grace. what it means to me.

"But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and ^[a]show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may ^[b]pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me!"

- 2 Corinthians 12:9 amplified

grace.

one the most powerful words in my life. 

almost 2 years ago, my father passed away. he had a very aggressive cancer and only knew for about 6 weeks before he passed away. 

it was a very dark time in my life. 

i felt so blindsided. 

and i'm sure that my father felt so much worse. 

exactly one month after my father passed away. my sweet little sophie was born.

she brought us so much joy in a heart-breaking time. 

don't get me wrong, it was still so hard.

but.... it was almost like ahead of time God knew that we would need her.

at that time.

so many times we think things like-

i can't do it.

its too hard.

not by myself.

i'm not good enough.

HE can do it.

its not too hard for HIM.

you are not alone because you have HIM.

yes you are!

yes HE can!

the reason we live is because of his grace!

he already paid that price.

long ago on that cross.

but why do we keep picking it back up?

well, because the devil is a stupid liar thats why!

does this come easy to me? nope. 

but thats why I have HIM. and grace.

i really hate that my father passed away when he did. 

i wish that with all my heart he could have met his precious grandbaby girl. 

but BECAUSE of grace my father is in a much better place.

and thank you lord that we have that amazing gift!

grace meant so much to my husband and i, my family... our lives.

that we named our daughter sophia grace.

in a way... she was our "saving grace".

love our little girl. 

she may not know it yet, but she will do amazing things.

and I love that we have the amazing gift of grace.

sophie style.

i love my sweet sophia grace.  and of course i love dressing her in cute clothes.  so i am going to do some outfit posts here and there.  (details will be at end of post.) <3

purchased this headband before sophie was even a thought. it suits her better :)

the.BEST.leggings. also bought her a floral pair as well. 

saw these shirts on clearance and wanted to get one for hudson. didn't have any left in his size so... i just bought one for sophie.

love these moccs. just ordered a mommy sized pair. <3

sophie headband (here) sophie shirt (similar here) sophie pants (here) sophie shoes (here)
hugs!

hudson. my hopes.

my hudson will be 4 february the 26th. 4!!! it is so so sooo unreal. 

if I could freeze time I would. 

I have said it before and I will say it again and again. this little guy holds my heart.

he is such a tender little guy and I wouldn't have him any other way. 

I guess he is probably a lot like me. 

I wear my heart on my sleeve though. 

I hope he toughens up a bit over time ;).

my highest hope for him is, of course, loving jesus with his whole heart his entire life. 

probably a close second on the list is his speech would continue to improve.

some days are so hard for me with the lack of communication, but I am sure its much harder for him. 

some days we cry together when we can't understand.

and those are the times I realize that we need to pray the most.

I should clarify that we have MUCH more HAPPY times than we do hard. 

he is the most thoughtful little guy ever.

constantly giving hugs without being prompted.

and I ADORE the alone time that I get to have with him.

I absolutely treasure it. 

there is just something about getting to have little dates with our babies one on one. 

they feel so special. 

the other day we had an appointment out of town so we got to spend the whole day together.

just mommy and hudson.

another thing that I have struggled with lately that I have really had to lift up in prayer is friendships for my hudson.

with his lack in communication I always wonder 

"will he make friends?"

"will he be lonely?"

"does he even want friends?"

and so on.

But I am constantly reminded of Jeremiah 29:11 whenever I have worries for my Hudson.

Its his scripture.

And today the Lord showed me a glimmer of hope. 

I get teary eyed just thinking about it.

As a part of Hudson's weekly speech therapy he gets to sit in a preschool classroom once a week for an hour. (he is only 3 and its a 4 year old preschool)

its kinda like he's a rock star because all the kids in the class know his name and always want to play with him.

a sweet little boy came up to me this morning and told me he made this for hudson 

it made my heart smile!

don't you know what comes after a storm?

a rainbow. 

Hudson, you have the favor of the Lord. 

rejoice.

my word for 2014 is rejoice. without getting to much into detail in this post I will first say that 2013 had some  pretty hard times for me.  the most amazing thing about it all?  the lord was right there with me through the whole way. 

holding my hand.

so this year I am embracing so many things around me.

i'm trying to rejoice more in even the smallest things.

tonight my husband took husdon out for some daddy son time. 

before night night time sophie walked up to me and said "I baby."

and wanted me hold her and rock her.

it melted my heart.

or like when the times when my dear, sweet, tender hearted hudson comes up to me,

looks at me with his big blue eyes

and kisses me on the cheek and says "buh boo." (love you)

absolutely precious.

I need to rejoice in the amazing precious times that I have with them.

because they are only littles once!

"Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice!"

-Philippians 4:4

the BEST banana bread.

I wish I could take credit for this amazing banana bread recipe, but I can't. 

My best friend, Lora, is pretty much super mom so anytime I need a recipe, remedy... whatev... 

Thank the Lord for best friends. :)

This has got to be the moistest (is that a word....???) banana bread I have ever had. 

We can't keep it around our house because a certain someone *cough cough* my husband *cough cough* cannot keep his hands off of it. 

The littles love it too. 

(now thats cute right!?)

SO GOOD.... mmmmmmm.....

And easy too!

Banana Bread

(makes 1 loaf)

Oven Temp: 350  Cook Time: 1 hour (my oven runs warm so I did 50 mins)

Ingredients:

3 or 4 bananas, smashed (use at least 3. I learned the hard way when I only used 2)

1/3 cup melted butter

3/4 to 1 cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp vanilla (I added a little extra though)

1 tsp baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

Instructions:

 Use a wooden spoon to mix melted butter into bananas. 

Mix sugar, egg, and vanilla into banana mixture.

Sprinkle baking soda and salt and mix.

Add flour and mix.

Bake in a greased 4x8 loaf pan.

The next morning we made it as french toast.... oh.my.goodness. yum!

make an extra and wrap cute. 

give to someone to brighten their day!

enjoy!

MY LITTLES.

My littles.

The precious little faces that keep me going every single day.

The ones that melt my heart constantly.

Hudson Miles and Sophia (Sophie) Grace.

Hudson Miles.

3 years old. (4 in february).

Sweetest little personality.

Beautiful blue eyes.

Mommy's boy.

Shows love to everyone he meets.

Never denies his mommy kisses. :)

Future stunt man and skateboard metal winner. 

Sophie Grace.

1 year old (2 in april).

So outgoing and social. 

The best hair. ever.

daddy's girl.

Loves all animals and babies. 

Mommy tells her how cute she is about a million times a day. 

Future vet and mommy.

When I married my wonderful husband 8 years ago I also became an honorary mommy. 

My husband has a son that is 12 years old. 

He's wonderful and so smart. 

Hudson and Sophie love him so much and are bursting with happiness when they get to see him.

Even on FaceTime. :)

Do you have a blog? I would love to read it.

Leave a link in the comments. :)