Father's Day.

Happy Father's Day to the two best father's I know, my Daddy, and my husband.  We had a laid back day today, celebrating Dad and Gary in Hot Springs with breakfast, followed by more celebrating with my Papa over lunch at my Aunt and Uncle's in Benton.

My Dad has always been a source of constant encouragement in my life.  I wouldn't be living my dream as a salon owner had it not been for his encouragement, support and advice.  Watching how he loved my mom, and led our family spiritually growing up, molded my standards in choosing my mate.

Gary is a loving, encourager as well, providing for our family not only as a financial leader, but as a spiritual leader.  Watching him take on his new role as "Dad" the past 5 months has been truly wonderful.  I didn't think it was possible for me to love him more until I saw him with Elliott.

Praising the Lord today for blessing our family with these two men!

Love.

My heart has been so full of love lately that I feel like it could burst.  I want to remember all of the sweet moments happening during this season of life, so I compiled a list of things that are melting my heart these days:

-I love when Elliott looks deep into my eyes as though my rendition of "You are my Sunshine" is the most beautiful song he's ever heard.

-I love how Elliott wraps his arm around my back and holds on to my shirt when I'm rocking him to sleep.

-I love the sound of my baby's laughter when we give him "eskimo kisses."

-I love that Elliott reaches up and strokes my neck and shoulders when he nurses as if to say "Thank you, Mom. I love you."

-I love seeing my sweet husband interact with our son, treating him with gentleness and care as he holds him, changes his diaper or feeds him his bottle.

-I love that Gary praises God for Elliott in every prayer, even if he's just blessing our dinner.

-I love coming home after a long day at work to find my boys waiting on me at the back door.

-I love [when I get to] picking Elliott up from daycare and seeing his smile when he realizes I've returned to take him home.

-I love that Gary kisses Elliott's head and tells him he loves him every morning before he leaves for work, every night before I put him to bed, and every time he loads his car seat in the car.

-I love waking up every morning to the sound of Elliott cooing softly in his crib.

I have so much to be thankful for these days.  I did nothing to deserve the gifts of Gary and Elliott, but I thank the Lord daily for giving them to me.  They are an expression of His love for me.

"Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you." -Psalm 63:3

Our Weekend.

We had a lovely weekend.  It was the first in several weeks we were able to spend in town just the three of us, so we made the most of it, filling our time with a trip to the farmer's market, visiting family and grilling with friends.

Elliott got his first taste of eating solid food with a spoon this weekend.  It was such a fun time watching his expressions as he had his first taste of rice cereal.  You could tell by his face he thought he was the coolest kid in the world.

Sunday, Gary kept E so I could attend the Sunday morning women's group with some ladies from church.  This was only my second Sunday to go since Elliott has been born, and it was so refreshing to share my heart and hear the hearts of these amazing women again.  It gave me a feeling that maybe some amount of normalcy is returning to our lives.

I'm so thankful for two full days of fun with my little family.  Time to start another busy week.  Hope your weekend was full of family and fun.

Show us your kitchens.

I'm linking up with Kelly for her "Show Us Your Life Home Tour" again this week to show you my kitchen.  We remodeled our kitchen last year, and I love the way it turned out.  It's small, but I'm not much of a cook, so it suits my needs.

That's our little kitchen.  Go link up, I'd love to see yours!

Elliott- 5 Months.

Elliott:

How are you already 5 months old?  You are so alert now, taking in everything we do.  I'm amazed at how much you are picking up on already.  We think you are pretty smart for 5 months old.  Here's what you have been up to this month:

- You weight 13 pounds, 10 ounces and measure 25 inches long.  You had an ear infection and a stomach bug this month, so you haven't gained much weight.  You got your first round of antibiotics for the ear infection, and are now taking Zantac twice a day for reflux that started after your stomach bug.

- You aren't sleeping as well as you have been.  You've really started fighting naps, wanting to stay awake and see what we're doing.  I'm lucky if you'll take two 30 minute cat naps each day.  We broke you of your swaddle this month, and I think that may have something to do with the shorter naps.  However, you are still sleeping from between 7:30 and 8:30pm to around 5-6am every night, and going back down for another hour and a half after your first feeding.

-You are wearing 3-6 month clothes, with the exception of a few 0-3 month pants and shorts.  You are now in size 2 diapers.

-You are still on a diet of only breast milk, nursing exclusively when we are together, and taking a bottle of expressed breast milk when we are apart.  You've gotten very quick at nursing, taking only about 10 minutes to eat every 3 hours.

-You still go to daycare only 3 days a week.  I upped you from three 4oz. bottles to three 5oz. bottles when you go.  You love your teachers, Ms.Virginia and Ms. Leslie.

-Your found your feet this month, and they are in your mouth all the time.  You can hold toys on your own, and have even started reaching and grabbing for things.  

-You have really become attached to your paci, it's in your mouth most of the time now.  It's great for soothing you when you're upset, but I'm already getting nervous about having to take it away from you one day.  When you spit it out, you will grab it and try to put it back in your mouth, but you still haven't quite figured it out yet.

- You have started rolling from your back to your tummy this month, and now roll over as soon as we lay you on your back.  However, you haven't figured out how to get back on your back, so when you get tired of being on your belly you cry for us to turn you over.  Now that you can roll to your tummy and are sleeping unswaddled, you prefer sleeping on your belly.

- You have really started making more sounds this month, including a high pitched squeal when you get excited.  You are finally laughing, but you still make us work for it.

We love you more and more every day.  You make our family complete, and it's truly hard to remember what life was like before you were here.  I'm looking forward to all the milestones in the coming months, but soaking up every second with you now.

We love you!

-Momma

Tour of Texas.

This weekend we finally got brave enough to make the trip to Texas with Elliott in tow.  Gary's parents, sister, and brother-in-law all live in the DFW area, as well as (family members who had not yet met Elliott) his Grandma, Aunt, Uncle, and several cousins.  While we were in the area we also squeezed in some time with my college roommate, Tate, and two of Gary's childhood friends, Reid and Stephen.  Needless to say, the weekend was a whirlwind tour of Elliott, and he did not disappoint, flashing smiles and showing off all of his new tricks.  The family was smitten by him!  (Our camera battery died shortly after we arrived, so iPhone photos are all we have of Elliott's first trip to the Lone Star State.)

Once again, our little guy was quite the trooper while road tripping, especially considering he was battling a cold.  We had a great time showing off our pride and joy and visiting with family and friends.  Looking forward to more time with the Grant side of the family at the upcoming "Grant Get-Away" in Arkadelphia.  Hope your weekend was wonderful as well!

Show us your living rooms.

Today I'm linking up with Kelly for her "Show Us Your Life" series to show you my living room.  My style is colorful!  I like to use reds, yellows and purples in my home.  We spend a lot of time in our living room, and it's one of my favorite rooms in our house. Enjoy!