Update on everyone....

I got a friends quarterly email yesterday with a detail update on what each person is each doing. It made me think about sometimes posting quick one or two liners about what is going on with each person in our family.

Trae- Busy at work, going on a retreat with our HWY team and enjoying watching our sweet new boy development and daddy loves doing the last feeding each day and tucking in Sam. He loves that special time with him. Trae was nominated recently with his company for the momentum award. He didn't win but to be nominated is huge especially since he had only been there about 1.5 years. He was also asked recently to attend a huge conference in Las Vegas that is typically for the best of the best. We are so thrilled to see his hard work paying off and seeing the Lord reward his efforts.

Julie- Trying to slow life down a bit. Ready for our school year to end. Loving my family and trying to find out ways to connect with 3 children who are in 3 totally different seasons. Looking forward to our retreat. Best time of the day....when my hubby comes through the door!

Andrew- Ready for school to be out, working hard at his PT job and looking at a change of cars. The SUV his dad gave him is really nice but he feels it is a bit to bulky and it makes him nervous. He is eyeing a Honda Civic. He just booked a trip to visit his uncle in LA this summer. He is really excited about that.

Jacob- Loving spring and playing outside as often as he can. Getting ready to start swim lessons. Getting ready to go with mom to our local homeschool conference. It is a great time for him to see the bigger picture of homeschooling and to meet many other families who have the same lifestyle as we have chosen.

Sam-Sleeping 12 hours at night!!! Can you hear mama rejoicing?!!!? He found his right hand about a month ago and last week discovered his left hand. He is a strong boy and loves to sit up and look around. Loves his bathtime and give smiles to each of us daily.

Sam's special day....

Samuel was dedicated today! It was so special. We knew we wanted something unique for our son and less hurried than most of the dedications we have witnessed. A dear friend of ours and mentor to Trae lead the time together. We had a few dear friends there along with family and we had a time of speaking a blessing into Samuel's life. It was so amazing. The words were heartfelt and Sam turned and listened to each one. WOW....were we ever blessed!

Is Sam not the sweetest baby ever??!! He was just so adorable in his sweet outfit and was quiet and sweet the whole time. Look at that face!!!

I am hoping Trae will post and share the scriptures that were shared and his perspective of the afternoon. I wanted to post pictures asap and just give a brief description.

Family....

Sam got to meet his aunt and uncle last month! They were very sweet with him. His uncle spoke about not always being comfortable with little ones but he was a pro with Sam and Sam was totally at ease with him. We are all praying for more cousins too! Love the sweet picture of auntie with Sam. We are hoping Sam gets to meet his other grandma soon! Come quickly....I am growing fast!

Brotherly love....

I LOVE this picture of our oldest and our youngest. One day Andrew said I wish Sam had been born about 5 years ago. That statement puzzled me. I asked him why and he said because I will be leaving in a few years and he will still be so young. I can't tell you how much that warmed this mama's heart! They both adore one another.

Natural light and unconditional love...

Trae and I both love photography. I know my skills could really grow and improve and therefore I keep trying. We were sitting in our living room enjoying one another and I saw how much natural light was coming in. It was beautiful to see all the colors in their natural state. I couldn't resist a few photos.

Jacob is homeschooled and therefore the 3 of us spend a lot of time together. He is a natural pro with Sam and loves him greatly! Sometimes if Sam is fussy Jacob will get a bit unsure of the crying but luckily it is usually brief. Sam hasn't been colicky at all. Praise God I think that would put Jacob over the edge. Well and truth be told probably the rest of us too!

Bumbo fun!

Since our other boys are much older I have people say to me don't you love all the new baby items that are out there?! To be honest I miss a few of the ones that I had back when the boys were young. However I knew I wanted a Bumbo for seat for Sam. I found one on Craigslist this week and couldn't wait to try it out today. As you can see it was a hit! Great product and perfect for that young one who has some neck strength but not ready to sit up yet. It even has a tray on it and he enjoyed staring at a object for a bit. He also started putting his hands in his mouth this week. I think it is the very early start of teething!

You might wonder....

You might wonder where the title to our blog came from. This last year I attended Women of Faith with a group of ladies from our church. Nicole C Mullen was one of the guest singers and she sang a song titled Black, white, tan. I was pregnant with Sam at the time and when she sang it many of the ladies looked my way and smiled celebrating the gift we would soon hold. I loved the song! While our family isn't about our color I thought it was a sweet song and knew my hubby would love it and found a version of it online when I got back home. This is a rough cut but here it is. When I was setting up this blog I asked my hubby what we should call it. He said I don't know you know much more about blogs. Than he said what about naming it after that song. I thought it was a great match!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oXiC6BrROE

Easter Sunday....

We had a wonderful Easter Sunday together. We went to church and than raced home to head out to spend the day with family. The day started with lots of rain and by afternoon it had cleared and was a beautiful day. We had a busy morning so we ended up doing the boys baskets at Grandmas house. The guys played a lot of ping pong while my mom and I stayed in side taking turns snuggling sweet Sam. We just couldn't resist the bunny ears for him! I have a sweet picture of Andrew in bunny ears when he was a newborn. Sam loved spending time with everyone and spent much of the time cooing with us.

Welcome to our little corner.....

We were talking about staying in touch with family and we felt like this would be a way to do so. Please check back and hopefully you will find some new pictures and updates on the things going on in our world.