So this is what I know...

JE has now been with us for almost 4 months and we are just now getting to know him... isn't that crazy!!! I mean in the past 3-5 weeks he has really come into his own and has this amazing personality! He amazes me everyday how different he is from his sis (I shouldn't be surprised, right?!). Everyone always SAYS that kids are really different but I wasn't going to believe it until I saw it for myself:) At first I thought that this little guy was high maintenance because I couldn't get him on a schedule but once I let him make up his own I realized how easy he is too. When he is happy, he is VERY happy but when he is sad, oh, everyone in a 10 mile radius knows it. I say he is passionate and just knows what he wants:) He falls asleep in my arms and I LOVE that and his smile is literally breath taking. It is so big and bright that when he does it you just have to stop and smile back no matter what is going on. JE loves to sleep. I'm told that babies at this age should sleep 14 hours a day and I work real hard to keep him from sleeping more than 17...


JE is also VERY long and fat. I have to remind myself and others how young he is because I find myself expecting him to do things that a 6 or 7 month old would do because thats what he looks like, but he's still just an itty bitty guy:)


I love him more everyday with every moment that I get to just look at him and enjoy life with him. He loves IG and she can make him go from tears to giggles in 1.5 seconds... its amazing! I feel blessed beyond anything I deserve and I can't wait to learn more about him tomorrow!

IGN update!
The girl is a rock star and is my favorite comic. She loves to laugh and dance and pretend to talk on the phone... its so cute!!! I will do an IGN post soon!

We're coming home!

It is 10:30 on Wed. morning, my girl is sleeping away, packing for now is finished, my house is still a mess but I don't care because this time tomorrow... I'LL BE HOME!!!! I can't believe its already here! When my parents left here in November I thought it would be forever until Christmas break would get here but it is here and I am so excited to see all of my wonderful friends and my sweet family:)

IGN had an early Christmas this morning. Last night after she was in bed some friends stopped by and dropped off a gift for our girl, and let me just say, she'll never be the same, literally. When she woke up this morning JM pushed out IGN's very own baby doll stroller! (attachable car seat included!) So this morning she spent the day pushing her baby around the house and rocking her in her car seat... it was precious! My little girl was taking care of a baby instead of being a baby and I was kind of sad. Its weird how as she enters a new stage in life i am always excited for her development and ability to learn new things but at the same time I'm sad that she's growing up. Every mothers plight. I guess that is our job though, its to RAISE her, to help her develop into an independent, intelligent, compassionate, lover of God, not to try to keep her as a baby for all eternity (thats just weird). She is beautiful though and her personality become more defined each day and I think she definitely has my stubbornness and temper. Those traits though are greatly over shadowed by her love of other people and her desire to interact with everyone. She flashes her big, 4 tooth grin and waves at any one who will glance her way. She loves kissing on the lips, being tickled, being chased around the house by her daddy, 'helping' me with chores and of course meal times:) My girl is an eater!! I am just amazed by my girl and my love for this family that God has given me.

Ok, this blog was supposed to be short and sweet about our trip home... oops! Well, I'm Georgia bound!

I'm getting excited!!!

