The man, the myth, the legend is 30 today. I cannot imagine my life without Jake's humor, encouragement, or leadership. Or stories. He's more than I could ever describe, but I'll give it a shot. Here are some of the many things (don't worry, it won't be a novel...) that I love about my hubs.
30. He refused to wear jeans in elementary school. He wore athletic shorts every day. Hopefully (for my jean-loving heart) our boys won't, but he's always had strong opinions about pants.
29. Kazoozles. The man loves weird candy and I love that about him.
28. Friends are family and family are friends to him.
27. He thrives on competition. It pushes him and makes him a huge trash-talker. And makes him not feel bad when he beats me at everything.
26. His eyes. They are beautiful. No need to feel awkward. Just take my word for it!
25. Encouragement is his go-to conversation. It doesn't matter who you are or what your conversation is about, Jake will encourage you. It's a gift.
24. He loves to have a great time.
23. He carries a deep compassion for people, just like Jesus.
22. Fathering comes so naturally to him. Even before Harper came along, he was the best dad to anyone he met!
21.Tabasco sauce goes on everything. Pizza? Duh. Fish? Tabasco's best friend. Soup? Unbearable without the sauce. Cupcakes? Well, he hasn't tried it yet, but I wouldn't put it past him.
20. His patience is never-ending. With me, Harper, Ruby, football games... he always has a reserve of calm and patience. I need to learn that from him.
19. Sour Octopus. See #29
18. He's an incredible musician.
17. He's humble about his countless talents. He's humble about everything... except football... just joking... kinda
16. Making me laugh is one of his top goals in life.
15. He gets sore from Wii bowling. Before you make fun of him, let me explain. He puts his all into everything. It is physically impossible for him to do something halfway, which is why he gets a workout even from Wii bowling...
14. His love for the word of God is matched only by his love for the body of Christ.
13. He eats more than anyone I've ever met.
12. Jake has never run away from a challenge. Fear is a joke to him and it makes him such a safe person to run with.
11. He loves me in the morning.
10. The man can dance.
9. He makes the best coffee you'll ever have. And he has taught me to do the same.
8. Loyal to the core.
7. Jake is faithful in everything he does, giant or unseen. It's easy to trust a man like that.
6. He has the amazing gift to see the big picture clearly and dream wildly while still caring deeply for the one in front of him.
5. He's huge and extremely good-looking.
4. Technology is his greatest weakness. Ask him to tear down a wall... NBD. Update his phone? Well, let's just say he's a few updates behind. But I love that he values the real world more than updating his (very new) Facebook.
3. He has faith that will move mountains.
2. Perseverance. He is a fighter and no matter how many times he gets knocked down, he will get back up. He fights for purity, joy, me, you and anyone or anything else that needs it.
1. He is secure in the calling on his life and does not waver, even in adversity.
Here's to the best decade yet, baber!
(Baber is a joke, so don't judge us.)
Saturday, April 20, 2013
12 Days of Harper: Three Times a Lady
This is a series celebrating my babe's first year of life. One day for every month of her life leading up to her first birthday. You can catch up on the first and second months then come on back here for the next installment.
Month 3= travel. We began the month by packing up our beloved house and baby and moving to the great state of Louisiana. Harper fared pretty well considering she (and we...) had never seen the house we were moving into. If you've kept up with us, you know it worked out very well! Since we knew we were moving shortly after Harper was born, we never set up her nursery in Waco. So after finally settling into her crib for a few weeks in Baton Rouge, we jetted off to Colorado for two weeks. As if we weren't enamored enough already, Harper is a wonderful traveler. And she loved Colorado because it was so cool and relaxing... oh wait, that was us. This month she rolled over for the first time! That was huge in baby-world. Now without further ado:
Month 3= travel. We began the month by packing up our beloved house and baby and moving to the great state of Louisiana. Harper fared pretty well considering she (and we...) had never seen the house we were moving into. If you've kept up with us, you know it worked out very well! Since we knew we were moving shortly after Harper was born, we never set up her nursery in Waco. So after finally settling into her crib for a few weeks in Baton Rouge, we jetted off to Colorado for two weeks. As if we weren't enamored enough already, Harper is a wonderful traveler. And she loved Colorado because it was so cool and relaxing... oh wait, that was us. This month she rolled over for the first time! That was huge in baby-world. Now without further ado:
Can't get enough of that little smile!
