Catching Up...

I got way behind on blogging this week, so this post is going to have lots of pictures! Some need explanation, most don't. So...here goes our last week! 

The rest of the St. Louis Trip...

Purina Farms Springtime Village

Ice cream after a fancy dinner...

We spent lots of time with our good friends the Hectors while we were in STL. Jason is a chef, so we always get the inside scoop on where to go. He picked some great places while we were there. Even if we ate dirt, I think I would still enjoy their company! I think...

Landry and her daddy danced after dinner to some music outside. She sure loves him! 

Shirley Temples at the Embassy

{I loved doing this when I was little!!}

 Magic House...

We got home, and Landry miraculously has long enough hair for a real ponytail! 

I went on a women's retreat to Tulsa this past weekend with our church. I didn't take a single picture while we were there, but I roomed with this sweet friend, Sarah Lauren. We were supposed to have two of our other good friends with us, but it ended up just being us for the night. We stayed up laughing and talking until almost 2. We were exhausted the next morning, but had such a sweet time visiting. Mamas don't do that enough! I ate 4 meals with two hands, had fellowship with some precious ladies, and did some catching up with friends that was way overdue. Our speaker for the weekend had an awesome message as well. 

Sunday we took Collier to his first movie! It was only Landry's second, and they both seemed to enjoy it. They wanted the popcorn to keep flowing and would get antsy when their cups weren't full. :)

Our idea of fun isn't spending over $40 to wrestle with kids to stay still for 2 hours...I doubt we do this very often. They like to watch movies at home just as much, and then we can pause and let them play when they get distracted. :)

Monday after Landry's dance class, she and I had a girl's afternoon! I love spending time one-on-one with my kids, and they eat it up! We found sassy-pants a new hat, got treats at Starbucks, went to several fun stores for her, and then did a boring grocery run. We had a great day!

We have a new favorite spot to eat our snacks....right by the front door! These kids are strange, but I love them! 

We played outside tonight with cousins...

and poor Collier's face met the sidewalk for the first time. We are pretty scuffed up, but he only cried for a second. 

Ahhh! That feels good to get that all done. 

Micah has been crazy busy for a few days, and that just gets me all out of sorts. I get out of my routine, and things get put on the back burner. I'm thankful that he is so helpful and I'm thrown off when he's not around...makes me appreciate him even more! :) I have a few posts coming up that I've been thinking a lot about...hopefully I'll get to those soon!

St. Louis...Mini Version

I don't have time to do a full blog post today, but I couldn't wait to put these two pictures up! We went to St. Louis the end of last week for a few days. We originally planned this trip without the kids, but as it got closer we changed our mind. I'm so glad we did because they had a blast! 

One of the first things we did was the Magic House. We went early last year as well, so it was fun to compare some pictures from our trips. These are my favorites...Landry is changing and looking more like a big girl! :)

2013-Almost 3 years old

2012-Almost 2 years old

More to come...!

Easter

Easter was simple and sweet for us this year. Leading up to it was a little bit of a whirlwind, so it was nice to have a relaxing day. We were in St. Louis for a few days the end of last week (pictures coming tomorrow!), we got home Saturday night around 5:30, Micah and I had a birthday party to attend that night at 7, and then we left the house at 8 the next morning to drive an hour and a half to attend church with Micah's parents. We were excited to get there, and the kids were super happy to see their Gigi and Papa-D. 

We went to church and they had a brunch afterwards. Then, we went back to Micah's parents and visited for a few hours before we had a mid-afternoon lunch. We had SO much food...it was crazy, but delicious! :)

The weather was perfect, and the kids hunted a few Easter eggs. Collier was not into it, and he would throw his basket down every time I handed it to him. Landry loved it! 

We got to visit with Micah's Grandmama and Grandad and his Aunt and Uncle. Landry loves for Grandmama to play on the piano and let her sing. :) 

Micah's mom had a picture of him out from when he was little. She thinks he was 3 in the photo. I LOVE that I have a little mini-Micah! :) A few people commented that his face is shaped more like mine, but I still think they are twinkies! 

 After lunch we headed over to the farm to hunt more eggs and play. The kids loved Papa-D's new toy...I think Micah did too. 

And...the kids were pooped. Collier napped for 2 hours on Micah's chest after church, and then after the farm Landry napped for an hour. He got lots of baby snuggles! 

