Caleb is here!

Just a quick update to say that baby Caleb has finally arrived! It took a while, but he has finally introduced himself! Not the greatest pictures, but here are a few of his arrival. More later! Thanks to everyone for your thoughts, prayers and encouragement along the way. He has been so sweet and has such a calm temperament. It has been a whirlwind of emotions (he had his circumcision today; which was probably worse for mom than for Caleb), and we are so thankful to have our little man finally with us. He weighed 7.7 lbs and was 20.5in long.

At the Hospital

I am back for my second post ever. I know that I said I would post more but sometimes time gets away from you. We checked into the hospital this morning, and right now we are patiently awaiting our "little man" to show his face to the world. I am filled with so many different emotions right now. I am scared, nervous, anxious and excited all at the same time. It seems like we have been preparing for this day for a very long time. I pray that the labor will go smooth for Haley. I know that she is very scared and nervous about the process. It is a helpless feeling knowing that there is nothing that I can do to ease her discomfort right now. Anyways, I just wanted to post an update. She is having mild contractions right now and she is having some discomfort but overall Haley is doing well. Stay tuned for more updates.

Still waiting!

So, don't really know why, but Jermile and I decided to take some maternity pictures for the sake of having some, and since there is not much we can do with them, here you go! I just so felt the need to sit down and blog, even though I really should be writing a paper! This is more fun. I have been doing the Beth Moore study of Esther and man, is it kicking my butt. I am just so drawn to share everything the Lord has been teaching me through it and it is coming at the perfect time. Of course, if you are familiar with the book at all, you know Mordecai's famous words in 4:14, "What's more, who can say but that you have been elevated to the palace FOR JUST SUCH A TIME AS THIS?" Can I admit how absolutely terrified I am to begin my journey as a mom? I have so much to learn myself and have so much about myself that I truly detest and here I am about to try my best at training a child in the Lord. But, with that said, God has truly engulfed me in this study "for such a time as this." What I have been learning: Our only steadfast defenses against life's certain uncertainty is unconditional trust in a Savior who loves us more than His own life, living with constant fear is harder than trusting, God is more aware than we are of just how much He requires of us, He knows how hard it is going to be for us, what would have happened if Esther had waited to go to the king until her hands stopped shaking and her heart stopped pounding?, God is proud of us for fighting overwhelming human emotions to do His will, He is not interested in stellar performance, but in our hearts, He loves our willingness and obedience despite our insecurities, Christ's purpose is calling us to deny ourselves is that we'd deny our selfishness, ambition, pasts or damaged emotions that cheat us of His far higher plans for us (huge for me).

In light of Caleb coming at this time in my life, God has truly taught me through his precious Word of Esther. It's not about me! It never has been, but that truth has never been so real as it is now. Some things from this study that have hit me in the butt on this…He knows that nothing leaves us more hollow than being full of ourselves, we form mental strongholds toward those who won't give us what we want or need, sometimes they have quit giving us something they once did and we want it back, perhaps they broke the rules or the relationship (how much could Christ say this about us???), admitting you have an area of brokenness is a huge step toward wholeness, lose yourself to something greater, in doing so, you find Christ as you have never known Him before, we can start discover that a part of ourselves resembles Him (Lord, I pray in some way, I resemble You!), God is deeply attentive to our most secret concerns, hopes and hurts, we don't have to think highly of ourselves to think obsessively of ourselves, do you jump to the conclusion that others are either praising YOU or even criticizing YOU (most likely, its not about you at all!), no one has further to fall than the one who sets himself up, the humble, on the other hand, will be lifted in due time, all will fall before God's throne, hopefully, we just won't have far to fall!

As Jermile and I await this little one, God is continuing to teach me that although my life is about to turn upside down in a way I never knew possible, He knows and something else from Esther He is reiterating to me is that a frightening circumstance may remain exactly the same, but God's child does not have to or need to.

I know this was long, but I just really am bursting with everything He is teaching me and am thankful that He is doing it at exactly this time in my life.

