She's Here!

We have so many friends and family who have had babies this year. Most, however, have been out of town, so it's been fun to have close friends going through it here. Todd and Emily welcomed their second little girl into the world on Tuesday. We were so thankful to meet her just a few short hours after she was born. Lerran Elisa is a beautiful little gift.

















Each time I get to see a newborn, I am reminded of God's incredible love and power. He grows each of His children in the womb, and in His perfect timing, He brings them out into the world He's created. The gift of life is just incredible. I've often heard mothers say that after experiencing the wonder of carrying and giving birth to a child, that they just don't understand how anyone could deny the existence of God.

A Little Bit of Everything

With things being so chaotic lately, I haven't had much time to download pictures off our camera. So, this blog will be a crazy summary of our last couple of weeks.

I mentioned in a previous blog that my mom and Steve flew in when we closed on our house to help get the house ready. After putting in a very long day of work, we decided to wind down over a late dinner.

About a week ago, we took Wally over to our new house for the first time. Of course he doesn't really know what's going on, but he sure did love his new yard. He's spent pretty much every day for the last week over there painting with Ryan, so I think he may be getting the picture. By the way, the lovely red carpet that Wally is sitting on won't be there after Friday.

Ryan and I were blessed to get to babysit Avery Pellowe so our friends, Todd and Emily, could go out for one last dinner alone before Baby #2 came. I didn't get off work until late, so Ryan did most everything. Have I mentioned how great he is with kids, and isn't Avery precious!?

Well, that's all for this post. Ryan and I will be busy painting, gathering boxes and packing so that we will be ready to move on Saturday. Please keep us in your prayers this week.

What a Blur!

The last couple of weeks have been quite a blur. Last week included Ryan finishing finals, closing on our house and my mom and her husband, Steve, coming to visit. They arrived late Wednesday night and flew back home first thing Sunday morning. It was a quick trip, but we were so blessed to have them.

After a series of chaotic events, we closed on our house last Thursday afternoon, and we immediately got to work on it. My mom and Steve helped us so much to get the house ready. Steve is quite the handyman, and he and Ryan worked so hard. They installed the garage door opener, put up the mailbox, repaired some of the doors, changed the locks, took down all the kitchen lighting and installed recessed lighting in its place. They also fixed the toilets, installed all the kitchen appliances and trimmed the kitchen cabinets down so that our new refrigerator would fit. My mom and I spent most of the time working on the kitchen--removing wallpaper, priming and painting. For those of you who have been wondering, it looks like two coats of red paint will be enough. (I had heard it would take five or six coats.) Our kitchen is just about done, aside from a few touch-ups of paint.

It was a little sad to spend our entire time with my mom and Steve working on the house, but words can't begin to express how humbled we were by their unselfish desire to serve in that capacity.

Ryan and I took Sunday off to spend some time together. We haven't gotten to do much of that recently due to his finals. I had to work Monday and Tuesday, and Ryan spent a lot of time painting the ceilings and removing wallpaper borders while I was at work. Can I just brag on my husband for a minute? He is such a great little painter! He has almost painted all the ceilings throughout our house. That's been such a blessing because that's not a fun job.

I'm off work the next two days, so we're going to spend that time painting. I took Wally over to our new house after I got off work tonight. He was so excited to see Ryan there and to see everything. I think he's already sniffed out the majority of the house. Wally was by far most excited about his big new backyard. I really can't wait to play with him out there. He's going to love it!

Anyway, I just want to take a minute to apologize to everyone for being so out of touch lately. I'm sorry for unanswered emails, unreturned phone calls and for a lack of blogging. :) I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day.

Emily's Baby Blessing

Last night, a dear friend of mine was celebrated. We met Emily (and her husband, Todd) at our church here in Louisville. They are such sweet friends of ours, and it has been amazing how quickly the Lord has knitted our hearts together.

Todd and Emily have an adorable daughter, Avery, and they're expecting their second child in the next few weeks.

I gathered together with a few friends last night to pray for the baby that Emily will soon deliver. We prayed for everything from the delivery of the baby to the child's marriage and career.

Two things I gained from the night:
1) A greater appreciation for the friends God has placed in our lives. How wonderful it is to have friends who can walk alongside us and encourage us to live more Christ-like lives.

2) A greater appreciation for the importance of prayer, specifically the importance of praying for your children. It is never too early to start praying for the children God will give you. After all, I was praying for my future husband long before I even met Ryan. We are so blessed to be able to present our requests to the Lord, knowing that He is a God who hears our prayers.

Five Years of Blissful Marriage

On April 6, 2002 at 4pm, Ryan and I committed our lives to one another. Five years later, I can honestly say that I have never been happier. God has blessed me tremendously with my sweet husband. He is a gift I will never deserve but will always treasure.

The traditional fifth anniversary gift is wood, which I thought was fitting because on our anniversary, we went to put an offer on our first house. Afterward, we went out to a nice dinner.

Thank you, Father, for the gift of marriage. Thank you for the way in which you created me and Ryan, that we would complement one another in such a way that it would glorify you. May our marriage always honor you, and may it be used to further your kingdom.

More Easter Pics and Gender Roles

I downloaded the pictures off of our camera this morning and realized how long it's been since I had done that. It was kind of fun to see the pictures, since it had been awhile since we had taken them. It brought me back to the days of when we had our 35mm photos developed. I didn't do that often, and for that reason, I thought it was so fun to pick them up and relive all those memories. I digress.

Anyway, here are a few more pictures from our Easter in Nashville. The one is a picture of Joshua and Aby making their Resurrection cookies.

May I also take this opportunity to say that Ryan, who is not only the greatest husband, will also one day make the greatest father. He is so tender with kids, and it will be such a blessing one day to watch him love on our own. I love this picture of Ryan and Aby!

Ryan is in the process of researching and writing a paper about gender roles for his Systematic Theology class. This is such an interesting topic and one that the Lord has really been walking us through over the last few years. One of the reasons we are so excited about having and/or adopting children is the opportunity to teach them what it means to be a godly man and woman. God so beautifully designed us to be masculine and feminine. Yet, since the fall of man, our inclination is to distort God's good intentions for the way men and women are to relate. Praise be to God, though, that through the work of Jesus on the cross, we are enabled, through faith, to reclaim God-honoring relationships between man and woman.