Joy in every stage

I have been going through old pictures of the boys lately. Nolan and I looked at ALL the pics we had from when Jude was born until now. We laughed and almost cried at the fact of how fast life goes by and how fast the boys seem to be growing up. I often ask the boys"Can I keep you little forever?" They usually always reply "No, Mom". Even though I know I can't, it's hard not to find myself wishing life would slow down and wanting to savor their every childhood moment. The Lord says the same thing to me every time I ask the boys if I could keep them little. He reminds me that I need to find joy in every stage of their life and not pine for the time gone by. So that is what I have been trying to do, enjoy every growing stage and loving every change in their lives. It can be hard at times, but so fulfilling at other times. I do not ever want to be one of those moms that can't let their children grow up. I pray that they are one in a million kids and that they always want one thing in their lives: God's Will for them. If we are not in His will, nothing matters. Nolan and I love them so much but I never want to hold them back from His will and work in their lives. So with that said, here are a few pics as the boys have grown :)

                                Jude worships the ground Peyton walks on....

Daddy and Jude....

           

                                                       Sweet lil' men...

                                                     All three boys....

                                                      
                                      Baby Jude isn't a baby anymore...

                                       This is typical silly JCross...

I could have added a ton more, but I better stop here before the server blows up. Hahaha...

AHHHHHHHH THE CAPE.....

This is Jacob's happy face! haha

So I think my internet is tooo terribly slow to handle uploading pics or the website has wanted to give me fits for months. Either way I havent been able to upload and hate to blog with out pictures to accompany. I'm in luck today because I got pics up.  The above picture is our family at Cape San Blas, Fl. We have gone there each summer for the past four years with my dad and stepmom. We love it there because it is not crowded and allows for alot of room for the boys to run around and play and me not freak out about them being all in someones way or have to search for them. We stayed from Tuesday to Sunday and had a great time. Poor Jacob got woke up from his nap to go eat at Boondock's and the pic is him proving to me that he did not have to take a picture and be happy about it. He is just like his mommy when it comes to lack of sleep :) Luckily he got happier and actually looked at the camera once we got to Boondocks.

A little happier now :)

The last three nights we were there we made a fire and had smores. Jude did not really like them. He said "These are different." I think he was trying to be polite and not hurt anyones feelings on his first smore tasting. 

Jude not so sure about this smores idea.

Peyton would eat everyone's leftovers. Good Lord that boy can put away some food!

                                      

All in all we had a nice relaxing time. Can't wait for next year :)

Awaiting John Clark....

Well my sister in law Carley called tonight to tell us she will be induced with our sweet lil nephew, John Clark, on Sunday. We are very excited especially since this is their first child. Throughout her pregnancy I keep talking to the boys about their new baby cousin that lives in Aunt Carley's belly. Jude is at the age where he likes to ask alot of questions and his main concern has been "Mama, is John Clark white or is he black?" To me this is so funny because he is so innocent in his questioning. We never talk about race in our family and make it a special point to teach the boys that God made everyone, and we love everyone no matter what color skin that have. Up to this point I didn't even have a clue that Jude knew much of the difference between African Americans and Caucasians because we have never made it a big deal. After Carley called I was excited and was telling the boys that John Clark will be here in a few days, YAY! Jude once last time looks at me and says, "SO is he white?" This has been kind of a funny ongoing thing between me and Carly since Jude has been questioning the "color" of her child so of course I immediately called her so we could laugh about it. Kids are so funny and can say funny things that are so innocent in nature. Love it! Here is a pic of Aunt Carley in all her preggo glory :). Can't wait to post pics of sweet John Clark.....

        

The boys LOVE Uncle Rankin and Aunt Carley

John Clark all warm and snug in the belly

New Beginnings

   The past 7 months have been a new chapter in our family's lives. In June we moved to Nolan's hometown in Mississippi. This is something Nolan has periodically brought up in our marriage, but I never felt at peace about it at the time. We finally felt like now was the time and took the first scary step in trusting the Lord in the decision to leave Alabama. No it was not easy to leave, but we felt that is was essential to be closer and more involved in Peyton's life. Will we be here forever? Seriously doubt it, but for the moment we are learning to walk by faith in this new journey.
   With that being said we had several "firsts" for our family in the process of relocating.
 1. We moved into Nolan's Grandmother's home. This is great because we have more room for our family.
 2. We got our first LIVE family Christmas tree. Ha, we have had artificial ones in the past because it is easy for me to deal with.

                                    Here is Nolan and the boys getting the tree up.

 3. We both started new jobs. Nolan is employed at Safelite Auto Glass and I am still teaching but I currently teach Pre-K and tutor fourth and fifth grade math at Baxterville. Jude is also in my class so I get to see him more throughout the day.

                                           Jude on the first day of Pre-k at Baxterville.

A Long TIme Coming

So since Jude was born, I have tried to always write down cute or funny things he says or does in a notebook so I could go back and enjoy reading them. I also did this because I sometimes have"mom brain" and forget things. I really want to be able to go back and read these type things when I am older (blame it on the movie The Notebook ha)! 
I have gotten worse about not writing things down lately so I thought I would start a blog that I can turn into a book and I will have to read. I have had my account set up for a while but would keep getting dumbfounded with coming up with a title and url. So I just decided, after months, just to go with whatever I could think of just so I could get started finally! I know I will go back and change alot, but this will work for now. SO, here we go :)!