Independence Day

Father's Day

In celebration of Husby's second Father's Day, and to make transporting himself and his necessities back and forth, to and from classes, the boys and I presented him with a messenger bag (what was that I was saying about his need to carry a purse?). But this is no ordinary messenger bag; this is the Bag of Holding, which, according to legend (and the Dungeon Master's Guide) can hold massive amounts of weight without requiring more strength to haul. At bit like the geek's Mary Poppin's bag, there should never be an issue of fitting everything he needs inside. In fact, I'll be impressed if he can actually fill the entire bag - with a multitude of pockets and compartments, the bag is truly well-designed. He'll be off to class in style.

RJ's First Easter

Today is the most important day. Without the Resurrection celebrated on Easter Sunday, our faith is void. Nothing else matters if this is false. 

We haven't been the most faithful church attendees since moving here to Mississippi. Our synod is not consistent in the teachings from congregation to congregation, and it has been difficult to find a church where correct theology is being preached from the pulpit. The churches down here are wrong, and there is little worshiping done in a service where most focus is on filtering out the bad. The best we've been able to find in our area is the least-wrong congregation, and although we haven't been in attendance every Sunday, we joined them this morning - the celebrating of Easter outweighs any trepidation about incorrect teachings.

My two favorite men, be-decked in ties for Easter service.

Away from family, there was no big meal with rowdy siblings - just the three (four!) of us at home together. I hummed an Easter hymn of two for most of the afternoon, and RJ enjoyed his day of celebrating. And while today is the most important, two days from now is another celebration he's pretty stoked about as well.

Good Friday

Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted

By: Thomas Kelly

Stricken, smitten, and afflicted,

See him dying on the tree!

This is Christ, by man rejected;

Here, my soul, your Savior see.

He’s the long expected prophet,

David’s son, yet David’s Lord.

Proofs I see sufficient of it:

He’s the true and faithful Word.

Tell me, all who hear him groaning,

Was there ever grief like this?

Friends through fear his cause disowning,

Foes insulting his distress;

Many hands were raised to wound him,

None would intervene to save;

But the deepest stroke that pierced him

Was the stroke that justice gave.

You who think of sin but lightly

Nor suppose the evil great

Here may view its nature rightly,

Here its guilt may estimate.

Mark the sacrifice appointed;

See who bears the awful load;

It’s the Word, the Lord’s Anointed,

Son of Man and son of God.

Here we have a firm foundation; 

Here the refuge of the lost;

Christ, the rock of our salvation, 

His the name of which we boast.

Lamb of God, for sinners wounded,

Sacrifice to cancel guilt!

None shall ever be confounded

Who on him their hope have built.

Four-Day Weekend

Here at Keesler, Husby has every other Friday 'down', meaning he gets to stay home and play with us instead of going to class. This month, we happened to have a Down Friday just before the three-day Presidents' Day Weekend, making our holiday into a four-day adventure into the life of two stay-at-home parents. It's been fantastic having Daddy around all the time, and we've gotten spoiled. 

Date Night

In honor of Valentine's Day, my men took me out on the town tonight. A lovely dinner at Cracker Barrel was just what we all needed - a few minutes away from the house, and some delicious food to fill our bellies. Even Little Man was delighted by the morsels offered to him. We enjoyed our Date Night, all three of us.

My Funny Valentine

Happy Valentine's Day to my two favorite boys!

Goodbye, Christmas

As Epiphany arrives, we close out our Christmas celebrations for the year. Never too keen on saying goodbye to the tree, Husby took a little convincing before he relented and allowed me to store the decorations away until Thanksgiving. "Christmas is too short," he says. "We need more that 6 weeks of it." But after [more than!] 6 weeks of Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman, I'm ready to let it go. Though I am sad to see the nativity scenes backed back into their boxes, I know that it makes pulling them out again in 10 months that much sweeter.

Goodbye, 2010 ... and Hello, 2011!

The year of our Lord Two Thousand Ten bestowed many blessings on my humble family - not the least of which being that bouncing baby boy we all can't seem to get enough of [or is that get away from?]. We've had quite an exciting year, one some might even call crazy - but I won't go quite that far. I will say that it hasn't been boring - not in the slightest. But I'm ready to say goodbye now, for Two Thousand Eleven promises more adventures.

Things we're looking forward to in 2011:

• Auntie K's 80's musical - a weekend trip to Texas in February
• Baby Cousin's birth - she's due April 20th
• Little Man's 1st Birthday - also in April
• Daddy's last birthday in his 20's - mid May
• The end of training and a move to Kansas - sometime in June?
• Our 4th Anniversary - early August
• My next birthday - late September
• and, of course, Thankgiving & Christmas all over again!

2010 was fun while it lasted - lets see what 2011 has to offer.

Bath Time Fun

For his first Christmas, Husby and I presented Little Man with new bath toys. Getting a bath is one of his favorite parts of the evening - and it's now even more fun with the addition of floating, scooping, and squirting fish & friends. We couldn't resist recording him and his fun:

~Christmas Letter~

We wish a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you, 

our family and friends far and near!

2010 has been a year of many changes for us. 

It was a wild ride (one we're sure is not over yet!):

When we started out in January, I was 5 months pregnant and standing as a bridesmaid in my sister's wedding. We were living in an apartment in Plano, Texas, and preparing for the arrival of our firstborn in May. Husby had been looking for full-time work for a while, and finally found a position at Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah. His start date was to be May 10, very near our due date, so our doctor agreed to do an induction at 38 weeks.

