Friday, April 22, 2016

Friday I'm in Love

It's Friday, which means it's time to share some of my favorites with you! If you want to see what other gals in this series are favoring about this week, you can check out their lists out here.



{ swagbucks }
I had heard about those online cash/points programs before and always dismissed them - who has time for that?! Then one of the bloggers I follow was sharing about the money she had made from using Swagbucks only from searching the web and online shopping. Two things I already do. So I signed up almost a year ago, and I've already earned $50+ in Starbucks gift cards (my gift card of choice - there are thousands to choose from!). There are dozens (hundreds?) of ways to earn "swagbucks" but, like I said, I only use two (searching and shopping) and I've been very happy with the results. If you want to get started, which I think you should - free money, duh, you can sign up here!

{ okay to wake clock }
We started using this clock in my toddler's room when he was 13 months old. Yes, as a one-year-old he grasped the concept that mom doesn't come in until the light turns green. By the time he was 1, he had gotten great at playing quietly in his crib if he woke during or early from his nap. But trouble arose when eventually he started crying until I'd come in, because he had no other way of knowing what was going on. So we explained to him that the clock will turn green when it's time for mom to come in. This gave him some sense of "control" over knowing what was going on. And it worked beautifully. I think it helped the most during the transition from a crib to toddler bed; we haven't had one single issue with him getting out of his bed when he wakes early from a nap or randomly wakes up in the early hours of the morning. If the clock isn't green, he simply stays in bed. It's all he's ever known. Obviously, I highly recommend you get one and start using it now if you're having issues with toddler staying in bed and/or pre-toddler crying when nap isn't over yet. Before you buy, be sure to check camel camel camel for a price history as sometimes this clock jumps in price.

{ and then there were none ministry }


And Then There Were None is a nonprofit organization that works to help abortion clinic workers leave the abortion industry. The focus of the ministry is providing a whole host of services to workers choosing to leave the abortion industry. Those services include: financial help, legal support, emotional healing, spiritual guidance, and employment help. All of their services are free. This nonprofit was founded by a former non-Christian Planned Parenthood Clinic Director turned Christian pro-life advocate thanks to the work of faithful Christians consistently gathering outside her workplace to pray for those inside the building (workers, mothers, babies). Abortion workers are often demonized by the pro-life movement, and it's forgotten that the abortionists and their staff members are actual people with feelings, worth, and value. They are people who need help, healing, and a real picture of who Jesus is and who they are because of Him. I love this ministry because regardless of where one lands in their opinions on abortion (and I'm not just talking for/against - because there are many nuances in between), it seems reasonable for everyone to agree that those leaving the industry may need help processing and healing from the line of work they were involved in. And that's where this ministry comes in - to fill a much needed void for those individuals. 

This post contains affiliate links. Click here to see my affiliate link policy.

Thursday, April 21, 2016

Planning Ahead for Baby



When I was preparing to welcome my first child home, like most women do, I spent a lot of time thinking about 3 things: the baby registry, the nursery, and the birth. Fast forward to baby's arrival: the birth came and went in the blink of an eye, I couldn't care less about the color theme in baby's nursery at 2am in the morning, and our tiny condo was overflowing with baby gear from our registry and no where to put it all. I think the baby industry does a huge disservice to moms-to-be by focusing all their attention on the nursery "must haves" and infamous birth plan. Looking back, when I was a mom-to-be I sincerely wish I would have allotted more brain space to considering some of the topics below. In fact, I would trade every minute if thinking about my birth plan for thinking about the coming months/years, had I known what to be considering.

So - below is a list of things to consider. THIS IS NOT A TO-DO LIST! This is just my list of things I encourage new moms to simply think ahead about before baby comes. If you read the whole list and then do nothing, great! But if it saves you some time down the road by thinking about some of these things now, even better!

