2018

Have you guys seen the posts going around with people sharing what their word is for the year? Whether it be for work or personal goals, I've been seeing so many people choosing a word to focus on. I thought about this a lot, but do you know how hard it is to choose ONE word?!? There are just too many words that are suitable and have intense meaning. Faith. Determination. Motivation. Believe. Focus. Balance. Hope. Love. Perseverance. I came to the realization that mine couldn't be just one word. But it could be a verse. It's this verse.

"What do you mean, 'If I can'?" Jesus asked. "Anything is possible if a person believes." The father instantly cried out,
"I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!" 

Mark 9:23-24

I'll be honest with you guys. I love the start of a New Year. Does anyone else get super excited to pull out a brand new, empty, clean planner?! It is pure joy when I buy a new one and get to go through it to mark holidays, birthdays and events. The new year means a fresh start. An empty slate. A new beginning. But, we are just a few weeks into the year and I feel defeated. I've been hit countless times already. 

Amidst all of the curve balls and gut punches, I've had some great reminders of God's promises and love, too. I left my wallet at Walmart one day. Where or how I have no idea. 2 hours later when we realized it and went back to the store, I fought back the tears as we drove there and as we waited at the counter and then I full on ugly cried when they brought it to me. I prayed the whole way there that God would have allowed someone to hand it in. My phone was in there. Everything was in there. God please don't let us take another hit. He didn't. He had me. Jeremy and I have been obsessively binge watching one of my favorite shows that I bought myself for my birthday. While watching it one night I was overwhelmed at how different my life could look right now had God allowed it to take a different turn. I could be so unhappy right now.
I could not be here right now.

I can not tell you the amount of times that the Lord has come through for me in my life. How many times He has shown His hand just since Jeremy and I have been married. So, so, so, so, so many times! He has given us what we needed, when we needed it, almost to the penny (if it was financial), time and time again. So when I say that I believe, oh do I believe! But for some reason that doesn't stop me from fretting and worrying and stressing about every little thing! GAH! I hate it!

There are so many things that we WANT to do.

There are so many things that we NEED to do.

There are so many things that we have to GET through.

There are so many things that we are WAITING for.

And God is above all of it.
He is ahead of me. Making a way for me.
And His way has proven time and time again to be way better than anything I could plan.

Lucas is 9 months!

I had planned on getting this blog up last week, since he officially turned 9 months on the 14th. But we had a super busy week and he was teething so we didn't get pictures done until this weekend. 

We went to the doctor on Thursday for his well visit. She said everything is looking great and he is hitting all of his milestones. She was about to put him on his belly to see what he would do when he put himself on his belly and crawled across the table for her stethoscope hahaha 

He is babbling lots of sounds. I swear he knows what Da-Da and Ma-Ma means. He says Da-Da ALL the time and I always look at him and say, "NO! Ma-Ma!" He will giggle at me and then say Da-Da again. 

He is also:

Crawling for real (instead of being a worm)

Walking with a walker

Pulling up on everything

Side stepping along things

Obsessed with Seth

Loves licking the dishwasher and stove

Has 2 teeth

Can wave and dance

He still loves to eat but is starting to trim down with his mobility. We discovered over the holidays that he loves avocado and cottage cheese which are two things Seth would never eat. He loves to eat on his own when we have something that he can do so with. He weighed in at 20lbs 8ounces (was 17) and measured 27.5inches (was 26).

 

As you will see below he is a busy busy boy. I looked back at Seth's 9 month blog and I'm seeing a trend here hahaha

I can't believe we are already thinking about it, but I'm leaning towards doing an 'ABC' party for him! He isn't really into anything yet and I've found some super cute stuff to do with that. I just can't believe how fast things have gone this time around.....BUT, I'm not complaining at all. The Thomas family can NOT wait for July!

Seth is 2.5!

