Insight into God as our Father

I found another blog post today that I just had to share. A friend of mine from back home has created a non-profit organization called "Clothe your neighbor as yourself," and he goes all over the place doing crazy things in the name of Jesus to help the world's poor. Anyway... he posted a quote from one of his friends that really just spoke to me.

You see... my little James and I are going through that tough stage of me learning to let him cry himself to sleep so he learns to fall asleep without mommy's help. I know that it is best for him, but it cuts me deep into my soul to listen to his cries and see his tears. This father relates this whole thing back to God as our father, and it really spoke to me. I thought it might speak to some of you as well.

Happy Friday!

http://officialjamesbarnett.tumblr.com/post/1258218420/right-outside-the-door

And because no blog is complete without a picture.

(Yes, my son likes to chew on his dresser knobs... and well... pretty much anything else. He also drew on himself for the first time ever. He even figured out how to open the pen himself! haha!)

8 month photos, 1st hike, and Daddy time

This is how I found James a couple mornings ago when I went into his room to get him up. Just chillin'... He usually just lays in his crib talking to himself for 5-10 minutes after he wakes up. His sweet noises are like music to mommys ears. :) So precious!

Well... what's new? Seems like there's really not too much to tell. James and I have spent the last two weeks pretty much like we spend every other week... doing laundry, grocery shopping, vacuuming, playing in James' room, cooking together, etc. It can seem so monotonous at times, but then I sit down in my rocker with James in my lap and think about how much I dreamed about being a mommy and having a sweet little boy like him. And I just soak in the moment... trying to keep it from slipping by so fast... and trying to store up my feelings and James' sweet noises and movements in my memory to replay and enjoy forever. What a joy this journey called motherhood can be!

James is still growing like a weed. He's got two teeth on the top about to pop through, which means he and mommy haven't gotten a full night of sleep in about 3 weeks! But we can finally see those little jokers so hopefully soon the itching, pain and insomia will be over for a few more weeks.

Below is a pictures of "teddy bear"James. Nana bought him this cute fleece outfit to keep him warm during the cold days ahead, and it doubled nicely as a halloween costume!

And mommy finally got some "8 month" shots of James. I really wanted to take him outside, but the weather didn't permit. :(

Last Saturday, we all got dressed for the Auburn game (Tech had played on Thursday) found the coupons for the wing place we were going to go watch it at, and then realized that it started 3 hours before we thought, and we'd missed all but the last 7 minutes of play. Well... drat! So we went out for wings anyway, and when we got back, James and Daddy enjoyed some playtime on the living room floor while mommy played photographer! :)

Since James is a little young for trick-o-treating, we decided to spend Halloween afternoon driving through the Georgia mountains looking at the changing leaves. It was supposed to be the peak weekend for leaves changing... unfortunately a couple days before we went a big storm blew through and blew down a lot of the leaves. :( We had a great time together anyway, and James got to go on his first hike! It was short, but Daddy was so excited, and I know this will be the first of MANY more family hikes together!

(Here's one of our only "family" shots... taken by a random guy near the trailhead. )
Well... that pretty much wraps up our news. We're still waiting for God to send us the right buyer for our house, but thankfully Jim is still working out of Atlanta. We definitely covet your continued prayers for us as we seek God's will in this transfer.

For HIS glory,

Jim, Ally, and James