BANANAS

This is silly, but fun...
Maybe we'll have to do a few more of these so Milo can earn his keep. :)



Thank you, Kid to Kid Austin! http://kidtokid.com/home/home/store.html

Document Your Blessings

I've said a lot that I want to be a great REMEMBERER.
Because God shows me how good He is ALL THE TIME. And I don't want to forget.

Please keep in touch! Evidence of what God's been doing in the lives of "Team Jacobsen" soon to come!! [photographs & stories]

"So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him." Matthew 7:11 NLT [AMEN]

In the meantime, here are some photographs of one of my favorite BLESSINGS:

SPIRITED

And, we're back... darling Milo, who somehow always knows when I'm about to sit down to blog and instantly becomes bonkers needy combined with my textbook overthinking of words...

It's been a while, but here's an update on our little fam:

I am "sabbathing" this summer: focusing on home and family.

It's strangely hard and wonderful and right where I'm supposed to be.

Alex is STILL my favorite husband. He works hard for his family and for ACF.

He led worship this last weekend and did an amazing job. I love his voice, his musical simplicity and his gentle spirit when he plays for people.

Milo is, we call it SPIRITED. He is quick to let us know when he's happy and when he's sad. He's thoughtful. He's loud. He has likes and dislikes. This week, his favorite song is "A Mare Encheu" by Heitor Villa-Lobos from Classical Baby. His least favorite song is the theme song from The Office. Weirdo. It is awesome to see his expressive face when he hears music. I love it.

Things Milo does...

> Looks like a giant child, to me, even though he's just 6 months old [19 lbs, 27 in]

> Babbles a TON. Loudly. He loves to laugh at lamps, his dog and his dad

> Sleeps through the night. Most nights.

> LOVES jumping. Will probably walk tomorrow

> Sits up

> Plays with stacking toys, but can only UNstack them & loves the playing in cousin Tuck's exersaucer

> Eats babyfood & can drink water from a sippy cup

> He really likes music and tries to sing a long. When he likes a song, he smiles, laughs and when he doesn't like a song, he gives me serious stink eye and whines at me.

> Loves to swim

> Loves his dog, Ozzie Bear & loves to have "secrets" with him. [When we're not looking he puts his hands out for Oz to lick.]

> Loves his baby friends: Sawyer Rock, Hadley Prothro, Jag & Blake Taylor and his cousin Tucker Webb

MY favorite things are watching him play with his dad & when he gives me a big scrunched up nose smile first thing in the morning; especially when he's wearing his robot jam jams.

This summer, we're trying to get out as much as possible; almost unbearable in this 100+ heat. We walk/jog in the mornings and hang out with friends as much as possible during the day. We're going to Kingwood to see Alex's family next week! And going to South Padre with my family in August. Can't wait to take Milo to the ocean for the first time! I LOVE the ocean. Hope my little stinker loves it too.

Dreams & Month 4

I woke up early to find children walking through my backyard. They were on their way to school and were using our backyard as a shortcut to get there. At first, there were only a few kids. But then more and more kept coming. There were a TON of kids walking into our backyard, like it was perfectly normal. Unbeknown to me, there were parts of our fence these children knew to move out of the way so they could cut across. I walked outside to talk to someone I knew [picture "Buddy Gerrity" from Friday Night Lights] and asked him what was going on, why were all these children walking through my backyard? He said they always walked through our yard in the morning on their way to school. I was just never home or woke up early enough to see them. I couldn't believe it; how did I not know this was happening? I was shocked.

And then, I woke up. WEIRD.

I don't remember dreams often. And I don't typically think dreams mean anything other than, of course you dreamed you were being chased after finishing 2 seasons of Prison Break in 5 days.
But this one... I woke up feeling unsettled. It was so real. And I keep wondering why I dreamed such a strange story & why I was so offended when I woke up.

I asked Alex. He said he thinks it means there will be 7 years of harvest followed by 7 years of famine. [He's so helpful.]

What is my subconscious trying to tell me? What does this dream mean?

MORE IMPORTANTLY:

Milo is still the best baby ever. [I know, I'm that parent. I don't care.]
He is 4 months old. He "talks" constantly & rolls TWO directions. [He's brilliant.]
I am finding I love mommying. It was surreal getting to celebrate Mother's Day this year. But AJ did so good: orange roses [my fav], a cheesy yet poignant card, dinner date & house cleaning.

I can hear Isaiah in my head saying, "YOU BLESSED."

[Stolen from everestroad.blogspot.com. They are amazing.]

CHOSEN

"All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure." Ephesians 1:3-5 NLT

A thankful heart.

1 - I am thankful for this baby. The two of us had a wonderful day yesterday. Nothing out of the ordinary, it was just... fun! Milo is a delight and I love hanging out with him. He's figured out those crazy appendages that used to whack him in the face and wake him up at night are hands. And this is very exciting because he now knows they are his and he controls them. In three short months, Milo transformed from this unaware blob into a smiling, interactive baby who LOVES to have his diaper changed (weirdo), talk to every lamp in our house & snuggle anything soft (like Robert, the blue blanket dog). I love what my friend, Ian, said at church last weekend: Milo has done nothing to earn my love, he just HAS it. Just for BEING. It makes no sense, but I know God better because of it.

"But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy..." Titus 3:4-5 ESV

2 - I am thankful for a small group of 11th grade girls. Last night, their brilliant leader, Julie Prothro, taught them about spiritual gifts and two really great things happened: First, they learned more about how they are each uniquely gifted. Second, as the girls talked about the spiritual gifts they recognized in each other. Each girl GLOWED. No one ever gets sick of sincere encouragement. Ever. It was beautiful to hear young women tell each other why they admired the gift of faith they saw in someone, or how they clearly saw the gift of service or hospitality in another. We should bless our friends this way more often.

"By yourself you're unprotected. With a friend you can face the worst." Ecc 4:12 MSG

Announcement

Double Sneezes

This is Milo. He is now 2 and a half months old and I think we are finally starting to figure each other out. People tell me all the time how much he looks like my husband, Alex. And he DOES. And I LOVE THAT. But. Sometimes I want to think he's like me too...

DOUBLE. SNEEZES.

I love that my child is a double sneezer [that would be two sneezes in a row, always] because we have that in common. Every time I hear those two little baby sneezes, I smile. He's perfect.