My sunshine

I took advantage of some beautiful light one morning as Max joined me in waking up. I am imprinting these moments in my mind, when it was just me and him and we had the entire day, just us, together. He continually cracks us up with his new found passion of yokes (jokes). Basically it involves calling something by it's wrong name, like saying lotion is soap. He thinks it is hilarious. We also found that he has crazy endurance for running. Kyle will go "running" with him around the block and Max just keeps going and going.  He likes to say, "ready, set, GO!" but it is more like, "ready, GO!" and he points his little finger to the direction one is supposed to run. Then he pumps his arms and jets off. I actually have a hard time keeping up with him, being pregnant and all, but it is sure fun to watch him run.

I can't believe that in three weeks this boy will be two whole years old. It amazes me to think back on when he was so little and helpless in my arms and we had to do everything for him. Now he can do so much more! I am excited to see him continue to grow.

4 Years

We started out like this....

Then I made the best decision ever and this happened...

Four years later and our family looks like this.....

I am so happy and grateful for where my life has taken me. I know not many would want to get married so young and have kids pretty close off the bat but that is the choice that I thoughtfully and happily made. Being married to Kyle was the best decision ever. He is my best friend and words cannot describe how utterly happy he makes me. This guy is the cheesiest, smartest, most faithful, loving man I know. So glad I have him by my side to share in many more memories where we can grow together. I love you suckafish!

My Miracle Skirt

Two weekends ago some friends offered to watch Max so that Kyle and I could make a trip to the temple together. We excitedly jumped at the opportunity and after a wonderful session at the temple we made our way back to the car. Kyle was really hungry (It was 7pm at this point and we had not eaten dinner yet) but we were close to Target which is annoyingly out of the way in Spokane. I checked with our friends and they told us to take our time. So I batted my eyes and pouted my lips and Kyle agreed for a short stop on the terms of checking out their diaper bags.

It was totally not the real reason I wanted to go. I wanted to go because I had been eyeing a particular skirt in the maternity section since it had come out in February and I was waiting for it's thirty dollar price tag to drop. I had been checking online every so often but sometimes Target likes to play tricky and has secret store sales that don't always match with online sales (I am pretty sure every major store does this and sometimes it's vice versa). I hurried to the skirt and alas. It was the same thirty dollar price that it had started out at.

I didn't need the skirt but when you are pregnant you get old of the same 5 outfits really quick, so it is nice to add something to jazz everything up. I really wanted the skirt and showed it off to Kyle, declaring my love for it and it's beauty and and and.... Except I knew that even though it was only thirty dollars, we could not afford it.

I don't say this to bring a pity party to the table, just to say that having a husband in grad school with an incredibly minimal income coming in from work study, loans, and odd jobs does not put a lot of money in the bank. Sometimes this depresses me terribly but I am grateful for this time in our lives to learn to live frugally and within a budget.

So we walked out of the store empty handed. I was noticeably disheartened (pregnancy hormones will make you sad over a skirt! SHOCKER!) and as we left the parking lot, Kyle pointed out a Value Village. He suggested we stop in (that love of mine knows how to cheer me up) even though he was crazy hungry. I resisted, I wasn't even in the mood for thrifting. But he insisted and so I reluctantly agreed and then I had this glimmer of a thought and it was a crazy thought. What if the skirt was there?

Impossible. Right? I shook the thought out of my head based on the fact that the skirt was still full price in the store, it was still warm weather and who would get rid of such a beautiful stripey skirt?

We walked in and I walked toward the maternity section....and then I saw it. Not even on a hanger, draped over the rack as someone who had been looking at it and decided against it (the fool!). My heart pounded, surely it couldn't be THE skirt. But it was, and it was in my size.

I ran to Kyle with the skirt and held it up and he looked as shocked as I did. For seven dollars we could definitely afford the skirt now.

As we left the store with my precious miracle skirt in hand we mulled over how crazy the circumstance had been and because I believe in a loving Heavenly Father who knows me personally and knows the desires of my heart, I couldn't help but draw a connection.

Does Heavenly Father care about a skirt? No, but he cares about me.

I believe that He loves me and sometimes He shows that love in ways that feel deeply personal even though they may seem trivial to the outside viewer. I didn't need the skirt and certainly would have lived without it, but sometimes our spirits need lifted and so we get a free ice cream, a movie voucher, or the perfect skirt.

He blesses us so often and in so many ways that sometimes I think we can  become numb to His immense generosity. Do we even realize how He blesses us? Do we write off that extra twenty dollar tip as luck or human generosity? I believe His hand is in all the good that comes our way and this skirt reminds me to always remember how readily He blesses me. How quick He is to show me He cares, even about the silly things I care about.