Jude's First Road Trip!

Jude had his first OFFICIAL road trip this past weekend to Madison, South Dakota. His daddy and I were photographing a wedding on Saturday! So fun! We brought along a crew to take care of Jude...

My sis and her hubby!

 

Jude was SUCH a good traveler boy! So perfect in the 5 hour car ride!

 

Who's this couple? Oh ya, Jude's fun parents :)

 

We had a great time! It was his first out of state trip too... what a good little world traveler ;) Ha! The wedding was awesome and we had NO rain (praise the Lord!) I heard MN was rainy/storming all day on Saturday. That wouldn't have been fun to photograph. Here are some of my favorites from the wedding...

Enlarge my Territory

Do you ever pray BIG prayers? Do you ever believe God will ACTUALLY answer? This is something I am really trying to do more of. It says in the Bible to ask not because we have not. Why not ask?

Growing up my sister and I prayed a very specific prayer from the Bible every morning on our way to school. The Prayer of Jabez. (1 Chronicles 4:9)

We modified it from a version and here is what we asked God/continue to ask God for:

"Oh Lord that you would bless me indeed

That you would INCREASE my territory & influence

That your hand would be upon all that I do.

And that you would keep evil far from us, 
that we would NOT bring harm to anyone!"

I encourage you with that today. I have seen an answer to this prayer over the years as the Lord is slow to anger and rich in love - he hears our prayers!!!

Star of Mommys Blog

The new star of my blog is Jude. There is no question about it... My life revolves around this sweet thing!

I remember buying this bib on sale at Target when I so longed to be a Mama! What a testimony to Gods goodness to have our 7 week old wearing it now...

Scattered posts but hopefully they still encourage others as we capture and journal our memories with Jude!!

My First Mothers Day!

Having Josh for a husband is a blessing.... beyond words! Celebrating my first mothers day was such a dream come true! I have ALWAYS only dreamed of becoming a Mama and raising children. Jude is our first born in making that dream come true :) What a gift!

I woke up to Jude sleeping 6 1/2 hours and fed him! Then Jude and Daddy had plans and let me sleep for awhile longer :) Amazing! 

 

Breakfast in Bed, Cards & a gift... Jude's actual footprint carved in white gold (made by my mama!)

 

Cool... huh? Her website is coming soon! She makes custom jewelry!

 

Jude wrote this with the help of daddy :)

 

After church we spent time & had lunch at Josh's Mama's house and went on a fun walk!

For dinner we went to my mama's house... My daddy grilled. Yum!

 

 

SO fun to honor all our Mama's!!

And... to end the night... Josh and Kyle (bro-in-law) did the dishes.

GOOD GUYS!

 

 

My mother's day couldn't have been more amazing.

Thank you hubby for making me feel like the most important Mama in the world.

Jude - thank you for being our amazing son. Your personality and giggles are my favorite!

Happy belated Mother's Day... Mama's!!

The "Right" Way?

Today I am thinking about my blog... It has been a bit neglected as I have the sweetest 6 week old that I am trying to soak up. My posts are going to be sparatic... I hope to post about my First Mother's Day tomorrow. It was WONDERFUL!!!! JOSH SPOILED ME!

This morning.. I am thinking about doing things the "right" way. What does that mean? Let me elaborate....

Josh and I started dating in high school (October 2006)
Josh and I broke up after high school for 1 year (August 14, 2007)
Josh and I we reunited after that 1 year & started dating again (August 2008)
Engaged December 2008 of that year.
Married September 2009!!

What was the "right" way to do things? We obeyed Jesus and his calling for our life in that season... Josh was playing football and going to college & I was a part of a ministry school called The Honor Academy.



We couldn't do it on our own. It was the strength of Christ that got us through. We had to trust that he was in control. Clearly we weren't.

In hindsight - those were some hard days... Yet those were some amazingly beautiful times. Doing it "God's way" was MUCH more rewarding then trying to do anything in our own strength.

We now have the most adorable little 6 week old and we couldn't be happier. A friend recently asked us:

 "Is married life really that great? I mean once you have a kid... isn't it like OVER for you?"

Actually -- it couldn't be better. I wouldn't trade this life for anything and daily I am blessed to know that God honored our "doing it the right way" and has given us the most amazing life. We are blessed beyond measure!!

I encourage you wherever you are at... you CAN do things the RIGHT way. Reach out to Jesus and ask him what that looks like for you. I promise it is SO worth it. Every single second is worth it!