It's Been 11 Weeks Already? Seriously?!

Well, my baby girl is 11 weeks old today. Not a major milestone by any means, but nevertheless, it's another week that has flown by a lot faster than my particular liking. It seems like every time I blink my eyes, another week is gone. During my pregnancy, people warned me that time would go by quickly once I had Rylee, but I guess it's one of those things that you don't truly grasp until you're living it yourself. It seems like every day, Rylee is doing something new, so I'm trying to savor every moment I possibly can. She smiles all the time now, which I absolutely LOVE. She's got the sweetest little face, and her smile warms my heart so much. A few weeks ago, she also started cooing, which has been a lot of fun for Jordan and me as well. We love to sit down and have "conversations" with her. We'll say "I love you!", and she'll coo back to us, and it seriously sounds like she's trying to say "I love you!" too. Today, I sang the ABC's to her a few times, and she cooed right along with me. I also tried to get her to say "Mama", and I swear one time she did. Ok, so maybe she didn't quite say "Mama", but it sounded pretty close to me, anyway. I try to keep eye contact with her while I talk to her, and I can see the concentration in her eyes as she watches my mouth and studies how I'm forming my words. It's so exciting to see how she's growing and learning and taking in the world around her. It's like watching a miracle every day. I always knew I would love being a mommy some day, but I never imagined I would love it THIS much. I'm just so humbled and thankful that the Lord chose to bless me with such a beautiful, healthy baby girl. I look at her, and it just blows my mind that she was created by an almighty God through the love shared between my husband and me. That is awesome! God is so good! I am blessed!

"Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him." Psalm 127:3

Only 11 weeks old, and it looks like she's already practicing for when she has a cell phone someday... about 16 years or so from now.

"Raise your hand if you're 11 weeks old today!"

Passed out in my lap.

My two favorite people in the world: my baby girl and her daddy, my husband.

I Am a Preacher's Kid

Tonight, my dad was officially ordained as a pastor. That's right... I am a "preacher's kid". The service was held at Coosada Baptist Church, and several members of Dad's congregation at Tunnell Chapel Baptist Church came out to participate as well. It was such a blessing to see how many people love and support my dad in this new calling in his life. The main part of the service was actually a quiet time of songs during which people were able to lay hands on my parents and pray for them. A long line of people formed, wrapping around a whole row of pews in the sanctuary. Jordan and I decided to wait until the line dwindled down a little since we had Rylee with us and she was sleeping. So I sat there in our pew and watched as, one by one, different families (many of whom I don't personally know) went up to my family and prayed with them. And it was just so overwhelming. It brought me to tears. It is such a humbling feeling to realize that God has called my dad - my family - to serve him in this way. And to know that we are being lifted in prayer by our brothers and sisters in Christ means more than we can adequately express. I can't wait to see how God continues to work in and through my dad as he settles into his role as Pastor. I've already watched him grow and learn so much, and it's just really exciting to me. Anyway, I guess that's about it for tonight. I wanted to keep it short and sweet since it's already late, and I really need to be getting to bed. I wanted to close with a few verses out of Romans, though. I read them in my quiet time tonight, and I think they fit this blog rather nicely.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified." Romans 8:28-30

Hurry Up, September 9th!

