Micah is 2! Happy Day (as he would say)

Micah had an Elmo Birthday with an Elmo cake and balloons!

Micah got a "Micah-cycle" for his birthday. He coined that word.

These are some of Micah's friends.

"You don't want to put a dress on this one!"

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY.
Thought we would take this amazing day to inform you all that we will be having ANOTHER BOY! We had an ultrasound on Friday and the lab technician said "you don't want to put a dress on this one", then we saw the little reason why. We are excited and Micah is "so cited!"
So now we have our starting left handed pitcher and this guy could be the catcher. We have produced a battery! ha!
What an incredible gift to celebrate at Christmas. Join with us in prayer as we continue to pray for our second son's health and growth and his beautiful mother. -Ed

Martin Elves

 http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1272032598

Thank you Jesus for Chocolate! Amen!

Well this year we started a daily Christmas countdown with Micah.  My Mom gave us this beautiful red box with 25 doors on it to countdown until Christmas.  We put 3 Hershey Kisses in each door and Ed put a scripture reference in each.  So every day we have sat down with Micah to read the verse and pray and then he gets his chocolate.  Well he began to learn that every time we read about Jesus he gets chocolate.  

So the other day, here comes my little Micah toddling in the kitchen holding Ed's big study Bible and says "Daddy!  Chocolate!"  He is so cute!  He has also learned how to pray.  He says, "Thank you Jesus!  Amen!"

Can it get any better?

Fear the Turtle! and the Grape jelly. I'm actually scared.

Micah loves his mommee. Does he have her face or what?!

Micah's first spanish word was "mono": monkey.

Snake Skin Boots and a giant belly. Kinda go hand in hand.

Stupid Mama Moment

So Micah and I went to Kroger today for a huge shopping trip. We were at the very end of the trip when Micah spotted a Kool-aid packet he just had to have. Not because it was kool-aid, he doesn't even know what that is, but because of the kool-aid man. So what did I do? I got one and handed it to my not even two year old son. He took one look at it and tore it open with force. I mean powder went everywhere! But to make matters worse, as the powder dries on your skin and everywhere else it turns red! So our hands are dyed red today along with other spots that just keep appearing. Hello, I will never do that again!

Ready for #2

Katie mentioned Micah's new shirt. Here he is chillin at a R-Braves game.

Am I Ready for This!?!

First, I need to apologized that I have neglected the blogging world for some time now. Life is just, well, life! And so we are busy busy like everyone else.
My loving husband has so graciously helped me keep things up to date with pictures.
I find myself in the business of life asking a question over and over. Most of you already know that I am 3 months pregnant with our second child! And so I ask myself in the craziness of life can I really handle two kids? Micah is an absolute handful right now, but so adorably cute! Being a Mom is fun, but hard! I find myself extremely excited for this new bundle of joy and the new task of being a mom of two. At the same time, I think, "Yikes!" I'm just reminded that looking at the big picture, it is very overwhelming, but thankfully the Lord has given me wisdom to take a day at a time. And so that is what I will do.

Right now, I am enjoying the laughter of my little boy and wonder what it will be like to hear both of them laugh together. Micah knows that there is a baby in mama's tummy, (and sometimes in his as well...he's a little confused) and in May will be very surprised at what that actually means. He sports a Big Brother shirt proudly as if he knows what it means. I am waiting to feel those little kicks any day now. Such precious times!

October Fest

You can't beat that face.

Micah eating his first caramel apple. This was actually Ed's first too.

Micah styling in Grandpa's shades at the Pumpkin Patch. My man is hard core about pumpkins.

Katie and Micah at Maymont Park in Richmond.

MICAH AND HIS FIRST BASEBALL GLOVE!! Notice that it is a left handed glove! Trust me, I know. He'll never play shortstop but we are working on his nasty deuce right now (girls and Mike, that's slang for curveball). I'm slightly proud of his arm right now. His accuracy is pin-point. We'll start chewing tobacco next week.

