Getting Festive (With the Stomach Bug & Dropping a Carton of Eggs in the Parking Lot)

Happy Friday. 

Guess what? Christmas is almost here! Crazy, huh?

Well I hope you are having a great week leading up to Christmas.  

Here is our eventful week with some help from Instagram.

Noah was a "star" in his MDO play. It was cute, he walked out totally bashful. It is so unlike him, because as most of you know he is such a little entertainer & always trying to make everyone laugh. It was kinda nice to see him a bit more shy, and to see a different side of him. 

Monday night I saw a movie with some friends. Good company. Movie not so much. Playing for keeps was a disappointment. 

Tuesday night rolled around. All night Noah refused to sleep & at 6 am on Wednesday started throwing up for which seemed like an eternity. My poor baby. He was also running a fever and just miserable.

So let me brag on my husband for a second. I had been planning to watch my friends 3 children on Thursday. However, Noah was still sick & I had picked up the stomach. I felt really horrible about not being able to watch our friends children so my husband volunteered to watch them at the church. My husband always impresses me without even trying. I kept asking him, "um are you sure honey? I know you need to get some stuff done." He just kept saying, "ya is not a big deal." Fortunately our friends children are very well behaved making it no big deal for Johnny to watch them & get stuff done.

Thursday afternoon I was feeling okay & I made the not so wise decision to go to Walmart. In the middle of the baking isle the stomach bug kicked in. Seriously, throwing up in the middle of Walmart was really not appealing to me. So I decided to just leave quickly. Paid for my stuff and hustled to the car. I was really trying to not throw up & in the process dropped everything on the group, including a carton of eggs & all of them broke. Eggs were the only thing Noah had said he would eat. The reason why I ventured to the store. 

Oh my.

All day Wednesday & Thursday I cleaned up vomit & accidents. Noah had been refusing to eat until last night when I got the bright idea to make him friendly food. For advent we always make festive pancakes & this year we made reindeer pancakes! He ate half of his plate, making his mommy very happy. To make these just scrounge up items in your fridge to create a friendly face.

Loving on his "baby Jesus"

House is getting Festive.

Although, the sickness hit our home (again) it really has been a good week. Noah & I have had a great time snugging & playing in between taking breaks to throw up. Ha. I'm glad I made the choice to really enjoy Christmas this week. 

I'm really looking forward to today & this weekend. I feel like we have shaken the stomach bug & are ready to start getting festive. Planning to bake, bake, bake and enjoy fun advent plans with my boys! 

Merry Christmas,

~Brit

Teaching My Toddler about Worship

Today I'm linking up with Into The Word Wednesdays with some other sweet ladies. Yesterday my friend Tiffany shared her story for the Now Rejoice series. If you missed it be sure to read it by clicking here. Her story is a testament of the Lord's beautiful gift of grace, mercy, and faithfulness in our lives. I was excited that she shared yesterday because the last week I've had a song that her & her husband wrote on my heart, Hallelujah, from their record. It has been on repeat in our home all week. Take a listen above. You will be blessed!

typical monday mornings in our house

So lately I've been trying to think of ways to teach my two year old about worship. I love that every time he sees a guitar his response is, "mommy we worship now" or that he lines up his little friends to sing them worship songs. It makes me happy that he knows that the moment we enter the sanctuary at church he excitedly runs around saying "worship time". 

However, I want Noah to understand that worship is a lifestyle. It is not a once or twice a week event that we take part in with our church congregation. I've been asking the Lord to show me how express to him that worship is more than a song. That part of worship is loving one another and serving others. I want him to know that worship is an every day way of life that on some days takes more effort than others. Just saying. 

Three easy ways to teach my toddler about worship have been:

one. Serving others through prayer, making a meal, listening, running an errand, and simply caring for others in any way needed. 

two. Everyday chores. As we clean up the house, complete daily tasks, or even make lunch I continually remind him that we can worship while doing this. 

three. Art. Markers, pens, and paints!

Over time I know that he will make the connection more & more. 

If you have been a visitor of my blog for a while or follow me on instagram you know that I love scripture art (usually drawing). I've made it a part of my daily routine of reading the word & spending time with the Lord. I enjoy playing worship music while drawing what the Lord puts on my heart or painting on a canvas. Important, know that I am not a good painter at all, but thats not the point. The point is to spend time with Jesus & worship him. Yesterday I introduced Noah to painting as worship. I'm pretty sure he loved it. 

To paint with your child I recommend Acrylic Paints because they wash right off their hands & usually don't stain clothing. However, use old clothes just to be safe. Acrylic Paints are crazy cheap at Michaels, Hobby Lobby, or Walmart. Grab some .25 cent paint brushes a $5 canvas & just let them go to town. I put the paints in a large throw a way baking dish. It works great! Reuse the same canvas & dish over and over.

If you have never done this, you really must try it. You will probably feel silly at first but know that sometimes to grow spiritually you might have to do things that you've never done before. I say that because over a year ago I was in a rut in my relationship with God. I felt like I wasn't going deep in the word, there was not a hunger for scripture, and I just didn't feel alive in Christ like he intends for us to be. For me, this truly took my relationship with the Lord to a new place. Just give it a try. Happy Wednesday!

~Brit

A Fall Day

A few weeks ago we visited this wonderful pumpkin patch in town. There is also a beautiful store that is open year round that I truly believe I could get lost in for days at a time. Noah loved exploring this new place.

The property outside was beautiful.

Noah went nuts running around like crazy. 

His mom & dad nearly went crazy running after him. 

Not really. He just loves to give us a good workout. 

This man. Has my heart. 

Debbie & baby Judah met us there too.

It was a nice evening. 

Noah enjoyed jumping over hay stacks in the maze.

Running wild & free this one.

