devastation

friends, yesterday was an ugly day in alabama. and it's given me a very heavy heart this morning. i'm not sure that any county was spared some damage. from straight line winds to unbelievable tornadoes... hardest hit? tuscaloosa. it was my home for four years, and i can't help but tear up when i see the photos and footage.

i saw this video last night. it looks like it belongs in a movie, doesn't it? by the way, that's bryant denny stadium right in front of the tornado; home of the crimson tide football team. and don't even get me started on the desolation on 15th street.

i've got word that my friends and family there are safe and unhurt. but there are many, many others who aren't ok. who no longer have a home. who aren't sure where to go or what to do. please say a prayer for our state and keep us in your thoughts.

adding one more video that i just watched. it's a little long, and the guy that filmed it is probably a moron for staying so close, but without his bravery, we wouldn't have this video. um, wow.

{wordless wednesday} orange flowers

and a couple of words cause i can't keep my mouth shut for very long! whenever we ask cayden what color something is, his answer is always, "bleeeuuuu." so to cayden, these flowers are bleeeuuu. big smiles.

p.s. these were on the table when i got home from work last night. husband scored some big points.

on having a sick child

is there anything worse than your child feeling bad? i can't think of anything off the top of my head. and the worst part of it all? there's really nothing we can do. we know he's running a fever. we know (and hope) it's got to be teething (cayden's entire hand shoved into his mouth is a good sign). we know we're going to be changing runny diapers at least once an hour, if not more often.

but the screams from your child when you have to change those diapers? is heart-breaking. his little butt would probably glow in the dark it's just that red. we're switching between diaper rash cream and baby powder. and while i know that a bare bottom would be best in this situation, it's really not doable with the things that keep coming out. & unfortunately, a sick cayden, is also a cayden that says "no" to wanting to go outside. ugh.

so while the kiddo is pitiful, this mama and daddy is taking advantage of the cuddle time. and yes, we even pulled the pacifier back out and it seems to help. and hopefully he'll give it up just as easily and he took it back. (and could he look any cuter being sick?)

easter, bunnies, bubbles & more

easter started out with a visit from the easter bunny. and unlike last year, cayden kind of got what was going on! even more fun for me and jeremy! the easter bunny left a trail of plastic eggs filled with a quarter each (cayden scored a whole $1.75!) from cayden's door to his easter basket. cayden picked up each egg and shook it... and as we got to another egg, he realized he was out of hands and would excitedly pass them off to me to go get another egg. and me? i just had this stupid huge grin on my face the entire time.

after cayden explored his new things for a bit, we got dressed and made our way towards jasper to enjoy easter service with jeremy's family. oh, and i should mention at this point that cayden woke with a slight fever, but with a little love and ibuprofen, he seemed to be ok. since the drive to jasper takes around an hour, he was able to sleep on the way and only managed to be slightly grumpy when we got there.

when church was over, we went back to granna and poppa's house to enjoy a fun cook-out for easter lunch. while lunch cooked, we took the opportunity to take some photos outside since the day was gorgeous. some ginormous bubbles were blown and fun was had.

lunch was ready after a while and grumpy cayden was back. we quickly realized his skin was on fire. much worse than the slight fever he woke with. we wrapped things up with granna and poppa and headed on our way home. we got about two miles from their house before we heard puking from the back seat. since we were experts on side-of-the-road clean-up, i took to cleaning cayden up while jeremy attacked the car seat. and wow, toddler puke? so much worse than little infant puke. wow.

we made it the rest of the way home without incident (thank goodness). took his temperature (102) and decided a cool bath and more ibuprofen were in order. poor kiddo. still dealing with a fever and now runny diapers. and i swear it's still his two year molars that are causing all this trouble. it seems like they've been trying to cut through for-ev-er. gah! here's hoping that cut through soon and this fever mess goes away soon!

inspiration

guys? i'm gonna get honest here. sometimes? i get discouraged. like really discouraged. not in my personal life. no, no. that area is perfectly fine. the area i'm talking about is in my small business. i have all these great ideas (and i do my best to jot them down to remember them), and when they're executed, i'm head-over-heels in love with them.

but then i see someone else doing something similar. and i get discouraged.

or say, the shop is doing really well. selling things left and right. then there's a bit of a dry spell. and guess what? that woe-is-me feeling is back. which really? is just silly. i mean, all the pressure i feel to do good with my shop is self-inflicted. which again, is just dumb. there's no reason to put all this pressure on myself.

so then, i have to sit back and reflect on why i'm having these feelings. and you know why? because i'm all, "it's all about me, me, me." but it's not. it's not about me at all. i'm just this little person in this huge world. and guess what? i'm not in control. the good lord above is the one in control. and when i stop and think about things that way? the pressure lets up. and i just let things ride.

and when i let things ride like that, i'm in a much more peaceful place. which is currently where i am. and there's a verse that i love so much that keeps these thoughts in perspective. and i wanted to share it with you guys. but instead of just sharing it all typed out, i (of course) had to design something. so friends? if you'd like, i created this little image and i'd love for you to download and print it out and hang it somewhere. and then whenever you're feeling discouraged, it'll hopefully help re-center your thoughts too. (you can right click, save it to your desktop and print it. p.s. if you want a higher-res version of it, just shoot me an e-mail and i'll send it to you.)

me? i think i'll print myself a copy and hang it over my sewing machine. it'll be a constant reminder that i'm not in charge. and i like that.