9 Years

One year ago, on April 28th, I blogged about our 8 year dating anniversary. Two days ago, Josh and I celebrated 9 years of "being together". In my post last year I cited how we had been through so many seasons and adventures- and that we looked forward to weathering the uncertainties of the future together.

Truth be told, one year ago on the 28th, I was anxiously awaiting announcing that we were going to be expecting our first baby. However, we wanted to wait for our first ultrasound to make the big announcment. Two days later, (one year ago today), we got to see our first baby at our ultrasound appointment, however, his or her heart was not beating. Josh and I were crushed at this news and mourned the loss of this life- and truthfully, while it was easy to sing "blessed be the name of the Lord", we struggled to surrender our longing for that baby. On August 12th we discovered we were expecting again and we were elated, however it did not take the sting away from losing our first.

It is amazing, that one year after that very sad ultrasound, the Lord saw fit to bless us with a son. We couldn't have written a better story for our lives if we tried, and we certainly didn't think it was a great "plan" to lose our first baby, but God's ways are so much higher than ours!

Isaiah 55:8-9

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways', declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."

We give thanks today for God's divine providence in our lives- even when we do not know how it will all turn out. There is so much in our lives right now that is uncertain and we trust the Lord will provide as he always has. We ask for your prayers as we seek to parent and love Cameron in a way that is honoring to the Lord and as we seek to love each other from afar in light of Josh's upcoming deployment. Most importantly, we ask for your prayers as we continue to seek to love the Lord with all our 'heart, soul, and strength' (Deut 6) as we encounter the many adventures life has for us ahead.

Cameron James

On April 19, 2011 at 11:32 pm (2232), we welcomed Cameron James into the world! He was a perfect 6 pounds 15 ounces and 21 inches long. He entered the world with a full head of hair, beautiful blue eyes, and his father's good looks and laid back temperment.

After much anticipation, Cameron arrived when we least expected it! Whitney came down with a cold and sneezed about 30 times in a row on her way to the hospital for a strep throat test and left the hospital 40 hours later with a baby in her arms (4 days before his due date)!

He sure has his Daddy's nose!

Sleeping in Mama's arms before his first car ride home

sleepy baby

Exhausted and elated Mama

Proud father!

Auntie Heidi was thrilled to see baby Cameron before she had to return home from her spring break visit to Florida. She patiently waited with us during parts of Whitney's labor and was delighted to hold Cam for the first time early Wednesday morning!

Nanna (Mom G), Pappa (Dad G), and Grammie (Mom A) arrived 30 minutes prior to Cam's birth and shared in the first few days of his life with us. We so appreciated their love, encouragement, and practical help!

Uncle Matt also joined in welcoming Cameron to this world, as he conveniently had a work related simulator in Jacksonville shortly after he was born!

We praise God from whom all blessings flow for this beautiful new life. We are amazed every day that the Lord saw fit to entrust Cameron to us for this lifetime.

Jacksonville Zoo

Josh began pre-deployment leave on Tuesday and we have been having a great time together! Teddy sure has been getting spoiled by daily trips to the dog park, 3 2 mile walks, and lots of cuddle time in the evening. Wednesday we started off the day at the Jacksonville Zoo. It was a beautiful day- 80 degrees and sunny- no humidity and a light breeze! I have been so anxious for our little guy to arrive, but yesterday was really a blessing of time for Josh and I together without an agenda or any place we had to be! While we have enjoyed some other zoos a little more because of animal viewability, we found that we saw some animals we did not know existed during this trip and learned some really cool animal and habitat facts. The beauty of the garden areas was incredible as well. Josh, the photog, took about 500 pictures, and snapped some great shots! After a 2 hour nap for this tired Mama bear, we took Teddy to the park yesterday evening and had quite a scare! Teddy has become quite the swimmer. He will swim across lake bow wow without hesitation now and he will not stop swimming until we stop throwing him a ball. A rather rambunctious golden retriever puppy was quite fond of Teddy and dunked him under the water playfully while he was still out in the water quite deep- Josh was out looking for another ball to throw for Teddy and I saw him get dunked but thought he would come up soon- sure enough he came up for air briefly and the golden dunked him again- this time I saw no sign of Teddy coming up or really any activity under the water. I began screaming Josh's name and running toward the water and was about to run in after him when this heroic park visitor ran in after Teddy without hesitation and swooped the drenched pup up out of the water- her shoes and clothes were soaked and she brushed it off like it was "nothing". I'm sure he was only under the water for a moment, but it seemed like an eternity and we were so grateful to this sweet woman for selflessly rescuing our pup. Thankfully, after resting a bit, Teddy resiliently went back into the water after another ball to end the evening on a positive note. This morning while he was at the park and retrieving balls in the water he got very nervous when another dog would swim near him and wisely chose to swim the other direction when a big dog was after the same ball as he was. What a pup! This squirrel monkey had such human like fingers and was having fun with the camera!

This is a "Capybara", the largest rodent in the world, see any resemblance to Edgar?

This curious guy is a "Bongo", an African Anteloupe, he was perplexed by the sound of the camera

Papa G this one is for you- I spared you the picture of the snake feeding ;)

I just had to snap a picture with the resident Zoo turtle

37 Week Slideshow

37 Weeks

Saturday, our little guy turned 37 weeks old- in Mama's belly at least ;). While we still have the opportunity, we thought we'd take some pictures together- Teddy even snuck into a few! (see the next post for a longer slideshow- these are just some of our favorites). Photography complements of Josh and mister tripod. Josh is developing several new skills lately! Photography...installing ceiling fans, painting/sanding dressers, painting walls...I'm so proud of him!