With the start of this new year, I have a fresh passion to be a woman of prayer. The Power of a Praying Wife has such great prayer examples and I keep it and a small pamphlet with things to pray for your kids next to my Bible and have been working hard to make it a faithful habit in my life. Cooking and cleaning are great ways to bless my family, but I believe my prayers are the biggest way I can bless and impact my husband and kids!

With baby #2 coming soon, I thought I would try the whole potty training thing and see if we can get it over with before then so we wouldn't have two in diapers. So there is a lot of nudity around our house these days.  It's a blessing to live in a warm climate and let him run around naked and figure out what it means to potty. We haven't succeeded yet, but he is slowly getting the hang of it. I have to pray for patience as I find myself getting easily irritated at the mess it creates, but the Lord is helping me grow in that area as I learn to treat Duke as I would want to be treated if I was learning a new skill....with patience and acceptance, even when it takes a while to get the hang of it.

We love having family outings on the stand-up paddle boards and have gone quite a few times this winter when the waves get smaller!

We recently took a family vacation to Kauai and enjoyed EVERY minute of it! 

It was fun to hike, swim, explore and enjoy being together!

(6 months pregnant in Kauai, HI.)

Another boy on the way!!

 Wow. 6 months since I last blogged....oh well.

We found out the end of November that baby #2 is another boy! We are so so so excited and even though Duke is clueless, I know he has a future best friend in the making. 

He will be excited when the day comes that they can play together. :) 

Baby is due April 20th, 2013 and so far remains nameless. We are hoping something brilliant comes to us before the baby gets here! 

We stopped on our way home from the Dr. apt to get a blue shave ice to represent having a BOY! 

Visitors from Alaska and Oregon!

Friendship is such a gift. 

Since moving to Hawaii in December, I have made quite a few new friends. But something about a friend who has known for a long time just refreshes my soul. My sister, Shelly, was able to come visit in April, and my friend, Katie, came the first week of June. What a blessing to have these two spend time, energy, and money to come see my life here, and spend time with me and my family in the sun. :)

I was encouraged, challenged, and loved on by both women and tremendously enjoyed both of their babies that accompanied them! 

 Shelly and I enjoying the West side of Oahu...my first time as well as Shelly's!!

Evan and Duke eating sand-covered crackers and working on their tan at Waimea Bay.

Katie, Aniyah, Duke, and I at my favorite coffee shop, Coffee Gallery, sharing hazelnut latte's and blueberry scones. 

Duke and Aniyah sharing a kiss.  

I think we'll save this picture for their wedding slideshow. :)

I'm looking forward to more visitors....who's next?!

Personality.

 

If pictures could describe someone's personality, then these few pictures describe Duke perfectly. 

He is very expressive these days and loves to furrow his eyebrows in a scowl when he bumps his head, squeal in delight when he sees his new favorite toy lawn mower or a popsicle, scrunch up his whole face when asked to smile, or practically yell whatever sound he can force out in an attempt to copy a word. 

He loves to climb on things, carry sticks around making noises with them, throw things, run fast, eat, ride the golf cart really fast, and be thrown in the air by his daddy. 

He is definitely not perfect, and displays his imperfections daily, but he is learning to listen and respond to instructions, and (for the most part) is such a joy to have around. 

I am definitely not perfect, and display my imperfections daily as well, but I pray that by God's grace, I can model Christ's unconditional love and mercy to Duke as I attempt to love, train, discipline, and enjoy his growing personality. 

Hand-me-downs!

Thank you Lord for hand-me-down superman outfits and an abundance of 'new' clothes for this crazy boy who is growing like a weed! 

Like father, like son...

Ha! This picture makes me laugh. Duke's clenched fist, his attempt at a smile, how much they look alike while making a silly face....I think everything about it brings a smile to my face. 

Duke is quickly growing into a boy. 

It seems like a few weeks ago he was still a baby, and now he spends his days climbing up on small ledges, riding on anything that he deems a car (bicycle, golf cart, motorcycle, car, box, etc), eating more food than me, running down hills as fast as he can, and picking up strange bugs (and sometimes eating them!). 

It shouldn't surprise me that he likes to do those things....he learned most of them from Aaron! :)

We took Duke to a park for the first time today, and oh boy, did he LOVE it. 

He had a look of wonderment as he climbed, and ran, and slid, and ran. Aaron and I just laughed as we watched him enjoy the simple play structure...and I was too busy watching and laughing to take a picture, so you'll just have to use your imagination. :)  

March happenings...

 Been weeding, starting seeds, mixing soil, and getting all ready to plant a garden! Duke is pretty helpful...he likes to soak me with the hose, throw dirt, run away, and climb on top of things while my hands are covered in dirt. :) But he is learning, always learning, to listen and obey. Somedays I get discouraged, thinking, "will he ever NOT need so many spankings?!"But I have to remind myself that I am the same way! I seem to always have to be re-learning the same lessons over and over...going through the same cycles of rebellion, falling on my face, repentance, forgiveness over and over again. But then I am encouraged...I have the opportunity to lovingly and consistently model God's love to Duke as I correct his naughtiness and try to guide him to listen and obey. And hopefully one day, he will understand his need for Jesus to cleanse his sins and give him the Spirit to help him listen and obey.

 This is my first sprout! And I have no idea what it is! :( I accidentally dropped the tray of newly planted seeds, and they got all mixed up. Oh well, growing a garden has never been so suspenseful and exciting! :) Not many of them are growing, though, so I think I might need to try again...ya, I think I'll try again.




Duke is becoming a water baby, fast! He just learned to blow bubbles and even likes to practice his new trick with a cup of water at meal-times (which is NOT encouraged). He has gone surfing twice now, and enjoyed it both times....all the while I am sitting on the beach taking pictures and praying for him to not fall off the board! :)

Duke is completely obsessed with cars. He loves them. He even gets excited to go for a ride in the car...I mean, what kid likes to get strapped into a carseat and look out the window calling everything in sight a car? Duke Danger does. :) And it's even better if he is holding one of his little toy cars. 

Speaking of going for a ride in the car, Duke went with his grandma today to run some errands. I don't leave Duke very often, cause I haven't really had many reasons to so far, but I just started cleaning a condo near by and will probably leave Duke with his grandma about once a week. As most mothers understand, when you don't really leave your child very often, they can get an extra strong clingy-ness to their mommies....and such is the case with Duke. Everything revolves around 'mama' these days. :) I love being loved, but I also love the chance to get away for a little while and give grandma some time with Dukie. I packed his bag full of crackers and toy cars to keep him happy along the way. :) 

In other news, Police Academy is going well for Aaron and we are starting to get excited as it gets closer to his graduation in June. Duke and I look forward to his return home from work everyday, and are so thankful for such a hard-working man to lead our family. 

This move to Hawaii has caused a lot of growth in us as a family, and we often pray that God would continue to use everything in our lives - trials and joys - to mold us to be more like Jesus.