I have always wondered what to say to people when they ask how old your child is. Before the first birthday you usually tell them how many months they are. But then after that do you start saying they are 1 year and 3 months, or do you say they are 15 months? What about after the 2nd birthday? Is Seth 30 months or is he 2 and a half? hahaha

Anywho - although I've been saying he is 2.5 for the past couple months, he officially is since January 4th. My what a sweet boy we have. When I really sit down and think about it and let it soak in, it overwhelms me with emotion and love. I'm not going to lie - he has his moments where his true 2 year old colors shine bright. But then he has those moments where he comes running to you for snuggles, or when Lucas is crying and he gives him his paccy and rubs his back. And speaking of paccys, we took Seth's away cold turkey when we got back home after the holidays!

His favorite things right now include:

Paw Patrol

Zoo Animals

Music (Dave & Ava)

Books

Being on Dada's shoulders
Being outside

Now that Lucas is mobile and getting into everything, Seth aimlessly wanders around the house with his arms full of his favorite toys trying to find a safe place for them. He is learning the hard lesson of sharing - he hates it. Lucas is just as obsessed with his brother as the rest of us are. He shows his affection by grabbing toes and pulling hair so we are all learning and growing as these new stages present themselves! 

He has unofficially been diagnosed with apraxia. If you want to read more on what that is you can do so here. From what I know (and we are still learning) there is something in his brain that makes it hard for him to make his mouth do what he wants it to do. He has a very tight jaw so we are working on exercises for that and it will just be a little bit more of a challenge for him to overcome. Starting next week he will be doing speech therapy twice a week instead of just once and we are hopeful that will help. I am so thankful for the incredible therapist that he has. He gets the biggest smile when he sees her and runs off to his sessions with her each week without looking back for me. I know she truly cares about him and it makes it easy to trust and follow her lead. You can definitely be praying for us as we continue this journey with him. My days are long and tiring with the lack of communication, especially with the new frustration of Lucas and sharing, etc. The financial burden of moving to two sessions a week has set in. I am furious that insurance companies have the right to make a decision for my child and refuse to cover therapy for him. Who are they? But, I am confident that the Lord loves this little boy more than I do, which blows my mind since I can hardly comprehend the amount of love that I have. A few extra reminders of this each day and we'll get through it : ) 

How is his 3rd birthday rapidly approaching?!

Office Space

Jeremy and I decided that we weren't going to do gifts for each other this year for a couple different reasons. I did cheat and get him a few little things while we were in NY, because he gave up his gift from my parents so that they could fly the boys and I up there. For our anniversary we got a combination gift together and we talked about doing the same thing after the holidays. So here it is!

Our kitchen table has been our work area for the past 2 years. Between him lesson planning, doing grad school work and my Usborne business, the table is forever cluttered and not the most comfortable place to sit for long periods of time! We don't have a ton of extra space so I never thought an office look would work here, but we made it happen and I love it! I love having a separate place to keep things and work so that my time with the boys is more focused. 

We already have a super great idea for our Anniversary this year and I think we will continue doing Christmas gifts this way, too!

Christmas in the South

When we got home from NY and set up all of the boys toys they had gotten, we decided to hold off on our little family Christmas for a bit. They had gotten so much and hadn't even played with any of it yet since they were in new places with new toys and cousins to enjoy spending time with. After our "Snowmageddon" ended and we got back into a "normal routine" we finally had Christmas this weekend.....(PS - it is getting harder and harder to capture pictures of these busy busy boys!)

To be continued.....

Geiger Christmas

For 3 days there were 8 adults, 9 kids (2 being preteen and 4 being under 1 year) and 2 dogs all in my parent's little house! We were all shocked at how smoothly it went and what a great time we all had together (minus me feeling under the weather for part of a day). We celebrated Christmas together, played the crazy saran wrap ball game and made lots of memories just hanging out! 

Impatiently waiting for everyone to show up - 

okay, he was just waiting for the doggies!

We are so thankful for the time that we got with family! It doesn't happen nearly as often as we'd like, but the times together are treasured. We love you all and appreciate those that traveled to be there with us!