Memory document

   I am one of the most sentimental/nostalgic people I know... I can say this because last month, I teared up at a Chick-fil-A in Kansas City witnessing an unknown family throwing their child a 1st birthday party. Why? Because I was forced to think about my own baby turning 1 in February. I blog, Instagram, and make Shutterfly memory books like it's my job, just so I can document all the 'firsts,' milestones, and memories. I was on the verge of starting Theo his own notebook where Paul and I write notes to him throughout his childhood, but my mother-in-law gave me an awesome idea I want to share here. 
   I have begun writing out a few sentences a few times a month in a Word document. It is easier for me to commit to than the idea of writing several pages in a journal. I may compile entries monthly after he passes the 1 year mark, but for now I'm trying to log a few notes every month :) Here is what Theo's Memory Document looks like so far:
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7.5 months old

-10/10/2012- You love to grab everything! You babble and “talk” to us. You are not a fan of self-entertaining… Today I set the timer to give you five minutes of playtime without me and you made it only 3.5 minutes before having a total melt-down :)  – Mommy

-10/11/2012- Theo, you are not a morning-baby ;) you cry very hard until your bottle is in your mouth… you also fuss if anyone tries to talk to you while you are drinking your first bottle of the day- you prefer quiet! Once you have had your milk, you are like a new baby-happy and snugly! – Mommy

10/12/2012- I can feel your first tooth coming in on the bottom! Can’t wait to see it! –Mommy

10/17/2012- I buckled you in the grocery cart for the first time while shopping at Target today- you loved it! You blew bubbles with you mouth and babbled a lot… I couldn’t stop kissing your chubby cheeks- you are starting to look like a big boy :) :( -M

8.5 months old

11/06/12- You had your 9 month check up yesterday (half a month early). Dr. Douglas says you are incredibly smart and advanced physically. He thinks you aren’t crawling or walking because you figured out if you cry we will take you wherever you want to go J. I have let you fuss the last few days while you try to ‘entertain yourself’ – it makes me so sad to hear you cry! Also, you are 26% for weight and 49% for length.. you weigh almost 19 lbs. Your two teeth are poking through the bottom and Dr says you have two coming in on top… -M

   If my kids are have as nostalgic as I am, they will realllllly appreciate their memory documents someday... 

Fall 2012

   So, I love fall. As I become with many things, I am quite obsessed and look forward to this season EVERY YEAR! Last year, I was robbed of my autumn experience because #1-we lived in Redding, CA (northern Cali), which does not have a fall season because of the heat and #2- I was sick with my pregnancy. This #2 was a MAJOR drag because I had been self-talking my sick, preggo, self all summer that pumpkin spice lattes would soon be my reward. I was planning on drinking as many as I wanted (since I was pregnant (with less shots of esspresso of course)). BUT I never got well enough to enjoy them... which really bummed me out. 
  All this to say, fall in Nebraska has been pure bliss! We went to the pumpkin patch twice within a 72 hour period (once with my fam and once with Paul's). Even though Theo is too young to enjoy the PP I made sure and milked it enough for the both of us!

Uncle Fabio sporting Theo

"Gosh guys! I better put this in my mouth just like I do EVERYTHING these days.."- T

4 Generations!

Hayrack ride!

Theo's favorite thing at the pumpkin patch...

Uncle Tyler is soooo much fun!

Busy day..

Family of 3!!!

Again with the straw....

Pumpkin path round 2 with cousins on Lanphier side!

corn pit love

   All I have to says is that if fall is this much fun, Christmas will be plain ridiculous....

A litte perspective

  Do you ever just have an off day? I am happy to report that I have less "funk" days the older I get and the more I mature- but yesterday was one of those days. My baby was fussy and teething, my husband was home for only a day before leaving for a work trip, and I felt tired. Urg, can anyone say #funkcity??? Crap, I could feel myself getting sad mid-day, bracing for my husband leaving and missing him even though he was with me. Then I was irritated with myself for being sad on the one day he was in town... dysfunctional cycle... actually, let's hashtag that sucker #dysfunctionalcycle...
  I cried in the car after we had to leave Starbucks early because Theo was fussing... I cried, ok,- you caught me, I sobbed. I told him we should maybe only have two kids so that I could have enough quality time in the future- DARN having "quality time" as my #1 love language- there are just no short cuts to filling my love tank!!! If I wasn't sure I couldn't be pregnant I probably would have thought I was! Nope, just living life imperfectly.....
  Paul (who is a pro by now at handling emotions) just spoke life over me- told me that this day doesn't define me, that I am a powerful person who can handle life, etc. That popped me out of my funk about being apart the coming week and I was able to enjoy the rest of the night with him.
  So today, guess what happens?!! I meet a wonderful, sweet woman from Kenya at a birthday party. She and I start talking and lo and behold, she has been living away from her husband for SEVEN year... yes, SEVEN years. She is here going to nursing school, working, and sending home money to Kenya. By herself. She has 2 kids- also still in Africa. She came to Omaha not knowing anyone or anything about American culture... She looked at me with tears in her eyes saying that she missed her husband, but she was strong and had deepened her relationship with the Lord. "He's all I've had. I thought I knew God before this experience, but no, now I know God. This time has brought me so close to Him." I stood there literally having an encounter with gratitude just talking to her. I asked her if I could hug her and said that I was pretty sure God had sent her to tell me her story at the perfect time. 
   Nothing like a little perspective. So tonight I came home, I tucked my baby into bed. I called my husband and told him how thankful I am for our life together. Now I am laying in bed, praying for my new friend and grateful for the opportunity to live my life with more joy.

