i

heart

these

cute

 boys

a lot.

bumblebee birthday bash

isn't he the CUTEST?

can you guess where trace wanted to have his 4th birthday party? yep, the whitt's took over fox's pizza. :) we kept it small (but as libby says, there are 147 whitt's so that's never just a few people. haha!) with close family only, and his 2 best friends :) we had a great time.

bumblebee/transformers was the theme. of course the boys went crazy. can't say that lala and kenley were too thrilled, but they were good sports! :)

 

trace loved opening his presents. and of course it's always an "all hands on deck" affair with every kid trying to get in on the action! love it!

 love our family pic... even though nate and i were the only ones looking at the camera. go figure!

 i splurged on these masks for the party and it was a great choice. the kids LOVED them! these close ups of the boys crack me up! they are the cutest little transformers ever. i'm sure you can tell the boys apart, but in case you can't... luc is on the left, with his big bright eyes, and trace on the right with his sweet squinty eyes! :)

 below is all his loot... he loved all his gifts. and apparently bakugans are the new thing. or maybe they are old and we are just now discovering them. they are these little toys that roll in a ball but when dropped on the floor or their special magnetic card, they open up into a dragon looking thing, or motorcycle, or whatever the case may be. and trace and caden call them "bible"gons, which i think is pretty funny. but yeah, b/w new bumblebee toys, movies, money, and biblegons, trace had a wonderful birthday celebration!

 love my sweet trace car and can't believe he is four.

oh yeah, in case you wanna know his 4 year stats, we went to the dr monday and i have them. i actually took both lucas and trace together, for their 2 and 4 year check-ups. let me just say, wow. that was dramatic! 1 mama, 2 screaming boys, 2 finger pricks, 4 shots. yeah, couldn't be over soon enough! we survived though, and made a trip to target for new power rangers and monster trucks to celebrate! :) anywho. back to the stats. trace is 34.5 pounds, and 3 foot 4 inches. that puts him in the 40th% for weight and 44th% for height. 

lucas weighs 29 pounds and is 35 inches. 60th% for both weight and height. they are both healthy and got great reports, praise the lord!  

passy gone gone

since day 1, literally, lucas has been a passy baby. when he was itty bitty, he started out with the tiny newborn nuk passies. then somewhere along the way, he moved to those goofy looking soothie passies.

then he went back to the nuk brand. i've seriously never seen lucas happier than when he has his passy in his mouth and his blanky in his hand! whether he is sleeping or playing, he loves a passy.

he likes them here and there, and anywhere. in a house, or with a mouse. in a box, or with a fox. yeah, kinda like green eggs and ham, except not really.  that boy... really, whether he's at home, in the snow, at the beach, on christmas day, in the car... he loves a passy.

i must give you all that background and show you the sweet pics with the passy so you will know just how how much he loves it. so with that being said... i'm so proud of my big boy and his huge recent accomlishment. his passy is GONE GONE!

he has asked about it a few times, sometimes he will say "i want my passy mama." or "where my passy go?" but really, it's been a much smoother transition than i could have imagined! i'm so thankful! :) and i know it sounds crazy, but i'm kinda sad to see it go. i'll admit, it's been nice to stuff in his mouth if he was whining or crying, but i think most of all, i'm kinda sad b/c it means my baby boy is growing up. sniff sniff. :(

*but as you see in the picture above, he doesn't seem too sad about it! ;o)

4 years of trace...

happy 4th birthday sweet tracecar!

you have blessed our life more than we could say. you are the happiest, sweetest, easiest to please little boy. did i say happiest? i mean, there's hardly a picture without you smiling! you have the most tender heart and i know that god will use you in big ways as you get older! you have a brother who looks up to you so much, and a mama and daddy who love you more than you will ever know.  i still remember the day you were born... and every day since then. thank you for being a mama's boy and loving me more than i ever thought possible. in the same way, you've taught me to love in a way i could never imagine, and for that, i am forever grateful!





you are my angel boy trace carter. don't ever forget that! 

i love you to the moon... and back!