{ where to buy new items }
Usually your first influx of baby toys and gear comes from your registry or from pass-me-offs from friends. Once a few months goes by and the gifting dies down, you'll eventually find yourself needing to buy more gear/toys/clothes. It's good to spend some time now thinking about the various places you can get these items, and checking them out ahead of time so you know what they offer:
  • Brand new online (or in store) at the usual places: Carter's, Old Navy, Amazon, Target, Babies 'R Us, Walmart...
  • Consignment shops or consignment sales (such as Just Between Friends)
  • Local Goodwill or Value Village (I always find screaming steals at our local Goodwill!)
  • Garage sales 
  • Craigslist
  • Buy Nothing or Buy/Sell/Trade groups on Facebook
If you're planning on doing a lot of online shopping, be sure to check out these resources (there are many, but these are the ones I use):
{ how to organize toys, clothes, and gear }
When baby is first born there is a lot of gear, normal amount of clothes, and not a lot of toys (yet). Over time the emphasis slowly shifts to be a lot more toys*, a lot less gear, and usually the same amount of clothes (but the clothes get bigger and take up more space as the child grows). You'll want to spend some time now thinking ahead to about:
  • where will the main play area be as baby grows into a toddler, and do you have room for toys and activities in that space? what about in baby's room as baby grows into a toddler?
  • Is there room in baby's closet or dresser for bigger clothes as baby grows?
  • Is there space for the baby gear or do we need to temporarily remove some furniture?
  • Is there room in the kitchen for baby's bottles, baby food making supplies (if you go that route), and eventually your toddler's dishes and sippy cups?
  • Is there room in/near the bedroom for diaper storage? Diapers come in big boxes and you'll want somewhere to store the big box of diapers as you likely will only be putting a few dozen at a time into a draw or diaper bin. If you're using cloth diapers, you'll need to devote even more storage space for the related supplies (we use the entire top drawer of their dresser, which also doubles as their changing table). 
*A note on toys: I'm not talking about frivolous, unnecessary toys. I'm talking about educational, necessary toys/activities/learning tools such as: rattles, books, blocks, music toys, art supplies, make believe play (kitchen/tool shop/house/dress up clothes), legos, matchbox cars, outdoor toys, puzzles (oh the puzzles!), etc. I recommend storing half of the toys/activities out of sight at all times (up high in a closest, for example) and rotating your child's toys every month or so. This cuts down on the actual amount of toys you "need", because your child feels like the toys brought down from storage are brand-new every time!

{ where to store things not in use }
If you're planning on having more kids, this will become one of your bigger challenges. Spend some time thinking about :
  • All the baby gear you'll be assembling soon: Where will all of that gear be stored when baby outgrows it? 
  • Baby's clothes: Most people store clothes simply by size and I've found that to be the easiest too. Everything of a certain size goes into one bin, including coats, swim wear, etc. Storage bins take up a lot of space, though! You'll want to think about where in the house you can make space a 1-2 dozen storage bins (each time your child moves up a size, you'll add a new bin to the collection). 
  • Baby toys: Where will you store the toys as your baby outgrows them? We do storage tubs of toys sorted by age (baby, pretoddler, toddler, etc).
{ photo storage and sharing }
You're going to amass a high volume of photos right out of the gate after baby arrives. Spend some timing thinking about how you will manage all the photos:
  • Do you have enough space for all those photos on your phone? Computer?
  • Do you regularly back up your photos to your iCloud or computer? 
  • How do you want to start preserving your family photos so they don't live forever on your hard drive? 
  • How are you going to share photos of baby with family and friends?
Some families choose to print off photos every month/year and just store in a photo storage box, while others choose to create online photo albums. A few of my favorite sites for doing online photo albums are Shutterfly, Snapfish, and MyPublisher.

Some new moms love to share photos via Facebook for all the see, while others want something a little more private (like a blog!). If most of your family members have iPhones, I recommend setting up a Photo Stream for your family and invite other family members to join the Photo Stream. 

{ go-to resources }
Inevitably you will find yourself awake at 2am googling some weird stuff when you have a newborn. It's nice to know ahead of time what some of your trusted online resources will be. I have a few recommendations in this area:
  • Friends and family - who in your circle already has kids? Who has a home life that looks like something you want for your family?
  • A local moms group on Facebook
  • A local PEPS group (if you're in the greater Seattle area)
  • A local MOPS group
  • parenting books
{ breastfeeding support }
If you're breastfeeding, it's best to research your local breastfeeding support options now. Our hospital offered a drop-in breastfeeding support group led by some of the Lactation Consultant's on staff. I went faithfully for weeks with Drew, simply because I felt safe there and I was surrounded by other moms trying to get the hang of the whole mothering a newborn thing. The Le Leche League is also a knowledgeable resource, although they are typically not Babywise friendly so keep that in mind.