One of the best decisions we made a few years ago was to start switching off holidays between both sides of the family. We don't try to do it all anymore, and it is so, SO nice. Instead of rushing from one house to the next, we actually get to spend quality time with one family and the kids get to relax and play. We always miss the family we don't see, but the quality time is perfect. 

On the car ride down and home, Micah had some time to talk to the kids (Landry specifically) about Easter and the reason we celebrate. I loved watching Landry listen and seeing her wheels turn. One time, he asked her a question about when Jesus died, and she answered, "And he saw a crocodile!" with big eyes and in the deepest voice (like it was a scary story). She is such a mess, but I love that seeds are being planted. We told her about how Jesus died for our sins so that we can spend eternity with him. We also got to tell her that in addition to seeing Jesus one day, we will also get to see baby Parke again...that made her ears perk up. Our sweet girl misses her baby, and we do too. He got to spend his first Easter with the Risen King, and what could be better than that?! 

I hope your Easter was truly blessed!

Life with Landry

Landry is so much fun, and she still makes us laugh all the time. Her little sayings, her funny facial expressions...she is just HER, and I love it! She doesn't care what people think (except her Daddy...she always wants him to tell her she is pretty!), and she kind of dances to the beat of her own drum. I'm glad she does because that keeps life exciting. You never know what is going to come out of her mouth...sometimes sweet, sometimes sassy. 

Landry loves to dress up and show us her new outfits. 

Here...blocks as shoes. Notice, Ernie is in a box too. Things must coordinate. Ha!

She calls tutu's "princesses" and always wants to wear a princess whenever we are going someplace special....or just to Wal-Mart. :)

Some of my favorite things she has said lately are:

-"Daddy can do anything for me." 

-"You're my best girl, mama!"

-In the car she told me "That truck zoomed!" about a truck that drove by fast. I told her how smart she was for noticing things. A few minutes later, I told Collier he was smart about something else. She got upset and said, "He's NOT smart! He didn't say that truck zoomed!" :) Competition. 

 Landry's other interests right now are:

-Being naked. That girl will strip off her clothes any chance she gets. She also helps Collier take his clothes off regularly. One morning, I walked into the kitchen, and there were two bare booties playing with magnets on the refrigerator. I asked where their clothes went, and Landry said, "We wanted to be naked and eat our cinnamon rolls together!" I could not stop laughing long enough to explain that it was not a great plan. 

-She loves giving "squeeze hugs," and they are the best!

I love the things that a two-year-old comes up with on her own. There are a few things that Landry says or does "wrong" that I refuse to correct. They are just too sweet! 

-She calls her nightstand a "porch." I have no idea where she got that, but she will ask us to leave things like her water, necklace, etc. on her "porch" while she sleeps. Love that!

-Also, she loves to tell people she's about to be 3 (only a few more weeks!). When she holds up three fingers, she holds her ring finger down. See the picture below. :) 

She is definitely my best girl, and I am SO thankful for her. She lifts my spirits and keeps me giggling. She is hard-headed and can have a mean streak, but she is 2 after-all. When Landry Elise made me a mama, she allowed me to look at everything with new perspective...I'm grateful! 

He's my favorite handful!

Collier is so, so busy these days. Today is an update all about my little man...Micah's little clone! 

**Some of these photos are very poor quality, but for the safety of my dare-devil child, I had to be fast!**

Collier loves to explore, and he is not scared of anything. He has started climbing regularly, and I find him in the strangest places. 

On top of the breakfast table...

I was loading things in the car the other day and left the door open to the garage. I searched frantically for C for a few seconds, and then heard "beep beep!" He climbed up on daddy's tractor and was having a blast!

IN drawers...literally. 

He seriously keeps me hopping...and guessing! Just this morning, he was standing on my vanity chair, digging in my makeup drawer, had the hair dryer turned on, and was saying, "I pribby!" He loves to be fixed up. Ha! All this happened in the 2 minutes I was getting clothes put in the washer. He is fast!

 Another consistent thing with Collier is he loves to sleep. He goes to bed between 7:30 and 8:30 (we are trying to push it back so that we actually have some family time!) and sleeps until 9. He then takes a nap from about 11:30-2. If I do have to wake him up for some reason, THIS is what I get. 

