3 years ago...

3 years ago,  I was getting ready to walk down the aisle and say "I do" to the guy I had waited my whole life for. I was nervous, excited, anxious, EXCITED! That day, we promised to love God and love each other for the rest of our lives. I have never regretted that decision and I SO look forward to many many more years with Jeff!

I found my prayer journal from the day we got married, and wanted to record it here in case I ever loose my journals.

July 25, 2009
Jesus,
First of all, I was thank you for this beautiful day you have created. I feel like you created it just for me, today on my wedding day. Thank you for letting me see you through this. I am so nervous, excited, anxious. I know you have brought Jeff and I together and called us to do ministry. Lord you are so good. Your blessings are so apparent in both our lives. Lord I just want to pray for the day. God, our main focus is to celebrate YOU through this wedding. Lord, if there is anyone who has never heard your word, I pray that they hear it today. I pray that today is a celebration of what YOU have done in our lives Jesus, thank you for being with us every step of this journey. I pray that you will give us peace to calm the nerves, give us strength to make this new change, and give us joy no matter what happens today. Johnny Harvey made the point last night that we have been on the same journey our whole lives, but now the veil is lifted and we are able to see each other. God, I know YOU have brought us together. I pray that everyday we can strive to be more like you. Thank you for THIS day.


Here's another entry that I have shared with the girls in our youth group MANY times that just proves God's faithfulness! He KNOWS the desires of our hearts and hears our cries! This post was 3 years earlier than the post before...

July 24, 2006
....My heart is so broken right now. I just found out that ______ and _____ (*I didn't want to share their names) got engaged. Lord, I cannot help but wonder when MY time will come. I want so badly to find him Lord and I know that you are preparing him for me. God, I pray that wherever he is tonight, that you are guarding his heart and growing him in YOU Lord......
(My prayers went on, but that was just part of it)

I can't help but think that while my heart was aching as I was cried out to God that night, he was just smiling knowing that in just 3 years, I would be at my rehearsal dinner getting ready to marry the man of my dreams the very next day!

God is so faithful and I am so undeserving of his love and of the love he shows me through Jeff. While Jeff is not perfect(none of us are), he is perfect for ME! I love being married to him-it is one of the greatest blessings I have ever experience on this earth! I love being his wife and can only hope that we can have 100 more!!!

Happy 3 years!!!!

ONE YEAR! (picture overload!)

It is so unbelievably hard to believe that my little baby Lyla is now ONE YEAR! I know everyone says this, but it really does seem like just yesterday that we were nervously packing up and heading to the hospital. I can only imagine how quickly the next few years will go by!  Once I get her birthday pictures back, I will blog about her party, but for now, here is what Lyla has been up to this month!

I have seen so many new changes in Lyla this month! She is definitely exploring more and getting into as many things as she can! She still loves to pull everything out of her diaper bag. She is playing more with her toys and her favorite is tootles the bear. We seldom go anywhere without him:)

Lyla can say mama, dada, Diggs, bye bye and Papa. She will also make L sounds- see the video below(I really think she is trying to say her name-Lyla! and maybe even trying to sing a little bit! haha) She loves to talk -no idea where she gets that from:)

While she is not walking by herself yet, she has completely mastered cruising. She can pull up on just about anything and as long as she is holding onto something, she is on the go.

Since Lyla has 4 teeth now, we are making less and less baby food and letting her try more "big people" food:) She loves pastas, eggs, cinnamon rolls, oatmeal, yogurt, applesauce, pizza, popsicles, cake (really, anything sweet!). Of course, she still loves her sweet potato, peas, mashed potatoes, watermelon, and peaches. She is a very good eater. We are still working on the sippy cup thing, but she has gotten A LOT better at. She likes to drink out of whatever cup we are drinking out of- and she has even started sipping from a straw! She is down to 1-2 bottles a day and we are hoping to start whole milk this week with her. 

Lyla weighs 18 lbs and 10 oz and is in the 10% for her height and weight. She can wave bye bye and clap her hands. She loves to dance when she hears music and she is super cuddly. She will usually have 1 or 2 naps a day and will usually sleep through the night. She is still in size 3 diapers and 9-12 month clothes.  She is so full of life and is truly the best baby!

Here are some of the one year pictures I took!

Happy 1 year Lyla Rae!!! We are so blessed to have you in our lives!

                         July 2011                                         July 2012

A special service

I am a little behind on all the things I would love to share with everyone who takes the time to read my blog. We are getting ready for Lyla's first birthday and even though it is still a few weeks away, I have to have everything ready before we leave for our mission trip next friday. We will actually come back on her birthday and then party it up the very next day! So, with the party and the mission trip coming up, I have been quite busy.

BUT, I did want to make sure that I posted a few pictures from last Wednesday night, when Jeff got the opportunity to baptize 4 of the kids we have been ministering to out at Quail Run. We invited them to our church's VBS- 3 of them gave their life to Christ and 1 had already been saved but never been baptized and wanted to follow through with  baptism.  As believers, we step out in faith to do the work that God has sent us to do and sometimes, we get to see the fruit...this was one of those nights. The praise and glory goes only to my Savior!

"Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let them say among the nations, "The LORD reigns!" 1 Chronicles 16:31

(Love, Love, Love these girls!!!!)

 (And Bredarian, I love YOU too!)

( I absolutely LOVE the joy on their faces afterwards!! God is good!)

"Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away." Isaiah 51:11

We had a special worship service and then a pizza party afterwards! 

11 Months

I cannot believe that my little girl is one month away from turning one! Where is the time going??!! Wasn't this just yesterday????

Lyla has been up to SO much this month.  To say that she is active is an understatement. She is into EVERYTHING-constantly playing, constantly on the go, constantly enjoying anything she can get her little hands on! She is the funniest little girl and is always making us smile by the things she does. She has learned the word NO and will literally stop mid action when we say it. Does she always obey it?-well, that's another story:)

She learned to pull up about a month and a half ago, but I can now say that she has mastered that. She wants to stand ALL the time. 

She definitely has some new hobbies this month including dancing (she will shake her shoulders whenever she hears music), closing doors, talking more ( I LOVE baby talk!), playing with Diggs. (although this is not necessarily a NEW hobby, they play together a lot more now) and swimming-she loves the pool!

Lyla is starting to ween off of the bottle and her formula and has been drinking more from her sippy cup! She eats 3 times a day and has 3-4 jars of food or something else that I have prepared along with a snack. She is a great eater! Her favorites include graham crackers, mixed veggies, sweet potato, eggs, oatmeal, and apple sauce. We have discovered that she seriously DISLIKES green beans. Her face would make you think she was eating mud. She loves to share her food, or anything for that matter! She is always trying to hand me something, which works out nice when she finds small objects on the floor because she will USUALLY hand them to me. 

She is still in size 3 diapers and is pretty petite for her age, but is growing everyday! She is the sweetest most lovable baby! She loves to snuggle and be close to people. She loves going to church and playing with all her friends in the nursery! She can point to things and give kisses, although the kisses are usually very sloppy and very wet:) But, you know I don't mind one bit. She has a new favorite toy that always brings a smile to her face-his name is tootles which came from the mickey mouse club house show! Oh toootles:)

This girl is most definitely a blessing. We are so thankful to be her parents and are having a blast watching her grow! Lyla, we love you with all of our hearts!!! 

 Happy 11 months sweet girl!