Forever Young

"May God bless you and keep you always, may your wishes all come true, may you always do for others, and let others do for you. May you build a ladder to the stars and climb on every rung. May you stay forever young.
May you grow up to be righteous, may you grow up to be true, may you always know the truth, and see the lights surrounding you. May you always be courageous, stand upright and be strong, may you stay forever young.
May your hands always be busy, may your feet always be swift, may you have a strong foundation when the winds of changes shift. May your heart always be joyful and may your song always be sung. May you stay forever young." -Bob Dylan

"Not talking about a year, no not three or four. I don't want that kind of forever in my life anymore. Forever always seems to be around when it begins, but forever never seems to be around when it end. So give me your forever, please your forever. Not a day less will do from you.
People spend so much time every single day runnin' 'round all over town givin' their forever away. But no not me, I won't let my forever roam and now I hope I can find my forever a home. So give me your forever, please your forever. Not a day less will do from you.
Like a handless clock with numbers, an infinite of time. No not the forever found only in the mind. Forever always seems to be around when things begin, but forever never seems to be around when things end. So give me your forever, please your forever. Not a day less will do from you." - Ben Harper

Friday, August 26, 2011

Forgiveness

I read this book a few years back when I was in college. I was going through a lot and these couple pages stood out to me at that time in my life. I wanted to share it with everyone. I'm sure all of us have been hurt/hurt someone at some point(s) in our lives. This is a wonderful perspective of what forgiveness looks like. It is such a beautiful, selfless lesson taught to us by our Savior.

"Okay- now for a hard step (as if the others have been easy). A real step of courage and will. We must forgive those who hurt us. The reason is simple: Bitterness and unforgiveness set their hooks deep in our hearts; they are chains that hold us captive to the wounds and the messages of those wounds. Until you forgive, you remain their prisoner. Paul warns us that unforgiveness and bitterness can wreck our lives and the lives of others (Eph. 4:31, Heb. 12:15). We have to let it all go.

"Forgive as the Lord forgave you." Col. 3:13

Now-listen carefully. Forgiveness is a choice. It is not a feeling- don't try and feel forgiving. It is an act of the will. "Don't wait to forgive until you feel like forgiving." wrote Neil Anderson. "You will never get there. Feelings take time to heal after the choice to forgive is made." We allow God to bring the hurt up from our past, for "if your forgiveness doesn't visit the emotional core of your life, it will be incomplete," said Anderson. We acknowledge that it hurt, that it mattered, and we choose to extent forgiveness to our fathers, out mothers, those who hurt us. This is not saying, "It didn't really matter"; it is not saying, "I probably deserved part of it anyway." Forgiveness says, "It was wrong. Very wrong. It mattered, hurt me deeply. And I release you. I give you to God."

It might help to remember that those who hurt you were also deeply wounded themselves. They were broken hearts, broken when they were young, and they fell captive to the Enemy. They were in fact pawns in his hands. This doesn't absolve them of the choices they made, the things they did. It just helps us to let them go- to realize that they were shattered souls themselves, used by our true Enemy in his war. "

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Family in town

This past weekend Mrs. K, Mr. K, Meghan and Eli came into town for a visit. It was a nice weekend. A little cramped in the apartment, but we made it fun. Between feeding Elsa and her naps, we did manage to get out a little bit.

Meghan arrived a few hours before everyone else. It was great to get some time with her. We took Elsa on a run and then chatted until the rest of the crew got into town.

Saturday morning Shane, Meghan, Eli and I went on a run while Grannie and Papa watched Elsa.

Meghan and Mrs. K had a good time dressing Elsa up throughout the weekend. We grabbed lunch at Sweet Tomatoes Saturday afternoon, so of course had to look nice for the outing.

Saturday evening we all went out to the Arboretum near NC State. It was a really nice evening, minus the mosquitos.

On Sunday, Shane had to work 6-3 and had his break at 10, so we all skipped church so that we could have breakfast with him on his break. After he left to go back to work, the rest of us headed to the pool.

Thanks for coming into town! It was great to see y'all. Lauren and Garin, we missed you, but we look forward to seeing you in a month!

Gram

September 29, 1912-August 25, 2006

5 years ago today my Gram passed away. I remember so many details leading up to that day, and I remember that day so well. I think about her almost daily. I wish she had met Shane, and now Elsa. I feel like Shane is missing a part of me. She was such a huge part of my life and I am so thankful for that. I know my mom will be as much apart of Elsa's life as Gram was of mine. She impacted a lot of people.

This passage was read at her funeral.

"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,

Because the Lord has anointed me

To bring good news to the afflicted;

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

To proclaim liberty to captives

And freedom to prisoners;

To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord

And the day of vengeance of our God;

To comfort all who mourn,

To grant those who mourn in

Zion,

Giving them a garland instead of

ashes,

The oil of gladness instead of

mourning,

The mantle of praise instead of a

spirit of fainting.

So they will be called oaks of righteousness,

The planting of the Lord, that He

may be glorified."

Isaiah 61:1-3

I miss her, but I am so thankful that she is in heaven praising God, that she is in no pain, and that she's able to dance and sing. I praise God for that. This is not our home.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Month 2

Happy 2 months to Elsa!

She is smiling and talking all the time. It's so fun to get her up in the morning. She wakes up so happy, even though she's hungry. She smiles and smiles, eats, smiles, gets her diaper changed, smiles, and then we play on her mobile gym for a while and have great conversation.

Her stats at her 2 month appointment were:

87% length

27% head

63% weight

She received 3 shots in her legs and was as perfect as a 2 month old patient could be. One little squeak and one tear. The doctor was very impressed, which is always encouraging. I love being a mommy.

