time for a change. . .

So March is here. Once again a new month--a perfect time for a change! I've been contemplating a blog name change for a while now. A few things have led me to this. One, I've been blogging for about 4 years with the same name. Time for something new. Another reason is that I didn't really want our name in our title. Our blog has been linked to several others through friends and other blogs and through my photography, so I just wanted to take our name out of it. I don't mind it being in our blog address for now, because often people just click on a blog name or through their Reader and don't even remember the blog address.

But my main reason for changing our little blog title is to recommit why I am blogging. I started this as a journal for our family, a place to keep records for our boys and us, and also to keep friends and family updated on the goings on of our lives. The everyday stuff and the milestones. But, I feel like our little blog has evolved some, and I'm realizing I'm sharing lots more about who our family is. I want to make sure that I am clear on what our family stands for. Or who. So, Morning Glories, came to mind.

When I was little, not even that little, my mom would always come in and wake us up in the mornings. She would, in a very sing-song voice come into my room, open the blinds right beside my bed and say, "Rise and Shine, Morning Glory!" Occasionally, on my grumpier mornings, this would annoy me. But, more often than not, I loved being her Morning Glory. It wasn't about the name she called me, but it was that she had a name for me (one of many) and more importantly, that she loved me--I always knew it and I still do. The care she took to greet my sister and me with cheerfulness and sunshine in the morning was not lost on me. So, Morning Glories is a tribute to my mom and that place of love she created for me!

It's in that same way, that Chad and I want to raise our children--to grow them up (not as flowers, but like flowers grow). We have been blessed to both be raised in love and to love the Lord. We want our children to know our love for each other in our marriage and our love for them, and we are confident they already do. And just as importantly, we want our boys to know of our love for the Lord. Our purpose in our marriage, in our family and in our lives is to glorify the Lord. The word, glory, means adoring praise or worshipful thanksgiving. And, while life is not about glorifying the Lord only in the mornings, starting our day giving glory to Him is what our family is striving for.

So, when I was thinking of a new blog name, Morning Glories, just seemed to fit us.

Hope you like the name change and if you don't, I hope it grows (I just had to) on you! I have no idea if this will change in your Reader or not, you may have to do it manually, or not. If I decide to change our blog url, then I will let you know! And, finally, since you read through all of that, here are a few pics, you know, since words can be boring alone and pics spice things up! Little Miles was baptized a week ago and it was such a special time. Just another step for our family to dedicate him to the Lord and to declare that we will raise Miles up to know Him!

Sweet Mimi loving her grandson!