Reveal

On one of the most beautiful evenings we've had this year tonight....

Family gathered,

and played,

(My sweetest niece, Addie)

(Kisses for Ellie's GREAT Papa)

and loved.

The table was spread,

the stories were told,

and finally,

the gender reveals were made.

I'll share just our own announcement for this evening...

See, my sister ordered chocolate cupcakes with her baby announcement color inside,

I ordered vanilla to share all around.

She took mine,

I took hers.

And what do I have to announce?

A healthy, healthy beautiful.......

baby BLUE!

A testosterone tie breaker in this very, very lucky home!

T is already practicing his fastball, his wrestling moves, his big brother smack downs.

Girl, you and me gonna have to stick together.

And just one last little thing,

See, my birthday is August 20th, my hubby's the 22nd...

Our due date?

Officially, confirmed projected as

August 21st.

Baby boy, now we just count down to your birthday sandwich.

One

Oh my son, tomorrow you’re one.

And you’ve won the totality of our hearts.

You’re contagious and catching and charming,

our visions, our dreams, you’re you, and they are already so true.

We knew you would be strong, we’ve prayed , we pray this for you each day.

And still, you amaze us with your wild, your you.

You’re just one, our son,

but we dream for you,

to fulfill nothing less than what you were designed, formed,

intricately purposed for from the time began.

There’s a place for you, son, no, not just a place,

but a divine niche carefully etched out for you, that you’ll meet and fit and be meant for.

Perhaps it will be a smooth journey, a direction clear and illuminated by great domino successes.

But, more likely, perhaps,

as it seems many men with great dreams must endeavor through,

your pilgrimage will be full of competing, illusive decisions, darkened corners that you must wait in, seemingly stagnant, for seasons.

And so, my son, you’ll wait, and you’ll wrestle, desiring more, needing more, craving more than, at times, at that moment, this life has to offer.

May Greater Strength carry you then.

The strength we have prayed for since we knew of you.

The strength of great inventors, untamed adventurers, persevering scholars, dedicated visionaries.

The strength of loyal men, faithful husbands, sacrificing fathers.

Wise men who face failures and defeat but continue in strength.

Fulfilled by nothing less than the One alone who gives this strength.

Tristan Michael, you are strong, you are joy, you are wild,

you are one.

Plans

Sparing the awful, yucky, no-good details,

we sure had the best of plans for our summery spring break,

but got hung up, laid out with a full-on flu bug.

And it's been a crawl back from the pit of you-know-where,

but we're on our way back

to this.

Pictures

Just had to share the link for this pretty girl's senior pictures from the other day.

Love her.

Click here for more.

Favorites

We made the day a day of just favorites, for our favoritest little birthday girl.

Strawberries, syrup and homemade waffles,

followed by a morning of baking with her momma,

interrupted by a few happy birthday song calls.

Jonah and the Whale is her favorite all-time story (“Don’t bite me!” She always squeals when we get to that page in her Storybook Bible) so we made sure to sneak in her new Veggie Tales movie,

And then an outing just the four of us, a first for all of us, actually.

And little El built her own little bear,

a new car-companion favorite, picked out her stuffing, pink romper

and bows,

a little overwhelmed by it all, actually.

Followed by a totally unhealthy favorite meal of burgers and fries.

But worth it.

Finished by a momma's favorite, a mini-photo sesh in way too much wind,

Oh sweet thing, you're growing so very fast.

Each day that goes by, you change, you blossom, you bloom, you shine.

I don't want to keep you small, your dreams must be so very big,

And our world, our life, needs you for all you were meant for.

You were meant for big things, good things, great things.

My little girl, you have such joy.

Just be you, little girl, always.

You're beautiful.

So then our favorite day was completed by our fav birthday cake, candles,

and our favorite birthday girl was happy.

Side notes:

For your own celebrations and decor, check out a fav friend's new business, The Lovely Apple. They're running a giveaway right now!

And in case you're in need of more fav websites to check out, "like" my photography page here and blog here.

Three

The joy you are.

The quiet you are.

The spunk you are.

The dreamer you are.

The cautious you are.

The wild you are.

You are three, my little light.

Happy birthday, sweet girl.

Big

Just one more thing that makes him seem just so big these days...

I felt the little one making him a big brother moving the other day for the first time.

Actually it was a kick I first felt.

Brought tears to my eyes, mid-sentence, mid-everything.

A big reminder of the miracle this all is.

It's just a miracle becoming a mother,

difficult, painful, uncomfortable, at times.

Just like life, really.

But a reminder of just how blessed I am.