Bang! Rush! Whoosh! Tys is TWO!

 
He came in the afternoon, a nurse scooting friends and family out of our room only minutes before he took his place in the spotlight.

He came with a bang! in a rush! whoosh!... suddenly there was Ty.
And it's been that way ever since.
Bang! Rush! Whoosh!

I was worried I wouldn't love him as much as my first child.
I was concerned I wouldn't bond with him like our two-year old son.
I was unsure how to know another little person.

But then came Ty!

Ty with his hedgehog-ish, black mohawk fro!
Ty, his powerful personality contained in his chubby body.
Ty, his one-of-a-kind giggle bursting from his chipmunk cheeks.

And today our Ty is TWO!

Two much of the most perfect addition to our family.
Two hilarious for words.
Two gifted with comedic timing, breaking the occasional serious tone.
Two in love with every stranger, welcoming them as new friends.
Two unaware of personal space, often hugging those strangers in the first 30 seconds of meeting!
Two busy for the human eye to take in.

Ty, they say when you have another child you grow another heart. 
My heart for you beats twice as fast to keep up with your boundless vigor.
To watch you run everywhere, every second of every day, stopping only to nap and sleep.
To hear you shout 'Tanner', overjoyed to be reunited after your brother's preschool hours.
You taste each bite, voraciously shoveling blueberries, pad thai, pizza, and bananas into your mouth.
You smell flowers, bending close to petals as you help me water.
You grab your favorite, well-loved metal trucks and line them up in the living room, on the back patio, on the windowsill...

 

You, our hedgehog-turned-curly-mop. 
You, our heart-exploding echo of joy
You, a blessed addition to our family, to this world
You, a gift beyond
You, the definition of 'celebration', 
we celebrate you, 
our Ty,
Turning Two!

Happy Birthday, Ty Christian. We can't wait to see how God uses your bang! rush! whoosh!

Tanner's Prayer

Today was the ideal vacation day. Plenty of relaxation, sprinkled with out-of-the-norm outings, and ending how all ideal days should~ with a bowl of ice cream!

Yes, it's true that I ordered Cookies-N-Cream and ended up devouring my hubby's Chocolate Almond Waffle Cone! Please don't judge, you would have done the same, too!

 

For starters, there was sleeping in until 9:30am! Which, for those of you with kids, is the equivalent to 2 in the afternoon. I might as well have eaten bon-bons and stayed in my fat pants all day... it was decadent. I do dress after enjoying a fabulous cup of coffee in a pearl, skinny mug that seems so vacationy and different than my chubby mugs at home, mugs that require both of my hands wrapped around to meet fingers. Even using different bath towels, and eating on resort china lends a subtle nuance of staying in a place away from home, a place appropriately named vacation.

There was the walk with cousins and my sister-in-law Rondi, noting trees that dance and shimmer, their green coins like tiny cymbals. Here, the air is different, crisp and fresh, lacking the saltiness of our beach town.

There was lunch, Bryan and I side by side, making turkey and provolone sandwiches, a treat from the independent, everyday schedule of just me and the boys. Smiling 'round the table, our mouths covered in chip crumbs, we are a family oblivious to the day, time, or urgency of a schedule.

There was venturing into Bend, The Old Mill, window shopping, and trying my new soy palette at an homey organic coffee shop. We discover a foodies dream store ~ selling spices, rubs and extracts, their top-seller, a pesto spice, popular when seasoning chicken or making guacamole. I'll be visiting again before the week is over.

There was spinach salad dinner, a feast for our eyes and mouths, inviting a colorful party of red and orange sweet peppers, grilled chicken, green onions, black beans, yellow sweet corn, drizzled with home-made cilantro garlic dressing.

