Wordless Wednesday: New Hair Cut!

 

 

Baby, it's cold outside!

Well, at least it is to us Texans! ;)

I really can't complain because its 24 degree in Finland right now.

A "cold front" (50 degrees) came through Texas and you would have thought a blizzard hit. We pulled out coats, turtle necks, gloves etc. I even cranked the heat on for the first time this season!

Love this bubble coat, it keeps him super warm!

Saturday morning we took it easy...

I made organic pancakes served with no high fructose corn syrup-syrup :), turkey bacon and eggs to go along! I am trying hard to pack on the pounds (in a healthy way), I plan on weighing myself next week sometime to see if any progress has been made. Ha!

Tristan loved his breakfast, and yes my 4 year old still wears a bib for messy meals. :)

After breakfast, we snuggled up and watched Ice Age together (excuse my wet/shower head and no makeup!).

Aunt Mel was in charge of keeping T Friday night and brought over a haunted "harvest" house to decorate.

I saw it at the store a couple weeks ago and passed it up, she apparently saw it and bought it. Ha!! Dwight and I talked and decided that while we don't want to do trick or treating, we will still let Tristan dress up (nothing creepy) and go to fall festivals in the community, of course at church, or do anything else we feel has no demonic undertones. I appreciated hearing a few of y'alls take on Halloween, I can see value in all the views express...this is just what we decided for us. Anyway, back to the harvest house...Ha!

Tristan called it a fall gingerbread house!

Aunt Melody and her boyfriend, Dominique were great sitters. Thanks guys!

I have to end this post with a few pictures of my man!

I miss him SOOOO much.

One of Dwight's cousins put this baby pic up on his facebook wall. HOW cute was he?!?!

Seriously, melts my heart.

I had to do a comparison pic of Dwight and Tristan around the same age, 3 years.

They look so much alike!

This week is jammed packed...between, school, clients, Tristan's school fall party, church fall festival, and day-to-day life, I am a busy momma! I want to do a post soon about the journey I've been on the past 7 weeks that Dwight has been gone; I just need to find the time and energy. It has not been easy at times but God has been so faithful through it all. I hope to write it out soon and offer encouragement to those in a similar season of life. But for now, I am off to do endless amounts of homework!



Wordless Wednesday: Ready for school pictures!



Weekend Wrap Up!

Today marks 6 weeks that Dwight left for Finland, SIX WEEKS!!

On one hand it feels like he just left, on the other I feel like "Wow, I can't believe I've made it this long." I really miss my husband, like a lot. Most days I am so busy with school, interning and motherhood that the ache in my heart is not so strong, but night time and days I have off are difficult. Thankfully, D and I get to talk every day, multiple times and it helps both of us...but we are definitely ready to be together again.

Friday night, Amari came over and we kicked the weekend off with dinner, dessert and a movie with my family at our apartment. I made taco soup in the crock pot, and peanut butter/chocolate chip cookies. I picked up some fresh hot sauce and guacamole to go along as sides from the farmer's market. Yum!

Saturday the boys and I had a picnic at the park.

They ran around and played their hearts out while I got to pray (eyes open!), journal and read my devotional. I always feel SO much better after spending time with God and letting him replenish me.

Before we left for the park aunt Ashley and Mimi stopped by on their way to the ballet!

The boys also got to talk to daddy on skype a few times. :)

Today, we went to church then to Mimi and Poppy's for lunch.

The boys came home and took a 2.5 hour nap while I watched a movie, talked to Dwight and relaxed.

Ahhhh, so nice! After they woke up we went to the grocery store. They did good and did not ask for ONE thing (after a pre-store pep-talk!).

We ended our night with an organic pizza, pineapples, strawberries, blackberries and a salad for dinner!

The boys ate SO much!

And so did I. I am determined to put on 10lbs before Dwight comes home. It is something I have needed to do for, well...the past 4 years. Gaining weight can be just as frustrating as losing weight, especially when you have the metabolism and schedule that I have. BUT, I know its a must and I am really going to focus on doing so in a healthy manner. Dwight has given me plenty of pointers and I have done my own research (because I just don't do that enough of that for school. Ha!). I stocked up on fruits, veggies, protein, granola, yogurt, water and ingredients to make a milk shake to drink every night before bed (please, don't hate me!!). I am also going to be working on muscle building, if I can drag myself down to the gym each day. Ha!

I think I started off on a pretty good foot tonight. =)

On a complete random note, I added a few more fall decorations to the apartment. I think I am done!

Candy corn/aka temptation for Tristan. I have this on the side table in the living room and I'll catch him sneaking to it every now and again. He's been doing pretty good though...for a 4 year old!

Now that I have fall pics of all 3 kids I had to do some swapping out of photos and rearrange a few things.

I got those cute little white pumpkins at the farmer's market, too.

Mom and I found lots of "must have" fall items at the FM.

Plus some delicious fruits and veggies. More of my findings...colorful corn!

I have to end this post with a sweet little project I had to do for Tristan's homework.

