"Behold, children are a gift of the LORD,
the fruit of the womb is a reward."
Psalm 127:3 (NASB)
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Thursday, October 29, 2009
Thankful Thursday - An Announcement
YES! It is what you think! :) The Werley Family is expecting baby #4!!!!!! We have told our family and some close friends and have enjoyed all of the varying responses from surprised to concerned to excited and many people thinking we are crazy. Don't worry. We think we are CRAZY as well! We said that we wouldn't even talk about a possible baby #4 until Ainsley turned a year old (which actually ended up being at least an every other day conversation her 1st year with my sweet hubby looking at me and saying, "Really? You want to add another kiddo to this chaos?!") After Ains was a year this summer we prayed and had many conversations about possibly "trying" to have another baby. (Trying is actually a new concept for us since out 2 girls have been complete surprises;) So, let's just say that we didn't "not try" for several months and to our complete surprise I am sitting here today 8 weeks prego! Austin and Audrey are excited about the baby in Mommy's tummy and both of them just today have requested a baby brother. We will see! We are excited and overwhelmed at the same time, but overall in disbelief that the Lord would bless us with another child. He is so good to us! My heart is overflowing with gratitude and praise for our Creator of Life and Breath-Giver! We are pretty sure that this kiddos will be our last, so I intend to "enjoy" this pregnancy as much as possible. Please pray for us when the Lord brings us into your heart and mind. We are going to need all the prayers we can get! :) June 12, 2010 is the due date and Austin will be 4, Audrey 3 and Ainsley almost 2. What a crazy, but wonderful ride we are on! Thanks for reading!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Our Texas State Fair Adventure
Last Friday for our Family Fun Friday, we decided to take the fam to the Texas State Fair in downtown Dallas. Neither Andrew or I had ever been and we received free tickets for our family for being Dallas Museum members (thanks, Nana!) From the minute it started it was quite the adventure to say the least, but we had a great day and it will be a day we probably won't ever forget! :) I will warn you that there are a lot of pictures, but I wanted to get the "full effect" of the day. Enjoy!
Big Tex here we come!
We decided to take the DART downtown so we would have to pay for parking and walk forever to even get into the Fair. The kids always love riding the "big train" as they call it.
This was Ainsley's 1st time to ride the DART and she loved it...for like the first 10 minutes! I just love her expression in this pic! So fun!
I had a hard time getting Austin to even turn around to get this picture. He was afraid he would miss something...
Lovin' it! So, what you don't see is that at every stop along the way, the train became more and more full. People were practically on top of each other. This was Friday morning! It appeared that a LOT of people took the day off to head to the fair like we did. We also had to get off and switch trains at one point. Good times! It was quite the challenge with all the people, our 3 kiddos, a double stroller, bags, and jackets. And just when we were questioning why we decided to take public transportation with half the city of Dallas...
We made it! :)
Austin rode around on Daddy like this a large portion of the day. It is a lot of walking for a little guy like him.
Our 1st stop was lunch where we spent about $7 a corn dog, but they were de-lish!
Then we went to a fun puppet show where yes, my son was chosen out of about 100 other kids to be on stage for a little bit. We were pretty nervous about it, but Austin did great (until he started punching the puppets, but we won't talk about that part;)
This is the sweet boy who just asked me tonight when I was putting him to bed if I would always love him like God does. I mean, seriously! Those are the 'mom moments' I live for! Precious heart!
Not so sure about the puppets at this point...
This is the part of "Fair Day" that he still talks about. He loved those puppets!
Only at the state fair... This thing was HUGE!!
Sometimes I wonder why I even attempt the pics of these two together. They are still cuties though. :)
Austin and Audrey rode their very first "carnival type" ride! Of course for A-town it had to be the blue airplane! We were really worried that Audrey was going to freak out and be screaming while they were up in the air, BUT she did great! Both of them laughed the entire ride! So fun!
We were on the hunt for the two things you HAVE to get when you go to the fair...
...cotton candy (look at that thing!)
Audrey getting all sticky, but loving every minute of it!
Big Tex here we come!
We decided to take the DART downtown so we would have to pay for parking and walk forever to even get into the Fair. The kids always love riding the "big train" as they call it.
This was Ainsley's 1st time to ride the DART and she loved it...for like the first 10 minutes! I just love her expression in this pic! So fun!
I had a hard time getting Austin to even turn around to get this picture. He was afraid he would miss something...
Lovin' it! So, what you don't see is that at every stop along the way, the train became more and more full. People were practically on top of each other. This was Friday morning! It appeared that a LOT of people took the day off to head to the fair like we did. We also had to get off and switch trains at one point. Good times! It was quite the challenge with all the people, our 3 kiddos, a double stroller, bags, and jackets. And just when we were questioning why we decided to take public transportation with half the city of Dallas...
