6 Year Anniversary

These two people have been married 6 years.

 Three kids, two dogs and a house later, we still love each other and like each other most days.

I will be thirty in September. He has literally been with me half of my life. We couldn't date when I was 15, but we were always together. Then, I turned 16. Almost 15 total years. People say time flies. It does. It is crazy. I am still not 20 in my head, then I remember I have a big girl job and three little people that depend on me for everything and I get knocked back into reality.

I love that we have grown up together. We know everything about each other. It is funny how we have changed and changed again and again over the years. We compliment each other in so many ways and drive each other to shear insanity in others. I wouldn't have it any other way! I love that he knows when I need a dose of humble pie, a stern talking about situations, space, to leave me alone when I puke, silence and hugs....the list could go on forever.

The thing I absolutely love most about him is his love for Christ and his eagerness to make much of Jesus even though there is sometimes opposition. The second thing I love most about him is watching him with our boys. They love their daddy. My favorite time of day is 6:00-8:00 when he gets home. Partially because I am tired of trying to cook while being "pants" at the stove by little ones grabbing my clothes off of me from the knees, but mainly because I love watching their faces when he walks in the door and listening to them talk in their room right before bed. That is their time and I love to watch.

David has this calm spirit about him. He can deal with so much more stress than me. Well, I deal, but just not in a calm way. Insert Septic Tank story you will probably hear about soon. I go into freak out mode he gets us through it.

I love you David Skinner and I am so thankful for the bumps we have had in the road because they have gotten us here. I am thankful that we have grown up together for the last fifteen years and experienced so much these last six years. Thank you for these wonderful boys we are raising. We all four love you! Happy 6th Anniversary!

Happy First Birthday, Titus!

I can't believe a year flew by so quick. You are so big. Literally, big. You weigh 23.5 pounds. You are tall. You cannot wear clothes your brothers wore at a year because you bust out of most of them. Shirts and that is about it.

You are the happiest baby I have ever seen. Really. You smile ALL the time. You laugh at your brothers harder than anybody else.

You love water and taking baths. You are REALLY fond of bottles and pacis. I think taking those away might just be interesting.

You sleep ok. It is getting better. You've slept the last six nights from 6:30 until 6:30. Accomplished if you will keep it up and if those teeth will slow down.

You handle pain like a boss. Rarely do you cry when you hurt yourself. You usually cry when you are hungry, tired, or tired of your brothers.

You love watching things. It doesn't matter what it is, if there is something going on, you are happy.

You laugh hysterically at Asa and Jude when they get in your face and make funny noises. Like belly laugh and we love it.

You have four teeth in all the way and two more partially in. One more is about to break through.

You stood up in the middle of the floor on Feb. 15 and took quite a few steps. However, getting where you need to go is not a challenge. The linebackers (brothers) get in trouble regularly for toting you and you crawl really fast. You are walking when you want to.

You still take two 1.5 hour naps. Sometimes longer. You go to bed at 6:30 and sleep until about 5:45 or six (Except lately you have stretched that until 6:30 and we are thankful). That works perfect because you take a bottle and we leave. Now, the in between random cries can be a bit much at times, but it is most definitely better and you go right back to sleep.

You are a joy to have in our lives. We all four love you to pieces. You are hilarious to watch and you love everything. You say, "momma, dada, ba ba (bottle) and ace (asa) and baaaal(ball)." Ace seems to be your current favorite of things to say.

You play with everything but your toys which is funny, because your brothers never really did that. You keep B on his toes.

You love food and like to feed yourself. That has been going on for the last two months. You are not a fan of being fed!

Happy Birthday Little Man!

3 Days old

One Month Old

Two months old

Three Months Old

Four Months Old

Five Months Old

Six Months old

Seven Months Old

Eight Months Old

Nine Months Old

Ten Months Old

Eleven Months Old

I am ONE!

Softest Face You Will Find on a 3 Year Old

I got this new Mary Kay cleansing brush thing that my children are slightly obsessed with. It spins. There is a button. They are three. I've had it a few weeks. I thought the obsession had worn off.

Last Thursday, Jude broke out in this weird rash all around his mouth. It was just flesh bumps. I chalked it up as viral. In three years, I have paid enough co-pays to know that until there is snot for ten days or more or a fever spikes, we aren't going to the doctor. Viral=$30.00 down the drain. So, I ignored it. Yesterday, it was almost gone. There was a period where I thought that maybe he was allergic to the beautiful weed flowers he picked me. He picked them again and it didn't spread or get worse so that theory was shot.

So, yesterday Jude goes missing while I was cooking. Asa said he was in our room. I go back there. My door was shut and the bathroom door was shut. I open it and he starts backing into the closet with something behind his back. I grab it. It was my Mary Kay brush. He also had something all over his face. One swipe of the finger and I knew the gritty feeling. He was getting a nice microdermabrasion treatment. I quickly and as gently as possible rinsed the remaining grit off.

