Dedication

Aaron and I have made every effort to follow the Lord the past two years. We have answered the call to ministry, Aaron has started seminary, and we are currently trying to sell the house so we can move to Dallas for Aaron to finish school. The past year has been somewhat stressful as the housing market is at a standstill, and our efforts seem to be unsuccessful. The past year was also difficult as just this last week we saw the one year anniversary of the miscarriage come. It is hard to believe that a year has passed since that time.

However, following the Lord has been truly rewarding in every aspect of our lives, predominantly with the birth of Levi. He has brought so much joy into our lives, and we truly thank the Lord for him everyday. Saying all that, when we found out we were expecting we took the responsibility of being parents very seriously. We have prayed about every decision concerning Levi to make sure it lines up with God's purpose for his life. We truly feel that the Lord has a mighty calling on Levi's life to do kingdom work, and our desire is for him to complete that work. Yesterday we dedicated Levi's life to the Lord. The Bible says that Jesus was dedicated after the time of purification (which was usually 30 days), so when Levi turned a month old on Saturday we decided to dedicate him the following day. We asked Pastor Randy to do the dedication at the last minute, and with no time to prepare he did a wonderful job. It is tradition at Prospect for the meaning of the baby's name to be given at the time of dedication. Levi literally means attached or a promise. Aaron means enlightened one. We named him Levi after the Levites. When the tribes of Israel were given their land, the Levites (the priest) were not given any land, but instead were told that their inheritance was in the Lord. This is what we prayed for Levi, that he would understand that his inheritance is in things above as we seek to serve the Lord, not earthly things. As he grows, we know that the spirit of the Lord will be upon him, and we look forward to seeing the great and mighty things the Lord is going to do through him.

*Family and friends reading this that weren't there, please know that we didn't leave you out on purpose. This was something we decided to do at the last minute while at the service (to line up with the 30 days). We plan on having him dedicated at Aaron's parents church as well in the next couple of weeks.

1 Month

Levi turned a month old on Saturday. I can't believe how fast the time is going by, and how fast he is growing. I tried weighing him the other day, and he was 10.4 pounds according to the scale. That is almost 3 pounds since birth! In his first month of life, Levi has already made several accomplishments. He can roll from his back to his side (when he is feels like it), focus his eyes on an object (of his choosing of course), he has started sleeping better a night usually only waking once to feed, and he can hold his head up for a few seconds. He still sleeps quite a bit during the day, but when he is awake he is very alert. He loves to ride in the car, and has started staying awake on trips and watching things out the back window. He also loves being outside and being in the sunshine. We enjoy every minute of our little mister, and are so proud of him.

Religion In America

I saw the following report last night and felt I needed to share it with everyone. In the report you'll see that many Americans are claiming to believe in God, but also believe that their belief is not the only way to heaven. The report also shows high percentages in the number of people who question whether or not God actually exist. The survey also showed that while many people believe in a heaven, very few believe in a hell. This explains the lackluster passion of Christians in the church today, and why Christians don't look and act any differently than the world. If there is no hell, then there really isn't a reason to live fully abandoned to our Savior. It seems that Americans are willing to compromise anything, even their eternity, to keep from offending someone. I was saddened by the survey, but honestly I wasn't surprised. We need to pray that America returns to the Lord.

Family Photos

This past Saturday my cousin-in-law, Stacy, took pictures of Levi. I just thought I'd post some of my favorites. She did an amazing job. If you want to check out more of her photography click on SCC Photography under our favorite links.

Happy Father's Day!

I just want to let all the Daddies in my life know how much I love them. Thank you for all you do, and for the blessing that you have been to me. I love you all. We had a wonderful Father's Day weekend. We were able to spend Saturday evening with Aaron's dad and Sunday afternoon with my dad. It was also an extra special Father's Day because it was Aaron's first. Levi & I are very blessed to have Aaron in our lives.

Happy Birthday Aaron!

To my husband on his birthday.....

I love the man you are...
I love your goofy side....
You rebel side...
Your cowboy side.... Your lovable side...Your ministry side....

Your Papa side....

Thanks for being my knight in shining armor.
.... and for being my best friend.

You are the greatest treasure I have ever found, and I thank God for you daily. Thank you for being the husband and father you are to me and Levi. We love you, and hope you have a fantastic birthday.