These pictures are from one day last week when Landry was gone with Micah's parents. I can't remember where we had to be, but it was 2:30, and he was still sleeping. I went to wake him up, and he had HUGE tears streaming. I climbed in his crib with him (Micah thinks this is hilarious) to snuggle and let him wake up for a minute. He put his head on my legs and started snoring again! I was stuck in there for almost 30 minutes until he woke up. We were late wherever we were going, but I don't get quality time like this very often! :)

Most of the time, Collier is happy and so entertaining! He can throw a fit like nobody's business if he doesn't get his way, but I think that has a lot to do with his age and trying to figure out how to communicate. 

Here are some things he is doing now:

-He sings his ABC's all the time. QRSsssssss is his favorite part, and he adds that in several times throughout the song. :)

-He can count to 14 and totally skipped being excited about getting to 10. 

-He knows all of his main colors, and he loves to show off. He will be playing in another room from where I am and bring me toys to tell me what color they are. One day, he made 12 trips back and forth to the playroom bringing ONE toy at a time to tell us the color. It was adorable. 

-He calls the Hogs regularly. If you aren't a Razorback fan, you probably don't know what I'm talking about. Trust me...it is cute!

-Collier literally runs laps around the house. He is constantly standing against our front door, saying, "Ready, Set, GO!" and taking off. He's going to work some of his chunk off if he's not careful! :)

-Speaking of being a chunk, Collier weighs 36 pounds at 19 months. He is wearing size 3 clothes in almost everything. I can get him in size 2 pants from Gap because they have adjustable waistbands. I LOVE my chunky man, and love that he is a big teddy bear! 

-Collier gives the best kisses and pats me on the back when he hugs. He also says, "Wuv-oo" and it melts my heart. 

I love being mommy to this little man. I pray that I steer his heart and nurture his personality into a great leader for his future family...no pressure. Ha! Being the mama to a boy is special, and I love the challenge and blessing it is every day!

He Got All of Me...

Well, today marks 3 weeks since Parke passed away. It's gone by fast. 

I've started to get back in a routine (as much as one can with life's craziness), I have both Landry and Collier back in my arms today, and I have had a fabulous week of shopping away some blues with friends. 

I had a few friends buy me special CD's after Parke's death. One friend said, "I know this is so 90's, but these are great." :) Ha! Really, they have been wonderful tools to minister to my heart. One of my new scheduled items with my "routine" is to get up at 5:30 or 6 to do my quiet time and work out. A lot of mornings, I do it all together. I stick one of the CD's in the player and work out while listening and worshiping our Lord. Spiritual and physical work out all in one...you know, always multitasking! 

So, I wanted to share two of my favorite songs out of the bunch with you...

The first is Natalie Grant's "Held." It is a beautiful song that we actually used in Parke's service. My sweet friend, Emily, sang the song beautifully during Parke's slideshow. You can watch the picture video and hear the song at the link below.

Parke Picture Video to "Held"

The second song is newer to me. I just heard it in the past few days, but it created a total sob-fest for me. It is by Matt Hammitt and called "All of Me." 

Listen to the song here.

The lyrics of this song are perfect, and they describe the way that I felt about Parke that I didn't know how to put in words. 

Here are the words...

Afraid to love 

something that could break

Could I move on

if you were torn away?

And I'm so close to what I can't control

I can't give you half my heart and pray he makes you whole.

YOU'RE GONNA HAVE ALL OF ME, 

You're gonna have all of me, 

Cause' you're worth every falling tear, 

You're worth facing any fear

 YOU'RE GONNA KNOW ALL MY LOVE,

even if it's not enough

Enough to mend our broken hearts,

But giving you all of me is where I'll start

I won't let sadness, steal you from my arms.

I won't let pain keep you from my heart.

I'LL TRADE THE FEAR OF ALL THAT I COULD LOSE,

FOR EVERY MOMENT I WILL SHARE WITH YOU

 You're gonna have all of me, you're gonna have all of me.

Cause you're worth every falling tear, you're worth facing any fear. 

You're gonna know all my love, even if it's not enough. 

Enough to mend our broken hearts, but giving you all of me is where I'll start. 

Heaven brought you to this moment, it's too wonderful to speak. You're worth all of me. 

You're worth all of me!

So let me RECKLESSLY LOVE YOU, even if I bleed. 

You're worth all of me, you're worth all of me...