There was the Fish Hatchery adventure. Sweatshirts on the inseparable cousins, we watch the horizon tug at the sun, drawing its warm temperature down with the ball of fire, each child gifted a quarter. Coin in, turn the handle, open lever, and out spill pellets ~ fish food for 24-inch rainbow trouts. Jumping, water rippling, the kids can't suppress their delight in feeding thousands of open-mouthed trout. Ty's chilly hand holds mine, tight. Mostly to ground himself from falling in the water, or perhaps, because he likes holding his mama's hand. Either way, I'll take it.

Umbrellaing the coming and goings, the savoring and sippings, is the chipping away that God is doing in my spirit today. It's slow-coming, like drinking salty, hot cocoa and feeling the all-over warmth seconds later. I'm steeping in His time, in His teaching, in His soft whispers. My brain is doing much thinking, so much that it carries over into my dreams, echoing His words about what I must let go of,  how to find freedom in His affirmation alone. I fight the urgency to learn this lesson and move on. Instead, I take advantage of the non-hurried, vacation mindset my thoughts and heart are in, following suit with His Truth prodding throughout the day.

And it's big! Life-changing big! What God's Spirit is uncovering in the sticky corners of my heart- scooping and scraping out to make room for space and light- will be a mountain step in my faith journey. It's a process not to be hurried or forced, but to lean into, and listen, as if my life depends on it. Because it does. My life must be changed. I can't sense His tug, and ignore it. I must turn over control to the Maker of All, allowing Him to transform this inner war into peace. Where self-talk or positive outlook can be fabricated from my merit, His work will heal completely, as only the Healer can... I can't wait to share the process with you!

Finally, there was Tanner's bed-time prayer: 
"God, I love you, I love you brave. I hope that everyone {he names every. single. person. in our family} is having a good time this week. You make my heart happy...  I pray that you are proud of me..."

From the mouth of babes. It doesn't get more simple and sweet than that.

As I settle into an over-sized bed, much larger than at home, I echo my son's prayer...

God, I love you, I love you BRAVE! You make my heart happy. I pray that you are proud of me.

There, the perfect end to an ideal vacation day.

Thankful Monday

The funk.

That's what I woke up in.

Funny thing about funks is they have a selfish way of wrapping us inside, then tying the black cloud knot, suffocating and disorienting.

Which is why I'm incredibly grateful for Thankful Monday, a freshly inspired family tradition, that ironically debuted this morning, magically illuminating Mondays on our calendar, 3 more starred in this beach-cruisin', summer-filled, lemony July month.

Well, Thankful Monday it is!

On their striped rug we sat, the boys and I, brainstorming grateful thank reasons, and I spied out my eye's corner, the funk slithering out of my bed, oozing onto the floor, sliding down the hallway and disappearing out the back door!

Good riddens!

I do have a part to play with this unwelcome friend, the funk! I can choose to let him hang on me throughout the day, or instead, freeze moments and gather them in my upturned hands, my palms heaped by dinnertime.

Grateful moments.
Thankful whispers to my Heavenly Father.
Simple beauties outnumbering the stars in the everyday.

"Do not disdain the small. The whole of the life- even the hard- is made up of the minute parts, and if I miss the infinitesimals, I miss the whole...There is a new way to live the big of giving thanks in all things. It is this: to give thanks in this one small thing. The moments will add up." {One Thousand Gifts, Ann Voskamp}

Amazing how giving breath to our blessings disintegrates the funk. Because it's pretty hard to be foul and cranky, when I'm sitting on a striped rug, soaking up my sons, and thanking God for:

...my oldest turning four in one day
chocolate-dipped marshmallows, rolled in Butterfinger crumbs
snuggling my baby's fever away
an authentic sweet tea recipe from a legit Southern friend
walking alongside my best friend, post-dinner, pre-bath routine
taking the first steps in starting my business {stay tuned}
the gift of a fragrant rosebush's endless yellow, bud-filled vases
flip-flop tans
getting my cup filled with a much-needed girl's day out
French Vanilla swirls in my coffee...

Thankful Monday.
What are you grateful for?