Back yard "O" fun

What started out like this....

Slowly grew into this. At this point when we asked Lylah what Papaw, Papa, and Daddy were building she would say "new library". Not quite sweet girl....that's down the road.

But after a little over 6 hours, okay maybe a day and a half over 6 hours, this is what was standing in the back yard waiting for our lil' lady to wake up.

When I went to wake Lylah up and was talking to her about her "new library playground" she said "like it, kiss it". We talked about how she needed to give Daddy and Papaw a kiss instead to which she replied, "Daddy, Papaw work harder harder". So sweet!! Well of course Lylah LOVES her new playground!! When I brought her out she squealed several times and then, in perfect Lylah fashion, slowly explored every inch of it. She is surprisingly good at the climbing wall and the glider! Here are just a few pics of Lylah enjoying her "Lylahbrary" as Papaw named it.

Thanks Bebe and Papaw for the fun swing set!!! Thanks Daddy, Papaw, and Papa for building it!! We can't wait for Lydia to come home and enjoy it with us. Oh, all of our friends can come play too!!!

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

It is no secret that there are big changes in store for our family as we are awaiting the arrival of our little Lydia. What some of you may not know is that is not all the changing that will be going on for us in the not so distant future. At the beginning of this month, the day before my birthday to be exact, I resigned from my teaching position effective at the end of the school year (six working days from now). Anyone who really knows me, knows that I have been wanting to be at home since I went back to work after my maternity leave. Nathan had that same desire for me so we set out on a journey of planning and praying toward that goal. We have minimized our expenses and have eliminated almost all of our debt (all as soon as our land sells) all in hopes of making it easier for me to stay at home come August. Nathan picked up a second part time job and I will be doing a small work from home job as well to help make up for the extra insurance expense.


We know that this next year while we wait for Nathan to get his Associates Degree will not be easy. I'm sure we'll still have weeks or months when we will have to do some penny pinching, but it will be worth it to be able to pour into Lylah and eventually Lydia. I want to snuggle them, play with them, teach them, and train them in a way that working full time is not allowing me. I know that some mothers work full time and make it look effortless, I am in awe of those women. I found out that I am not one of them! I was coming home every night totally drained trying to put dinner on the table and keep some sort of order in our home plus sneak in some play time with our lil' lady. I found that I was getting stingy with my weekends because I had so much to do and so little time to do it, not to mention that the weekends were the prime time to play!! Anyway, that being said, I was asking Nathan today if he was scared about this next chapter in our lives. He said, "Of course, but that doesn't mean I don't think it's the exact thing we are supposed to be doing." I'm so thankful for a husband who has such faith! So even though it may not make since to most people, we are stepping out in faith, believing that this is what God has for us for this season. We are of course scared, but we are even more excited and hope that this journey along with all others we take will bring Him glory.

Chattanooga

Last week we took a little trip to Chattanooga. It was sort of a thirtieth birthday/mother's day/we really wanted to visit their children's museum before Lylah would cost money (yes we are cheap, I know) kinda trip. It was loads of fun for sure!! We stayed at the Chattanooga Choo Choo, which was really cool and perfect for our little transportation lovin' lady. We spent the afternoon just walking around looking at the trains/gardens/pools/elevators and such. We did take a train tour which was fun except when the man would stop to talk which would prompt Lylah to say, "more train go mommy". To say she wasn't interested in the history behind the Chattanooga Choo Choo could be considered an understatement, but at least we were the only ones on the tour!! The conductor also let her ring the train's bell so that sort of restored their relationship. That evening we ate some Taco Bell on our balcony, mainly because I think eating at restaurants with toddlers is incredibly overrated. We ended our first day with a little dip in the pool. Lylah liked the pool much more than she did last year. We took turns jumping in and floating like a boat, needless to say, I'm glad we were the only ones at the pool too :)

The next morning we woke up and went to the Creative Discovery Museum. It was great!! Double fun for Lylah was that we took the city bus to et there (I really wasn't kidding when I said she loves transportation). Anyway, the museum was just as good as we had heard it was. The exhibits were all very interactive and hands on. Lylah was at a great age for it too! Her favorite exhibits were the art exhibit which had art, music, and drama and the yellow house exhibit which was like a play kitchen times 100. I didn't take very many pictures with my phone so you'll just have to go see for yourself!!! I did take a couple at the water exhibit because I thought it was sweet that Nathan wore a rain jacket too!

We had so much fun in fact-

We wore the lil' lady out. She slept ALL THE WAY HOME!!

God is building our family and you can help!

How fun are building blocks?! How much more fun would they be if they helped tell a story? Super fun, right? Well, that's where you come in!! As you probably know if you have followed this blog for long we are in the process of expanding our family through adoption. Our next fundraiser gives YOU a chance to help tell Lydia's adoption story. Curious??

