on love

last night i went on a walk with my bff from college and she shared that one of our mutual friends is separated from her husband and likely getting a divorce. semi-shocked, i felt an incredible sadness come over me. not so sad that she was going through a divorce, but just sad for the loneliness, heartache and judgement she must feel.

said friend asked me in college if she should marry the guy. i remember a distinct conversation we had about how "beau" treated her so much better than previous boyfriends, that he was a Christian, that he didn't party hard or do other things that are frowned upon in conservative circles, etc. however, i'm not sure that she truly loved him.

at our small Christian college, it was easy to get caught up in what people "did not do" or their past. i remember thinking how badly i wanted to marry a virgin. it was a huge plus to me that james never had sex with anyone, but looking back, the impact of that prerequisite was so small on our future. if i was not crazy about james and did not love who he was as a person, his positive past would only have been a temporary plus.

on top of people's track records, i watched many friends fall for the way guys treated them. the phrase "find a guy who pursues you" played like a broken record across campus. i cringe every time i hear about a guy pursuing a girl. while there is something to be said about a guy treating a girl with respect and working hard to make her feel like a lady, i am a much bigger believer in finding a guy who is your best friend rather than one who pursues you. the pursuing has to be a two way street. if it is only the guy pursuing, it is easy to get caught up in the way the he treats you instead of his character and to settle for someone who treats you well instead of someone you cannot wait to spend more time with.

if you think about why we love God, it is not because of the nice things he does for us or even because he pursues us (the devil pursues us, too), but it is solely because of who God is. yes, people's actions stem from character, but our love must be rooted in a deep passion for the other person. when i see lists of reasons why people love their spouse, i am always encouraged when the reasons read "he is..." instead of "he does..." so tonight, i give you ten reasons why i love my sweet husband:

1. he is an incredible father (staying home with an infant 5 days a week is not easy!)

2. he is fun-loving and positive.

3. he is patient (when parker pulls the books off of the shelf for the 10th time in one day)

4. he is giving, especially of his time (his friend needed help driving buses for the boys and girls club this week and he did not hesistate to volunteer)

5. he is a servant (he cleaned for 3 hours the other day!)

6. he is loyal (to family and friends)

7. he is humble (he absolutely hates when his teammates keep track of their personal points in basketball games, ha)

8. he is competitive (i could not live with someone who is not)

9. he is an extrovert (we are both energized from hanging out with friends)

10. he is a great teacher (it is so sweet to come home and see what he and parker have been working on that day)

(bonus: he is happy/content/joyful. i think it is so important for people to take responsibility for

their own personal happiness and not depend on others to affirm their worth).

love you baby! there is no one in the world i would rather spend every day of my life with besides you :).

gift ideas

since wedding season is upon us (and baby showers are a constant), i want to share with yall one of my favorite gifts: personalized plates. they are on sale 20% off for one more day at http://mellyroodesigns.blogspot.com/! if i was a new customer i would order like 5 more.

i asked her to make a plate matching parker's bedding:

look at the plate! isn't it so cute? i love it! (we are painting his room this weekend and going to paint these frames to match)

then i had her make one for my cousin robyn's wedding to match their invitation (even though i didn't send her a pic)
the platter! my mom said they loved it and all of my relatives wanted to know where i got it.
btw my blog is not cool enough to get compensated for any kind of review--i just shared this because i think they are so great. hope everyone has a lovely day!

mmr vaccine rash

warning: graphic pictures

last week parker got his first rash. it started on his stomach and spread more every day. it was one of the scariest things we have gone through with our lil' guy. after much thought and research, i believe the mmr vaccine is to blame. just google "mmr vaccine rash" and you'll see several similar pictures.

the good part is that parker has been acting completely normal and playing all day everyday. he still smiles and laughs, but ughhh--look at that rash! it cannot be comfortable. we went to the doctor friday and got some meds. thankfully parks is doing much better.
posing with the spots. you can see how tired he is fighting the infection.

new buzz lightyear scooter. he LOVES it! and i love it because it is the first toy james' ever bought for parks (we are extremely frugal, especially when it comes to toys because "you are the best toy for your child" :) and others spoil him to death).

moral of the story: i have never been a big anti-vaccination person. honestly, i have not done that much research on them. after this horrid rash, though, you better bet i am going to read some books and delay our next child's shots. and i might just have a home birth, too! :) ha.

Hiking: Hawksbill Crag!

if yall have been following my blog for a while, you know how long i have wanted to go to hawksbill crag (since i was pregnant 1.5 years ago). we actually drove the 1 hr 45 minute trip to podunk, arkansas, on the most beautiful fall weekend and apparently everyone else agreed that it was the most beautiful weekend and went there as well. that day because of the swarms of photographers, we had to hike 5 miles uphill to the 3 mile trail. parker was only a few months old so we passed.

since my photog friend was coming into town and we were planning another road trip, i watched the weather all week. www.weather.com assures me no storms until 2pm, so we wake up early and make it to hawksbill at 10am. right when we get there--RAIN. POURING RAIN. are you kidding me? we are faced with the inevitable "what do we do?" conversation. we don't want to put our lives in danger, don't want parks to get a cold, don't want to ruin cameras, etc. but WE DROVE ALL THE WAY OUT HERE...AGAIN!

after stalling as much as possible by eating our picnic lunches in the car, we decide to get out under a tree and take a few pictures with the greenery. notice the chi-ed hair, makeup, etc. (oh and spray tanning, too, in case anyone is wondering why casper now looks darker than her husband. big fan of spray tan! :))
we brave the rain (all of the harmless jungle rain on LOST is influencing on our judgement). 1/4 of a mile into the trek james asks if we want to turn back. drenched shoes, muddy trail and soaking wet pictures? not exactly framers. i selfishly convince the team to trek on and it continues to RAIN and RAIN and RAIN. we hiked for over an hour in the sopping rain. look at the straight hair now! ha.however, this might be my favorite picture of the trip. raw, pure and LOOK AT PARKER! happy baby!beautiful moisture in the trees! finally we arrive at whitaker point!!! and the rain stops!!! thank you GOD!i tried to fohawk parker's wet hair and this is how it air dried.

parker and i change out of our wet clothes and into new outfits. smiliest baby ever!we take full advantage of having the rock all to ourselves and tickle parker to death.

even though my hair is in a messy ponytail i still love these pics. how can you not look at parker's face and smile?

and that, my friends, was a perfect ending to an adventurous morning. the sun shined the whole hike home and we appreciated every second of it. oh sweet warm weather how i adore you! love you all!!

happy mother's day, grandma betty!!!!

you are the most energetic, fun-loving grandma in the whole world! thank you for all of the thousands of hours you've poured into to loving abbey, parker & me!
love,
silvy & parks