{ your postpartum body}
Some women soon fit into their pre-pregnancy clothes right after birth, while others don't. If you fall into the later camp (hi! welcome!), you'll want to consider getting your hands on some "transition clothes". These are clothes that will fit you while you're working on loosing the baby weight. Some things to consider:
  • You may not loose the weight as fast as you want to
  • You may technically loose the weight, but your body may be shaped differently after pregnancy
  • Do you want to invest money into transition clothes, or just purchase a few things to tide you over?
  • Consider setting some money aside now to cover the cost of a few transition pieces as you figure out what you new postpartum body will look and feel like
{ pick a sleep training camp}
Most babies spend something like 22 hours a day mostly or completely asleep! This is no indication of how well your baby will actually sleep once they come out of the newborn weeks. Around 6 weeks babies go through a development leap where they become more aware of when they are awake versus when they are asleep; they sleep harder and are more alert when they are awake. After this leap is when moms find baby starts having sleep "troubles": baby wont sleep alone anymore, baby starts wanting to eat around the clock at night, baby wont sleep for long chunks of time anymore, etc. Mom will take to the internet and find a whole host of sleep information. Most sleep sites fall into two camps: attachment parenting, or parent-led. Attaching parenting lends itself to on demand feeding and co-sleeping, where as parent-led methods lend themselves to sleep training and eat/play/sleep routines for baby to follow. I'm talking in extremely generalized terms here, but the point being it's somewhat important to decide early on where you want to get your sleep advice from because which direction you go will profoundly affect the lives of everyone in your home. A home with on demand feedings and co-sleeping looks very different from a home where baby is on a routine. What you decide will depend on your family values, your beliefs, and your instincts. I can't speak to attachment parenting, but if you're going to use the Babywise method for your family here are some Babywise resources:
{ pretoddler and toddler years }
I know it's hard to think ahead to your baby being a toddler, but it will come up fast! If you use Pinterest, considering starting a board for toddler topics and collect pins about the following topics:
  • weaning from breastfeeding
  • moving from bottle to sippy cup
  • local activities 
  • local classes (usually "mom and me" style)
  • potty training
  • media reviews once they start watching shows (we use Plugged In)
  • discipline (I recommend Shepherding a Child's Heart and Love and Logic)
  • school (when to start preschool, where to attend, home school/private/public)
I hope this list has given you some things to ponder now before baby arrives and you begin your adventure in parenting. If you're a seasoned mama reading this list, anything you would add?

This post contains affiliate links. Click here to see my affiliate link policy.

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Mary: 9 months


Last month Mary started crawling - this month she's traversing stairs and cruising all over the place. Anywhere she can pull up and stand, she will. I'm equally hesitant and excited for her to start walking. Not having to carry her everywhere will certainly be nice, but then I'll be outnumbered 2:1 in terms of children on the go.

She's up to 3 teeth now. She's not taking to solid foods as quickly as Drew did; she definitely likes her food pureed. I keep hoping as she gets more teeth that maybe she'll gain more interest in foods in their solid form.

I'm working on shortening her morning nap; a 2 hour nap in the morning was starting to mess with her afternoon nap. Her afternoon nap coincides with Drew's nap and I will stop at nothing to keep those naps synced up as long as possible!

Now that she's completing healed from last month's infection, she's become even more energetic than before she was sick. She loves watching and laughing at Drew, enjoys rides around the block in her push car (that I scored for free through a mom's group in I'm on Facebook!), and gets super excited when dad gets home from work. Because of her infection, we've backed off on the cloth diapering for the time being. I need to keep her diaper area as clean and dry as I can for the next few months to help determine if she is actually prone to UTIs or if last month's infection was a fluke. The cloth diapers are not as absorbent as disposable diapers, so we've been doing more disposables than cloth lately. I am sad because I love cloth diapering, but nothing is worth risking another UTI anytime soon (or ever, really) so I'm happy to make the adjustment for now.

We've started to introduce the command "no touch" as well as introduce the concept that when mom says you're name, you look at mom. If Mary is touching something she shouldn't I'll say "Mary" in a firm voice and pause for her to look at me, and when she looks I say firmly "thanks a no touch" and I make do the sign language for no. Then I point to something else she can use/play with. This worked well for Drew and to this day he still stops and looks at me when I say his name, which prevents me from having to do much yelling to get his attention. No one likes a mom that yells (including the mom)!