This evening I was thinking about our little boy and thinking about the goodies he will get to use of IGN's when he arrives. We have all the 'baby necessities' thanks to big sister and those who hooked her up when she was on the way:) Here at Bethany a family has offered us a double stroller and I am PUMPED! It will make life much easier being able to roll them both around instead of carrying one in a sling or something and strolling the other. (Although I'm sure that will happen a few times.) I am realizing what an amazing privilege it is having TWO little ones in our house and I'm getting so excited. At first I was all nerves wondering what it would be like and knowing that it would be a challenge but the nervousness is becoming excitement as I realize that he's 14 weeks away from being here with us! I know it will be hard and I'm trying (if that is possible!) to prepare for it but more than anything God is confirming in my heart over and over again what a blessing my family is. I mean I can say that they are a blessing all day long but the Lord is stirring my heart for my family like He does a person for a people group or a nation. I think many mothers and women feel this way especially if the longing of their hearts was always to be a mom. It was never a 'passion' of mine to have a family and to be a stay at home mom so it has taken me longer than the average girl to get to this place. Don't get me wrong I have adored JM and my little angel but I never felt like this was my 'life's calling' and that what I was doing was bring glory to God and inviting the Kingdom of Heaven. (I hope I'm making sense.) But God is doing a new thing in my heart and showing me that where I am is where I have been called and serving and inspiring my family is the desire of my heart. Sometimes its easy to go through the days looking forward to nap times and feeling guilty because my house is lacking in cleanliness and beauty but all I have to say is that "its all gonna burn anyway" (quote from Caroline-thanks!) so why not put my time and energy into what is eternal and that is the spiritual climate of my house and the lives that are in it. No, I'm not going to let my house go to pot but if my girl (and soon my boy) need extra time with me, I'm going to let the dishes pile up for the day or let the kitchen floor have some extra crumbs on it. I LOVE my family and I am passionate about them and their spiritual well-being. I long to be the wife and mom that God is calling me to be. There are no pressures of this world that can tell me what we NEED to be a happy, healthy family, there is only the TRUTH of God and the revelation of the Spirit that will sustain us and give us what we need. I always wanted to be a worship leader somewhere in my heart and now I realize more than ever that I am, I have the honor of joining with John Mark and leading our family before the throne of God every day. I am blessed and humbled that God saw me fit to place these lives in my hands.

I didn't plan on getting off on this little tangent, but whatever, it was obviously wanting to get out:) I think I'm just excited about this new precious life under our roof and tonight I even filled out a baby registry just for fun to get more excited about him. He is a miracle and just as God used IGN to open my eyes to so much, He is already using this little guy to make me more and more aware of His goodness. I am thankful.

The boy is a healthy one!

In the past 24 hours God has very obviously answered 2 of my prayer requests. I'll start with last night. Last night I was praying with IGN before bed and her room felt so cold. It has been this way all through the fall and now that its winter it is so much worse. The window by her rocker has been drafty and each morning when I walk in her room its like 10 degrees colder than the rest of the house- sad! So last night night as I prayed with her I asked the Lord to make her room warm... why i didn't pray for this sooner? I have no idea. So around 10pm she cried a wierd little cry so I went her room to make sure she was ok and I rocked her for a minute. It was so cold in there that I was contemplating putting up her pack-n-play in our room for the night until we could get a good space heater (they kind of scare me). I decided that right then I was going to investigate the window. So with the girl in my arms (I eventually put her on the floor), I took the screen off the window and there was SNOW on the inside window sill!! Ok, so I realized the window was never locked shut and it opened little by little over the past few months. So I got the window locked shut and its like a new room! So God didn't 'make it warmer' but once I gave the concern to Him, He opened my eyes to the problem. I was just blessed by His desire to meet me immediately. So yay for a warm night sleep for my girl!

Next is my prayers for my little boy. About 5 weeks ago I had and ultra sound appointment and there were some cysts on the organ in the brain that produces spinal fluid. I was told that it is somewhat common (like 1 in 20) normal children had the condition in utero. But they felt the need to do a more detailed ultra sound to make sure there were no 'markers' for any kind of chromosomal abnormalities. Well my little boy is perfect and he didn't have ANY of the markers they were looking for! The perinatologist said that there is almost no chance that our boy would would have an issue without at least one marker, so we're good! I was confident going in there that the Lord heard our prayers and protected and directed every bit of his development. We got a few more pictures of this cute little guy and I'm going to try to scan them and post them soon. Thank you all for your prayers for our baby boy, we appreciate it so much!!!

This just needs to be seen.

The girl loves to cruise around town in her diaper (or w/o it) but she ALWAYS wants to wear her pink slippers. Its crazy cute. On this particular night we were laughing at how big her tummy was! It looks like she ate another kid or something... so we filmed it. Here are some pics and a video.







In other news, we are living in a winter wonderland up here! On Saturday we watched football and snow all day long and now we have a 6"+ covering of snow out here. Its really pretty, especially today because its really sunny and everything is shinny and white. Tomorrow though we're supposed to get another 2"-4"! I like the snow and I think its pretty. Its great to have the opportunity to enjoy a real cold winter because I haven't had one for a long time and may be a very long time before I have another. So when the urge to complain about the cold rises up in me I try to remember that this is a blessing to see this and to have these memories with our family. We took IGN sledding on Sunday and it took us 20 minutes to get her us all dressed and out the door and we spent maybe 15 minutes in the snow. It was just to cold and windy to really let IGN get the most out of it. I do have video though!



