Turtle Tales

Micah is known to his Momma and a few others as Turtle. From birth Micah always made this funny little face that looked to me like a turtle.

Micah at 3 months old

He still makes this face today and it's just as cute as ever.

Now Micah is 2 1/2 years old and loves to talk. He wants to say so much more than he has the words for, but he gets his point across. Here are a few of Micah's adorable sayings (and interpretations):

"I hold you" --- obviously he doesn't really want to hold me. he wants me to hold him.

"Look! ABC" --- says this every time he sees a word or writing because they review their ABC's in school every day.

"I LOVE k-cakes" --- he 'likes' a lot of things...but he LOVES 'pancakes'

"Go Slella's house?" --- his request that we go to 'Stella's' house. he loves his Stella

When asked to name things that are green: "Tree, grass, and Scott" --- still not sure why Mr. Scott is green

"Micah is boy. Mommy is 'gwirl'."

"No, mine-t!"---he's added a 't' to the end; not sure why

"I wanna go slimming!" (swimming)

A conversation during dinner with his Dad:

Greg:"micah, where did you food go?"

M:"My mouth."

G:"well yeah, but then where did it go?"

M (without missing a beat):"my leg."

And just the other night while lying together in his bed -- out of nowhere -- Micah began to whisper this sweet little song. Here he is singing it again for the camera:

These are just a few of the many hilarious, adorable, treasure-them-in-my-heart-forever tales my Turtle tells.



Oh Brother!

Boys. Oh my two sweet, wonderful, wild, crazy, funny, little boys.

They challenge me with every crying fit, yet fill me with endless joy in every smile.

I spin myself out trying to do what is the absolute best for them --constantly seeking the Lord's direction.

Micah's silliness brigthens my days. His stubbornness, a necessary growing pain for both him and me.

Tristan's coos and little smiles are intoxicating.

I treasure up in my heart all their sweet moments together.



2 1/2 years

 

2 1/2 months





I pray their birth scriptures over them every day
looking for signs that God is shaping them.

For Micah, I pray:

He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?

To act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God. --Micah 6:8



For Tristan, I pray:

Blessed is the man who trust in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. 

He is like a tree planted near a river, whose roots reach deep into the water.

It does not fear when heat comes or worry in time of drought.

It's leaves are always green and never ceases to bear fruit. --Jeremiah 17:7-8

And through my boys, God teaches me.

He challenges me, stretches me, breaks me, humbles me,

holds me,

lifts me, cleans me, transforms me, graces me, and loves me.

Oh how He loves me.









Micah's First Day of Preschool

What a BIG day for our BIG boy!

It was always our intention to have Micah begin preschool once we had another child. Grammy is super, but we don't want to burden her with the exhaustive task of caring for a toddler AND an infant. Plus, we feel confident that Micah will learn so much and meet new friends, and be a blessing to his teachers. Oh boy, has God been faithful!

Micah's first day was a complete success. He walked in saying, "I ready." and "let's go."
He had a successful nap (which was one of my biggest concerns) and received a super daily report. And how perfect is it that his class is the Sea Turtles?!

His teachers are already in love with him calling him a cute little surfer dude. :) And the icing on the cake was this sweet little song and dance:

He's been running around all evening in one of the best moods saying, "ABC, ABC." Melted my heart! I couldn't be more proud of him!

blessed beyond words

it has been months since i last posted, although not by choice. our computer seemed to always have trouble connecting to the wireless router and it took us this long to figure out we just needed to move the dang router. duh! we are definitely NOT tech savvy. :)

so much has happened in the past few months. Greg and Micah were able to attend the annual Meeks family reunion at Toledo Bend. (i had to sit it out since i was 39 weeks preggo and had no intentions of birthing a child in the woods) It was a blessing for Greg and I both as he was able to spend quality time with Micah and i was able to get some pampering, read and finish decorating the nursery. Micah swam and played with all his cousins and even caught his first fish with Grampy and Daddy. I love that Micah has grandparents who are so invested in his life. Our family is such a gift!

i'm sure you really want to hear about the 'big news.' On June 3rd we welcomed little brother Tristan into the family! We couldn't be more in love with him. His labor and birth was a sweet gift from God. It was everything I had prayed for and then some. Tristan is a sweet little guy. His big brother Micah adores him too! Every morning when micah wakes up he looks around and asks us, "Tristan, go?" He has to find his brother and kiss him on the head. It completely melts my heart.

