heavy equals heavenly

Lots of loved ones are grieving this week due to the passing of a wonderful woman yesterday. My heart has been very heavy knowing that many of my close friends are hurting right now. I've been praying a lot for them and being aware of how I'm so much more in touch with the fragility of life due to Sydney's passing, in hopes that I will hold on to that feeling a long time. It's amazing what tragedy does to us. We really take a look at living life to the fullest and where we are on our path with Jesus.

When Sydney's husband, Todd, updated her Caring Bridge site, the Lord spoke through him, which in turn spoke to the hearts of his readers. I've witnessed this with 2 other friends that also wrote so perfectly and so in tune with God's walk with them during their suffering, when experiencing major tragedy. Those 2 friends did not lose their loved ones and it was undoubtedly the power of prayer that saved them. Thousands of people praying, reading the most perfect and eloquent words of the authors that undoubtedly had the Holy Spirit running through their veins. So I feel blessed to have a heavy heart and live in a world with suffering, because it makes me focus on Jesus. And therefore I'm able to pass that love for Jesus to my children.

Last night at the dinner table we asked Buxton to bless our food, hoping we would recite the "Johnny Apple seed" blessing we always sing. Oh how we were surprised when he started singing a different blessing, which he obviously knew very well, and was very proud to share with us. After a sad day this was my silver lining.

And as I listen to Buxton talk himself to sleep right now, he is naming all the people in his life that "Jesus loves". Most nights we sing "Jesus Loves Me" and then name everyone that Jesus loves. Usually everyone in our family and all our friends are named. Some people are named twice cause he forgets he said them. Tonight he listed Grace, Aunt Carla, Uncle Ed, Hunter, Wynnie and Bobby....and then he started talking about trucks or something. But witnessing him grasp the concept of love and attach Jesus to the same thought is more heart warming than I could ever describe.

I like to think that 2.5 years of reading Todd's CB updates impacted my personal path with Jesus, which has impacted Buxton in a positive way. My dear Amy affects my path with Jesus in the same positive way. She too is an amazing writer and a strong woman of faith. I've told Amy many times that her battle with cancer has already affected so many people in their walk with the Lord.

These are the words to Buxton's blessing, which we got on video tonight before bed:

God our Father
God our Father
We thank Thee
We thank Thee
For our many blessings
For our many blessings
Amen
Amen

wedding weekend

mom and bill are married! we had a great weekend in blowing rock celebrating their marriage.

they each had their closest friend and spouse stand with them.

this is bill's son, andy with his wife, jenny and their son, emmett. they live in denver, co. andy is one of my 3 new step-brothers!

sharing a laugh from a toast:

we are really happy for my mom and welcome bill into our family with open arms!

and for good measure, a shot of our almost 11 month old baby girl...who is saying "uh oh", giving kisses (open mouth of course), cruising the furniture and getting into everything, eating everything, and who is still the sweetest little muffin ever (ok big muffin).

a 10 month muffin, friends and a big boy bed

elin is 10 months today! if i could bottle this time in a jar i would for any price. she is so very sweet, cuddly and always happy. eating and sleep (except at daycare) come really easy for her too and she's grown partial to table food over baby food. she has 2 teeth on the top coming in to join the 2 on the bottom. and i'll bet that there will be 2 more on the top soon. i made my first trip to purchase hair clips the other day and loved every minute. her hair is long enough to hang in her eyes in the front and i'm hoping that starting the hair clips early will get her used to them so she won't pull them all out down the road.

this is elin in her partial down dog. just had to post it so everyone could check out those thighs!

here are buxton, vivan, wynnie and elin after some recent time in the pool. vivan is seriously almost as big as elin! it's so fun to have them all together.

since getting buxton to eat is an everyday challenge i had to post this picture of one night that he actually cleaned his plate. he had whole wheat noodles covered in a butternut squash puree, topped with cheese, and some chicken. i've been using the Deceptively Delicious cookbook to hide veggies in his food and i promise you he acts so much better when he eats balanced meals. one thing he loves is applesauce. so i add pureed beets, cinnamon and a little stevia and he eats it like crazy. homemade pizza with spinach is always a sure thing too.

it takes a lot of time and energy to focus on Buxton's eating, but it pays off when he cleans his plate and i know that everything he ate was good for him. another thing i've learned is that eating before 6pm usually leads to more food being eaten and less tantrums. no i don't have a personal chef that gets dinner on the table before 6 when i work until 5. but i would love one!

here is a quick shot of buxton's new big boy room. he's done so well in his new bed and seems very proud of it.