Saturday, February 28, 2009

Family Photos - 2009

We started our annual family photo tradition last year when Braedon turned one. I got the idea that it would be nice to get family pictures taken once a year at the same time each year. So, this is the second year of our new tradition. I had to think twice about it this year because Braedon had his cast on. However, I decided to go ahead and get them taken because the cast will be a memory of what was going on at that time in our lives. I don't want to hide any of our life events...I would rather remember the "real" thing. So, check out this year's photos here

Braedon's Broken Arm




February 3, 2009 was the first traumatic event that happened to one of our children. Braedon broke his arm. There was a very strange series of events that led up to the accident including a pipe in our basement bursting the night before. I was supposed to go to a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) meeting the next morning. I got up to get all ready to go then the plumber we thought we were going to be able to get to come over that afternoon and fix the pipe was unable to. So, my plans changed right before I was supposed to leave for the MOPS meeting and I had to call a plumber and wait on them to come and fix the pipe. They arrived and I had removed the gate from going down our stairs because they had to leave for a few minutes and I wanted to lock the door behind them and then let them back in. It was not new that the gate was off the stairs because Braedon was getting pretty good at not trying to go down them. For some reason, that particular morning, he thought it looked fun to ride his toy firetruck down them. I was standing on the other side of the kitchen and looked over ans saw Braedon on his firetruck pointed down the stairs and he just scooted himself forward. I just know by the look on his face that he thought it was going to be fun. I am so sorry and my heart broke for him that it wasn't as fun as he thought. What a fiasco that was. I am so thankful for my friend, Jenifer, who came and picked up Kaley so I could go be at the hospital with Braedon and daddy. I also am so thankful for other members of my Sunday School class who prayed us through it. I realize now that in perspective a broken arm is really not that big of a deal but it was very traumatic for us at the time. We can actually laugh about it now. The first picture is of me holding Braedon in the ER after they put his arm in a splint. The second one is where you can see that the splint is not slowing him down much. The third picture is right after they put his cast on a few days later.

Flying Braedon




Braedon loves it when daddy swings him up in the air by his arms. I love getting action shots too so I can see the progression of the entire action. I love the way these turned out!

Andrew's Telescope





The entire time I have known Andrew, he has always wanted a telescope. So, a few years ago, he started saving his allowance. Yes, he gets a monthly allowance and so do I. Our finances are combined because we are one but we give ourselves a monthly allowance each that we can spend on whatever we want and the other person can't say anything about it. It cuts out the majority of money arguments. So, here is his first telescope and the upgrade he made about a year ago. Sometimes I can't even look out of the new one because I am so short that even when standing on a step ladder I still can't reach the eyepiece. We can't wait to take the kids camping and use it. We plan for it to provide father son bonding time when Braedon starts getting older.

The funniest thing about the last picture of Braedon is that he has started running up to the camera with his arm outstretched yelling "cheese". I have no idea why he started doing that but if he says cheese he will point his arm in the air toward the camera. That provided loads of fun during our family picture session...I think we are going to have his arm sticking up in the air in just about every picture. :-)

Kaley & Mama





Here are some sweet pictures of me and Kaley.

Braedon & Sissy





Here are the first few pictures of Braedon with his baby sissy, Kaley.

Juno Beach - December 2008






Each time we travel to South Florida we have to stop by the beach where we were married. We were married on 4-24-04 on Juno Beach at sunrise, which was like 6:45 (ish) in the morning. In September of 2006 when we traveled down there we actually went to the beach during sunrise and had a picnic breakfast but a few other times we have just made a stop by there during the day. So, this is just a quick pit stop on the way to Grandma and Grandpa Savasuk's house. Braedon absolutely loved the idea of putting sand inside his shirt down his back. He needed a rinse in Grandpa's bathtub when we arrived. Kaley was just along for the ride looking cute and all. :-) Thank God for the beach!

