Hey blog readers (aka family and a few close friends)–it’s me, Olive!  Can you believe it, I am 8 MONTHS OLD TODAY!  My mom has the best of intentions to write on here, but I’ve kinda been a little needy lately (oops) and pretty much cry if she walks away from me.  Anyway, I decided to get on here and fill you in with what I’ve been up to.  See my friend Jonah up at the top/right there?  We pray for him every night.  Well, anyway, my mom is fully aware that he blogs and that it’s super cute and she said she is totally fine if people think I am copying him, because well, I am!  I’m just THAT okay with it

Anyway, the picture above is when I was a couple of months younger and we were on vacation at the Outer Banks.  I LOVED eating the sand.  Apparently my sisters and brother did the same thing at this age too.  Go figure!  Ah yes, and here I am below sitting up.  Yes, I am sitting on the kitchen floor because when Mommy is cooking, I just HAVE to be in there.  Aren’t I cute?  I started sitting up at around six months.

About that time, I got these two adorable little chompers…er, I mean teeth.  I definitely know how to use them.  I still get my feelings hurt when Momma yells after I’ve tried them out–I just don’t get it?!

I LOVE this swing.  I feel so big when I am in it and I get to be with Zoe, Judah & Shiloh.  This swing used to be theirs, too.  Can’t a girl get anything for herself?  Well, I do get ALL of their attention.  Yeah, they love me.

Okay, so my FAVORITE things right now are our two cats.  Mommy doesn’t normally want them in the house but they make me laugh so much, she just has to let them in.  This is me with our cat, Goober.  Don’t ask about the name, she had that before I came along.  I also love eating Zoe & Shi’s Polly Pockets–girls, don’t forget to put those away!

Anyway, life is good at 8 months.  Mommy & Daddy think I’m so cute and sweet and even though I’m teething and am just a teensy bit harder than normal, they say that’s okay.  I’m only a baby once, right?  And if you have a problem with it, well, here’s what I have to say to that:

(I heard Momma say she wishes I were chewing on a different finger but she just loves this picture so darn much she doesn’t care, she’s posting it).  Thanks for listening–see you in another couple of months!

River Church

BJ & I have been blessed to have so many amazing friends.  Friends who are there through thick and thin, friends who make you laugh, friends who are putting their whole life into following Jesus.  Todd & Lori Magouyrk are two of those amazing people.  I knew Todd from Georgia, all four of us went to Liberty where all paths crossed.  Lori has become a dear, dear friend of mine and the same for Todd & BJ.  They are planting a church in Charleston, SC.  This couple has an amazing passion for God and we are 100% confident God is going to do amazing things through them in Charleston.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say we “begged” God to let us be a part of their church plant but we really wanted to be.  However, God didn’t open that door so we are supporting them from afar.  So many of our friends are joining them on this journey–it’s going to be amazing.

Anyway, I just wanted to put their names and faces before you as they travel this new road.  PLEASE pray for them–for their support to come in (if you feel led to give, please please do!); for the enemy to be far away from this family; for God to continue to work in their lives as a couple and in their children’s lives.

Todd & Lori

Molly

Neely

Henry

River Church–check it out!!!

5 months

I can’t believe this sweet little girl is five months old today!  Where did the time go?  She is rolling over, laughing at her brother and sisters, cooing, ready to eat big girl bites, getting chunkier, grabbing her cute feet…and  more than we’d ever dreamed.  We love you, Olive!!  Happy 5 months, sweet pea.

love love love it

Okay, so I went to a wedding yesterday.  It was very nice.  And there’s nothing like a wedding to make you think about your own wedding, you know?  It felt like I was transported back 8 years ago when I got to marry this hunk of a man

And it also got BJ & I talking.  And we laughed.  Hard.  Because honestly, we think our wedding was the best ever!!  How full of ourselves can we be?!  I mean, come on.  But seriously, people, we LOVED our wedding.  We didn’t just love that we were marrying one another, on the beach, surrounded by our closest friends and family…

or it wasn’t just that we rocked it like a hurricane to some 80’s music

WE LOVED THE WHOLE STINKIN THING!!!

Someone asked me yesterday what we did to make Christ a part of our wedding.  I couldn’t think of one certain particular thing.  But what he & I both decided on was this–it was the people surrounding us during our wedding and leading up to it and THEIR like mindedness and passion for God that made our wedding so amazing to us.  I believe God was there, I really do.  It was such a beautiful day.

Our wedding was so special to us for the obvious reasons.  But also because I was never sure God was going to bring along the right guy for me and he wasn’t convinced he was going to get married at all.  And now, look at us?  I’m getting teary eyed right now.

