An open letter to my family...

I felt the need to write this, after thinking about the last few months and years, so here goes.

Hey Family,

I just wanted to write and tell all three of you that how much I appreciate you. B, I will start with you. Amazing. You put up with so much, crying, screaming, pouting, and not to mention the kids! You are a brave woman, willing to go to the ends of the earth with me, to pursue what God has called us to do. I know the things that you desire things for our family, here, and I intend to provide that for you. Thank you for loving me so deeply, and overlooking my faults/stupid mistakes/selfish motives. Sometimes I think the kids are easier to handle than I am, but you endure a lot, and I want to thank you for your unwavering love.

IGN. You are a champion. You have been through plenty of challenges in your short 19 months. You have been acclimated to FIVE nursuries, and have done so extreemley well. I don't know if a kid can throw in the towel, but I know it isn't an option for you. You have shown a great rescilince and a determined will to be content where ever you are. Thank you for being patient me as your Father. I screw up a lot, and probably don't understand why you do things the way that you do. You have not only had to adjust to my uncertainty, at times but also your new bro. We always tell people that you are such an easy girl, and an amazing big sister. Its true. You capture the attention of those around you, and make people laugh. Its not uncommon for strangers to come up to us in a restraunt and tell us how good you are and they appreciate the way we have raised you. I think its more your personality, than our " "amazing parenting skills". I have seen a bunch of cute little girls, but Im proud to say that you take the cake. Your brother has an outstanding example to follow.

Jacob, Im so glad your here. These five weeks have been a wild ride, that you have endured with unbelievable excellence. I didn't think babies were as easy as your sister, but you have proved me wrong. I love how you smile in the morning, and when the sun shines on you when your outside. You even smile when you hear your sister running towards you, taking out her passy and diving in on you to give you a kiss. We are glad you are apart of our crazy clan, and are excited about watching you grow up. You are already showing your personality, and I love it. I am excited about doing "manly" things with you, as father and son. We may be even to fit in some trips, like taking you to Sanford Stadium to watch the dawgs play each year.

You have all been so patient with me, in my learning to fill the role of husband/father. I am glad that we have found our home in Georgia now. The Lord has blessed us abundantly. We hardly have to speak our requests, to ask God for different things, and he provides it. He has set us up close to our families again, with an amazing home, and amazing friends. We have arrived. We are making our home. We are settling in. We are putting down roots. Thank you for being who you are. I am proud of you all, and proud to march through this adventure called life with each of you.

I love you all.

John Mark

A few more pics!

Our beautiful babies:





Here is our IGN, the wonderful, beautiful treasure that she is:







He is one beautiful boy! I can't imagine my life with out him.

A good Friday not easily forgotten....

This is the sight that we woke up to this morning. Have I told you that I love snow? Absolutely beautiful. Call me crazy but I would take this over a sunny beach day. ...then after lunch we went to check our mail... and yeah this was in there. An unmarked envelope with cold hard cash. The Lord has blessed us, and he deserves praise. Just wanted to share what God has done today, and how good he is.

HE IS HERE!!! 9lbs 6oz, 21.5in long, and perfect!

Changes is Lattitude, Changes in Attitude...

Don't yall love some Buffett? I do, and were were all singing Margaretaville on the way to Target yesterday, and Im pretty sure his songs have been in my head ever since. It has been awesome having Bekahs parents here the last 9 days, and the time for them to leave has come, as they will head out tomorrow. This is also the same day we will be going to the hospital to have Bekah get induced, so we can see Jacob. Thats right we should have a St. Pattys day baby here, sometime tomorrow. I am excited to see him, and I am hoping that the grandparents can see him too. (You see they came up last week because the lovely Minnesota doctor-who should be fired- said that Bekah would probably have the baby w/in 24 hours! Who would say that?) Anyway, they came for all they could come (10 days) and it looks like they will just miss him, I mean literally by hours. But we are praying that things will happen quickly so that they can at least see Jacob before they head to the hospital.

