A Purposeful Peek

On this ordinary Tuesday night, I learned an extraordinary lesson through my toddler's bedtime prayer. After all the lights were out, and she crawled into her "big girl" bed, as usual I asked if she wanted to say the bedtime prayer (see below to learn more about a simple method we've used to teach our toddler about prayer.) Some nights, she asks me to pray, but tonight she took the lead. It went something like this: Dear Jesus, thank you for today. Because this is the day that the Lord has made!!! [said enthusiastically, to the tune of a song she learned at church] Thank you for loving us. And for the splash pad with my friend Amy today. And my school today. And the pond with momma. And Grandma's house today. And for all the newwww books at the library today.  God thank you for helping us be kind and obey. And listen. And to don't hit people.  In Jesus name. Ameeeeennnnnn.  That sounds like quite a day, right?! The splash pad, the pond, Grandma...

Over the years this blog has been many things. Heads Carolina, Tails Oklahoma. It started as a place to update friends and family in Oklahoma of our adventures while we were living across the country in North Carolina. It was a place where I documented our travels, gave a glimpse into our everyday newlywed life, and shared snapshots of the ways God was growing us through different seasons. We envisioned staying in NC for many more years; however the title of the blog was somehow foretelling... we were faced with a decision of whether to remain in NC or move back to OK. Heads Carolina, Tails Oklahoma. Back in Oklahoma, we had requests from friends in North Carolina (and abroad!) to continue writing and especially sharing photos of our firstborn! Suddenly, this blog was more for me than a snapshot of our lives to share with others, but rather an opportunity to capture memories of our growing family. It became an electronic scrapbook of sorts, with letters to our babies through mont...

Adeline Grace, Happy 6 Months to you! This past month has been filled with so much joy as we've watched you really blossom, and your sweet personality continues to unfold.  You've now experienced your first night away from Momma, as I attended a 2 day conference in Dallas. I missed you like crazy, but you had a great time bonding with your Daddy and sister while I was away; our reunion when I returned was so precious!  You also experienced your first overnight trip, as we took a long weekend mini-vacation with our whole family. As always, you slept in the car nearly the whole way to Dallas, and you win the award for Best Road-tripping Baby!  You loved getting to see grandparents, great-grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins from both sides of your family during our weekend getaway, and you won them all over with your big blue eyes and your new floor-rolling moves.  On our mini-vacation, you and your big sister  (and your cousin...

Adeline Grace, Can you just stay a baby forever?! You are literally THE sweetest baby I've ever known. You are all smiles and rolls, coos and giggles, these days. You are growing and thriving and just loving life. This month, you celebrated your first Easter! Your big sister showed you the ropes at the church egg hunt, but you couldn't have cared less about the Easter bunny ; )  This Easter was a very memorable one for our family and unlike any other; although we did have a pre-Easter egg hunt, there were no frilly Easter dresses or matching sister bows. No after church Easter dinner or posed family photos. In fact, we didn't even make it to church... instead, we headed south on I-35 for the much anticipated arrival of some very special people... Your Aunt Lauren, Uncle Gib, and cousins Levi (6), Nate (4), and Libby (2) arrived from Thailand!!! It was their first time to meet you, and you soaked up their snuggles and kisses. This sweet r...

Charlotte Ann & Adeline Grace, It is becoming increasingly difficult to do an "update" on one of you without integrating the other...and for that, I am SO thankful! You girls have formed and incredibly special bond very early on, one that I believe will last a lifetime.  So, this month, instead of doing Addie's normal "4 month update" or Charlotte's "toddler update," I want to combine them to celebrate how much you two are intertwined, although still distinctly different! Adeline recently turned 4 months old, and we celebrated her as we dedicated her to the Lord.  This means we stood in front of our church family and vowed to raise her in a way that she would know her identity in Christ, and that we would extend unconditional love to her as we intentionally empower her spiritual and physical growth. It was so humbling and surreal to be standing here with Addie, saying the same vows that we said only 2.5 years ago with Charli! ...