ABC's

As you may have seen/read from my nursery post, we are super proud of how our little guy's room turned out.  We took some (a lot) of time making sure everything was perfect and unique.

There are several things in his nursery that are very personal to us: 

- the little silver cup that's been passed down to the first born sons from J's fraternity brothers

- my little bear that I had as a baby that I carried around everywhere

- the cross that hung over my door while I was growing up

- Jackson's motorcycle helmet and one of his jackets that we're actually going to turn into a baby blanket and pass on like the little cup. 

Another piece of decoration that I just love is the ABC banner hanging on the wall.  I found it at Frisco Mercantile while I was pregnant and just knew I had to have it.  What it says for each letter is true to how I want my son to be raised - some kind of funny and others just words of wisdom.  Above anything else though I want Jamison to be an honest man and to know The Lord like J does.  Everything else will just fall into place.  

A - Arrive on time

B - Be kind

C - Care deeply

D - Desire the best

E - Eat your veggies

F - Forgive

G - Give generously

H - Happily serve

I - Invest in people

J - Just be you

K - Kick up your heels (or boots :) )

L - Love deeply

M - Make friends

N - Nix gossip

O - Offer a hand

P - Pause

Q - Quietly listen

R - Rest

S - Start fresh

T - Tell the truth

U - Unwind

V - Value relationships

W - Walk tall

X - Xoxo

Y - Yearn for wisdom

Z - Zip up your coat

Not only do I want to instill these ABCs to my son, but also within myself.  

Sometimes life gets too busy to 'pause' or just simply 'quietly listen'.  I want to enjoy this time, in the present, more than anything because I know and have seen it change in an instant.  I want to 'happily serve' people and 'offer a hand' to those in need.  I want our friends and family to know how much we 'value their relationship' and though we don't talk everyday, they are always on our minds.  

The last thing I texted Jackson two days before he passed was letting him know how much J and I loved him and what a great friend he was.  He's always had his struggles and I just felt like in that moment he needed to know that.  It's been 4 months now and I hope he's looking down on all of us and knows that to still be true.

I just want to live in the moment every single day.  Not only take pictures of those precious moments but remember them and truly appreciate what I've been blessed with.  We're not the richest by any means and we may not have everything we've ever dreamed of but we have our health, friends and family that love us and most of all each other along with our precious son.  We're not promised tomorrow, but while I'm still here, I want to make sure I'm living my ABCs.

 I know we will grow our family by one, maybe two more someday but right now, in this moment, life is the best I've seen it and I will cherish every single second of it.