Mirror, mirror.

Ruthie, our punkie bean, has discovered herself in the mirror and seems quite taken (as are we)!

Just check it out. I. Am. Obsessed. In a good way...

Ruthie-meet Ruthie!  (10 weeks, two days)

Yes, style. Yes, please.

So I clicked on a google link.  Turns out it was an Asian website for all sorts of excellent pieces.  I rarely shop any more for clothing (my husband finally wore off on me) but I did find some great little duds for post-babyness-preggo times.  

And who knows if they will fit... Let's just say most of their shoes only went to size 7.5 and most of their tops were "one size."  I am clearly not of the Asian build...I will let you know how they work!

www.yesstyle.com

Prischu jacket

Oversized drape tee with bow :)

Yes, please.

xoxo, Anna N

What love is not.

Funny the things that can inspire you. 

 Strangely, the one that inspired this thought/tangent /digression (not sure if this is a word...) was a two hour movie solely dedicated to a 16 year old boy. I am guessing most of you, possibly, have seen “Justin Bieber-Never Say Never?” (PS: Spellcheck still doesn't recognize “Bieber” so things are not as far gone as we think).

It truly was a great movie about an adorable little kid who is really talented. The one thing I realized, while watching it with my sister, is that it shows a beautiful (and also disturbing picture) of what love is not.

Love is not obsession.

Love is not momentary.

Love is not erratic.

Love is not this:

My sister was saying I should write a book on this and who knows, possibly I will (I have started two others but just haven't found the gumption to complete them yet). This really is so important: for women, and men, to realize that love is not this temporary exposition of emotion.

Everyone seems to be looking for twitterpation (Bambi...); that madly in love feeling that hikes you to the moon and back. However, when they don't have it (for our generation this is the shocking divorce rate that stems from “I'm no longer happy”..aka: this person no longer pleases me entirely- or for our parents generation: the "my children were my little gods for too many years and I forgot to learn who my spouse was"), they think that they have “fallen out of love.” Truth is-you had no idea what love was in the first place.

We can easily be the girl in the Justin Bieber video who let someone fill a void and then made it an obsession. We can make that person a god and then chose to stop worshipping them when they stopped worshipping us and fulfilling a void we have. Harsh-but true. I know-I was this girl and I feel called to make sure that other women are not.

LOVE is these verses that are read at nearly all weddings...if only people really knew what they were having pronounced before family and friends/witnesses.

I Corinthians 13: 4-8

 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It ALWAYS protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails.

This is TRUTH and it is hard.  I pray our marriage is always built on this, on the statutes that God set forth for the standards for love.  It really changes your entire life to experience love in this way: both in giving it and also in receiving it.  

Matt and I have had to totally work on things much harder than we did before our little peanut arrived. We HAVE TO KEEP LEARNING each other and, in the words of my beautiful friend Tammy, "nothing good is ever easy" (they just got a little girl from Uganda after waiting for 1.5 years).

Oh, and new friend, this was a post I started weeks ago and decided I must finish it based on what you posted today.  Thanks for being such a kindred spirit :)

Oh, and a little dose of Ruthie :)

She is pure delight. She talks up a storm and loves to sing. Praise Jesus for a beautiful little one like you.  

You are our sunshine in the midst of an Oregon winter.

xoxo, Anna (one working on loving well)

Obsession and truth

truth:

Things are so much better now.  I mean so much so to the point that I actually cannot seem to remember how awful they were (sleep deprivation is a form of torture as my wise mother pointed out) and now I am already excited to one day, Lord willing, have another wee one.

Mainly because I won't be gripped with fear, anxiety, a feeling of failure, etc.  All these emotions that I truly never experienced before until the first few weeks Ruthie was here.  

Praise Jesus they are all gone. I mean I still don't feel like the world's greatest mom and I will admit to being jealous of her smiling relentlessly at her little frog, aka: Prince Charming (pic below), but things are getting so much better and I actually believe God now when I hear Him say, "You were made for this."

obession:

And I am OBSESSED with her.  I mean those cheeks, those eyes, those expressions, those perfect hands that are getting little rolls at the wrists...I LOVE all of it.  The way she just looks at me when she's is eating-nothing in the world will ever feel like THIS.

I still can't believe God thought up marriage (Awesome) and then topped it off (kind of like adding brownies and snickers and berries to your yogurt..and granola for Erin:)) with babies.

Halle-lujah.

And the grandparents thing-I mean seriously, so THANKFUL for my amazing parents and them babysitting Ruthie twice in the last week (and my mother for staying the night well into Ruthie being six weeks...yep, that's right, six weeks).

She loves this mobile (it was daddy's)

She literally sits in her carseat and just talks and smiles at this little frog (Prince Charming). The cutest thing ever.

Mommy and daddy date night (we redid our first date). I wore the gorgeous Kate Spade necklace hubby got me for my birthday...and a new little frock from H&M.

My view sometimes. Oh. My. Goodness. Cuteness.

Our hottie friends celebrating Dan's birthday (he is the one looking too cool for school...yep, that one).

Off to get my hair "did" and then tonight one of our friends is having a Sader (Passover) meal. So awesome!  We get to hear the story of Jesus so many times this week!

Amen and again, halle-lujah.

xoxo, Anna

PPS: I am on instagram as sotrulylovely (I LOVE it)