The first two pics here are of Brayden at 18 months. People say they look so much alike I thought it's be fun to show a picture of Brayden at Madison's current age.

On another note....after a couple weeks of pushing through the long days of motherhood wondering why Brayden was so combative, it dawned on me -- maybe he was not feeling well, so I took him to the doc yesterday and sure enough he had an ear infection. After 24 hours on antibiotics and some motrin, the boy is nice to be around again.

He crawled in bed with me this morning while I was reading and he said, read to me what you are reading. I was reading a mother's devotional (I know, sounds cheesy...it was talking about birds and their different cries to one another...they call them 'signal songs'. Then it talked about how as moms, we cry out to two different people...we cry out to our husbands and also to our God.

Last night, I came to bed tired and beat down from life's burdens. Eric showed me what only a gracious, patient husband that is full of love and understanding can do. He let me vent, talk, and 'cry out' then he spoke truth and wisdom graciously in a way I could hear. It was good. I was able to cry out to him and he responded. This morning, I woke up at 6:30 and cried out to God and he responded. I looked for the adventures in the mundane activities of being a mom today and with God's grace, was able to see them. Both my kids are so cuddly (Madison is on antibiotics from an ear infection too), they enjoy one another and generally seem happy most of the time, and I have the privilege of raising my own kids (as they don't have to go to daycare) and spending the days with them. I have been given these treasures to protect, love and care for and they think I'm pretty cool too, most of the time.

"But I cry out to God, and the Lord saves me. Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice." Psalm 55:16-17.