Mike, you would be proud. Dribbling with the lefty! Basketball is his real love right now. He dribbles non stop. We call him Pistol Micah.
In case you guys are wondering, Katie and I both had blond hair when we were Micah's age.

The Greatest Season There Is

Ahh yes. Fall is Here. Katie and I headed out to the Mountains this weekend for a couple days. This is in Shenandoah National Park. If you put your ear real close to the screen, you can hear the mountains declaring the glory of God. Shhh. Listen! You may have to mute David Crowder to hear it. Yeah, I know you all are wearing that CD out.
Ok, sorry I crashed the girls' blog party. I'm done.

The Gift of Worship

A great reminder that worship is not about us.

Beloved "Paci"

Well Monday was the day...we decided we had had enough with the paci attachment and Micah needed to get past it. Well Monday night while Micah was in the bath I cut the tip off. I didn't think this would be an emotional thing, but boy was I wrong! Ed got him dressed while I cleaned up the bath and all I remember is Micah come running into the bathroom with paci. He held it up to me and said "Mama broke". I just about cried right there. I felt so evil! I mean he didn't do anything to deserve this horrible crime. He put it in his mouth and couldn't suck on it, so he just chewed it. It was one of the saddest night of our life. He had a hard time getting to sleep that night, but he never even mentioned it the next day. Occasionally he'll say "paci" and I'll say "Remember paci broke". Then he's ok.
My little boy is growing up. He's just the cutest thing ever.

His new favorite thing is to put on his helmet and ride the bike with his daddy. Here is the latest bike adventure!

Pages

Last night we went to Liberty University to see Shane & Shane in concert with Bebo Norman and Monk & Negle. It was a great concert! If you haven't heard Shane & Shane's new cd, you are missing out. It is probably my favorite of theirs so far. One song is called "Embracing Accusations" and the truth from it just pours out. You could preach their songs, their lyrics are so packed full of truth. Rather than other Christian artists who talk about how God makes me so happy! These songs are truly God-centered.

One of those days

The past couple of weeks God has been teaching me a lot about Himself, which is really cool! The word "rescue" keeps popping up everywhere. The whole idea that the gospel is for everyday life continues to blow me away. Even though God showed me enough of the gospel a long time ago to become a Christian, I feel like he still reveals a little more as the years go by. Will we ever be at a point where we truly understand the Gospel fully?

The whole idea that I was rescued for His name's sake blows me away. I am not here, nor was I ever existing for myself. The fact that all of this, life, everything I do and am here on earth for is for Him. And that is the least He deserves! But that is the thing, He doesn't need me to repay Him back. It was a rescue with no paybacks! I don't know if I can ever wrap my mind around that.

So as I sit here at the end of a hard day, I'm left with the mere fact that I wasted it. I felt defeated the moment I woke up, but that is the last thing that I am. I'm rescued! If nothing else, I can rejoice in that and see the numerous blessings He has given me on top of the rescue. And He doesn't want anything in return! All I'm left to do is continue to watch for Him to reveal more about Himself.

There is nothing more that deserves more glory. He is Glorious!

Oh The Glory of it All-
Oh the glory of it all, is he came here
For the rescue of us all, that we may live
For the glory of it all, oh He is here
Redemption from the fall, that we may live
For the glory it all, oh the glory of it all
The glory of it all, oh the glory of it all

After night, comes a light, dawn is here, dawn is here
It’s a new day, it’s a new day (David Crowder Band)

My Little Prince!

We got back from the beach about a week ago and I am just loving every little minute with my boy. I uploaded some of his latest pictures.

This is his most recent haircut. He was nervous at first, but he did so well.



Here is me and micah at the playground on the way to the beach. He just couldn't take the car anymore.


Ed and micah on the beach. They would just lay in the sand and water and let the waves roll over them. Micah was so daring. He even was sticking his face in the water to blow bubbles, but all he did was drink it.

