Happy 1st Birthday, Colin!

Today, September 24th, my son turns 3 months old and his cousin, Colin, turns ONE!  As cliche as it sounds, it really does seem like yesterday that I received a phone call from my mom announcing the birth of my nephew!  I was so sad to miss his birth, but I was assisting the Events Director at Desiring God in preparing for the upcoming Desiring God National Conference.

This past Saturday, we celebrated Colin’s 1st birthday with a party at my parents house in Houston! It was such a fun time with friends and family.  Colin is such a blessing in our lives and we were so happy that we all got to be together for this special occasion.  Here are some of my favorite pictures from the special day…

beautiful birthday boy…

my brother & nephew with all of their friends…

my pregnant sister-in-law with her friends & their kiddos…

birthday boy in action…

melinda & colin

ryan & colin

present time…

here is the quilt I made Colin for his 1st birthday present…

I began making this quilt when I found out that Ryan & Melinda were having a little boy.  My hope was to give this quilt to Colin once he was born, but I got pregnant soon after that and then I blinked and had a newborn.  So, I revised my plan and gave Colin his quilt for turning ONE!

This was one of the funnest and easiest quilts I have ever made…

Happy Birthday, sweet Colin!  Your Uncle Joe, Aunt Jen, & Cousin Sam love you very, very much!

Happy Three Month Birthday, Sam!

We are celebrating Sam’s three month birthday in Houston, Texas right now…home of our beloved Houston Astros…

I think my dad has two main prayers for Sam’s life…

1) That he would follow Jesus

2) That he would be a Houston Astros fan!

By the look of things, I think one of his prayers is being answered…

This has been a wonderful month with our little guy.  Sam is growing up so fast and is all smiles these days!

I know all parents probably feel this way about their children (we are no exception), but Sam’s smile is seriously the most beautiful thing we have ever seen!  We never get tired of making him smile and giggle…

Sam smiling for his Papa during their playtime…

and this smile is for his Sassy after she bathed him…

One of the highlights of this past month was the wonderful blessing that Joe and I had in joining with our pastor and church body at Bethlehem Baptist in dedicating Samuel Jonathan to the Lord…

Pastor John dedicated Samuel to the Lord on September 12, 2009 praying this prayer of blessing over him…

“Samuel Jonathan, together with your parents who love you dearly, and this people who care about the outcome of your faith, I dedicate you to God. Surrending together with them, all worldly claims upon your life, in the hope that you will belong wholly to God forever.”

Here is the big screen video shot that the rest of the church saw…

Sam and I are in Houston, Texas for two weeks, one week down and one more to go!  This past week we had the joy of introducing Sam to more of my family and friends.  One highlight was introducing Sam to his only cousin, Colin.

Sam and Colin are exactly 9 months apart in age.  We look forward to the day when they are a little older and can play together.  Until then, playing with Sam in the car seat will have to do…

More posts to come on Sam’s first trip to Texas, meeting more friends family,  and celebrating Colin’s 1st Birthday!

Until then, Happy Three Month Birthday, Sam!

We love you-

Daddy & Momma

My top 10 favorite Piper sermons…

For the past 7 years, I have been listening to and reading sermons from one of mine and Joe’s pastors at Bethlehem Baptist Church, John Piper.  I especially grew to love and appreciate Pastor John’s preaching ministry while working for Desiring God from 2006-2009.  The following sermons are 10 of the most helpful sermons/seminars I have ever listened to or read.  All of these messages can be watched, read, or downloaded for free on the Desiring God website under the Resource Library.

1. Pray Like This: Hallowed Be Your Name : (My most favorite sermon)

2. The Beautiful Faith of Fearless Submission : (On the role of women in marriage)

3. A Generation Passionate for God’s Holiness : (My first time to hear Pastor John preach)

4. How Few There Are Who Die So Hard! : (Biography of Adoniram Judson)

5. Future Grace : (Ten-session seminar on Battling Unbelief)

6. Boasting Only in the Cross : (From OneDay 2000)

7. Preaching Through Adversity : (Biography of Charles Spurgeon)

8. Job: When the Righteous Suffer : (2008 Fall Regional Conference)

9. Doing Missions When Dying is Gain

10. The Pleasures of God : (Five-session seminar on God’s Delight in being God)

What are some of your favorite messages from your pastor or preachers you listen to?  I could use some recommendations for Sam’s late night feedings!

Sam at the Emergency Room

Last Thursday night, Joe and I had to take our little Sam to the Emergency Room.  Earlier in the evening we gave him a bath, fed him, dressed him and put him to bed.  A few minutes later, Joe and I heard Sam coughing/choking in the other room.  We immediately went and checked on him to find that he had thrown up and was gasping for air.  When I picked him up, I noticed that his face was very pale and the skin around his lips was turning blue.

