an update...

you can expect this to be a scattered post about everything since SO much has happened over the past few months. to start, our little lady turned ONE YEAR OLD on October 3rd!!! We had a little celebration at our home with cake and presents and then spent the weekend in lovely Savannah, Georgia. 

she has changed so much from these pictures - she has more hair now (a mullet really) and she is WALKING which has been a grand adventure for all of us. 

• Hazel and I have been icky sick off and on for a few weeks now. tis'  the season ;) we've been beating it back with essential oils and raw honey. not sure why that deserved a bullet point except to give a shout out to all the simultaneously sick mamas and babies out there. we feel your pain. 

• we've been dreaming up plans for building a furlough home in WA on our family's land. if you follow me on pinterest this should give some insight to the madness ;) we want to build a small, barn home which is a really cost effective way to build a quality living space (think converted barn home done right). anyway, we are really hopeful and will be flagging the property over christmas. (woohoo!! // this is really happening // we are crazy) 

• we leave for Seattle this friday. we'll spend a week there with family before Ryan flies back to SC for work and Hazel and I fly on to TX to see my family. gosh, we are just SO. EXCITED. to see family. traveling with Hazel has been fairly easy up to this point, but i'm nervous about keeping her occupied on my lap all those hours in the air. we're bringing a sticker book,  iPad and snacks. any other suggestions??

praying for richness in fellowship and experiences this season. praying for a renewed sense of hope in this life and longing for the age to come. merry christmas!

this is hard.

hello there! things have been silent here for quite some time now. mainly because we've been busy trying to keep our heads on straight. this season of life in south carolina has been hard. add becoming parents to the mix and it's been really hard.

it's hard to dwell in peace when your shortcomings are ever present.

to deeply receive God's grace just to stand up and get knocked back down by your flesh.

to have the dreams God has given you burn holes through your chest but know their time hasn't come yet.

to feel weighed down by your circumstances but remember they're not a valid reason for your lack of joy and you could rise above them if you were stronger. better.

to be so SO tired.

to weep and pray for this season in the desert to be over and the very next day your husband has a wreck at work driving the company truck and totals a woman's fancy car. true story. no one was hurt.

it's been oddly hard. back to back hard. hard overlapping hard.

these are situations that leave us with no response but God I need you.

and it would be foolish not to recognize that He is forging something deep within our little family of 3. amen.

so just in case you were wondering - YOU CAN BE NEAR TO JESUS AND LOSING YOUR STUFF AT THE SAME TIME.

it's seasons like this that have me convinced, glory to glory doesn't quite look like we think it does.

glory to glory can be messy. glory to glory can hurt.

glory to glory can be climbing the christian ladder just to get knocked off and have to start back at square one.

blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. hallelujah.

also, did i mention that parenting is really really hard? don't ever think you're the only one down in the trenches.

papa + baby

our bedtime routine: read a page, wrestle, repeat ;)


oh, why hello there noelle's big toe.

Folly Beach + video

ummmm, did you see her waving at everybody??? the sweetest.
we had the best time at folly beach last saturday. 

it just happened to be Hazel's 10 month old mark to the day!

we weren't sure how she would react to the waves but she loved everything about the beach and wanted to jump right in and swim around. after we cleaned up we went to a little local spot and had the best fish tacos. ahhhhhh, i love successful day trips with my little crew.  

p.s. don't judge my white WHITE family :) 

Charleston

little lady is 9 months today! last weekend we celebrated ryan's birthday by taking a little trip down to charleston. we had heard so many good things about it there since moving to SC and it definitely was beautiful. the aquarium was our favorite - seeing hazel's reaction to all the little creatures was the best! AND she touched an alligator and thought it was fabulous. pretty sure everyone thought we were crazy parents.
here's to summer fun and adventure!

elimination communication and other ramblings...

1. elimination communication. because, why not??? and because i am crazy, lol. we're just doing a partial version of EC. first of all we bought a little potty at ikea and we're only using it for #2, because really, who knows when their child is peeing??? definitely not me. definitely not with my 6 month old. never thought i would be doing this, but it's going great, and i have high hopes for the future. 

2. we have a crawler in the house.

 not pictured...

- i am a much happier lady when i read the word, juice, and do some form of yoga/pilates and i should really do all three every single day. 

- my husband works SO very hard and i am very thankful for him. 

- little lady is lovin her some squash these days - zucchini squash, yellow squash, you name it. 

- i'm dreaming of home education for our little ones and started a pin board for curriculum and other resources. 

- and last but not least, i am super excited for my free trial to arrive from the honest company AND to top that, i stumbled upon a coupon code here so i bought an extra bundle. 10 products for $30 people. 

6 months old.

on April 3rd, Hazel turned 6 months old! i'm not so worried about her growing up too fast anymore. she is growing fast, but it is amazing to watch and i'm so excited for her as a little human to discover and learn new things. she's having fun living life and i'm learning how to direct and nurture her more each new day.
SO, on to the list :) sweet lady Hazel...

• LOVES new people and lights up when they stop to talk to her. she smiles back and blows bubbles. but if they try to hold her the big fat lip will make its appearance. 
• loves our housemates nate and nicola. her favorite part of the morning is coming out to greet them. 
• can roll from her back to her stomach, push up on her hands and knees, rock back and forth and scoot backwards. 
• does lots of down dogs and planks ;)
• gives kisses?? lol we're not sure they're intentional yet, but they sure are cute. it involves grabbing our cheeks and trying to suck our lips. 
• loves her toys and is starting to recognize them and pick out her favorites. we keep them in bins on the floor and she scoots towards them and picks them out. 
• talks to her toys. while she's chewing on them. it makes a sort of baby ogre sound. at least that's what we call it :)
• has started to show some tude. twice now she's gotten angry and boxed papa in the cheeks. literally smacks him in the cheeks with both hands simultaneously. don't even now what to do with that. 
• has two dimples but one is very distinct 
• sleeps half the night in her crib and the other half with mama and papa after she wakes up to nurse. she sleeps with her face planted in my chest and her arm around my neck and if i move she shrieks. so very sweet yet so not conducive to sleep for mama. 
• TMI, however - poops on schedule which is AWESOME for cloth diapering. we just make sure she's wearing a disposable around that time. hallelujah. 
• last but not least - has been trying out solids. purely recreational at this point, but avocado and sweet potato haven't gotten very high scores in her book :(