The Night Watches

There are so many reasons why I love and respect my dear husband! And today marks the opportunity for me to share them with you, as it marks his 25 th birthday! Jordan , I love the way you love our son. I just love to watch you tickle him, tackle him, and train him. You are so purposeful in your affections to him. And what blesses me even more, is to see the utter delight in his face when he is with you. I know he feels so safe with you, by the way he will just sit in your arms, unmoving. I am so grateful that we have a son, and another to come to raise to the glory of God. I pray they emulate you as they grow into men. I love the way you love me, the way you were created so perfectly to match me in every way, the way you care for my soul and heart so effectively , the way you consistently lay down your desires to bless me and serve me. You are such an example of true humility. I adore you! I love the way you live life.... you take it easy, yet you are purposeful... you love to la...

There are usually more than one of these a day, but this one was worth mentioning... So I had planned a run to Salvation Army, to get rid of some of the stuff we found in our cleaning efforts... Began gathering everything together...got the water, Tyler's drink, the items to be dropped off, cell phone... got it all.... Put it all in the car.... get the boy and we are off.... without our keys.... At least I had my phone! I didn't even have my car keys, so its not like we could go and visit with a friend till Jordan got home... I love how the Lord allows such moments, so that we can experience the grace he has waiting for us and give him praise... By his grace ALONE, I was quick to laugh at my dumb self, and pray for help. A moment later, my neighbor walked outside on the phone to another neighbor... who said she "can break into anyone's house..." I wasn't sure how I felt about that boast, but in the circumstances, was willing to see her try! So her efforts did ...

So, finally I get this post up! As it turns out, Tyler did not have allergies last week, but a nasty cold which he gave to me! Between caring for my poor boy and getting better myself, I have not had much time to sit at the computer and load all the pictures from our trip to Florida! In the midst of all the sickness, we have also begun to get our house ready for baby Jack... we have three bedrooms, one of which we have been using for an office. It has also become a storage unit for stuff.... so we have been going through our real storage in the basement and attic, to make room for the stuff in the office. We have also been re-organizing the rest of the house, throwing out stuff we just don't need or use... trying to streamline things! We have 3 months till he should arrive, but have a lot to get done over the course of those 3 months (paint the room, train Tyler to sleep in a big boy bed, move everything around in the house, to name a few) Good times! So now, onto Florida! This p...

We got back LATE Monday night from Orlando... and have been battling allergies since! Even Tyler has a super runny nose and sneezes! Our trip to Orlando was not without incident, and our family has since referred to us as being "cursed"... oh well, stories and pictures to come! For now, we had our monthly check-up at the Dr. today. Finally gaining some weight. Total weight gain is 6 lbs total, which is great. I was 14 lbs heavier with Tyler... yikes! Little boy has a strong heart beat and the hiccups while we were listening to the steady rhythm. I love this sound... one of the best things about pregnancy! Next appointment is the big glucose test... not looking forward to that, but I have a whole month to gear up for it! I think we have decided on a name for little boy... Jackson. And we will call him Jack... still working on a middle name... Florida pictures tomorrow!

It has been almost a month since we returned from our adventures overseas, and we have had so much fun getting back into a normal routine of summer living. Tyler has been so much fun to be with and I have been trying to keep the days as fun as possible for him, while getting things done around here! When we got home, he was opening and closing all the doors and found a bag of chocolate cookies, which he helped himself to for breakfast one morning... he is a cutie chocolate faced boy! We also went blueberry picking two times! I was afraid we had missed the season while we were gone, but Larriland farm came up huge! We were able to get over 5 lbs in the two trips, and I have actually been able to freeze some! Tyler LOVES blueberries! He also loved the goat in the picture below! I had a hard time getting him to NOT eat the unripened berries... but he would just walk up to the bushes and say, "Mmmmm, berrryyy, yummy, mmmmm." And then stuff them in his mouth! My mom went with us o...