4th of July!!

Man o Man time's a' flying!! I feel like just yesterday we were waiting for the ninja's arrival and now we are on the eve of 4th of July?!

This week has absolutely been insane. Can anybody feel me?! My birthday, meetings for work and church and to cut out the sweetest lady-bug invitations on the planet...seriously people, Christ Church Brenham women know how to throw a shindig. If you are expecting or getting married or coming up on a significant birthday, move to Texas and join our church just so you can get a party. This group of women could write a novel simply on partying it up in shabby chic style. And. That. Ain't. No. Joke.

Digressing....

Anyway, it's been nuts and the forecast is partly cloudy with a chance of almonds. AKA: it ain't changing any time soon. Saturday we have a wedding to attend about 2 hours away, and then a whole gaggle of the hubs' fam arrives. His mom will be back from her east coast tour. No, she isn't the next American Idol. Just the most current American Idol Grandma touring 'round in her Prius to see her grandbabies. Arriving with her will be 3 additional family members and two friends. Bringing the Forman Texas total to 10!

So, for all this celebratory hoop-lah, and the independence of this great nation, I've decided to tackle my first layered cake. Hopefully, it will turn out as fantastic as Mrs. Ashley over at MakeIt-LoveIt.com If you haven't seen this site, and you are crafty, drop everything and go. Go now. Seriously. Stop. Reading. Redirect URL. Stand in awe of her fantastic-ness.

Anyway...Here's a pic of this crazy cake. Hopefully it won't turn out brown in the middle and purple on top...I'm sure the cookie monster that lives at my house would eat it anyway.

Happy 4th of July!!!

Goodbye Roaring Twenties!!!

Well, the day finally arrived. Today is my 30th birthday. Most people say that with a sigh and then go run 4 miles to "prove they can." I, on the other hand, echo the words of my sister-in-law, Megan: "I feel like I'm just hitting my stride."


(Speaking of Megan, she and her hubs are currently texting me a major event that happened every year of my last 30...it's rather insane AND hilarious!!...and super creative. Well done, friends!!)


The big celebration started last night with a yum yum yummy apple pie baked by my friend, Mandy, at small group. Everyone was glad I turned 30. :-) 


This morning I woke up to a giant package creatively wrapped by my handsome man. He ran out of paper, but wrapped it in such a way that I couldn't tell. He just made me open it very carefully...


My first order of the day, however, was to open my card, which was actually 3. Dave, my mom, my sister and her man, and my in-laws all went in together for the gift (you will have to hold on for that part...) and my mom and sis wrote me little notes that Dave beautifully glued to crafty paper for me! He even picked the paper to match their personalities.  

Dave's card also matched his personality and was a perfect reflection of the atmosphere of our home most days, full of laughter, silliness and fun...

He said he couldn't resist the card because of the gift everyone got me....

TA-DA!!!!

"One happy wife and mama" doesn't even BEGIN to express how happy I am about this gift!! If you had asked me even 3 months ago if I would ever learn to sew, I would have laughed and said.."no way! Who has time for that?!" And then, I got roped into sewing some kitchen towels for a friend, the bug was caught and before long I was borrowing a sewing machine from anyone who would let me.  

I couldn't wait to put it to work!! But first, off to Hobby Lobby for some fantastically amazing cloth to fulfill  my fantastically amazing ideas!! 

Jackpot! 

They are all in the wash being loved on by some Tide before being jerked and stabbed into submission. No worries little cotton wares, you will live a much happier life as pillows, dresses, nursing covers and burp cloths. Life is better with purpose, dear ones! :-)

As I said earlier, I'm hitting my stride. 

I'm at home in my community and town. I know I've got some amazing women as back up while I journey this new mommy scene. 

I looking back at old recipes I thought were so hard once and I wonder why they were. I can bake bread, am going to make baby food, and am even tackling a cake that is 5 layers and looks like an American flag when you cut it! ha! 

I have a husband who would lasso the moon for me, who stands guard over me, our daughter and our home and who gets giddy over me getting giddy over something as silly as fabric. (In fact, he's got his eye on a pumpkin print he said he needs made into a table runner before October...told you we were silly most of the time...) He keeps my heart light and my vocal chords strained from laughter. You knocked it out of the park this year, my love. 

Well, there's the dryer buzzer. Off to build something fantastic!! 

And hey there, 30? 

Bring. It. 

It's Mama Flair!

