she's arrived

Raelynn Beverly arrived on April 25th at 9:25am. 

This little beauty came in at 7 pounds 14 ounces & 19 inches long

We are in love. She is healthy and beautiful. 

Raelynn means "grace or lamb". What a fitting name since she was born the day after Easter. 

Her middle name - Beverly - came from my dear Grandma. 

Here we are. All 5 of us!

So many more stories. So much more to say. But for now, that is all. This mama is tired and overwhelmingly blessed.

just love

We are a family of 4 about to become a family of 5. 

I just love this picture even though I'm a bit inflated. It still makes me smile to see my lovely family. I cannot wait to meet our little girl. She will fit in beautifully right there in the middle!

elias is 3

Elias turns 3 today! What a little lover he is! 

This little man joined our lives on April 16, 2008. 

Elias, you are our wild man. You are a daredevil, and are willing to try anything. You give me a mild heart attack almost every day by the things you try - sometimes that is falling out of windows, climbing on stacks of unstable objects, flying off the back of the couch, or jumping off the top bunk. You keep me on my toes (and wear me out). 

You absolutely love tools right now. Your favorites include a hammer, measuring tape, and a rope (apparently that is a tool). You have the attention span of a gnat when sitting and creating things at a table, but you can play so well by yourself while dreaming up adventures. You have a very wild imagination, and you make us laugh all the time. 

You are a smiley boy. You love to laugh and sing all day long. You can imagine any object to be a guitar while you sing. Lately, your piano has actually been your motorcycle. You love to follow Isaiah around, and appease him all the time by doing what he says. 

You love to give hugs and kisses. You are like a little monkey attacking when you wake up from your nap. You run at me, and practically climb up me to cuddle for the few moments it takes you to wake up fully. Then you're off to the races. Although it's short, I love our cuddles while they last. 

Elias Benjamin, you are such a light in our family. You bring so much laughter and we love you so much! 

Happy 3rd Birthday, Li! You are SO loved!

isaiah is 4

My firstborn son is 4. I'm feeling quite old just writing that. Isaiah is such an amazing gift to Bryan and I. We had no intentions of thinking about a baby 5 months into our marriage, but the Lord had a better plan worked out for us. 


This little bundle of joy joined our world on April 11, 2007 (just 2 months & 8 days after our first wedding anniversary). 

(going to add a pic here when I can figure out how to download it from where Bryan hid it!!!! I've had this post written for 4 days, so I wanted to post it in Isaiah's actual bday week)

Isaiah, you are such a precious addition to our little family. You make us laugh on a daily basis. You sing songs you've learned in Sunday School all day long. You love to color and paint, and right now you are really excited about learning and writing your ABC's.


You are a bit obsessive compulsive, and I love it because we understand each other so well. We like things to have order and meaning, and I love that we share that together! You are always putting things away in the right spots, and helping me all around the house. 


You have a servants heart - You ALWAYS help me with the laundry by folding clothes or towels and putting them away in the correct spot. You like to help set the table and make dinner. You like to help unload the dishwasher. You love to help carry things if my arms are overloaded. 


You are very aware of your surroundings. You know when someone is feeling sad or upset. You are right there, comforting as best as you can.


You love to cuddle, and I love that you still like to cuddle with your mama! You are my thoughtful little man, and I love you so much! 


What I love most? Your prayers. You pray so well for such a little man and I love hearing you talk to the Lord. It warms my heart to know that you are on a journey to serve at such a young age. 

Happy 4th birthday, Zay! You are SO loved!

happy birthday!

Oh my boys are getting so big!

3 and 4. 

I cannot get over how old that sounds! 

We had a birthday party for them last Saturday. The boys picked a fire truck theme and have been talking about it for months. Here are a few pictures of our chaotic party. It was a good time.

Of course, Auntie Wendy made the boys' cake. LOVED IT.

The number on top - 43 - for their ages

The lettering on the side - FDIE - for Fire Department Isaiah Elias.

So cute!

