What is it?

any guesses as to what this picture is of?

Christmas 2009

Christmas eve was so much fun! We started out with a fabulous service at our church and we went with the Rouse's and my folks. The kiddos did so well sitting in the service but about halfway through, they were ready to go play in their classroom. We had planned on a huge Christmas Eve dinner with both families, Matt, and my folks, but Izzy started throwing up so the Rouse's went home. Thankfully it wasn't a bug, just a tummy that didn't like probiotics! Our family's Christmas Eve tradition is to open a new pair of PJ's and then wear them Christmas Eve and morn. Here are the 3 kids in our new pj's... Matt, me, and Chad.

Nathan's PJ's

Snuggling with YaYa and PaPa

Right before bed...

This baby boy was tired!

Christmas morning with our family, my folks, and Matt (Chad's awesome bro). We hadn't talked a whole lot about presents on Christmas but when I opened Nathan's door Christmas morning, the first thing out of his mouth was "mommy, lets go downstairs!!!! It's time for da presents!"

Sadie and her Santa hat

Bailey likes to open presents too!

Nathan's 1st candy cane... now he's a candy cane junkie! We've had to hide them!

Kisses on Christmas!

We love you Uncle Matt! Thanks for sharing Christmas with us!

Nathan loved sharing Christmas with Yaya and Papa and we sure did too! :)

Nothing like Christmas morn family photo complete with pjs and bedhead!

Family photo in front of the tree

On Saturday, Chad's parents came, as did Chad's grandma, Matt, and daughter Karmyn and the fun began again!

Nathan with Nana and Papa

Nana and Papa and their grandkids

Karmyn and her babies

Papa happily took on the task of taking all those silly hooks and straps and wires off of the toys. Nathan is helping and patiently waiting to be able to use his tools. Thank you Papa for fixing up all the toys!

Chad, Karmyn, Mama Ginny, Matt, Nathan, me, Papa and Nana! Merry Christmas everyone!

Merry Christmas everyone! :)

Wordless Wednesday

Nathan and Santa

I know this is soooo late, but tonight I'm catching up on blogging, so you'll just have to forgive the lateness. This year, I expected our trip to see Santa to be a bit more dramatic than last year... I figured he'd freak out and go no where near the man in the red hat. Boy was I wrong! We went with the Rouse's and stood in line for about 15 minutes. Izzy went first and did great with Santa. Nathan followed in her footsteps. He ran right up to him, all but jumped in his lap and they started up a conversation. From 15 feet away, we could hear Nathan say that he loved to play with balls and then he reached up to touch Santa's beard and said something that made Santa laugh... and keep chuckling. :) Santa then asked Nathan if he knew who's birthday was on Christmas. Nathan made Chad and I proud as he said, "baby Jesus and Mary rode on the donkey." Then Santa did something that made me proud... he sang Happy Birthday to Jesus. Thank you Santa for keeping the real meaning of Christmas alive!

Thank you guys for praying!

Thank you everyone for the encouraging words, the prayers, and the support. We are doing surprisingly well, and are comforted by the Lord's plan of more than we could ask or imagine (Ephesians 3). I am exhausted, but in good spirits, and ready for my body to figure out that I'm no longer pregnant. We are surrounded by tons of support and so thankful for everyone around us! Thank you all so much!

Well, a frequent blogger I certainly am not, but I do strive to be a loving husband, engaged father, and consistent encourager. Tonight Katie asked me to write this post and though the need for this post saddens me, I pray that it will serve as an encouragement to you. Tonight Katie and I had a miscarriage. She had some bleeding and cramping earlier today so we called her OB who instructed her to relax and offered to do an ultrasound tonight to see if he could give us an explanation. Within a minute he conveyed the news to us that we had lost the pregnancy. We are saddened by the news…more disappointed I guess. Katie and I had talked about the scenarios earlier today and had both arrived at the conclusion that we were at peace either way. Sure, we really wanted, and hoped and prayed for, good news and a healthy pregnancy. But, we have come to trust that the Lord is for us and will grant us His peace if and when we face challenges like these. (John 14:27) I was talking to my brother, who is one of the kindest men I know, about this a few minutes ago and I mentioned to him that I was glad the Lord showed us grace in that this happened the way it did. You see, we had some warning signs that allowed us to process through the scenarios and seek guidance from Him. We had yet to see a heartbeat, so we were still early on; and, we have a beautiful healthy boy at home. We are blessed in so many ways and we are at peace with the events of the evening. We are certainly disappointed that we won’t be bringing a little one home in August and that Nathan won’t be spending his 3^rd birthday as a big brother. However, we rest in this promise: The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged (Deut 31:8) We’ll start trying again in a few months and we’ll move forward with great hope that He will bring us a healthy second born in His perfect timing. Until then we will rest in His peace.

Romans 15:33

-Chad

Happy Ho Ho Ho to you!

Merry Christmas!!!

25 months old!

Nathan is doing great! His big news is that he's sleeping in a big boy bed!!!!

Our little man is 35 inches tall and 31 pounds. :) He's cuter, sweeter, and more active than ever!

Guess what?

Christmas tree!

Our Christmas tree has been up for almost a month, but again, I'm behind on blogging. We usually get our tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving and this year was no exception. We headed to a local farmers market and scoped them out. Nathan was so excited!!!

This is the one he "picked".
Wanting to go through the Christmas Tree bailer but being okay with putting tiny branches through instead. :)
Nathan and Mommy in front of our tree.
Nathan helped us unpack the Christmas decorations... until he found the dancing penguins. He was hooked on this from then on and still loves it!

There's the finished product!
We put the lights and ornaments on the tree while Nathan was sleeping and I captured these shots as Chad brought him down for the first time to see it lit and decorated...




You didn't think we'd leave Bailey out of the tree trimming festivities did you?
When I was a kid, I had a tree in my room and my mom would put lights on my bed. We're not ready for lights on his bed, but he definitely got his own Christmas tree and it's a huge hit! :)
We hope and pray that each of you enjoy time gathered around your tree loving on and being loved by family and friends and celebrating the Savior's birth! Merry Christmas!