Surprise! Tomorrow is month 4... ok, not surprise, more like a shameless ploy to make you wonder. Did it work? For a second?
Abigail
Friday, April 19, 2013
12 Days of Harper: Two-morrow, I love ya
This is a series celebrating my babe's first year of life. One day for every month of her life leading up to her first birthday. You can catch up on the first month and then come on back here for the next installment.
Like I said in yesterday's post, it was the grace (and probably some humor) of God that our little lady came early because in her second month of life, Jake and I were in a combined 4 weddings. People thought we were crazy, but we had a blast! And we got to use the travel bassinet we registered for, so how could it not be fun? A big shout out to all the people who held Harper while we stood next to our friends... or danced to Call Me Maybe. We're eternally grateful! Harper also took her first dip in the pool, in her baggy bathing suit, at my parents' house. She was actually pretty neutral about it. Which is shocking considering she hated baths. This month also brought her first smile... and our biggest melt-my-heart moment thus far. And now the picture portion of our show:
If you can even imagine, month 3 was more eventful than this one, so you probably want to come back tomorrow to check it out.
Abigail
Thursday, April 18, 2013
12 Days of Harper: One Singular Sensation
This is a series I'm doing in honor of my daughter's first year of life. One day for every month of her life leading up to her first birthday. I'm probably not going to go into the gory details (because I honestly can't remember them), but I do want to chronicle each month for posterity. And because I don't want to have to tell her later in life that I don't remember anything about her childhood (which would most likely happen, I'm looking at you Dad ;)
If you want to, you can read about her birth and some pretty insightful lessons I learned shortly thereafter, also.
The first month of Harper's life was a seemingly endless cycle of naps, watching The West Wing, taking pictures, visitors, and tears (mostly mine, but a little hers). Since she came 3.5 weeks early, we had a few weeks with nothing planned and no weddings to attend. It was glorious and such a gift from the Lord! We instantly fell in love. She was sooooooo sooooooo tiny. I'm sorry if that blaring spelling error bothers you, but I really have no other way of explaining it. Ok, I do, but I thought I would lose you if I called her infinitesimal. Anyway, she was small and her wee preemie outfits were still baggy. Later, when JNCOs come back in style, we'll say she's been a trendsetter since she was born. Here are my favorite pictures from the first month with our itty bitty fashionista.
If you want to, you can read about her birth and some pretty insightful lessons I learned shortly thereafter, also.
The first month of Harper's life was a seemingly endless cycle of naps, watching The West Wing, taking pictures, visitors, and tears (mostly mine, but a little hers). Since she came 3.5 weeks early, we had a few weeks with nothing planned and no weddings to attend. It was glorious and such a gift from the Lord! We instantly fell in love. She was sooooooo sooooooo tiny. I'm sorry if that blaring spelling error bothers you, but I really have no other way of explaining it. Ok, I do, but I thought I would lose you if I called her infinitesimal. Anyway, she was small and her wee preemie outfits were still baggy. Later, when JNCOs come back in style, we'll say she's been a trendsetter since she was born. Here are my favorite pictures from the first month with our itty bitty fashionista.
"it's only been a month?"
Tomorrow is month 2, aka Harper-lives-in-the-car month.
TTYL,
Abigail
Friday, April 12, 2013
Need to know
If you're reading this blog, I'm going to assume you think I'm the funniest, most interesting person in the world.
Or that you want to keep up with what's going on in Harper's life.
Or that you are bored.
But in any case, if you're reading and don't know me well, there are some things you should know about me... here are the first 5.
5. I love potatoes. French fried, mashed, baked, raw, sweet. Give me a potato and I am satisfied. Super food? Perhaps not, but oh so delicious!
4. I am absolutely 1000% not a morning person. Like prior to 8am, you probably don't want to talk to me. Jake learned this extremely fast in our marriage. Harper has not learned this. Sleeping in is not her strongest suit and by the time she does, I'll probably be unable to sleep in myself. So when the time comes, I'll just wake her up as payback...