My cousin, Alison, was baptized this past weekend and I wanted to say how excited I am. What an amazing decision. Alison, I love you so much!

My sister in law and brother in law received their next orders and we are excited that they will be closer!

We recently found out that we will be heading up to Cape Cod to visit family at the end of September. Elsa's first plane ride. We're excited to see family and for Aunt L to meet Elsa.

Last week Shane, David and I drove up to Charlottesville, VA for the day to meet our new niece, Kate. The whole way home Elsa was talking about how jealous she was of Kate's full head of hair.

Here are a few pictures from the day.

Will climbs all over Matt. He doesn't care if he's awake or asleep, busy or not.

Elsa and Kate.

We all went on a walk in Monticello Park after breakfast. It was beautiful!

I asked Will to lay down on the floor next to Elsa and he accidentally laid on her arm, so she was a little upset...Whoops.

Thanks for having us Matt and Becca! It was great to see everyone!

We caught Elsa smiling, so here it is. It's not the biggest smile we've seen out of her, but it's a good one.

One of my mom's friends has a mother that knits, and she has knit Elsa some really cute sweaters, booties and hats that will fit her come winter time. She recently sent this hat in the next picture. So sweet! Even though it's 100 degrees outside, I still had to go ahead and snap a picture of her with it on. I'll be printing this off and sending it to her soon.

We've had so much fun with her. We both have taken her out on jogs in her jogging stroller. I try to go most mornings before it gets too hot. I don't know if I've ever been so excited about Fall. She usually stays awake most of the time and kicks and throws her arms in the air.

'Til next time...

Monday, July 25, 2011

Shh, don't tell the doctors...

I've been trying for the past couple weeks to get Elsa to sleep in her crib (on her back) for her naps during the day, but she doesn't seem to like it. She'll sleep in her boppy, on the couch, in her swing, on her play mat, in her infant seat, on our bed, but not in her crib. She could be dead asleep and I put her in her crib and she is wide-eyed the instant she hits the mattress. Well, today, I tried again, and I let her scream for 10 minutes hoping that she would eventually stop and fall back asleep. Nope. So I went in, rocked her for a little while and then put her back in on her tummy (shame on me), and she's been asleep ever since. It may be because she's on her tummy, OR because she was up every 2 hours eating last night and is exhausted. Not too sure. :) I'm so proud of our little girl. She's growing up so fast.

I told Shane this morning that I didn't really get any sleep because she was eating every 2 hours (she's been sleeping 5 hours at a time at night since she was 2 or 3 weeks old) and he looked at her and said, "Well, she must be growing because she looks older and bigger than she did when we put her to bed last night." Silly daddy.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Some visitors and Daddy's SUNDAY off!

First of all, congratulations to Matt and Becca on their new daughter, Kate, making her appearance on July 10th! Will is now a big brother!

We've had quite a few visitors in the last few weeks. I think I missed a few with the camera, but here are the ones that I caught. We are so blessed to have so many people in our lives that love us, and love Elsa.

Josh came to visit a few weeks ago for the day. He drove in from Wilmington and brought Elsa some reading material.

Tim comes in every couple weeks. He used to come to see us, but I think we are chopped liver now that Elsa is here.

Uncle David stops in every now and then. I'm pretty sure Elsa is smiling in this picture.

Matt comes over every now and then on Wednesday nights, so he tries to give Elsa a squeeze before he and Shane wander off to hang out. Elsa and I stay behind to watch So You Think You Can Dance.

Aunt Lauren came over one night a couple weeks ago and cooked dinner and made cookies for us so that I could go workout at the gym for a little while. It was a wonderful treat, and know that you are welcome to do that anytime!

One night Tim wanted to feed Elsa, so I warmed up a bottle and gave it to him to give to her...it wasn't the most snuggley way to feed her, but by the end of the meal, he had a good handle on it. I just got the initial picture. He's learning...:)

Uncle Garin drove through town on his way back home from being in Mobile for 2 months. Even though it was a short visit, it was great to see him and we are glad he got to meet Elsa. Elsa is looking forward to meeting her Aunt Lauren too!

Last weekend we made a day trip up to Charlotte to see Pawpaw and Grannie. It was so relaxing. Shane bush hogged all day and I was able to read some and ride on the tractor with him and get some sun. Grannie and Pawpaw were on baby duty in between feedings. Grannie gave her a bath and played on her floor gym, and Pawpaw was the expert burper for the day.

Yesterday Shane had his first SUNDAY OFF since Elsa was born. It was wonderful! We went to church for the first time in 6 weeks. We had really missed it. Our favorite band was leading worship, which was quite a treat. Elsa slept through worship, but when Pastor Tyler got up to preach, she woke up, so Shane grabbed her and listened to the rest of the service from the kids area in the back. He introduced himself and Elsa to the Nursery staff and they look forward to keeping her in weeks to come. He said they were so sweet and would feel comfortable leaving Elsa with them. What a blessing. After church we went and grabbed some Mexican for alunch at a place we had been wanting to try out. THen we came home and watched the USA get beat by Japan in the World Cup finals/took naps. After that we had our first trip to the pool! It was so much fun. Elsa seemed to like it...she didn't cry. Here are a few pictures of her in her adorable bathing suit.

The other day Elsa fell asleep on my chest, but I had some stuff I wanted to get done. I slid her off of me while I slipped off the couch and this is how she slept for the next 2 hours. So sweet.

She's been enjoying her floor gym. The other day I put some rings in her hands and she grabbed them and held onto them for a while. She's been smiling a lot more in the past few days, but we haven't caught a good one on camera yet...it'll come.