Now You're My Whole Life

Two nights ago I was rocking Vann to sleep and he was having one of his last nighttime bottles. I tried to hold it for him, but he was not going to give up. I looked at him and whispered, "I have this, you can let go". And then I heard it...God's whisper to me was exactly what I told Vann. He was using my little boy and his bottle to share His truth with me. God said, "Dana, I have this, you can let go of the worry and fear, the what-ifs, your plan...this is My plan". You see, even though I told my son that I would hold his bottle for him he didn't let go right away. I had my hand on it, Vann had his tiny hands gripped to each of the sides, and no one was letting go. Eventually he got tired and one hand would relax and slip off, but as soon as he realized he wasn't in control he'd cling on to the bottle again. Finally he gave in and I held the bottle, rocked him, and drifted into dreamland. How many times are we the baby clinging to the bottle? E...

Well, it's hard to face reality and say that our sweet little baby is an entire year old. He's been with us for over 365 days and we have LOVED every single minute. We have never smiled more, and I smile A LOT so that's a bold claim! I am not going to lie, it's been a learning curve, but every second has been a gift and I wouldn't change a thing! We had a fun party with our family and Vann's friends that are around the same age! I love watching them grow up together. I had the hardest time picking a theme and because Vann couldn't tell me what he'd like...we picked. I love themed parties and really enjoy planning them. It's the "pulling it together" part that's hard for me. I found some cute "County Fair" parties and made a spinoff of that idea. It ended up being like a Patriotic BBQ! I am so thankful for Mom's listening ear, creative ideas, and showing me the ropes of throwing a birthday party. I mean she wou...

That title of the post makes me think back to elementary school days when we all learned the slogan, "Just Say No", right? Well, I am not talking about drugs today, but I am talking about something else that can steal your life. Saying YES to everything. I am soooo very guilty of this. Yesterday, I was updating a calendar that Ryan and I share to make sure we don't double book ourselves...Ryan texted me as he got the updates and said, "guess I will see you next week". He was being sarcastic or was he? I totally am guilty. I can't say NO! It's awful because it takes away from the people that matter most. It takes away from my two guys and that is not ok. My plate keeps filling up for other people and I try to keep them all spinning. But you know what's gonna happen? They are all going to crash if I don't keep the most important ones first: God and my sweet family. Today, I am writing this to make a point for myself to say NO. I love what ...

Monday marked the end of our nursing journey. Vann is 2 weeks away from being a year, so I feel like he had a great start full of awesome nutrients in his first year. Who knew nursing was so beautiful? Honestly, in high school I remember a mom coming into the library and nursing her baby in public. It would really concern me that she was out in the open feeding her baby. WOW. I had a lot of growing up to do. And I really don't blame myself for thinking that way. I didn't know anything about raising a child and the facts about breastmilk. Now at 29 years old, I am blown away by the process of nursing a baby. A woman's body can create the nutrition necessary to raise a small human. God is so good. It's a modern day miracle. I think some huge factors went in to help me nurse, get confidence, and continue even when it wasn't easy. A good knowledge of the facts I read a couple of books and attended a nursing class before Vann was born.  However, there is NOT...