iphone momma

  I love having an iPhone- really, it's a mom's best friend... but let's review all the social media modes I use: 1. Facebook (duh) 2. Twitter 3. Instagram (emilylanphier) 5. Pinterest 6. this BLOG and as of today- 7. YOUTUBE! My girl Meghan, made me an account so I can upload all of Theo's baby milestones directly to the web (user name: emilylanphier). WOW! Someone is a sucker for memories. I just simply cannot help myself... Having "Input" in your top 5 strengths is a blessing and a curse... I just keep collecting modes of memory keeping. That's what this blog truly is for me- a memoir.  
   I have renewed vision for blogging because I'm so grateful for the pregnancy memories I have from blogging. I am currently making a pregnancy journal from Shutterfly based off my Theo baby blog entries ;)
  Here is a quick caption from my life now: I really adore being "retired" as I tell everyone. I mean, who doesn't love having their full-time job being to love another human being? I am so smitten with Theo that I am thinking about writing a children's book- this is not a joke. I literally feel like being a mom has given me a download of divine creativity and tapped into parts of my heart that I didn't even know existed!
  Down side to being retired?: Hmmm... I'll get back to you... I do keep thinking that having only one baby is easiest because it's one on one... two babies may get hectic, but that brings me to another revelation: refuse to let someone else's experience dictate your expectations for your life. Paul and I decided early on that we "flush" (get rid of) bad advice and negative warnings like "Oh, just wait until they are two years old," or "just wait until the second kid comes..." It's not that we live in denial, but we won't buy into a poor mindset. Well-meaning people would warn me about how big a change motherhood is (when I was pregnant with Theo) and guess what?  We flushed the words, spoke out what we believed was God's plan for my time of transition and result?: I have had the most grace-covered start to motherhood I could have ever hoped for! My breakthrough is yours so take it! :)
  One small downside to retired life has been Theo getting sick for the first time and having a week and a half of no sleep. Don't judge me because not only am I not sleeping, but I think the stinker gave me a cold! It's hard to see your baby sick, but has made me feel like I am "real" mom. I've weathered the storm of sick babyness! One plus from this fiasco has been seeing my husband bringing his "A" game! Dr.'s appts by himself?- no biggie! Taking the night shift?- he's got it covered. Paul Lanphier you are God's gift to my retired self...
  Here are a few snapshots of my iphone usage: Sorry these are all of Theo- wait, no I'm not!

finally crashed after a very rough sleepless night :( (1st time being sick)

Baby space captain

no filter- at his cousin Josiah's 1st birthday party

Clean baby

melt. my. heart.

dreaded tummy time

  

July update (and testimonies!)

   This has been a busy weekend/week! We spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night at the Hub because our friend Kris (from Bethel healing rooms) was in town holding healing meetings. We had the extreme blessing of being able to minister under him and seeing people healed, touched, and filled with the love of God! It was an amazing time and Paul and I both felt so alive as we were able to put in action all of the tools we learned from our year out at ministry school. Revival is being poured out in Omaha!
   We have also been speaking to several groups at Waypoint Church (their discipleship students, college group, and youth group). The Lord is showing up in a powerful way!

Some fun testimonies I want to remember:

-A woman was healed of sleeping disorders! I called out a word of knowledge about sleep disorders on Saturday night at the meeting and she told me Monday that for the first time in TWELVE YEARS! she had been sleeping without medication! YAY GOD!
-Many knees were healed
-Paul gave a teenage girl a prophetic word about how her biological father and heavenly father were so proud of her....He had never met her before, but she told us a few days later at one of the meetings that her father had passed away suddenly 7 years ago in a car accident and she hadn't been able to have closure- this was her first time at a service like that and the Lord was anxious to speak to her heart!

  Our hearts are being stirred for revival in Omaha, US, and the nations! We are seeing miracles, deliverances, and the prophetic being poured out. We are praying about how the Lord wants the future to look like... 