Recently, Dave has been encouraging me to "...just do something for you." So, on my day off this week, I ventured to our local Sally's Beauty supply, and came out with some new adventures on my horizon...

I like to call it "Mama Flair."

As my sister in law likes to say..."I'm just keepin' it real, ya'll"

To sleep or not to sleep...

About four weeks ago, the ninja entered a "sleep-regression" cycle. Essentially, my sweet little blessing that was sleeping 10-12 hours a night inexplicably started rousing in the wee hours. I could get her back to sleep, but it has been happening more and more frequently. In addition, she won't nap well during the day unless we are at home, and even then it's a fight to the death.

So, Monday begins official scheduling boot camp. Until now, I've been pretty flexi-mexi with the whole scheduling thing - parent directed/child led mixture. But, no more. Because mommy can't take the chaos anymore! :-)

The point of this ranting however, steers more toward the deep, loving, tender heart of God. ...Woah, Jules...how did we get from scheduling to the Father heart of God. Walk with me, friends....

So, this morning, I decided a nap was a non-negotiable. Yesterday was a rough day for our sweet blessing, and in turn a rough day for her sweet parents. As I was trying to coax, lull and otherwise knock her into a nap  (ha!), 

she fought me. 

and fought me. 

and. 

fought. 

me. 

.......breathe. just breathe.......

So, as is my custom, I started praying over her little heart, mind and spirit. Praying the peace of God would rest on her, that the Holy Spirit would comfort her, that Jesus would be near and help her to rest. Mind you, she is crying and writhing around under my gentle hand laid on her back. 

And then He did it...as He always does...tenderly, gently, quietly, and to my heart of hearts with peace...

"This looks like you." 

So often my Lord tries to quiet my spirit. He speaks words of peace over me. He gently lays his hand on my back and puts the proverbial pacifier in my mouth. And he waits. He stands guard by my side and soothes me. Yet, I writhe under his gentle hand. I squirm and cry and scream and think that the world is going to end. I will never eat again, never play again, and by all means I will miss something dreadfully essential to my now. And all the while, he knows I am just tired. I just need to take a rest. To close my eyes, still my spirit and rest. 

I'm thankful for His gentle words. His gentle reminders. And His care for my well being. He only wants the best for me in this life, and for that to happen, I must listen to his gentle prodding. 

For those who are wondering...she fell alseep after about 25 minutes of coaxing. Hopefully, she will learn my cues and remember how good she feels when she wakes...except that she has the memory of an earthworm. Come to think of it, so do I sometimes....

Time to get a lil messy!! Part Deux...

Well, I'm sure you regulars out there got a little tease from my post "Time to get a lil messy!!!"

Here's the video footage. I especially like her face with the first taste of sweet peas. I imagine my parents, godparents, grandparents...and the parents of all of my friends saw that exact same face when I was tot and faced down anything I found unacceptable. Like, riding in the backseat of Uncle Randy's car for instance.... :-D

In fact, the hubs has probably seen that scowl a few times from me as well...and I'm sure I will be seeing it from her for many years to come. Here's to parenting!!

This is our first attempt at solids! Mommy & Daddy bought some wonderfully organic, pure, healthy butternut squash! :-) Maybe we should have started her with cake and ice cream?!

With "Sweet" in the name, one would think an infant would enjoy. Not so, my friends, Not. So.

A House Divided...

Do your mealtimes look like this?

If so, tell me, what's your favorite "healthy enough for mommy and tasty enough for daddy recipes?"

Can you guess which side is mine? :-)

Time to get a lil messy!!

I will be honest with myself and the world...I've been dreading the idea of starting the lil ninja on solids. I know most moms can't wait to get to this milestone, but the thought of lugging clunky glass jars around...the mess...the mess in the diapers...the potential digestive issues...having to plan meals for another mouth that doesn't eat what we do (quite yet). It just all seems overwhelming and a bit complicated. (Did I mention I don't like change either?!)

But then, I think about this little film clip and I embrace the necessity...

So, today, I bought them. The first four little packs of baby food for our sweet girl...roasted butternut squash and sweet peas. And tomorrow...or Saturday...will be the beginning of a new chapter....

I'm sure I will post a video soon, so stay tuned!!

Parenting 101

I am so thankful for our church. I know that may initially come off as cheesy Christian-ese, but I assure you it's not. I have been in church my entire life and I have never been part of a community like this one. We do life together in a way that I have not experienced before. If we could all live in a commune, I think we would. :-) hahaha! Just kidding. But, maybe.....

