Our Precious Gift...

Our gift. Those are the words that come to my mind when I think about my precious Lyla. She is simply that: our gift. 

 

This sweet baby entered our world 5 years ago today. She was completely unplanned, unexpected, and more than we could have ever hoped for. Lily Rain was only 8 months old when we found out that Lyla was on the way. Little did I know at that point how much we needed her. 

 

Since the day she was born, she has graced our days with excitement, laughter, joy, and cheerfulness. 

She is  kind, considerate, carefree, full of life, beautiful, loving, silly,  loyal, and a family girl through and through. 

Lyla has brought to life the meaning of the verse, “Every good and perfect gift is from above.” James 1:17

Lyla, we are so thankful for your life. We praise God for giving us the greatest surprise of our lives in you!  You mean the world to us. 

September happenings...

Our September can be wrapped up in one word… busy. Goodness, I don’t even know what we have done. But life has been a wild and crazy ride these past few weeks.

We have all gotten settled into our daily routines. I’m spending my days with this fabulous group of ladies. #thirdstheword

They make the hard days easier and are always so encouraging and uplifting. I could not imagine having a stronger group of teachers to keep me straight and sane.

As far as my kiddos, they are loving their classes and their teachers. They are learning new things each day and that makes my heart so happy.

How sweet are these four cuties? This was a picture from their first sleepover!

I took a day off of work this past week and I was able to spend some MUCH needed one-on-one with this angel baby.

#babylove

Since school began, I haven’t seen him before school at all, and only for a couple of hours each night. So, we cuddled, napped, movied, and grocery stored. :)

Since this past week marked then first official day of fall, and the girls have been begging to bake some cupcakes, I thought it would be a perfect time to make something that satisfies my love of pumpkin! I was going to start from scratch with a pumpkin cupcake, but a friend reminded me of the goodness of my very basic fall muffin. So, I added three large eggs to the mix for a more cupcake-y batter and baked away.

I did want to make a cinnamon icing from scratch and I found a delicious recipe for marshmallow frosting from Sally's Baking Addiction that I adapted just a bit (and by adapted, I mean I added cinnamon & pumpkin pie spice to it).

This icing might be my all time favorite that I’ve ever made. Buuuuuutttt…. I didn’t follow the “mix the dry, add the wet” rule and it was WAY too thin, so as soon as I piped this glorious wonder onto my cupcakes, it just melted into a blob. The girls still sprinkled them and added a pumpkin on top.

They tasted amazing, but if you’re going to make these, be a rule follower. You might also want to freeze your icing for about five minutes before piping.

I hope you and your family are having a great start to this beautiful fall season!

Surprised By Motherhood....

The hubs has taken the girls to see the fireworks. Will is asleep. I have at least one hour, maybe two, of interrupted time to myself, with my favorite drink of choice. Let freedom ring.

Earlier this summer, I read a book titled Surprised by Motherhood, by Lisa Jo Baker. While pretending to be a stay-at-home mom this summer, I find myself saying that title over and over in my head. Motherhood is in fact, so surprising.

And glorious.
And exhausting.
And marvelous.
And draining.
And tiring.
And beautiful.
And worth every ounce of energy that I could possibly pour into it.

I loved reading this book because I could relate entirely to her message. She grew up not wanting children, which I don't relate to, but the Lord drastically changed her and revealed himself through the birth of each of her three children. This book reminded me of the importance of soaking in and trying to learn from each exhausting moment, as they each pass so very quickly.

"But I believe God loves us too much to leave us flailing in our self-centered universe, so He delivers these tiny reflections of ourselves into our homes with earthquake effectiveness." pg. 187, Surprised by Motherhood.

Is that not the truth? Earthquake effectiveness.

Earlier this week, I was able to have a couple of hours out with some girlfriends. One of my dearest friends is just about ready to deliver her first baby boy in a couple of weeks. She is having all of the normal anxious feelings and has so many questions. As the other mamas and myself were reassuring her, tears came to my eyes as I reflected upon the indescribable exerperince she is about to encounter. The beauty of that moment, holding your child, your first child, is the most life-changing experience any woman will go through. I couldn't help but encourage her and tell her, that her life as she knows it was about to get one million times greater. She is about to receive, what I truly believe, is the greatest gift on this side of heaven. But once again, motherhood is so surprising.

