Jonathan - Four Months

Jonathan, my sweet boy, your mama is sorry for not writing more about your sweet little life. It's not that I don't value you as much as I do Trey - he had things written about him all the time when he was an infant. But I am busy enjoying moments with you and have a hard time finding time to sit down and put my thoughts in writing.

You are a delight to our family. I know you were always meant to be a part of us.

Your smile makes all of us smile. Your brother Trey particularly loves when you laugh at him. I can tell already that you and he have a special bond - I pray every day that you will grow to be good friends. You tolerate his slobbery kisses and his forceful hugs so well.

You are a little more serious than your brother Trey but equally happy. You like to study people before you give them the privilege of seeing your gummy smile.

You have bright, sparkling blue eyes - you look quite a bit more like your mama at this point which I'm quite okay with because your big brother is your Daddy's clone.

You are a chubby baby. At your 4 month visit with Dr. Kennedy, you weighed 15 pounds and 7 ounces and were 25 1/4 inches long. You're in the 59% in both - your brother Trey was always in the 25% so you continue to be a bit bigger than he was at his age. I'm glad you have chubs and rolls. We have to clean through 4 rolls on each of your thighs while changing your diaper. You are wonderfully squishy and delightfully snuggly.

You love your hands - particularly your fingers. You study and stare and concentrate and finally work them into your mouth. You also just started rolling from your tummy to your back. Way to go, buddy!

You are still being exclusively breastfed. This is a big deal to me because I feel so bad that I have to work - I don't want that to hinder my milk supply. I am thankful that I am able to pump at work and that you eat so good for Daddy. You eat about 4-5 ounces from a bottle when Daddy feeds you. You sleep through the night, so we haven't started you on cereal yet. Dr. Kennedy said "If it's not broke, don't fix it." So when you become less satisfied with nursing alone, we will start some cereal. Daddy and I bought some cereal for you the other night, so we are all ready when you are.

You went through an entire 9 week Beth Moore Bible study with me - you were so good. And I loved snuggling with you while learning about God and how He worked in and through Queen Esther.

Happy four months, sweet Jonathan. You are so very loved by us, but never forget that Jesus loves you most.

Where God is taking us

I started this back on February 23 - and decided to finish it today - still in the same spot but continue to be prayerful...

I had to reference my friend Tiffany today - she wrote a post this morning that reflects exactly where my heart is at - talking about my divine assignment. I was so encouraged after reading it. I enjoy my job - I love being a nurse. It pays well. We have excellent insurance and other great benefits. I work with some very talented, smart, and caring women. I get the miracle of seeing life come into the world every night I am at work - it never gets old. If I have to work, at least I love what I do. Conveniently, I leave for work when the boys are getting ready for bed and I come home from work as they are waking up.

But as much as I enjoy my job, I love my family more. My heart is torn every night that I leave for work. I feel homesick for my family - if that makes any sense. When we first moved out to Phoenix, David was intending to go to school and I was going to work full time while he did that. God redirected us once we were here. It was amazing really how God provided for us. The day before we arrived in Phoenix, as we were driving in New Mexico, I got an email from a missionary friend. She said their mission was looking for a caretaker for their Glendale property. I made some phone calls, we were interviewed the next day after we arrived in Phoenix, and we moved onto the mission property a day after that. So providential. Even though there have been hard times living here, blessing after blessing has been abundant as well. I will highlight a couple here...

David has been home with our boys while I have been able to work. He is here all during the day doing yard work and maintenance projects around my sleeping schedule. He has grown into his role as a Daddy quite well - he is amazing with our children.

We have been able to remain debt free and grow our savings. We live on just my income but because our housing is provided for the work David does, we have been able to keep our expenses down. We basically live on one of my paychecks a month and save the other. Thanks to the teaching of Dave Ramsey and good ole' common sense, we now have enough saved to have a fully funded emergency fund of 6 months living expenses, have enough cash saved up to buy a used van, and also are close to have 20% cash saved for a down payment for when we buy a home. I shop sales and with coupons. I go to yard sales and consignment stores. It's taken a lot of diligence and hard work, but I am so thankful we are where we are.

We have thrived in our home church Faith Bible Church. I am so thankful that God led us to Faith - it is just what we needed as a family. We never found a church in Knoxville that we loved, and it was a struggle every Sunday morning. I hated Sundays in Knoxville which is a horrible thing to admit let alone write. I felt so disconnected, and I had never experienced that in a church before (even when I moved out to Arizona by myself, I found a church right away and got plugged in there).

God protected us from buying out here in Arizona when we first moved out here. We had intended to buy - even had a contract on a gorgeous, almost brand new 4 bedroom home selling for less than half of what it sold for 2 years ago. But we didn't have a peace from Him about it. So we pulled out of the contract. We sensed God has telling us to remain here serving at UIM and to keep saving for a house in the future. We were disappointed to not settle down at that point, but we wanted to be obedient.

Our marriage is stronger. Our family is more centered. Giving birth to our son Jonathan when we had no family around showed me how much stronger our marriage was. We had no one to depend on but each other, and we did amazingly well.


We find ourselves at a crossroads right now. We know that the time has come for us to switch roles again. My heart and my husband both know I am to be at home. David wants to work outside our home. He is so talented, smart, and gifted but he often fails to see that he is. But to do that entails moving - he can't keep doing what he's doing and work a full time job. We don't know right now what that will involve. We may buy here in Arizona. We may look to move closer to family on the East coast. We are praying diligently about this every day that we will listen to God's voice and follow His direction. It is exciting and scary at the same time, but I am looking forward to what God show us in the coming months.