Birthdays!

My birthday was May 31st and I turned 25.

A quarter of a century!

Sometimes I feel like that age is a big deal, and then I stop and remember how young I am.

I have so much ahead of me and I am pumped.

Here's to many more years of loving the Lord, growing a family, doing ministry side by side with my husband and creatively soaking up every single day.

Here's some cell phone pics Brittany nabbed and of course, a video from Rod :)

"I launch my bark on the unknown waters of this year,
with thee, O Father, as my harbor,
thee, O Son, at my helm,
thee, O Holy Spirit, filling my sails."
(Valley of Vision - A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions)

Izzy Paul is 4 months Old!

Israel is 4 months old.

He is such a joy to us!

Jake and I are repeatedly amazed at how much he has enhanced our lives.

He is totally worth sleepless nights, 10 hours of labor, 9 months of pregnancy and every other hard part of parenting you can imagine.

We love him!

I'm sad I haven't updated on his little changes and accomplishments at each month.

Better late than never!

He is officially a roller. Rolls from back to belly and gets stuck there.

When he is stuck, he is less than happy.

In the last week he slept through the night 4 times.

He giggles but is not interested in performing. The same thing that made him laugh ten minutes ago will receive blank stares as soon as you have someone else watching. 

Is busting out of his 0-3 months and is wearing a lot of 3-6 month and even some 6 month clothes.

Has the bad habit of scratching his face and scalp when he's tired. Many people have commented on how he looks like he got in a bad clash with a briar bush. 

Loves to talk. He has the cutest raspy voice and loves to howl like a little baby hound dog.

He is very expressive with his whole body. He tends to wiggle and do leg exercises when he's happy and arch his back as hard as he can when he's mad. 

He's started to reach and grab things. One of his favorite things to grab is any kind of fabric. He loves to grab burp clothes, blankets, shirts, pillows, mom and dad's clothes and stick them in his mouth. 

He lost almost all of his hair, and now some peach fuzz is coming back in.

He found his thumb and it has become his new friend and comforter. 

Here are some 3 month photos for your viewing pleasure.

 He was not thrilled about being on his tum

 Daddy is so good at making him laugh!

 The funniest pinky toes I ever did see

Look at this guy! So cute!

Sorry for the excess. Couldn't help myself :)

(All photos kindly taken by Vanessa Good Photography. She was renting a lens for the weekend and decided Izzy would make a great muse)

Remember the Lilies

May was a month of celebrations. Me, Mel, Jake, and their dad all had birthdays, I had my first mothers day and of course our moms were celebrated as well. Whew! That's a lot! I eagerly take advantage of any chance to make things special, fun, and memorable so May was my kind of month. 

I already shared Jake's b-day video, but the festivities didn't end there...

...much to our surprise!

Our friend Brittany had one more present in store that Jake and I were totally unaware of.

She came over last night saying she had something to give to us before she left for Israel.

We didn't think much of it.

Next thing we knew, Jake was opening one of the most thoughtful (and expensive) presents he's ever received. 

An iPad!!

Brittany sent out an e-mail to a bunch of friends asking if they'd be willing to donate toward this awesome gift and over 20 people did!

We were stunned.

And, of course our friend Rod was there to document the whole thing.

God has been so good to us lately and so quick to provide.

I should make a list of all the ways He has amazed us recently.

Maybe that will be a future blog post :)

Talking Iz

Jake and I take a lot of videos of Izzy with our phones.

Every time we watch one of the videos we evaluate whether or not this is something to share with the world or strictly family.

One question we ask is this: "Other than our parents, will people actually want to watch this?"

We've discovered that Izzy could be covered in spit up, crying, and in the ugliest outfit on the planet and Jake's parents will think it's the greatest thing ever. 

I guess that's just what happens when you're a long distance grandparent. 

You take what you can get. 

So, here's a video. I like it. Jake likes it. I'm sure our parents will like it.

Hopefully you will too :)