not too shabby

well, it's only been 3 weeks since i updated instead of 2 months! i call that progress!! since my last post, we have had a contract put on our house, we have put a contract on another house, and we are in the midst of LOTS of boxes that need to have more things in them instead of outside of them! ha! if you know me at all, you know i like to be organized in a certain kind of way. i like to do things on the fly for sure, and i really don't mind a messy house at all, but, when it comes to planning something, i get a high on having things organized. so, needless to say, i have a schedule for when each room should be packed and if i stay on this schedule, we will have everything packed before mine and ben's 5th anniversary getaway!!! yes, you heard me right! ben and i are leaving the boys for 4 nights and 5 days with grammy and pawpaw to get away for awhile! we're headed to nashville, are spending a couple nights at aloft. then, on saturday and sunday, we are going to be involved in our friends' wedding! ben is going to be leading worship and i am going to be coordinating (see, a planner at heart!). then, ben has something up his sleeve for sunday night and no one knows what it is! i'm not even sure if he knows what it is, to be honest with you. haha!

we also had an ultrasound of baby #3 a week ago. this baby is measuring a few days ahead of schedule, which is ok right now...just as long as he/she comes early or stops growing before he/she decides to join us in the world! we were able to count fingers and toes, saw the backbone, face, and jawbone, and saw that little thing squirm all around!!! it never ceases to amaze me that there is a BABY (aka HUMAN BEING) inside of me! i love it!

also, my sister and brother-in-law have been in the adoption process with russia for almost a year. after receiving one referral and never being able to meet the baby, they have received another referral and are going to meet sweet little baby boy on tuesday! my eyes are filling with tears as i type this. we have prayed and prayed for the next baby that will be a tankersley and it is evident that God wanted "nic" (he doesn't have a name yet) to be a tankersley! please join with us in praying that everything goes well when they meet him. lili told me that a union student came over to help them learn some russian the other day. one of the things she taught lili to say was "i'm your momma!" oh the joy!!!!! i can't wait to share in the joy of this little boy and to be a part of his family!! he is almost exactly 6 months between the boys, so i foresee LOTS of adventures between the williams and tankersley boys!! with the craziness of moving, i haven't taken many recent pictures, but i will post some that are my favorites.

to august resolutions!!!!

i was looking at our blog and realized that i used to update our blog a lot more than i do now. i mean, dillon's birthday pictures (which, his birthday, is in DECEMBER!) are still on the home page! they're not archived! that means that i probably have updated, oh, 5 times since then. and while some of you may say "well, janie, that is almost once a month", to that, i say LAME-O!!!!

so, i am making an august resolution that i will update the blog more frequently, even if it's just so i have a record of how wonderful my growing family is, and even if nobody reads it anymore.

july has been extremely extremely busy! we started the month with my family coming in from chicago. it's always so much fun to see how these cousins don't skip a beat when they're apart for awhile, then back together! and it only keeps getting better!! we were able to spend a lot of time with the myatts. mimi always has so much planned for us when the myatts come in, that it's a stay-cation for us!! while they were here, ben's sister, lindsey, came in from oklahoma. while she was here, we headed to tennessee safari park. let me just say, i had no idea what we were getting ourselves into! the park itself is great, i just wasn't sure that sally (the swagger wagon) was going to make it through! those ostriches were out for blood!!! we started the tour by the man at the gate telling us how to hold our feeding bowls. then, after our first turn, a deer came right up to the van! and he wasn't blinded by my headlights. he was so calm and friendly. anyway, we saw deer, llamas, wildebeests, monkeys, giraffes (that we also fed by hand), camels, gazelles, ostriches, water buffalo, bison, and peacocks, to name a few. dillon and isaac loved it and i'm pretty sure that all the adults had a great time too!

since then, i have been trying to not feel horrible (i am 11 1/2 weeks along, and i can barely believe that my first trimester is almost over!), find fun things for the boys to do while it is BLAZING hot here. i think we've had 2 solid weeks of highs in the 90s, with heat indices of over 100*. not fun. so, we've made several trips to the train museum, played in the water a lot, dressed up like cows to get free chick-fil-a, and really have had a great summer.

