An update is shamelessly overdue...

Aubrey had her 15 month appointment today, she is in the 90th% for height, and weights almost 24lbs. She is walking, has lots of things to say, and her little personality is coming out. Besides mealtimes, her favorite time of day is when Daddy comes home from work and she runs screaming "Dada! Dada! Dada!" to greet him at the door. She loves bathtime, her drink, and following Angie around.

Evangeline is growing up so fast. She loves to help around the house - with laundry, cleaning, putting away the groceries (her favorite), and telling Aubrey what to do. She says the new baby is going to be a baby sister (she also says it's name will be "Moo"), we'll see if she's right in just a few months!

Ryan has started a new job! We're grateful he has a job and look forward to down the road when we've adjusted to the change (he has quite a commute so life is quite different now). We're still loving our new place and, again, look forward to a few weeks down the road when life has settled and we feel more "normal"... just in time for the baby to come! :o)

Summer Fun

We've had a bit of summer fun this weekend... yesterday we had a water balloon fight with some friends. And the day before that we took Angie out for a water adventure in Olney. Here are some pictures of our cutie playing in the water with her Dada (while Aubrey & I hung out in the shade):

4 years ago

Update

A cute picture to start us off ;o)

Here is a bunch of random stuff that has happened since the last post...

_Susie (Ryan's grandmother) came for a great visit - it was so good to see her
_Erin & Will got engaged (yey!!) and will be getting married this summer (my bridesmaid dress has already been ordered)
_Ruth & Alex and Dave & Casey had check ups on the babies and they are all doing well
_Angie has tried: peas, carrots, squash, sweet potato, apples, avocados, and bananas. She has been enjoying eating solids
_Angie is now 7 months old!

Reading with Daddy before bed

_Ryan & I cleaned up his grill and it is now open for the season (and has already been used)
_Evangeline has learned to sit up by herself, crawl backwards (still working on the forward motion), and she has learned some sign language (she doesn't do it yet, but she understands what it means and can respond)

Sitting up like a big girl in her bed

_My parents went to England and came back with a few treats for us (yum! :o)
_Ryan & I have tried out a few yum recipes in the past few weeks

Bobby Flay's Cheyenne Burger (from Bobby Flay's Burgers, Fries, & Shakes)

3 Years Ago

Somewhere in between 11:59:59pm and 12:00:00am tonight, 3 years ago, Ryan & I got engaged. (We got engaged on the 29th of February, so next year the day will actually exist!)

The last photo was right after we got engaged up on Sugarloaf Mountain... the others were done by the fabulous Rachael Puckett for us.

It's crazy that three years has gone by, but I'm so incredibly happy that the man of my dreams asked me to marry him. And I would gladly say a crying "yes" again and again. I am so much more in love with my man now than I was that day, even though I didn't think that was possible.

I love you, Ryan Tiren. Thank you for loving me & asking me to be your wife. You bring me so much joy. "My beloved is mine, and I am his" - Song of Solomon 2:16

Evangeline loves her Daddy

Waking up Saturday morning and relaxing with Daddy...


Playing with Daddy...


Talking with Daddy on the phone...

Birthday

Last week was Ryan's birthday. I made him cinnamon rolls with orange juice (the oj is a treat in our house) for breakfast and we went over to his family's for dinner. Then on Saturday I surprised him with a progressive dinner of sorts where not only did the courses progress, but also the people that came. It ended at our place for dessert with some of our favorite people (and yum desserts). Thanks to everyone involved - he really enjoyed it. On Sunday we then celebrated with my family and had some more yum food and hanging out. All in all it was a good time and Evangeline did wonderful with it all.

Ryan, I hope you had a great birthday. I'm so grateful for the wonderful man that you are. Evangeline is so blessed to have you as her daddy and I am an incredibly blessed woman to have you for a husband. Thank you for your love and care over this past year... I look forward to seeing what this next year our your/our life has! I'm praying that God will grow you even more in this coming year and make you more aware of him. Happy Birthday, love!

