done painting! yay!!

The finished breakfast nook (I keep saying I'm just going to call it the dining room, since the dining room is really a playroom now)

You can kind of see the "strie" faux finish. It's subtle b/c the top and bottom colors were very similar, but enough to look nice. Craig & I like it lots, and it was easier than I thought to do. I might do it in Joshua's room if we paint in there.

Here's a picture of the breakfast nook, hallway (that's Joshua's closed door, he's napping) and kitchen

I'm done painting for a while though. I just had to get rid of some of that pea soup green (or as the paint store calls it, "antique pine")

home improvements...

Repainting the "breakfast nook" - you can see the green in the kitchen (the nook was the same green) and the tan in the living room. This 'crafted white' is the base coat, the top coat will be 'honeysuckle beige' which is kind of a light yellow - you'll see it in the bathroom...

another view of the kitchen, tan in the hall & Zoe's room

the new color in the bathroom - it was also green. pea green.

Zoe's room

The bassinett cover I had on here for Joshua was light green so I made one out of a cute white eyelet fabric for Zoe.

Maybe today I'll start painting the kitchen. Maybe I'll just sit on the couch. Who knows...

3 years of wedded bliss!!

Our Wedding Day


The Newlyweds

Our first Anniversary in Panama City (25 weeks pregnant with Joshua!)

Our first baby!

Our first home (as non-renters)

Our second anniversary


Our second baby

Our second home!

Wow, look how much we've done in 3 years! Flight school, massage therapy school, 2 babies, 3 moves, 2 new homes and a whole lot of happiness!!

Every year (for the past 3 anyway) I have been amazed when our anniversary comes around. Have we really been married that long?! Most days, I still feel like we're newlyweds - what a fun feeling! 3 years may not sound like long to someone who's been married for 10, 40, or even 60 years but when I think back on our wedding day, it just doesn't seem that long ago.

Here is a letter that was special enough to us to include in our wedding program, a reminder that our individual relationships with our Savior Jesus Christ are not only far more important than our marriage, but also pivotal to its success.

"Dear Friend,
Everyone longs to give himself completely to someone, to have a deep soul relationship with another, to be loved thoroughly and exclusively. But God, to a Christian, says, No, not until you are satisfied, fulfilled, and content with being loved by Me alone, until giving yourself totally to Me, to have an intensely personal and unique relationship with Me alone, discovering that only in Me is your satisfaction to be found, will you be capable of the perfect human relationship that I have planned for you. You will never be united with another until you are united with Me, exclusive of any other desires or longings. I want you to stop planning, stop wishing and allow Me to give you the most thrilling plan existing – one that you cannot imagine. I want you to have the best. Please allow me to bring it to you. You just keep watching me, expecting the greatest things, keep experiencing the satisfaction that I AM! Keep listening and learning the things I tell you. You just wait, that’s all. Don’t be anxious. Don’t look at the things you want. You just keep looking off and up to Me or you’ll miss what I want to show you. And when you are ready, I’ll surprise you with a love far more wonderful than you could dream of. You see, until you are ready (I am working even this moment to have both of you ready at the same time), until you are both satisfied exclusively with Me and the life I have prepared for you, you will not be able to experience the love that exemplifies your relationship with Me, and this perfect love. And dear one, I want you to have the most wonderful love. I want you to see in the flesh a picture of your relation with Me, and to enjoy materially and concretely the everlasting union of beauty, perfection and love that I offer you with Myself. Know that I love you utterly. I am the Almighty God. Believe it and be satisfied."

And here are the vows we prayed about, wrote and made to one another in the presence of the Lord on our wedding day. We're so thankful that He has helped us to keep them daily ever since.

Craig's vows
"I promise that as long as the two of us live, I will readily accept my privilege and responsibility as the spiritual head of our home. I will be the initiator of spiritual matters in our new family by leading our devotions, by setting the example of holy and godly living before you and our children, by seeking the Lord diligently concerning our welfare as a family and by striving to keep my personal walk with Christ fresh and intimate. I also accept the responsibility of protecting you and our family from any threat to their physical, mental, emotional or spiritual well being. I will willingly provide for our home and make it my practice to trust in the Lord and turn to Him for our every need. I promise to do my absolute best to order my priorities so that the Lord Jesus will be first, you will be second, our children third and our ministry fourth. I promise to love you as an act of my will for the rest of my life. I choose you over every woman I have ever met or ever will meet to be my wife. As long as I live, I will do my best to always encourage, edify and inspire you to heights of holiness in your lifestyle and depths of commitment to our precious Lord Jesus."

