he’s 3!

Posted on 05/25/2014 by lauren

I meant to post this on Sunday but got caught up in the celebrating!

Today is Jack’s birthday! He is 3 years old! We’ve been busy celebrating this boy and having so much fun! It’s hard to believe how quickly 3 years can go by. They’ve been the best 3 years of my life.

Jack's birthday hayride

birthday hayride!

Happy birthday to my sweet, sweet boy! He has the most tender heart I’ve ever seen. He is sensitive but not soft. He’s a rough and tumble boy with a heart for others and a heart that God uses to bring healing to those around him. He’s the most precious human I’ve ever known, and I still can’t get over how blessed I am to be his mama.

wedding weekend.

Posted on 12/16/2013 by lauren

We had a fun weekend! One of Tommy’s closest friends got married on Saturday, so we had so much fun celebrating them this weekend. They got married at this beautiful place in Loudon, Tennessee. It was gorgeous – especially decorated for Christmas. Lights everywhere, greenery, and so much charm. I loved all of the details that Steph chose. I am a huge fan of her style. I wish I had taken more pictures this weekend but have just a few to share. And please excuse my grainy and terrible pictures. My phone is crawling to the finish line as I wait for my upgrade.

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve already seen this picture and the next one. I was sitting at the rehearsal and felt something weird in my sweater pocket. I reached in and pulled this out. It’s like they follow me. My friend who was sitting next to me said one time she was sitting somewhere and reached in her jacket pockets and pulled out her kids’ socks. Which sounded super weird until…

At dinner I pulled Jack’s socks out of my coat pocket. Reminders of my life and toddlerhood everywhere 🙂

My date made for a pretty handsome groomsman. He also caught the groomsman in front of him who passed out twice. I didn’t even see it happen, but people were telling me about it afterwards saying he made a great catch. He says anyone would have done it. The guy seemed to be fine afterwards, thankfully, and the wedding wasn’t disrupted at all.

I had such a good time with my handsome date. I forgot my coat, so I got to sport his for the last part of the evening.

It was a beautiful wedding and a sweet, fun, and tiring weekend! Josh and Steph, we love y’all so much! Congratulations!! We couldn’t be happier for you, and cannot wait to hang out when you get back.

4 months.

Posted on 09/07/2013 by lauren

Thursday marked 4 months since Gabriel was born and died. Tommy and I both feel like it’s been much longer than that. Maybe that’s because today marks 8 months since we learned that our baby was very sick. We were loved on — Thursday I got a sweet text in the morning from my friend who was at the beach, we got some love from our moms, our friends who were having a baby that very day had left something on his grave, and a sweet message from my sister all reminded us of our Baby G. And I got to spend the day with Tommy, as we had some appointments that required his presence.

I wish I could say it was a good day. But in all honesty it wasn’t. It was a really hard day. In general, the days feel less heavy recently than they used to. They pass with relative normalcy, for the most part. Of course if taking your 2 year old to the cemetery on a frequent basis is normal. But generally, that 3 month mark was “magic” in a sense. The super sadness lifted and life continued to move on, and we started to move on with it, and that became ok. But Thursday was a very hard day. I figured I was due for a bad one since I’d had so many good ones recently. And that’s ok. Or so I tell myself. I know it is, but spending a bunch of time crying in front of multiple people hurts my pride. And I battle my pride, a lot. So Thursday ended up being one of those days where I was reminded that I’m not as awesome as I think I am. That I am very needy. That I am very broken. That I don’t heal myself. That I have many issues that need addressing. That I need a Savior.

Picture and sweet reminder sent from my sweet friend at the beach.

Spending some extra time remembering our precious little one in Heaven.

smiles.

Posted on 08/09/2013 by lauren

A little Friday fun around here. Practicing our different smiles for the camera.

The new necklace I’m wearing was a gift from my sweet friend. She left it on Gabriel’s grave for me to celebrate and remember 3 months since he’d been born.