The teachers sent home this sheet and I had to write why we choose his name. People always tell me how much they love the name "Tristan" and that they almost named their son it or its on their list of future baby names, I like it too! Anyway, the nerd graduate student in me took this assignment very serious. Ha! I made sure to "re" research his name ( I did before I had him but hey, it's been four years!) and write the origin of it and what it means, along with why we choose it. They also asked for us to include a baby picture to send with it and be hung on the classroom walls. I can't wait!

I won't write everything I put on the paper but basically "Tristan" means, "knight at the round table". A knight is someone of noble character, strength and boldness; all attributes we pray Tristan develops as he grows into a man. "Kye" is a name my mom actually picked out and I fell in love with. It's a toss up for me between his first and middle name, I love both of them!

Tomorrow is the start of another new week. I am getting closer and closer to being reunited with my husband and that gives me the energy and encourgement to keep going.  For now I am going to take a quiet shower ( a luxury when you have little kids), drink my nightly milkshake and watch a movie until Dwight wakes up. Night!

Catching up!

I haven't been too good at blogging the past week, we've been busy!

This was the week I had my Monday and Thursday night class, plus saw clients and took care of my boy. =)

Speaking of the Mr., here he is cute as can be!

Some days we're wearing long sleeves, others short sleeves. It's hard to keep up with the Texas weather.

Helping mommy make muffins one morning.

Such a good helper!

This is how my living room looks most days.

About 50 cars lined up and going through the car wash. :)

Saturday night Tristan and I stayed the night with Mimi and Poppy, then rode with them to church.

Can you tell T was happy about it?!?!

I'm ashamed to admit I bribed Tristan with a new toy car (99 cent one) to take this picture. Ha!

I told him after that, NO more toys until Christmas!!

After church we went to a little old fashion place in Keller for lunch.

I had chicken friend steak, mashed potatoes, greenbeans and cobbler with vanilla ice cream.

Nothin' like some delicious southern food!

Mimi has been a big help with Dwight being gone.

She keeps Tristan when I'm in class, cooks me dinner sometimes, buy plants to decorate my porch with (since mine died, again!) and anything else I need.

Thankful for her!

Speaking of Mimi and help...

I had class Monday night so I packed Tristan's overnight bag and got his school stuff ready so he could stay with her. It takes so much effort to get all of his stuff together, plus my things and out the door by 4:00pm so I can drop him off to my parents and drive an hour to school. I always wonder if my neighbors see me lugging 10 bags out to the car and think "what happened to that man that use to live with her?!?" Ha! This particular day I had to show one of my counseling videos that I recorded during session to my class for evaluation. So, I had all the stuff below for T-man, my school bag, my video camera bag, each of our cups, a dinner packed for me and oh ya...my son! I hate going up and down the stairs so I make it with one LARGE trip to the car.

Fast forward to the next day and Tristan was knocked out after school. I carried him up the stairs, put him in bed and he never woke. Why, you ask? Well, because according to my mom he woke up at 3am and told her "I'm ready to play, Mimi!" She said she tried for an hour to get him back to sleep but he was wide awake...so she played with him. CRAZY grandma!! He he I would have been like "we're lying in this bed until the sun comes up." Needless to say he was one tired boy after rising at 3am and going to school til 2pm. He took a 4 hour nap before I woke up him so I could go see a couple of clients.

Here is another nap, another day. I love that my 4 year old still naps. It gives me 2-3 hours each afternoon to relax, clean, do homework or talk to Dwight on skype!

One thing I have been making a point to do, is spend time  journaling, reading my Bible, devotional and a few books for fun. I am also reading "take back your marriage" to help me through the process of counseling married couples. Yikes!! Talk about stressful. But, God is doing big things and I am humbled to be a tool in the process of healing other's marriages.

Wednesday Tristan and I went to the Fort Worth Children's Museum with friends.

It was so much fun!

Catching a ride with Ms. Trish!

The museum was such a neat place. I think I love our play dates more than Tristan does. :)

Of course he ran straight to the trains!

Then he went "grocery shopping"!

And did self check out. :)

Next up he took a ride in the ambulance with Grayson and Sadie!

But I think his favorite was heading outside for the waterguns!

Another fun place to visit if you are in the Fort Worth/Dallas area!

I got an email from DBU Wednesday telling me that early registration for the spring begins in a couple of weeks. That means I am about to register for my very LAST semester of graduate school!! I just can't believe it. I was also notified that I need to come in and fill out my application for graduation on Monday. That has to possibly be the best feeling, ever. After getting married and the birth of my son, of course. :) I am beyond grateful to be approaching the end of this journey and beginning a new one as a therapist. Praise God!

In other good news...I am sitting outside Tristan's LAST play therapy session! Before each session the therapist does a check in with me and we discuss stuff. After talking she and I both felt like Tristan has met all of our goals and is doing excellent; seriously, SO proud of this boy!! Thankful we had this awesome opportunity and happy to move on to our next (and final) therapy...occupational. That will begin once a week starting November 7th.

Once Tristan is done with his session we are meeting his Mimi at the farmers market to pick out pumpkins to paint tonight. We are having the family over for dinner, dessert and fall fun! =) He doesn't know it yet, so he'll be surprised and happy! Plus his brother will be joining us, yay for the weekend!!

Happy Friday!!!