Blessings to all!

There are so many things I love about this girl!

Lately IGN's personality has been growing by leaps and bounds and everyday I find myself laughing, not just at her anymore, but with her! It really is so much fun. One thing that has made me laugh lately is that she wants to be creative with all of her 'accessories':




Yeah, she wears swim goggles like a head band. The cutest thing about it all is that every time she puts anything on she looks for John Mark and once she finds him she stops dead still and smiles real big waiting for him to tell her how beautiful she is. Its the sweetest thing ever... she loves that daddy of hers! Here are pics of how she likes to wear her sunglasses (around her neck!):





Today she wanted to wear JM's bandanna as well as her sunglasses necklace, precious again:



SO that is our trend setting daughter and I'm sure it is only a matter of time before everyone is wearing goggles around their head!

IG also is LOVING some books these days and will read them over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. It can be pretty tiring for me but I remind myself that this is a short period of time that she is a little peanut who wants to sit in my lap and read. Since we are now book reading machines, she is picking up on EVERYTHING, I mean sounds, words, facial expressions, everything! She tries to repeat everything we say and wants to communicate like we do. She even has her own 'curse words'. That sounds bad doesn't it? Well, when she gets frustrated she walks around muttering sounds and it reminds me of the dad in 'The Christmas Story' when he is trying to fix the furnace. We are trying to get these mutterings on camera because it is COMEDY! We laugh so hard!

Here is video if her telling us her animal sounds. Usually she is more passionate about them but this will do until you can see them in person.



I have one more thing to say:
I WILL BE HOME IN 3 WEEKS!!! Woo Hoo!!!!!

Turkey Day w/ the Nysewanders

I am thankful for good food, my wonderful family, friends, life and the One that gave it all to me. Today was a culinary success and I had tons-o-fun doing it. I made a broccoli rice casserole, sweet potato casserole, dressing, pumpkin pie and... My very first TURKEY!!!!



I was so proud of myself and JM and I have leftovers to last for years! (ok, that an exaggeration.) We do have a lot though and it will be fun enjoying it for the weekend. We had a meal with JM's good friend Jerome and his parents and aunt, who is over the house of prayer here. It was good times and good fellowship, we didn't 'disband' until after 7pm and we got together around 11am. Thats a long day! IGN was exceptionally cute and was the center of attention which is to be expected. She was sweet and cute despite her pitiful little cold that kept us on tissue alert all day.





Janna and Dwight (my bro and sis in-law) stopped by this evening with Schmale so IGN could get her puppy-dog fix and we could pet our little pup, who isn't our pup anymore. They also brought over a car seat that we had left at Janna's peep's house when the Nysewanders were here. Well IGN accepted the seat w/ pleasure and thought it was her throne... she was very proud to have a chair of her own to sit in like the big people. Just cuteness all over!








I hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving and although we had a great day we still missed our family and friends from GA. We'll see y'all in 28 days!

really?

