Happy 4th Nanaversary!!!!

Today marks 4 years of marriage for me and Austin!!! What a beautiful ride it has been so far. The past four years have been filled with so much joy and happiness even when things aren’t easy.

Usually we go out of town for our anniversary, but between having a new house and my knee we are kept it low key and celebrated a few days early. We went out to a nice dinner and enjoyed a beautiful Arizona sunset. We are becoming the “old married couple,” quite quickly as we had no energy after dinner, picked up James and went straight to bed. On top of that we bought each other the exact same present. Great minds think a like.

I could not be more thankful for such a wonderful husband!! Thank you for challenging me daily and loving me so well. I love you with all my heart Austin James Baum!!! May the Lord continue to be the rock our marriage stands upon.

No Pain, No Gain

I have now been home for over 24 hours and I must admit these have been the most painful hours I can remember having. I keep comparing it to having a constant contraction in your leg, which makes it more painful than the few hours of contractions I had before I got an epidural when giving birth. Yikes!

Thankfully, everyone who I know who has had this surgery did not sugar coat it. They all admitted it sucks and I can now testify to that truth.

However, as the saying goes no pain, no gain. I do know that in time all of this will have fixed my knee and allow me to exercise once again. Until then I am couch ridden so come visit me and keep me company!!!

Special thanks to my parents for all of your help and for my wonderful husband who is truly living out the “In sickness and in health” line.

P.S. A word to the wise try to avoid this injury at all costs.

Peace

Tomorrow I go in to get my ACL and MCL of my right knee repaired. I have been quite anxious about it. Praying for peace that only God can bring and for a smooth surgery and quick recovery. Any of your prayers are welcomed greatly!!

-Psalm 121

7 Months

James is seven months. Currently he loves scooting around in his walker. He can cruise around pretty fast. With this new sense of independence he is opening cupboards, knocking things off of shelves, purposefully running into the dogs, and asking for food every time we sit down to eat. He even managed to chew up one of my dad’s old family photos. Time for some baby proofing.

He is chunker! He eats most anything we give him. Favorites currently are avocado, banana, zucchini and applesauce.

He is babbling a ton mostly with ga ga and da da. Austin is convinced he is saying da da for real. He is very aware and does not want us to leave the room for a second. He wants to interact and play all day long. He loves going for walks and loves it when we go jogging on the river path. He is outgoing and smiles for everyone in his path. He is reaching for you when you go to pick him up and cuddles you once you do. He melts my heart more everyday. Love you sweet Jamesy baby!!!

And now for the picture update:

First time at the beach. (San Diego, CA)

Play time with my friend Rob

Trying on my sweet Hawaiian outfit from Auntie Amy and Uncle Scott.

Playing with Daddy at the park. Love this!

Discovering things at the Children’s museum.

Eating watermelon. Don’t try and take it away from him. He won’t be happy.

I swear Austin gives me this same face.

James proud of himself for running into Osa. Poor Osa!

Tailgating with Grandpa.

7 month picture

Learning how to read.

Oh Life…

Life can be such a funny thing sometimes. Here are a few things going on in our lives currently. Some of which we are super excited about and others that are not so fun. Either way we are blessed and grateful for this sweet time in life.

Running: I made it a goal to run a half marathon 6 months after having James. I didn’t feel like paying anyone to subject myself to this running so I missed out on a sweet t-shirt, water stations and a goodie bag. However, I did get a beautiful run on the Rillito Rivet and a great cheering squad at the end. If you you like running even just a little you should totally run a half marathon. It is such a FUN distance to run and does not require the crazy amount of training a full marathon does.

Right after my run!

Housing: After a long and winding road we have the keys to our new house. We knew we would like the house, but we are seriously falling more I’m love with it everyday. The cool thing is even though we are living in it, both Austin and I feel as if it is not really ours but a gift from God that should be used as such. We can’t wait to use the house to bless the community. Be on the look out for a Baum-B-Q Soon!!

Our new home : )

Knee: Another goal of mine was to play soccer again after having James. I started playing for my same coed team from before and three games in I tore my ACL. Wa wa. Pretty much as bad as it gets for a knee injury. Not excited for surgery but I can’t walk so I don’t really have a choice. Bummer.

Work: I was getting a bit stir crazy staying with James all day, even though I love being with him. So I decided to go back to work part time. I started this week and I LOVED it! It is nice to get out of the house for a bit, do something where I know what I am doing. My job is being super flexible with me which is great especially with my new knee situation. We also found an awesome babysitter who I know, and trust which makes the transition so much easier.

Grateful Hearts: Austin and I are super grateful for so many things right now. Our house and how it all came together. For my parents welcoming us in their home for three months. We will sure miss them, but I am pretty sure they will miss James more. However, we only live five minutes away now so I am sure they will be over a lot. We are also thankful for our friends who have been helping us move! We have such a great community.

Baum-B-Q at my parents

That’s all for now. For some reason all this makes me think of the pump up cheer from Friday Night Lights: CLEAR EYES. FULL HEARTS. CAN’T LOSE!