big. middle. little.

Hannah is trading her lumberjack in for a masked raider…Thrilled!

All my eggs will be in one basket!…all my babies in one crib! …IN OTHER WORDS ALL THREE OF MY BABY LOVES WILL BE LIVING IN THE SAME TOWN! Elated…for this…for them.

Oh, how I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to be smack dab up in the middle of it all… but that is not our story…not for now.

There will come a day when we sit on porches and talk and laugh and watch the sun come up and the sun set down before we realize we’ve gotten absolutely NOTHING done but being together.

Yes. Those moments will happen and they will happen real good like.

When your babies are babies they are together all the time…and then they learn to ride a bike and find a best friend at school and start having sleepovers away from home… and go away to camp for weeks in the summer… and want their own rooms…and get their driver’s license and… scatter.  Suddenly, yet not so suddenly, they are not so close anymore.

I would tell them during the years of “those are MY shoes, take off MY shirt, no you cannot wear MY earrings, stop using MY mascara” that one day they would be in each other’s weddings and be the best of friends. They looked at me like I was crazy. Honestly, there were times I questioned it myself. I would explain how 3 and 4 years between you is nothing when you’re an adult. They get it now.

Paige, aka Big, is married and settled. Husband. Baby Luke. New opportunity with Noonday. They have a great group of friends, a great church family. Routine. I am 12 hours away from my first grandchild and I get asked…”How can you do it?”

To which I reply…”Have you met my son-in-law?”

Paige married a Man. John, aka Jag, is a provider, protector, responsible, intelligent, hard working man who loves his family and most importantly loves Jesus. I rest knowing she is loved. I rest knowing they are raising their son together and when times get tough they pray.

Laken, aka Middle, will graduate from college in May and continue doing hair…She will be known. She’s got that something-something. An out-of-the-box spirited wanderer mixed with a heart for others that has never known judgement…nor can she understand it.

Hannah Kate, aka Little, has dreams of being a wedding planner . She walks in excellence with a servant’s heart. Of course she wants to plan something that let’s someone else shine. This desire is so natural for my little organizer. She had a binder for her 7th birthday where she listed the invitees and drew a seating chart for her guests. Your kids will show you who they are…watch. Your kids will tell you what they want…listen.

But before all of this… there was that.

Paige was born first for a reason. We can’t take our eyes off of her. She is a leader and as serious as she is about truth and justice and doing the right thing she cracks us up.

I can’t get enough of this picture. Paige, when you think Laken isn’t paying attention to your words…she is…She’s been looking up to you for 23 years.

And even though she marches to her own drum…or dances her own dance…she needs you in the picture.

The day we brought Hannah home was the day your girl squad was complete. What a tribe. Remember the chouch? The chair bigger than a chair but smaller than a couch that offered just enough room for two or three of us to snuggle?  Never stop “chouching”. Never stop snuggling. Get together…on purpose.

Cook meals, sit at the table…put away your phones and be present. Even if it’s easy bake oven brownies…doesn’t matter…just connect. Stop and pick up tacos on a random Tuesday and get together! Sunday brunch? Great idea! Use that awesome back porch to sit and visit and grill something yummy!

You will never regret being together…Life moves fast.

This was just a minute ago…wasn’t it???

I’m so proud of you. Each of you. Invest in one another. Encourage one another. Listen. Share what God is doing in your life. Wonder together where He is when you wonder where He is. Be still. Pray. Cry. Laugh. Have slumber parties. Eat too much pizza and binge watch Netflix.

We’ve had enough separation…it’s a good time for together. Be that.

Austin isn’t weird…life is.  This election is evidence of the cray-cray we’re living in but you know where your hope is found…not in man, BUT GOD. You may experience a lifetime of less than worthy leaders but that cannot compare with experiencing a lifetime of serving a more than worthy God. The world will offer countless counterfeits. Don’t settle for substitutions. Keep it real sisters. Keep it real.

This blog post wasn’t on my calendar but it happened….kinda like each of you…

Paige Oops, Laken Uh-Oh and Hannah Oh My Gosh….

My life unplanned has always been my best life.

I love you. I miss you. I’m proud of you. You rock. Please call. Anytime.

love, mom.