Day 2, Friday

After salvation, my husband is the greatest gift ever. Many of you know how long I waited… not for a husband, but for HIM as my husband. I am so thankful that I have now had almost 2 ½ years of being married to my best friend, lover, the sweetest guy I’ve ever met, the love of my life. God was so kind to give him to me. He is the greatest means of grace in my life, the best listener, the funniest, smartest, kindest, sweetest, silliest, most wonderful man ever. I still can’t believe that I get to be married to him… he is such a wonderful husband and it is so sweet to now see him as such a wonderful Dad. His dependence on God is so provoking – he is constantly praying for anything and everything, fully aware that he has no strength on his own. He is always asking me to pray for him and how he can pray for me… he tells me often that he was praying for me and thanking God for me. He is humble, asking me and others for input regularly. He is aware of his temptations and seeks to fight against them asking me and our care group and good friends for accountability. He is a big encourager and is often thanking me for even the little things I do. He is so helpful around the house, doing dishes and vacuuming and doing laundry and cleaning up without hesitation. He has an appreciation for music, art, movies, culture, food, the beauty in nature, and all things beautiful around us. I could go on and on and on about him and why I am so grateful to have him in my life.

Thank you, Lord for my husband. Thank you for bringing us together and allowing me to serve him as his wife. Please continue to bless him, please help me to be a good wife to him.

I love you, Ryan and I “do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your heart enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ Jesus when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians) You have and will always have my heart, love. Thank you for asking me to marry you… my answer will forever be yes.

The Song of Solomon 2:16 “My beloved is mine, and I am his…”

Navy Seals

Ryan has been doing a Navy Seals workout routine for a little while now. He was getting up super early in the morning to do it so that his evenings were more free to be with us when he got home. But, recently we decided to change it so that we could work out together when gets home. So we've been doing it together... I'm not doing the whole navy seals workout - putting in a few of my own exercises when he is doing something that either I can't do, or don't want to do, or we can't both do at once. Either way though... these workouts are killer, but I'm glad I can do it with my love.

God knew...

that Ryan needed a little girl.





She is one blessed girl to have such an amazing Daddy.

Anniversary

So Ryan surprised me with a trip for our anniversary! I was not expecting this at all. We had an overnight in St. Michaels, a beautiful town on the bay. It was so relaxing and fun, the food was fabulous, and he really spoiled me. The hotel owned a dock and so there were many boats and yachts docked just outside and we could walk around and look at them and meet some of the people.

This picture was taken by a couple celebrating their 39th anniversary, she very sweetly offered to take our picture as we walked by and then we had a bit of a conversation with them. Everyone was very friendly, part of the boating life, apparently.

That evening Ryan had arranged for us to have dinner on a sailboat! It was delicious food and he surprised me with an anniversary cake for dessert too. It was beautiful being out in the bay in the sailboat and it was so quiet and peaceful, we really enjoyed it.

View from our hotel balcony.

The cake!

Us on the sailboat.

First-mate, Frank, raising the sail.

The next morning I was awake to catch the sunrise, we then had breakfast and set off to wonder around another part of town. We then went to the nearby town of Oxford which has a beautiful little park right on the water. After that we headed home, stopping by a farm stand to get some delicious nectarines on the way :o)

At the Oxford Park on the water's edge.

Oxford Park on the water's edge.

Sunrise view

Next update: my best friend gets married!!

2 years

Today Ryan & I are celebrating 2 years of marriage.

Such happy memories of the actual day...

Using some birthday money I recently purchased a book called Prayers of an Excellent Wife by Andrew Case (thanks Dave & Casey) and starting to read it today was perfect timing.

From the introduction:

"The implications of woman's origin are profound. Her dignity and worth, her necessity, her role in life and marriage, and her unique beauty have been established by God from the beginning. She was made to be a man's faithful helper. And there is no greater help she can offer him than her prayers on his behalf to the One who alone can provide perfect, sovereign help. When the psalmist sings, "I lift my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?" he answers his own question with the words, "My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth." You are not sufficient succor for him. A stronger Hand must come to his aid. Blessed is the wife who pleads often for his mighty Hand to keep her husband's life; who begs for him at the gates of Grace. This is the sort of woman who fears the Lord, feels her own weakness, and finds refuge and righteousness in Jesus Christ. She wants God for her husband. She is to be praised.