Kim's vows
"I promise that as long as the two of us live, I will readily accept my privilege to be your wife and helper according to God’s ordained plan for our lives together. In doing so, I will strive to always encourage, edify and inspire you to heights of holiness in your lifestyle and depths of commitment to our precious Lord Jesus. My hope in you will be the confidence I have in trusting God for our future. I also trust in the gifts and abilities He has given you to be my husband, I trust in your commitment to His purposes in our life, and I trust in your desire to be the spiritual leader of our family. Because of the respect I have gained for you, and because of your heart for the Lord, I joyfully pledge to you my submissive spirit, under the authority given to you by God. In knowing you as a man after God’s own heart, I pledge my joyful obedience to your leadership.

I will always honor you as the head of our household as Christ is the head of the church. I give myself totally and unselfishly to you to satisfy, fulfill and love you all the days of our lives. All my life, I promise to love, bear and raise our children, with you by my side, and nurture them to love and serve the Lord. I believe with all my heart that our marriage is not only our desire, but the Lord’s desire as well. I choose you over every other man to be my husband for the rest of my life. I pledge all my love to you, knowing that it is only perfected by our Lord Jesus, who will allow us to experience all this and more by His marvelous grace."

Craig's flying tonight and Joshua's going to daycare on Saturday so we'll get to celebrate this weekend (probably with chick-fil-a and a trip to the bookstore!) In the meantime, we get to celebrate being married every day and get to be extra thankful that's Craig's not overseas.

Thank you, Craig, for being a more wonderful husband and father than I ever could have asked for or imagined! Your loving wife

Joshua's first haircut!

What a busy day we've had! I'm so glad Craig's been home all weekend. Anyway, here's what we did today...

First, we tried Joshua's tuxedo on (well, really it's Lucas' tux but we're borrowing it). Hopefully, I'll be able to take him to Sears for some pictures in it. He did NOT want to put the bow tie on! (these photos are before his haircut)




After that, we headed outside for haircuts. Joshua played in the pool while I cut Craig's hair, then it was Joshua's turn. He's been walking around pretending to shave his face with Craig's electric razor (he even gets it out, turns it on and off, and puts it away when he's done) for a week so we thought we'd give the haircut a try and he might not be scared. First we tried getting him to sit in the chair alone but that didn't work, so he sat in Craig's lap and played with Craig's beard trimmer while I cut his hair. He didn't even seem to notice! I was amazed!!! Craig and I both think it looks super cute - he looks like such a little boy!!!


the guys and their haircuts


After that, we went out in the yard to play in the sandbox. Joshua had been standing on the deck waving and saying "hi" over and over to Maddi, the little girl next door. We invited her over to play on the new swingset and when she came through the gate, she and Joshua ran across the yard to one another. It was SO funny!! Unfortunately, I did not expect Joshua to leave his sandbox for anything, so I didn't have the video camera ready.

Joshua didn't want to swing but liked pushing Daddy


Joshua and Maddi after he ran out in the yard to meet her

In other news, we now have 4 tomatoes!! None are edible yet, but I'm sure I'll be enjoying my salmonella-free tomatoes in no time! Also, the bathroom's finished but I haven't taken any pictures.

busy Saturday

We've had a busy weekend so far! Craig's been working a lot, and late for the past 2 weeks so Joshua and I have really been enjoying having him around more since Wednesday! On Thursday, we had Zoe's 37 week appointment and everything is right as it should be. We did my pre-admission paperwork and got a "stork parking" pass for places on post! Craig had Friday off and we've been painting our dining area and 2nd bath - almost done!




Yesterday, I finished up 3/4 of the bathroom walls (I needed Craig to repaint the 4th one - long story) and then Craig embarked on the final stage of Joshua & Zoe's playset. I ran some errands while Joshua napped and Craig constructed and came home to find a great looking playset and Joshua sitting in his crib reading quietly (4 hours later!)

