Our Life in the Yellow Brick House

Written August 18, 2017: Well it's finally happening. This weekend, we are packing boxes and preparing to move out of our little yellow brick house. I can't help but be sentimental as I think about all the life we've lived here. It has been a wonderful first home for us. We both agree that if we could pick it up and move it, we would. But it's time to start a new chapter. Life has changed in so many ways over the past seven years. In these four walls, we have experienced it all - highs, lows and plateaus. (And no, I am not just referring to our house hunt, which was brutal for everyone.) I am so grateful for where we are today. God has blessed us in so many ways. I started this blog to document our lives, and I am so glad to have all of these yellow brick memories to look back on. But as we enter this new chapter, I am finding my devotion to capturing the moment is often keeping me from living in it. I don't want to hold so tightly anymore. I am ready to l...

It's a rare, rare moment around here. The sleeping baby will wake any moment, but I've somehow managed to get myself ready, pick up the house and finish this round of dish duty. So, for once, I actually have a few minutes to blog. I need to be posting Decker's 3 and 4 month updates, but I don't think I have that kind of time. So, very quickly, I'll just share some insights on motherhood. You know, since now I'm 4 months in and pretty much an expert! ;) Over the last few months I've had some revelations about motherhood: 1. I will never, ever again have enough hands. Each morning, as we prepare to leave the house, I try to strategize about how I can get to the car in the least amount of trips. I am a fill-both-arms-with-grocery-bags-until-they-start-breaking girl and always have been. Who wants to make another trip? But now, I find myself taking 2-3 trips to the car every morning with all of our necessities for the day. So much for traveling light. And t...

Month two got off to a bit of a rocky start thanks to some nursing issues. Fortunately,  we were able to adapt and got to do some pretty fun things. That included Decker's first trip to Kansas!  Week 5  Decker attended his first service at Life.Church. He did great and slept the whole time. We tried (unsuccessfully) to transition off the nipple shield, which led to much longer nursing sessions. We were both worn out!  He outgrew his smaller newborn outfits/sleepers and wore his coming home outfit for the last time. He is now startled by sounds (mainly Oliver barking at imaginary things outside)! Decker is pretty much bald on top but his hair on the sides is long enough to tuck behind his ear. It's a great look! Week 6  Decker's eyes began changing to brown. They seem to still go back and forth, but they got much darker this week. He started sleeping 8 hours a night regularly. (We are spoiled!)  He loves to tak...

Life with a newborn is many things. Most days are great and filled with cuddles and diaper changes and laundry. So that might not sound all that great, but you get into a routine, and you learn to love it. Every now and then, though, life throws you a curve ball and something gets screwed up. It might be the baby's eating or sleeping or health. All of the sudden, the routine you had just settled into vanishes and you feel trapped. Trapped in the long hours that lie ahead. Long hours full of questions and worry and wonder and very little sleep. Fortunately, at the two month mark, I have only experienced a handful of these days. Although they are few, they have definitely left a lasting impression. One of these hard days came at week 5. We were in our routine and loving life. Decker had started being a little fussy in the evenings from gas pain. I thought part of the problem may be how he was eating. Nursing with a shield makes it really easy for the baby to come on and off. He was...

Decker is officially six weeks old today, so it's about time that I get around to posting his one month update. Sorry for the radio silence lately. Suddenly, I seem to have far less downtime than I once had. When Decker was just over a week old, I remember telling my sister I wasn't sure what I was going to do with myself for 11 1/2 weeks of maternity leave since Decker slept all day. She said that would change, and, boy, was she right! I can't complain, though. He is an awesome baby. Week 1  You can read all about it here . Week 2  This was the first week on our own, and I'd say it was pretty busy. I was nervous about being able to handle everything, but thanks to a few pop-in visitors and meal deliveries, we did pretty well. It would still take me a little bit of time to get completely comfortable going places with Decker, but the few trips we did take out of the house went well. Here are some highlights. We had our first newborn photo shoot here at the ho...