We finally found out that the closing date on the home that my parents are buying and then renting to Jordan and me is Thursday, September 9. Exactly two weeks from yesterday. Yes, I'm counting down. We are so excited. We have been so thankful for the roof we've had over our heads for the past year and two months, but we're very ready to move on now. The home we're currently renting is a very small (I'm not sure on the square footage, but trust me, it's not much) two-bedroom, one-bathroom, four wall concrete block house. It has next to NO insulation, so our power bill is astronomical in the summer, but we still burn up, and our gas bill for the heat is astronomical in the winter, but we still freeze to death. The two bedrooms have tiny closets, one of which (the closet in the second bedroom) is full of diapers and wipes and baby clothes and other baby stuff for Rylee, and the other of which (the one in the "master bedroom") is full of a bunch of Jordan's clothes, leaving no room for MY clothes. And the kitchen... ha. Don't even get me started there. It only has four cupboards to house all of our plates, bowls, glasses, pots and pans, casserole dishes, pitchers, other miscellaneous dishes, dish towels, laundry detergent (because the washer and dryer hook-ups are in the kitchen) etc., etc., etc. Just NOT enough room. There are only two very small drawers to hold all of our utensils. And we have one other cabinet to act as the "pantry" for all of our canned goods and other non-perishable food items. Also, there are no hook-ups for a dishwasher, so we've had to wash every single dish or utensil we've dirtied over the past 14 months by hand. No big deal whatsoever for some people, but I pretty much loathe washing dishes. I told my mom that I would NEVER complain about having to load and unload a dishwasher again, and I mean it. Anyway, if all that weren't enough, the house is also located in a flood zone, so we have had "lake front" property on more than one occasion. (In fact, there have been one or two times where it rained so much that we were less than an inch away from having water seep into the house!) To top it all off, the house isn't located in the best part of town. I'm not saying we hear gunshots late at night or anything like that (thankfully we've never heard gunshots here), but you won't see a house with a white picket fence in our neighborhood. One of our next-door neighbors is actually a convicted child molester. Yeah. Didn't know that until AFTER we moved in... Granted, the man's 80-something years old now, but still. I'm not one to take chances with something like that, especially now that I have Rylee. Now, don't get me wrong - I'm not saying all of this to sound like I'm complaining, even though I'm sure that's how it might come off. Like I said earlier, we have been very grateful that the Lord has provided us with a roof over our heads. Some people have absolutely NOTHING, and we are so undeserving of all that God has given us. If we had to live in this house the rest of our lives, I would still thank God every day. It would be hard, especially considering we'd like to have more kids someday and this house was certainly not made for expanding a family, but we'd make it work somehow. But that's my point in all of this. God has already provided our needs, but He also knows the desires of our hearts and has decided to bless us with the opportunity to move into a larger home. Not because we deserve it, but because He's gracious enough and merciful enough to bless us with it anyway. The "new" home we're moving into has three bedrooms, all of which have walk-in closets (in fact, the closet in the master bedroom is practically big enough to be a bedroom in and of itself), and two bathrooms. It has a large living area, a separate dining room, a huge kitchen with more than enough cabinets and drawers (and hook-ups for a dishwasher!), and a laundry room. The back door leads out to a small covered deck, and there is a large shed for storage in the backyard. There's even a Weeping Willow tree in the backyard. I've always wanted a Weeping Willow in my yard. I can't wait to move in. Sure, I'll miss the house we're currently living in. In fact, it won't surprise me in the least if I cry when we move. After all, this is the first home I shared with my husband. It's the house we brought our daughter to when we came home from the hospital. These walls hold countless memories accumulated over the past 14 months of our lives together, and I wouldn't trade those for the world. But we are so excited to start this next chapter in our lives. And we're so grateful to God for the opportunity. Here's a picture of the house we're currently renting:

(I'll continue to post more blogs with updates on the new home and our preparations to move as we get closer to the "big day".)

A Lazy Day and an Update from Haiti

Today was a pretty laid back day. I finally got out of bed about 10 o'clock this morning (Rylee and I both went back to sleep after I fed her around 6:30). Around 1:30 this afternoon, I loaded her up in the car and headed to Walmart to get some groceries and stuff. I bought three packs of Pampers diapers (size 2... she is growing SO fast!) and four packs of Pampers wipes (all originally totaling $35.59 before tax) for $22.85 before tax. Thank you, coupons. Shortly after we got to Walmart, Jordan got off work from Home Depot, so he met us there and finished the shopping with us. No big deal, but it was just kinda nice. He works two jobs, so I enjoy any time I get to spend with him. Anyway, we finished up at Walmart. Came home. Unloaded and put away the groceries. Watched The Back-Up Plan, compliments of Netflix. Ate some yummy Stouffer's chicken pot pie for dinner (one of my favorite foods... I eat it at least once a week). Watched some TV. Pigged out on some Mayfield Extreme Moose Tracks ice cream (didn't even bother scooping it into a bowl; ate it right out of the carton).  Like I said... a pretty laid back day, which is totally fine with me. About an hour ago, my dad IMed me on Facebook. He's actually in Haiti right now, serving as a chaplain on a disaster relief team. So it felt really good to hear from him. He's been gone since this past Saturday (August 21), and he won't be home until sometime this Saturday, as long as nothing gets delayed. I'm definitely anxious for him to get home safely. It's kinda hard not to worry about him being in Haiti, with everything that has happened there recently. But that's exactly WHY he's over there, and I know God is with him and the team he's serving with. Dad said he has gotten to witness to 572 people so far with the help of an interpreter. That is so awesome to me. I'm just so proud of my dad. It has been so exciting and inspiring to see how God has been working in and through his life recently. Last month, he was called to be Pastor of Tunnell Chapel Baptist Church. And now he is "... go[ing] into all the world and preach[ing] the good news to all creation" (Mark 16:15). It just really makes me evaluate my relationship with Christ, and realize that I'm nowhere near where I want to be in it. How willing would I be to go to a third-world country that has been devastated by an earthquake, knowing how harsh the conditions are there? But my dad? He took a week of vacation from work to go to Haiti. A week of vacation that most anyone else would use to go to the beach or the mountains or do whatever it is they like to do. My dad just wants to do what he knows God has called him to do. What God has called ALL of us to do. There are people all over the world who are desperate to know the truth of the gospel. And it's up to us, as Christians, to reach out to our brothers and sisters and share the gift of Jesus's love with them. I want to be more like my dad. More like Christ.