Friday, February 27, 2009

Tina's Big Resolution for 2009

I will admit it openly and freely, I love to relax in the evening with a glass of wine, preferably red but anything will do when I want wine. I also love wine with dinner. However, I find that it is the type of thing that will find its way into my life and control me unless I control it first. Also, I find that just one glass makes me tired, edgy, sluggish, etc...and I can't afford to be sluggish when I have two small children that I am trying to give the best upbringing to that I can. Braedon and Kaley need to be able to depend on mommy and I don't want anything to take part of myself away from them, except for God and my husband. So, as I thought about resolutions for 2009, I took the advice of my Sunday School teacher who encouraged us to search God for an area of our lives where He wanted to instill discipline. This was clearly it for me...no doubt about it. So, I committed to not drinking any alcohol for the remainder of 2009 (we were already in the first week of 2009 when I decided this). I decided that I wasn't going to drink any alcohol as opposed to just wine so that I wouldn't fall into the trap of developing a habit drinking some other type of alcohol. The day that I made the decision, I made myself a little index card that listed a few bullet points of why I didn't want to drink at all anymore. I did this so that if I had a craving I could just pull out the card and remind myself of all the reasons I don't want to drink anymore. The reasons are: takes time away from God, increases irritability with my family, and wastes money & calories. Almost two months down the road, and I can say with sincere honesty that, I have not craved any type of alcohol a single time since then. I am not naive enough to think I won't be tempted but I know that God is building my strength and reassuring me that if I step out on faith that He will step in. Then, when I am tempted, I will be more able to overcome the temptation. Please don't get me wrong, I do NOT think drinking alcohol is a sin. What I do think is that everyone should evaluate what the decision to drink alcohol does for their life, be intentional, and act accordingly. This is just my feeble and humble attempt to live a life of transparency in an effort to glorify Jesus Christ.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Kaley Only Hours Old





Our awesome friends, Ken and Jamie, were the first to come to the hospital after Kaley was born. They took these pictures of Kaley when she was about an hour and a half old. I am so thankful for these pictures! In the hospital room we were all talking about how neat it would be for them to shoot Kaley's newborn pictures and then her wedding in the future. I would love so much for us to still be in each other's lives when that special time comes. Please visit Ken and Jamie at: www.worleyarts.com

Our Babies & Daddy




I love that we have the same picture of Braedon/Daddy and Kaley/Daddy right after each f them were born. There is an additional picture of Andrew holding Braedon down for me to see him for the first time. We don't have a shot like that of Kaley...I wish we did. These are among my most precious pictures.

Special Memories





Ok, this is going to be a little out of order because I just started this but I wanted to get some special pictures that are a little older posted here. So, these first pictures go way back to December of 2007...that seems like forever ago. They are my absolute favorite pictures of Braedon and his cousin, Alaina.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

What's In A Name

I decided on the name "Life, Love, and Laughter" because these are three of the most precious gifts from God that get sweeter and sweeter the closer I grow to Jesus Christ. My Life didn't really start until I started living for Jesus Christ. I didn't really know what Love was until I came to know Jesus Christ. I didn't laugh much until I came to know Jesus Christ. I was very selfish and uptight with a distorted perception of reality and seriously thought the world owed me something. God extended his grace to me and I now realize that I owe it all to Him!

Slow Fade - December 9, 2008

Earlier this year, I heard a 2-part series from North Point Community Church called “What Went Wrong?” The series was about King Solomon and how God blessed him with wisdom yet he made a series of unwise decisions that ultimately led him far away from God. The sermon series was so powerful to me because if Solomon was the wisest man on earth and he ended up spiritually dead and miserable than it would be very easy for me to end up that way. Especially considering that sometimes I don’t realize the full implications of my decisions before it is too late, which is what happened to King Solomon.

These decisions could seem like minor deviations from what God would have me do or more of just flirting with sin rather than out and out disobeying God but even that is a step in the wrong direction. If I continue to take several small steps away from God, one day I will wake up and find myself far away from Him, crying out “How did I get here?”

This sermon series has come to my mind quite often over the past year but I am reminded of it once again and quite a bit stronger whenever I hear the song “Slow Fade” by Casting Crowns. I also love how intricately God ties this into my Sunday school class mission, which is to be purposeful. I need to be purposeful in all of my decisions or “black and white will turn to gray”, as the song says. Ultimately, it will become easier to make unwise decisions and I will begin to “fade”. The song also says, “be careful little feet where you go for it is the little feet behind you that are sure to follow.” These words are so powerful (for obvious reasons).

In case anyone is interested in hearing the sermon series you can download an MP3 by following the links below.
http://resources.northpoint.org/store/shop.do?cID=59&pID=1546
http://resources.northpoint.org/store/shop.do?cID=59&pID=1547

-Tina

First post

So, this is my first ever blog post! I have made the leap from being just a follower of other people's blogs to having one of my own. I had considered it before but was afraid to start something that I wouldn't be able to keep up to date. Well, now the pressure is on to be disciplined and keep my blog updated! I have a couple of things in mind for what might be recorded here. I will definitely be posting pictures of the kids so I can share them with friends and family afar. I am also planning on recording significant happenings in our lives here. Oh wait, I just remembered, I actually did write something that was posted on a blog before...I will post it here too. This is going to be fun!