Sweet Gifts From Above

These past four or so weeks have been spent in a mini van, in someone else's bed, in someone else's home.  Having a 3 year old and a 1 year old has made me stretch my patience and pray outloud in many circumstances.

These times spent away from our home have been some of the best and most sweetly treasured times I have ever had.  I wouldn't do it any other way.

My sweet Aunt Sharon has been battling breast cancer for the past 2 years and finally the Lord has taken her home.  We spent a week in Branson visiting with her in her own home and just enjoying her and loving her.

She decided that it was time to move in with my parents a week later.  That meant moving out of her home and making a very long and hard trip 4 hours to Hillsboro.  The doctors knew that there was no more they could do to treat her cancer.

The littles and I knew then that any and every chance we could get to travel and see her 3 hours south in Hillsboro was worth the trip, effort, out-of-routineness and time away from our sweet Daddy.

The past 3 weeks were a very rapid and steady decline of her physically, but she was still sassy as ever:)  It is a sweet gift from God that He allowed me to be there with her so much and to just be an encouragement, a caretaker, a pray-er and a singer of hymns (even when she told me they sounded awful at one time:) I was having a very hard time choosing to leave and come back home.  The day that I would have left I decided to just stay one more day.  That evening I was by her side when she was ushered in to her Savior.

 

I cannot say enough thanks to God for allowing me to be there with her and to have the chance to say goodbye.  It was a very emotional and hard time, but I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else then right there.  The neat treasures that my aunt has left to her family in memories and pictures and sunflower mementos will forever be treasured. 

A Sweet Father's Day for a Sweet Father:)

Oh what a sweet daddy these 2 little men have!!!  I am so very thankful to have him as the example to these little boys.  The leadership and guidance and love and patience that Jonathan gives his children is a beautiful example to me and one that I pray one day our children will recognize, respect and desire to emulate.  God has gifted us with a hard working, loving, fun, active, and godly man to provide and care for us!  We are richly blessed!!!!

We spent our Father's Day going to church and then coming home for some yummy marinated steak, ranch potatoes and home-grown-straight from our very own garden broccoli!  Oh, yum:)

Jonny then did what any father would probably want to do on "his" day.....play softball:)

After softball we enjoyed some sweet cinnamon roll cake for dessert before heading off to the pool for some fun in the sun and water:)  Topping off the day with a Big Mac and fries for dinner! Yes, I'd say that this daddy is one special, worth it all dad:):)

Growing Up:(

The truth is that my little babies are growing up.

 Wyatt is changing daily and telling us his own opinions.

He is using his imagination to play with T-Rex and the Big Fish (which of course like to chase him all over the house:)

Wy is learning how nice and important it is to share with his little brother, then asking to share all on his own!

He is starting to 'read' stories to himself and Tuck.

He is saying on his own without prompting from Mom or Dad sweet words like "I love you" and "Have a good day."

His picky eating skills are finally starting to calm themselves!

He is developing quite a love for drawing circles and triangles:)

He can spell his first name!

 Tucker is our little wrecking ball.  He loves to destroy.

He loves to wrestle and frequently seems to get Wyatt pinned:)

He has filled his little mouth with 7 teeth.

He is Mr. Adventure and loves to try and do everything that his brother does!

His sweet smiles and giggles never fail to  change my mood:)

He still refuses to sit still for books...but he loves songs!

He has come up with his own language and loves to scream it out...especially in the backseat of our van:)

When he thinks he hears Daddy come home he makes a beeline for the door giggling, laughing and saying Da-Da-Da...lets just wrap Daddy a little tighter around that chubby little finger:)

All this change and growing up can leave a mommy in a bit of hysterics!!!  The baby that was ~ is no more:(  But, what joy is mine when I look on the "new" from my little guys and see all that they are becoming.  God has immensely blessed us as parents to see and experience first hand the transformation from baby to toddlerhood to preschool.  God is so good!! 

So, to my little men...who seems to steal my heart daily ~ I love you with love that only God can comprehend.  I rejoice in the boys that you are growing in to. I pray for the youth and man that you will both one day become.  May the Lord be your Good Shepherd and your everpresent Help.  You are cherished beyond words!!

Snapshots

 Here is how we like to spend a snowy and cold day:

 Getting bundled up to go play in the show...

  playing playdo with lots of awesome new playdo toys...

 

making 10 cups of shredded chicken to go in our freezer plus about 12 cups of yummy 

homemade chicken broth...

  

sewing some fun new diaper holders with the kiddo's names on them so the nursery workers won't have to put a name sticker on each week or ask "Now what does his bag look like again?"