So, my child will now have the softest face of any three year old....as soon as the rash from the cleanse goes away.

I like to Move it, Move it.

On Being Imperfect

We are all imperfect. By 8:00 some days I wish I had a redo button. Some days before I get out the door I need a do over. I FINALLY finished reading my book that I have been reading forever.

Before I read this one,I read Give them Grace and Glimpses of Grace. You would think that I would get grace by now. I don't know that you ever fully understand that word and all that comes with it, but those glimpses throughout life are amazing.

Yesterday, I heard something profound. Friday night, friends had this conversation. We have a generation of people who call themselves Christians but are so very confused and misled. There are various reasons for this.

I once knew this girl that got "saved" like every month. I am not being funny. She really did. She was baptized four times that I can remember. I can't judge. Growing up anytime anybody said the "sinner's prayer" I did too because I didn't want to get left out of heaven and that prayer was my ticket. Only big people knew the right words and all I had to do was say them right after they did. It was difficult to mess it up. I prayed it every time somebody said, "repeat after me...."

Then, I started wondering if there was a limit to how many times you could pray it. Eventually, it all came together for me and I figured out it wasn't the prayer saving me.

Grace and the sinner's prayer are two areas that I was "misled/lacked understanding." Just like I thought you had to pray it all the time, I used to really struggle with when grace would run out. In life, your grace with people/relationships tends to run dry or out completely. People leave. They give up on each other. Love fails. It took me a long time to truly understand that God's love doesn't fail. It doesn't leave. It doesn't just go away. Neither does His grace. Everybody has the real you and the secret you that nobody can hear, but yourself. I guess like the little devil on your shoulder type deal.

The real you is out there for everyone to see all the time. The devil you is there for you, God, and the ones closes to you because usually that you shows up with those you love most. God loves the whole me. The whole you. The good and the bad. The broken and whole. He loves all of me. I can't make him stop. I don't control the situation. I am not in control. It is about just me.

I think women tend to struggle with this a whole lot more than men. I guess it is like a hormonal situation or something. God's grace and love are not limited.

In the book I was reading, the author talks about Eve. You hear the story of Adam and Eve and you think God kicked them out of Eden because his was giving them what they deserved. He was disappointed. Nope. I have never looked at it past this.  He did it not because they ate from the tree. It was the other tree. The Tree of Life. This tree gave life. No death. No disappointment. No heartache. No aging. No fear. No sickeness. When they ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, sin entered the world. It was corrupt. It was evil. God's love and mercy sent them out of the garden. Not his anger. Not his disappointment. If they had stayed in the garden, they would have kept eating from the tree of life and lived forever. They would have just been stuck there rolling in sin all the time, but living forever. God wouldn't allow that for people that He loved. His love and mercy sent them out. His grace and love sent Jesus to rescue mankind. Redemption. Rescued. Mercy. Grace.

I never saw the story of Adam and Eve about God. Of course I didn't. I tried to make the Bible about me. They were the reason I sinned. It was about me. It was about Adam and Eve, they were the first characters in the Bible. Lowly me.  Sinful Adam and Eve. I learned segmented Bible stories growing up that were about cute characters that I viewed as Bible heroes. I didn't see them as characters in a huge story of a Great Rescuer. I didn't see the whole picture of a huge redemptive story. I didn't see them as sinners, they were in the Bible. We are selfish selfish selfish. By we, I mean humans. We attempt to make everything about us. We even try to make the Bible about solely us. When we go through the Bible and miss the Redeemer piece in each story, we create holes. Holes that we try to fill with more us. It is a very scary thing to watch happen. Unfortunately, it leaves room for doubt, confusion, wrong thinking, and false teaching just to name a few.

The bottom line is that He loves His children. He loves me when I am ugly and sinning. He loves me when I am broken. He loves me when I throw temper tantrums. He loves me when I blow my top. He loves me, all of me, all the time. He loves me so much that he won't leave me stuck in those ruts. If I just trust Him, He walks with me through the journey of being imperfect. He's not leaving.

Where Do We Live?

David and I could completely live up north if we were loaded and could afford a jet to the beach a few times a year. I love the beach, but I love the snow too. All these people are like, "I am over winter." "Bring on Summer." In Spring I feel like "bring back winter or bring on summer." I have mixed emotions.

Summer brings bugs, grass, and weeds. Now, while I love flip flops, sun, and grilled food I dislike majorly the first three things mentioned. I am not ready for winter to be over. My great-grandmother used to say "if it thunders in December it snows in March." I am holding out for one more snow this season. I love the stuff. My kids are learning to love it. It has snowed every year that they have been born and we live in Alabama.

We have been snow skiing a few times in the past few years. We love it. I love getting all bundled up, spending a day in the stuff, and then thawing by a fire with friends that go with us. It is wonderful.I can't wait until the boys are old enough to go with us. The big boys already love the snow and Titus just loves life so I know he will like it.

Now, prepare for photo overload.

So, it snowed in Alabama in January:

It snowed in Alabama in February.