Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Prayer request Praise

Thank God!  David's surgeon did a fantastic job and David is doing great!  He is resting at home.  He was such a good boy yesterday and stayed in bed like he was supposed to.  His Mom is "babysitting" him today.  Thank you to everyone who prayed for him!

Monday, June 27, 2011

Update and Prayer request

Last week was spent just trying to catch up from being out of town.  We had one realtor show the house.  It was so last minute, we really didn't expect anything to come of it, but the nice part is...we are forced to clean our house and David helps SO MUCH.  We spent Saturday at the river.  So much fun!!!  Some friends met us on the sand bank.  I am LOVING the summer at the river!  Oh...and Ashlyn had her first sand pie.  Yeah...not once, not twice, but a solid four fistfulls of sand to the mouth throughout the day.  You would think after two times...maybe she would think, "Hey...this stuff doesn't taste so good...maybe I shouldn't shove it in my mouth!"...but she's pretty hard headed like her Momma and Daddy.  I am trying to get a lot of stuff done at work because the end of the fiscal year is coming up and my busy season is about to take off!  Our precious little girl is waking up every four hours again.  She has been eating about every 2-3 hours during the day lately...I think she is hitting a growth spurt.  If she's hungry...I feed her...if not, I don't make her eat it.  Hopefully at some point in her life, she'll be one of these kids that sleeps a solid 12 hours!  A mom can dream, right!?!?  David will be having surgery to remove a cyst from the side of his face on Tuesday.  They will have to put him under general anesthesia to remove it.  I know lots of prayers are going to go up for him and they are truly appreciated!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Back from The Big Easy!

 End of Day 1 - Ashlyn didn't even make it all the way through dinner!  We were tired from walking around the city all day. We had a great time!
St. Louis Cathedral 
View from the river. 
 About to board the Creole Queen for our paddle wheeler cruise.
Passing by some huge navy ships. 
 Malus-Beauregard House
Chalmette Battlefield - Site of the 1815 Battle of New Orleans 
Dinner on Day 2 - Ashlyn and Daddy looking at the aquarium with tiny alligators and turtles. 
 The Tin Man Robot
Having a good time on Bourbon Street after our Vampire History Tour. 
Day 3 - Father's Day  Ashlyn's ready to go!
Daddy's first Father's Day card.
 Audubon Aquarium of the Americas
 Daddy and his baby girl on his first Father's Day!
Sitting in the alligator's mouth! 
The parakeet room - not really sure why this is at the aquarium, but it was one of the funnest parts! 
 Parakeet trying to nest in my hair!
 Ashlyn LOVED this!
Such a sweet daddy! 
Last stop on Day 4 - St. Louis Cemetary No.1

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

A couple funnies

My first lemon!
The longest Mommy has EVER seen me sit still.  Watching Baby Einstein.
Ashlyn loves her Uncle Joe!

Watching my little one grow..

She has the funniest little crawl!
Practicing walking with Mommy.

Tornado Remembrance

Tuscaloosa isn't really in the news anymore - but the recovery effort is still underway.  The videos below were taken by David while Ashlyn and I were tucked away safe and sound.  We had NO IDEA on our end of town the devastation that was taking place less than 15 minutes away.  I thank God daily as I pass by the wreckage - because you can't get anywhere in town without passing destruction - that we were protected.
For obvious reasons - I didn't take a lot of pictures of the destruction.  For one - that is time that can be spent helping instead of snapping pictures, two-the people that belong to these buildings are in the middle of all this clearing the debris and trying to salvage what little they can, three - these images can't ever be unseen.  They are forever seared in my memory.  I don't need a picture to remind me of the overwhelming, sinking feeling that came over us when we realized that 1/7th of our city was wiped clear.  These are pictures of the Central Church of Christ and the neighborhood that surrounded it.  The worst part of looking at this was the fact that you knew something used to stand there, but you couldn't tell what it was anymore.  It made me feel lost and it was scary.  I can't imagine the way it felt to come out of your "safe" place and see this.



I can't begin to say how proud of my husband that I am.  They didn't hesitate to help.  They donated so much time and food to feed the disaster response workers and those who had lost their homes.

April 27, 2011 is a day that will forever be in our hearts all over this state.  Tuscaloosa and her residents still needs a whole lot of prayers!

