Who's Who?

Ryan and I had some fun this weekend, comparing old pictures of Lauren as a baby to the ones we have of Nolan. No one can say that our kids don't look alike! See if you can tell who's who...

(Answer: Left side is Lauren, right side is Nolan)

The Latest

Sorry it has been so long since I've actually written and posted something here, but, as you can imagine, things in our house have been a bit busy. Lauren had spring break this last week, so she was home every day and I had to get creative with dividing my time between the two of them (a preview of what this summer will be like). Thankfully, she was very patient and understanding of the times when her brother needed to eat and she was able to occupy herself quite well with Polly Pockets or coloring. She continues to be a very sweet and loving big sister and asks to hold him often. She loves that he can grasp a hold of her finger now and she thinks it is so fun to give him his pacifier. We did have our first (of many, I'm sure) incident the other day...he was laying on the floor and while trying to walk around him, she stepped on his foot. Of course, he screamed and she cried because she felt so bad that she had hurt him. :)

As for mister Nolan, he is growing so much! I can hardly believe my eyes sometimes...it seems that he changes a little more every day. He is only a month old and already smiling and cooing and wearing 3-6 mo. clothing. He is sleeping about 5 hours at a time at night, but I'm hopeful that he will be sleeping through the night at 2 months, like Lauren was. Being on his reflux medication has definitely helped, but he does go through bouts of colic now and then and we have to gear ourselves up for a few hours of screaming. Thankfully, this almost always occurs in the evenings when Ryan is home, so we can trade off. We go in on Monday for his 1-month checkup and will find out how much he weighs and how tall he is. Ryan and I always placed bets before Lauren's checkups and whoever was closest got to pick their prize (I got him to clean the toilets for a month). So, I'm looking forward to winning this one, too and I'll let you know what I get!

Lastly, I am doing fairly well - managing two kids isn't as hard as I had built it up to be in my mind. My body has adjusted to having less sleep each night, so I don't feel completely wiped out in the mornings. Other than several wardrobe changes throughout the day (due to spit up and/or leaking diapers), I am really enjoying having a newborn to snuggle and rock and sing to. I forgot how much fun this can be! And I have to just brag on my husband for a moment. Ever since Nolan was born, he has faithfully helped with changing diapers and baths and still gets up with me in the middle of the night when I feed him. All this and he somehow finds the energy to get up for work each day! I am so blessed!!

Here are some more recent pictures of our not-so-little man:

Heart of our Child

If you read back through our blog you will find an entry about a trip we made to the Billy Graham Library last summer. Ever since that time, Lauren has had a special reverence for the Cross. She has asked for it to be displayed in her bedroom, she often will draw a cross in her artwork, and she will point it out whenever she sees it around town.

This year Kimberly's mother got for us a great tool from Focus on the Family called "Resurrection Eggs." Through the course of opening 12 eggs each day leading up to Easter, the story of Christ's entrance to Jerusalem through his death and resurrection are described through scripture, devotional, and a small item to illustrate the point of the story. I think it really brought depth to Lauren's understanding of what Christ truly did for us on the Cross.

Easter Sunday Lauren had what I can only describe as an encounter with a representation of Jesus' Cross at our church when we attended Easter Service. I'll let the images tell the tale of what I saw...




















Tedd Tripp wrote in his book, Shepherding a Child's Heart, "You must regard parenting as one of your most important tasks while you have children at home. This is your calling. You must raise your children in the fear and admonition of the Lord."

Please pray with Kimberly and I as we seek to speak Truth into Lauren's heart so she will grow in the full knowledge and understanding of Christ Jesus.

More pictures

Due to sleep deprivation, this post will be only pictures - I will post another one soon with an update on how we are all doing. :)