We played stick the balloon on the fire truck. Apparently this is a traumatizing game for little ones. We had quite a few breakdowns during this game. I think Isaiah and Elias were the only ones that actually liked it! oopsie!

Bryan was great at running these games for me! I wanted to be taking pictures, so he took over for me.

We had a pinata which took FOREVER to break. So I just shook the goodness out of the truck to make everything come out and speed the process up.

We had cute fire hats for all the kiddos to wear and cute tattoos for all to put on. 

I love this picture. Elias is always looking up to Isaiah to see his reaction and to follow his lead. Cute.

They are saying "turn your hat" 

So Elias took it upon himself to help out. 

Showing off their tattoos and cuteness (this is their friend Kenzie who Elias adores. He prays for her almost every night!)

I'm very thankful for such wonderful friends and family to help celebrate these precious boys. They had a fabulous time. 

14 days

I would love to be able to be posting something about my healthy little girl being born already. Partly because I'm so uncomfortable. Partly because I cannot wait to meet her and see what she looks like!

The reasonable part of me is glad she is still growing large in my belly. I love fat babies. I hope she is nice and plump (not just because that will be less weight for me to lose later, although that would be a bonus). I also have yet to have everything in order for work. I'll be taking 6 weeks off. I'm ECSTATIC to take that much time off and concentrate on being a mommy and wife. That sounds delightful to me!

Isaiah and I are both sick right now. We have some weird cough/cold/fever thing going on. This means lots of extra cuddling for us. Hard to do with such a huge belly, but it's been so nice getting so much one on one with him today.

I had dreams of grandeur for this weekend. Bryan is going to a men's retreat tonight though tomorrow. So I imagined having all of my work done, and just delighting in my boys all weekend. Just the three of us. You see, next weekend we have plans with both sides of the family for Saturday and Sunday, and hopefully the weekend after that I'll be holding our little girl.

I don't know what the weekend holds since Isaiah and I are sick, but I'm going to try and make it a good one! It's going to be our last weekend with just the three of us! It's such an exciting change coming up, but it's about to be different forever!

boring old day which i treasure

Today was filled with lots o' laundry. I did laundry, laundry, and more laundry. I also got a few hours of work in, but hey, the laundry is what's important around these parts. 

How cute is this? 

These were all still slightly wet, so they were hanging to dry. This made me smile when I walked in. Look how tiny those clothes are next to Isaiah and Elias's shirts! 

Apart from laundry and work, we had adventure.

Elias was on a mission - not sure what or where, but he was having fun.

I had to show this photo because that is indeed a fishing pole stuck in the back of his pants. Lantern? Check. Binoculars? Check. Back pack? Check. Fishing pole? Check. What more do you need for a mission?

And on to the next adventure.

This is the boys' pirate ship. 

They took turns being Captain Hook and Mr. Smee. So funny to listen to them play with such imagination.

Then we had bed time. 

One of my favorite scenes of our lives - the boys hanging out with Daddy.

raelynn's nursery

Only 25 more days until our little girl's due date, and her nursery is almost complete! I say almost because her closet still needs some loving. Thankfully closet doors make her room just lovely right now!

You can click on all the pictures to make them bigger.

 We just need pictures of a baby girl to fill those frames!

This little corner was an effort by many. 

Mom made the curtains for me. I made the pillow cover. Bryan & his dad made the yellow frame, and I put the fabric board together. More pictures needed to add to the little board! My mom is also making her baby announcement. She made one for both boys too, and it's going on the wall in this corner as soon as we know her stats!

 Her pretty bedding & I are awaiting her!

what have you done today?

Oh you know, I've started laundry, made some breakfast, done the dishes, taken medicine, drank a cup of cold coffee, taken some pictures, paid a stack of bills, sent out a few emails, made a few lists, done a tiny bit of discipline (seriously, tiny - Thank you, Jesus), and I've listened to my boys play music, sing at the top of their lungs, and pray.

It's a good day, and it's only 10:19 am. I have a huge list to get through, but I'm singing praises while I do it!

Happy April 4th to you, my friends!

FYI: I only have 25 more days until my due date!