photo from paigeandbrooke.blogspot.com

Ok, so I’m supposed to be packing for Alabama but I just had to take a break to post this cute link my sweet friend, Alison, just emailed me.  Lillie Kate LOVES to wear headbands and she’s going to think I’m the most fabulous mom in the world after I make her like 50 of these!  I know some of you have adorable little girls that these would look precious on so I thought I’d pass the link on to you.  Oh, and the ladies who run the website are from my hometown!  Such a small world!

This book is just amazing. I don’t even think anything I can say about it can do it justice.  I read it over Christmas and there haven’t many days that have gone by where I haven’t thought about this book in some way.  I don’t want to give anything away other than to just say that it’s a true Christian story that is incredibly powerful and will leave you changed.  I found out recently that it’s being made into a movie this year with Samuel L. Jackson playing the role of Denver.  Oh, and it’s also Angie Smith’s current book selection in her Bloom book club. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

Can’t. Put. These. Down! I was on Amazon.com one day looking at the book Same Kind of Different as Me and I noticed under “Customers Who Bought this Book also Bought…” there were all these Charles Martin books.  I didn’t know who Charles Martin was and I’ve never really read Christian fiction but they had such great reviews that I decided to try one. Well one has now turned into three and all I can say is wow.  I love his writing style and each one of these books is truly captivating.  You easily fall in love with the characters and are so invested in them and their stories that you just hate for them to end.  HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

What’s the first thing you notice about someone when you meet them for the first time?  Their eyes?  Or maybe their hair?  Are you first drawn to the clothes or shoes they’re wearing?  You want to know what I first notice about someone? Strangely, I immediately look at their teeth.   It dawned on me recently that I probably look at people’s teeth because that’s the one thing in my appearance that I’m most insecure about.

From far away, they don’t appear that bad.

 But close up, and especially at certain angles…ugh.

One of my most secretest wishes has always been to get braces.  Brian and I have often discussed it and there was even one time that we had some extra money and he told me to use it as a down payment for braces but I just couldn’t.  I felt so guilty and selfish for wanting to spend that money on myself.  I had just resigned myself to being ok with the way they were, thinking maybe if Brian was a pastor one day there might be an orthodontist in our church that could give us a deal on them, and if not, well I’d just get my straight teeth once I got to heaven.  :)

About a year ago at a routine cleaning, I asked my dentist about Invisalign braces because I knew he did them.  After looking at my teeth, he told me he thought I’d be a candidate for them and told me a little about them and that was that.  Just filed that information away in my little noggin, just in case.

Back in September I got a flier in the mail from my dentist advertising Invisalign and at the bottom was a $500 off coupon if you signed up for Invisalign braces before the middle of December.  “Wow…$500 off,” I thought.  Not that we were in any position to pay for them then or by December, but for some reason I kept that flier and stuck it in a drawer in my desk. Every now and then, I’d think of that flier. I can vividly remember one day walking through my kitchen and I thought,  “I wish there was just some way I could get braces.”

One day in October I was on the phone talking to my dad and he turned the conversation to braces and asked if I had ever heard of Invisalign.  I told him I had and a little about what my dentist had told me about them as well.  My dad said, “I’ve been thinking about this for a couple of months, and I wanted to say something to you about it when you were home a couple of weeks ago but didn’t get the chance, but I WANT TO PAY FOR YOU TO GET BRACES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” (emphasis mine) I have never talked to my dad about braces and he had no idea that I would even want them.

Needless to say, you could have picked me up off the floor.  I was hesitant at first because I felt so unworthy for my dad to do something like that for me.  I mean there are a million other ways he could be spending his money and I just hated for him to be spending so much on me.  But once he insisted that it was what he wanted to do, I accepted his offer and the tears rolled.

In November I had another routine cleaning, followed up by a filling in a cavity. A couple of weeks later in December, I had my impressions made and everything was set up for me to get Invisalign braces. (I did get to use the coupon!)  And today was the big day: I FINALLY HAVE BRACES ON MY TEETH!!!!

