merry christmas!

to all our blogger friends:

merry christmas!

gra's dedication

we had gra dedicated at our church this past sunday. for me, it was a very different feeling from when we had max dedicated because at that time we were searching for a church home. but this time it felt like we were home. crosspointe has seen us grow into our roles as pastor and pastor's wife. they have seen our 1st born grow from infant to preschooler. they have been by our sides through the difficult birth and recovery of gra. and now they will be by our sides as we raise up our new little one to become a man after God's own heart. we love the people at crosspointe and i feel blessed to have them (and our other friends and family) pray for our son's salvation and help us as we parent both our boys.

our family told us that afternoon at lunch that when our pastor brian was commissioning us, max was nodding and saying yes right along with us. i had explained to max earlier about the dedication and how it is our job as parents and big brothers to tell gra about jesus and how much he loves us. and i think he kinda got it.

4 months

HE IS SO BIG!

weight: 18.4lbs (97%)

height: 27 inches (97%)

head circumference: 43 cm (77%)

gra is now wearing 6 month clothes and size 3 diapers. he absolutely adores max and wants to watch him play all the time! he is still on a 3 hour schedule and is doing much better taking naps. he can do tummy time for about 15 min before he gets frustrated and has recently taken an interest in 'bubble guppies' and 'sesame street'...no baby einstein for this guy if his big bro has something to say about it!

3 years

weight: 36 1/2 lbs (88%)

height: 39 1/4 in (86%)

max continues to be one well spoken little boy...

our doctor says he talks at the level of a 6 year old.

he still loves cars, is into stuffed animals. and likes to tell us his favorites (which change almost daily). he has recently caught 'bieber fever' and requests justin songs often. he loves to dance and sing!

we are so proud of our little man.

jingle bells

our holiday season is in full swing and has been for several weeks. the first week in december was max's program at mother's day out. i snapped a few pics of the boys before we left the house.

then it was off to the program. i snuck up to the front to capture a picture and saw max ask one of the teachers to pick him up so he could see his mommy and daddy. he never saw us while singing 'jingle bells', but at least i was able to get a picture!

then we headed to downtown denton for the christmas tree lighting and wassail fest. we didn't know much about it so we missed a lot of the fun stuff, but we did get to meet santa, listen to some jazz music, and say hi to the mellow mushroom.

31 and counting

my 31st birthday has come and gone. and if the candles on the cake (look closely!) are any indication of how crazy the past year has been, then we must celebrate this year more then others in the past.

joey surprised me with a coffee date on my birthday and it was a much needed breather for both of us. he asked how he could pray for me and the emotions took over. i don't really know where to start with the drama that has unfolded in the past year. and i don't really know where to begin to pray about it. but i do know that i don't want to brush aside any of the feelings and get in the way of what God wants to show us. so that's where we will start this 31st year, with one question, "Lord, what will you show me?"

thankfulness

thanksgiving brought its traditions of the turkey trot, eating too much, and enjoying friends and family but something special to me was said when we were celebrating with joey's side of the family.

his mom was trying to get us to all go around the table and say what we were thankful for. this family is not one for the serious conversation so needless to say, no one was really taking it seriously. then, joey's dad pipes up. "i'm thankful that my dad and aunt kyle are still on this side of the dirt." the man who jokes about everything made the most sincere comment he has ever made about me. and the funny thing about it is that his comment said it all.

i still don't think that joey and i have grasped how sick i really was. how close being septic can bring you to death. how our lives were turned completely upside down for nearly 2 months. how we could of never made it without God's sovereignty and the help of our family and friends.

and how thankful we should be each and everyday to wake up breathing

and start our day with 2 awesome kids.