"Faith that Moves God's Heart"

I have loved to hear and learn more about David for a long time...yes, my husband, but I'm talking about the David of the Bible.  The "Man after God's Own Heart".  Was he a perfect man?  No...not by any stretch of the imagination!  He committed some pretty serious sins in his lifetime...but yet, God continued to pour His favor out on David.  The reason...David believed God would take care of him!  He didn't just tell himself that and figure out a way to get what he wanted himself...no, he believed, deep down to the depths of his heart, that God was able to give him what he needed - so much so, that if God didn't provide it, he was at peace knowing that it wasn't for him to have.  Wow!
My daily emailed devotion this morning really hit home and I wanted to share a quote from it -
"God is calling me to a higher place of faith.  It's a place where I believe God can and will provide for me.  And therein lies the hard place.  I've anchored my life in the belief that God can do anything, but somehow feel presumptuous believing He will for me.
That's doubt masquerading as false humility.  And that, my friends, saddens God and limits His work in my life." - Glynnis Whitwer Encouragement for Today Devotion
My heart was moved by this.  I think it would be safe to call me "high strung".  I worry too much.  I'm working on it with God's help - but I know that is an indicator that I am lacking faith in God's provision.  I admit, I have oftentimes convinced myself that my doubt was really just feeling "presumptuous" that a good thing I wanted would be provided by God - so I set about figuring out a way to get it on my own.  It has come back to bite me many times over.  I am trying to learn my lesson.  I am trying to rest in God's peace.  He will provide - He always has!  I pray that God will give me a heart like David's.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Another fun weekend!





We were back at the river this weekend!
Saturday evening we got to go to our new Sunday School class' get together at the lake.  I can't say enough about how great this group of people are!  They were super sweet and SO welcoming!!!!  It is so nice to have the opportunity to meet some other couples with small children!  I am excited about getting to know them all better. :)  Next stop...New Orleans!!!  Yep - we decided since I don't have much vacation time available right now and we aren't going to make it to Oklahoma this summer - we are going to take a mini-vacation this year to New Orleans!  David hasn't been before and it's been a very long time since I've been.  I'm super excited!!!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Jam Packed Weekend

Thursday evening -  we busted out Ashlyn's new pool!  She LOVED it!  She had gotten a pretty bad case of diaper rash, so we let it all hang out for a while (that's why she isn't wearing a bathing suit).  Her diaper rash looks so much better now!
I took a PG version of her playing in the pool so I could share online.  I wish you could see her face.  Her expressions are priceless!
Friday - Mommy and Daddy had date night!  We went to dinner at Logan's and then went to see a movie.
Saturday - We slept in a little late, then decided to take the boat out to the river.   We had so much fun!  Ashlyn generally falls right to sleep as soon as the boat starts going - seems strange to me because it is kind of loud, but it's not as loud for her facing the opposite direction being held in my arms.  Her little hairs just flap in the wind..it's so cute!

 She just looks so tiny next to Daddy and the boat!
 This little beach area (just one of many along the riverside) was just perfect.  Ashlyn liked it as long as she could touch the bottom with her toes or if someone was holding her.  She can float in her little swimmy suit...but she's not a fan of that!

 She loved her little floaty!  By this point we were all hot and tired and she was hungry - so we fed her and packed it all up to head back.
 She zonked out in about 30 seconds flat!
 At home after I finally woke up from my nap.  Daddy says - "Look!  It's a 'Playbunny!'"  We all thought it was pretty funny that the bunny ears stick to the diaper.  :o)
Saturday evening - David and I worked late into the night finishing up projects around the house and cleaning like mad people to get the house ready for an Open House on Sunday.  The constant cleaning is a little irritating...but I sure am enjoying have a clean house everyday!
Sunday - We continued to clean like mad people!!!  We took the dogs over to Mary and Chuck's house and GrandMary watched Ashlyn while Mommy and Daddy ran some errands.  Open House went ok.  Our realtor said we had a few visitors.  I hope we don't have to do too many Open Houses...on the bright side, our back yard hasn't been this presentable in about 4 years!  It's not pretty...but it's definitely presentable!
 Look who's learning to use a sippy cup!  Right now she just mostly chews on it.  She has already cut another tooth!  We found it Sunday.  It's her bottom right tooth.

At last but not least...Ashlyn's Nine Month Onesie pictures.