IGNITE

ecclesiastes 9:9 "enjoy life with your wife (spouse) whom you love."

nate and i had the chance to attend "IGNITE 2011" this past weekend, which is a marriage conference that church of the highlands hosted. let me just say, it was incredible! we enjoyed a very much needed, refreshing time to focus on each other.

there were several different sessions led by 2 great men of god, jimmy evans and joe mcgee. they were both incredible. for more information on these guys, you can visit their websites www.marriagetoday.com and www.joemcgeeministries.com

we learned a lot, laughed a lot, and took a lot of notes! :) i am a big note-taker... the only problem is i couldn't write fast enough! and sometimes i was laughing too hard to take down all the notes! but i got a lot of good stuff and will def review to remember some of the main points.

pastor jimmy evans from texas was the first speaker. he was awesome, and so full of wisdom. he started by teaching from ephesians 5 and talked about how that lays out god's perfect plan for marriage. he discussed some of the main needs of a man (honor, sex, friendship, and support at home) and the needs of women (security, soft non-sexual affection, open and honest communication, and leadership in these 4 areas- children, romance, spiritual matters, and finances.)

next he led a session on fear which i could easily relate to. he said that fear focuses on the problem, and faith focuses on god. how true is that? he gave us different ways to disarm destructive fears, and also outlined 4 curses of fear. 1. it makes us selfish. 2. it makes us sinful. 3. it makes us say negative things. 4. it makes us stupid. he talked about a fear dance, a cycle that we get into, and then we bring our spouse into it (hurt, want, fear, react.)  fear has always been a big issue for me, and for that reason, i LOVE 2 timothy 1:7 that says "for god has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind!"

the last session he taught was on sex. he gave 7 reasons for sex: 1. reproduction 2. comfort 3. sensual enjoyment and pleasure 4. self esteem and confidence 5. bonding 6. intimate knowledge 7. protection from outside temptation. he talked about sex being sacred, and how marriage is a covenant and not a contract. another great point he made was that sex is the only unique feature in marriage... everything else you do with other people. hebrews 13:4 says "marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for god will judge the adulterer and all the sexual immoral." he pointed out that the beginning of adultry is when you turn your heart away. that is powerful stuff!

 

joe mcgee was the other speaker. ohmygoodness. he was phenominal! i mean, i loved him! i had heard he was great, but wow. now he talked super fast and i know i missed a lot of things he said. i tried to write fast but it was hard! he started by giving 3 job descriptions for a man (lover, leader, and provider) and 3 for a woman (helpmate, manage the home, and lover.) he quoted several scriptures that i tried to scribble down. matthew 5:9, proverbs 29:18, jeremiah 33:3, matthew 12:24&35, james 1:19, matthew 16:18, proverbs 24:3-4, proverbs 14:1, psalm 127:1, jeremiah 29:4-7, proverbs 24:27 and luke 14:28 are just a few! i love how he said you gotta whip the devil with the word of god! :)

he spoke a lot on communication. he was quick to point out to think before you speak. he said "just because a thought comes to your head doesn't mean it needs to come out your mouth." i LOVE that. he listed several scriptures in proverbs that have to do with your words. he even said if you were to highlight every time in proverbs that it talked about the mouth, it would change the way you talked. and in james it talks about how life and death are in the power of the tongue. he said "all wars, affairs, and divorces start with words." very true!

obviously marriage is HARD WORK. and it takes a lot of work. but as joe pointed out, you have to work at great things. marriage can be great, but it will be great work as well. i love this thought from him "you don't find a great life, marriage, or family- you build one." WOW. he has a book on family finances, and hit a few points there. 1. you will either be blessed, or broke, by your attitude. 2. order proceeds increase. if you aren't stewarding your money, god won't give you anymore. 3. there are different channels of income. (guess he started talking fast b/c that's all i have on #3. ha!) the last thing he gave us were some things to help you remember to be a good lover. 1. have the right motive (meet your spouse's need.) 2. start yesterday. 3. your body won't be perfect 4. eliminate routines 5. practice tenderness 6. never criticize 7. proper personal heigene 8. it's ok to laugh 9. we've got a lifetime to figure it out! :)

we saw several friends at the ignite conference. it was great catching up with them during breaks. but more than anything, it was so nice to have some time alone with nate. alone meaning with thousands of other couples, but still. alone in the fact that we didn't have the boys hanging all over us. we were able to worship side by side (which rarely happens since nate is the worship leader at our church) and we both loved the COTH worship band. they were awesome. like i said, although there were so many people there, it was amazing how intimate the conference was. i am so glad that god allowed us to experience this conference. i know that already, our marriage has benefited greatly from it. i can't wait to see how god continues to ignite our love for him and for each other. we will def plan on attending the conference next year, and if you get the chance, i'd highly reccomend you and your spouse go as well. (and a big shout out to meme and grandaddy, bitsy, and shannon for pitching in and taking care of the boys. we couldn't have gone to ignite without you!)