At this point, I would like to say that I was cool, calm, and collected, but honestly, I’m not sure who was turning more blue- me or Sam.

For a little history, Sam has been a “spitty” baby since birth, but as he has gotten older and has begun eating larger volumes of food…his “spit up” has turned into “everybody duck….Sam’s about to explode”!  I’m not kidding.  On a bad day, I would have to change Sam’s outfit anywhere from 4-6 times and I would change my own shirt anywhere from 2-4 times.  I was on the verge of investing in a tarp to cover myself and my furniture when it came time to burp him.  Ok- that is an exaggeration, but it really wasn’t fun!

We have taken Sam to the pediatrician a number of times to talk about acid reflux, etc. but Sam never had a spell like he did on Thursday night, so Joe and I took Sam to the ER to ensure that there wasn’t anything blocking his airway.  When the doctors examined Sam, they explained to us that he might need to have surgery the following day for a condition called, Pyloric Stenosis, but that we wouldn’t know for sure until Sam had x-rays taken and a Barium swallowing test the next morning.  So, we spent the night at Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis.

After the x-rays were taken, Sam’s doctor informed us that our little boy either had Pyloric Stenosis, a blockage in his esophagus, or a serious case of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease.  The next morning, Sam was given a Barium swallowing test to scan for any abnormalities in his anatomy.  The test results came back showing that Sam’s anatomy was perfectly fine, but that he does have GERD.

While we were relieved on one hand that Sam didn’t need to have surgery, we were also discouraged that this problem wasn’t going to be relieved overnight for him.  It is so discouraging to see how much food he looses at each feeding.  Thankfully, his weight gain has been wonderful, so the doctors are not too worried about his condition.

We were instructed to give Sam a teaspoon of rice cereal for every ounce of milk that he drinks in a bottle.  The rice cereal adds some weight to Sam’s milk, therefore making it more difficult for him to spit everything up.  We have been giving this to him for almost a week now and we have seen incredible changes!  Praise God!  We aren’t even giving Sam his medicine right now because he is doing so well on the rice cereal.

We have a follow-up appointment with Sam’s pediatrician on Thursday to discuss our trip to the ER and how we should continue to help Sam with his reflux as he grows older.  We are so encouraged by his progress from just this past week and pray things will continue to improve!

The pictures above are some of our little guy in his special sling that they make babies wear when they have reflux.  He was so adorable and all the nurses and doctors loved him!  These pictures were taken around 3:00 in the morning!  We had just fed Sam and he was extremely happy.  You would have never known that a few hours earlier the boy wasn’t feeling so well!

rubber ducky…you’re the one!

Happy Birthday, Papa!

Happy Birthday, Papa!

I love you SO much and can’t wait to see you in a few weeks!

Love,

Sam

STATE FAIR!

We LOVE the State Fair.

It is the closest thing we can find to a Texas Rodeo!

We were so excited to take Sam with us this year.  It was the best nap of his life.

Here’s our little “Riglet”…

Sam naturally gravitated towards the dairy cows, after all that is where the milk is…

I think Joe and I wait all year just for this…

Best. Corn. Ever.

We took Sam to the Miracle of Birth Center and let him watch the birth of some farm animals.  Not really.  He is too young, we think it would have scarred him.  However, we did show him all the little baby animals that had been born earlier in the week…

When Sam gets old enough to appreciate having a pet, my vote is for a little pig.  I’m not kidding.  I think they are a cute alternative to a puppy.  They reminded me of how I wanted to be “Fern” from “Charlotte’s Web” when I was little.  I’m pretty sure our piglet would know how to spell as well.

After visiting the Swine, Cattle, & Horse barn, eating our way through a couple ears of corn, and visiting all the baby animals, we spent the rest of the evening sitting on the grass and watching the Minnesota County Talent Show Winners compete against each other.  I was counting on my hands how many Reba McEntire songs we heard.  I usually try to protect my son from cheesy country music lyrics, but for some reason… Sam seemed to enjoy himself a little Reba…

We had a great time at the fair, we can’t wait to take Sam back when he is a little older and can do more than just lounge around in the grass….

INSIGHT retreat: Sam’s first trip to the lake!

This past weekend the three of us went to Friendship, Wisconsin for the INSIGHT retreat.  It was a great blessing to get out of the busy city for a few days and fellowship with some incredible new students in the Bethlehem College & Seminary.

Most of my time at the retreat was spent taking care of Sam and spending time with these lovely ladies, Whitney, Andrea, Anna & Barb…

During the rest of the retreat, everyone spent most of their time…

Playing ultimate frisbee…

Putting puzzles together…

Playing cards…

Tubing in the lake…

and making fun of Sam’s weight gain…

We also got to introduce Sam to his new favorite friend, Marshall…

Sam wants to be just like him…

Sam had such a wonderful time at the lake, so much so that when I told him we had to leave…

he didn’t seem to happy about it…