Home Tour: Avery's Room

This will be the first time I participate in Kelly's home tour. I realize I'm a little late on this post since its already Sunday, but after a crazy week, I finally have a chance to blog! I really wanted to participate this week. So here it is...Avery's room!

Looking in from her door. A friend from church generously gave us that glider because she wasn't using it, she is such a blessing!

I painted these letters for Avery's name! My Grandma Westfall gave Avery the snail nightlight. It creates a beautiful light, great for changing diapers in the middle of the night!

Muttie, Gabe's mom, gave Avery this bear on her dedication weekend. It says "Handmade by God". She absolutely is! The bear even talks as if he is Noah, and gives Avery a sweet blessing! This little rocking chair was made by one of Gabe's fellow wrestling coaches! What a great gift, I'm sure she will love rocking while reading her books once she is big enough.

All of her necessities... music, books, piggy bank and a humidifier!

I free handed these prints to match her bedding. That was my artistic project while I was pregnant! It had been awhile since I had painted anything, so it was fun to dig into my "artistic" side. Let me tell you...Gabe was a little worried at first, they started out pretty rough! I think they turned out ok though! Maybe someday I will get them framed!

Here is sweet Avery just waking up from her nap...she is sucking her thumb! She has just recently discovered it! I don't think she wants her picture taken while she is waking up...that is not very nice of me. Sorry Aves!

All Smiles!

I am so in love with Avery's beautiful smile! She is smiling a lot these days! Also...can you tell she is a healthy girl? She had her 2 month Dr. appointment last week; she now weighs 10 pounds and 2 ounces! Her cheeks alone show that she's healthy! I love it!

First Mother's Day!

This picture cracks me up. Avery looks like she's thinking, "Mom, would you stop trying to take a picture of us already". I totally look like a giddy momma, I am!

To start off my first Mother's day, my wonderful husband gave me these beautiful flowers, a sweet note, and also made me breakfast! He is so loving! And I always love receiving flowers from him. The rest of the day was spent at church and then we went to our favorite place, Chipotle. We were going to try to mix it up (we usually go to Chipotle every Friday, we didn't this past Friday though) by going somewhere else, but unfortunately the line was too long. So we went with what we know best! And of course, we're never disappointed!

I feel extremely blessed to be a mother on this Mother's Day, especially to our sweet Avery. She has given me an incredible amount of joy over the past 2 months and the love I hold for her is unexplainable! My entire life I have desired and waited to be a mommy, and here I am...a mother of beautiful Avery! I am still amazed by God's goodness and grace! I have learned so much over the past 2 months about myself as a woman. God has shown me areas in my life where I need growth and pruning! One of those areas is my ability to trust Him with my whole heart. I may often say that I trust the Lord, but I have been challenged by Him in many ways to trust Him entirely! I continually have to remind myself that Avery belongs to the Lord. He will protect her, sustain her, and His will for her life will come to pass.

As my love for Avery grows stronger everyday, I now have a much greater understanding of God's great love for his children. His word says, " How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!". (1 John 3:1) Again, I have always known that God loves me. But when I think of how much love I have for Avery and multiply that by who knows what....I am overwhelmed by how much He loves me and all of His children. I encourage you to step back and rest in God's love. Let Him lavish it upon you as you receive His unfailing love with a grateful heart! That is my prayer...that I would remain grateful!

I consider it God's greatest gift to me to be a mother!

Thank you Jesus for blessing me with the gift of sweet Avery. She is your child and you have entrusted me to love her and raise her up in YOU! Please give me more wisdom! May your Holy Spirit guide me in my mothering! Thank you for all that you have taught me thus far! I am thankful for your grace and mercy! You are my helper, I thank you for always being there for me when I need you most! Please help me be the best mother I can be to Avery Elizabeth! She is YOURS!

And finally, Thank you mom for the sacrifices you have made for me. As Avery grows up, I know I will continue to learn more of these sacrifices, but my eyes have been opened to the love that you have for me as your daughter! I pray for continued strength and encouragement for you! You are an incredible mom! I love you!!

Happy Mother's Day!

2 months old!

She's a talking girl!

Avery is starting to coo and she has so much she wants to say! Her cooing is absolutely precious; I could listen to it all day! I am so thankful to be her mommy!

Rampart RAMS!

A lot has transpired over the last week, but we are absolutely amazed how God works! As a family we have eagerly been seeking the Lord for vision. It was just a couple of weeks ago that Gabe was really encouraged to get honest with God. So he did. And he also encouraged me, as his wife, to pray, pray, pray for vision and direction. So I did.
In the midst of being honest with God, Gabe received a call from a friend who informed Gabe that he had referred Gabe for a coaching position at Rampart. They have a new head coach who was seeking out a varsity defensive coordinator. Well, our initial response was hesitant and not interested. Both of us love Pine Creek. We both love the community at Pine Creek, it feels like family to us. Gabe was headed into his 5th year coaching there, so he has really gotten to know the students. Not to mention, the coaching staff are great friends of Gabe's. I was in a place where I finally felt like I was getting to know the coaches wives. So the initial thought of leaving Pine Creek didn't appeal to either of us.
The head coach called Gabe. He thankfully interrupted Gabe when Gabe started to say he wasn't interested in the position. He went on and next thing Gabe knew, he had scheduled a meeting for later on in the week. Gabe had a great meeting with the head coach!
Over the past week, it has been so neat to watch God change both of our hearts. There was never a moment when Gabe was excited about this opportunity and I wasn't. We were always on the same track, thankfully! God open our eyes to the fact that it was HIM moving us on. It is only through Him that this door has opened. It is a tremendous opportunity for Gabe to be a varsity defensive coordinator for a 5A school. Gabe is more than ready for the challenge and is extremely humbled! So...to make this story shorter, we are now Rampart Rams. We will greatly miss everyone at Pine Creek! We will forever be Pine Creek fans, minus one game out of the year! Gabe is so thankful for the 4 years he was able to coach at Pine Creek, but he is excited for this new season of coaching God is leading him into!
As Gabe's wife, I couldn't be more proud of him. I know it's his desire to someday be a head coach, so I'm so excited for him. This is a huge step in the right direction and he will do a great job coaching the defense! There is just something great about seeing your husband SO excited! He definitely is!!

We will miss you Pine Creek!

GO RAMS!!