  On a personal note, Paul is doing real estate with GTR Sales- the business of our family friends Cameron and Kathy Thomas. They have a niche in the foreclosure department and work with lots of investors. I'm so proud of him and the way he brings kingdom values to business... Just this morning he called me to say he might not be selling a home to a potential client because he wasn't willing to bend the rules- he is so full of integrity and I can't wait to see how the Lord blesses that!

  Theo is the absolute light of our life. I can't stop kissing and squeezing this little guy! I think the whole family agrees... He has lots of love and adoration from both sets of grandparents and all his aunts, uncles, and cousins. :) He is 5 months old and rolls from side to side on his back. I joke that we are stunting his development because he is held so much- I don't care though! I am treasuring every moment with him and taking lots of pictures (with my iphone!) Once I figure out how to synch my phone I will be posting pictures!

Honestly....

   So being home is wonderful, simply wonderful. Being a mom is wonderful, simply wonderful. Being parents with Paul is wonderful (and funny)!- So you get the the just- life is wonderFUL (to borrow from Uncle Steve Peterson). I sometimes feel almost guilty when people ask me how the transition to motherhood has been because I am enjoying it so much more than I ever thought I would. I broke down and am writing this blog because I decided to give myself permission to bask in this season of life and document how I'm feeling since I'm hyper-nostalgic. My life isn't perfect, but right now it feels pretty darn close and I just have to be honest! Having a baby away from family was hard, so I feel I appreciate being home all the more...
  So currently:
  Theo and I spend a few days a week hanging out with the Thomas kids. This is surreal since I started watching their youngest, Kaelynn when she was just a few months older than Theo! Now she is holding my baby! So crazy! There is always a waiting list for who gets to hold the baby ;) 

Kaelynn giving Theo the royal treatment!

She is going to be such a good mommy someday!

Cameron and Theo (don't judge his purple bumbo)

   So this child is obviously not receiving a lack of love (opps Just realized I'm missing a pic of Theo and Josh- will have to take one this week!)... As a matter of fact, I joke that Theo has no idea how to self-soothe (mostly kidding!?) He is held constantly! One time I layed him on the floor to have 15 minutes of entertaining himself. I look over 5 minutes later and this is what I found:

Daddy to the rescue...The whole world is against me!!!!! Just kidding, but I sometimes joke that Paul is my biggest parenting obstacle (he isn't too keen on letting Theo cry it out- it kills him!). But boy does fatherhood look good on him:

Seriously could not imagine a more amazing father!

 On another note, Theo turned 4 months old on the 20th.... EEEEK!!! TEARS!!! If you know ANYTHING about me, you know I have a love/hate relationship with father time...

4 month old boy!

Tummy-time isn't his favorite...

Priceless...

 Some 4 month updates: 
-You are grabbing your feet!
-You are laughing more and more
-You love to put your hand in your mouth
-You have good neck control now
-And you aren't the biggest fan of tummy time
-Sleeping 10-12 hours a night!- (which is probably a big factor why I am enjoying motherhood so much!)

   Another reason I am LOVING being in Omaha is family! We are living with my parents for the summer and while this would not work for some people, we are having so much fun! Just look below, even grocery shopping is fun now:

 Also, cousin Josiah is in the same city!

Nana and cousin Josiah

  Love summer and this season of life!!!!! Very grateful!  

Omaha Living

   EEEK! It's been almost a month since an update, but I wanted to do a quick blog entry so I can remember this time of life (while promising myself I'll update more). Basically, I find that I'm overwhelmed with all my modes of memory keeping (instagram, facebook, twitter, blogging, etc). This week Paul and I got smart phones which means INSTAGRAM! Happy early bday to me! This is partially why I haven't been as good about blogging since I can picture blog on the fly... Here's what's happening now!:

-I am working on a pregnancy journal on Shutterfly to chronicle my pregnancy with Theo... It is a little time-consuming as I am copying my blog entries and weekly pictures into the book (but I have to do it since I'm so nostalgic!)
-Paul activated his real estate license with our adopted family the Thomases (GTR Sales)! He will be doing residential and investment properties.
-Theo and I are "working" and by working I mean spending 5 hours a day with the 4 amazing Thomas kids! Park, zoo, sidewalk chalk, and pure fun! Did I mention their youngest child is 9?? Dream job! For Theo too-he has those kids wrapped around his little baby finger ;)
-We are getting lot of opportunities to pray and prophesy over people since being back. This is so important to us because we want to continue to use our gifts coming out of ministry school. We got to pray over the girls in my mom's and my high school bible study and the Hope Center Staff. Love it!
-Theo continues to bring pure joy and delight to our hearts. We LOVE being parents and are showering him with affection. He is 3.5 months and almost as long as his 9 month old cousin Josiah.. Our little string bean... He loves "running" (vigorously kicking his legs) and is still sleeping 10 hours a night! 

This is a more boring post, but I have to remember every season of life...