Elijah Scott Marvin is two!

My baby turned two on Sunday and my husband turned 39. I love that they share a birthday...it is very sweet to me. I feel blessed to have birthed my youngest son on his daddy's birthday. It was a beautiful sunny day for the party. A perfect fall day with sunny skies and 60 degree weather. We couldn't have asked for a better day.

Me with the big birthday boy.

Eli had a Nemo (Memo, as he calls it) cake. He calls every fish Memo right now.

We had our first balloon release. The kids (and some adults) wrote messages and attached them to their balloons.

The cousins played in the trucks and pretended to be long haul truckers. As Travis said when he was at the wheel..."I got this".

and fun was had by all...

Frustration...

Here is my little Eli. He gets frustrated easily...just like his mom. He has a short fuse and he wants what he wants, when he wants it-and how he wants it. I see myself in him daily. I can sympathize with him, because if I have so little patience and self control at 32...what must a child feel like when they are not even two? His behavior frequently reminds me of how I act so often and what the areas in my life are that need improvement. Often I think about myself being God's child and how frustrating I must be for him at times (many, many times!). That's when I thank him for his patience, unconditional love and endless grace. Oh, that I can be more like my savior and show my boys (and husband, family & friends-everyone that I meet) a glimpse of who He is, through me.

We need to "communicate" mom!

It was a typical drive in to town last week, when my five year old decides that he needs to school me on how to communicate. I guess this is what happens when our little ones start school. They know everything all of a sudden-and so much more than mom!

Well he tells me that we need to communicate more. And "mom, do you know what communicate means?". "Yes, I do", I say. Well, I guess he didn't hear me, because he starts to tell me that communicating is when you talk to each other and tell your feelings. Then he proceeds to tell me that we need to work with his two year old brother more so that he can communicate. Because we don't know what he wants (because he has a very small vocabulary that is comprised of "NO!" 90% of the time!).

Oh, these precious moments. When we get to watch our children learn, express their feelings and become little smart people. His Nena (grandma) always says that he is gifted!:)

An inspirational blog

So I recently had the opportunity to visit the most inspirational blog and it has truly changed my life.

When I was on Rhonda Jean's blog http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/ the other day she posted about Stephanie (nie nie) Nielson's blog http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/ . Stephanie and her husband Christian were recently in a tragic plane crash. She was burned on 80% of her body, Christian was burned on 30% of his body and their flight instructor friend was killed in the crash.

After reading her blog (every post from the last three years) in a matter of days, I was so inspired by her. The adoration that she has for her husband, children and family. She is full of faith, spunk, creativity and humor. I find her to be an amazing inspiration and her life has challenged me to be a better mom, wife, sister, daughter and friend.

So I have added the button for her blog, to my blog. Please check it out and be inspired!