We made it! :)
Austin rode around on Daddy like this a large portion of the day. It is a lot of walking for a little guy like him.
Our 1st stop was lunch where we spent about $7 a corn dog, but they were de-lish!
Then we went to a fun puppet show where yes, my son was chosen out of about 100 other kids to be on stage for a little bit. We were pretty nervous about it, but Austin did great (until he started punching the puppets, but we won't talk about that part;)
This is the sweet boy who just asked me tonight when I was putting him to bed if I would always love him like God does. I mean, seriously! Those are the 'mom moments' I live for! Precious heart! 
Not so sure about the puppets at this point...
This is the part of "Fair Day" that he still talks about. He loved those puppets! 
Only at the state fair... This thing was HUGE!!
Sometimes I wonder why I even attempt the pics of these two together. They are still cuties though. :)
Austin and Audrey rode their very first "carnival type" ride! Of course for A-town it had to be the blue airplane! We were really worried that Audrey was going to freak out and be screaming while they were up in the air, BUT she did great! Both of them laughed the entire ride! So fun!
We were on the hunt for the two things you HAVE to get when you go to the fair...
...cotton candy (look at that thing!)
Audrey getting all sticky, but loving every minute of it! ... and funnel cake! Have to admit that the funnel cake was a little bit of a let down. We will try again next year. :)
Austin inside the tire of a monster truck! That thing was GIGANTIC as A-Town kept saying over and over again. :)
He officially wants one of these for Christmas. Umm - yeah...
Here is a pic of two very tired little girlies taken like 2 seconds before they both passed out. Not a whole lot of pictures of Ains at the actual Fair. She was either on my hip while taking pictures or in the stroller. Can't WAIT until this girl starts walking!!
In the back of my mind I was hoping that this pic would be good enough to put on our Christmas card this year. Umm - nope. :) We really did have a blast at the Fair this year! I won't even tell you about how "interesting" our train ride was back to North Dallas. WOW! We made it though, and we made some great memories as well! Thanks for reading!
Austin inside the tire of a monster truck! That thing was GIGANTIC as A-Town kept saying over and over again. :)
He officially wants one of these for Christmas. Umm - yeah...
Here is a pic of two very tired little girlies taken like 2 seconds before they both passed out. Not a whole lot of pictures of Ains at the actual Fair. She was either on my hip while taking pictures or in the stroller. Can't WAIT until this girl starts walking!!
In the back of my mind I was hoping that this pic would be good enough to put on our Christmas card this year. Umm - nope. :) We really did have a blast at the Fair this year! I won't even tell you about how "interesting" our train ride was back to North Dallas. WOW! We made it though, and we made some great memories as well! Thanks for reading!Sunday, October 18, 2009
16 Things About My 16 Month Old!
I saw that one of my sweet new friends put a list of fun things that her toddler (thanks, Kristen!) is doing and I thought I would do the same for our Ainsley. I just can't believe that she is 16 months old! Here are some fun things about her that I wanted to share.
1. Ainsley is one of the happiest babies I have ever seen. She wakes up happy, smiles all day and goes to bed excited to end the day in one of her favorite places (her bed!)
2. She loves all kinds of music. She will clap at pretty much anything, but when we turn the music on she bobs her head and claps like crazy. It's so cute!
3. Ainsley is not walking yet. :( BUT we are seeing progress. She is a busy little girl and LOVES to get into our cabinets and the pantry. (I haven't figured out what the fascination is with the pantry is yet, but she is always in there.)
4. She loves for me to read her books (though she doesn't sit in one place for too long) and it is so fun to watch her turn the pages and babble like she is "reading".
5. Her two favorite people are definitely her big bro and sis Austin and Audrey. I love the time that her and Audrey are getting to have while Austin is at school two days a week. They are forming a neat bond and Austin will always be the big brother that she will adore forever.
6. She sleeps with her blanket, a stuffed lamb and her two fingers in her mouth. As long as she has these 4 things, she is one happy girl. :)
7. She is by far our BEST eater right now! She will eat pretty much anything we put in front of her and I love that she doesn't complain about any of it...yet. ;)
8. Ainsley LOVES bath time! It really is so precious how happy she is while in the tub playing with her big sis. She usually is not pleased when we take her out either.
9. She has the sweetest smile with some big ole' dimples. We will do pretty much anything to get this beautiful girl to smile!
10. She also is a very laid back kiddo and always has no problem going with the flow (which is such a blessing! We are a pretty busy family.)