KISSES

TUMMY TIME

BROTHERLY LOVE

BOTH BOYS ASLEEP ON MOMMY

TRISTAN COLE MEEKS

7.2lbs, 18 3/4"

born 6:30pm

So here we are in life with two beautiful, healthy boys, a home, jobs, and church family...blessed beyond words! we never could have planned it this well ourselves; so grateful to a Father who keeps promises:
"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Greg's birthday

Greg's birthday, April 6th, falls amidst one of his favorite weeks of the year...Masters golf tournament. My man loves loves loves him some golf! This year for his 31st birthday he was treated to a catfish dinner from his parents and a new game from me and Micah.

I also made him "special" mancakes. What makes them special is the shot of whiskey. :)

They are topped with green coconut and a tee. I mean every golfers dream cake right?

My man liked them and that's enough for me.

Happy Birthday Greg!!!

Friends

I swear...I don't know what I would do without these two gals! (Jennifer and Anna)

This is what we do on girls night out...go to an Etsy bazaar and have a stranger take our "strange" picture. Sexy!

Big Boy Bed

Spring Break is here (for Greg). Basically that just means he gets to work his tail off moving furniture and keeping up with Micah while I'm at work. He did get to play a game of golf with his Dad today -- a well deserved break.

At last the transitioning of our home from 3 to 4 occupants is in full effect. Unfortunately, I have not been feeling like much of a rock star these days so the brunt of the work has fallen on Greg. He is my macho man and I don't know what I would do without him!

Other than the physical shifting of furniture, organizing and cleaning, we are also transitioning Micah into his new "Big Boy" role. To put it simply...so far, so good. We have talked a lot about the plans for his "Big Boy" room: dinosaurs, primary colors, and a "Big Boy" bed. The decorating has been fun for me, of course. The part we (or at least I) worried the most about was the move from Micah's crib to a big bed.
First, will he ever stay his little wiggly butt in the bed for a midday nap as well as he does in his cage...I mean crib? Second, will he wake in the night and try to "escape?" Do we leave his bedroom door open or closed now? And once he has become comfortable in the new bed, will he really be ok with Tristan sleeping in his crib? One just doesn't know all the answers. We sure don't. We are just taking it one day at a time while giving Micah plenty of time to decide for himself to own the "Big Boy" role.

His room tonight has both the crib and the new bed in it. It's been more of a trampoline for him than a bed, but hey...it's cool...make friends with the bed...get to know it.

This picture was taken the first instant we had the bed upright. IT DOES HAVE A SAFETY RAIL on it now! Don't judge. :) All of his stuffies, his pillow, and turtle night light are all in the new bed. It's only been since Monday night but look at the love that this boy has for his new bed:

This is a picture from the monitor we have in Micah's room (aka the box). What you see here is a sound asleep Micah (with water sippy in hand) in his "Big Boy" bed!!! We couldn't be more excited for him! Way to go Micah!
...granted...the night is young...here is praying that our little...er...big boy sleeps his usual peaceful 12 hours.

Celebrating Life

Today Micah and I celebrated Life in honor of the late Clint Dobson. Our church held his funeral this morning. I wanted to attend, but there was no childcare provided. God had a better plan for Micah and me today...to celebrate Life.
We first went to the main library downtown for story time with Mr. Bob. It was Micah's first big kid story time. He LOVED it!!! Mr. Bob and his puppet friend, the iguana, entertained the kids with loud sound effects, props, songs, dance, and, of course, stories. I was glad that Micah wasn't the only "wiggly little boy" in the crowd. The moment, as most things do these days, brought tears to my eyes. Micah is such an incredible blessing. Seeing the world brand new through his sweet brown eyes is definitely what God meant by "life abundantly." We will gladly return each Wednesday that we can for more free entertainment and playtime with Mr. Bob.
Next, we headed to the park. Even though it is a little cold and windy today, we had to get the wiggles out! Micah explored the playground as if he had never been there before. His enthusiasm makes me smile. It wears me out these days, but it always makes me smile. :)
I packed a picnic lunch for us. Micah refused to sit with me on the park bench, so i let him eat in the swing. Whatever.

After refueling...we were off for more play time on the tire swing.

not sure what was up with the serious face.

