Our life on my phone

I recently updated the software on my Mac so I could FINALLY upload the pictures from my phone onto my computer. They date back only to May of 2011 but Chandler looks so little in them!  He was only 11 months old in the picture at the bottom.  It is so incredibly hard to believe I am actually starting to think about his second birthday party!  Anyways, here are some random and of course adorable moments in our lives since last May. 

Our first real bruiser care of the fireplace

He is sleeping in our other dog's bed...he does actually have one that he fits in!

Bought this bouncer for Cooper but Chandler decided he needed to play in it.

He knows how to climb the baby gate....in this picture, he finally realized after about 2 minutes of crying that he could see himself in the mirror

Exploring our little piece of property in Mertzon.

Imagine my surprise when this came out of our ice maker!  Interesting.  Random, I know.

Sitting in a feed bucket, petting a goat.

Grocery shopping

Our first little swimming pool...Chandler LOVED it!

Chandler's Mo (my mother) taught him (a condensed version of) patty cake when he was pretty young.  But, in this video, he is getting it confused with the itsy bitsy spider

I'll have to load more later!  There are some really cute pictures of Cooper but, being the second child, you know, his pictures will just have to wait for the time being. ;-) 

  

He Provided

I have plenty of hard days as I continue to adjust to life as an oil patch wife.  I grew up in an 8am-5pm work schedule household, where I had both parents home after 5 each day and every weekend, since I can remember anyways.  TJ works a lot and I am not use to flying solo as often as I do.  He is an amazingly dedicated man.  He leaves for work around 6:45 every morning and he doesn’t get home until 7, 8, or sometimes 9pm and every now and then he is out until the wee hours in the morning.  He works every third weekend so when it’s his weekend to work, it equates to 12 straight days of these hours before he (and I) gets a break (sometimes not quite as late on the weekend).  Our lifestyle has been a major adjustment for me and it has really forced me to learn a lot about myself.  For example, I never knew how much I would really, really need, and want, my spouse.  I NEED him in many ways.  I also never knew how much I would come to depend on my friends.  I had to learn how to put my pride down and ask for help and accept help when it’s offered.  I have learned how to lean on my God more faithfully than I ever have before.  Acclimating to my new norm has not been easy for me, as many of my friends can testify.  But, however slowly I’m getting there, I do know that I am getting there and I am learning a lot along the way.

Despite a few “down days” here and there, I think I am at a fantastic place in life, really.  I believe the Lord knows when we need things the most and at our hungriest, He provides.  Like rain in West Texas.  As we have been suffering through the worst drought in recent history, we all have been praying and praying for rain.  And when the sky fills with dark, promising clouds, we pray even louder and more fervently.  Sometimes those clouds just hover.  Sometimes, they come and go without so much as a single drop of nourishment for our thirsty land.  And when this happens, we all take a deep breath, and we pray again, rest assured in knowing that He will bring it when we need it most.   Never before have I been challenged like I have been challenged in the past few years.  I have been praying and praying for years, and when I needed it most, He provided.  He provided some amazing, beautiful, devout, new friends.  He also provided me with an amazing, new appreciation for the friends I have had for many years.  I need these women.  And I hope I can be for them at least a fraction of what they have been for me.  Some of our friendships date back decades (yes, Chelsea, Megan there is an “s” at the end of decade…..are we that old?!) and some have developed just in the last 5 or 6 years and some even more recent. But, regardless of how long they have each been in my life, they have been a tremendous part of my life.  Serving in different capacities, each one of these very special ladies has been a vital part of maintaining a healthy attitude in the past few years.  I simply can’t express my gratitude for their interest in my well-being.  I praise God for the Christian friends He has surrounded me with.  I believe that He gives me strength and encouragement through them.  He works through each and every one of us!   There isn’t a need for me to list everyone and point out special ways you each have touched my life; that list is just too long.  You know who you are and I hope that my love and appreciation for you is evident.  Thank you, thank you for all you do for me. 

He knew I would need more Godly women in my life.  And He provided.  He provided.  