11. I love how when I sit to rock her every night, she will look up at me and touch my mouth to tell me she is ready for me to sing what I sing to her every night ~ Jesus Loves Me. Melt. My. Heart!
12. Two things that Ains is always trying to get her hands on and that we are always hiding from her are the t.v. remote and Mommy's phone. She will see one of these things and go AFTER it. She can't wait to push all the buttons and record some random show that we never watch onto our DVR. Good times. :)
13. Every one who meets this little girl falls in love with her immediately. There is just something about those eyes and that smile of hers.
14. Ainsley is our little encourager. Always clapping and smiling. I can look at her at any point in the day and she will start bouncing up and down while clapping excitedly. She will definitely be the cheerleader of the bunch! ;)
15. She is also a great cuddler and still wants to be held as much as possible. She will follow me all around the house just so she can reach her arms out to me for a "ride".
16. Ainsley is such a true blessing to our family! The Lord knew EXACTLY what HE was doing when He surprised us with this precious little angel. She is just what our 'A-Team' needed! Love you, sweet girl!
1. Ainsley is one of the happiest babies I have ever seen. She wakes up happy, smiles all day and goes to bed excited to end the day in one of her favorite places (her bed!)
2. She loves all kinds of music. She will clap at pretty much anything, but when we turn the music on she bobs her head and claps like crazy. It's so cute!
3. Ainsley is not walking yet. :( BUT we are seeing progress. She is a busy little girl and LOVES to get into our cabinets and the pantry. (I haven't figured out what the fascination is with the pantry is yet, but she is always in there.)
4. She loves for me to read her books (though she doesn't sit in one place for too long) and it is so fun to watch her turn the pages and babble like she is "reading".
5. Her two favorite people are definitely her big bro and sis Austin and Audrey. I love the time that her and Audrey are getting to have while Austin is at school two days a week. They are forming a neat bond and Austin will always be the big brother that she will adore forever.
6. She sleeps with her blanket, a stuffed lamb and her two fingers in her mouth. As long as she has these 4 things, she is one happy girl. :)
7. She is by far our BEST eater right now! She will eat pretty much anything we put in front of her and I love that she doesn't complain about any of it...yet. ;)
8. Ainsley LOVES bath time! It really is so precious how happy she is while in the tub playing with her big sis. She usually is not pleased when we take her out either.
9. She has the sweetest smile with some big ole' dimples. We will do pretty much anything to get this beautiful girl to smile!
10. She also is a very laid back kiddo and always has no problem going with the flow (which is such a blessing! We are a pretty busy family.)
11. I love how when I sit to rock her every night, she will look up at me and touch my mouth to tell me she is ready for me to sing what I sing to her every night ~ Jesus Loves Me. Melt. My. Heart!
12. Two things that Ains is always trying to get her hands on and that we are always hiding from her are the t.v. remote and Mommy's phone. She will see one of these things and go AFTER it. She can't wait to push all the buttons and record some random show that we never watch onto our DVR. Good times. :)
13. Every one who meets this little girl falls in love with her immediately. There is just something about those eyes and that smile of hers.
14. Ainsley is our little encourager. Always clapping and smiling. I can look at her at any point in the day and she will start bouncing up and down while clapping excitedly. She will definitely be the cheerleader of the bunch! ;)
15. She is also a great cuddler and still wants to be held as much as possible. She will follow me all around the house just so she can reach her arms out to me for a "ride".
16. Ainsley is such a true blessing to our family! The Lord knew EXACTLY what HE was doing when He surprised us with this precious little angel. She is just what our 'A-Team' needed! Love you, sweet girl!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Thankful Thursday - Dear Pastor
Did you know that October is Pastor Appreciation Month? Well, it is and I wanted to focus today's blog on the man in my life who is my pastor, but also the servant-leader of our home to me and our children. To be honest, it has been a tough month at our little Church here in North Dallas and Andrew just commented the other day how it is getting harder and harder to "not bring the troubles" swirling around in his heart and head home each night. (It also doesn't help that he has meetings/counselling until 10 or so about 3-4 nights a week.) Don't get me wrong, we love this Church and the people in it and we know without a doubt that this is EXACTLY where the Lord wants us. It is just a little hard at times and I feel like sometimes I can't encourage my man enough, SO I thought I would take it public and share some things I just love about my pastor/hubby. Also, I thought I might share the opportunity out there for anyone who wants to participate. Your pastor might not be my pastor, but I think we all agree that these men the Lord has placed in our lives to shepherd us don't hear some much needed encouragement enough. Like me, you may have a long list of things you love about your pastor but, for the sake of readability, let's limit ourselves to five. So, here goes mine.
