Glorious summer!

It took awhile, but we finally have the summer weather we have been waiting for! I haven't posted much since we have been out enjoying it with the kids as much as possible.

In July, Isaac's parents came down to help us celebrate Judah's first birthday. We had it at Jen's house, and it poured the whole time. We still let the kids outside in their bathing suits, and they loved playing in the rain. Judah had a good time too!





We definitely didn't let the rain get us down, and the kid's had a great time. Judah loved his first taste of watermelon and cake. It was the perfect day to celebrate our special boy and his first year of life. When we got home, I bathed the kids and then we let Judah open his presents (actually, the twins opened them and kindly let Judah play with some of the wrapping paper). Notice the lovely long-sleeved jammies. in July. Yes, it was that cold. yikes!


The next day, we dropped Judah off at Jen's to spend the day playing with Ezra, picked up Abby, and headed to Storyland. It was so much fun! Having Grandpa and Grandma Davis with us was the icing on the cake. Evalyn and Abby loved the Princess castle while Gavin's favorite ride was (of course!) the train. We stopped at Flatbread on the way home and had organic pizza made right in front of us in an open air kitchen. That was really cool! We were all exhausted by the end of the day, but we had such a good time. Here are some pictures of our day....

We got VERY wet on this ride!


Daddy and Evalyn stopping for gas.



Since Isaac gets severe motion sickeness, guess who got to ride all the round and round rides?



The pirate on the ship was apparently very convincing.


My favorite picture of the day....


We just got back from vacation in Pennsylvania and I still need to get some pictures from our trip up, but I am so tired tonight so it will have to wait. We are going to the beach tomorrow with the kids for family day. I will try to remember our camera this time! Have I mentioned how much I love summer?

A whole year...

7/8/09
Baby Boy,
I remember this moment a year ago, when they laid you on my chest and I saw your sweet little face for the first time. My heart was so full of love for you! I remember going to the hospital thinking it would be cake this time around, since I was only having one baby. I couldn't have been more wrong! You just didn't want to come out, and I have to say I loved having you in there too, feeling your kicks and movements. After 16 hours of labor, three hours of pushing, I held you in my arms, and you were even more beautiful than I imagined. Your name means "praise," and we have been praising God for the joy you have brought into our lives from the second we found out about your existence.

I can't believe my baby is one. You are sweet and happy, but have a strong will and quite a temper when you don't get your way. You are the darling of your brother and sister, and can do no wrong in their eyes. They love to mother you, play with you, and share their most precious belongings with their "baby brother." You are crawling everywhere and you have recently mastered the stairs(which you are quite happy about).

Your favorite time of the day is bath time, and you always yell at me for getting you out. You wake us up in the morning by standing in your crib, talking loudly and banging as hard as you can for someone to pay attention to you. You are pure sunshine, and you have brought so much joy into our lives. Happy first birthday, sweet boy.
Love, Mama

It's only hair...

I know in fact, that a hair cut does not change your baby in anything more than appearance. I know that he is still only 10 months old and the toddler years are still a little ways away, but still, today was very traumatic for this mama. It all started with this....

A very shaggy haired little boy. Judah was born with a full head of hair, and two very adorable cowlicks on the front of his head. He has crazy hair, and recently it started to get a little out of control. Isaac said we should "trim it up a bit" so he didn't look so much like a fraggle.
I gave in and told Isaac he could trim it a little bit. Everything started out fine and Judah was doing pretty well while Isaac started with the scissors.

It didn't take long for Judah to decide that he did not want his hair cut, and promptly began squirming and fussing, in turn causing his daddy to cut a little more than planned. Out came the clippers....

And this was the end result....

After the tears were dried (and Judah was comforted), he is liking his new do. Mama on the other hand is still sad that he looks like such a big boy. With all the scooting he has recently been doing, it seems like my baby won't be a baby much longer. After seeing how quickly time passed when I had the twins, I was determined to enjoy it all more and savor every moment of Judah's babyhood. Why does it seem to be slipping through my fingers?

Dedicated

I asked the Lord to give me this boy, and he has granted my request. Now I am giving him to the Lord, and he will belong to the Lord for his whole life.
1 Samuel 1:27-28 NLT

This verse is from the book of Samuel, when Hannah took the child she had begged God for to the temple to dedicate him back to God. She recognized that God was the one that had blessed her with a child, and she was acknowledging his goodness. That is where we get the concept of dedication. It is different than baptism, and it is just an acknowledgement that God is the one that has blessed us with this life, and we give him back into God's care.

We had Judah dedicated when we were in Iowa so my mom and brother-in-law could do it, and I also really wanted it to be done in the church my dad pastored for 19 years. I so wish he was there to hold his grandson in his arms and dedicate him to God. Judah has been such a blessing to us, and is a constant reminder that God gives and God takes away, but he is always faithful. It was such a beautiful service and even more special was the blessing that Isaac's parents wrote for Judah. It is definately something we will always remember and treasure.

My desire is that Judah would know who God is and live for Him always. I want Judah to understand that he is here for a reason, God has a plan for him, and that his life is infinitely precious to us.