We have a set of blocks similar to the picture above and we would LOVE to have you "craft" a block. You can write a message, verse, or just your name. You can paint your block or scrapbook/modge pouge it or just leave the background plain. Now for the fun part-Lydia and Lylah will play with these special blocks that tell all about how God built our family through friends like you!!! I'm hoping right now that you are making a list of family members who need to "craft" a block and that you are pulling out those sharpies, paint pens, scrapbook paper, ect. We are asking for a donation of $10 per block. Our set has 100 pieces (some of which are already painted)! Will you please help us get each block "crafted" with verses, names, and messages that can be shared with our girls for years and years?? Just leave a comment here, facebook me, or email me (lara.mattingly81@gmail.com). Oh and help spread the word!!! Please blog about this, and/or repost it again and again on facebook!! Im sure the towers the girls build with this set will be wonderful, but not nearly as wonderful as the story they will tell!

Surprise!

Okay, so anyone who knows me knows that I'm not any good at surprises, but yesterday I had one of the best surprises ever! My super sneaky hubs and my way awesome sis were not going to let my 30th birthday just pass by with the usual flair. They worked together with the help of my parents to plan a way awesome surprise birthday cookout!!!!! So for the sake of wanting to remember the details here I go:

Nathan had mentioned earlier this week that he thought it would be fun to cook out at a park when my parents came in on Saturday. I agreed. So yesterday Nathan, Lylah, and I loaded up and headed into Bowing Green. Nathan had mentioned that we needed to stop by church because he needed to move something for Stu. I didn't think anything of that, and only got a little bit suspicious when Nathan took a long way to church to bypass "Derby Traffic" (like we lived in Louisville or something). I also thought it odd when I called my mom to see if they knew which park to go to and she said not to worry they knew where they were going (I didn't know at that point that we had even finalized which park since I thought this was relatively impromptu). Other than that I had no idea that anything was up and I certainly didn't expect after our "tour" of our church's new gym (the box Nathan had to move was "already moved", imagine that!) for most of my very favorite people to be standing in the women's locker room waiting to surprise me!!!! How fun!

After the surprise we alllllll headed over to the park where my dad was grilling away. Turns out the whole trip to the church was a diversion to give a real element of surprise. That it did sneaky hubs, that it did!!

So, thanks to my Hubby and Sis for planning, to mom and dad for doing an amazing job at food (as always), and to Beth, Ben, and MLK (who came despite a very big party planned for them later in the day), Laura, Will, and Hunter, Kevin, Kristy, and Xander, Shaun, Deanna, Taylor, and Gabby, Jeff, Mary Beth, Maddie, and Annye, Jason, Christin, Luke, Brenna, and Ali, Kasey Jo, Cash, and Baylen, Karen ( my MIL who drove all the way from Indy), Tim (my sweet FIL) and Stephanie for keeping the secret and making this girl feel very special on her birthday.

Ps. Sorry there aren't any pictures with this post-I've gotten spoiled by my blogger app and I failed to take pics with my phone- you'll have to use your imagination :)

30's got nothin' on me.

Tonight I am enjoying a quiet evening at home knowing that in the morning I'll wake up and I won't be in my 20s anymore. Now I've joked with my class all week about getting "old" but really I'm sadly not a generally sentimental gal so really I'm as excited about this birthday as I am every birthday. If you know me, you know I love birthdays! So in celebration of saving farewell to my 20s and hi-de-ho to my 30s I thought I would compile some lists.

20 things I learned in my 20s (in no particular order)
1. College wasn't nearly as complicated as adulthood.
2. The first year of marriage can sometimes be compared to torture.
3. If you hang in there after that torture part, marriage is fun stuff.
4. Buying a house requires LOTS of signatures.
5. A real interview for a job you've spent four years preparing for is much more intimidating then interviews at Wendy's.
6. Everyone needs a Cricut.
7. Staying up late is a bit over rated.
8. Getting up before it is daylight is too.
9. Church family is a precious gift.
10. So are good friends.
11. My mom was right on a lot of stuff.
12. It's not fun paying bills.
13. Traveling abroad will change you forever.
14. So will becoming a mom.
15. There is nothing sweeter than a daddy's girl.
16. Sign language is awesome.
17. Goodbyes are never easy.
18. God is always at work.
19. Making hairbows is addicting.
20. You can learn a lot from a good blog.

And while I'm at it:

30 things I'm anticipating for my 30s (again no particular order)
1. More gray hairs
2. God's mighty hand of provision
3. Some since of organization
4. Freezer cooking
5. Crafting
6. A brown skinned babe named Lydia
7. A graduation from college for the hubs
8. A DIY play kitchen
9. A wooden swing set
10. A post placement visit with THE best social worker ever.
11. Long distance friendships
12. Baking bread
13. Learning the ins and outs of African hair
14. Being a part of MOPS
15. Pinching pennies
16. Traveling abroad again
17. A vacation to the beach
18. Becoming an advocate for the fatherless
19. Montessori school elements for the girls
20. Being a part of one of Cindy Starr's Bible Studies
21. The new library in The Grove
22. Giggling with the hubs and our babes
23. Making lists
24. Still not getting everything on said lists finished
25. Reading for enjoyment
26. Going to another secret church
27. Our land selling
28. Making new friends
29. Haubfest
30. Adoption assistance picnic

So most of those things will probably happen before I turn 31, bit that is even MORE proof that my 30s are sure to be just as big as an adventure as my 20s!!!!