The Koetter's: May 2013

There is really nothing much to this blog post. This year we have had an un-seasonably cold Spring. We will have a few Spring-like days and then it will turn cold again. Like seriously I could not get our wardrobe right. Example, one day we went to the zoo with friends and I dressed Lyla is shorts and a shirt and did the same for myself. At the last second as we walked out the door, I grabbed a pair of pants for her and a sweater for both of us. Um, good thing I grabbed them because it was absolutely freezing!! Like I was shivering with goosebumps most of the day! It was sunny and beautiful, but cold! Definitely not shorts weather!! It was literally like upper 40's low 50's.

So needless to say, having that pool in the backyard, it literally has been taunting Lyla and I everyday that the weather seems to be turning. We just need a few warm days for our pool to warm up!! We are ready to SWIM!!

We are so ready to live outside. Lyla is my outside girl. Has been since day one! I love being outside as well. I love how good I feel after soaking in that sun and breathing in that air. We live outside during the Spring/Summer.

We are READY!

Can I say that enough?

So one afternoon, it was perfect, so I pulled Lyla's art easel (that she got for Christmas) out into our backyard for her to paint. It was so much fun! She absolutely loved it. Definitely an activity that will be going in our activity rotation.

It was so fun to see her paint and be creative and laugh and concentrate so hard.

It also gave me a chance to practice with my camera....pre photography class.

Concentrating so hard.

I see a lot of my "perfectionist" personality in her. If she "thinks" she can't do it, she doesn't even like to try. She just wants me to do it. I really struggle with this, because I do not want her to be a slave to this trait like I am. It hinders me so much, because it is SO incredibly hard for me to try new things if I know I won't be perfect at them. So I am trying to help her not fall into this pattern. I always encourage her to try before I will help her. I always let her know that her trying her best it what matters. That the Lord loves seeing her try new things for herself and that we try our best for His glory. That is does not matter in the least if it does not turn out perfect or the way we want it to because we can always try again. This is a slow learning experience for both of us. It hurts me when she refuses to try because no matter what, she is good enough and I want her to know that. The Lord made her perfectly just the way she is, and that is good enough. It really is true that the Lord reveals your heart through your children. I have learned so much about who I am, how I perceive myself and my heart, through parenting. My need for praying for my child and for my heart as I parent her keeps becoming more and more apparent. I pray for wisdom, discernment and the words from the Holy Spirit that my child and her heart need and long to hear. It is a ~~gentle~~ blunt, in my face reminder, that my actions speak louder than my words around my child (and others) and that I have to be a good example to her in all things. My words will mean nothing with out my example of living them out.

Lyla is such a delight. Everything about her is a delight. Her words, her singing, her dancing, her giggles, her smile, her silliness, her cuddles, her big hugs, her baby kisses.

She seems so grown up.

Her imagination is really taking off. She loves for me to be near. She is not into interactive play yet, she just wants company while she plays alongside. Her heart is so happy and she is a joy. She loves Jesus and she loves singing about her Jesus. This truly makes my heart happy and full.

I love seeing her creative side! I am not creative at all, but she seems to be. In all these pictures, she is painting with her right hand, but more so than not, she favors her left hand, especially when it comes to eating. So who knows. We have lefty's on both sides of the family, so it will not surprise me if she is too.

Happy Girl.

Her favorite colors right now are pink and blue.

Once her art was complete and drying, we ventured over to the pool to dip our feet in and see how cold it was.

It was COLD!

Toes in the water.

Lyla did not care how cold it was. She stripped her clothes off and pretty much got in. Much braver girl than I!

At this point our pool was no where close to being ready to swim in. Still green and gross and filled with leaves (and other things....). After this day, I decided that it was time to start getting the pool ready because before we knew it the warm weather would be here and we would be ready to swim!

After the Ballet and Princess Tea, Allison took me downtown to meet Adam for our good friend John Hightower's wedding.

The night before we had celebrated with the couple at their rehearsal dinner. The food was yummy, the stories shared made us laugh and cry, and the company was even better.

John is Adam's friend from college. They are fraternity brothers, they lived together and most importantly, John was instrumental in Adam's walk with the Lord. John was in our wedding almost FIVE years ago and now we got to be a part of John and Bethany's special weekend.

When I first met John, I knew he was SO special. Not only is he a good friend to Adam, he was so welcoming to me. There is something magnetic when is comes to John (of course I know that it is Jesus through him). He has an over whelming personality, he knows EVERYONE, never forgets anything and makes you feel like you are the most important person when he is talking to you. More than that though, he has a love for Jesus and a love for people, for relationship.

The Lord used him in Adam's life and heart and Adam is the person he is today in great part to the investment John made in his life. When you talk to anyone who has had any sort of contact with John, this is the underlying theme when it comes to John. I am so thankful for him and how the Lord uses him in people's lives, especially my husband's!!

I completely trust John with my life. He is one of those few friends of ours that I know with out a doubt if we called him, he would drop everything for us. I know no matter how much time and distance comes and goes between him and Adam, they will remain life-long friends.

Besides Jesus and friendships, another of John's biggest desires was to be married. Everyone was always trying to set him up and find the perfect girl for him. I mean he was one of the most perfect guys!! John is ALWAYS go, go, go. So he needed the perfect girl to GO with him! Everyone (particularly me :) ) wanted him to find the perfect girl for him to spend the rest of his life with. Well, he has FINALLY (of course in God's perfect timing) found THAT girl. Her name is Bethany and she is just the cutest thing ever. We were over joyed to hear that they were getting married.

He asked Adam to be a part of their special day, which was so special for Adam. They had the rehearsal dinner at the hotel everyone was staying at in Buckhead. They got married at City Club of Buckhead. The wedding was absolutely gorgeous. The ceremony was up on the 18th floor as the sun was setting and there was a beautiful view of the city. The bride's dress was amazing and the ceremony was gospel centered.

Then we went to another tower of the City Club for the reception and it was B-EAUTIFUL!!! They had a cocktail hour while they finished up taking pictures. I hung out with the other groomsmens' wives. They were absolutely delightful!! They were so much fun and so sweet. Our friends Daniel and Katie were also part of the wedding. Since Daniel was a groomsmen, Katie and I hung out at both the rehearsal dinner and wedding. It was so great catching up with them. Daniel grew up with the Hightower family and also went to Georgia Tech.

The reception, like I said was beautiful. The setting was perfect. The sit down dinner was so yummy. The DJ was great.

Enjoying their first dance.

Her dress was gorgeous.

So funny story....I noticed the photographer and realized that I knew her!! She is a friend of a friend. I hosted a baby shower for this friend and met her at my house. I knew Carrie was a photographer, but had no idea she did weddings, let alone knew John and Bethany. So fun to see her there! And we set up a photography class (cause she also teaches people how to use their "fancy" cameras). So another blog to come on that! Here is her info, Carrie Tabb Photography, if you are interested in using her or taking a class from her. Her class was AMAZING and I learned SO much! I feel so much more confident using my camera in manual mode. She takes beautiful pictures as well! And I must mention that after spending time with her, she is the cutest. person. ever.

Fun night out!

Our friends Katie and Daniel. They have two little girls. One is a year older than Lyla and they just had their second in December. So fun spending the evening with them.

Anyone who knows John, knows that he never misses an opportunity to give a speech.

Mr and Mrs Hightower

Toast.

The Sigma Chi guys singing to Bethany.

Adam and the happy groom.

John and his mom dancing.

John has one of the best moms in the world. She is SO sweet, caring and loving. She is so easy to talk to and I have loved getting to know her and Mr Hightower over the years.