Grounded...

I had a strong urge to write this. It's different than most posts, and more like a home journal entry, but here it is. I'm glad the inspiration was there... 

Grounded...

“You’re grounded.” “I need to get grounded.” There are many ways to use the word… but why is it that when I’m not grounded, I feel more like “I’m grounded?” It’s misery! When I’m flighty and inconsistant and I rely on myself, and not on God, I am absolutely weak. I feel it. I look it. I reek of weakness. I bask in it. I am not trying to be dramatic, just crudely honest. I need that right now. I need the truth in my life… no matter how crude… in everything I do, really. I need blunt, warm truth. Truth in the Lord. I need prayer. I need Jesus to cling to because when I stop relying on Him, for WHATEVER humanly reason, my weakness accentuates and I am bluntly reminded of the stone cold truth. He is real. He is light. He is beyond anything I could ever be... and this is beautiful. He is humility. He is my Savior. He is Love. He is discipline. Trust. He is strength… faith. Faith in the Lord makes me a better woman. Makes me love. Makes me trust. Makes me more humble. So, when I try to take on all of life’s trials and tribulations on my own terms in my own way, and fail miserably, I am brought to my knees in the name of Jesus. I am blessed beyond words to know God. I am blessed beyond words with my family and loved ones… with all of the luxeries in my life. I pray to know, daily, the difference between essentials and extra’s. With these words I have been inspired to write, I will end this with thanks and prayer. J Happy blogging!    

Carhartt Cuteness. . .

HEY! You match Grampa! :) Ahaah. You're "Auntie" Reanne and her Mama, Mary, gave you these ADORABLE little Carhartt's and one day Grampa showed up at our house wearing a bigger version of them! I cracked up and had to have a little photo shoot. :) It was precious!! Noah, you are SO smiley these days! You were 5 months old in these pics. Such a lovely little chunk! Grampa, of course, can't wait to let you stand on HIS hands some day. :) He started with sittin! These days you are so full of love, yet not too cuddly. You have never really liked being held facing in... you MUST face out so that you can see the world around you. You're quite smart. I can tell already. I see wisdom in those deep blue eyes. You're already very independent and hardly blink an eye if I leave the room. I don't quite know how I feel about it yet. Haha. Regardless... you have stolen my heart, little one.

4 Month Old BEAUTY BOY.

B E A C H * B U M !!

Hello Angel. . . :) These are just a few random pics of you as a beautiful 4 month old. You are the sweetest little boy I have EVER seen. You touch hearts already. You long to move... to venture... to see EVERYTHING. We take you into a room and you have to look at every. Single. Thing. Before anything else happens. Haha. It's cute. You giggle and you looove your daddy. You are constantly in awe of all the silly, loving, and strong things he does. We, in turn, are in awe of you, N.J.C. :) Mwah!

TOY TIME!! :)

Noah love, we didn't have internet for a while, but now we do, so it's time to play "catch-up" with some pics and stories that come with it! :) This was the first toy you ever played on and enjoyed! We went to Granny's work and she opened your eyes to a world of toys which you had never experienced! Daddy taught you how to hold on, and that you did, as we pushed you around the gym!! :) Your face lit up, the faster you went. You're a little thrill seeker, honey. Goodness. This was a month, or two ago. You're now 6 and a half months old and have changed SO much since then! We looove you! Kisses! <3

Picture Perfect!

FUN, UNFORGETTABLE TIMES. . .

Well Mr. Baby Cowan... you are pullin out all the stops these days! Haha I put you down in your seat the other day and I turned around and looked back over to you and you were doing this...

Ahahahaha sooo funnyyyy!! I could NOT stop laughing! I cracked up for about 5 minutes straight and you seriously held the pose the whole time. You finally cracked a cocky side smile with a look on your face saying, "Yeahh whaaat." :) It was incredible and I look forward to showing your future girlfriend this fantastically hilarious photo... in a long LONG time. :)

GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT. . .

Lately you have been learning how to reach for things and grab hold of them. I thought a toothbrush may be easy to grab so I put it in front of you on your stand up toy. You immediately grabbed it and put it up to your mouth just in time for me to snap a pic.

Your timing on things is seriously impecible. You are talking more and you

r newest sound you make is "Aa--aht." or "Aah-k. Eye-yuh." You speak VERY loudly. Haha I

wonder where you get it. I was just on the phone with Gramma Tutu today and I could barely hear myself talk because you were babbling so loudly. You were yelling at the guitar. You also say "Hi." & Yeaaah." You said "Mama and Mom," NUMEROUS times, despite what anyone says. You only say it when you're crying for a bottle. You know I'll be the first to bring it to you. :) You are soo amazingly precious and I just can't get over it! We are connected, Noah James. You have my laugh already.

You definitely do get over-stimulated though, honey. You don't like to be around other loud kids too much. It overwhelms you after a while and a couple times you cried so hard that even a bottle couldn't fix it. :( It broke my heart. All I could do was hold you and rock you until you fell asleep. Loud noise in general overwhelms you at times. I had rehearsal one night and I had to take you and the drums hit one time and you cried that very second. My ears used to be VERY sensitive as a kid, so I think you got that from me. Sorry Bubba. OH I also said "bub

ba" the other night and you repeated it RIGHT back to me! You said it inwardly though, it was really funny. You like breathed in and said it. Haha. Cracked me up. Well your Papa Bear and I love you dearly and tomorrow is your Daddy's first Father's Day! We are very very excited about this! K I gotta go grocery shopping.

LOVE YOU NOAH JAMES COWAN! <3

Toes in the Sand. . . Sand in the Toes. . .

First dip!! ^

On our FIRST hot day of the season that the husband was home, we felt it quite necessary to hit the beach! We went out to Grampa & Gramma Tutu's house, ate good food, soaked up the rays, dipped Noah's toes in the bay for the FIRST time and counted our blessings. We also finally got to visit with Gram and uncle Leifa for the first time in a while! God's love was shining down on our family and alllll of my blessings in life hit me at once. What a life I live! ~ I realized when we were out there how much I am in love with the ocean. The Puget Sound is my own little sanctuary. It was crazy to walk the beach that I grew up on, as I held my very own little one in my arms. Seems like moments ago I was just a little one running along the rocks and lifting up every single one in sight, trying to find crabs. I would try to balance on driftwood in the shallow chilly water, but I ALWAYS fell in. It was inevitable. I pretended I was the little mermaid... I swore I was for a while. Haha. I pretended I was an Olympic swimmer... a dolphin. I was a water child. I would stay in that ice cold h2O until I went numb and beyond. These are some of my childhood memories I will always treasure. Can't wait to share these times with my baby boy and the babies to come!! :)

I'm Baaaack! :)

Well my lovely blog wouldn't let me log in for the past couple of weeks and I don't know why, but it works now, so I'm ready to get back in the game! N.J.C. ROLLS OVER NOW!! I went into his room to check on him on the 28th of May and there he lay... sprawled out in just his diaper (he loves to be free...) "whaaa-ing..." and trying to figure out what to do next after his HUGE accomplishment! Not even four months old yet, and fully rolled over. This boy is MOBILE! Ahh! :) We slept at my cousin Keaton and his wife Mia's house that night and after we put him to bed, he rolled from his back to his belly from his belly to his back, multiple times! He also can stand if I hold his hands for about ten seconds straight without collapsing. He is so strong and we are so proud of him! I have GOT to go clean now though while he's sleeping, sooo I will be back with more updates SOON! Loooovee!!