If you want to be an excellent wife, far more precious than jewels, pray for your husband. If you want to do him good, and not harm, all the days of your life, pray for him. If you desire to be a wife whose husband is "known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land," pray for him. If you open your mouth with wisdom, may it be full of wise prayers for your husband. Let not charm or fleeting beauty distract you from this vital task. The fruit of wise prayers will be better for him than the fruit of your hands. When it comes to this loving labor, may you never be found eating the bread of idleness."

Can I just say how excited I am to be reading and learning from this book and I look forward to growing in this area and serving Ryan for the next 2, 10, 20, and more years of our marriage.

God has been so kind to us in these two years of marriage. From a trip to England for Ryan to meet my grandparents and most of my family, to providing for a new car when it was needed, to blessing us with our sweet baby (only 72 days left until the due date), and everything in between. He is so good.

Ryan, I've only fallen even more in love with you - which I would never have thought possible. Thank you for leading our little family to be pursuing the Lord and trusting Him. You are such a wonderful husband and I can't wait to see you with our baby, you are going to be an amazing father. I love you so much.

Update

Well, it's almost two months since the last update... so it must be time for another :o)

Quite a bit has happened since April, and our summer is looking to be a fun and full one... but we can't wait for it to be over so we can have our little one in our arms.

At the end of April we headed up to Baltimore to visit with Ryan's grandfather and Uncle Scott.After Ryan and I had looked around and chosen items together, I went to the store and set up our baby registry! It was a lot of fun (using the little scanner thingy) and my Mum went with me. As a result of that trip we got our first baby clothes!

We had been talking about the kind of car we wanted to get as we needed to get one that a car seat could fit in properly! And so we looked around online... and it all happened so quickly, the next day we were driving a new car home! God was so kind to us, we got a good deal on an AMAZING car... we are still making up excuses to go out and drive it. This isn't a picture of OUR car, but it's one of the type of car we got (ours is a charcoal gray):



Mother's Day came and Ryan set the alarm early, told me to go back to sleep, and proceeded to make me breakfast in bed! It was so good, he spoiled me :o)


Chocolate chip pancakes with strawberries and freshly whipped cream. He also gave me some beautiful deep red gerber daisies in a pretty flower pot and also a cute little onesie for baby.

Erin graduated nursing school and despite Ryan being super-incredibly-insanely busy at work he was able to take the day off to go to her graduation. It was great to be there and we're so proud of her years of hard work to get to this day.

This past weekend was the end of that very busy season for Ryan at work: he's still insanely busy but not super-incredibly so and it happened to coincide with my birthday. :o) He got off early from work on the Friday (I was expecting him to be working until 9 or 10pm again) and surprised me at home long before I expected him with flowers in hand and we were able to have the entire weekend together (he was on-call but never got called and even got memorial day off; we were not expecting any of that)! It was great fun.

The past couple of years we've gone to Georgetown for the day for my birthday - this year we did it a little differently though. We went to a Farmer's Market and Whole Foods to pick up some food items that we wouldn't normally eat (including the BIGGEST chocolate croissant ever) and then took it over to Brookside Gardens for a picnic in the back of the car (since you can't take food into the gardens). We then walked around the gardens for a while before heading back home to watch a movie and pick up some dinner. It was great fun... and just wonderful to be together after the long hours he had been working.



We're now looking forward to the rest of the summer which will include 3 weddings, several family get-togethers, Ryan being super busy at work on and off (mostly on), celebrating 2 years of marriage (!!), and then finally the arrival of our sweet baby. We're praying the baby will come 2 weeks early so that he/she can meet their Uncle Xan before he heads back off to college and, let's face it, we are impatient to meet them... but we'll see what God has in store - not long now!