This past Sunday being Father's Day, Justin taught on Fatherhood. While it was geared toward fathers and not all of it applied to us mothers, some of it did. And I want to share. And it's my blog. So, I can. :-) These are some of my paraphrased thoughts...

1. If you can't be a godly parent, you can't be a godly missionary.
So many people want to impact the world for Christ. It's our mission, right? Matthew 28 - reach the world. And I agree. I was a full time missionary for a few years and my heart is often drawn back to "the world." But, so many of our Christian homes look exactly like "the world." Yes, we are broken people, but scripture is clear - they will know we are Christians by our love. How are we loving our kids? Our spouses? Are our homes different? If we can't execute the mission of parenthood in a Christ-honoring way, neither will we impact the world.

2. Children are not a hurdle on the way to the mission.
So often we parents get selfish. It's our sinful nature, right? In the words of a youth musical I was once in: "I wants what I wants when I wants it, and I wants what I wants right now!!" But scripture is clear.

Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are the sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. Psalm 127:4-5

I had heard this verse many times before, but it wasn't until Sunday that I was shown something different. Children are the arrows. They are an essential part of the mission, not a hurdle on the way to it. Without an arrow what good is a bow?! It's useless! Now THAT is a good word! (Thanks Justin Hyde.)

3. Parenting is inconvenient.

Dave's brother and his wife recently mentioned this to us, and we recognized the weight and value of it. Justin drove the point home yesterday. When we choose to overlook the sin in our children's lives we are valuing fleeting (temporal, relative, momentary, false...) peace over truth. We have the opportunity in their sinful moments to pause and address their sin in relation to the gospel. Or we can accuse, condemn and flip into moralistic teachings of "do more, be better, try harder." This is not the truth of the gospel. We can't be better. We are sinful, dirty and dead without the gospel. It is only by the gospel that we can even hope to be good parents.

4. Our children will take their security in the Lord from ours.

To me, this seems kind of like a "duh" moment. They learn everything from us, right? And again, scripture is clear:

He who fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge. Prov. 14:26

I guess for me, its a reminder. There is a direct correlation between the security I cling to in the Lord and the security they will then expect from and cling to in the Lord. So, what's one way I live that out?

There are moments when a small voice in my mommy-psyche identifies that my sweet girl's cries are nothing more than fear or anxiety. She will freak out for no apparent reason. So, I cover her. I pray peace over her. I proclaim that fear is not of the Lord and it will not take up residence in my home. He has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind. I proclaim it. I shout it. One time, when she was freaking out over the hairdryer being on, I screamed it above the whirl of it's little motor. My child will NOT be afraid of a hairdryer! Especially when I am holding it AND standing between her and it. She will know that her dad and I will always stand guard over her spirit against the kingdom of darkness. (mmm....I'm feeling a preach comin' on!!!!) Ya know what? It works. She quiets down everytime that this "unexplained" terror sweeps in.

So, that's it for now. Thanks for readin, friends. I know this one was long what with all the words and no adoring pictures of our little ninja. :-)

5 months old!!

Yah. Way Late on this one. Sorry, friends.

Norah is 5 months old! (On June 12th that is...) Some shots of my sweet girl

• I love her sweet disposition. Most of the time she is laid back and go-with-the-flow.
• She absolutely LOVES her daddy. He can almost always make her smile.
•  I love how her legs are getting just a little bit chunky and how she has wrist creases.
• She enjoys the water, both the bath and the pool. Though when we first enter the pool the shock of the heat to cold gets her everytime. Her head jerks sideways as she looks to me for reassurance, brow furrowed and concern in her eyes. I laugh and smile and she recovers instantly.
• She loves to roll around and gets frustrated when she can't get where she wants. 
• She has recently started testing me when I put her down. I will lay her down somewhere and she will scream and squeal as if I'd never hold her again. After a few seconds of this tantrum, she looks at me, smiles and starts playing. (Oh boy...here we go!!)
• She has developed a new squeal. Gone are the days of the newborn "warble." Now I hear that "all too soon to be tween squeal." You know, the one that makes most adults' faces screw up into all kinds of nastiness. Hopefully, we can nip that in bud before my face gets stuck. :-) (I can hear all you parents of daughters laughing and saying "good luck" under your breath.)
• She is reaching for everything. Food on my plate, coupons in my hand, dust bunnies, toys, blankets and...well...you name it. My mommy reflexes are daily being honed.
• She has a tooth! Geez..I almost forgot!! She got her first tooth two days before she turned 5 months old. Ahead of the curve on height and teeth, but weighs the same as one of my friends two month old.
• Still bald. There is a little fur up there, but not much. She is definitely a Forman.

