good friends

Adam and I attended a Johnson and Wales University Reformed University Fellowship (JWU RUF) fundraiser/dinner/silent auction. It was a great time with good friends - I like this picture of Adam with Tyler and Dave.

a love of shoes

Caleigh seems to go through little phases of loving dress-up and putting on our shoes. Lately she has been super into wearing shoes. Whenever Caleigh is a little too quite (Moms, you know what I mean!) she can always be found doing one of two things, either climbing on the back of the toliet lid to our tolietries and getting some of my lotion onto her hands (usually), or in her room taking off her current shoes and putting on either her church shoes, pink boots, crocs (which don't fit and therefore always provokes a crying fit), or our shoes.

making dumplings

Dumplings, as in the southern kind with chicken - not the western kind with pork (though I love those). Caleigh's absolute favorite pasttime is helping cook in the kitchen. Any time she sees us (me) in there she says, "ya-ya help" (ya-ya being the way she pronounces Caleigh). So last night we had chicken and dumplings which I make the same way my mom and her mom did - using homemade chicken broth and homemade noodles (and no veggies!). I have such fond memories of helping my mom make the dumplings by putting the noodles in the pot of boiling broth (and eating many noodles in the process). So it was really neat for Caleigh to join in on that tradition too. We donned Caleigh's apron (and an old t-shirt for me) -

And then set out to rolling, cutting, and dropping the dough into the broth. Caleigh did some rolling and she put the noodles in the broth. Every noodle that she picked up she brought to her mouth and said, "ya-ya eat" to which I would say, "No, not that one - put that one in the pot" - she did end up consuming several noodles after I told her it was ok! If there has ever been a worse back shot someone please make me feel better - I look like an ogre in this one - but it was cute and so I posted it anyway... I am that humble. We had so much fun and a great (albeit, late) dinner!

the song on my heart this morning

Out of my bondage, sorrow and night,

Jesus, I come; Jesus, I come.

Into Thy freedom, gladness and light,

Jesus, I come to Thee.

Out of my sickness into Thy health,

Out of my wanting and into Thy wealth,

Out of my sin and into Thyself,

Jesus, I come to Thee.

Out of my shameful failure and loss,

Jesus, I come; Jesus, I come.

Into the glorious gain of Thy cross,

Jesus, I come to Thee.

Out of earth's sorrows into Thy balm,

Out of life's storms and into Thy calm,

Out of distress into jubilant psalm,

Jesus, I come to Thee.

Out of unrest and arrogant pride,

Jesus, I come; Jesus, I come.

Into Thy blessed will to abide,

Jesus, I come to Thee.

Out of myself to dwell in Thy love,

Out of despair into raptures above,

Upward forever on wings like a dove,

Jesus, I come to Thee.

Out of the fear and dread of the tomb,

Jesus, I come; Jesus, I come.

Into the joy and light of Thy home,

Jesus, I come to Thee.

Out of the depths of ruin untold,

Into the peace of Thy sheltering fold,

Ever Thy glorious face to behold,

Jesus, I come to Thee.

Give me more of you, Jesus.

Andrew talks! and he moves!

A little update about our sweet little 7 month old bruiser boy - Andrew moves! The Saturday after Andrew turned 7 months (Saturday, January 16th) Andrew started moving backwards. He sees a toy, reaches hard for it, gets frustrated that he can't reach it, pushes chest, tummy and hips off the ground, and then makes an effort to move towards the toy - and so far all of his efforts have resulted in him moving further and further from said toy. Literally that same day he has also started pivoting fast in circles on his tummy - still not getting up on all fours at all. And then - after all my worry - Andrew rolled over - on Sunday, January 17th - from back to front - and once he realized how easy it was and how he has been missing it all along he is always flipping over. His favorite is to flip onto his tummy the second you remove his diaper - thus making re-diapering rather difficult. We are so excited for Andrew to reach these new milestones - even though he isn't crawling he seems so mobile because when you leave him for a little bit he is never in the same place upon returning.

Also sweet baby boy talks! Here is the video. He says 'dada' in a kind-of successive babbling way... but we will take it.

We are so in love with this sweet cuddly little baby boy!

the Hunts head out...

Our good friends the Hunts are heading out of the US today on a plane bound for Prague, Czech Republic to work with World Harvest as missionaries that will help plant a daughter church of our church in Charlotte. We have been friends with the Hunts since just before Caleigh and Sam were this big...

We have love living everyday life with them, from impromptu gatherings at Chick-Fil-A... to chili and trick or treating on cool fall evenings. We have been friends through the birth of lots of babies. Mary, Melissa, and I have been in a prayer square - a small accountability and prayer group and have met every other week for at least the past 2 years.

We have been through pregnancies...

and Melissa even helped induce my labor with Andrew at this fun and hilarious concert.

We have enjoyed playdates -

And we have loved getting together for random picnics at the park... even ones that involve cupcakes being accidently turned on their ends - but still thoroughly enjoyed. We have celebrated birthdays - and other fun holidays - Halloweens... Christmases... and awesome Christmas traditions/memories. We will miss you Hunts. But we are thankful that this goodbye is really just a see you later. We look forward to the day (in this life or the next) that we can live day to day life next to you guys. We are so thankful for your ministry and have loved being a part of the praying, planning, preparations, and now the sending of y'all. "How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can the preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" Rom. 10:14-16 Hunts we are thankful for you guys - thankful that you are taking the good news to those who haven't heard. Godspeed!

