for the love of Andrea

This year the fair had a little different feel to it after the stage collapsed. Unexpected tragedies are always difficult to hear about, and obviously even harder to deal with. Hundreds have their own personal story on how this has affected them and one story in particular I have been following has been Andrea. Her dad is AJ's coworker so we have been following her since the beginning. Andrea suffers from critical head trauma and has been in a coma since the accident. Her story hits very close to home as we sat through weeks of watching ICP levels of a close friend of ours who was in a motorcycle accident and had head trauma four years ago. Every day I read her update and have flashbacks of being at the same hospital, looking at the same machines, and hoping for the same outcome.

Thankfully Andrea's family has their hope in the Lord, who has graciously spared her life. Tyler, her brother has done an incredible job of expressing the emotional, physical, and spiritual support they have received across the United States.

One of Tyler's posts was talking about how we naturally want to ask the question "why". Why do things like this happen to me? But then he goes on to say how we should be focused on the "what...do you want me to do with this?" A verse he has reflected on several times is John 9:3 "...but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed." God has been using Andrea's situation in mighty ways and I encourage you to read her story and all the updates from the beginning. Be prepared to shed some tears as you see the mighty work of God unfold right before your eyes.

She is only one of hundreds that need our prayer, so let's not forget all who have suffered on account of this tragic accident.

state fair

There was lots of things for Ari to do this year at the fair. The goats were very entertaining as they were excited to be fed by so many people.

There's just something about tractors that makes them so fun to sit on.

She just had fun sitting in the stroller watching all the action.

We didn't do this last year but Ari really enjoyed being on the "farm". He got to collect corn and take it to the cattle.

He also got to milk a cow, plant seeds, collect fruit and wool.

Then there was an area to take your items to the store where you got "money" for them.

That money then was used to buy one item; milk, oj, or a granola bar.

They also had an area for kids to ride these little tractors. I think he had just as much fun on these little ones as he did the big one that didn't go anywhere.

Fortunately there were still animals to see. The horses we saw were gigantic and made Ari a little nervous. We also saw elephants and chickens.

We always enjoy seeing the sow and all the baby pigs, but this is my favorite little piggy of them all.

my sweeties at 3 months

I like to see how similar and different they are at the same age. Ari was always very mellow and cheery. He was content doing just about anything. This is a fun age for any baby because of all the rewarding smiles you get.

So far the biggest difference is their chub. Ari was a little chubby, but she definitely takes the cake. (And literally she probably would if I let her!) She is so chunky her ankle rolls droop around her feet. Her wrists are the same way and the other day I found syrup stuck between her wrist and hand. It really baffled me because I found it there later in the afternoon and we had syrup on pancakes for breakfast. She wasn't even in the same room with us when we ate!

Our baby girl loves to squeal when she wants attention or wants to be doing something else. She has found her feet and is constantly holding on to them. She enjoys sitting up in the bumbo now but gets frustrated that her hand coordination does not allow for her to actually get to her toys. She'll bang her hand on the tray right next to the toy, but never manage to get there. Then she'll give me a look like I've played a cruel trick on her. It probably is more entertaining for me at this point then for her.

more traveling

Last week AJ was in Boston for work, so my mom and I took the kids back to Florida to visit my grandparents. My grandpa's health is declining and it had been nearly a year since I last saw them so I figured I better go.

The traveling was a little tiresome seeing that the last four weekends we have spent either going to or coming from Florida.

And three of them we drove. Yeah...I might have been crazy.

Surprisingly the trips went well and the kids did great riding in the car for so long.

Who knew tasty fingers could go such a long way?

It ended up raining every day, all day until our last one so I got to spend lots of quality time indoors.

Chasing a two year old.

And constantly saying "No, Ari." "Don't touch that." "Stay in here."

For being stuck in a car for two days, then stuck inside for another four days straight he did extremely well. I on the other hand was exhausted.

The rain was really a blessing in disguise because that allowed a lot more time spent with my grandparents then doing anything else. I am thankful they let us invade their house all week.

The last day we woke up to the sun shining bright and decided to spend the morning at the beach. Ari finally got to swim all of his energy out that day before we had to make the trip home.

a remedy

I was putting Ari down for his nap and he kept coughing. He looked at me and said "I need some medicine." And my response was "Well, I don't know what medicine you need."