A tradition in Ocean City, NJ is to ride bikes on the boardwalk. It is absolutley crazy and it is a miracle if you don't get in a wreck. Micah sat in his new seat on the back of Ed'sbike and he had a blast. This is is "Cars" helmet and he absolutely loves it! The day we bought it he insisted on wearing it in the store. So I strolled around a dorky kid with a helmet on in Wal-mart. That will be a good one to tell him when he is in high school!

Summers in Youth Ministry

As really most or all of you know, when you are in youth ministry your summers are crazy. Kids are out of school and you do a lot! We have been very busy with mission trips, camp, day trips, vacation, etc and so I've neglected the blog. But I'm back. Today we took a family trip up the road to a kind of redneck water park. Micah was in heaven. There is nothing greater than to see a little boy overflowing with joy to be able to play in "Wawa" as he calls it. We couldn't even get him out to eat, and if you've seen him, you know that's huge! At one point in the shallow end he turned to us, smiled, casually waved his hand, said "Bye!", and started walking away! Or as Chevy Chase said it in Christmas Vacation, "Later Dudes!" He wanted nothing to do with us and everything to do with the water. He just thinks he is so much older than he is. My Baby is really not so much a baby any more and is venturing into the very scary world of a toddler!

Warning: A lot of Drama...

This June we are traveling to Mexico for a mission trip with our youth. I have not been on a mission trip since my junior year in college, so I am very excited about going. This will also be my first international mission trip. When going to a different country, there are a few unknowns that I would to be known! With the unknowns there are just a few hurdles that I have to get over. No matter how experienced I am, or that fact that I am a pastor's wife, or how knowledgeable I think I am, there will always be weaknesses and challenges that I am faced with. My first challenge - the shots!
Many of you know that I am a little frightened by shots. Ok I am completely a wimp when it comes to needles, surgery, blood, doctors, etc. (My new sister-in-law is probably so disappointed!) You would think after an epidural that I could take anything, but no. At what point will I have to get a shot and it be no big deal. Will I be 70 years old and still scared to death?
So Wednesday, Ed and I went to get two shots. Micah was with me, which helped a little. He was probably just excited that for once it was me getting the shots and not him. Anyway, they hurt and my arms were so sore. But to make things worse, I was so tired! I literally felt like I had been injected with sleeping pills. I was in a cloud all day. Today, I woke up with incredibly sore arms, especially the one with the tetanus. Yes, I am a big baby! But seriously isn't there just a pill I could take, instead of it coming through a needle. With all the technology in the world, you'd think there would be some other way.

Vacation Revisited

As most of you know, probably from hearing me whine about it, our vacation last year was a bit of a disaster. Let me remind you what happened. We decided to travel down to Hilton Head, SC for 5 days with the little guy. We found a great deal and needed this vacation very much. Long story short...as soon as we pulled in Ed was sick with the stomach virus for 2 days. So Micah and I had to make the best of it. Then we had one afternoon where everyone was feeling well, and then I got sick with the same thing for 2 days. So needless to say, we really got our money's worth from the hotel room. Unfortunately, we barely saw the beach!

So as you can see this year's vacation was greatly needed. We decided to go last week, which was really cool starting the summer off with vacation rather then ending it with it. We made the drive down to Pensacola, Fl, which if you are counting, yes, that is a long way with a 17 month old! We got up at 1am and drove down 85 all the way to Montgomery, AL. Despite the sleepy eyes, delirious moments, giddy laughing phases, and Micah screaming in the backseat, it was a great trip!

Here are some pictures from the trip: (we don't have any of Ed and I)

Micah and I at the rest area in GA

The worm fast asleep...

look at that cutie! He would sign "bath" every time he saw water!

















My two boys...adorable!

















He loved the sand and didn't mind getting it all over himself!


































Ed thinks he looked like a grandpa in that hat!