Papi's gone adventuring...

Sweet soft red hair! It's kind of like a strawberry blonde but he's a boy so I don't know what a strawberry blonde is on a boy...but it's darn cute;)


God gave us such great time together as a family over these past seven weeks; Caleb is now 11.3 pounds and doin' great. He slept for seven hours straight three days ago- praise the Lord for such a sweet child.

Steve left for deployment on the Alaska and we are ever so excited to go pick him up again...in a few months;) We were so sad, but God is so strong in our weakness...so Mami's holdin' down the homefront and Papi's out at sea, but we're both clinging to God as we so didn't want to say goodbye again.

I have been amazed at how clearly God's affirmed his awesome presence and love over the past week. Like I was telling my brother Dave the other day, it's been hard, but it's been good- that deep sort of good that doesn't require happy circumstances, only reflects a knowledge of appreciating the joy amidst the pain. God is so cool like that.

For instance, the other day I was driving along the road and the sky was gloomy as could be! It was totally enough to get you down, especially in this week of little sleep, high stress, and deep heartache as we neared "see-ya-soon." Suddenly, however, there came a break in the clouds and I caught it- a glimpse of the bluest blue sky and the brilliant sunshine and the whitest puffy clouds, high above the grimy grey of the rest of the sky and the day. And you know what I realized? Like a full breath of fresh air, I remembered the brilliance of the sunshine, the freshness of the blue, the openness of a clear day. It was just a moment, just a spot in the sky otherwise filled with clouds.

But it made me realize that even though I can't always see beyond the clouds of my circumstances or feelings- God is ever present, always there, and always awesomely free. We read before he left out of psalm 46:1-4 "God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in time of need. Therefore WE WILL NOT FEAR, though the earth give way, and the mtns fall into the heart of the sea...God is within her, she will not fall. God will help her at break of day." God is so cool like that- that he is ever-present. Whether I can see it or not, I know the sun is still there, shining bright as day and creating a beautiful glorious blue sky. Even on the cloudy days, I have faith, knowing the sun is still there regardless of what I can't or can see. Likewise, now, in the midst of military separation that hurts like such a deep ache of the heart, I know that God is still here, ever present in my time of need. The One who put the stars in place will take care of my husband, and will comfort my heart as I have need for it amidst my full and busy days. love you all, j

Mommie's favorite pictures;)

So I've never been one to have a "dream nursery"- I think God has more on earth for us to do sometimes- but God has totally brought together, in bits pieces and handmedowns, the most beautiful little nursery for Cae- I have to get a picture of the changing table Steve built for Caleb from scratch- it is definitely a cozy little mix and match room, just perfect for our cozy little mix and match family;)
This was a picture taken this past Sunday; Steve's leaving soon on deployment and we are cherishing our moments together as a family. He's reading to Caleb and I as we sit our blue couch out of AAMilne's Winnie The Pooh stories- what a gift to share this time.
This is a pic of our SWEET osito- our sweet little bear- what a charmer;)



THIS is Cae's third smile ever- he was ALL smiles this past Sunday, and he is just adorable when his eyes all light up, that big ole' smile opens up (like shel says) and you can tell he GETS it;) This is so extremely precious, and man it just rocks to be able to have Steve be the first to catch his smile before he leaves for three mos. Yeay God.

It has been an amazing six weeks of growth as a family; by the grace of God it has been a wonderful, life-giving time. Not without challenges, but Caleb is such a sweet baby, and we are so very blessed to have this precious time together. Steve and I are grieving this deployment considerably more than the last one, at least beforehand. But I'd heard the other day that the second deployment is often the harder one because you know what to expect but it hasn't yet become an understood routine thing. Ah well, it IS wonderful to grieve a person while the person is still with you; we both get to tell each other how much we mean to each other, and how very much we will miss each other every single day before he goes. Shouldn't we do that more often with the people we love- express our true heart for them while we've got em around? That whole idea of our lives being such a mist- man deployment reminds you so dearly that this time IS so precious that we get to share together on this earth. Thank you all for being a part of our lives; you mean SO very much to us. love, jc