Andrew, God's blessing to me,
1. I LOVE that you are a true worshipper! It is the one major thing that attracted me to you way back in '97. :) I have always loved watching you worship in song, but I have to tell you that you also worship Him with everything you have and it is so evident!
2. You love God and His Word. I love how you take preparing for Sundays very seriously. You are always true the Bible and uncompromising in your defense of the Word. You really are an incredible preacher and are always so relevant and engaging in your teaching.
3. You love your family. Thank you for always "guarding" your family time for us. Family Fun Fridays are my (and the kiddos) favorites! I always feel treasured and respected by you. I am truly one BLESSED girl!
4. You genuinely love the people of our Church and community. The Lord has given you such a heart for these wonderful, but also hurting people. I love how you always try to make every member of the "family/body" feel important and like God really has a purpose for their life right where they are.
5. You are a great visionary. You are having to make big and hard decisions for this Church every day and I know (b/c I live with you - hehe:) that you won't make even the smallest decision without seeking the Lord and then wise counsel first.
Babe, you are pretty much amazing and I love you so very much! This road isn't always easy, but I love the ride with you by my side as smooth or bumpy as it is. I am so proud of you and the many ways you have stepped into a lead pastor role the last 2 years. The Lord is using you to mold and shape hearts for His glory and no "bad day" can take that away from you. My heart is swelling with gratitude and thankfulness today for you and I just had to tell you!
Andrew, God's blessing to me,
1. I LOVE that you are a true worshipper! It is the one major thing that attracted me to you way back in '97. :) I have always loved watching you worship in song, but I have to tell you that you also worship Him with everything you have and it is so evident!
2. You love God and His Word. I love how you take preparing for Sundays very seriously. You are always true the Bible and uncompromising in your defense of the Word. You really are an incredible preacher and are always so relevant and engaging in your teaching.
3. You love your family. Thank you for always "guarding" your family time for us. Family Fun Fridays are my (and the kiddos) favorites! I always feel treasured and respected by you. I am truly one BLESSED girl!
4. You genuinely love the people of our Church and community. The Lord has given you such a heart for these wonderful, but also hurting people. I love how you always try to make every member of the "family/body" feel important and like God really has a purpose for their life right where they are.
5. You are a great visionary. You are having to make big and hard decisions for this Church every day and I know (b/c I live with you - hehe:) that you won't make even the smallest decision without seeking the Lord and then wise counsel first.
Babe, you are pretty much amazing and I love you so very much! This road isn't always easy, but I love the ride with you by my side as smooth or bumpy as it is. I am so proud of you and the many ways you have stepped into a lead pastor role the last 2 years. The Lord is using you to mold and shape hearts for His glory and no "bad day" can take that away from you. My heart is swelling with gratitude and thankfulness today for you and I just had to tell you!
Monday, October 12, 2009
My Little Firefighters
Andrew asked one of our local fire fighters that attends our Church if he could borrow one of his hats for a sermon illustration. He was so kind to bring over the hat and some little stickers and hats for the kiddos as well. Thanks Jeff! Austin is learning all about our community helpers right now in school, so he was very excited of course to get some new gear. :) 
I heart these two silly children!
Cuties!!
As you can tell, they take their job very seriously. ;) (Not a great pic, but had to get my Ainsley in the blog!)
Monday, October 5, 2009
This and That
Here are some pics from the last month of some things we did - Dallas Children's Museum, Birthday Parties, and School stuff. Enjoy!
Aren't their faces so funny in this pic?! Adorable!
Ainsley is pulling up all the way to standing these days. No walking yet though.
Aren't their faces so funny in this pic?! Adorable!
Ainsley is pulling up all the way to standing these days. No walking yet though. We will take what we can get!
This is one of Austin's buddies, Cash. They are two peas in a pod!
Austin and our youth minister's son, Jack riding a horse at Ava's b-day party.
Love that sweet smile!
Ains, like all my babies loves to swing and usually cries when we take her out!
Feelin' the LOVE!
Happy Birthday, Ava!
Something about boys and new shoes...
Austin's 1st project for school! The letter 'S' poster! We had so much fun making it and it was so great to see how proud he was to show his friends at school. (You can't tell that mommy helped him AT ALL!;)
This is one of Austin's buddies, Cash. They are two peas in a pod!
Austin and our youth minister's son, Jack riding a horse at Ava's b-day party.
Love that sweet smile!
Ains, like all my babies loves to swing and usually cries when we take her out!
Feelin' the LOVE!
Happy Birthday, Ava!
Something about boys and new shoes...
Austin's 1st project for school! The letter 'S' poster! We had so much fun making it and it was so great to see how proud he was to show his friends at school. (You can't tell that mommy helped him AT ALL!;)
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