Baby Visits Great Grandma

We went on a trip to my old stomping grounds so the baby could visit his great grandma. My grandma is a huge joy in my life, as she has experienced great loss before and her faith in the Lord encourages me as we walk through our loss of Haddon. Just yesterday I found the note she wrote me of encouragment when I was first pregnant with Haddon, and the note she wrote us after he died is on our refrigerator: "happy with Jesus, life unending, could not ask for more." 

So, of course she was anxious to meet our second little boy! That kid did awesome on the plane. Both flights when we were getting off we had moms say "There was a baby here behind me??" or "He didn't make a peep." Of course when he had a major poop it was interesting trying to change him on my lap. At one point I handed the baby to Ernie so I could take a little nap, and when I woke up I told him how I felt so much better. He looked at me and was like, "You were asleep for like two minutes." haha, I guess any shut eye these days is like super fuel.

I forgot to mention, this trip started at three in the morning.  Yeah, we are those people who, if it saves us money, we buy the 6am flight. We were defiitely zombies when we woke up. It was just wake up, feed the baby,  down some coffee and fall into the car. But we made it! 

The coolest thing was Ernie Brooks rolling over for the first time, in front of family!!

He LOVED his great grandma

4 months

I can hardly believe all the changes this month. He's such a different boy than 1 month ago.

Baby Ernie:

Is 16.8 lbs and 26 inches long.

He's belly laughing.

Is sitting up in a bumbo, playing with toys on the tray.

Reaching for toys when you place them in front of him.

Sitting in a bouncer, he especially loves being in it in the kitchen with me.

He's mimicking us when we make noises like raspberries.

Chomping on his hands is his favorite past time.

He's squealing louder than ever. And laughing about it.

He had his first airplane ride and did great.

He's laying on his belly with his head up so much better.

Oh, and HE'S ROLLING OVER. He rolled over for the first time on our trip!

Crickets

I suppose in the cricket world there is a sign on our home, visible only to them, blinking and flashing "be fruitful and multiply here!"
I'm serious. I hear them everywhere, they leap out at you in the hall, I see the dogs chasing them around the carpet. Of course my dogs choose to catch some but leave them on the floor.

There's an Alfred Hitchcock eerieness coming from our garage as they creak creak creak.

I'm a clean person. I have no filth to offer them. Please pick a different home.

WINTER hurry up!

Jesus Reached Down Into Death

Visiting big brother's grave for the first time

Tonight baby Ernie and I read about Jesus raising Jairus's daughter from the dead in Luke 8 in his Jesus Storybook Bible, we absolutely love that book. So there was Ernie, drowsy and on my lap and I'm reading along. Then I came across the part where Jesus comes to his daughter, when no one believed Jesus was going to wake her from the dead.

"Jesus walked into the little girl's bedroom. And there, lying in the corner, in the shadows, was the still little figure. Jesus sat on the bed and took her pale hand."

I began to cry as I remembered Haddon's still little figure when there was no longer any life in him just like this little girl. I still continued reading, this was a good story.

"Honey," he said, "it's time to get up." And he reached down into death and gently brought the little girl back to life.
 The little girl woke up, rubbed her eyes as if she'd just had a good night's sleep, and leapt out of bed...
Jesus was making the sad things come untrue. He was mending God's broken world."

I told Ernie that one day, we don't know when, Jesus will reach down into death, into the very grave we visited of his brother, and raise him back to life as if he had had a good night's sleep. With his mighty hand, he will make this sad part of our family come untrue.