Birthdays, birthdays, and more birthdays!

January for our family might be as crazy or even crazier than December.  Somehow we happen to have lots of birthdays in January.   This year, my dad turned 60 years old.  For his 60th, my sister organized a surprise birthday party for him, and boy was he surprised.  It was a sweet time to get together and celebrate him.  I was able to get some cute pictures of him and my mom and their grandkids pictured below.  I think my favorite one is of my dad, Nolen, and Julia blowing out the candles on his cake.

The biggest celebration of birthdays in January was Julia's 4th birthday on the 20th!  It is so hard to believe that she is already 4 years old.  Next year, we will be looking towards her starting kindergarten, which I truly can't fathom at this point.  Julia has grown so much during this past year...  I dare say that this past year has so far been the year that brought some of our tougher parenting moments, but also the year that brought some of our proudest parenting moments.  This past fall, we started doing preschool at home, so we have truly gotten to watch Julia's mind at work on a daily basis, which has been a true blessing.  Julia is so smart and asks some crazy thought provoking questions.  She is also one of the most stubborn, strong-willed little girls (I totally claim this personality trait).  Julia loves fiercely and to witness this is so very cool.  I love the way she loves her baby brother already and the way she loves others.  We can't wait to see the plans that God has laid out for her life.  She is destined for great things.

To celebrate this not so little little girl's birthday we had a couple of fun-filled days.  On her actual birthday, Jordan took off work and we went to Pin Stack and went bowling.  Julia loved it.  We also at lunch there and for dessert, Julia had a cake pop!  On our way home, Julia thanked us without prompting for such a fun day, so we know she must have liked it.  The day after her birthday, we had a Daniel Tiger themed birthday party.  It turned out very cute.  Julia enjoyed spending time with friends and of course getting to eat way more sweets than she usually gets to.  Below are some pictures from her birthday and birthday party.

So, for now, we are going to embrace every day that Julia is 4 and not think too much about the fact that shortly, in a blink of an eye she will be 5 years old.

Rocking and Praying

Our family has had a busy start to the new year.  Last weekend, we actually welcomed in the New Year from Louisiana.  We went to Columbia, Louisiana to visit my grandma and her husband.  It was a very special time.  It was the first time for Joshua to meet his great grandma.  There were many snuggles and kisses had by all.  Below are some precious photos that we were able to get.  It was rainy for most of the weekend, so we enjoyed staying indoors and visiting in the warmth.  Saturday evening we were treated to some amazing fried catfish!  On Sunday, we went to church with my grandma and Alton and then we headed back home to Wylie.

Now, on to the title of this post.  Of late, I have had such a heavy heart.  I have dear friends that are going through so much pain.  I have started writing down prayer requests so that I keep up with who I need to be praying for.  Honestly, sometimes it feels like the list keeps growing and nothing is getting answered.  I know in my heart that this isn't true, but it really feels that way at times.  I have a friend, who is as close as a sister that is battling some really tough and ugly stuff in her life, and it seems at least so far that nothing that she is doing is working in this situation.  It hurts so bad to watch her go though these deep, dark waters.  This friend is a strong Christian, and I can tell that this is wearing on her.  I have another friend who is now watching her husband battle health issues, and not small issues.  These are just two of the numerous situations that are going on with people that I know personally.  We are talking hard, scary stuff.  My prayer list just gets longer and longer.  I believe that God is good.  I believe that that everything works for good for those that love the Lord.  Man, sometimes, it is impossible to see this though.  Honestly, it isn't promised that we will ever see it at least not here in this life, which really, really stinks. In the past weeks, I have found myself, crying over these dear friends that are in so much pain over things that are COMPLETELY out of their control.  

Joshua is 7 months old.  He wakes every night between 2-3 am.  I am blessed with a husband that takes turns with me on who gets up with Joshua when he wakes.  On my turns, I get up with Joshua and I make him a bottle and I feed him and wrap him and rock him back to sleep.  This process takes about 45 minutes, and while I am doing this, I silently pray over each person on my prayer list.  I shed a few tears and pray hard.  I don't exactly enjoy waking up to feed a little one in the middle of the night, but I feel such peace as we rock and pray.