Dedication, Easter, He said, "mama!!!!"

I love living in Georgia in the spring and summer. Fall and winter does have its comforts with warm cuddles on cold days but I am a warm weather girl. Elijah also enjoys being outside in the warm weather. We have already made so many good memories this spring!

 We dedicated Elijah to the Lord, he did so good! Our pastor made it so personal and so sweet. Our family filled the seats in our small church, it was the sweetest thing ever. Elijah wore his great-great grandfather's christening gown. It is over 100 years old.

Easter was so much fun with my little family. We're looking forward to when we will tell Eli about Jesus and celebrate the resurrection with him everyday, especially on Easter. This year it was so good for Jeremy and I to reflect heavily on the cross and just enjoy the blessing Eli is to us with our family. :)

 We were also able to go to Myrtle Beach to visit my sister and her family! It was our first road trip with Eli. It was a little tough but he was such a good boy and it was more than worth the drive for the memories we made. My sister is the best hostess, she made us feel so at home and cooked us so many delicious dinners. Her family moves around a lot and no matter where they go we will follow them for sweet visits!! On the last night of our stay my sister was feeding Eli and holding him before bed and she jokingly said, "I'm not giving you to your mommy!!" Eli looked at me frantically and cried, for the very first time, "MAMA!!" I was a puddle.

Spring is happening, and I'm taking a break from myself

Life is harder than ever, I've never dealt with so many hormones in my life, and I'm having a bit of an anxiety problem. The Lord is good and I'm in his hands. Being a Mom is the most selfless thing I've ever experienced. There is not much room for selfishness. Nothing apart from Christ has changed my life more than having a baby; not marriage, nor moving, nor job changes. Elijah is now 7 months old and I've spent the past 7 months going back and forth between trying to feel like my old self, or giving up on that and just figuring out my new self as a mom. I realized though that I was spending entirely too much time thinking about myself instead of just doing. Sometimes you have to turn the part of your brain that thinks about yourself off for a while and only think about  serving the Lord and others, namely my family. It's very hard to do and I suddenly switch my thoughts back to myself and I have to remind my self that I'm not doing that for a while. Wasn't it CS Lewis that said that "being humble isn't thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less." I'm ready for that.

So I'll stop writing about myself and move on to a much more interesting topic, baby Elijah!
He has grown so much since my last post. He is such a big boy, he is eating solid food! Eli loves to razz with his lips. He makes cute little baby noises and is the smiliest baby. He loves to stand now while you hold his hands. He loves plastic shape blocks, but even more, the container they come in. He loves drinking water in a sippy cup or from mommy's straw and banging hard toys on hard surfaces. He loves for mommy to sing "little bitty pretty one" His mode of transportation is rolling around. He has the brightest eyes and the sweetest smile I've ever seen. I never want this time to end but it is all so fun watching him grow. He is such a glorious blessing. I love waking up and hearing the sweet noises of him playing in his crib. I know when I go to his room I will get the biggest smile! Early morning nursing is my favorite. I usually put him on the floor to play while I drink my coffee and read the word. After that I put him in his highchair to eat a big-boy breakfast, he is very vocal if he is enjoying it, "unumnumnum," he says :). I'll put him down for a nap knowing that when he wakes up I will get another big smile. I love playing peek-a-boo with him and doing anything to hear his amazing laugh. He absolutely loves his bath time, and I love giving him baths! He is an incredible blessing and I never want to forget this time.I fall more and more in love with him everyday. We've even started discussing baby #2!

We've been working to get our soil ready to plant our garden. We also have gotten all of our seedlings started. I'm so excited to get everything started so we can have a bountiful harvest this summer! I can't wait to make baby food from fresh veggies!! :)