iphone last May and started playing "Words With Friends" (electronic scrabble.) Through the grapevine I heard the only people I know playing with this app were Tyler and my friend Leigh.  We started spelling words and using the messaging system within the game to "talk." Before this he seemed a little on the quiet side, but when we started playing this game I realized how sweet his is and what a funny sense of humor he has (I'm a sucker for someone who makes me laugh!) And the rest is history!

So now you know what an incredibly thoughtful gift this is for me to receive!! Wow, Tyler! You continue to amaze me each day with your kindness, compassion and love!

 We have been so blessed to have my parents living a few minutes away and they are always willing to keep the kiddos! Tyler and I have been able to have some 2 on 1 time with each of them lately and it is so fun! The dynamics are so different when no one is having to fight to be heard ;-) Here's a pic from our night out at the Promenade Mall with Caroline. Mimi's Cafe lets you order breakfast all day long so, of course, Caroline would order chocolate chip pancakes! She's such a sweetie pie. She still says "Lasterday" for "yesterday" and now she's been saying "Holy Guacamole!" (I plead the fifth on where she's heard that before...) She is so thoughtful and sweet. I love seeing her sounding out words when reading and singing songs she makes up herself. She says to Thomas "You are so cute, I could just eat you up!" 

 Here's a pic from our night out with Thomas! Pushing a stroller on Dickson Street sure makes you feel all of your 32 years! We ate at Chipotle (I'm not sure which of the 3 of us ate the most guacamole, but it was totally gone by the end of the meal.) We then walked quickly through the used bookstore, he wanted to show how good he was at de-shelving books and ended up in the garden of the Walton Arts Center. I love little hidden gems like that in a night out--I had just said to Tyler while leaving the bookstore "I wish we could let him out of the stroller in a safe place to run around" and we turn the corner into the garden. Thomas danced and climbed all over the place. (and no we did not end up eating frozen yogurt at Orange Leaf--Tyler and I started counting calories and working out last week, we are doing well so far...well except for the excessive guacamole eating.)

 When I was little all we had to play with was the gas meter...

 We LOVE the springdale aquatic center! Especially with a sweet friend like Luci!

 My BFF's 4 year old daughter, Aly. 

(Yes, I use "BFF" she's been my friend since we were 8, I think that is close to "forever.")

 Our dear Uncle Travis! He took Caroline on her first fishing adventure! She is a very sporty little girl. Well, yes, her fishing pole is pink and purple with Disney princesses on it, but it can snag a fish just like the other poles!

 Caroline helped Uncle Trav reel this one in! She was literally screaming at me to see what had happened! She's ready to catch her own fish all by herself next time.

No, it has not escaped me that Father's Day is tomorrow. Or for the fact that baby T is just about the age sweet Caroline was when her daddy went to heaven. But when I start to feel sad, I really make myself get down to the nitty gritty of our lives, and think about all that has happened. I keep realizing more and more that God has taught me the biggest lesson of my life. I'm blessed to have had it revealed to me at a young age and at a time where it will shape the future of my kids the most. It is to love. 

I tried to put a comma or a colon or something in that sentence to jazz it up, but it wouldn't be right. To love. What a simple concept, but it has so many layers and aspects to it that it takes millions of books, songs, poems and blogs to try and explain it. 

Oh, yes, and I forgot to mention, it is the greatest commandment in the bible. ; )

I definitely loved before the accident. But as God has shown me His love by taking care of me through strangers, friends and family over the past few years, it has taken this love thing to a whole new level for me.

I want to return the love poured into me and my sweet babies, by pouring it back out into my friends, family and even strangers. So instead of being sad on this Father's Day Eve for my sweet kiddos sleeping soundly in their beds, with visions of snowcones swimming in their heads, I am encouraged. I have an amazing love story to tell Caroline and Thomas about how their mommy and daddy came to be their parents, and I'm also right in the middle of another awesome love story that will unfold while they grow up.

I see love in their lives spilling out all over the place.

1 John 3:1 (msg)  What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we're called children of God! That's who we really are. But that's also why the world doesn't recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he's up to.