My current feelings about life are changing... all of my expectations and thoughts 'are being slightly adjusted to view life a little differently. I don't know what we're doing and how we have managed to take life so seriously but I think we're done with all of that (for the time being). I think JM and I have always felt that call to do missions but never had a clear picture of what it meant for us. I mean we've seen others do it and we've participated here and there and although we have loved our experiences, we never had any clear vision. I have always felt that if you are 'called' to missions that you are being disobedient for not going immediately (or working towards going) even if you have no clue what you're doing and no direction. So for the past few years I have carried around an unending feeling of guilt that I'm not who I am supposed to be and I'm disappointing God in the process. Thats not the best of feelings and I'm glad that God in all of His gentleness can show me where I have made-up my own views of Him.
I have heard a statement recently and its not 'gospel truth', its just one person's take on what we are doing here on earth. They called this life an internship for the up-coming life with the Lord and all that we are doing and growing in here is what will determine what we DO in heaven. I know sounds crazy to some, normal to others. This theory goes along with the whole we will 'rule and reign' with Christ, and gong along with that, we will be DOING SOMETHING while with Him . So anyway, his view is that what we pursue now will give direction to what we DO when we are with the Lord. Take it for what its worth.
OK.... ALL OF THIS TO SAY, that it makes me realize that what I pursue here on this planet better be something that I love (whether or not this little theory is remotely true) because its what I may be doing for eternity. Even if this theory is WAY off and heretical, I believe that God has given each of us such beautiful and distinct gifts and if we don't pursue them and grow in them then we are denying who we were made to be. I think so many of us go through life feeling like who we are at the core of our beings isn't good enough so we work so hard to become some thing greater and more appealing to this world that all the while we are rejecting the ONE who created us.
So, from now on, my life's purpose is to know the One that created me and to give myself over to being HIS CREATION and not making myself into what I feel like this world needs. God knows what this world needs and if He wants to meet the needs of the world in some way through me He is going to have put the desire and the vision and the ability in me. Someone once said that we need to BEHOLD to BECOME, meaning that we don't make ourselves into greatness but only in the presence of God can we be transformed. Duh, but for me its huge.
So now with no pressures but to know God, JM, IGN, Sweet Pea and I can move through this life focused on the Lord and pursuing the passions He has placed in our hearts, and if we look foolish to everyone else and no one gets us, its ok because we belong to the King of Kings and in the end HIS pleasure in us is all we need.
Love to all and I pray that this post blesses you all in some way:)

Ok, on a lighter note: here are IGN pics... she likes to wear her pumpkin hat from halloween all the time now... its comedy!

Halloweeen, IGN and good weather

Oh today is BEAUTIFUL outside! The temp is in the mid 50s so its crisp outside but the sun makes it feel very pleasant. I was enjoying a book out on our porch when I realized that I needed to blog! So I ditched the book and the vitamin D and came in to post my thoughts and feelings for this lovely day:)

A few days ago i was minding my own business and I happened upon a package from my favorite sac, its the fleetwood sac (uh, i hate puns but I had to). I opened it up to find a ridiculous birthday card, a wonderful sweat shirt, sweat pants (not the gross hanes, tapered leg kind but the new, fun, 'sporty' kind) a fab shirt and the funniest assortment of candy I have ever seen. As you can see, it included wax lips. IGN didn't want to put them away, it wasn't hard to keep them in her mouth because she was trying to bite of chunks of wax. We laughed pretty hard and were reminded of what great friends we have in this world. (B., Caroline and Jeanne, my life needs you!)
Another of our recent experiences involves our girl's first trick-or-treating extravaganza! We had SO much fun and were freezing our buns off! We went out at 6:30pm as it was starting to get dark, JM, Cari, a pumpkin (thanks Gigi!), a monkey, a ladybug and myself, and we swore we were only going to three houses and that was it. After our three JM was fully into the whole event and was ready to take on the neighborhood. So we ended up at like 7 houses or something- he was so cute about it all, I love watching him have fun with IGN. The kids were the cutest ever and I wish there had been more light for video but I managed to get a few pics of the little cuties. Isaiah and Caleb kept laughing at each other in their costumes for the entire wagon ride... it made us laugh pretty hard. I plan to get more pics and video tomorrow and the church costume party!


I guess I will return to my reading spot and enjoy a bit more of the fading sun because by Monday its going to be crazy cold... highs in the low 40s and upper 30s... scary. JM is hoping for snow but there is none in the forecast:( We'll definitely post pics of the first snow!!

29

I think birthdays are very funny. I mean as a kid it was EVERYTHING. I would get so pumped for like 2 months before the big day was actually here and then I would rock out and make my self the most important person ever for a day (even if I was the only who thought so) and I would be crazy sad when my day was over. It doesn't feel the same anymore and I think I enjoy celebrating other people so much more, maybe that comes with maturity? And by saying that am I saying that I'm more mature? What the heck?! I don't want to be more mature! I think I have to be for a little while... I need a lesson on 'Being Fun and Goofy While Teaching Your Children to Function Properly in a Social Setting and to Love God and Others'. If anyone has experience in this field, please, feel free to pass on all wisdom and insight! Sometimes I think I'm taking the whole parenting thing too seriously and then I think of how jacked up our world is and I think I should take it a whole lot more seriously. What the heck is a girl to do? i mean, thats the ting, I'm just a girl... how am I supposed to know how to do this? Dang. Well, I think I should start by taking a shower... I mean, at least I'll be clean, right?