Joshua & Daddy waving hi. It may take him a while to warm up to the swings... he just really loves the sandbox!

as I said, loves the sandbox...

he paused for a milisecond to look up and smile

My very first tomato!!! I'm so excited. Craig said it doesn't count until you can eat it. Phooey.

some of the rest of the veggies (the others are planted in one of the beds). We've got basil, parsley, sage, oregano (ok, not veggies), strawberries and a sunflower from the Brummetts (yes, I know those aren't veggies) cucumber, squash, pumpkin, bell pepper, 3 tomato plants, a bean plant that's putting up a good fight, and I think I might have planted canteloupe and zucchini somewhere. The only thing that didn't come up was the green onions. Of course, we had no problem growing those in the yard at our last house!


a better picture of the tomato

the veggie patch (from left to right it's herbs, squash, cucumbers, strawberries, sunflower, tomatos, peppers and then there are some magnolia bushes followed by pumpkin, and some other stuff)

sunflower (sideways, sorry :)

like father, like son

I can't tell you how much Joshua loves to imitate Craig, here's just one example. Right before this, Craig had done his loud, roaring stretch thing (which Joshua thinks is the funniest, now that it doesn't scare him) so Joshua started putting his arms up and trying to roar. (before Craig stretched, Joshua had crawled in bed and pulled his covers up like daddy :)

latest antics

I'll see if I can capture some pictures to go with these in the next few days, but Joshua has been doing a few funny things (not unusual) the past couple days...

Joshua and Zoe: Lately, he's grown more attached to his Zoe doll (well, our Zoe doll). So much so that she's been doing many more things with us. As his request, we sit on the couch and read books with Zoe (it goes like this - I'm working in the kitchen, Joshua comes in and assaults me with a book - ok, 'pats' me on the leg with it until I take it from him, runs back over to the couch and starts patting the couch for me to sit down. When I head that way with said book, he climbs up, I sit down, and he cuddles up next to me to read said book at least 10 times in a row). Yesterday, he got settled and then started saying "yo-we, yo-we," so I got up and got her from the chair nearby and we all read books together.

Later on, he wanted me to blow on him with the inflator thing for my exercise ball. He was playing with it for a while then brought it into the kitchen and began his assault. SO... I took it and started puffing air at him which he thought was the best thing ever. He ran around the kitchen and living room laughing like crazy while I chased him and puffed air at him. I have to admit, it was pretty funny! On one of his passes by the couch, he saw Zoe where we had left her after our read-a-thon and started saying "yo-we, yo-we". So, we puffed air on her for a minute before Joshua decided it was his turn again and started running away from me, turning back to make sure I was chasing him.

Bedtime is funny too. A few nights and naps last week, he wanted Zoe in the crib with him. Last night, after more books, Joshua started saying "na?" (translation: is it bedtime?) When I told him yes, he ran over to the couch where Zoe was cuddling with her lion and started saying "na? na?" So I came to get her, assuming she was coming back to the crib. Joshua headed into Zoe's room and pointed to the baby swing where I had put her for a nap last week and pointed "na?" I put her in with her lion, and off Joshua went to his room, headed to the changing table and said "ch, ch" where we changed into PJ's while he played with his dinosaur ("nano").

When I put him in his crib to read (more) books, he started asking for 'Dat' and I explained 'Daddy's at work' so he said "Dat, brrrr." I said 'yes, Daddy's flying helicopters. Would you like to pray for Daddy?" So he laid down, closed his eyes and grabbed my hand while we prayed for Craig... just as I finished, Craig flew over the house (it sounded like he was trying to land on the house) and Joshua jumped up, looking around and saying "dat dat dat dat" quite excitedly. How fun!

Joshua's cow calender: We got some of this year's cow calender's for $1 at Chick-fil-A earlier this month. Joshua loves them. We got several more this weekend and I tried to throw them out after I had gotten the coupons out. Joshua didn't like that! He stood by the trashcan saying "moo" until I got a clean one out for him. He likes to flip through them by himself, but he also likes it when Craig or I flip through with him and sing the parody chicken songs. It's too funny. Whenever he sees the chick-fil-A logo on something, he starts saying "num num." What a smart boy :)

Well, I guess that's all the funny stuff I can think of from yesterday. Pictures sure are easier!! It's 10am so I guess I'd better go get him up. Chances are, he's sitting in there reading.