Home

Holy cow, does that say 28 days until little Caleb is here? I can't believe in just a few short weeks, Jermile and I will be parents. I only pray that we both intentionally train our child to love the Lord above all things. Last weekend one of my mom's sweet friends gave us a shower in Birmingham and it was so great to see friends and family. My sweet friends came from all over to celebrate baby Caleb and I came back to SC loaded up! I just had to post some pictures of the decorations because Mrs. Lisa put so much time and effort into making the shower so personal. She made the table cloths herself and made sure everything matched Caleb's room colors. I so appreciate the time she took to make everything so special. From the invitations, to the booties hanging from the chandelier, to the cute little Auburn football (not pictured), she went all out. His crib is here waiting for us to go pick it up and I can't wait to get his room together. Jermile has been working hard to make sure his room is clean as a whistle! We (Jermile) has been shampooing the carpets, cleaning the baseboards, dusting, and cleaning the windows. This apartment has probably never been this clean! Pictures of his room to come when it is all done!

Thank you so much to everyone who made the trip and took the time to come celebrate with us!

She even made sure the cupcakes were color coordinated to his room!

She made this table cloth!

And this one!

Ok, the following picture is random, but let me explain. I have grown a little tired of people (well, my family) saying how terrible my precious dog is going to be with Caleb. I have the utmost faith in her that she is going to be the best big sister ever, because, yes, she is a person. Now, my brother calls me last weekend in total shock and explains what is going on with our cousin's little girl (Caroline) and my precious Beasley. He cannot believe that Beasley has allowed Caroline to first, put her hands on Beasley's treasured food and second, to feed Beasley out of her hand. I am not shocked at all by this, nor was I shocked to see my dog allow this little munchkin to drag her by the tail, try to ride her like a pony and take her (Beasley's) toys without asking. This picture does not do what my dog was doing justice, but it is some proof that she will be gentle and loving and I can put Caleb in the floor and know the worst that could happen is he ends up with a wet face full of kisses from Beas!

Don't Judge

Please don't judge us that we are this behind! This is all sweet baby Caleb has awaiting him. Well, I lie. He does have a swing (thank you Jonathan and Bailey), a boppy (thank you Jonathan and Bailey) and clothes to last him through his first 6 months (thank you Jonathan and Bailey)! But, this is the first thing that mom and dad have put together (well, daddy, not so much mommy). We are slackers I know. We are getting his bedroom furniture this week! Let me tell you, this is no easy task, just ask Jermile. I mean I had a hard time watching him put this thing together. He had an even harder time because all I was doing was laughing like a hyena the whole time. And, are you serious that we have to put this thing in a bag and do it all over again every time we travel? First, it will take a miracle to get all the gadgets into this bag supplied with this thing. If anyone has the trick to how it all fits, please let us know. As of now, the changing station on top is not in the bag and did I mention the bag is busting at the seams? Well, at least our precious has somewhere to sleep for his first few weeks at home….

Shhhh....

....don't tell Jermile I have put this on the blog! I think he might get a little upset! Quick funny story though...yesterday at NewSpring, Perry was giving promises to the church and one included that NewSpring will never play it safe. His message came from Matthew 16 where we see Jesus entering Caesarea Philippi, a very unreligious, unsafe place to go. Jesus was willing to go to unsafe places, as we should be. He did not die so that we could be comfortable and relax in our time here on this earth. He demonstrated this by sitting in a recliner on stage all wrapped up in a Snuggie! He then poked fun at any man who owned one, saying they should probably be shot! (Jokingly of course!). Please, men out there, do not get offended if you own a Snuggie, because the best men in my life own one! Below, my mom has evidence! This was a Christmas gift from my mom to my sweet husband, dad and brother (not pictured!). Enjoy…

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

A little late, but Merry Christmas! We had a wonderful Christmas and got wonderful goodies for sweet Caleb as well as for ourselves. Although he doesn't have a crib or anything else for that matter (I know we are a little behind!), he does have a pack-n-play (thank you mom and Sam), so has somewhere to sleep for a little while! We had such a great time with family and getting to see friends over the Holidays. We celebrated with Jermile's family the weekend before Christmas and headed to Birmingham to hang out with my family on the 23rd and headed back here on the 26th. So we had a great time at home. It was so good to have a few days with my family. I so enjoyed it and had a difficult time getting in the car to leave! I am getting bigger and bigger everyday and yes, I have included a picture of my growing belly (only because so many people have asked for it!) What is it with the fascination of a pregnant belly? I feel like no one looks at me in the eyes anymore, but goes straight to the belly! We went to Miyabi's (yummo!!) for New Year's with Jonathan, Bailey, sweet sweet Emrick, Alyss and Keith. It was such a great time to hang out with friends before life becomes very different! Love to you all!