January Date Nights

I love that every week we make our marriage a priority. It's not that we didn't before initiating date night every week, but we are definitely more intentional which makes me wayyyy better! Like I've said before, it doesn't have to be an expensive date, it just has to be planned! Most of our dates are less than $5.

Here we go!!

Jan. 5th: The first week was totally all about Trevor! He rented The Magnificent Seven from Redbox. I think I fell asleep after about 30 minutes. Trevor enjoyed the movie though! 

 

 

Jan. 12th: We actually did a really cool date this night - Trevor planned it all and it was probably my favorite date night so far! So I'm going to blog about that one separately. Yep, you'll have to wait to hear about it! ;) We also had date night the following night at Upper Crust with some of our good friends. It was great to hang out, chat and of course, entertain babies all at the same time! 

Jan. 19: We went and saw the Accountant at the dollar theatre! I thought Trevor would like it. ;)

 

 

Jan. 26: Trevor and I went to dinner just the two of us! Wahoo!! This is actually the first time we have done this since baby has been born. I know that probably seems crazy, but he is such a good baby that we normally just take him with us to restaurants and it's no big deal. We went to Bricktown Brewery. My parents hung out with Brooks at the mall. It was so nice to just sit at the bar, chat, not have to worry about a baby waking up or crying. It was just really nice. 

I'm excited to see what February has in store! Happy dating!!! 

BABY It's Cold Outside

This past weekend my friend Morghan and I threw a baby shower for our mutual friend Cassie. We all three used to be neighbors until Trevor and I moved, but thankfully we are all still close. A few years ago I threw Cassie a baby shower for her first born, Kenna, and now Baby R #2 is about to make his/her appearance. We cannot wait to meet the new addition to the Ramsey family. Since we couldn't go with a gender specific theme, we went with a winter, Baby it's Cold Outside, theme. After the last few days of 70 degree weather, I realize this theme is a little ironic.

The hosts and the mommy of 2 to be!

Bloody Mary Bar

Baby Bingo and Gender Guess

Coffee and Hot Chocolate Bar

LOTS of food made by our sweet neighbor, Mike! THANKS MIKE!

Ramsey Family

Cute Cake

hahaha

It was so exciting getting to celebrate baby #2! Cassie and Randy, we cannot wait to find out if baby is a he or she...I'm betting on he! :) We love you two!

My Word for the Year

Each year Trevor and I choose a word for the year and it's really neat to see how God uses our words to really grow our relationship with him. It's kind of funny how you don't really get to choose your word, God basically chooses it for you. I feel like these are areas that I have struggled before and I truly think this is God's way of nudging you to hone in on that area and turn it into a character trait that reflects Christ. To be honest, when God laid this word on my heart I thought it was a little untimely where I felt I have been in my walk with Christ. But, when I really started thinking about it, this is definitely an area I was lacking. I am in the word a lot during the day - I attend this bible study called BSF and have daily "homework," I am a part of a moms group that I have to plan lessons for, I am in a life group that meets weekly and our conversations are centered on the word, I lead worship and am constantly picking apart songs and really thinking how they apply to my life and I'm always thinking about what words to say between songs that will lead people into a state of worship. So, like I said, initially this word seemed odd to me, if I'm being honest, it felt a little immature for where I felt I was with God. However, the more I sat on it and pondered it, the more fitting it felt. You see, most of the things listed above were studying about God and I feel like God was communicating to me that I needed to be in communication with God.

My word for the year is: PRAYER

When I was thinking about why God led me to this word, here is what came to mind: I usually pray every day, when someone pops up in my mind I pray for them. When I hear about unfortunate circumstances, I stop and pray for that situation and all involved. When my child is not sleeping, I pray for rest :), when something exciting happens, I praise God. It dawned on me that I needed to be more intentional with prayer when a friend was telling me about their prayer that had been answered and they thanked me for praying for them. There was a moment that I didn't know what they were talking about. I know I prayed for them, but I had completely forgot about their situation. I needed to be more intentional! I needed some serious, get on my knees and pray, moments. I needed to see my prayers being answered, not to give myself credit for an answered prayer, but to truly reflect on how good and holy our God is.

