Hmmm....

Hello August, I can't believe summer is almost over! We have been traveling quite a bit the last month and a half, visiting family in Lubbock, California, and a director's summit in Alabama but it's good to be home!  Time is literally flying by!

Grampy Sofu and Bowden gettin in the water

Let's see what's new, well we had a really bad food allergy scare in California. We are beginning to do more table foods (mostly to beef up this kid, doctor's orders) and up to this point I have been pretty cautious on new foods I give Bowden, he has done so good, fruits I'm allergic to, he loves so I was really hoping he was taking after his dad, who doesn't have  any food allergies. Unfortunately my side of the family has a history of food allergies.
I gave Bowden a lil piece of honey dew melon to try and he took one bite and instantly his face and hand began to swell, get red, and since we had never see anything so fast I rushed to get him some benadryl (so glad we had it on hand) and then he began to break out in hives, poor thing was scratching his face, neck, and hand like crazy! So we rushed him to the ER. Normally in a situation like that I would have lost it, and I almost did, thankfully my husband knows me well enough he was already on it on calming me down. Instead of freaking out, I did what anyone would do ....PRAY....PRAY HARD!!! Thank you God for answered prayers!!!
The Dr. said it was good we gave him benadryl, cuz they would have given it to him anyways and that anytime you try new foods you should have it on hand in case something like that happens. We just saw his pediatrician this last week and they can't do food allergy test until they are 18 months so in the meantime we are sticking to a bland diet, and no melons of any kind!
I think that pretty much started off the craziness of our summer along with that we have some transitions we are going through right now, so things are kind of hectic but we are excited for the future and where God is taking us. I have learned over the last few years that God doesn't just have a one goal, one plan dream for me but he has different seasons and to remove any pressures the world has placed on me to "finally arrive and achieve my purpose" but I do have a purpose, to love people wherever I am and in whatever I'm doing! I don't know where I will be in 5 or 10 years but I know I will still be serving the same God who has been with me my whole life and I'm perfectly okay with that!

Right now life is moving fast and I'm just trying to enjoy every day, I love the baby talk I hear in the back seat, I will gladly listen to that over the radio any day, I love that my son gives me kisses with his tongue sticking out, it might sound gross but I think it's funny, and I love that this month we will celebrating his 1st bday!!
Happy August!!!

Hello Father's Day

 Last month was a busy one for our family, we had our Masters Commission graduation which is a whole week of fun filled events, the week after that we close out everything from the year, and then last week we took a mini vaca to visit family in Lubbock. So here we are JUNE and it's Father's Day!! Let's just say this father's day was not anything I expected or planned for.

Months prior to this day I had been thinking on what to do or give Lance for Father's Day. I know he likes golfing, football, basketball, fishing, he wants a new grill, the typical "man stuff" so I thought about all those, and I know he likes surprises. When it came down to it, he wanted a new phone and with our budget and planning for future vacations we both knew he couldn't have it all.. So he said he wanted the phone for his gift. I thought, "okay but I'm still going to get something else as a surprise." Well in our family Lance is the creative, techy, computer media guy. He can make flyers, design websites, invitations, actually he can do anything! So I thought, "why don't I try to show him I really care by making him something on the computer." You might see where this is going...

Well I think I have this  idea, to make a poster that has a bunch of words that describe him with a picture on it that I want to turn into a canvas, I have no idea what I' m doing and start googleling how to do photo shop stuff. I think it looks pretty good and have it printed online and shipped to our house. It came in a few days early which made me super excited,  only to find out that it doesn't look good, honestly it looked horrible! I guess there was some kind of error and it was suppose to print black and white and has green squiggly lines...it was bad! I'm so embarrassed I couldn't dare put a pic up. So, I tell Lance (which ruined my surprise) and he was like "why didn't you tell me I could have helped you with it" um cuz  I wanted to try and surprise you and do it myself! Anyways, we end up re-doing it and he helps me. We had it printed locally so I could go pick it up and it still wasn't right! The guy was so nice and helpful, he really wanted to make it work for me but I had to come back and give him more time. I tell you this lil gift has turned into quite the ordeal.
This is the finished product

After all that, I still wanted to get him something for a surprise and since I wasted money on my first photo canvas I knew it couldn't be much. Lance had been talking about a case for his new phone, so my brilliant idea " I should get him one!" I bought one online as soon as he said it, the one he wanted too, then later, I come home to find him looking up cases to buy on his computer, Ughhh.....can you believe it!? 
I had to spoil my 2nd surprise and tell him I got him one so he didn't buy another one! Seriously this guy! I wished it ended right there but unfortunately things got a lil dramatic around here...I started crying...I know that's too much, I really don't even know why, I have to blame it on the mom hormones because before I had Bowden I wouldn't cry over something like this.

All that to say, I ran out of surprises and money lol. I know he doesn't care and he always tells me "it's the thought that counts" but sometimes especially special days like these I want everything to be perfect. I'm so grateful for him! I knew he was gonna be a great dad when we started dating cuz  he said he wanted 10 kids (no joke)

I love you Lance Ainsworth, father of my son, my best friend, and lover forever, Happy Father's day!

A Very Special Mother's Day

This has been a very Special Mother's Day for me. I'll be honest, normally I kinda shy away from this day. But now being a mom it's definitely different for me, I always felt weird on this day ever since my mom passed away but now having Bowden I want to say Happy Mother's Day! Because of my mom I had an amazing example to follow and I hope to be the kind of mom she was. My memories are kind of vague of what I have of her but they do show up in times I need them. One of the memories I cherish most, and that has always stayed with me, was watching my mom get up every morning, read her Bible and pray, I'm so thankful for that memory.

So, today, on this Mother's Day:

 I am thankful for the blessing of motherhood, for all the moms, spiritual moms, friends, and mentors that have poured into my life in the times that I needed,

I reflect on the past and praise God for the mom I had and 

I look to the future and pray to be the best mom that I can be and give all the love God has shown me.

Happy Mother's Day!