3. I really like Dr Pepper and I don't like water. But because I am an adult (lame), I drink water. Which means you can't judge me.
2. I am a nurse. This comes in handy as a mother. It also makes motherhood, and living, the scariest thing ever. I know a lot the bad stuff that could be happening in our bodies even though it's probably not. Thankfully, I am not a slave to fear! And we are pretty healthy. Its a mostly win/win situation.
1. I'm a procrastinating perfectionist. I would really really like for everything I do to be perfect. Experience and laser levels have shown me that, most likely, this will not always be the case. So, how do I manage this? I procrastinate. This way, at least, I have an excuse as to why something isn't perfect. I'm aware this is slightly misguided. But I'm working on it. Or I will be working on it later...
Stay tuned for a series beginning next week. It's going to be called, "The 12 days of Harper"... yeah, I know what you people really want.
Abigail
Or that you want to keep up with what's going on in Harper's life.
Or that you are bored.
But in any case, if you're reading and don't know me well, there are some things you should know about me... here are the first 5.
5. I love potatoes. French fried, mashed, baked, raw, sweet. Give me a potato and I am satisfied. Super food? Perhaps not, but oh so delicious!
4. I am absolutely 1000% not a morning person. Like prior to 8am, you probably don't want to talk to me. Jake learned this extremely fast in our marriage. Harper has not learned this. Sleeping in is not her strongest suit and by the time she does, I'll probably be unable to sleep in myself. So when the time comes, I'll just wake her up as payback...
3. I really like Dr Pepper and I don't like water. But because I am an adult (lame), I drink water. Which means you can't judge me.
2. I am a nurse. This comes in handy as a mother. It also makes motherhood, and living, the scariest thing ever. I know a lot the bad stuff that could be happening in our bodies even though it's probably not. Thankfully, I am not a slave to fear! And we are pretty healthy. Its a mostly win/win situation.
1. I'm a procrastinating perfectionist. I would really really like for everything I do to be perfect. Experience and laser levels have shown me that, most likely, this will not always be the case. So, how do I manage this? I procrastinate. This way, at least, I have an excuse as to why something isn't perfect. I'm aware this is slightly misguided. But I'm working on it. Or I will be working on it later...
Stay tuned for a series beginning next week. It's going to be called, "The 12 days of Harper"... yeah, I know what you people really want.
Abigail
Friday, March 29, 2013
Harper's new skill
That would be putting weird things in her mouth. I know kids like to put everything in their mouths, so this could be one of those "look at my first child doing totally normal things that I think are so weird!" But here are some the extraordinary things she has "tested."
5. Rubber balls. No matter the size, she tries to stuff it in her mouth. She obviously found one that fits.
4. Paper. Not that weird, but she doesn't swallow it. She chews on it like gum. And gets mad when I take it out of her mouth.
3. Other people's fingers. Anyone and everyone. Even if she has never seen you before, she wants to put your fingers in her mouth. It sort of makes sense to me, but I'm sure other people find it a little unnerving.
2. My coffee cup. She will sometimes want other cups, but she always wants my coffee cup. This might be one of the early warning signs of a coffee addict (and the fact that caffeine doesn't really affect her...), but I think it's pretty cute. So what if I'm an enabler.
1. Strings from Ruby's toys. Ruby (our dog, in case I'm moving too fast for you) destroys any toy we give her. She got a rope toy and likes to rip it up and leave the strings everywhere. Harper then finds said strings and chews on them (kind of like the paper...). So we've gotten rid of Ruby's toys. Hopefully she sees it as a sacrifice of love.
Normal? Probably. Will I make fun of her for it anyway? Definitely.
Abigail
5. Rubber balls. No matter the size, she tries to stuff it in her mouth. She obviously found one that fits.
4. Paper. Not that weird, but she doesn't swallow it. She chews on it like gum. And gets mad when I take it out of her mouth.
3. Other people's fingers. Anyone and everyone. Even if she has never seen you before, she wants to put your fingers in her mouth. It sort of makes sense to me, but I'm sure other people find it a little unnerving.
2. My coffee cup. She will sometimes want other cups, but she always wants my coffee cup. This might be one of the early warning signs of a coffee addict (and the fact that caffeine doesn't really affect her...), but I think it's pretty cute. So what if I'm an enabler.