 

Trees, Birthday Pancakes, and Fire

Sometimes it can be so overpowering to just look at these sweet boys that the Lord has blessed me with!  Reality can hit at such interesting times. Like today we went out to eat after church and I got to sit next to my sweet Wyatt.  To just look at the gift of my son and see a little person that is growing more and more each day just brought sweet tears to my eyes.  God has fulfilled my dreams from girlhood to be a wife and mommy and I cannot thank Him enough for the sweetness of my life.  There is no greater joy to me than to have my whole family around me and just "be." We have our rough patches and struggles but with the goodness and grace of God we always come away strengthened in our relationship not only with each other but with Him. Thank you Lord for your undeserved gifts!!

 I think we have 2 little beggers hoping for a handout from Wyatt or at least some yumminess dropped:)

 

 This year we have a fake tree...to some that just doesn't cut it. To me...LOVE!! No needles, sap, watering, and we can put it up right after Thanksgiving and leave it up til I get around to taking it down!

 This little man has been great at not touching our tree!  Surprise though he did find the tissue paper in a gift bag under the tree irresistible:)

 A tower of blue cake batter pancakes to celebrate Jonathan's 30th birthday!!!

 Wyatt enjoying the heat from our first fire of the year.  It was so nice to snuggle up next to it and get warm on such a chilly day!

Tucker helping Daddy to keep the fire roaring!

Ft Walton Beach, Florida

Welcome to a condo on the beach, with a pool, sand, surf, and lots of fun!!!

My sister, Michelle, and her hubs Dennis and son Koby invited us along for a weeklong fun time hanging out and enjoying some quality family time together:)

Our boys had so much fun playing in the sand and waves together!

Tucky got to enjoy a little sand between his sweet piggies too!

Wyatt even celebrated his 2nd birthday in style:)

Our family had a great time visiting the ocean and just being together for a much needed and desired time for just family.

We've Been Busy!

It has been a pretty busy past few weeks with lots of travel and fun! So, we are just going to do the recap in pics:)
(Wyatt's first time playing in the sprinkler..he need a little help from Daddy to get going though:)

(Wyatt and Daddy went fishing for the first time at Grammy and Gramps' house over the 4th of July!)

(Tucky got to go swimming for the first time)

(Wy had a blast running and jumping into the pool!! Especially while Gramps made big bubbles behind him:)

(Tuck is finally big enough to hang out in his bumbo seat for little while!)

(My boys enjoying some fun with chalk on a summer afternoon:)

We are gearing up for another "firsts" adventure with the boys. At the end of July we will be taking them to their first major league baseball game in Milwaukee!! Then we will head over to Toledo to visit family and Tuck will have his first adventures in Ohio:):) Can't Wait!!!

The Past Couple of Weeks...

in pictures:

We celebrated Mother's Day in style by having a delicious picnic
lunch and going on a walk in a park

Then we came home and worked in the backyard a little on this nice warm day! Wy got a little hot so even broke out the kiddy pool for the first time this season!

Jonathan was in a wedding in North Carolina...so he dropped us off in St Louis while he headed east...he took some time for a hike too:)

Kent and Laurel (Kent is a friend from college)

After lots of fun days in St Louis playing with his cousin, playing in a muddy pond, running around in the country looking for rocks to treasure, and just enjoying life...this little guy was tuckered out! He looks like he is praying...don't be fooled, he was fast asleep:)

Since being back home Daddy and Wyatt worked on building a sand box!

Getting to enjoy the finished product:)

We also celebrated our 5 year anniversary on the 20th!!! I forgot to take too many pictures but here is our food and we also enjoyed the evening by playing bananagrams on the lakefront and ice cream at a local hot spot. So wonderful!!!

And since this little guy didn't seem to make it into any of the pictures...
here's our oh so adorable second born:)

A Full Heart

I am so excited for Mother's Day this year! Not so much that it is supposed to be a holiday to celebrate moms....more for the fact that because of these 3 precious people I AM A MOM!!! These 3 men in my life make my heart so full and happy. What greater joy than to say I belong to them:)

Tucker Paul's Debut:)

Tucker Paul Walberg
Born March 23, 2011
8 lbs 5 oz
20.5 inches long
Blond hair
Grey-blue eyes

Absolutely Adorable:)

Daddy and Wyatt Go On An Adventure

What a fun day these two had at the park!! While I enjoyed an entire Saturday at the Hearts at Home conference these two had some fun adventures together! I wish I could have been there, but then again my time at the conference was such a blessing. I came back home with a few pages of notes and feeling refreshed and encouraged in my role as a mom that stays at home. I loved being able to hear all the fun details from Jonathan about what they did while I was away too.