My Pastor preached yesterday on "How to Conquer Worry" I know it was a help to me. We all have times in our lives when our faith is put to the test. If we trust God in those times we build up memories to go back to and remind us that God always shows up just in time. It's so true! I really want to be able to look back on the trying times in my life and know that I trusted God to help me through, not that I worried and fretted and doubted that God would come through for me. I'm putting the address on here, if you have the time you should try to listen to it. Just copy and paste to your browser.  <3

http://www.harvestbaptistacworth.org/files/Sermons/10-112%20-%20DReed.mp3

I would like to ask you all to pray for a sweet lady at my church named Linda. Her and her husband have been very sick recently and this last week her husband took his own life. Miss Linda is always a happy lady and any time I asked her how she was doing she'd say "I'm very blessed, how about you?" She was at church this morning, but very heart broken and upset as you could imagine. Please pray that God will comfort her and help her to deal with this very painful time in her life.

Jeremy's "interview" went really well. They didn't ask him questions or anything, just took him out on an airboat and showed him Lake Okochobee (sp?). He of course loved it and says this would be his dream job. They said they will be notifying the person who got the job sometime this coming week. Now we just have to wait and see

Well, as y'all can see from all the pictures my baby is not so baby-like anymore. Jakob had a very good birthday with my parents and sisters showing up in the afternoon and Jeremy's parents and Kara showing up that night. The next day was his birthday party and a few friends from church brought their kids as well as all the family and Jakey had a great time. A funny story...

On the little playground Jakob was wearing his sandals (he rarely wears shoes to walk) and he would fall down on the wood chips. He'd put his hands on the ground and make a grunting sound as he stood up. I guess he sees all of us adults groaning and grunting as we stand so he kept doing that every time he fell. It was so funny. 

Jakey loved his birthday cake (which we knew he would) and got really messy, which is exactly what first birthdays are for. After the party the families all came back to our house and we just spent time together which is a lot of fun. It's loud of course having everyone together, but I love it and really miss it. Jakob and his cousins Will and Kate played in the little pool together. Kate kept laying back on her back and wanting to kick her feet in the water. Molly had to hold her head up above the water so she didn't drown herself, but she was having a great time :) Sunday everyone went to church with us, which was nice. We packed out our "young couples" sunday school class. After church we went to Cracker Barrell and ate lunch and then Jeremy's parents and Kara as well as Dave and Molly left to go home. I really wanted to cry, but I held it in. I miss seeing everyone so much. I do okay while I'm here but when I see everyone and am reminded of how it used to be I do miss them a lot. Sunday night we had a watermelon picnic down by the pond after church, and the girls ran around and played with some of the kids from church. Jakob ate three pieces of watermelon all by himself. The weather was cooler and it was really nice. Monday my parents left. From the time I woke up on Monday I felt sad. I had a great weekend, but I knew my parents were leaving and I just couldn't shake the sad feeling. I started crying before my parents even got to my house. It really is a desire of ours that our children (or child whichever God chooses) are raised around their grandparents. Neither of us had that opportunity growing up. My mom and dad headed home and Carissa and Abigail stayed here with us. Jeremy will take them to Eufala on Friday to drop them with my mom and dad. Jakob is loving having his aunties here with him. They play in the pool, dig in the sandbox with him, read him books, he gets constant attention. When we're driving somewhere all I hear is "Shauna, look at him, he's so cute" or "Shauna look what he's doing" he is one adored little boy. Carissa and Abi really love being aunts. Yesterday Jakey had his 12 month well check. He is 21 pounds 11 ounces. Only 36th percentile for his weight (that was a shocker and a first!) He is 80th percentile for his height though. (I don't really remember what the height was) When you look at the markings they make for the height he really is so long now! He had to get 5 shots :( He did really well though, by the time I left the doctors office he was not crying anymore. Last night he was running a fever, but it goes down with tylenol. Today is Jakob's friend Ruthie's birthday. I am excited for her. Cat has been so sweet and such a friend through this whole experience. We went through IVF at the same time and ended up with due dates just a couple of days apart. It's so nice to know someone who knows how you're feeling and someone to encourage you when you need it. 

This is what we got Ruthie for her birthday. So cute right??? I wanted to make her some shoes, but everything I've read says it's very difficult, plus we've been moving and I haven't had any time to crochet. Ruthie's such a pretty little girly girl, I could just see her in this. Well, I've got 3 kids who are anxious to get to the library so I'm gonna go. Hope you all have a great day! 