Oh, my little one

Well, the other day I was realizing that I'm pregnant (I forget often) and I haven't given the little one a shout out, so I figured I needed to have a preggers update blog. So if you don't know, I am now 16 weeks and I feel pretty good. I'm still a little tired but that could be from running around after IGN:) I'm thankfully still in all my old clothes because I'm trying to stay away from maternity styles until it is absolutely necessary! I have a tummy but thanks to low rise jeans I haven't really been affected. I can feel the little butter bean moving around when I'm still in the evening or if I'm taking it easy during the day.
I'm definitely a mix of nervous and excitement about having a second because I know that it will be more than twice the work. I think more than anything, I pray that the Lord keeps me flexible and gives me the grace to meet the needs of little one while also being aware that I have a precious gift in IGN and she has needs also. I'm thankful that IGN is still very obedient and LOVES babies so as long as those two things continue I know that she will be a great helper and will loving being a big sis.
Another new thing that JM and I are considering is waiting until the baby arrives to find out the sex. We have considered having more but also think that two might be perfect for us so we thought we would do this one a little different. With IGN we had a nursery to decorate and ALL the stuff to buy and now that we are pretty well stocked and we don't have a nursery, we thought that a surprise might be fun. I guess we'll see, I mean, I haven't even found a doctor yet! I know, thats horrible because I'm due for a check up so I need to get this ball rolling... i want RICHARD!!!! But he's not here...sad. I just need to pray that the Lord puts us with the perfect person for me and out little one. I know it will work out great:) Well, long post, so peace out!
I miss so many of y'all so much!


Check this out from chapel last night: She thought we were there for her entertainment only:)If you listen close you can hear her squealing over the music. More videos to come!

She has a very refined palate!

Isaiah Grace and I are having tons of fun these days. I think I'm most amazed by her emerging personality and how she loves to be the source of other people's laughter...she delights in it! A couple days ago I walked with her to the play ground here on campus and we did our usual swinging, bouncing on the spring-enforced animals and taking a few trips down the slide but on this day I thought that sand would be fun for her to discover. So we plopped ourselves down in the sand and enjoyed letting it escape through our fingers... Isaiah thought it was facinating. At one point I looked up and with a silly grin my girl stuck her hand in her mouth! Yes, her sand and dirt covered hand went directly in her mouth! When I went to pull her hand out I saw bits of dirt stuck in her two little teeth and I started laughing so hard! So she in turn started laughing and got more dirt and stuck it in her mouth causing both of us to laugh even harder. I know I should worry about germs and all of the horrible things floating around sand boxes but she was having so much fun and it was so darn funny I couldn't bring my self to tell her to stop. Those of you who have heard her belly laugh and watched her bounce up and down with laughter know why I just had to enjoy the moment. So now shes a dirt eater and I'll just have to be ok with that. Unfortunately I didn't have the camera or the video camera w/ me at that moment but I think if I had, I might have missed out on the fun of just laughing with my girl. So these are 'back at home' pics and most of the dirt was gone... c'est la vie!
Today is the UGA/ Tenn game and father and daughter are decked out for the big game. GO DAWGS!

Mama's gotta brand new bag!

Yep, yesterday I realized that I got a package from the home town and I was CRAZY excited! There are really no words to explain the feeling you get when something comes in the mail just for you from someone that you miss so much. So I picked up my package and saw that it was from katie B and I told JM 'I don't know what it is, but I know its something fun.' I knew it was fun because it was from B and she is just fun and I love that about her. SO I opened my box and it was a lovely bag that has more pockets than any mother would need in a bag and love it because it holds everything and its super cute on top of that. (I love how my pink grandma couch really complements my new bag!) Yep, so yesterday I felt like a queen and I switched all my goods into immediately, John Mark thought it was pretty funny. Every time I pick it up to leave the house I smile because it is a little treasure from home that came from the heart of a great friend.
Thanks B! You don't know how much it means to me!
Oh, and here are a couple random IGN pics from playing and walking in her room:)