Saying Goodbye (For Now) to Grandma

Well, for the second night in a row, I am up past midnight blogging. I wanted to write about this past weekend. It was an emotional one for me. On Friday, Rylee and I traveled down to central Florida with my mom, brother, and sister for my grandma Parker's memorial service. She passed away this past Monday, August 16. She was only 19 days shy of her 95th birthday. Her husband, my grandpa Parker, passed away October 28, 2006 when he was 88 years old. They had been married for 69 years when he died. (That is incredible to me! I pray Jordan and I are blessed with 69 - if not more - years together!) Anyway, the memorial service for Grandma was simple and sweet - just a nice little celebration of her life here on earth, and celebrating the fact that she has now joined my grandpa in resting peacefully with Jesus. In a lot of ways, I still don't think it has really "hit" me that she's gone. Her health had been rapidly declining for several weeks, so I knew the end was drawing near for her, but it was still very hard to get the news that she had passed. I was extremely close to both my grandma and my grandpa. I was their only granddaughter out of five grandchildren, so I had an extra-special bond with them. They both invested so much time and love in my life. Grandma, a retired school teacher, taught me how to read and write before I even started kindergarten. My grandpa always called me "Sweetie Pie" or "Lola", and he used to say, "What Lola wants, Lola gets!" He would always tell me I was his favorite granddaughter. They were both just such wonderful, beautiful people, and I couldn't have asked for better grandparents. I am so thankful that God gave me 16 years with my grandpa, and 20 years with my grandma. I miss them both very much (I'm crying as I type this), but it is so comforting to know that this separation from them is only temporary. I will see them again someday - in Heaven! Oh, what a wonderful homecoming that will be!

My grandma, Jan Parker (September 4, 1915 - August 16, 2010):

We took some of the floral arrangements from my grandma's memorial service to the cemetery to put next to my grandpa and grandma's graves. The center arrangement is from my family and me.

P.S. My sweet baby girl is now 10 weeks old. That just doesn't seem possible to me. Time is going by SO fast! Rylee was my grandma's only great-grandchild. Unfortunately, my grandma never got to meet her (neither did my grandpa, of course), but thankfully she did at least get to see some pictures of her before she passed.

A Blog About Blogging

Well, here I am. I finally set up a blog - something I've been meaning to do for quite some time now, but never seemed to be able to get around to until today. Not surprising, considering I'm a new mommy of a now two-month-old. I must admit, as silly as it may sound, that I'm a bit intimated by this whole blogging thing. It was hard enough for me to decide what I wanted to call my blog. And choosing a layout? Don't even get me started. I must have looked at a thousand of them before I finally just picked one. Why do there have to be SO many different cute options for this stuff? It would be so much easier if there was just one option, and that was it. It would save me having to try to make up my mind - something I'm not always very good at doing. But at the same time, I guess it's fun to have all the different options of layouts and fonts and adding gadgets, and all that other blogging stuff that I'm going to have to figure out as I go. Gives me a chance to try to be creative I reckon. But the biggest thing that intimidates me is this: What if I'm not "blog-worthy"? Are other people really going to want to read about my normal, every-day life? I don't particularly want someone to come along to my blog and, after only reading a sentence or two, get totally bored and move on to another, more interesting blog. And now that I've said that, I'm sitting here wondering to myself if anyone is even reading what I'm typing right now, or if everyone has already moved on. So I've decided to try not to focus on whether or not anyone else reads this. I'm going to try to keep this blog more for myself than anyone else, but if by chance someone does come along and find my blog even the slightest bit worth reading, they're more than welcome to. I can't guarantee that I'll blog every day, because sometimes I might not have much of anything to say. And on other days, I might blog two or three times in one day. Sometimes my blogs might be about twenty different topics (basically just an unraveling of my mind at the end of the day), and other times, they'll be focused on one specific event. It'll all depend on what life throws at me. And so, with that said, I'm going to go ahead and wrap up this first blog since it is now almost midnight, and I'm rather sleepy. Like, I'm literally nodding off while sitting here typing.
Real quick, though, I wanted to mention that I took Rylee to the doctor this morning for her two-month well check-up. She now weighs a whopping 13 pounds and 3 ounces, and she is 24 inches long. Doctor Trumbull is very pleased with her growth, which makes me a happy mommy. She had to get three vaccination shots today too, though, which didn't make me a happy mommy at the time. My poor baby screamed her little head off. Which in turn made me cry. Next time I'll have to remember to take some Kleenex with me. Anyway, below is a picture of my sweet girl waiting to see the doctor. It was taken BEFORE she got her shots - thus the reason she actually looks happy. Poor thing didn't know what was coming.

Ok... now I'm really going to end this first attempt at a blog. Cause yeah - I REALLY need to go to bed. Good night, fellow bloggers. Bear with me - I'll get better at this!