Little Man was born at 5:15pm on April 26th - 7lbs 5oz & 19in of beautiful baby boy! He turned our lives upside-down, and we couldn't be happier! Little Man was baptized on May 2nd at Faith Lutheran Church, and by the end of the week Husby was off to Utah to start his new job. Little Man & I stayed behind until the first week of June, waiting to ensure everyone was healthy enough for the trip. June 10th we all moved to Utah, and were living in Temporary Base Housing, waiting for a house to come available so that we could move our belongings in and get settled. Being a stay-at-home mother, and so far from family, I began keeping a daily blog of our activities and adventures in July (the beginning).

By the grace of God, a house never did come available for us, but we were shown another path He wanted us to take. With thoughtful prayer and a leap of faith, Husby left behind aircraft maintenance and transfered to an Air National Guard unit in Wichita, Kansas on August 14th and we readied ourselves to head to training in Satellite Communications. Schooling was expected to begin in September, but was pushed back to November - meaning we were going to be 'in-between' for a matter of months. Thankfully, my parents were kind enough to allow us to stay with them until we were back on our way again, and Husby was able to find work in the stock room at our local Macy's to make ends meet until his schooling started.

From August until November, we lived with the Brownes, enjoying the extra time with Grandma & Grandpa and soaking up the Texas sun. During that time, we also made a visit to Iowa for Husby's brother's wedding. We were both asked to stand with them; Little Man was not too happy about being away from his parents during the ceremony, but he did enjoy dancing with Nana & Opa at the reception. We are incredibly grateful for the time we had to spend with family in those months.

Orders finally came through for Husby to begin his training in Biloxi, Mississippi on November 15th, and we packed ourselves up and moved to Keesler Air Force Base. The move itself was rather eventful, and those who are interested can read the adventures starting here.

We are now settled into our home on the Mississippi gulf coast, and celebrating our first Christmas as a family of three. Husby's classes will finish up in June, at which time we'll be headed to Kansas to work with his unit at McConnell Air Force Base.

Our adventures continue, and we thank the Lord for His blessings. May He grant each of you the peace of assured salvation through the birth, death, and resurrection of His Son, without whom there would be no Christmas.

With Love,

M&K, w/R

Baby's First Christmas

This morning, we awoke to a cooing baby and pouring rain - so much for a white Christmas. I guess Mississippi isn't much for snow. We took a rain check on our plans to take Little Man to the beach on his first Christmas, and enjoyed our day inside instead.

Giddy like children ourselves, Husby and I were anxious to get downstairs for the opening of presents. We had gifts to and from each other, of course, but we were really more excited about the things for Little Man. At first, he was more interested in the tearing of the paper, but once he saw the goodies inside the packages he was anxious to try out his new toys.

Miscellaneous gifts from Great-Aunt Sal

Stacking cups - that fit together to form balls - from Grandma & Grandpa

Bath time toys from Momma & Daddy

A Lambie made with love from Nana & Opa

Thank you to everyone who sent their love this Christmas.

Your kindness has warmed our home,

and your recipes have filled our bellies.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is filled with many things this year: the anticipation of tomorrow, the saddness of sending Auntie K back home, the realization that she'll be back next week for New Years, the baking of the Christmas treats, the preparation for tomorrow's big meal, and the meaning of Christmas - Little Man style.

Little Man's Christmas Greeting:

There's even a bit about the wisemen 

(who apparently fell to the floor).

This year's Christmas treat:

FunFetti Cake & Holiday Icing

Hand piped by yours truly.

Merry Christmas!

Sunset on the Beach

Baby-Friendly Books

Auntie K is here for a visit! Our next few days will be a combination of Christmas preparation and playtime with the Auntie. Little Man welcomed her to our home wearing the onesie she personalized for him before he was even born.

Along with her presence, she also brought us presents: 

a soft Christmas Counting book for Little Man ...

... and some books from Momma's childhood, for him to enjoy as well.

[Let's just say that I was a little excited.]

Story time has never been so much fun!

Anticipation

This house is getting pretty excited for Little Man's first Christmas! 

The gifts are all wrapped and under the tree, the meal is planned, 

the boys are scheming, and Momma is drinking it all in.

Goodies

The holiday season begs the baker in me to get to work, and I've been putting it off for far too long. My boys and their pouty faces finally got the best of me this afternoon, and I quickly knocked out some lemon cupcakes [Husby's favorite!]. Little Man was content to watch from his high chair just as long as I was moving - but don't you sit down, Momma! All two-dozen cupcakes were mixed, baked, and frosted before he had a major melt-down, a success by any standards!

While our cupcakes cooled, we took a walk down to the mailbox to see what Christmas packages awaited us. Wouldn't you know it, the day I decide to bake sweets, some more show up in the mail. A dear friend in Iowa sent us some CakeBalls she made this week so we wouldn't miss out on the holdiay cheer. Thanks, Jenny!

Our home is officially on a sugar rush, and we're doing our best to keep from finishing off the goodies tonight. We'll see just how much will-power two 'grown ups' have once the baby goes to bed ...

Visiting

This weekend, we're hosting my parents and sister for a visit. Grandma, Grandpa & Aunt Boo arrived by plane this afternoon, and promptly took us out to Outback for dinner.

Oh, how I love that man ...

The Grandparents had some difficulty coordinating their smiling/serious faces.

Aunt Boo and her dinner date - Little Man!

Neither Grandma nor Aunt Boo could wait until Christmas to give Little Man his gifts, so we had a mini-gift opening when we got home.

A "Baby's First Christmas" ornament, from Aunt Boo

His first cars, and a ramp to play on, from Grandma

They were nice enough to allow Husby and me to open one of our gifts as well:

A new camera!

We're relieved to finally have one of our own again; we've been borrowing Auntie K's for the last while, and she's ready to have hers back again. Now if I can only figure out how to set it up properly ...

We're enjoying their company so far, and planning a tour of our new home for tomorrow before they head back to Texas.