Father's

I know this is late, but we were at Super Summer last week and on Father's Day. So here's my tribute to three of the men in my life. The three generations of Daddys in my life could not be any more different! But I've learned so many lessons from my Papa, Dad and husband in their own ways.

To say I adore my Papa would be a massive understatement. He is strong, quiet and faithful. He works hard, too hard these days. He loves his family and is a beautiful picture of a servant. He would literally give you the shirt off your back if he thought you needed it. He has been the two and three year olds teacher for more then 30 years at his church. He has been such a constant in my life and for that I'm eturnally grateful. God gave me the best Papa in the world and I'd be willing to argue that fact with anyone who thinks their's is any better.

My Dad and I have not always had a great relationship. He is hard for me to love and I'm hard for him too. But I have learned to be honest, work hard and do what I say I'm going to from my Dad. He may not have been able to love me like I needed him to but he always made sure we had what we needed, even at his expense or comfort. I'm thankful that my Dad and the example he has set for me, both good and bad
God gave my babies the BEST Daddy in the whole world! He continually shows us unconditional love. He takes so much from me without complaining. He is tender and patient with Tucker. He tears up with every kiss from our sweet boy. He reminds me daily of what real love looks like even when I don't show it well. I prayed for my husband for years before I met him and his ability to be a good Dad was amongst my requests but I could not have assembled a better Daddy.

Long Days

Today is one of those days. A long night has made way into a long day. I'm having to remind myself over and over that the days may be long, but the years are short. I'm trying to have a good attitude and be patient with a clingy, whiney baby but I'm tired and grippy too. Today I'd like to just disappear and sleep and do nothing by myself. Recuperating from a long week at camp is always rough, but with a 14 month old it's near impossible. And Falls Creek is looming next week, so we'll get to do this all over again then. He wants to read the same books over and over. He wants me within his sights at all times. He needs to eat, poop and sleep but needs my assistance in all of those things.
I'm trying to remember what a blessing Tucker is, that motherhood is, but it's hard. I'm trying to remember I asked for this, no begged for it. And most of all I'm trying to be grateful. But today is a long day. already.

But who can look at this face and not smile? Even on minimal sleep and a cling-bot attached to your leg?

Chamber Free

As of last week I am no longer the Sayre Chamber of Commerce Director! HOORAY!!!
It was just too hard with Tucker and there were a lot of issues with the position. It's a good thing! I get to just be a momma and I couldn't be more excited. I want to add some structure to our life so days don't pass without me doing anything productive as easily.
Some of my stay at home goals are: daily walks, a daily chore list, learn to coupon & continue to help Chris do ministry.

Tucker's excited to be unemployed too!

Answers

What works for us in disciplining Tucker?
Well that is definitely a work in progress. I'd love to tell you that he's the perfect child and no disciplining is necessary, but we all know that's not true. We started with slapping his hand when he touched things he wasn't supposed to and that worked well for a while. He learned to stay out of plants and stuff like that. But he's tough so I felt like I was having to slap really hard to get his attention after a while. Lately we are using time outs more because it seems to bother him more to be taken out of the action then to be swatted. It's hard to do at home because there's no one else to get in his way, but we're trying to be really strict at home so he will not throw fits in public when he is in trouble. It's hard. I had no idea how soon you really have to jump on this stuff. We are just trying things and keeping what seems to work and leaving the rest. Different days, different things work.

Do we plan to adopt again?
ABSOLUTELY! Adoption has been the biggest blessing and show of God's sovereignty I've ever witnessed. Here's where we are right now. We want more children and fairly soon. We want Tuck and baby #2 to be close in age so we don't want to wait too long. Especially because there are no timelines with infertility or adoption. A little background on our infertility that lead us to adopt Tuck... We never were officially diagnosed with infertility or really told why we weren't conceiving. So we plan to go to a specialist and have tests run to see if there's a way we could have biological children or not. We are really fine either way, I just need to know. The peace of mind that "I could possibly be pregnant this month" every month would be really nice. And if there are some minor things we can try we may do those. We don't want to go as far as IVF or anything like that. All of that being said we want to adopt again no matter what. Depending on how the fertility specialist goes will decide the time line. And I really would love for the next baby we adopt to also be brown so they would have that to bond over as well. I think that is important down the road.

All time favorite picture of Tucker?
This is hard! He's so stinkin' cute! I narrowed it down to top three.

Most recent favorite

At one year old

And as a newborn
It's really hard to look back through all of his pictures and choose because he's changed so much and his personality has developed so much. I love a lot of them for a lot of reasons.

That's what you wanted to know. Keep the questions coming if you have more.