Mommie's favorite pictures;)

So I've never been one to have a "dream nursery"- I think God has more on earth for us to do sometimes- but God has totally brought together, in bits pieces and handmedowns, the most beautiful little nursery for Cae- I have to get a picture of the changing table Steve built for Caleb from scratch- it is definitely a cozy little mix and match room, just perfect for our cozy little mix and match family;)
This was a picture taken this past Sunday; Steve's leaving soon on deployment and we are cherishing our moments together as a family. He's reading to Caleb and I as we sit our blue couch out of AAMilne's Winnie The Pooh stories- what a gift to share this time.
This is a pic of our SWEET osito- our sweet little bear- what a charmer;)



THIS is Cae's third smile ever- he was ALL smiles this past Sunday, and he is just adorable when his eyes all light up, that big ole' smile opens up (like shel says) and you can tell he GETS it;) This is so extremely precious, and man it just rocks to be able to have Steve be the first to catch his smile before he leaves for three mos. Yeay God.

It has been an amazing six weeks of growth as a family; by the grace of God it has been a wonderful, life-giving time. Not without challenges, but Caleb is such a sweet baby, and we are so very blessed to have this precious time together. Steve and I are grieving this deployment considerably more than the last one, at least beforehand. But I'd heard the other day that the second deployment is often the harder one because you know what to expect but it hasn't yet become an understood routine thing. Ah well, it IS wonderful to grieve a person while the person is still with you; we both get to tell each other how much we mean to each other, and how very much we will miss each other every single day before he goes. Shouldn't we do that more often with the people we love- express our true heart for them while we've got em around? That whole idea of our lives being such a mist- man deployment reminds you so dearly that this time IS so precious that we get to share together on this earth. Thank you all for being a part of our lives; you mean SO very much to us. love, jc