We're just loving the daylights out of little miss Mary - she is the perfect addition to our family! Here are some pictures from her little monthly photo shoot: 









Friday, April 15, 2016

Friday Favorites

I'm excited to announce Giving it Grace is now participating in a fun series called Friday I'm in Love. This series is hosted by Emerald City Diaries and The Gilbertson Family, and is a place for bloggers to share some of our favorite things with our readers. It seems like every day I come across an item, event, place, blog post, or resource that I just want to share with others. Call me old school, but I'm a word-of-mouth kinda gal! So - every Friday you can expect to find some of my favorites right here, and if you want to see what other gals are talking about week you can check out there favorites here.



{ adjustable belt }

Postpartum bodies are strange things. While I'm not one to fret too much about losing the baby weight, my body is zero help in the process. Meaning, I do not naturally loose baby weight. As I'm doing my part to work the weight off, I'm finding it's coming off easier in some places than others. One problem this has caused is my pants don't have much of a waistline to hook onto. A standard leather belt works just fine when standing up, but really digs in when sitting down. The other day I saw the elastic belt that came with one of my son's toddler jeans and thoughts "why don't they make those for adults?" Turns out, they do! I received the one above earlier this week and am really pleased with how well it works. It holds my pants up, and flexes when I sit down. It also allows me to play more freely with my kids outside without having to always be pulling my pants up because my belt is too loose (or so uncomfortable that I took it off!). Anyway, highly recommend this belt if you're in a similar waistline situation as I am!

{ hawthorne threads }


When I was pregnany with Mary and were cleaning out the guest/craft/overflow room at my dad's house (where we live, for now), I came across my mom's old sewing machine. I got a wild hair and decided I wanted to learn how to use it, so my grandma came down and got me up and running. It turns out I really enjoy recreational sewing, and since that time my husband got me an updated sewing machine for Christmas (we found a screaming deal on Amazon Deals!). My go-to for buying fabric is Hobby Lobby, but if I'm looking for something really specific or know I wont have time to go to the store anytime soon and would rather have something shipped to me, Hawthorne Threads is the only other place I'll buy fabric from. Endless choices of seriously cute designs!

{ trader joe's thyme honey balsamic vinaigrette }

Three dollars for this tasty dressing and every day I find something new to put it on! My go-to is a bowl of their organic broccoli slaw, hummus, feta cheese, sunflower seeds, and this dressing (and sometimes with chicken thrown in). I've had it for lunch for two weeks in a row and am not tired of it yet!

This post contains affiliate links. Click here to see my affiliate link policy.

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Guest Post: Discipline 101



It's BFBN Guest Post Day, and today I asked Valerie from Chronicles of a Babywise Mom to talk about the topic of discipline. I have an-almost-3-year-old boy, so we are ripe with discipline strategies right now. I love what Val has to say below about parental follow through being one key way to succeed in discipline your child; without follow through, no approach will be successful. It does take extra time and energy to make sure I am able to follow through when Drew tests me, but it's totally worth it. I do 90% of my training with him at home; just because we are at home does mean I "back off a little". I've heard the saying "what you sow at home, you will reap in public" and I have found that to be very true! I'd like to write more on my experiences with discipline, but for right now I'll just share that we personally use a combination of Shepherding a Child's Heart combined with Love and Logic.

And PS: today I'm sharing over at Wiley Adventures about why it's important to keep going when you're working to change a child's behavior (which I've found to be true of both my own children and the children that I have nannied over the years!).

***


I watched as the toddler was picked up and taken out into the hall. The occasion should not have been a happy one, but his eyes glistened and his smile revealed that he did not feel sad at all about being taken out of the church meeting. As the meeting continued, I could see him run by every so often as he chased a ball up and down the church hall, gleeful that his behavior had earned him the consequence of playing ball. While I was only pregnant with my first child, I had enough sense to know that rewarding the child's misbehavior with play time in the hall would only lead to more misbehavior.

I don't think anyone wants to have a child who won't listen and is a discipline problem. And yet, many parents arrive to that point without really knowing what road they took to get there. If you want a child who is obedient, there are some basic things you need to know. 

Obedience Percentages
One of the first things you should understand is obedience percentages. Even naturally obedient children will not obey 100% of the time. Children are humans, which means they are people, which means they make mistakes just like we adults do. Sometimes they are grumpy and go against your wishes just because, just like we adults are sometimes not kind to others even though we know better. There will even be times your sweet little child will disobey you and act out in public for seemingly no reason. 