at church, we're about to start a parenting class that ben is kinda going to be helping teach. i say kinda because: a. we really know nothing about parenting; and b. we have been on the administrative side more than anything of the class. anyway, we're going through shepherding a child's heart and i am so very excited about this study. so many times with parenting, i just get so frustrated, i don't know what to do. i know that every parent feels like this and has many days like this. i guess i have just had more frustrating days lately than encouraging ones. i know i'm complaining/ranting/complaining about my kids. i don't mean to do that, and i really hope i'm not. i think i am very excited to know what to do better on and what to do instead of doing what i'm doing now (that's a lot of doing...). anyway, i am excited to be encouraged by other moms at our church and to form an even bigger camaraderie with our friends. we are also praying about where God will have us soon. our house is still on the market (go here to see a video of it) and we really just don't know what is going to come in our life. we covet your prayers. our desire is to be in full time ministry. ben is so blessed by the Holy Spirit for leading worship, and possibly even pastoring. you can go to southernorthodoxy to see his resume and to hear music he's written and worship services he has lead.

thanks for listening to me banter tonight! here's some photos of the williams lately. i know you love it!

summer time is here!

wow! a lot has happened since my last post! oh my goodness!
first of all, we are expecting our THIRD child!!!! YEA!!!! we are due february 10 and are so thrilled!!!! we are just praying the Lord blesses this little one like He has our other two. our quiver is definitely full. praise be to God!
we also made a trip to florida with ben's side of the fam (minus aunt chewey :( ) and had a BLAST! you can go here to see pictures of florida. we had such a great time and are really hoping that the oil doesn't get to our loved st. george island.
also, we have been doing a lot of work on the outside of the house. you can go here to see pics of that.
everything else is steady as it can be. our house is currently on the market. we are staying in jackson (Lord willing) but just need something a little bigger for our sweet growing family. if you know of anyone needing to buy, it has brand new landscaping in front ;) other than that, ben is staying busy with bw-creative, i'm staying busy with the boys, and the boys are just busy themselves!! they are so much fun recently!! here's a video to show you a little bit of what our day is like...



we hope everyone is doing well and can't wait to hear from you!!

a tisket, a tasket

what is a tasket? please feel free to let me know.

well, spring is definitely in the air at the williams house. we are busy busy busy. i love spring-time however. everyone is in a better mood, i'm outside with my neighbors until 8:00 (because that's when the sun is officially gone), great consignment sales abound (and yard sales) more houses go on the market, and flowers and trees are in full bloom everywhere. as of late, when we have been getting in the car, i'm sure to here "WOAH!!!!" out of isaac's mouth (because of pretty flowers) and "there's some pink ones, momma" from dillon. i love how in tune they are with the changing of the seasons. also, i would love to hear who still reads our blog. please comment, or email, or facebook me and let me know who you are!!!

this week is Holy Week. Palm sunday is today and we are very busy with our church. ben is still leading worship here part-time, and honestly, we just love how they focus so much on Christ's life, and how all of scripture points to Christ. i have been looking forward to Holy Week because we do a huge feast called the Jesus feast on Maundy Thursday (thursday before easter). this is the end of the lenten season, the beginning of Eastertide. my heart overflowed this morning at church as i sat and thought about the people that actually saw Christ's face as he rode in on a donkey, down a narrow alley, with palmbranches laid before him. at CCC, we march around the church waving palms. well, this year, dillon really got to enjoy the palms. as he played with his branch all through church (and even got into trouble with it a little), it reminded me of childlike faith. i want to have faith like a child. that everything is great. that i can trust the Lord with everything because He is going to take care of it all. these are things i am processing right now this week. as we approach Good Friday, i know my heard is going to be super heavy. i can hear the gonging of the bell that one of the guthries rings on our Good Friday service now, and my heart fills with pain to know that Christ was in SO much agony for me alone. He is the reason we have Easter. so many people think that "Jesus is the reason for the season." don't get me wrong, i agree with this statement, but i think it should be more like "Jesus is why we have any season at all." (even though that doesn't really rhyme)

anyway, these are just things i have been thinking about lately. dillon and isaac continue to amaze us everyday. God has truly blessed us with wonderful children, who love other people, who love scripture (already), and who obey. i take this for granted way too much. they are growing so much daily and are such a joy. here's a few pics from the previous month and a half. enjoy.