He gives me a happy heart.

 Check out his expression above.

This kid cracks me up.

If  you ever make your way to east Texas you should totally check out Ellis Pottery. Just saying. You won't regret it.

Have a Happy Fall Day!

Get out & enjoy this wonderful time of the year!

~Brit

Linking up with

Oh, These Babies.

These babies. They really have my heart. 

A few weeks ago Noah & I visited my parents for a week. We had a great time hanging out with Grammy & Campy. Campy & Noah are so silly together, I love it

playing the, "you looking at me" game with Campy.

Noah kept asking me to take his picture with Campy. 

Jen, came down for a few days with her littles ones. I LOVE spending time with my sister. And our crazy kids too! 

We played dress up with our babies. Abbey going vintage with a dress that was mine in the 80's.

Cousins enjoying ice cream outside.

My beautiful momma & adorable Tucker

One evening we decided to sit the kids down outside my parents house & try to snap a few pictures of them. It worked at first. Then 1 minute later they were the wild children they are & Abbey, poor baby, ran smack into the fence at my parents house. Leaving a massive purple/black bruise on her for head. So sad. We quickly handed out ice cream to help the situation. It did.

Oh these two. They crack me up. These looks!

I was having such a fun time snapping pictures of every one. Especially these of my mom the kids when she didn't know I was taking them.

Abbey & Noah during a rare moment of peace and quiet. Snuggled up with Grammy watching Toy Story 3. They are precious. Even in all of their screaming, running like wild animals, and laughing until they fall over - they have my heart! This might have been picture happy overload, but I had to share these! Happy Tuesday Friends!
~Brit

Thrifting For Toddlers

Obviously I love to thrift! But let me just say that I love to thrift for clothing for Noah. It is insane the deals you can get for toddler clothes in thrift shops. 

The outfit he is wearing was a total of 12.50! 

Most of the time, when we are out & about, Noah is dressed in button-ups just like his daddy. Johnny is known for wearing button-ups & pointy dress shoes, ha! So of course we tend to dress Noah similar. However nice name brand button-ups & dress pants for toddlers are outrageously priced & you will not catch me paying those prices for a toddler because it will be worn a few months & potential stained. The brands of the thrifted pieces Noah is wearing..

 After I put this little outfit together yesterday for Noah I got curious about the brands & how much each piece would have been if purchased new. American Apparel starts at $30 for a similar shirt. Gap dress pants new are $26 and the shoes at target were probably about $15 before clearance.  That is $71 if everything was purchased new. 

Now, this is why we thrift! Saves $ plus its fun & you can get so many more pieces for the same price. Would love to see your thrifted pictures! Hope you link-up & Grab a button.

Happy Friday!

~Brit

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Little Red Potty

The potty.
Here it is.
In all of its glory.
sitting.
waiting.
wishing.

(ha. obviously I like jack johnson music)

Johnny's parents bought Noah this little red potty a few months ago & originally we intended to start potty training back in May. Then life got insanely busy & my dad was sick and I wanted to spend time with my family which meant we were traveling a lot. Basically, it was impossible at that time to start training because I wasn't going to be traveling & running out the door while he was learning. Then I decided to wait until we got back from Haiti because our parents were keeping Noah & we didn't want our parents to have lots of accidents happening just in case he didn't get the hang of it right away. One day in August I tried until about 11 am but Noah was completely un-interested. So I said, oh-well, try again later. no biggie.

So here we are with potty training back on the agenda.
To be honest, I'm just not sure how I feel about it.

Noah is 27 months old & I just don't want to rush into something if he isn't ready for it yet, just to say he is potty trained. It isn't that big of a deal to me to have him potty trained by a certain age. For some mommies it is important, and thats great. Honestly, for me it is the last thing on my list of things to be concernend about. The same goes with the pacifier, I'm just not that concerned about taking it away from him. However, I do ty to keep it up & away until he's sleepy because it is impossible for him to talk with something hanging out of his mouth. In regards to potty training & getting rid of the pacifier, I want these things to feel natural for my little boy and not forced. 

So why am I not too concerned about potty training Noah right now? Simply, I just don't want potty training to be forced, confusing, and frustrating for him. He is only going to be little once in his life. I don't want to rush him into things that will be overwhelming for him. I have read that most little boys are not ready for potty training until nearly 3 years old. More often than not potty training last an entire year because it was started too early. So I just don't want that frustration for our little family. 

To be honest, I am ready to stop changing diapers, buying diapers, and I would love for him to wear the cute little boy underwear :) Just saying. 

Advice? Have you started too early? Too late?
Please feel free to leave me advice because unless we have a big change of heart the plan is to start next weekend. 
~Brit

Linking up with.

Sweet Faces (Nearly Wordless Wednesday)

look at Tuckers little face!

Last weekend my mom, sister, niece & nephew came to stay with us for a few days. So much fun! LOVE having them here. So CRAZY when our kids get together. My niece is 6 months older than Noah & let me just say that these 2 love each other but are insane together. Insane meaning, non-stop, uninterrupted screaming, dancing, running, singing, smiling, and flat out pure craziness. Tucker is just now getting in on all the action.

One more thing before you continue on... I promise my sister & I do put clothing on our children. For some reason these pictures suggest differently ha!

loving on his Grammy. he is glued to my mommas hip anytime she is around.

little miss Abbey begging Noah to come ride in the 

car & stop playing in the dirt

 bubbles with uncle Johnny

Noah just wanted to hold baby Tucker all the time

 look at this sweet baby boy, don't you just want to squeeze his little self? I do! 

Such a fun time. Looking forward to seeing them again! I will have to make a trip to Austin very soon. 

I'm aware this was picture overload but I just couldn't help myself with all the cuteness.

Happy Wednesday!

~Brit