Somtime around last August we found out that we were going to have another baby. I remember calling my folks and asking if they wanted the good news or the bad news first. I told them about Jacob on the way, and then told them that we had felt the Lord confirm that we are to be in Minnesota for a season. We have loved it up here, and have learned tons of things good and bad about who we are, who we want to be, and who the Lord says we are, and who he wants us to be. We wouldn't trade this time/ this season for anything and we needed to be here for a season. It looks like that season is coming to a close, as we just haven't been able to raise the financial support, and feel that the Lord is setting things up for us down south. So again I have good news and bad news...we are gonna have a baby, and we are moving again. We have the blessing of the leadership here to do what we need to. God has given us a car down there (which we would have needed to get another one, w/ me working) and we have a deal on an apartment to rent as well. Its funny how the Lord has shown us that this is right, and we are excited about the prospect of being back down there. Its bittersweet actually. We have made some good friends here, that we are excited about keeping, to connect with for years down the road. Please pray for us in this transition with Jacob, and with the upcoming move in April back to the southland. Thanks for stoppin' by.

Bekah Update

Hey yall, not much has changed since the last blog, except a lot more pain for Bekah, yet still no baby Jacob!!! We are excited to see him, but he is prolonging his debut a bit longer than we thought he would. Bekah is sure that he is protesting being born in Minnesota, and wants to have Atlanta on his passport, like his big sis. The doctor told us last Thursday that we should have the baby w/in 24 hours, but apparently Jacob had different plans. Bekah's folks flew out, because of the doctors confidence in the labor, but instead of helping us with baby #2, they have just been cookin' up a storm, and hanging with IGN. Even pops got his toenails painted by IGN, and we have pics to prove it. Priceless. She attempted to get daddy to do his, but I convinced her that its not normal for daddys to do that. Grandparents is a different story. Maybe Jacob will come before they have to leave on Monday. Thanks for stoppin by, and we will post pics as soon as we have a baby. Keep prayin for Bekah and her stomach, as she is very nauseous.

My turn!

ok, so most things that people don't know about me are pre-1996, when I got saved (and you don't want to know the silliness I was involved in), so this will be 10 things-you-may-not-know-about-me post 1996.

1- Since becoming a mom I realize that I don't really like music just for the sake of music. silence speaks to my soul.

2- most of my life I wished I was a boy... men just always seemed more important and I was convinced that I was pretty important.

3- When I spend time with the Lord, I get excited about what God is doing in the world, in the lives of others, in my own life, etc., and it always makes me wish I were a preacher. I just feel this deep burning to get up somewhere and tell everyone what an amazing God we serve and of His deep love for us. I want to inspire.

4- I kissed John Mark first.

5- I am much more nervous about being a mother of 2 than I was about being a first time mom.

6- Once when I lived in Hawaii, i jumped off of an 80 ft cliff into the ocean. Apparently the whole 'free-falling' thing was very relaxing for me because upon hitting the water I got a massive water enema and I couldn't move my legs for about 3 minutes. It was awesome, I recommend it.

7- At the end of everyday I seriously have no idea what tomorrow will bring... I carry my passport to the grocery store.

8- i will never diet. I will exercise until it kills me, but I will eat what I want- I love food.

9- I love looking at house plans. I have no idea where this came from but I LOVE it!

10- For my birthday, my favorite thing to do is to go to a particular cemetery in Marietta with JM, watch the sun set, eat calazones we picked up from an italian place and smoke a cigarette. It is probably the only cigarette I have all year long and I never finish it, but its something we do together and a memory we share- its my favorite memory. I didn't get to do it this year because we were here in MN and I'm pregnant... I would have enjoyed the calazone and the time w/ JM but not the cigarette!

Well, thats it... it took me 1 hour and 15 minutes to think of 10 things!Lame.

Now I'm tagging Ruth Allen and Tammy H!