hanging out with baby eli

playing on the stairs at grandpa's and granny's

always a blast with aunt jen jen!! @stone mountain

"who me?"

big boy hair!!

two peas in a pod

reading with grandpa

oh my word

this is what happens when you have a 1-year-old and a 2-year-old and you let them play on the hill ;)

first time with a spoon by himself. there was more oatmeal on him than in his belly ;)

His mercies are new every morning...

my granny, jane myatt, went to be with the Lord on monday night around 5:55. i haven't been wanting to write this post. not because i'm scared or not because i don't want the world to know what an amazing woman she was, but because with writing it, it becomes so much more real.
we knew that her time was drawing near. on sunday, i went to newbern, tn, to get some medicine for her with my mom. we had such great conversation, and occasionally, we would look at each other and say "granny sure is great" and just burst into tears. however, even though we are sad, there was some joy in our tears. here are some words to describe granny:
loving
caring
unconditional
proverbs 31 woman
selfless
faithful
never giving up
prayer warrior
christian
submissive
these are just the first ones that come to mind. if i had more time, i would write many more. when granny passed away, we were all gathered around her bed, telling old stories and laughing really hard. then, she slowly took her final breaths and went to be with the Lord. i'm so encouraged to live a much better life because granny was such a big part of my life. my aunt and all of us cousins have said "if i can be half the person granny was, i'll accomplish a lot." even though that's true, i want her life to encourage me to be all that she was, to live life to the fullest and have the abundant life. that's what she did and, boy, did she reap the benefits! granny was so blessed, and she gave ALL the glory to God.
in her last days, i remember sitting on her bed with her, holding her little head up, and singing hymns with her, telling her things i loved about her, "tickling" her face as she used to do mine so much, remembering old pets that she hated and i loved, listening to her say "those boys are SOOOO cute (in a sing songy voice)" and "ben...he's a good good man, janie. you take care of him." what an encouragement to live out the life that God has called me to.
i love you SOOOO much, granny, and you will be missed. however, i praise the Lord for your life and that you are worshiping God face-to-face now.
praise God from whom all blessings flow
praise Him all creatures here below
praise Him above the heavenly hosts
praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Amen.

my sweet granny

this is a post to ask for prayer. we are all doing well, but my granny is not. granny is 89 years old and one of the most amazing people i have ever met. she loves the Lord more than life itself. she gives of her time and energy and is one of the most powerful prayer warriors i have ever known. however, her health is failing her. she continues to get worse, is worn out, and her oxygen levels are really bad just from getting up and going to the bathroom. i love this woman so much and i covet your prayers right now for her and for her life to be pain free, to not suffer, and to enjoy every bit of it. thanks. God bless you guys.

...and the celebrations continue...

we have been SO incredibly busy since before thanksgiving!!!! as some of you know, the four members of our family all have birthdays within 4 weeks of each other, 3 of those being within 2 weeks of each other!!! it all started with isaac turning one. let me tell you, that boy is so happy!! we celebrated his birthday "bulldozer style" because he IS our little bulldozer. that kid can mess up a room faster than you can "what'd you do?!?!" he is crawling on all fours, pulling up on everything and beginning to talk. he signs "more please", "love you", "bye bye", and he even says "amen" at the end of a prayer. he weighs about 21 pounds, and is about 29 inches long (i think). he is not starving, that's for sure!!! he loves to eat, loves cars, and is ALL boy!

isaac's birthday cake

hmmmm....

i think he likes it!!!

favorite pic so far!!!!

celebrating at mimi's house!

i had a birthday a week and a half after isaac did. ben took me to sakura (our favorite sushi place in town) with some of our best friends, the guthries and the denkers. it was such a wonderful night of no kids, coffee, sushi, a fire, and a LOT of laughs (don't forget what the most common city in the nation is named!). i am so blessed with an amazing husband and friends. thanks to everyone who called and sent cards and presents. i truly am loved. (and just in case you're wondering, i still have one year left before i hit the big 3-0.)

