Chubby bubby...

...chunky monkey. My little man reached the big 4 months this week. It seems like he's been around a lot longer than that! Here are a few highlights of his month.

1) He now weighs in at 15lbs. 6oz.; over double his birth weight!
2) He learned to roll back to front, and then front to back. By the way, Doug and I completely missed his first time to roll over.
3) He had his first "play date".
4) His thumb has become his new best friend. Best part about it? Unlike the paci, it is pretty much impossible to drop it on the floor of a restaurant or accidentally leave it in a store.
5) He learned how to pull his knees to his tummy. Between this action and rolling, he's become quite proficient at moving around and off of his floor gym.
6) He lost most of his hair (you'd have thought a dog was shedding in his crib), but it's growing back nicely already.
7) He continues to think that his sissy is just about the best thing in the world.

This is his favorite position. It enables him to see what's going on behind him (apparently that's where all the good action is!)
Baby Jamen came over for a play date. Jamen is a month younger, so they'll (hopefully!) be good friends. DJ didn't seem too impressed, however, as he fell asleep looking at Jamen.
Such a cutie! I love how he's pulling his little knees up now. This is how he squirms himself to the edge of the papasan. Eventually half of him is hanging off and he can rest his feet on the floor. Notice how he holds his fingers out while he sucks his thumb. He ends up with tons of scratches down his forehead, no matter how often I trim his nails. Check out the chubby baby thighs! He gets those from his mommy.Sissy loves any excuse to snuggle with brother. See Grace, he's huge! Quite a different baby than the one you met while you were here!
He sticks everything in his mouth, especially washcloths! We think he might be in the early stages of teething because he doesn't just suck, he bites.

I sure love you little man! How blessed we are to have you in our family. You are forever a reminder to me of God's grace and faithfulness. May you learn to follow His will.

Feel the love...

No, this is not a two headed bug. This is the bane of my existence here in Florida. Meet the lovebug.

So named for its only function in life, mating, the lovebugs swarm through Florida during May and September, leaving their mark everywhere. You find thousands of them dead on your porch, in your house, in your hair, and my personal favorite, smashed all over your windshield. The secretions in their body actually eat through the paint on vehicles. Cute, huh? They become so plentiful during these months that driving down the highway often looks like a smokey haze as their bodies plaster the front of your car. Makes you want to come visit, doesn't it?

Kaitlin says that lovebugs are so named because they love you. She apparently doesn't love them back because yesterday I found her beating their bodies into our house with a baseball bat.

How much more shall He give...

While bringing Kaitlin home from a birthday party this weekend, God blessed me with a reminder that he always keeps His promises. There was a beautiful rainbow in the sky; so beautiful, in fact, that I quickly reached for my camera and snapped a few pictures of it as I was driving down the road. It was such a wonderful reminder to me that His promises are as relevant today as they were thousands of years ago. He never forgets them, and He always keeps them. God used this same rainbow to teach me another lesson today.

Kaitlin has a tendency to have a lot of sinus problems. For the past ten days she's been on antibiotics for a sinus infection (she gets one every time she gets a cold). Yesterday morning she started complaining about her ear hurting. I didn't think much about it. Afterall, she's been on antibiotics so I figured there was no way she would actually have an ear infection. However, last night she started running a low grade fever. I kept her home from school in the morning, but she seemed fine. Then by mid-afternoon her fever was back up to 101 degrees and she was crying just from her hair touching her ear. I knew I had to take her to the doctor.

This predicament had multiple layers. First, I was worried about what kind of infection she could possibly have that was so bad she could have developed it while on antibiotics. Was it something more severe than just an infection? Secondly, Kaitlin doesn't have insurance and this would make trip number three to the doctors in the past two weeks that we were going to pay for out of pocket. I knew I couldn't not take her because of finances, but I was worried about the money.

The trip to her doctors is a good forty-five minute trip, so I had lots of time to worry about worse case scenerio. Suddenly, I remembered the rainbow God had given me a few days previously. I started thinking about Gods faithfulness, and some familiar verses about other promises He has given me came to mind.

"Take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek); for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." - Matthew 6: 31-33

"All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." - John 6:37

"Be anxious for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4: 6-7

I was so humbled by my Lords faithfulness. Not only has He promised to take care of my physical needs and my spiritual needs, but he knows my feeble human nature and has promised to take care of my emotional needs during the process. Immediately I went to Him, the one who already knew the outcome of my worries, and thanked Him for His faithfulness and asked for peace from my anxieties. I knew then and there that even though I couldn't figure out how these problems were going to be resolved, He would provide a way.

Kaitlin ended up only having an outer-ear infection, which is why the antibiotics she was already on hadn't cured it. Not only was it a minor problem, but without me even asking, our doctor offered office sample antibiotic drops so that we wouldn't have to pay for a prescription out of pocket. And not only this, but when I went to pay they informed me that there was a ninety dollar credit on my account! Not only did I not have to pay for the appointment, I walked away with thirty dollars!

Our Lord not only promises to supply all of our needs, He gives above what we could even think to ask for.

Might I challenge you today to cling to His promises.