Because she will be exhausted, and hormonal, and doubt her abilities. Her boobs will ache, she will cry for no reason, and then she will hold this non-sleeping human, and feel like a superwoman. It is so surprising.

And then babies grow, and you will long for an hour with just you and your husband. However, when that hour comes, you will miss that sweet baby so much that you rush home just to watch her sleep. Motherhood is surprising.

And then, if your like me, you quickly become pregnant again. You will cry and scream and wonder how on earth you, or your checkbook, will survive. Well, once again, your surprised by motherhood. You hold that baby and wonder how on earth you ever lived a day without her. 

And then, if you're anything like me, three years will pass, and you'll ache to hold a newborn again. You will become pregnant and wonder why on earth you wanted this as you throw up your breakfast each morning. Your back will ache, your clothes won't fit, you'll pee when you sneeze, and you'll pray that the baby will come early. As you deliver, you begin to cry, as you realize you may never experience life inside you again. Surprised by Motherhood.

Your babies will start school and sports. You'll love and listen. Encourage and discipline. Laugh and cry. You will experience doubt and joy. You will act in ways you promised you wouldn't. Motherhood is surprising.

Through it all, Jesus is there. He knows and understands every ounce of our being, our desires, our needs, and our wants. He uses these tiny humans to teach us more about his love and His sacrifice for us. He entrusts us with these gifts so that we can direct and point them to love, honor, and glorify Him. Mamas, we will mess up. We will have bad days, and say the wrong thing. But, motherhood is surprising. And His mercies are new each morning.

"There is no part of our everyday, wash and repeat routine of kids and laundry and life and fights and worries and playdates and aching budgets and preschool orientations and work and marriage and love and new life and bedtime marathons that Jesus doesn't look deep into and say, 'That is mine.' In him all things hold together." page 116, Surprised by Motherhood.

I am incredibly grateful for each of my three blessings. With each day, I'm continuing to be surprised by motherhood.

So, it's been a minute...

Well folks, it's been almost three years since I've completed a blog post. Honestly, life took root at 1,000 miles per hour and my little family has experienced a crazy amount of blessings and trials in the two, almost three, years since I've posted.

I have been wanting to start the blog back up for several months now, sharing the joys of my sweet kiddos, and offering encouragement through the scripture and texts that I have been reading lately.

I've thought that maybe it was arrogant of me to think that anyone even wanted to hear what I had to say, but then maybe that is a thought from the enemy, who wants to prevent any words of encouragement from being shared. Even if it's just between a couple tired mamas.

So here goes nothing. I'm back. At least until August and life is a zoo again.

Here's what you've missed since my last post:

We had a baby! Surprise! It's a boy! And let me tell you, he is the greatest thing since sliced bread. 

 

 My main man graduated from seminary and grad school. So proud! 

Our precious cousin, Sarah, got married and my girls were the most adorable flower girls you've ever seen. 

We celebrated ten years of marriage with a weekend at the beach! 

We've taken the traditional first-day photos. 

 

We have celebrated a number of holidays.

 

 That sweet little baby we had was diagnosed with congenital heart disease. He has three heart defects. One of those was coarctation of the aorta. His condition was very severe and he had heart surgery at six months. He has done amazingly well since his surgery. Thankful.

 

 

We now have a 5 (almost six) year old, Lily, and a super sassy 4 year old, Lyla.

 Mr. Crawford suffered a number of medical setbacks, causing him/us to completely change our eating habitats to nothing but cardboard. Blah... But all of that eating nothing has him looking mighty fine, if I do say so myself. :)

 Our baby turned one. Goodness!

I finished my tenth year of teaching! Only 20 more to go! Couldn't have made in through without the best co-workers ever! A few are missing from this pic, but not from my heart. 

We've "recitaled"...

Our girls began playing soccer and LOVED it! Especially Lily - she is so fast and wants to play ALL THE TIME.

 We bought a van and surprisingly, love it.

I hope that catches you up to speed. I'm hoping to post tomorrow on my summer goals. Hoping...