Brady's baby dedication

Last Sunday we had the honor of dedicating our baby boy in front of our home church.  They have changed things a little since we dedicated Ally and it was a wonderful day for our family! We took a 'baby dedication class' the previous week taught by our fabulous Children's Minister, Barbara Smith. We each picked a scripture for our baby, were given great parenting resources and talked about what it means to dedicate your child.  We really have the best children's program in town and I love that Barbara takes the mission of educating children for Christ seriously and passionately.  I gotta admit I was a little emotional Sunday morning.  I think I was overwhelmed with gratitude that we were blessed with another child and dedicating our family to raise him to know Christ.

I love this child so much! Check out that sweet little face.

He was super laid back the whole time

my whole family was there to see Brady's big day.  Sorry about cutting you out of this pic Mark---oops!

A blessing to be up there with some of our BFFs.

Brady James Wood on the big screen just chillin'

 The verse we chose for Brady is Psalm 92:4 "I sing for joy at the works of Your hands".

 Praying over our families

Sweet cousins so excited to be done and playing on the stairs. 

 Family shot #1

 and #2...I was sweatin' by this point :).

Brady,

We are so privileged to be your parents.  I hope and pray that you will see Christ in us and be drawn to Him at a very early age.  I know that God has big things in store for you.  So big that he made sure you were born! I love your calm personality and you are a wonderful baby (thanks for that).  We celebrate you through dedication because it is scriptural to dedicate children.  Even Jesus was dedicated as a young boy!  We're not only dedicating you but our whole family and not just our family but our church family as well.  We love you and praise His name because of you.

XOXO

The thing that makes me cry

My eight year old son has always had a hard time showing emotion.  It's not that he's not joyful, or sad, or mad, or hurt or excited he just keeps all those feelings very close to his heart.  Displaying those emotions publicly makes him feel out of control.  Don't get me wrong he can act a fool or laugh until his stomach hurts but most of the time our immediate family are the only ones privy to seeing that side of him.  The thing that is hardest as a mom who constantly needs affection is trying to figure out how to comfort someone who still needs to be comforted but doesn't really like to be hugged or snuggled with.  Mark and I always know when he needs a little TLC because he will climb in the recliner with Mark and sit very close to him for a bit.  After 30 minutes or so he's good to go.  He doesn't display affection at all and gets uncomfortable when we try to hug him. And you can just forget about giving that kid kisses.  When he was a toddler he would 'act out' meaning hit me or someone else if he got embarrassed or felt helpless.  Now that he's older his 'acting out' means using a hurtful word, or talking back or making me question my discipline.  My Ryan keeps parenting interesting and some days I do way better than others.  It's hard to parent him because he can out think me in a second, and he remembers EVERYTHING!  Our Maker made Ryan very unique in every way.  He's super smart, introspective, thoughtful, kind and sensitive to others.  He's also all boy and very competitive in sports, board games and well basically anything that can be a competition.  He's constantly processing everything and we have to ask a lot of questions to make sure we know what's going on in that brain of his.  One of the things that has been the hardest for me is that after he turned four he rarely says, "I love you."  I know he does and I know that sometimes he's bursting to say it, but we don't hear those sweet words from him.  Mark tucks him in every night and every night he tells him, "I love you buddy."  Ryan's answer is always,"me too".   I see the struggle in him.  We're a LOT alike and I know his fears, and experienced them as a kid too.  I hate fear the power it holds.
     On the last day of second grade Ryan brought home his prayer journal from school.  I didn't read it until a few weeks later but when I did I couldn't stop crying.  Every week his class would write out their prayer requests and their memory verse for the week.  Then they prayed these requests aloud and would also write down any praises.  Every week you know what my amazing child prayed for...ME.  His mom, who was pregnant and miserable and a lot of days very unkind.  This is the thing that makes me cry.  In every single journal entry my Ryan and his entire class was praying for me.  The way that affected me is hard to write or explain.  He knew I needed extra prayer.  That's the thing about Ryan.  He's genuine.  He never told me he was praying for me every day, he just did it.  every. single. day.  I was sobbing reading this the first time and each time I open this journal the tears flow.
 