Hunts head out...

Our good friends the Hunts are heading out of the U.S. today on a plane bound for Prague, Czech Republic. We have been friends with the Hunts since Sam and Caleigh were about this big...

We have loved just living everyday life with them - from impromtu gatherings at Chick-Fil-A...

to chili and trick-or-treating fun on cool evenings.

We have loved living everyday life with them - from impromptu Chick-Fil-A outings...

to trick-or-treating and chili nights. Mary, Melissa, Carrie, and I have been in a prayer square for quite

a time for mourning

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: ... a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance..." Ecclesiastes 3:1-4 We have been in a season of mourning with our community at Uptown Church. Last Thursday a friend and a sister in Christ was taken home to be with her Savior and King after a fatal car accident less than a mile from the school where she taught. Aimee Powell was a daughter of the Good Shepherd, full of life and emotion. Today we mourned her death and celebrated her life. I am shocked by the entire thing, it seems unreal. I am shocked that I sat at lifegroup praying for her the Sunday before and the following Sunday I sat and prayed a different prayer for her: I thank my God everytime I remember you Aimee. In all my prayers for you Aimee I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you Aimee will (and did) carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Phil 1:3-6) Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints (Ps 116:15). Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven (2 Corin 5:1). Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to Aimee has really served to advance the gospel... For to Aimee, to live is Christ and to die is gain (from Phil 1:12, 21). Thank you Father for the time we were able to enjoy your precious servant while she was here on Earth. Help us to mourn well, as those who have hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13).

shut up

So yesterday I had my first experience with Caleigh repeating something bad that I have said. After a hectic day of Andrew fussing basically the entire day (he is cutting his first tooth) around 6 pm we were in the car and he was screaming like usual and I said (kind of under my breath) - shut up Andrew. And then I hear this cute, tiny voice from the backseat, "Tut up, A-drew." Great. Love it that Caleigh decided to repeat me at that exact moment. I tried to conceal my laughter because it was pretty funny to hear a 2 year old tell her 7 month old brother to shut up, not knowing at all what it means. I talked her through it and we prayed for forgiveness for Mommy, but wow... it is really an entirely different ballgame when you have a little mimic following you wherever you go. Having a child really does show you your sin.

7 months

Bruzey boy is 7 months old. Hard to fathom. This little guy is cutting his first pearly white - I can see it glistening below the surface of his lower gums just waiting to break through (and in the meantime making him as grouchy and drooly as ever). He has transitioned to nursing 4 times a day (8, 11, 3, 7) and eating 3 baby food meals a day. We have tried letting him play with Cheerios and Gerber puffs and he gets them in his mouth from time to time but he is basically just experimenting. He is down to 2 naps a day too. He still is not rolling over from back to front - and while it is seriously stressing me out - the doctor says it is totally fine. He is sitting up pretty much 100 percent of the time. I keep thinking one day he is just going to start army crawling across the ground but it has yet to happen (I will probably regret ever wishing he would crawl sooner rather than later). We haven't been brave enough to move him into Caleigh's room yet, though their room has been set up with both beds since last October. I really keep wanting to move them in together but he is such a light sleeper (especially since he is used to sleeping in basically a cave). We will see if I ever make any progress on that. It is so hard to believe we are in 2010 and in this year he will turn 1. I can't believe he is growing up so fast. Yesterday Adam snuck a peek at him while he was snoozing and he was all cuddled up with his silky and sleeping on his side and Adam closed the door and said, "Aww, I want another one." I was like - hmmm, why don't you hold onto that thought for a couple of years and once I haven't been pregnant or nursing a child for 33 out of the last 34 months then we will talk (is that right - that really puts it in perspective). Seriously. Not for a long time. But I am rambling - we are thankful for you bubba boy!

country, take 2

We just got back from the "country" - Holly Hill, SC. We enjoyed a weekend away with awesome friends to celebrate our friends the Hunts who are leaving for Prague this month. It was awesome to be away without kids and to really enjoy each other. I am hoping to post pictures from that soon (when I get them from everyone else - I didn't take a single picture!).

happy new year

Over New Years I was in the midst of working 6 days in a row, so after working on New Year's Eve, this is how we spent our New Years Day (morning) - hanging out in the bed, having a big breakfast, and skype-ing.

Just a little shoulder rub... Andrew, let me read the Bible to you... And the kids played a tune for us...

Happy New Year!

christmas pix part 2 - kids kissing

Andrew looks a little worried in this one...

christmas pictures

At the end of November our friend, Daniel McNamee, took some awesome family pictures for us at Freedom Park. He is extremely talented and we are thrilled that he was able to capture some beautiful shots of our family.

In the above picture - biggest smile Caleigh had all day. We thought feeding the ducks would make the kids smile - instead it just made them look at the ducks. love this one - this is the one we ended up choosing for our Christmas card photo this year... silly face...