I don’t have a picture of me with them on yet, but here’s what they look like…

I have a top and bottom aligner that I have to wear 22 hours a day, except for when eating.  I wear each aligner for 2 weeks and then I put in a new one.  Each new aligner moves my teeth ever so slightly.  I have to wear a total of 19 aligners on top and 13 on the bottom.  So basically, the whole process should take about 9 months, with my bottom teeth being straight in about 6 months. Brian and his mom both saw me today and they couldn’t even tell I had them on.  So far, I LOVE them.  I also love that technology has come so far that I don’t have to be a 32 year old brace face.

I am elated, thrilled, overjoyed- you name it.  But at the same time, I have felt so humbled. Humbled that the God of the Universe, my Heavenly Father, loves me so much that he took my most secret wish and whispered it to my earthly father who He used to provide the means to make that dream come true.  Wow.

  You have given him his heart’s desire,
And You have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah.
For You meet him with the blessings of good things;
You set a crown of fine gold on his head  put braces on his teeth.

 My Psalm 21:2-3

A pacifier here,

 

a pacifier there,

and books strewn on the floor;

Oh, the things you will find if your son likes to explore!

 

Toothpaste by the apples,

a ball in the potty. That’s bad.

Sometimes all this randomness makes you feel like going mad!

Pepper on your nightstand,

and your cell phone in a drawer;

Oh, the things you will find if your son likes to explore!

 

I saw this cute calendar idea today on a blog I follow called Living with Lindsey.  The idea originally comes from Martha Stewart and you can find the instructions and downloads to make the calendar on her website here. I love that you can use any kind of frame or calendar format and really personalize it to your own style.  Plus you can change the picture out anytime you want. So fun! I’m thinking I need to make one for Brian’s small corner in our master closet office.

Several inches of snow fell here last week and as you can see Lillie Kate had a blast playing in it!  She would stay out there for hours if I would let her.  We only played outside one day because the other days were just way too cold. Since we couldn’t go out we decided to bring the snow IN!  I took a big plastic Rubbermaid container and filled it up with snow and brought it inside onto a towel on my kitchen floor.  She played and played and played with the snow and had the best time, all while staying toasty warm!

 Her favorite thing was playing Ice Cream Shop.  We brought out real ice cream cones, syrup, whipping cream and sprinkles and made “ice cream” out of balls of snow. We tasted them but the snow tasted like dirty water. Yuck!  And as I was cleaning up, I spilled the whole plate of gooey snow cones and sprinkles in my kitchen floor. Double yuck! It was a good lesson for the perfectionist in me that sometimes fun is/needs to be messy! :)

As you can see poor Talmage is missing out on all the fun.  He has had an ear infection so we went out during his nap time and  when I brought the snow inside he could have cared less.  I was just sure he was going to dive right in and make the biggest mess but he didn’t even touch it! So he just had a big time playing with balls…

 and wearing “hats” (a.k.a. anything he can put on his head!)

 The snow began melting today and while I love a good snow, I can’t say I’m sad to see it go.  This Alabama girl is already ready for Spring!  Bring on the flip-flops!

 

Welcome 2010! Boy, have I been waiting for you for a long time and I’m so glad you’re finally here!  Wonder why? Well, 2010 is the year when Brian graduates with his PhD from Southern Seminary and we are finally done with school forever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Thank you, sweet Lord Jesus!!!!!!!  We began this long, long, long journey almost 9 years ago and to say that we are elated to be reaching the end is an understatement.   No more studying late. No more papers to write. No more tuition. No more juggling a family, work, and school. No more school. EVER.  Sigh. That reality is just finally starting to sink in. We talk about graduation and what’s next all the time and are eagerly anticipating what God has in store for us.  I haven’t started officially counting down to graduation yet, but I might just have to as it gets closer.  :)

I can’t believe that it’s already a week into the new year and almost a whole month since my last post.  This Christmas season was unbelievably busy and we went to Alabama for almost a week. Both my kiddos got sick over Christmas: Lillie Kate with croup and Talmage with a cold and ear infection.  An ear infection that he still has.  :(  We are on our second round of antibiotics and hopefully they will clear it up this time. So between traveling, two sick kids, a husband who’s working and writing a dissertation and having to take a special two week class, and just normal everyday life, blogging time has just been nonexistent. I’m hoping to get back to posting somewhat regularly very soon.

