Breathe Easy

Daddy coming home from work, saying "there's my bud!"
Eating his peas, yummm.
Pop and Nana and the youngest Bama fan during the Iron Bowl, RTR anyway!
4 months old
Hello!
Rosie and Sam, before we knew this wasn't such a great idea :)

Well hello friends! It's been awhile.

Whew! A lot has happened since I have written. We have been busy. I bet you have, too. The Thanksgiving and Christmas season brings so much to do, to cook, to mail, to shop, all while working a full time job, and having a full time family. But I believe the key to enjoying it all is to slow down and find peace and rest.

We are doing a series at our church right now, from which I have learned so much. When Christmas is said and done, and someone asks me what I got for Christmas, my answer without hesitation will be, "peace." I have gotten so much PEACE lately. The Lord has shown me an amazing peace in the middle of chaos at work, with family and Sam's breathing issues and allergies (more on that later). I have learned that although there will NEVER be "peace on earth" (Luke 12:51) there WILL be "on earth peace" and goodwill towards men on whom God's favor rests. (Luke 2:14) So, in the middle of this crazy holiday season, I am so very thankful that God has given me an extra dose of HIS peace, which truly passes all understanding. If you would like to hear the whole message about this, check it out at http://www.churchofthehighlands.com/media/series/silent-night. It is part one.

Update on Sam:

Sam is doing great, although we hit a minor bump in the road! As you know from previous posts, he was having eczema, and sounding very rattly (is that a word?). We had to do breathing treatments and he had to take some medicine for it. We had 2 chest x-rays done and he didn't have any kind of infection so the next step would be allergy testing. We had him tested last Thursday and let me brag on him, he was super brave!! They poked him 20 times on his chubby little forearms. I made them poke me first, just to make sure it wouldn't be too bad. It wasn't :) They tested for 10 common allergens like dust, mold, dog, cat, etc. on one arm and 10 common food allergens on the other arm. WELLLLLL.....DOGS and EGGS are the culprit. We left feeling a little defeated, yet excited because we now had new knowledge. Of course we wanted to do whatever we had to to get him better but that meant finding a new home for our beloved canine and first baby, ROSIE. Thanks to my sweet aunt and uncle, Rosie now has a wonderful new home with two amazing kids, Julia and Jack. Chris and I will always appreciate their sacrifice. Sam is breathing easy now. It made me think about how truly blessed we are to be Americans, to live in a land where you can easily take care of your child's health needs. Thank you veterans, thank you.

(A little late) 4 month milestones:

eating baby foods! he looooves bananas, but who doesn't? :)

laughing out loud

rolling over and over and over

sitting propped up, like a "big boy"

playing in his Bumbo chair

following your hand and mouth with his eyes, mostly when others are eating. he loves to eat!!!

he is 28 inches long, weighs 19 lbs, wears a size 3 diaper and 9 month size clothes

Favorite things to do:

go to his honey and hoppy's house

go to his nana and pop's house

watch his Praise Babies DVD

go to the nursery at church

lay in the middle of mommy & daddy in their bed while they make a "Sam-wich" out of him!

play with his friends at school

Thanks for visiting. Praying all of you reading this will experience a renewed peace and joy this year.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Alex

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30