Sunday, November 30, 2014

Invitation for Men: Men’s Leadership Call

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I am SO excited about this. I don’t typically post calls we are a part of on my blog, but this one is so important that I want as many fellas as we can get to listen in on this as possible. Ladies, if you have some men in your life, encourage them to take a few minutes out of their evening to listen in. These are four men whom me greatly admire and respect for their leadership in their homes, churches, and communities. One of them happens to be my handsome hubby.  For those of you that know him personally, you have seen his tremendous growth as a man and leader (especially over the last few years). He has always had these great characteristics & tons of potential, so it has been awesome watching him continue to flourish and impact so many other lives. I cannot wait to hear the wisdom Jonathan and the others share tonight. (Yep. I’ll be listening in, too.) Jon is so real, humble, and down to earth…y’all are going to love hearing the strength behind that good ole country accent.

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Ladies, don’t worry….I’ve got some good stuff coming specifically for you also, but tonight, let’s focus on loading this up. It’s encouragement, wisdom, and a challenge for men. I know it is going to bring some serious value. Here is the official invitation if you want to pass it along to the men in your life.

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If you get a chance to listen in, we would love for you to email us with any feedback. Can’t wait to hear what you think! Thanks for helping us spread the word.

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Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Coming June 2015: Butler, Party of 4

Ahhhh!! I am so, so excited to finally share the news with all of you!

Our hearts are full & we know we are truly blessed beyond measure. We cannot wait to welcome our second Baby Butler this June & officially become Butler, Party of 4! Thankful for God’s goodness.

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We found out on October 4th, two days after our anniversary and trip to Jacksonville. I spent our life’s savings again (not really, but I do get a little out of control) taking tests, and after 3 faint yes’ and one official “Pregnant” on a digital test, I felt pretty good about it. I told Jon & he was PUMPED!!  We went to the doctor the next week and they confirmed it for us. Woo hoo! I was only about 4 weeks at the time (about the same time we found out with Jase).

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We have both been ready for another for awhile and knew we wanted them close in age, but our OB told us at my yearly to wait to get pregnant until the delivery would be at least 2 years from when I had Jase. That would give the c-section scar time to heal internally and give us the best shot at VBAC. (Honestly, we have a total peace with whatever the turnout, but are going to attempt VBAC if possible for best chances at having a big family.)

SO, I’m a good listener. Baby Butler #2 will make his/her appearance exactly 2 years and a month after Jase was born. According to my last period, our due date is June 11th. But according to my calculations (& the first ultrasound) I am due June 15th. I know, that isn’t 100% accurate anyway…but I’m going with the 15th. They won’t change your due date if it’s within a week, so my chart says the 11th.

We told both of our parents at dinner and they were excited beyond words! Jonathan’s sister, Aunt Jade, cried because she was so excited. It was so sweet. My parents found out pretty early because my mom called me out at church and just outright asked us. We were going to try to tell them all in some cute way, but decided to just spill the beans.

Pretty much everyone else we’ve told had a feeling or said they knew it was coming…ha! A few people said they could tell in my pics too. Yikes!! Too many gingerbread bars. (Ginger helps with nausea and they have 11 g of protein. Basically, they are a necessity.)

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We saw the doctor and heard the heartbeat on Nov 10- a good strong 180! Praise the Lord! Everything looks good so far. I feel like in my gut it’s a girl & we keep referring to the baby by the girl name we have picked out, but who knows. And who cares. Healthy baby, happy mama. We will be so excited either way.

And if you’re wondering why I haven’t been blogging, it’s because I have been sick. Shew-wee!! I like to blog at night after Jase goes to bed, but I have had crazy nighttime sickness. 8 pm every night it hits & it’s pretty ruthless. I’ve been nauseas during the day some too and have even thrown up this time. (I never actually got sick last time.) Honestly, I am so thankful & feel so blessed, I could care less about that though & I try not to complain about it either. The natural remedies don’t help much & I refuse to take any medicine so I’ll just tough it out.  (Just a heads up mama-to-be friends, there have been some studies relating certain nausea medications to congenital heart defects. If you can help it at all, I’d say it’s not worth the risks.)

