One Month Old

I can't believe that Nathan is one month old already! Time is going rather quickly except for waiting for my husband to come home. Anyway,Nathan is a very good little boy and has been sleeping mostly through the night except for these last two nights but I just chalk it up to he's having a growth spurt. You can also see that he is trying to smile. You can tell he wants to but just isn't all the way there yet. Aaron and Christian are very protective of him and they love to hold him. They can't understand when he cries though what is wrong with him mostly because he is tired and ready to nap. They will get use to it eventually. Well, I am back off to bed, Nathan has nursed and now back to sleep. Enjoy the pictures!!

Ski Trip

Well, this week my sister, brother-in-law, and niece flew up from Florida to come to see Nathan and to go on a ski trip to Massanutten Ski Resort. We arrived Saturday afternoon to our condo rental for the week and got settled. Everyone went skiing on Sunday except me and Nathan, of course, and they all had a great time. The boys are doing extremely well for their first time. They have improved from red group to orange group and now they are both in yellow group. My brother in law is going to try to get some video of the boys so hopefully I can put that on here in a few days. Nathan and I have been doing well. We went out to the mountain today to watch Aaron and Christian ski. We also went to the arcade room last night and played games after dinner. It's been pretty relaxing with a few bumps in the road here like a flat tire on the truck but what vacation doesn't have that. Thank the Lord for AAA. You call and they come when needed. It's been great to see my family and we are having a good time together. It's making the time until Joe gets home pass a little bit faster too. We are truly looking forward to him being home in February and we are sorry he missed being here with us this week.

Nathan's First Bath

On Sunday night, I was able to give Nathan his first bath. His cord fell off Saturday afternoon. I was so excited to see how he would do in the water since Aaron and Christian both loved taking a bath and the water in general. I was glad to see that he was relaxed and mostly calm while getting cleaned by me for the first time. Christian was nice enough to take the pictures for me so enjoy them. We are all doing well and back into our normal routine of school, bowling, and piano lessons. We are expecting my sister and her family this weekend for a week of vacation and then my parents will be here the first week of February. We have about 3 1/2 weeks or so until Joe will be coming home and we are all getting excited about that especially Joe. He can't wait to hold Nathan for the first time and see him in person. Please continue to pray for Joe's safety and his safe return, we appreciate it so very much. May the Lord's grace keep you in His peace.

Welcoming our Gift from God...

God has blessed our family with the arrival our son, Nathan Josiah, who was born on December 26, 2007 at 5:24 p.m. He weighed 8 lbs. 2 oz. and was 21 inches long. My labor went very quickly, I arrived at the hospital around 3:30 p.m. and had him a little less than two hours later without the help of any modern medicine. My good friend and sister in the Lord, Sue actually said when we got to the hospital, "Wouldn't it be nice if you could just do this without any medication!" My response, "Don't start with me!", because I had wanted an epidural. Honestly, I couldn't have asked the Lord for a better plan. It was actually the way I desired for everything to go quickly and smoothly. I am so thankful that God is in control and not me and that he give us women the power to overcome tremendous pain. Nathan is a beautiful, healthy little boy and he is already so loved by his big brothers as you can see. Joe has been able to see him on our web camera when we talk and he is all the more ready to come home now. We thank all of you for your continual prayers for our family especially during my pregnancy and with Joe's deployment. We know that the Lord has our best interests at heart and we are so thankful to Him for His great love and grace.

Remembering Isaac......

Yesterday would have been Isaac's first birthday. I prayed for several weeks about how to remember the day, it first being difficult because Joe isn't here, and secondly, because you wonder how he would have looked and so on. The questions are endless. I was able to go to his gravesite by myself and have some time there to reflect on his short but beautiful life. Then in the evening, I was able to use it as a testimony during AWANA Counsel time. I am a leader with the Truth in Training girls/boys and that group was who I spoke with first and the second time was for the younger SPARKS club. I read them a story from one of the books we had received after Issac died about a bunny and his brother and sister where the sister bunny ends up dying. It was a very cute story and helped me to relate to the kids about Isaac's death and that babies go to heaven when they die but they have to make a choice to accept Christ as their Savior to go to heaven. After I got done with the story, I had purchased balloons for the TNT kids to go outside and let them go for Isaac as we sang Happy Birthday. It was a blessing for me. The SPARKS got to celebrate with cupcakes because of timing purposes but I pray that the Lord was glorified through my testimony time with the kids and that seeds were planted. Joe and I both have always wanted Isaac's life to be just that...a testimony of God's grace and sovereignty.

Thank you all for continuing to pray for our family during this past year and now. We constantly feel your prayers in our lives. I praise God for all our family and our brothers and sisters in the Lord.

A Dream Come True....

It has always been a dream of mine to visit the White House. I always felt that it would be such an honor to visit the place where so many different Presidents have lived and worked for our country. Well, tonight that dream came true. Thanks to a very nice friend, we were able to go on a tour of the Eisenhower building and the West Wing of the White House which is not exclusively available to the public like the other tour of the East Wing. I couldn't really believe that I was actually there for a little while until I saw the Oval Office and stood in awe of the fact the this is where our President works and makes so many important decisions everyday for our country. I felt truly blessed to be there and it was neat to see all the things you get to see on television news but up close and personal. I only have a few pictures because of course certain areas are off limits to photographs but anyways it was a great evening.

AWANAs Fall Festival

Last night, our AWANAs club had a Fall Festival Theme with a regular club night but with special games for game time with candy for prizes. Can't forget the candy!! They also asked all of the kids to dress up in biblical character. We decided to have Christian dress as Moses, and Aaron as his brother, Aaron. They looked so cute although they were annoyed by the beards after a while and they came off. Pastor Ben decided to goof off and use it for his new hairstyle(picture above.) Anyways, it was a fun night for all of the kids and Christian and Aaron won the prize for best costumes.