Disobedience on occasion is not a sign your child is a problem child or that you are doing anything to contribute to your child's lack of self-control. I have a post dedicated to common Obedience Percentages for different ages. If you would like to know where to set your expectations, read that information.

Follow Through
One of the most important bits of advice I can offer to any parent is to follow through. Say what you mean and mean what you say. If you tell your child, "If you throw wood chips one more time, we are leaving the park," then you better leave the park when he throws those wood chips again. If you aren't willing to leave, DO NOT threaten that consequence. It is better to rarely offer up consequences that you follow through on than to threaten frequently--hoping your child will want to avoid it and therefore obey--and then give second, third, and tenth chances on. 

The children I know who are consistently well-behaved, from toddlers on up through teenagers, have parents who mean exactly what they say. Do not make empty threats. Do not make outrageous threats (we had one friend who threatened to bite his son's fingers off if he hurt a child again. Well, the son promptly hurt another child and eight years later he still has all of his fingers). 

Prevention
"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" so the saying goes. This is absolutely true in discipline life! Prevention means:
  • You make sure your child is not asked to handle more than she can handle. Many children will be very disobedient when they are tired and/or hungry. Be mindful of how you are asking your child to behave given her sleep and food factors at the moment. 
  • You teach your child how to obey and what the rules are at times other than when the conflict is there. Teaching your child to share toys before a friend comes over will be more successful than waiting until your child is fighting over his favorite fire truck. See Training in Times of Non-Conflict
  • Along the lines of training in times of non-conflict, you need to Teach What Obedience Looks Like. Along We often fail to remember that our children are new to this world. They do not have the life experience that we have and they don't automatically know what they should and shouldn't do. They are like travelers in a foreign country. They need to learn the language, the non-verbals, and the rules. They don't know what is socially acceptable. They do not know what is offensive and what isn't. They are VERY fast learners, but they are still learners. 
  • You run through the rules and expectations before you go somewhere. This method, called Ask and Tell, is very powerful in helping your child behave. Not giving your child the expectations before leaving is like being invited to a black tie event when you had no idea and showing up in beach attire. No matter what you do, you can't change your clothes during the event. Now, if you knew ahead of time and packed for the black tie, you could go get dressed appropriately. Give your child fair warning to know what to expect. "At your sister's presentation, you need to sit quietly and not talk." "When it is time to leave the park, you need to leave without crying and come when I call." 
  • Always parent with long-term goals in mind. Don't allow things now that you will have to work harder to fix later. Doing that is called Credit Card Parenting. Credit Card Parenting takes more work later. You fix the behavior at some point, and with interest.
Freedoms
A child who has too much say in life--more say than the child can handle--will have a hard time obeying. As the child gets older, the child gets more and more control over his life. But he can't have full control as a toddler. He must learn bit by bit and practice having responsibility over that control. Just like you wouldn't give a first-year med student permission to operate on you, you shouldn't give a two year old permission to make all of the decisions in his life. Humans rely on parents for a long time. We aren't like animals who learn what they need to in a few months and then set off on our own. We need to be taught, protected, corrected, and guided for many years. I have several posts on this topic:
Discerning Discipline
Contentious parents often think they need to be sure to fully provide consequences for every offense or the child will grow up to be a hooligan. Not every offense requires a consequence. Understand the difference between Childishness vs. Foolishness. Sometimes a simple shake of the head "no" from you is all your child needs. Sometimes your child needs more education, not a punishment. Methods like Substitution, Distraction, and Encouragement are adequate for teaching a child what is okay and what isn't.
There will be times you do need to step in with some consequences. That definitely happens often in the world of parenting! Find consequences that work for your child, stay calm, and don't take it personally. Your attitude does matter. It Starts With You.

Conclusion
Luckily children's need for discipline grows with them. You can learn as you go because you don't need to know it all at once. Learn about Disciplining Your Child Without Taking Yourself Too SeriouslyFor more ideas, you can check out my Discipline Index

Valerie has four children and blogs at BabywiseMom.com.

