3 Months Old

My Sweet Jude,

Today you are 3 months old and I can't believe how fast time has gone. You are such a big boy, weighing in at 13 pounds and 23 inches long. You are a happy, sweet little boy. Daddy and I can just look at you and find you smiling. Your laugh is contagious. Right now your favorite song is "It Is Well", Daddy sings that to you when you get upset and it quiets you right down. I enjoy the laughing game with you, I laugh then you laugh, then I laugh again and you laugh again. I could do this all day with you.

Mommy and Daddy are counting our blessings for you and can't wait to see how much you will change in the next 3 months. Although, we could handle the next 3 months lasting a little longer than the first 3 did.

Your Daddy and I have been praying over your life Isaiah 61, that you would proclaim God and His Word. We love you, Jude Ezra.

Mommy

Happy Mother's Day

My Mother's Day weekend started off with lunch on Saturday with Gary & Donna and Matt, Lindsay & Gavin. Donna's choice was Red Robbin's, yummy! After lunch Todd and I went home and put the kids down for nap and my mom and I made a meal for a couple that just had a baby. It was so fun to take them a meal and rejoice with them as they celebrated their first Mother's Day.

On Sunday I woke up to cards from the kids and a sick child, so I stayed home from church with him. This is the first time I didn't get to go to church with my family on Mother's Day. This is also the first year that I wouldn't have gone to church with my mom and mother-in-law. It's strange to be at a different church than my family.

We did go have lunch at my mom and dad's. My cousin Tim joined us for lunch and offered to say the prayer before we ate. It was so precious to hear his words as he thanked God for all the women in his life, my mom and grandma, and thanked God for his mom. My aunt lost her battle with cancer 6 years ago on Mother's Day.

I am blessed to have the mom I do. She completes the trio of my best girlfriends (my sister being the other.) We can talk about anything. She's always eager to use a vacation day to watch my kiddos. She is my workout partner and my shopping partner. She prays continuously for my family. I love my mom, Happy Mother's Day.

I am blessed to have the Mother-in-law I do. She happily keeps my children the days I work. She loves me like a daughter. She was my friend before she became my mother-in-law. She prays continuously for our family. I love you, Happy Mother's Day.

Little Big Man

After seeing our friends newborn it made Jude seem so big. He's not quite 3 months (May 13) and he looked like a giant next to the new baby. He's smiling all the time and laughing, his laugh is the cutest sound ever. He's such a mellow, happy baby.

My Daddy's Birthday

My daddy's birthday was Friday, he is now a young age of 55. The whole family went out to Lambert's on Saturday and had a blast. I don't think there wasn't a time that I looked at my daddy that he wasn't smiling. That's one of the things I love about him, he has a contagious smile and to see him with his grandkids makes your heart melt. Jadon and Haven love their Papa! Happy Birthday Daddy/Papa.

This weekend I had 2 dear friends have their little baby boys. One was born on my daddy's birthday and one on Sunday. We were able to witness a miracle from God with our dear friends that had their baby on Sunday. They have been married for about 16 years spending most of that time trying to have a baby. After finally accepting that they would never have children they got pregnant and had 2 miscarriages last year. This brought many questions and hurts. Last fall they found themselves pregnant again and this time God allowed them to keep and give birth to a beautiful healthy baby boy. I told Todd on the way to the hospital to see them that we were witnessing a modern day miracle and seeing first hand the goodness of God. Praise Him from whom all things come, especially precious little babies!

Our Big News

On Sunday, April 20 Todd and I went in view of a call at Glidewell Baptist Church for youth pastor/worship leader. That night they had the vote and it was a yay! It's a small country church not far from our house. They just hired a new pastor and we love this man and his wife to death. Their very being is all about mentoring, so Todd and I are very excited to sit under them.

We are asking for prayer for Todd as he takes on a ministry he's never done before, worship leader - that he will allow God to direct him in leading a service that is pleasing and honoring to Him and that Todd will grow in this area of leading worship. Then we ask that you pray extra grace for us as the youth group is mostly jr. high students, jr. high girls to be exact. The church is really stepping out in faith, this is the first time they've paid someone to work with their youth. In the past it has been whoever wanted to teach on Sundays and Wednesdays. We are very excited about this opportunity to start a youth group from scratch.

We will also be moving. The church has a parsonage that the pastor and his wife did not take, so we were given the opportunity to move into it.

Happy Birthday To The Greatest Father and Husband

Saturday was my loving, extremely good looking husband's birthday. I won't divulge his age, I'll just say he was 8 when my parents were ushering me into this world. No matter his age he's still a hottie!

Saturday was also the grand opening of a new park, Rutledge-Wilson Farm. The kids and I had visited there on Christmas Eve, but now they have the new play area, it's set up like a barn and silo with things to climb on and many slides coming out of it, quite a child's paradise. They also have the working hen house going. Our children loved to grab the rooster's and chicken's tail feathers through the fence. I was thankful there was a fence, I had flashbacks of my childhood when we had chickens and roosters and there was one particular rooster that liked to chase me until he knocked me down and then would peck me. My dad finally got fed up with it and went to make sure that rooster never did it again. In my dad's haste to do it quickly he grabbed the wrong rooster. After going back for the one and still getting it wrong he decided that he would just make sure there would never be another rooster (or chicken just he was wrong in the gender) who pecked his little girl again. Needless to say we had chicken in our freezer for many a months.

After our fun filled morning at the park we all went home for a nap. Later that evening we had cake, thanks to Jadon (he informed me that we could not have a birthday without cake) and gave daddy the card Jadon and Haven made.

We forgot the stroller for Jude so daddy had to carry him around everywhere. Thank goodness for a strong man!

Girls' Night Out

Last night I had an amazing pampering night with my mother-in-law, aunt, sister-in-law and her mom. Thanks to Cozy seeing the offer in our 417 Magazine we were all able to take advantage of a facial, massage and pedicure for $10.00, yes I said $10.00. There were only 10 lucky ladies that got to be pampered for the night.

My face is glowing and smooth, my back, neck and shoulders feel renewed and my toes are a pretty shade of blue. The only thing that could have made this any better - being able to sleep an extra 4 hours the next morning.

Here's the gang after our evening of bliss, see how nice and glowing our skin is and look at those beautifully painted toes.