I think with our wedding being so unbelievably special to us and feeling like God was going to do some serious stuff in our lives as a couple/family, there are times when we look around and wonder–God, what’s going on?  Are you even a real part of our every day lives?  Did we get it wrong that you were going to use us in a certain way?  Is our marriage even close to reflecting what we want it to?  And  yes, I think those are awesome questions to ask ourselves.  And I also think I could be a million times better at being a wife.  And I have so much to learn about honor, respect, submission and so on.  I do know this–we ARE more in love now than we were back then.  And God is using us.  And then we got this in the mail from a friend who was at our wedding:

“God is still visible in our marriage and family as much as He was at Liberty when you met.”

Words sent at the right time from an old friend who knew waaaaaaaaay back then

As for the wedding, there are some things I’d change.  Like I would have my bridesmaids wear different types of dresses, like this:

And I would use these guys as our photographers…

And so should you if you’re not married yet or you’re planning a wedding–Kellan Studios–check ‘em out.

But most of all, we would soo totally do this.

How freaking awesome is that?!?  I seriously smiled the whole time watching this.  It was great.

But of everything I would change, I wouldn’t change the most important part of our wedding at all–babe, I’d marry you all over right now.  I’d marry you knowing you were going to be forgetful, knowing you were going to start losing your hair, knowing you were going to wake up in the middle of the night and walk into the closet when I asked you to go get the baby.  And knowing so much more, I’d do it all over again.  Because I know you so well now, so much better.  I know you soooo well that I know you’d marry me, right now, without a second’s hesitation.  Even knowing I was going to have the worst temper ever, struggle to not cuss like a sailor, daily try to battle my flesh and my spit fire nature, have gray hair and a whole lot more.

And that my friends is love.

I love you, B.  I love our life.  I love it when it’s hard.  I love that God pushed me to wait for you.  I love that you love me when no one else does.  I love our family and I love that our kids have you as a Dad.  I even love that I have no idea when you’ll check my blog

proof

When I read this quote below, it struck  me.  Just more proof that our God has set eternity in the hearts of man (Ecc. 3:11) Even the man most men (and even some women) would consider the man among men has a desire to know the Jesus I know to be true.

But business aside, of all the Tinseltowners and tycoons that have entered the Mansion grounds and graced the pages of Playboy, there is still one superstar Hef longs to meet.

“[I'd] like to find out what [Jesus Christ] was all about,” he added. “Separate the reality from mythology. Find out the roots of what has become a major religion of my time. I was raised in a good Methodist home and I had questions about organized religion, and I would love to have the answers.”

Hugh Hefner, Fox News article

34 weeks and counting…

Okay, this is so random, why am I posting this, you ask?  I was originally going to post this on Jan. 26.  When I was 34 weeks pregnant.  It was a little over a week after I started to do this when my Dad had his accident and no longer did I care about whether the baby was a boy or a girl, what outfit he or she wore.  All that mattered was life.  Not going into labor early and praying day and night for my Dad’s life.  Isn’t it crazy how life can turn on a dime?

On that note, please click on the “Pray for Stellan” link at the right.  Stellan is in need of our intense prayers again.  My heart hurts for this family.  And most of all, I could literally slap myself for all I complain about/cannot seem to deal with.  I mean, seriously??

(as for the outfits, you know know which one got worn and which one is put away for possible future use

just some new pictures

I don’t have much to post right now.  Well, that’s not true.  I just don’t want to write anything, so I’m putting up pictures.  Olive is TWO MONTHS old now–I cannot believe that.  We have a busy month so I don’t know when I’ll post again–sister is graduating from high school, so all of our family is coming in town, mother’s day, youth group stuff, girl’s get-a-way Memorial Day weekend…and some new dreads to maintain (see picture below!  I’m sure that will be a post later!).

Also, ever since I started Dad’s blog I have felt like I should share my testimony on there–so I finally did!  Huge weight lifted off of my chest.  I’ll post it here, probably tomorrow.  But if you want to check it ou now, you can click on Dad’s blog.  Here we go...

peace out

on a Friday…how can this not just make you smile?

Happy Weekend.

Peace out.  Oh and love and rock n roll, too.

orange for Stellan

We are praying for Stellan in our house today–please join us!  This post said to wear orange for Stellan, so here they are. 

home

I wanted to let everyone know that Josh, my sister, Audrey’s husband, is home from his deployment!  You might remember me asking you to pray for him in this post.  Anyway, here is a picture she just sent out.  Pray for them as they readjust to “normal” life.  Love you guys, sooooo glad you’re home safe, Josh.