I also know that when you seek him, you will find him. We had a crazy year last year (I quit teaching, Trevor started his own company, we had a baby, we sold our house...). We did all of this through intentional prayer. It's because of prayer that we are where we are today and I wouldn't change a single thing. But I also know that we can't stop praying and seeking him now. He has led us this far and I'm excited to see how it shapes the next chapter of our lives. I know God is going to show up in big ways this year. I am expectant to hear from him.

I thought it would be neat if everyone in our mom's group picked a word for the year and taught a lesson on it. So here is my lesson and what applicable ways I am intentionally mastering my word.

*WHERE DO YOU STRUGGLE THE MOST IN YOUR PRAYER LIFE?

"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." Mark 11:24

*HOW DO YOUR PRAYERS REFLECT WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT GOD?

*HOW DO YOU RESPOND TO UNANSWERED PRAYERS? IF SOMEONE COMPLAINS THAT THEY DON'T BELIEVE IN GOD BECAUSE HE'S NEVER ANSWERED THEIR PRAYERS, WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE?

"Devote yourself to prayer, being watchful and thankful." Colossians 4:2

*HAVE YOU EVER BEEN PRAYING TO SEE CHANGE IN SOMEONE ELSE BUT INSTEAD NOTICE THAT YOUR PRAYER CHANGED YOU MORE THAN THE OTHER PERSON?

*HAVE YOU NOTICED THAT WE DON'T MIND WAITING AS LONG AS WE CAN COMPLAIN (IN LINE AT THE GROCERY STORE/YOUR FLIGHT GETTING DELAYED), WHAT DOES GOD WANT YOU TO DO AS YOU WAIT ON AN ANSWER TO YOUR PRAYER?
---Psalms 37:7 "Be still in the presence of the Lord and wait patiently for Him to act."
*HOW HAVE YOU GROWN SPIRITUALLY DURING A TIME WHEN YOU HAD TO WAIT ON GOD?
*WHAT DO YOU NEED PRAYERS FOR TODAY?

Practical ways I'm staying connected in prayer:
-I have a list on my phone of all my current prayer requests ---> I look at it daily!
-When a prayer is answered, I am physically writing it down and putting it in a jar. That way at the end of the year, I get to see all that God has done just in my life.

My favorite verses that I'm looking at daily:
"Devote yourself to prayer, being watchful and thankful." Colossians 4:2
"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." Romans 12:12
"Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always." 1 Chronicles 16:11

NYE

I just realized as I was catching up on some blog reading that I never blogged about New Years Eve 2016! It has been a tradition of ours for a few years now to ring in the new year with our amazing life group and this year was no different. Not everyone could make it this year, but we are thankful for the ones that could! This year definitely looked a little different than years past. In years past, only one couple had kids and the rest of us were free spirits. As many of you know, all of the couples in our life group got pregnant at the same time, so this year we had lots of babies! We weren't planning for it to be a late night anyway because I sang at church before the NYE party and I was scheduled to sing the next morning, plus we had Brooks with us, so late night stuff doesn't happen too often. We brought a pack and play over so we could go ahead and put Brooks to bed like normal and then continue hanging out with friends. We had done this a few times over the holidays at my parent's house and it worked just fine, so we didn't see any reason it wouldn't work this night. :) hahahahaha...think again! When it was 8:30 or so, we fed and rocked Brooks and he fell asleep like normal. We went and played games and hung out with our friends until about 11:30. For some reason ALL the babies woke up! WHAAAAT! Brooks, Graham and Charlie all woke up crying. You would think they got together and planned this! This was not typical behavior for any of these 3 children. We all went upstairs and tried to console them and get them to fall back asleep, but that wasn't working. As a parent, you have these thoughts going through your mind on what you really want to do vs what is probably best for your babe. Brooks was totally happy if we were holding him, so I thought, "Okay, we can stay at least until midnight and hang out with everyone and we will just keep Brooks awake until we decide to go" but then the smart parent voice pops in your head and says, "Just go home! He's probably tired but for some reason he's not comfortable here. Making it to midnight really isn't that important." Well, we decided to be responsible and just get Brooks home. We celebrated the big ball dropping/countdown to midnight in the car about two miles away from what we call home right now. Haha! What a night! It was fun while it lasted, anyway! :)

This is actually the only picture I got!

I'm so thankful for these mamas and the soon to be mamas that have joined our life group. You make life so much fun! I also love that everyone is so supportive! A few of us had to leave early because of a not so ideal situation and no one gave us a hard time. It was just a "well, we'll try again next year" kind of thing. LOVE YOU ALL!!!