On every page there is scripture that my 8 year old has memorized and prayers for me.  Thank you Ryan.  Thank you for allowing me to see your heart.  I love you to the moon and back and I am so thankful to be your Mommy.
XOXO

Oh-oh-oh-oh LYMPICS

My family really enjoyed watching the 2012 Summer Olymics every night.  Swimming and women's gymnastics were our favorites by far but there were several track and field sports that were acted out with great enthusiasm in my living room.

Brady was a huge supporter of the USA -He-he:).  Who knows he might be an athlete someday.  His  size would for sure win the baby Olympics!

This was the night that my kids thought they were as fast as Bolt-dream big kids!

 Ryan getting his 'Bolt" pose on

 then he ran some sort of hurdle/obstacle course event

 and of course Ally got in on the action

 and then she gave me her best 'Bolt' impression.

These kids crack me up every day.  Love the Summer Olympics!

Brady's FOUR months

Oh my sweetness! Brady is 4 months old! He remains the easiest, most consistently pleasant member of the family :).  I wish he would sleep all night long but I know that day will come.  He is off the charts in both height and weight and is generally a happy little guy.  I am amazed at his size and everywhere we go people ALWAYS think he's older than 4 months.  He is lovely and I'm constantly amazed that I have THREE kids!  He's going to be dedicated in church this Sunday and I vividly remember when we dedicated Ally thinking that 'I'll never be up here again for this exact same thing'---funny how things have changed.  XO

Here's some four month shots of Brady boy

I get this inquisitive look a lot.  I can actually feel him thinking and learning.

 laughing at Ally and Ryan---a daily occurrence 

 For my "official" four month photo shoot he did not want to give me a million dollar smile.  little stinkier.

 busy, busy, busy kicking and cooing

 he's always checking everything out

 new trick this month---ROLLING! He's a high roller' these days-ha.

 mini-smile

Stats this month:
Height: 27 inches
Weight: 20.6 lbs---wow

New things:
Rolling over, scooting all over your crib (you're always in a different spot than where I put you) Rice cereal once a day, no more nursing, drinking 6-7 ounce bottles 6 times a day, laughing out loud, talking all the time, your love sleeping with your silky and holding your lovey in the swing

Still love:
bath time, eating :), playing on your Mat, the swing, the stroller, being outside

Still don't like:
THE CAR!, sleeping all night, loud noises, when I walk out of the room

Mini-vacation to Lost Pines

One of the things I love most about my husband is the fact that he's so spontaneous.  It's also one of the things that has been the hardest for me to get used to in our 13 years of marriage.  He never plans anything in advance...and I'm basically the complete opposite!  The great side of having a spontaneous hubby and daddy is that we might get a milkshake at 10:00 PM, or take a special trip to Toys R US, purchase a new car on a whim, or take a mini vacation in the middle of the week:).  And that is exactly what we did a couple weeks ago.  I was feeling sad because we hadn't taken the kids anywhere this summer {believe me they're fine...they both had a million camps, lake trips, play dates, etc. but we hadn't been to a hotel this summer}.  So, Mark decided that we should go to a Texas Resort--and two days later that's just what we did.  We had never been to Lost Pines and I think it's now my favorite!  I love that it's only 2 hours from here, everything is family oriented, and they upgraded us to a suite:).  I didn't take many pictures but we really loved it there.

Mr. Brady was a tropper and took several naps in his stroller

My one and only picture--proof that I was also on the trip. {This was the day that Brady decided to stop nursing. He refused for 12 hours and thankfully I had one bottle with me which he downed.  He decided on his own to stop so we stopped nursing.  I was not planning it....wonder if he'll take after Mark:)}

 Cool dude

 My little swimmers.  They had a blast at the pool, and on the slide and playing in the lazy river.

 I love these three crazy kids so much! (Mindy check out B's onesie...we're still praying for Travis!!)

 Since he was wearing his Superman shirt...he did several superman acts.  :)

 Ally talked Ryan and Mark into going on the carriage ride.  She loved it!

 They also played a LOT of ping-pong

 And did some crafts.  I am cracking up at the 'tired girl' here in the background. I guess making buttons wore her out!

 Delicious big baby boy

 My two spontaneous ones.

I would HIGHLY recommend Lost Pines if you're looking for a close place.  It's pricey but worth it.  Thank you Mark for this perfect mini-vacation.