L<3ve,

            Me

p.s. Please pray for Jeremy. He's on his way to Ft. Lauderdale right now. His interview is tomorrow. I'm just praying that if it's God's will for us to go he will work everything out. I know Jeremy really wants the job. Thanks girls :)

Birthday party pictures

birthday cake pics...

playing on the playground...

he's trying to open it with his teeth

August 20th, birthday pics

mommy, daddy and the birthday boy <3

just opened his rocking horse, would rather play with a bow :)

handy manny tool box (daddy picked out)

veggie tales book from Ruthie (a big hit!!!)

book from Ruthie

reading his b-day card from Ruthie and Cat

the birthday boy and his daddy

concentrating...

happy boy

eating a book (gross I know...I stopped him)

reading a book

Running around at the library

It's the big day!!! My baby boy is one year old! We went to the library this morning and to Wal-mart to pick up the cakes. Daddy stopped at McDonalds to get him a happy meal for his b-day lunch, but by the time we got home he was sleeping soundly. I will have to reheat it when he wakes up (at least it's nuggets).  We are waiting on Nana and Papa and the Aunties to arrive. I will post pictures later. Thanks to everyone who has sent birthday wishes :) Love you all

Jakob is now on day 5 of nursing only once (before bedtime). He is actually doing really well. The first day I cut out the morning nursing he kept fussing, but I'd just give him some goldfish and his juice/water and make sure that he wasn't fussing because he was hungry. After that he hasn't really fussed about it. He's also sleeping in the mornings till 7:30 or 8:00! We don't put him to bed till 9:30 or 10 though, but I'd rather him go to bed later and sleep a little later. I think he's loving his own room :)

I'm Back!!!...

"Desk" area in the kitchen

More Kitchen

More Kitchen

Living room (Jill, you said clean or not, ha!)

Fire Place (I love this thing and I haven't even used it yet, it's gorgeous!!!)

Hello friends! I have been without internet for a week now, but really I haven't been online much in two weeks. My first week of babysitting I spent at my friend Alisha's house, and by the time I got home I was so tired and worn out and still had to pack some at the apartment and make sure I had everything I needed for Jakob to go over to her house the next day. Exhausting!!! This week we've just been unpacking boxes and trying to get everything put away. We've been taking all the empty packing boxes down stairs to the basement for when we move again. Now, that's the real story. Wednesday Jeremy got a call from a job in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area (he's already interviewed once with them) saying that they want to fly him down to tour their project and see how everything is run and their bringing him all expenses paid! I think it's a final interview for the top candidates. Jeremy is totally excited about it. He would be working in the everglades with invasive species (pythons!!!and some plants and stuff) and he thinks it would be awesome. Me...well, let's just say as I unpack a box of stuff I cry. I cannot believe number one that these people couldn't call a week earlier(!) and that we will have to make a decision like this again (whether to relocate once again). I know I just need to pray and trust the Lord, but I am really having a hard time this time. I don't want to live in South Florida, I don't want to move right now, especially with us just moving in. I've already told Jeremy that if he takes this job I'm going to Florida to visit family and he can pack all this stuff up again. He cannot qualify for another federal move until it's been a year since his last one so if he took this job we'd have to move ourselves. The only good things about the job would be a) it's a huge promotion that most people in Jeremy's job level wait years for and b) Jeremy would be happy in his job again. I know that South Florida is not where we desire to live, so it would be yet another stop along the way. The furthest south we'd want to live in Florida is probably Gainesville. Oh and Jeremy has another interview on Monday for a job back at Eglin! When it rains it pours. If you all would just pray for me I would appreciate it. I want to have a good attitude through this all, but I think I'm failing at it right now. O.k. now that I've gotten that off my chest let me talk about something else. I've heard that the transition from one child to two is a big difference. Once you've had two any more is not a big deal. I totally agree. Having two kids is crazy! Especially because they are on different sleep schedules, so when one is awake the other is asleep.I am thankful for the different sleep schedules though because that gives me and Jakob some time alone during the day. The kids have been playing in the little pool every day, blowing bubbles, coloring. Jakob loves being outside. When I put him in the little pool he will splash around, then climb out and run around the deck and then climb back in to the pool. The child loves the outdoors. This house has a lot of windows, which is nice. I see Jakob walk past a window and he'll stop and look outside and squeal. I guess that the people who we're renting from had a lot of furniture, because when we saw the house without furniture we realized that it is big! It's not so big that it feels barren with my furniture, it just feels perfect. I think it is the perfect size. I definitely have room for visitors, so if any body wants to come...well, we'd better wait a week or two and see what's gonna happen. Otherwise, I'm sure Jeremy would like some help packing! HA! I put up some pictures of the living room/kitchen. I will put up more pictures later. I still have some stuff to unpack, mostly just our clothing and things in our bedroom. Hope you're all having a great weekend, and I'm ready to catch back up on everyone's blogs. Somebody from Florida needs to tell Callie that I need an explanation of who she's with in the picture at the top of her blog :) 

Talk to y'all soon.

-Shauna