Big Bird, Elmo and Oscar Oh My!

Over the weekend, Greg and I took Macey girl to see Sesame Street Live! For those of you who don't know Macey, trust me when I say she is a high energy kid! She rarely walks anywhere because clearly running at full speed is the better option. She can jump, spin and run laps through the house for what seems like hours on end...all while cracking up at the hilarious stories she tells/imagines. We expected her to last about 10 seconds sitting still at the show, but we were still looking forward to it!

She proved us wrong! Macey sat still and watched the show for 25 minutes! We were shocked. After that, she wanted to climb back up the steps and run the halls of the FedEx Forum. We had fun doing that, too, because it's hard not to have fun with that girl!

Just relaxing on the way to the show...

Me and my girl!

Silly face!

Being a Big Sister

Often people ask us how Macey is adjusting to being a big sister. I was a little worried about how she would do with a little one around because she is a wild girl who loves to have all eyes on her. But for the past five weeks, she has loved being Easton's big sister. She loves to bring him his blanket, she "helps" burp him and even though it only lasts for about three seconds, she loves to have him sit in her lap.

So far we haven't seen any jealousy or anything, but she has had her moments. Of course, sometimes she gets overly excited and will poke him a little too hard, but other than that things have been great for the most part! We're proud of our big girl, and she's proud of her little brother!

Spring is Here

We had such a fun weekend! The weather was perfect, so we spent as much time outside as possible.

Saturday, Macey and I went to the Botanic Gardens and played in their Big Backyard!

This was such a cool swing, but she was not a fan...

Sunday, after church and lunch with the grandparents, we had a family day at the park!

Cousins!

I Love a Good Sermon! Who Doesn't?!

There is nothing better than a good sermon, and this morning we had an amazing one! Our pastor, Bro. Chuck Herring, was out of town so Bro. Tommy Vinson preached this morning. I have a soft spot for Bro. Tommy because he did our pre-marital counseling! :-)

He began the morning by asking everyone to pray that the sermon would speak to us exactly the way we needed it to, and I prayed that prayer very sincerely. He taught about how the Lord told Moses to lead his people from Egypt in the book of Exodus (vs. 8:25-28; 10:8-11 and 10:24-26). When Moses approached Pharaoh, he continually gave him permission to leave but only by making compromises, which Moses refused to do.

In the same way, as believers in Christ we are constantly approached by the devil to make compromises in our personal faith. Bro. Tommy's main points really convicted me about my own walk with God. I decided to share these in hopes that they could helpful in someone else's life.

I. The Compromise of Religion without Reality

• Satan loves it when we are "religious," but lost. He delights in religious people who are ignoring God because they walk through life thinking they're good simply because they consider themselves religious. Who hasn't been guilty of this at some point (or points!) in their life? It's so easy to float through life just happily thinking, "I go to church, and I have religion. Therefore, I'm good."
• No religion--not ONE--will get you to Heaven. Only God and His mercy and salvation will lead you to Heaven.

II. The Compromise of Reality without Intensity

• Satan wants us to feel that it's ok to love God, but there's no need to be too over the top about it. 
• As Christians, we should be different and separate ourselves from worldly ways. 
• According to satan, we can go too far in these areas of our faith: evangelism, fellowship, ministry, discipleship and worship. He says there's just no need to stretch ourselves too far to be like Christ, when in fact that's exactly what we should be doing.

III. The Compromise of Intensity without Influence

• This one hit home the most for me...
• We need to strive to make an impact on those around us. (Acts 16:21-32 and Joshua 24:15)
• As a mother, I pray that I don't go to Heaven without my children. I want to make a Godly impact on my children so that they walk in the way of the Lord throughout their lives. Just last week, I put Macey to bed but forgot to say prayers. As I was leaving her room, she said, "Mama!" When I turned around she put her hands together and giggled. It was like she said, "Duh! Prayers." It made my heart so happy that she actually remembered and reminded ME about saying her prayers before bedtime.
• As a wife, I pray that I don't want to go to Heaven without my husband. I feel so blessed to have a husband who loves the Lord, and I pray that we work together to make God the top priority in our marriage.

IV. The Compromise of Influence without Sacrifice

• We have to make all areas of our lives glorify God, even if that means changing some current activities or priorities in our lives.
• As a believer, I know that everything I have truly belongs to God, and I have nothing without Him.

Happy One Month Birthday...and St. Patrick's Day!

Today Easton is an entire month old! He's getting so big! I feel like the second time around things are going by even faster. It's so hard to believe that he's been in our world for a month.

Yesterday I attempted to weigh him at home, and he was a whopping 10 pounds. (That may or may not be very accurate.) Regardless, I know he's at least growing in length because he's almost too long for a quite a few newborn outfits.

A lot of people have asked how Macey and the dogs are adjusting with the new addition. The dogs couldn't care less. I guess all the newness of a baby wore off with Macey because they really don't pay Easton much attention. Macey, however, pays him LOTS of attention. She loves him so much! I've been thrilled (and relieved) with how great she's been with him. She wants to help as much as possible and cannot stop kissing him. Of course, sometimes she gets a little too excited and we have to remind her to be gentle, but that's not too surprising.

Not a Happy Camper

Last weekend Easton had his first official bath, and let's just say...he didn't love it. At all.

Officially OVER it.

My Beautiful Babies

When Easton was six days old, we had his newborn photos done by the wonderful Courtney Ritchey of Chic Boutique Photography. We are so excited about how they turned out!

Little Chick Magnet

Helllloooooo folks!

15 Days

Just 15 days ago, we welcomed Easton into our world. So far, things are GREAT! Macey loves being a big sister and cannot stop kissing and hugging him. She won't even attempt to say his name though, but it might not be the easiest name for a 19-month-old to say. When we say, "Can you say Easton?" She'll smile and say, "Baby!" At least she knows he's the baby in the house.

Little E is a great baby. He's waking up about twice each night to eat...Well, I consider 5 a.m. nighttime, but some people might say he wakes up once during the night (around 1:30 a.m.) and again at 5 in the morning. The past few days he's been bright-eyed and bushy-tailed after that 5 a.m. feeding. I had to have a little talk with him about the fact that momma doesn't do 5 a.m. I must be very persuasive because this morning he went right back to sleep after that snack!

Greg and I took Easton took his 2-week check-up on Wednesday, and he's doing just great. He hasn't lost much weight at all since he was born. He's currently 8 lbs. 4 oz. (50th percentile) and 21.5 inches long (95th percentile.) So, he's about average weight and a little tall/long for his age.