So here’s to 2010!  I’m praying that God has big things in store for you, too! Happy New Year, a week late! :)

Being that this Christmas may be our last one in this house, I’ve been taking lots of pictures to try to perserve the sweet memories of our time here.   I’ve been thinking of doing a blog post about it and then I saw that the Nester’s Christmas Tour of Homes was coming up, so I thought I’d join in as a way to document this special place and time in our life.

So welcome to our home!

We’ve lived in this house for 5 1/2 years.  It’s the longest we’ve lived in one house since we were married.  It’s the only house our children have ever known and it’s been very special to us.

Come on in!

 

Here’s a little of what you’ll see in the TRAPP’s house this Christmas…

I bought all of these stockings before we even had kids.  I had the ones for Brian and I monogrammed and saved the other two for when we had children.  It’s so sweet to me to see all four of them hanging there.  I’m so blessed!!!

 

This year we began reading The Advent Jesse Tree, adding one ornament for each story/devotional.  I can’t even begin to tell you how WONDERFUL this book is!  Lillie Kate absolutely loves it and can’t wait until we read it each night.  I highly recommend it if you are thinking about doing an advent countdown next year.

Lillie Kate picked out this tree for her room at Hobby Lobby.  She would probably keep it in there year round if I’d let her.

 

a Santa I bought when Brian and I were newly married

 

 a pewter nativity scene given to me by my aunt (which now is missing a lamb thanks to my kiddos)

 

 and a Christmas village schoolhouse given to me by my dad after I became a teacher.  I love that it says Veritas, which is Latin for “truth”, over the door.

 Thanks for stopping by!  From our family to yours, have a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

 

Because it just feels so good to admit my life’s not perfect…

I have not gotten into the habit of letting Talmage play with my cell phone.  He is always very careful with it as all 12 months old would be.  For instance, he has never taken it and rubbed it face down on the sidewalk,  scratching the screen so bad you can’t see the display.  He also never hides it in random places, causing me to search for it for hours until I finally have to email Brian and ask him to call it so I can try to find it.  Nope, never happens!

A few days ago I did not “pay” Lillie Kate a piece of candy to play with Talmage in the bathroom so I could take a shower.   I would never, ever resort to such measures for reasons such as personal hygiene and sanity.

If you were to stop by our house right around bath time, you would not see my little man running around the house au naturale.  And if this past Monday night was the time that you just happened to pop in, you would not have witnessed my son pooping on the carpet and then proceeding to step in it and track it through the den unbeknownst to me or Brian.  Things like that just don’t happen at our house.

Recently when out in public, I did not look down and realize that Lillie Kate had put on white socks and brown shoes with her mostly black outfit.  I did not vow right then and there to never look down upon or unfairly judge anyone I see in public whose child looks like they are going to attend Tacky Day at preschool.

And last, but not least, any guesses on what all these items have in common?

These things were not all pulled out from under the cushions of our couch on a recent search for a lost remote.  And it just so happens that the remote in the picture wasn’t even the one we were looking for.

Wow…my baby is officially not a baby anymore!  Everyone always told me once you have your second child they seem to grow up so fast.  So, so true.  It seems like this…

 …was only yesterday.

I blinked…

and now our little man is one year old!

 We celebrated his birthday last weekend when Brian’s family was in town for Thanksgiving.  We had everyone over to our house to eat and watch the Alabama/Auburn game.  It was low-key, relaxed, and just plain fun!

 The birthday boy all decked out in his Roll Tide birthday outfit.

Talmage’s birthday cake

His “smash” cake

 Playing with cousin Reid

 

 LK and Landon helping with presents

 and what’s this sweet boy’s birthday wish?…

…for the Crimson Tide to beat those Florida Gators today in the SEC Championship!  No wait, that’s his daddy’s wish…oops! :)

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY TALMAGE!  WE LOVE YOU!