Recent Pictures of the Boys

Chandler loves to have his boots on!  He finds them, puts them on and he doesn't really care if they match or not.

Mommy 1 Chandler 0

Chandler’s First Timeout

My sweet, innocent, little Chandler received his first timeout a few days ago.  Like most punishable actions of a twenty-month old, it was near impossible for me to maintain my composure and not laugh at the darling child.  

While I was trying to clean up the kitchen, I sent Chandler on a mission to go put Cooper’s baby bathtub back in the bathroom (we bathe Cooper in the kitchen sometimes).  Off he went, dragging the tub, which equaled him in length, behind him.  After about 5 minutes of scary silence, I went to check on his progress only to meet him in the living room, caring a cup of water, sloshing small amounts of it all over the place.  Hmm….water in a cup, I thought.  Okay…..  Well, I scared him as we met and he dumped the cup all over the living room floor.  Mind you, the cup was still quite full so now there was a lot of water all over our carpet.  Hmmmm….water all over the carpet.  Then, the lightbulb went off and I realized where the water probably came from.  I’m sure you can guess.  Chandler is not tall enough to reach the sink faucet, even with his stool.  And, he can’t turn the bathtub water on.  So I was starting to put it all together and went into the bathroom, only to find Cooper’s bathtub with about an inch of water in it, a rather large puddle around the base of the toilet, and smaller puddles scattered throughout the bathroom.  Great.

Needless to say, I told Chandler that we don’t play in the toilet and that he was going to timeout and he looked at me with the most perplexed, blank stare.  After all, he was just filling up the bathtub, right?!  I am exceptionally proud of him for problem solving! But, I sat him down in the hallway, continuing to explain his wrong-doing in the most basic words I could find without laughing and I went to work cleaning up the water.  He only tried to get up once and I quickly sat him back down and that’s when the crying started.   I made him sit there for two minutes, which felt like ten to me, and to him, I’m sure.  I think the timeout was successful and I really think he got it.  I am grateful for another discipline tool I can finally use with him.  I’m not so grateful for the toilet water but as long as some good came out of it, I suppose. 

 

Am I Too Late....

To this blog party?!  As I visit some of the blogs of friends and other fantastic women whom I find encouragement in, I am seeing their archives dating back pretty far.  Like 2008 far.  Geez.  2008.  In 2008 I met my husband.  In 2008, I was somewhat financially irresponsible (post topic?).  In 2008, I was certainly not the Christian I am today (post topic!).  In 2008, I drank a good amount of beer (no post necessary).  I was a very different, young, maturing girl.  I have grown a lot and learned so much about myself and how I want to live life.  I actually started to blog in August 2009.  My first post was also my last and it was really one big rant about one issue.  I’ll share that post on this blog someday because it is still something I am very passionate about.  But, 2008 that was a long time ago… I’ll move on in order to quit thinking about how old (and wise?) I am getting.  Anyways….

You know, I find myself driving, which I do a lot, thinking and praying, praying and thinking, and very often I wish I could get my thoughts out of my head and down on paper (or my Mac) and maybe even blog about some of them.  And then I quickly doubt myself, “no one really cares about what's going on in your head, Ashley!”  But I have finally come to the understanding that it doesn’t matter if anyone does care.  My words might not mean a hill of beans to you.   And that’s fine.  They matter to me.  My life is daily an opportunity for ME to grow and learn as a mother, wife, daughter, friend and most importantly, as a Christian.  So perhaps if you can’t relate, I can, when I come back to one post or another as I go through life’s struggles.  I can remember where I have been and focus on where I want to be.  Maybe a private journal would be more appropriate?  I don’t know.  But I do know that I type faster than I write and I really wanted to start blogging so I could share more intimate, wonderful pictures and stories about our family.  My posts might be about these random, lingering thoughts in my head or, probably more likely, about my beautiful babies and their adventures.  I’m not really sure how I will use this blog yet.  I think it’s one of those, ‘you won’t know until you do it kind of things”?  I really want to start sharing, though, whatever it is I have to share.    

So while I am late, I guess I’m not too late to get started.  My children have inspired me.  I was pretty uninspired and boring in 2008.