Thursday, April 7, 2016

Hansen life: March

I'm sad/annoyed/bummed to report we had another round of sicknesses in March. The standard spring colds made their way through the house, and then the month ended with Mary getting an infection that she needed antibiotics for. She started having a high fever on Easter Sunday, and by Wednesday of that week her fever was still in the 103-105 range (even with medicine!). We took her to her pediatrician, who sent her over to the ER for more observation and testing. It was there they discovered she had a urinary tract infection, and that was causing her high fever. At that point, Mary hadn't been eating or drinking for over 48 hours, so I was so thankful to get a diagnoses and start her on antibiotics! About 4 days after the first dose of antibiotics she was back to her normal, healthy self! What a scare the whole ordeal was. At the peak of her fever she was shaking and inconsolable at times during the middle of the night. Moving ahead, we know to keep a close eye on her if she gets another unexplained high fever, and to check for a UTI right away.

The rest of March was low key - just passing the time until the weather got nice enough to venture outside. We did some play dates, some outings, and a few get gatherings with friends. 

This month our church offered another pre-marital counseling class for newly engaged couples, and Kyle and I help co-lead the class from time to time when we are able. We're happy to be able to help out again during this current session - it's so good for our marriage, and it's really a joy to be able to help young couples navigate their engagement and prepare for a biblical marriage.


Kyle's cousin Ashley and the rest of the girl cousins planned a surprise girl's night to celebrate my belated birthday (because everyone was sick on the weekend of my actual birthday!). So, so thoughtful - and so fun!

Drew being a big helper!

Mary's first time in the swing - she loved it!

Mary started crawling at the beginning of the month! She was almost 8 months old in this picture.

Drew likes to play "hop on pop" with Kyle after he gets home from work!

We are trying together for a monthly brunch with some friends of ours, and it's really fun because of all the little kiddos! At this point the kids were a little "done" with playing, and all the dads and kids loaded up on the couch to watch some Thomas the Train so that the ladies could finish chatting over coffee and cold quiche (oh the joys of motherhood - never a warm meal again!).
 
I know I've said this before, but Drew really likes Table Time. We started doing some activity books and it always amazes me what he can do. I'm glad he's enjoying this time, because we've decided to wait to enroll him into any kind of pre-k/pre-s until fall 2017. He has a summer birthday, so he'd either be really young for his class, or really old - and ever piece of advice I've been given is to wait and have them be old for their class (especially boys!). 

Clearly he enjoys learning letters and numbers, painting, color, crafting, etc - so I make it a priority to have Table Time twice a week in the morning for him. I've also gathered some materials and resource to teach him the sounds of each letter of the alphabet. Next year I'll actually do a short teaching time from a curriculum with him, and then the following year we'll enroll him in a pre-k class to get him ready for the full day kindergarten the following year. We've toyed with the idea of doing home school for K-2 grade, but that's far off so we'll see what happens there :)

Lovely ladies night with two of my girlfriends from high school/college!

Drew has - on his own imitative - started doing chores to earn money. We're using this opportunity to teach him his very first lesson about money: money comes from work!

Exploring Warm Beach with great aunt Shirley!

Oh how I can't wait for sunny days up at Warm Beach this summer!

Drew and papa have been reading the morning paper at this spot for almost two years now! My how time flies.

We had an impromptu gathering of moms + kids from the moms group I was in when Drew was first born. All of these cute kiddos are within a few months of age from each other. They as brand new little babies, and now they are wild toddlers! There was much coercion going on behind the camera to get them to all sit nicely like this for 2.5 seconds.

FINALLY he is figuring out how to properly "smile" for the camera! :)

Don't let those smiles fool you - this was right before we first discovered she had a fever of over 104!
  
Mary and I were matching our outfit colors for Easter - I love having a little girl!

Sick Mary in our bed in the middle of the night later that day.

Snuggling with dad at the ER, waiting to find out her test results

All loaded full of medicine and antibiotics and starting to feel better!

Drew found my old cheerleading pom poms and really went wild!




He likes to "park" his cars in various places in the driveway

Our church was doing family photos on Easter!


Easter morning! Drew got some new socks and some fun stickers!

And miss Mary enjoyed chewing on her new bow!

Table all set for Easter brunch! We inherited this gorgeous table from my girlfriend, and I LOVE hosting people at it!

Our church did baptisms on Easter! Watching baptisms ALWAYS makes me cry! We watched little kids, husbands, wives, and even grandparents climb into the water and publicly declare their faith through the act of baptism. Jesus is alive and the holy spirit is at work!