I'm enjoying being this sweet souls' mama. It's true what they say. It does go too fast.

Father's Day!!

Well, Happy belated Father's Day to all you wonderful dads out there!! Dave and I celebrated over multiple days because he had to work this weekend. It all started Friday afternoon with a little fingerpainting action with me and the Ninja. There aren't many pictures because once she realized there was goop on her fingers, choas ensued. Screaming, big fat crocodile tears. Not. A. Fan. But you can see the before and after anyway...

The sweetness, being all swallowed by her swimmy diaper. Yeah, I know, not going swimming, but it was the only disposable in the house. :-)

The Canvas and the Artist. Watch out world, here she comes!

Enjoying the green. (Which subsequently made her hand look cyanotic. Note to self.)

The closest-to-the-end-without-the-hysterics picture I got. Yes. She did eat a little green. Yes. It was non-toxic. No. I do not plan to make a habit of it. ;-)

The masterful finished product. Oh. Yeah. I said masterful. She is an artistic genius. :-)

As I mentioned, Daddy Dave had to work Friday night, so when he got home 'round midnight, he got to see his present.I was a terrible wife and would NOT let him open it. He just had to stare at it! muhahahahaha!  The pics with lil miss were shot the next morning, but this is (essentially) what he saw:

For all the NJ fans on my little space, here are some more shots of her enjoying the feel of the slick paper and the crazy colors.

So, after Dave opened his gift on Saturday morning, we ran off to have breakfast with his dad. It's always a great time with him, so that was wonderful. Then on Sunday, we celebrated fatherhood and children with our Chirst Church Brenham community (blog coming later about that) then with lunch with sweet friends and a grand dinner at home just the two of us. It was a great weekend of celebrating this new season in life.

And just so I don't forget what my fridge looks like with her very first picture on it:



Epic Fail. Epic Truth.

Epic. Fail. I was appalled when I opened my blog page and saw that the last post I put up was May 9. Really, Jules? Over a month? Even when you know how much this silly act of putting pen to page feeds your soul?! For those who are immediately concerned that my soul is dry, I assure you it is not. I'm learning to maximize the little moments and stick to the schedule our home so efficiently runs around.

I think a large issue that plagues most moms, especially new moms like your truely, is the boring routine of the day to day. I think thats why we get so much joy from planning birthday parties, baby showers and meeting for coffee or a swim in the pool. A break. A break from the everyday.

I'm thankful for women like Sally Clarkson. In her book, Mission of Motherhood, I found myself staring back from the pages.

"The truth is, serving others in the ordinary moments of life is not something that comes easily to me. I'm the kind of person who tends to be attracted to the grand sweeping accomplishments in life. I am challenged by stories that offer great vision and depth of commitment. When it comes to motherhood, I like the idea of being a mom who inspires my children to great accomplishments...The everyday realities of running a household just don't have the same appeal.


But the humdrum activities, of course, comprise the majority of a mother's experience. Before I had children, I never realized this. I really had no clue that admiring a Beanie Baby's pen, taking a picture, finding a T-shirt, and helping to unlock a gas cap would be the kinds of sacrificial acts required of me most often while I attempted to fulfill the mission of motherhood."

Anybody out there resonating with me? Feel the vibes, sister-friends. I want GREATNESS in my life! (Can you see me? Arms outstretched at the top of some magnificent peak, overlooking grand mountain ranges shouting to all creation?)



Never mind that I would have probably stumbled by way to that mountain top in my old ratty T-shirt, with a Charlie horse and one of those awful “stitches in my side.” And of course I would carry with me my constant companion these days: a dried up smelly sour milk stain over my left shoulder and down my back.

Before I feel too sorry for myself that I will not be climbing any mountains anytime soon, Sally saves my outlook….

“I’ve come to appreciate the importance of the many thousands of routine moments in a mother’s life, for it is in these moments that real greatness tends to be taught and caught. It is certainly important to grasp the great calling of motherhood and respond to a vision for what a family can be. But it’s the way I respond to my children in everyday moments that gives me the best chance of winning their hearts.”

John 15:13: Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

Thanks for the redirect, Sally.