friday, was dillon's birthday (our birthday banner really should just stay up for the whole 4 weeks!!!). we, of course, had to have a train party! dillon is such a BIG boy, now. i feel like i officially have a boy and not a baby anymore. he talks CONSTANTLY. seriously, his verbal skills are amazing. one of his favorite things to say is "LOOK, momma! LOOK!" he is putting sentences together, can count to almost 20 (with a little help) and we are working on his colors. it's so much fun to have a little sponge that soaks up everything you say. he has a very sensitive heart. whenever isaac is crying, he looks up at me and says "isaac crying, momma. no like isaac crying." he's such a great big brother and both of the boys have a blast playing together. i think dillon weighs about 26 pounds, and is about 34 inches tall. he also will tell you that he is two when you ask him. he's so big.

i still can't believe he's TWO!!!!

of course, a thomas cake ;)

we will celebrate ben's birthday on the 29th and following days (and probably some preceeding days) with family. we have been very blessed lately with ben's work. he is officially THE graphic designer for an upscale magazine in memphis called VIPMemphis. after a lot of prayers and begging of God, BWCreative is doing well, making money, and providing us with enough money to live on. it has been a huge struggle, but we have grown so much in our faith through this time. we thank all of you who have prayed for us over the last couple of years. God is faithful, even when we aren't. i'm so thankful for that.

we are gearing up for ben's family and my family all coming in next week. the myatts will be here on the 19th, aunt jen jen and aunt lindsey will get here on the 20th, then, we will celebrate Christmas with my family the first part of the week and the Williamses the second part of the week. grandpa and granny will be coming on the 26 and then, most of those people will be leaving on the 29th :( it will be a lot of fun to be able to see everyone at Christmas...especially for the boys to get to hang out with cousins, aunts, and uncles that they don't get to see that often. we pray God's blessings on you this holiday season! Merry Christmas to all!!!

these two were from the day we went to get our Christmas tree. it was a hot december day, but we had a great time ;) thanks, ward's!!!

giveaway!!

check out this great giveaway at the urban hen!! go here and enter the one that you would like! it's pretty simple, you see ;)

fall

oh, how i love fall. our windows have been open now for a solid week. it has only rained once, and i planted some catalillies today, along with enjoying a pumpkin spice latte. yes!! obviously, we love fall!!! the boys are getting so big. as i type this, they are laughing hysterically at each other, playing by themselves in their room. their favorite thing to do is crawl under isaac's bed, one at one end, one at the other, and laugh hysterically at each other! now, they are playing the harmonica with each other. dillon is holding it up to isaac's mouth and blowing in and out for him. oh my word, they are SO MUCH FUN!!!! just wanted to update you on some new things. i'll timeline the pictures as they go, so you don't have to guess ;)

on another note, isaac is having tubes put in on wednesday. the poor guy. he has had an ear infection is whole life except for about a month and a half since the time he was 6 weeks old. we're so glad that he won't be in anymore pain, and we loved the e.n.t that we went to. it isn't a long procedure. the doc said that if he was under for 15 minutes, that was a long time. i felt better about that statement :) please pray for us on wednesday morning about 8:00. i will let everyone know how everything goes.

now onto the pictures ;)

isaac is only taking 2 bottles/day (praise Jesus). this was his first attempt at spaghetti. i think he liked it. sadly, we did not get an after picture; however, he did go straight to the tub ;)

these are two of isaac's friends. all these guys' birthdays are within 7 weeks of each other. these girls are so much fun. we have to save this one for the wedding slideshow ;)

today, we went to the pumpkin patch in milan. dillon has been FASCINATED with pumpkins since we got him a little bitty one at the farmer's market a couple of weeks ago. then, nette nette took him to get one and he would sit on the front porch and HUG his pumpkin! ha! we decided he needed a few more, but don't worry, we only ended up with 4, one of which is a gourd :)

daddy and his boys

sweet isaac. how can you resist that face?

brothers. it was really hard getting them to smile at the same time. isaac will smile at just about anything; dillon, on the other hand, only wants to smile when he wants to.

there's a good "CHEEEESE!"

and another one. my little boy is getting SO big!! can you believe he will be TWO in just two short months!?!?! i CAN'T!!!!

i want this one, momma!! (we didn't get that one, though).