I will be 12 weeks on Thanksgiving (updates coming soon), and thankfully the fatigue is going away. With Jase, the nausea seemed to go away after the first trimester and I had an AWESOME rest of the pregnancy. I’m claiming that for this pregnancy too. Smile 

So I’ll be back to blogging soon….I have lots & lots on my heart to share. Plus, lots of Jase cuteness. He is seriously SO MUCH FUN & I know he’s going to be an awesome big brother. (I made the signs myself & ran out of room on the word list….Jon was like “What is that first thing on the checklist?” Ha! Ooops.)

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We also taught Jase to say “baby” & it might just be the most precious thing I have ever heard. Seriously, prepare for sweetness overload here.

Jase says "Bayyyyy-beeee"

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know James is one of my favorite books of the Bible. I especially love James 1:17 and think it especially applies to children. Thank you Lord, for this good and perfect gift from above!

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Thank you for following along our journey with us. We are so excited about this next chapter…

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Giveaway: Riley Clay Mommy & Me Tee

Y’all, I LOVE me some Riley Clay Designs!

I love to shop local. And I am all about some t-shirts. And I am even more all about some t-shirts that share the Gospel & share our love for Jesus.

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Annnnnnd….cool fact about the shop owner. Nichole & I were both pitchers and pitched against each other in college. Crazy small world, right? Love seeing how the Lord is blessing her hard work through a successful biz. This is Nichole (pictured on the left) with Abbey (one of her right hand women). We have known Abbey for years from church. Precious soul.

Definitely go check her out. Tons of new designs & these make some killer Christmas gifts! Here is the link to the etsy shop & here is the link to the FB page.

But now for the real fun.

A GIIIIIIIIIVEAWAY!!!!

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I haven’t done a giveaway since like 2010, so I am super pumped for this one. How about a mom & me tee giveaway?? Even if you don’t have kiddos yet, you can win it for one of your mommy friends. Perfect gift!

Here’s how to enter: (Each of the following will receive one entry)

The giveaway ends Saturday, 11/22 at 5 pm EST & the winner will be announced Saturday at 9 pm EST. We will get your contact info & t-shirt size & preference to Abbey & she will ship them out ASAP. Woo hoo! Exciting, right??

And just for extra fun…because I love y’all…here are all the blooper shots. Fun times. Just keepin it real…

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Sunday, November 9, 2014

Jase: 15 & 16 Months

Sweet Baby Jase…

You turned 15 months on August 8th & 16 months on September 8th. WHEW! These have been a FUN couple of months!!

Holy sweetness. You are SO stinkin sweet! You give really big hugs where you wrap your arms around my neck and squeeze. Sometimes you grab my face to give me a kiss. Both MELT.MY.HEART! Any time you are tired, you instantly lay your head on my shoulder, and sometimes you pat me on the back when you’re hugging me because I do that to you. It is precious!

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You LOVE to eat! You wake up hungry and eat eggs & oats or eggs & Ezekial toast and a banana almost every morning. You drink about two sippies of organic whole milk during the day. Your favorite foods are BREAD (you are such a carb man!), watermelon, bananas, green beans, peanut butter, chicken, eggs, oatmeal, and sweet potatoes. You eat whatever we eat and ALWAYS want a bite if we have something. You also like to “dip” your food, so mustard is your new jam. You moved from your high chair to a big boy booster seat and finally quit throwing your food on the floor. I guess you just wanted to be a big boy? You also love water, but prefer a straw in a real cup to a sippy cup. You think you grown!

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You got FOUR new teeth all at once. You chew on your finger when you’re teething, but other than that handled it pretty well. You have a whole mouth full of teeth now, and you act like it’s pure torture when I try to brush them. So much for the fun we had in the beginning when you loved it! All worth it though to see that PRECIOUS smile though. You also like to make people laugh by being silly. Sometimes you fake laugh till we laugh, and it leads to lots of belly laughs for everyone around you. You light up a room!

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Your favorite toys are your tricycle, the alphabet train, your keyboard, trucks, golf clubs, balls, & your ‘laptop.’ You love anything you can ride or push. You LOVE to run around & be chased.

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You like to help with chores. You like to sweep, vacuum, throw trash away, wipe up the table or your area or yourself, and turn off the lights.