7 UPS

Remember when I said I was doing a stay-at-home mom's bible study? You can read about it here if you want. Well, here is another lesson I taught. I thought this was a good way to start the year!

7 UPS

WAKE UP
"Today is the day that they Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it." - Psalm 118:24
I know some days we wake up in great moods ready for anything and other days it's a struggle to be in a good mood. Why is that? What is different? How can you ensure you wake up each morning with a positive attitude?

DRESS UP
"The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." -1 Samuel 16:7
The best way to dress up is to put on a smile. A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks. For fun, do you feel better when you get ready/put on make-up/brush your hair for the day or are you fine to hang out in lounge clothes all day?

SHUT UP
**I realize that doesn't sound very nice, but it works for this lesson :)
"He who guards his lips, guards his soul." -Proverbs 13:3
"Gossip betrays confidence; avoid men who talk too much." -Proverbs 20:19
"Listen to advice, accept instruction and in the end you will be wise." -Proverbs 19:20
Would you say you talk more or listen more? What's the benefit of listening more? Say nice things and learn to listen. God gave us 2 ears and 1 mouth so He must have meant for us to do twice as much listening as talking.

STAND UP
"Let us not be weary in doing good; for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good." -Galatians 6:9-10
Stand for something or you'll fall for anything. What is one core value of yours that you will not compromise, that you think of often, that is different from the patterns of this world?

LOOK UP
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." -Philippians 4:13
Look up to the Lord in all things

REACH UP
"And why worry about the speck in your friend's eye when you have a log in your own." -Matthew 7:3
Reach up for something higher. Always try to be better today than you were yesterday. What's something you did yesterday (or last week) that looking back, you could have handled better?

LIFT UP
"Do not worry about anything. Instead pray about everything." -Philippians 4:6
What's something you need to lift up to God in prayer and stop worrying about?


To sum it all up "Yes, joyful are those who live like this! Joyful indeed are those whose God is the Lord."

And just to make you smile...

Brooks is 6 Months!

I have a 6 month old!!!! WHAAAT!!!! Seriously, this little boy has changed our lives. I can't remember what I did all day before him because I could probably just stare at his sweet face all day and be totally content now. I love that he is my little sidekick! It is the best job in the world getting to hang out with him all day.

Here are our weekly photos...

22 Weeks

23 Weeks

24 Weeks

25 Weeks

26 Weeks

Here is what we've been up to in pictures...

We hung out with our cousin Jude one day.

Wagon Ride - December 1st

We made a trip to Pawhuska. Brooks did awesome!

Dec. 2

We went to a good friend's wedding in OKC. Brooks had shoes on at the beginning of the night...not sure why they are off for this pic. :) We loved watching this beautiful lady marry the man of her dreams! Dec. 2

Cuddles

BEDLAM! Dec. 3

Sweet baby

I love his laugh! Dec. 8

We moved out of our house. Brooks was a big help! :)

Dec. 11 - We dedicated our sweet baby at church. 

Brooks has the best family!

Dec. 17

He rarely falls asleep in my arms anymore, so this was a special moment! Love this babe so much!  Dec. 18

We started this new thing where we stick our tongue out ALL the time! So cute!

:)

PRECIOUS!

December 20 - Closed on our house!! Wahoo!

I'm thinking, I'm thinking...

We are sitting in a highchair like a big boy and we are loving eating food. Baby food and real food! 

I'm obsessed with this picture! 

We attended Christmas services at church.

He's adorable!

:) Dec. 24

We opened lots of Christmas presents and we loved eating the tissue paper! 

We drove to Kansas to see GG and Great Grandpa (and lots of other family members!).

He has his own stocking at GG's!

We love new outfits!

We took selfies with dad :)

Dec. 28

We took a "before" picture in front of our soon to be home.

We celebrated New Years Eve with Brooks' friends Graham and Charlie

The month of December went so quickly, I'm ready for life to slow down a bit (will it ever?). We absolutely love having this new addition to our family, he is perfect in every way! I love getting to experience new things with him and see him learn new things every day. I'm loving life being a mom. It is WAY better than I ever imagined!

Happy New Years!!! We absolutely loved everything about 2016, so we are excited to see what's in store for 2017. Bring it on!