LOVE it!!! daddy and izzi (long i at the beginning, long e sound at the end) bear

what a great way to finish out a great day!?!?! i hope you can enjoy fall as much as we have today! love to all!!

soooo...

look who decided to update the world on the williamses!! we have been so so busy that i have not even had a chance to really take any pictures! we have gotten some video, which i'll upload in another post (i'm on the 'ol imac right now...too slow) and some cell phone pics. sadly, our camera is broken right now and is hard to handle to get the pictures. maybe santa will be nice to us this year! i'm sitting in my sewing room/guest room right now. i have been enjoying our sun room on most days, but today, i'm realizing how much i love this tower, as we like to call it. there are 7, count them, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 windows in this room! it's so nice with all the natural light, you really don't even need a lamp on. this used to be ben's office, but since he moved on up, to the east side (a little jefferson's for ya), i've definitely taken advantage of this room! also, we had our first guests to sleep up here, joe and leah sulateskee!! yea! anyway, the boys are getting so big. dillon has more words than i can even count, isaac has started crawling, and eating real people food. sadly, we have been to the doctor several times in the past month. we started out with a horrible cold/something after we had gotten back from georgia. (did i mention we went to atlanta to see pop pop, granny, and aunt jen jen?) both boys had ear infections, isaac's almost bad enough for his eardrum to rupture. well, this past week, his eardrum did rupture. we now have an appointment with the ent at the end of the month to set up an appointment for tubes. dillon also still had fluid on his ears. it's so sad when your children are so happy...wait a second, let me explain. the boys are so content and rarely cry or fuss...at least not out of the ordinary. so, we never know if they really are sick or not. that's what is so sad. ben says the have the janie myatt syndrome, which is "suck it up! you'll be fine!" as sometimes the janie myatt syndrome is a good thing, for little boys whose ears are hurting, it's probably not the best thing. we will see what the ent says and when the appointment will be made for. 

also, the boys are weighing in at: dillon: 26 pounds (he's big enough to just get on the scales now) and isaac: 21ish pounds. they are so so much fun. they are playing together so well and they love each other. dillon will wake up in the morning or from a nap and dillon will say "hi, brudder! hi, brudder!" and, as i'm typing this, he's yelling, "ISAAC, ISAAC!!!!!!" he is sleeping. now, dillon is saying "shhh shhh shhh!" anyway, they just keep getting better and better!! 

we did go to atlanta to hang out with family. while we were there, we enjoyed a get together with old friends, going to church with the people that were fundamental in ben's discipleship, went to ikea and a movie, went to the aquarium, and to the zoo, and the list goes on and on! it was so much fun and a much needed break from the norm for me. pop pop and granny kept the boys all day one day for ben and i to go out for our anniversary (four blissful years!). we fell in love with ikea and made our christmas wish list as well ;)

just recently, i had the opportunity to coordinate trista and charlie havner's wedding. i've known these kids since they were in high school, which is when they started dating. so, it was such a joy to see this relationship come to fruition in marriage! God was glorified at the ceremony and a great time was had by all.

me with the bride. she looked beautiful!!!

at the rehearsal dinner

next month, we have the women's retreat for Christ Community coming up, saturday night pookie (the big birthday bash for brian denker) and a great night of worship at church that ben has been working on so hard. it's nice to have a break from being so busy. today, we're sitting on the couch, not doing a whole lot of anything. it's so nice! we love and miss you all!! here's some pictures of atlanta for you to enjoy!

LOVING the aquarium!!

looking at and loving the jellyfish with pop pop

same expressions :)

lovin' some turkey!

fun in the pool!

and playing with the train

riding the train with pop pop. this was the beginning of dillon's horrible ear infection :(

aunt jen jen and isaac. he LOVES her so much!!

micah

well, i know i haven't updated about our family in a very long time. we have been crazy busy. i hope to do that tonight. as for now, i wanted you to be aware of something to pray for. our friends, thomas and tina varughese had a horrible accident with their son who is 11 years old. you can read about it here and read his updates here. it is such a blessing to have children. it's even more of a blessing when God has an amazing path for them. i'm very excited to see what God is going to do with micah and how He is going to use him in his life.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
Amen.