my second born.

Reid.
Sweet.
Stubborn.
Loves to be held.
A smile that melts my heart.
His best laugh comes from his brother.
You shake your head no when you mean yes.
You are a monkey.
Your speed is incomparable.

You seemed content and timid but now you love to shriek.
You like to do your own thing but also like stealing your brothers’ toys.
You are playful.
You are so so so curious.
You have little fear.
You’re tough.
You like to make yourself known… ever since you grunted as a baby.

You’re tiny-waisted.
You’ve got big feet.
Your fingers look like they have potential to play piano or basketball.
Your eyes are so so big.

You’re our reider, snakey, little brother (and at that rated the best in the house).
We love you mister.
Happy one year!
Your proud mama.

construction themed party.

i've said this before and i'll say it again: i think that the first year is so worth celebrating BIG because we made it... (well at this point we're 48 hours short of making it) but you get the point. it's a big feat.

so i have boys and i've been dreaming up this party for... well i am slightly embarassed to admit this but since the kid was like two months old. i just like this stuff. it doesn't keep me up at night but it does get me excited.

let me note that these weren't all of my original ideas (clearly this isn't the first construction themed party ever) but this is what i did with it and ill share sources along the way...:)

ok... so we'll start with food. I did a build your own sandwich theme with a lot of snacks:)
but of course the snacks had the construction theme...

many of these ideas came from here!

i also did construction hats (found on amazon) and put the kid's names on the brims using letters i had found at michaels... they stick on themselves. turned out super cute... especially with the hard hat area sign. (that was also one of their favors they took home.)

the other favor was a chinese take out box filled with puppy chow and said it was 'gravel for the road.' i found these yellow Chinese take out boxes... 3 for $1 at my dollar tree. complete steal!!!

the cake: i used this recipe... make sure you're not doing this at the last minute because you'll be hating yourself like i was.:) leave ample amount of time and it's an easy way to serve cake and everyone liked them!

I used birthday zone construction tape for decor (found on amazon) as well dump truck balloons from my local dollar tree.

but my favorite piece of decor was this picture garland i did. i did one picture for each month of this year and i used sticky star and small clothespins as well as yarn to hold it all together. i thought it turned out cute especially if you're a picture person like me!


the other fun find i had was looking through my fave but only a special gift catalog... mini boden. literally i drool. the stuff is so so cute. i found this 'digger' shirt and thought it was too cute to pass up!
(love this picture of my mom and reid)
happy 1st reid!
love yo momma;)

reid's dedicated.

reid has now been dedicated. yay!

his shirt was kind of a last minute dilemma... so this picture is even more precious because he has a shirt on that matches his bow tie.... we spent the morning with our loved ones. ate some good food with them and then ended the night with the high school kick off....

but i still can't get enough of this picture ... [you can see why.]
proud mama,
kg:)

p.s. don't try to buy a white oxford shirt ANYWHERE in the month of august. they're no where to be found. such was the dilemma;)

my reid isaiah.

my reid isaiah is turning into a little man right before my eyes. i remember this day just 9 short months ago...i don't think he even stays that still for a second unless he's sleeping anymore...

this weekend we are dedicating him at our church. our church believes:
In Scripture there is an example of dedicating children to the Lord. In 1 Samuel 1:11, 26-28, Hannah vowed to dedicate her child to the Lord if He would grant her one. The Lord honored her request and she kept her vow, dedicating Samuel to the Lord. “ . . . then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life.” 1 Samuel 1:11

before our kids are born I ask the Lord for a verse for them. Reid's verse comes with a story. He was breech for at least a month before birth.... although we truly trusted God we wondered why we'd have to go through a c-section etc. but we trusted that God knew best. we or should i say i shed lots of tears, said lots of prayers and as i studied the book of Isaiah (his middle name) i came to a verse that brought me joy & peace and i knew that that would be his verse. so here's just a little something i made for him....:)

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD God is an everlasting Rock.
Isaiah 26:3 &4

because this is now a fave verse of mine i had sweet floweret make me a key fob to see it more frequently.

oh & pics to come of the adorable little man on the dedication.. in full out fedora and bow tie... just wait.

trusting the LORD,
kg:)

thoughts of late january

this week i saw info for the hca open house. that brings back memories...
like the memory of going to that after a grueling last day [although i didn't know it] of work as a 2nd grade teacher before i became a mom. hmm.

i woke up the morning after the open house with feet that looked like muffin tops... still. a good 7 hours of feet up, hard core rest (or as much as a 9 month pregnant lady can sleep) and the muffin tops were still there. needless to say, i went into labor less than 24 hours later...

but i also am recalling the fact that when my little carter was 8 1/2 weeks old (i think the same as reid today) i went back to work.
that day was hard... no, that's an understatement. it was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO hard.
i knew he would be taken care of, wasn't worried about that.
i had guilt though.
i missed that little face.
did i mention that my makeup was smeared and dispicable by 7:30 a.m.... that's barely making it out the door.

those thoughts and feelings led me to a new lifestyle of staying home and trusting the Lord that he would provide. it is on the top 5 of best decisions i ever made.
i still say that if i ever had to go back to work, i would go back to teaching in a heartbeat, and that's still true.
but today i don't have to leave my kids on a daily basis to go to work and for that I am thankful.
it means sacrifice in some things & that the new charming outfit i would really like to buy often, well i often just don't go to the mall if the cash is not in my hand. but hey, i'd take being a bit out of date clothes-wise to working....

for those working moms, i give you lots (& LOTS) of credit. families all have to choose what is best for them. who knows, our situation might change... that's why i am thankful today that i am home.

but reid is 8 1/2 weeks old. its hard to believe that carter was this age when we walked into this new season.
i remember God gave me the gift of his first smile a few days before I went back... that was amazing.
I also remember telling my second graders about my lack of sleep and asked them to pray... i'm not even kidding... those kids prayed carter to sleep at night... 3 hour stretches turning into 5...hallelujah.
and one other funny memory is that at the end of the year a lot of the kids got me starbucks gift cards because they always saw coffee in my hand.... coffee & the Lord... that's what got me through.

having a 2 month old is tiring. we've accomplished two months with lack of sleep and it can be wearing on everybody and somedays, i'm not gonna lie... it seems to win.
there lies hope in the fact that my {almost} 2 year old sleeps 12 hours a night and that day should arrive sooner rather than later.... did i mention sooner?
so today, being one of the days where the tired kristen seemed to win (did i mention that's humbling to say outloud?!) i rest in this amazing promise:

God's mercies are new in the morning.... Great is his faithfulness.
amen & amen.

tired but resting in his promises,
kg:)