Silly me forgot what the cure for everything was.

He instantly replied "Chocolate!"

More celebrating!

So much happened in July I am still catching up on posts! As you know we traveled to Florida to make it just in time for another wedding. But it wasn't just another wedding to us. To be completely honest, I don't think there are words to express how much this couple means to us. Nathan and Kristina are more family to us than anything else. (Nathan's mom and my mom are best friends and have known each other since before they were ever married. So all of us kids were raised together since birth...and have been there for each other through pretty much everything.)

This couple has waited a long time for this special day and we were so happy to have witnessed the marriage covenant they made to each other.

It was hard to get a good shot of them with my camera because of the sun :( but it was beautiful and the weather turned out great for a beach wedding. This was the best beach wedding I have ever been to and definitely the best reception food I have ever tasted. It was very low-key and relaxing. So happy for you two!

We got to spend lots of time with my brother and his family that week too. Lynlee is always so cute. She didn't want anything to do with sand.

We only had 2 full days of sun because it rained the rest of the time, but we still were able to squeeze in some beach and pool time.

Ari learned how to swim around all by himself and he is so proud of it!

It was nice to have some time to relax since this summer has been so busy.

All of these weddings remind me of how exciting it was when we got married. We have now celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary and I can honestly say life has just gotten more exciting. I never thought I could love AJ any more than I did back then, but I have found there was more room for that love to grow. He is perfect for me and I am so proud to call him my husband.

3 months

If my scale doesn't lie then it appears she is 14 lbs right now. She has rolls and rolls and more rolls. She also has a killer double chin. (Well, and cheeks apparently.)

She has a serious look to her, then cracks smiles when you least expect it. She even laughs when you laugh.

Ari still likes to hold her but doesn't ask as often since she seems to be growing by leaps and bounds.

She also gets special attention from her cousin. Lynlee is so sweet with her I can already tell she will be a big help to her mommy when her baby sibling comes along this winter.

Evangeline still sleeps extremely well at night. She eats at 9p then won't eat again until around 6a. She has developed a habit of wanting mommy to hold her during afternoon naps though. Either she will sleep for 30 minutes by herself or will sleep for 3 hours if I give in. I thought it was sweet at first when she would sleep on me while I napped too...but on days I'd rather stay up it's been hard staying productive when she wants to be held.

She is so precious and has made the transition of having two kiddos extremely easy.

28

Oh how the years go by so quickly. When I first met AJ he was 21 and I was 19. He would always joke around that he was dating a teenager and it made me sound so much younger than I really was. Back then it was unimaginable to think what our lives would look like 7 years later.

Well here we are...celebrating his 28th birthday. (It was actually 1 week ago but we were in Florida and didn't have internet access.) Since we were down there for the week I did not plan ahead and prepare a gift in advance to take down there. Bad, bad wifey. But because he is so wonderful he didn't care the least and was thrilled to have gotten a Snickers ice cream candy bar instead.

Seven years later he is just as dreamy now as he was back then. I am so thankful for the person he has become and am looking forward to celebrating many more birthdays with him. Happy late birthday AJ!

Weekend of Weddings

Last weekend was extremely busy. We left Friday for Kentucky because AJ was in a wedding and we had to get there for the rehearsal dinner. The wedding was on Saturday and then we had to drive an hour and a half to the airport Sunday morning to fly to Florida for another wedding that same evening. Phew!

It was totally worth it because this was the best wedding I have ever witnessed. From the day I met Rob & Carly you could just see the love they have for God. Everything we experienced that weekend was just overflowing with a love for God I have never seen. From his parents, his siblings, his close friends, her close friends, her parents and brother; it was so clear that all of these people were like-minded in that they wanted to bring glory to God in all the festivities that took place in uniting this couple. I have never been around so many strong believers at one time. It was infectious. It was refreshing.

Rob and Carly are just fun people and I am thrilled they both will be living in Indy now. These are the type of people you never get tired of being around.

Although I'm not sure why anyone would want to leave Lexington. It has places like this castle and miles and miles of horse farms. Absolutely beautiful.

AJ's mom came along for the ride to help out with the kiddos while AJ was in the wedding.

Not sure why we didn't get a picture with Evangeline. Oh well. At least we got one with Ari. It was difficult enough pulling him away from the dance floor. He sure loves to dance!