Our Boy

I just wanted to post a few new pictures of Levi. I love how he is looking at Aaron in the last one. Hope you all enjoy.

2 weeks and growing...

Levi is 2 weeks old today! I can't believe it! Sometimes it seems like he just arrived, and other times it seems like he has been part of our lives forever! Last Wednesday I took him for his 1 week check-up. He had already regained his birth weight and grew and inch! Amy measured him again today and he measured 21 and a half inches. That is already an inch and a half since birth! He is growing so fast. I thought I'd at least have a month or two before he started growing like a weed, but obviously my little guy doesn't like to wait. On another note, I had a check-up at the doctor today. Last Friday I had to have my stitches redone (lots of fun - I know), so I had to go in to check on everything today. Good news - all seems to be healing well. I go back in 4 weeks and hopefully all will be well. I know you are all anxious for me to post more pictures of Levi, and I promise to once I get this whole mommy thing down. The only time I even get a chance to blog lately is when I visit my mom. I do have lots of pictures and videos so hopefully they will be up soon.

Welcoming Levi

As promised, I am finally getting around to posting about Levi's birth and his first week of life. On May 27th I had a doctors appointment and it was decided that on Thrusday evening I would be admitted to the hospital to be induced for labor. Levi was due that Friday, and from ultrasounds the doctors didn't want him getting much bigger than he already was - since he was estimated to be about 8 and a half pounds at that time. We were really excited that the birth of our son was just days away, and we started getting things in place. Aaron and I had planned to spend Wednesday night together before the little guy arrived. Dinner and a movie was the plan. However, my water broke at 1:51 a.m. Wednesday morning. Never having been in labor before and not having contractions at the time, I wasn't sure that my water had actually broke, so I woke Aaron and we decided to go to the hospital anyway just to be on the safe side. I called my mom, and we picked her up on the way.

We arrived at the hospital around 3:30 a.m., and checked in. They put me in a room and it was official - my water had broken and I was in labor. By this time contractions had started and were about every 5 minutes. I was doing well until about 9 a.m. when my labor turned into back labor. My pain was indescribable. I had already decided that I wanted to go as long as possible without pain meds, and I wanted to wait until I had at least dilated to a 5 before I asking for an epidural. When the pains first began I was given some pain meds to take the edge off. The medication totally knocked me out, well sort of. The beauty of this mediation was that it would allow me to sleep between contractions, but I always woke to emjoy each contraction. Not exactly what I had in mind when I asked for relief. During this time I said and did lots of funny stuff, but you'll have to ask Aaron or my mom for them - remember I was totally out of it. I finally asked the nurse to check me to see how far I had dilated, and sure enough I was a 5, so I requested the epidural.

I finally received my epidural and the relief was wonderful. I was able to rest, but I wasn't much for company since I could barely open my eyes from the previous medicine they had given me. In hind sight it is quite funny. I remember people coming in, I could hear them talking, but couldn't actually talk to them. Once I remember mom telling someone I was asleep and I remember thinking "No I'm not." As I said totally out of it, that was until the epidural started to wear off. My back pain started again, and I was in agony. They brought me another dose, but it was short lived. I received little relief from it and they had to give me a third dose. The third dose worked the best. I could still move my legs for the most part (with a little help of course), but my back pain was completely gone. It wasn't long after this that I was dilated to 10 and it was time to push.

My midwife arrived and I started pushing a little after 7 p.m. Looking back it seemed like pushing went on forever, but the time also seemed to go by so quickly. I'm not really sure how that works. My mom and Aaron were in the room with me, and they along with my nurse were great encouragers and motivators. Aaron was so supportive throughout my enitre labor. He really rose to the occasion. I pushed for about an hour and forty minutes before Levi made his arrival. Everyone was saying that he was almost there, just one more push, and with that our son made his arrival into the world. He came out bright eyed looking around, and we couldn't have been happier. He was born at 8:47 p.m. on May 28th. He weighed in at 7 lbs. 14 oz. and was 20 inches long.

We have been so blessed by the outpouring of love that everyone has shared with us during this time. As we are adjusting to parenthood, many of you have offered your assitance my bringing us meals, cleaning our home, and helping with the baby. We appreciate all your love, support, and help. We couldn't have made this transition without you.