God reminded me again today of just how loved each of us are. I know how much I love Greg and Micah and Tristan. All that love together doesn't come near the love that God the Father has for each of us. I was also reminded that just because God loves us we are not immune to sickness -- physical or spiritual -- here on earth. Yet for those of us who have accepted the gift of Life through Jesus Christ, we are immune to death. We will live forever with the One True God enthroned in Heaven. Our friend Clint Dobson is living that eternity today.
Something I read today by Eugene Peterson:

"We are not presented with a functional god who will help us out of jams or an entertainment god who will lighten our tedious hours. We are presented with the God of exodus and Easter, the God of Sinai and Calvary. If we want to understand God, we must do it on his terms. If we want to see God the way he really is, we must look to the place of authority -- to Scripture and to Jesus Christ.
"And do we really want it any other way? I don't think so. We would very soon become contemptuous of a god whom we could figure out like a puzzle or learn to use like a tool. No, if God is worth our attention at all, he must be a God we can look up to -- a God we must look up to... The moment we look up to God (and not over at him, or down on him) we are in the posture of servitude."

Praise God for the gift of eternal Life through Jesus Christ. Praise God for health. Praise God for sunny days. Praise God for family and little boys on tire swings.

Big Sleeper

In the midst of an emotional weekend, our not-so-little guy Micah has set a new (maybe world) record. He managed to sleep nearly 15 hours straight! No drugs or magic, I promise. He just got him some good old fashioned Zzz's.
I will admit that Micah had a late night out on Friday. Greg was away with his Dad at a men's retreat and I was having a girls night of painting and pizza while Micah hung out at the church childcare. The poor boy didn't hit the pillow until 10:30pm!!! And when he finally awoke at 1:45pm ...

...splish, splash. I gave him a celebratory bubble bath! He was still a little groggy in this picture. He really did enjoy the warm bubbley bath time.

Then he scarfed down peanut butter on graham crackers, a banana and an entire sippy of milk! Guess all that sleeping worked up a killer appetite. :)

To say the least, we're very proud of our Micah Mega Sleeper!

The Way, the Truth, and the Life

Thursday afternoon we learned that the pastor of our mission church was murdered and his assistant was severely beaten and in critical condition. Pastor Clint Dobson and his wife Laura are about the same age as Greg and me. You can read the latest about pastor Clint, Ms. Judy and the NorthPointe Church at this news link.
Our church family at First Baptist Church Arlington has been grieving the loss of this young pastor. Today -- Sunday -- we came together to worship God in what was one of the most soul-touching services I've ever experienced at FBCA. Our pastor Dr. Wiles said, "Today was not a funeral for Clint. He wouldn't want that. Today is the Lord's Day and we will worship Him." And so we did.
We sang old hyms like "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" and "Jesus Paid it All" and newer praise songs like "Hosanna." We all stood with hands raised high to the King and lifted songs of praise through tears. God's presence was strong. Penetrating. We were strengthened.
Greg and his Dad went to NorthPointe to help in various ways the congregation there. Dr. Wiles joined them at 11am to preach his last sermon (of 3) for the day in Clint's place. We were all so blessed by this day and the ways that God has used us --individually and as a body of believers-- to minister to Laura and to each other. I could write a book about the events, emotions, mercy, and healing we've experienced this weekend, but my words cannot convey what Jesus has already spoken.
Dr. Wiles' sermon was from John 14 entitled "Jesus. The Way, the Truth, and the Life." Please watch it and be encouraged by it. We love you all and pray that you, too, experience the Life gift of Jesus Christ.

Figuring things out

Bear with me...i'm new to the world of blogging. i haven't read many blogs or followed any so i'm not really sure how this all works. Greg has encouraged me to go ahead and begin this as i've been wanting to for a while. Pictures sometimes just aren't enough to share with family and friends all that God is doing in our lives. Sometimes...we need a story. :)
With so many of our loved ones scattered around in several states, we find it challenging to keep everyone informed and to stay informed ourselves. Hopefully this blog will help. I know my Mom and Dad have said many times that they look forward to opening their email inbox to find new pics of Micah (and ask for them when they don't). It only took us two years of his precious life to whizz by before we realized how fast life was moving. And now that he is a toddler...life is cruising at toddler speed...and that is pretty darn fast!
So...here we go! Please feel free to read this blog...or not...and leave comments to posts. It is a private blog and only the family and friends we invited have access to it. We love you all!
-Brigitte &
The Boys