IT.WAS.AWESOME.

love love love this sweet pic of me and nate! :)

bubbles, baths, and boys... oh my!

first visit to the ER...

so last thursday the weather was kinda crazy... a snow/sleet mixture started falling around lunch. and before we knew it, schools were dismissing early and tons of businesses in the area closed early too. both mine and nate's offices closed early (shocker!) and although nate was supposed to attend a work function later that nite, it got cancelled as well. (woo hoo!) so after a super slow hour and 20 minute drive home from work... i was so glad to finally be at the house with my 3 boys! we put on some comfy clothes, enjoyed dinner, and settled in for what i planned on being a nice relaxing nite! well guess what friends? things didn't go as planned. the boys were laying on our bed watching tv, while nate and i were catching up on some of our shows in the living room. and that's when i heard it... the scream heard round the world. the kind of scream where you hear a scream, then nothing for like 5 minutes before the next scream. you know the one. i rushed to our bedroom and saw lucas on the floor by the bed. i had no idea what had happened, only that he was trying to walk, but couldn't. i thought he had broken his leg or something b/c he wasn't walking. i was trying not to freak out! long story short... lucas wouldn't put weight on his foot. screamed when nate touched it and would not calm down. he kept saying "fall down. foot hurt." :(

so it didn't take long for us to call the grandparents and decide that our first trip to the ER was neccesary! trace was so sweet, trying to help us take care of lucas, and praying for him! but we decided it would be best if he didn't go with us, not really knowing what to expect. so after dropping trace off at my parents house, we headed to st vincents east (it was closest, and the weather was bad...) where we met nate's parents. with me trying not to freak out, lucas crying, icy roads and us having never been to the ER before, it was very comforting to see meme and g-daddy waiting on us when we pulled up! (side note- i'm pretty sure b/w nate, josh, and rachel, john and terri have seen their fair share of ER's! unlike my parents... i think i only went once when i was like 5!) but anyways, i def think it eased luc's fears as well to see sweet familiar faces!



holding his pecan twirls (meme let him pick his own snack from the machine and this is what he wanted!)



after x-rays and the whole nine yards, they decided nothing was broken. PTL! however his foot was pretty swollen and the dr said he had possibly strained some ligaments. so they wrapped it up with an ace bandage and sent us on our way! lucas was such a big boy... and for the most part was very cooperative. he didn't like the xrays, but he sat in my lap and i sang jesus loves me over, and over, and over! although he cried the whole time, he sat very still... and seriously, that's a miracle! i thought for sure they would have to call in help to restrain him! what a brave boy! oh, and i think this is worth mentioning as well... we got there at 8 pm and were walking out the door just before 10. so i'd say we were pretty fortunate to just spend 2 hrs in the ER! (i've heard horror stories of being there forever!)



sweet baby!



so it def wasn't the night we had planned, but we realize it could have been a whole lot worse! in reality, i knew it was only a matter of time before we had to take one of the boys to the ER! i'm sure we will be going again at some point, so at least next time we know the drill! :) but i'm hoping it's not a place we end up often!

he was so tired... the minute we got in the car he passed out! it was a long nite for little man!

the ace bandage lasted til friday morning, then he decided he wanted no part of it! he kept saying "take it off, take it off!" so we did!

lucas didn't put any weight on his foot until saturday nite. he got around just fine by crawling, walking on his knees, or scooting on his hiney! ;) that is... until rach and d kept the boys sat nite so nate and i could go out to dinner! when we got back to their house- guess who had been walking some? yep! uncle d convinced lucas to walk a little with the help of kenley! i was so proud of him... like he was walking for the first time! he didn't walk much, and i know it still hurt him, but i was so relieved to see he could put weight on it! (the dr had told us if he didn't walk on it by monday they needed to see him again! i was getting a lil worried!) then sunday after church, we headed to burger king to grab lunch and let the kids play for a little while. lucas kinda hobbled in, but the minute we took him to the play ground he forgot about his hurt foot and was back to full speed! hopping, jumping, sliding, running, like nothing was wrong! yay! he still has a little limp and it's still swollen and bruised a little... sometimes he will tell me "foot hurt" but for the most part, it's healing great! we are so thankful he is better, and not a bit surprised that our first visit to the ER was with lucas!