1. Strings from Ruby's toys. Ruby (our dog, in case I'm moving too fast for you) destroys any toy we give her. She got a rope toy and likes to rip it up and leave the strings everywhere. Harper then finds said strings and chews on them (kind of like the paper...). So we've gotten rid of Ruby's toys. Hopefully she sees it as a sacrifice of love.
Normal? Probably. Will I make fun of her for it anyway? Definitely.
Abigail
Monday, March 25, 2013
We are the change.
This weekend our family had the privilege of supporting Tigers Against Trafficking, and the end of human trafficking, by running in their annual 5k.
Or if you accidentally took a shortcut, it was about a 4k. And when I say running, I mean Jake ran and I walked and Harper just strolled...
But my point is that we loved being a part of this incredible cause. If you don't know, here are some quick facts on human trafficking:
-$ 32 billion dollars: estimated gross profit of the world’s fastest growing criminal industry (UN)
-27 million: number of people the UN estimates are enslaved right now.
-2 million: number of children enslaved (UNICEF)
-Over 17,500 victims are trafficked in the U.S. annually and approximately 33% are American citizens. The full scope of the problem has yet to be determined, as the crime of human trafficking is often intertwined with drug trafficking and prostitution.
-Trafficking in the U.S. often occurs in street prostitution, massage parlors, and brothels, and for labor in domestic service, agriculture, manufacturing, janitorial services, hospitality industries, construction, health and elder care, and strip club dancing. U.S. citizen victims, both adults and children, are predominantly found in sex trafficking; U.S. citizen child victims are often runaways, troubled, and homeless youth. Foreign victims are more often found in labor trafficking than sex trafficking.
(sources: www.unboundnow.org and www.thea21campaign.org)
This is a real problem and it is time for us to be a voice for those who are enslaved. We can be the change. If you are stirred by this, then check out the organizations I've cited and do whatever you can, wherever you are. That's what we did on Saturday. Here are some snapshots of an abolitionist family:
There are quite a few of our college students who are in leadership and volunteer with this student organization. It was so fun watching them not only raise awareness for this issue but also $12,000 for the A21 Campaign. Bridget, Genn, Amanda, Mary, Roz, Katie, Lauren, Cydni, Gabe, TJ, Jonathan, Michael, Guey, Sam, Bear, Connor, and Eva we are so proud of you!
Abigail
Or if you accidentally took a shortcut, it was about a 4k. And when I say running, I mean Jake ran and I walked and Harper just strolled...
But my point is that we loved being a part of this incredible cause. If you don't know, here are some quick facts on human trafficking:
-$ 32 billion dollars: estimated gross profit of the world’s fastest growing criminal industry (UN)
-27 million: number of people the UN estimates are enslaved right now.
-2 million: number of children enslaved (UNICEF)
-Over 17,500 victims are trafficked in the U.S. annually and approximately 33% are American citizens. The full scope of the problem has yet to be determined, as the crime of human trafficking is often intertwined with drug trafficking and prostitution.
-Trafficking in the U.S. often occurs in street prostitution, massage parlors, and brothels, and for labor in domestic service, agriculture, manufacturing, janitorial services, hospitality industries, construction, health and elder care, and strip club dancing. U.S. citizen victims, both adults and children, are predominantly found in sex trafficking; U.S. citizen child victims are often runaways, troubled, and homeless youth. Foreign victims are more often found in labor trafficking than sex trafficking.
(sources: www.unboundnow.org and www.thea21campaign.org)
This is a real problem and it is time for us to be a voice for those who are enslaved. We can be the change. If you are stirred by this, then check out the organizations I've cited and do whatever you can, wherever you are. That's what we did on Saturday. Here are some snapshots of an abolitionist family:
There are quite a few of our college students who are in leadership and volunteer with this student organization. It was so fun watching them not only raise awareness for this issue but also $12,000 for the A21 Campaign. Bridget, Genn, Amanda, Mary, Roz, Katie, Lauren, Cydni, Gabe, TJ, Jonathan, Michael, Guey, Sam, Bear, Connor, and Eva we are so proud of you!
Abigail
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