You LOVE to push buttons!! The more buttons, the better!!

 

You haven’t ever really watched t.v., but we broke out the Praise Baby DVDs this week and you go into a trance watching it. It’s only 10-15 minutes, but you will stand there the whole time and watch, sing (hum), and dance (bounce). I turn it on when I change your diaper because you do NOT like to sit still since you’ve learned to be on the move.

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You still prefer two naps a day. Some kids your age are dropping to one, but you are a sleeper like your mama and you like two!  A few times we have been really late on the first one and it was NOT good. You can skip the second one if needed, but most of the time we are home and you want that rest time. This is the first time we have ever seen you even a little bit grumpy, so it’s new to us, but a great reminder to try our best not to miss naps. (Sometimes we just can’t help it. I will forever regret missing Michael’s 40th birthday party for your nap. LESSON LEARNED.) Right now you wake up at 8:30 –9 in the morning, take a nap from 11-2, take about a 30 -45 min nap /rest at 5, and go back down for the night between 8-8:30. When you are sleepy, you walk to the stairs and say “night night.” Our bedtime routine still includes bath, reading, turning on your music, sweet snuggles, & bedtime prayers.

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You are a great traveler! You adjusted like a champ on our Orange Beach trip. As long as we have our laptop with your baby hymns and a dark room, you are GOOD to GO.

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You love animals & all of our animal books are our favorite. We went to Dahlonega on Sunday for Zack & Emily’s baby shower (can’t wait to meet Laney Rae!) and you kept “moooooo”ing until we took you outside to see the cows. You also make a really funny pig noise & think my donkey noise is hilarious. You call every dog “Mac.”

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You like to hold our hand and have us help you (especially around stairs), but are also very independent.

You LOVE to go on walks as like as you have your organic O’s and some water.

You still wave at everyone all the time, especially if they are driving by.

We still haven’t cut your hair yet and don’t plan to quiiiiiite yet. I am just not a fan of a super clean cut high and tight hair cut, so yes, I would rather you rock that awesome long blond hair! I know, I know….we’ll probably have to break down soon. But for now, we LOVE it and your grandparents all love it, so we’ll keep rollin with it!

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You would stay outside ALL day if you could!

You talk a LOT but we have no idea what you’re saying. We can decipher a few things, but mostly still LOTS of blabbering!

You started giving fist bumps all on your own. No idea where you learned that.

There was one day where you had to have 3 baths by lunch time. Shew! Double Spark for Mama that day!!

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You are a SUPER fast learner. We can show you something one time and you remember how to do it forever. (You definitely did NOT get that from me.) You don’t have a lot of patience with puzzles, etc. if a piece doesn’t fit (yikes- I think you DID get that one from me!) so we are working on it.

We’ve been going to lots of fall festivals and it is RIGHT up your alley! You LOVE people!! And especially love playing with all your big cousins. (You aren’t as interested in the babies.)

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You are a size 7 shoe and 24 mos & 2T clothes.

Hey Jase! I write in your journal every couple weeks too, but I am so glad we will have this to look back on. I love capturing these sweet memories through pictures & keeping up with all the cool new things you are doing. Buddy, your personality is the BOMB. I mean it. God made you so special & we thank Him EVERY day for you…for all the joy you bring to the lives of everyone around you (Luke 2:52). Even strangers. You love to make friends and love to make people laugh. Your laugh is HILARIOUS! You have been such a perfect addition to our family and have been abundantly more than all we could ask or imagine in a child (Eph 3:20). It fills our hearts with such joy to watch you grow and learn. I love that you are UNIQUELY you. We see bits and pieces of each of us in your little looks & personality, but it is so cool to us to see how God created you to be your own little person. We are soaking up every minute with you, and the good news, we get a lot. Mom & Dad are so thankful to both be home with you & not miss moments. You are definitely your mama’s sweet angel baby and just as much daddy’s little man. Waking you up every morning is one of our favorite parts of every day and each day with you is such a gift. One thing is for SURE….I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being your mom! Love you more than words and so thankful God blessed us with the opportunity to be your parents. It’s a responsibility we don’t take lightly, but we sure are ENJOYING it.