If you just smile...

Being new to motherhood, I have experienced many ups and downs. I am sure this is very normal. Through having this beautiful, baby boy that I love dearly, God has been teaching me a lot about myself. Many of the lessons have stemmed from the difficult times with being a mom and having a newborn. For instance, I have been surprised at how impatient I can be when he is having reflux and won't stop crying. It has been sobering for me to come face to face with the wickedness that lives inside of me that I need to surrender to the Lord each day. I am so thankful for 2 Corinthians 3:18 and the reminder that once you accept Jesus the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of you and that he begins the life-long process of change. I have also been so thankful in thinking about the fact that one day we will be in Heaven and God will have completed the process of change! I have also been learning a deeper understanding of what it means when it says, "For you have died and your life is hidden in Christ." (Colossians 3:3). Especially in relation to the 2nd chapter of Philippians. In it is the call to consider others better than yourself, to follow the example of Christ who made himself a slave for people less than himself. I have been learning that with a child you don't have a choice to lay down your life for them, you have to. So, to be like Christ laying down your life means doing it with JOY. That is the choice I have each day. I can take care of Owen with sadness, with bitterness, with frustration... or I can elevate Owen as better than myself and reflect the heart of Christ by finding it a joy to serve him. I have so much to learn.

There are also things I am learning from the fun times. The other day, Owen woke up at 5:00am and decided it was time to start the day! I, however, was not ready for that. So, while I was tired and starting to get cranky... Owen decided to put his smiles on. How could I ever be cranky with my cute little boy smiling and talking to me! I believe God had a purpose for not having babies smile right away and having them wait to the 4-6 week mark. The first few weeks there is the roller coaster of baby blues but also of having a "baby high" where I was just blown away with how much love I had for Owen and Jon. But, after one month, the newness and excitement wore off and the crying got difficult to bear. But then the smiles showed up! And it makes everything worth it when Owen smiles.

Here are some pictures of the progression of his cry. (I have to admit, sometimes I think his cry is pretty cute... but only sometimes).

Here are the smiles that make it all worth it.

And then after a full day of grins and tears, comes precious sleep.

Visitors!

For memorial day weekend we had quite the crew of visitors! Jon's Grandma, Mom, Charlie, Anne and Pat all came down for the weekend to see Jon and I... but in reality to see Owen. Grandma Bernie, Charlie and Pat all met Owen for the first time. We had such a good time with all of them while they were here. Jon, Owen and I are so blessed to have such amazing family on both sides. We really love our families very much and are so thankful for the eagerness to be in our lives. One thing that was REALLY wonderful was that one night while they were here, Deb and Anne stayed at the apartment with Owen and gave us the hotel so we could have an uninterrupted night's sleep! I was very thankful for the sleep we got!

Meeting Great-Grandma Bernie

On Saturday, Anne and Pat played softball with us during the church league.

Grandma Deb loving on Owen at the game.

While they were here, Owen went for his first swim! I think the water was a little too cold for him, but he handled it pretty well!

Here he is modeling his new swim trunks.

On memorial day, we did the typical and had a grill out.

Deb and Anne taking Owen for a walk.

Mission to the City

The last week of May the Downtown Church took a mission trip to Des Moines, we called it Mission to the city. The three main aspects were: service projects, telling others the good news of what Jesus has done for us, and an outdoor concert by the river featuring Steele Croswhite and Phil Wickham. It was an amazing week and we got to see God do a lot in others' lives as well as our own. One huge answer to prayer involves the building of the DTC itself. A few weeks ago we had 24 hour notice that we could no longer meet in our then-building. The city ended up letting us meet in that building one last time with a fire marshall present. This led to a God-sized problem. We had three weeks to find a building and have it ready by the Saturday after mission to the city. It was exciting to be in that spot because for the DTC that scenario is nothing new and we had seen God come through for us big time three other times with similar situations. So, we prayed and expected to see God work. The amazing thing is that we got a building a week before Mission to the City; the difficult thing was there was a lot of work to be done before we could have a service in there. We saw God answer prayer again by having the city approve the sprinkler system that got put in and so we could have church on Saturday night!

This is a picture of the Grand View sweeping crew at the new building.

During the week, we got to know some teenagers from North and one of their families. Here are some pictures from a whiffle ball game in the park.

The concert and the crowd at Simon Estes Ampitheatre.

In the middle of the week, we found out Jon's Grandpa Wesley was in the hospital and was going to need to have brain surgery. So we went to Cedar Rapids to visit with him, have him meet Owen and pray with him. He was in such good spirits for being in the hospital and it was a joy to see him. We didn't get to stay for the surgery, but the reports are that it went well.

Kansas City, Kansas City here I come

A few weeks ago, Owen took his first road trip! We went to Kansas City to celebrate Mandy's graduation from KU and Sandy's graduation from Shawnee Mission Northwest. Mandy is going to begin a job in financial consulting at a firm in Chicago where she will be living right on Michigan Avenue. Sandy is going to begin college at KU seeking a degree in Engineering. We are so proud of both them!

At Mandy's graduation party.

Sandy in her cap and gown.

All of us at the family graduation party for both Mandy and Sandy.

While we were in Kansas City, Owen got to meet so many people very important in my life. I was so thankful to get to go home to introduce him to my friends and family.

Great-Grandma Tickles

Great-Grandma and Grandpa Farmer

Tina and Charlotte with some of the new "men" of the Tickles Clan (Owen, Brandon and Maddox)

London Porter (Rachel's new baby girl)

Lila Kautzi (Kelsey's new baby girl)

Juhi and Ruby

One of the best things about going home this week was how much time I got to spend with my parents and the girls. On Friday night, Jon stayed with Owen and I left him for the longest time yet (6 hours!) to join my mom and sisters for a Carol King/James Taylor concert. Mandy, Sandy and I were among the youngest people there but we had a blast belting out the songs my mom used to make us listen to all of the time growing up.

Just for fun: Mandy changing her first diaper! It took us the whole week to convince her to do it.


The one thing that made all of this possible was Jon and his heart to serve Owen and I. I didn't want to make the first drive with Owen alone, so Jon drove 9 hours on Sunday (there and back) just so we could be there to watch Mandy graduate. He then made the 3 1/2 hour trip again on Wednesday and Saturday. I am so thankful to my amazing husband for loving us in that way!

Cinco de Mustache

Jon loves a good mustache.

The desire to have a mustache for the birth of our son was a point of contention, albeit a small one, yet it warranted a family discussion. The compromise: he would grow his hair out before the birth of our son and began growing his mustache the day he was born. And so, the mustache was complete just in time for Cinco de Mustache.

However, this left Owen feeling left out for the party. What male wants to show up to a cinco de mustache party with only baby-fine hair? And so, Owen and Jon convinced me to help Owen out and the three of us showed up to our costume party dressed as the 1991 Twins baseball team with Owen as Jack Morris leading us to victory in the World Series.

Mother's Day

Owen gave me a sweet, simple first Mother's Day. Jon was sick so Owen and I went to Caribou in the morning so I could spend time with my Jesus and in His word. Then we spent the afternoon at home watching "24" with Jon. Lastly, we headed to the mall, went shopping at the Gap and Baby Gap (thanks Scott for the Christmas present - I finally finished the gift card) and had dinner at Chipotle with my dear friend Kristi Bochman. I love my sweet baby boy so much!

My precious baby boy!

Owen sleeping peacefully so I can read the Bible at Caribou.

"firsts"

Happy First Anniversary Jon!

first belly button sighting

first stroller ride with daddy

first time on Aunt Sandy's quilt

First outing to the Richey's

First time on Oma's quilt

First bath :(