A long overdue update

So apparently I'm very bad at blogging! It's been 3 weeks since I've written anything, and my child has changed so much! He's 7 1/2 months old now and pretty much changed overnight a few weeks ago. He started crawling, pulling up and got 2 teeth all within a week! So needless to say, our lives have changed as well (including slowly baby-proofing the apartment!). He now sits up at the table while we eat, and does great when we take him out. He's graduated to the 2's of baby food and has even started eating some rice cakes and fruit out of his handheld strainer thingy (a person favorite of mine!). He sleeps great at night and takes 2 naps during the day. We're just enjoying watching him grow and develop a little personality!
Here are some recent pictures and a couple of videos. One is a little snippet of him crawling, and the other is my absolute most favorite video of him. He's laughing as I bounce a ball and make a noise in front of him. I don't know what was so funny about it, but we haven't been able to replicate it! Enjoy!

showing off my 2 teeth

handsome blue eyes!

first time he stood up in his crib

trying to eat a banana AND drink my water at the same time :)

Four years ago today...

August 29 probably isn't a very significant date to most people I know, but to anyone who was living in New Orleans or the gulf coast 4 years ago, it was a life-changing day. Four years ago today hurricane Katrina hit and changed thousands of lives. Since I'm home sick and Jonathan's sleeping, I thought I would retell some of the thoughts from that experience.
JP and I were engaged and had just gotten back to seminary from a summer at camp. (We'd been back here a week and a half to be exact!). Although we knew Katrina was out there, they kept saying it was going to hit Florida, so we stayed with our plans and came up to Gadsden to get engagement pictures made.
I still remember waking up at my parents' house in Gadsden and walking downstairs to see pictures on CNN of water. Water everywhere. It was really hard to even imagine that this had really happened. We searched online for pictures of the seminary. Every picture they showed on tv we tried to figure out where it was, hoping to maybe get an idea of what it looked like on campus. It was a nerve-racking, frustrating, hopeless few days as we searched for information. Eventually we learned that the campus was covered in several feet of water (like the rest of the city), but still had no information about what would happen next. I'm a planner. I HATE not knowing what will happen next. But that's one of the lessons God taught me through this experience.
James 4:14 says "yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." Since apparently I couldn't learn that lesson from scripture alone, God used this object lesson of Katrina to drive the point home. :) I'm not SO much of a planner anymore. The next verse, 15, says "Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.'"
There are so many things in life, most things actually, that are out of our control. So instead of stressing about things I have no control over, I try to rest in God's providence and peace and trust that He knows what's best and wants what's best for me and my family. We eventually made it back down here to NOLA (1 year later) and have an immediate connection for ministry with so many people here just because we've been through the same experience. We didn't loose as much stuff as other people, and I know we weren't as emotionally or mentally scarred as others, so I consider us blessed. God has shown Himself faithful to us as individuals and as a seminary family. No, it wasn't fun and I wouldn't want to do it again, but I know God has used it for good (Rom. 8:28). So even though I'll take important papers, pictures, and memories with me for any other evacuations, I know that our lives are in God's hands and that He's in control of all the storms.

Sleepy Mommy

I'm sure all new parents have funny stories about silly things they do because they are so tired. Well, I've decided to share mine and hope no one reads this and calls Child Protective Services or anything! One morning last week I came home from work and stayed up with Jonathan until his morning nap while JP went to work. This is our normal routine for days after I work so I don't know why this day was different. Jonathan slept from 9-11 and then we get up, I feed him, he plays and then we both go back to sleep from 1-3. I always change his diaper when I get him up at 11.
Well, I was so tired and just kinda stayed asleep and was in this fog until after I fed him. Before I put him in his jumper to play, I couldn't remember if I changed his diaper or not so I took him to his room to check. As I opened the diaper, to my surprise I saw that I had put one diaper on top the other! Talk about leak protection! I have laughed hard about this several times, but not nearly as hard as the other night I got to wondering about what Jonathan was thinking. He was probably very confused why we were doing the diapers a little differently and his bottom was still wet!
Fortunately I started working part-time this week so maybe we won't have any more of these kinds of problems! But I understand where you are coming from new moms, night shift nurses, or just anyone who doesn't get enough sleep! Hang in there and just be glad you're not having to wear 2 diapers!

1 Little Indian

Jonathan has found his Native American roots! One of the inside jokes in our family is about how JP and Kassi are part Native American (like 1/16th or some other super small fraction)! We laugh because they are the ones who "married in" and brought some culture to our family. We even took pictures of them with Pocahontas at Disney World last year! :) Well now Jonathan has embraced his father's Indian genes and has learned a war cry! He can't do it himself yet, but keeps his mouth open until you do it for him - it makes us laugh hard! By the way, I realize this blog may not be completely politically correct, but my intentions are good! :)

First trip to Cafe du Monde

Last week we had a quick visit with my good friend Lauren and her boyfriend Andrew. They came through town on the way to Alabama to meet Lauren's new little niece. Because they were only here for a short time, we went down to the quarter for breakfast. Jonathan loved being in the quarter! He loves being outside anyway, so when you combine that with the jazz guitar in the background and people everywhere, he was fascinated! He didn't have any beignets or cafe au lait this time, but I'm sure we'll be back in the future!They matched! :)

SO much to look at!

Tickle time

We can't believe Jonathan is almost 6 months old already! It's flying by! It's amazing to see how his personality is showing more and more all the time. He smiles and laughs constantly which melts both of our hearts on a regular basis! One of our little routines is tickle time before he gets a bath every night. He LOVES laying on his changing table and has recently started loving our little tickle session before we wind down. Here's a video of it...it's kinda long, but we can't get enough of his sweet giggles! Enjoy!

Memories and new beginnings

In case some of you didn't know, my parents are moving to Birmingham. My dad has been driving there for work for quite some time now and it just became time to finally make the move. I know I don't live in Gadsden anymore, (and haven't in a long time), but it's still home to me. We moved there the summer before I started 2nd grade. Gadsden is where I began my relationship with the Lord, met and grew up with my 2 best friends, played MANY a soccer game, got married, and lots of many other memories! It's hard for me to imagine not having my "Gadsden roots" anymore.
A few weekends ago we went back to Gadsden for my 10 year high school reunion (yes, I'm officially old!). As God had worked it out, Stephen and Kassi were able to come down as well and we had one final weekend together as a family in our sweet house. Although it is sad (I'm tearing up as I write this), we all totally recognize that this is the path God has for my parents.
Throughout the weekend I just kept thinking of how we're closing one chapter and starting another. Our house in Gadsden will always be our house, my parents house. But now we have an expanded family with JP, Kassi, Jonathan and EVENTUALLY more grandchildren. :) The house they will move to in Birmingham will be Nana and Grandpa's house. Jonathan won't have memories of our family in our Gadsden house, but that's ok. They're my memories with my family.
As God was teaching me this lesson of closing one chapter and opening another, He used his wonderful timing to give us an object lesson - Jonathan rolled over for the first time that weekend! Although there were many sad moments that weekend, there were also many happy ones that just showed me that God is going to bless our family even more in the future!

(Here's the video of Jonathan actually rolling over for the very first time! Yes, he's crying because we wanted him to do it, and yes, we scared him when we all cheered after he did do it! But he rolls over like a crazy man now so apparently we didn't scar him for life or anything! :) )