{Chorus Again}

The words to that song just give me chills to type them. They speak a lot of what is on my heart. We could have walked away, we could have chosen to "switch" our match to a healthy baby after we learned of Parke's illness, but HE WAS WORTH EVERY TEAR. Parke getting to be a part of our family (here and for eternity!) was worth any amount of pain I'm facing. I lived 49 days with him as a normal baby. I tried not to look at him and see a child who was here in passing. He was my baby, and he got all my love...even when it hurt. I would choose this path every day over and over again because I was blessed by being Parke's mama. I did (and do) recklessly love him, and that makes the pain even more real....but he was worth having all my love. 

I'm missing my boy today, but thankful and blessed by the two crazy fair-skinned Gibsons. 

Happy Thursday...it's almost the weekend! :)

I'm Back!

Oh my goodness, I can't tell you how much I needed the break last week...it was really good. We had a wonderful week, but I also had a few tough days. I didn't have the blog to take up the slow moments during my day, so there were times where I really had to come face to face with our situation, think about Parke, cry, and just let myself be emotional. It's easy for me to stay busy and not let myself get sad....after all, I have two crazy kiddos to chase around. However, when they both nap, that's hard. I used to beg for those moments of quiet, and now I kind of dread it. Those were my special moments with Parke...just the two of us. So, long story short, it was good for me to face that. For me not to cover it up and stay busy on the computer, editing pictures, updating the blog, or returning emails. 

The negative part of me taking a week off from blogging is that I didn't take a single picture until Friday. I love pictures and having a way to document what we do every day. I really missed that! 

Anyway, I'm back...and glad to be!

We spent tons of time as a family last week. The kids are just hilarious, and they are growing and changing so much every day. I'm going to do an update on both of them in the next few days. 

Micah and I went on an overnight date on Friday. It was so much fun! We went out to dinner, went to a hotel, rented an overpriced movie on the tv (I fell asleep halfway through), slept in, ate breakfast, and met the kids back at home. They stayed with my mom and didn't miss us for one second. 

The weather was gorgeous on Saturday, so we took the kids to the Razorback baseball game. We had box tickets, but we only stayed up there for one inning. The kids would not sit still and just wanted to run around all over the place. It was perfect weather for running. :)

We were asked 5.3 million times if the kids were twins. 

We started having meltdowns, so we left the game a little early. We still wanted to be outside, but we needed the kids confined. :) 

We ended up putting them in the stroller and walking around campus. It was so nice because most of the students were gone for Spring Break, so it didn't make me feel 100 years old. Ha! 

I remembered as we hiked around why I always wore comfy shoes to class. I was not wearing good "campus" shoes, and my feet were killing me!

We tried to find all of our family members names on the campus walk. My grandfather graduated there, 3 out of 4 of our parents, and Micah and me. We found Micah's name twice (bachelors and MBA), but did not get to see my name at all! The section where my year was stamped was closed off for construction. Micah was teaching Landry to make fun of me and she was being so silly trying to pick on me. She kept pointing to things and saying, "There's my name! See? Where's your's mama?" She is so much fun.

On Sunday, Micah's parents took Landry camping for Spring Break with her cousins. I've received a few pictures, and it looks like she is having a blast! They invited her for 5 nights, but we had planned to only let her go for 2 or 3...I'm kind of debating about driving to pick her up tomorrow. I miss her so much, but I know she is having the best time. Collier is soaking up every second of being an only child. We have played, and played. I'm trying to tough it out, let her stay, and continue the quality time with Collier. He rarely gets 100% of my attention, and he really seems to enjoy it. He has only asked where Landry was one time! 

 Two more random things, and then I'm all updated...

I received this priceless piece in the mail yesterday. It is such a sweet keepsake of our precious boy! I had a few people give me the paperwork for this to be done before Parke was born, but they ended up ordering it for us while we were at Arkansas Children's Hospital. It was made by a group called Mamie's Poppy Plates, and they are a non-profit group that provides these plates for families with stillborn or terminal babies. You can visit their website here...really, a great organization!

Also, what do you think of the new blog makeover? Jessica at Diamond Doll Designs fixed me up, and it feels good to have a fresh new look... especially with sweet Parke included! I'm still working out a few glitches, but I hope to have everything all fixed up this week. 

Collier is waking up from his nap, and we are about to start going again. Just having him with me this week feels like a breeze. We are going non-stop, and I am just loving staring and focusing on just him!