Catch-up in pictures

Elijah on left and Judah on the right, both around 3 1/2 months old.

Can you find any similarities between the two of them? I just knew when I was pregnant that they'd look just alike, but sometimes they hardly look like brothers.

Some new ones of the ever-growing Judah:

This is the first outfit I bought for him when I was about 6 weeks pregnant - we decided if it was a girl, we'd put a red bow in her hair! :-)

Jason tickling his neck

Brotherly love

Matching swimming suits

The new "do"... Elijah wanted to cut his hair short enough to spike it with gel.

Aunt Lauren's engagement party was this past weekend - Elijah LOVES his aunt Laur-Laur! Here are some pictures from the weekend:

She illustrated and wrote this book for him and Judah, then had it printed for them.

Playing in the rain this morning:

Jason returned to work this morning after an entire week off of school & work - BOO! We had a fun time doing some things around here as a family. He starts back to school next Monday. :-(

On my mind today

Update: by request, videos added at the bottom

Things I love about Elijah:
1. He tells me he loves me on a daily basis
2. He loves God and lets me know that regularly
3. He talks about heaven a lot and is excited to go there one day
4. He is a great, healthy eater - the other day he ate about 15 sugar snap peas saying YUM after each one & most of the time when I give him some food he asks, "will this make me strong & healthy?"
5. He brings me a glass of water every day, all his idea
6. If he gets to pick a treat out of the treat jar, he shares it with me
7. He reminds me to "be patient" sometimes
8. He loves his baby brother and is so sweet to him
9. He thinks things through very carefully before trying something new
10. He is a lot more independent than I was...he loves to spend days away with his grandparents
11. His love for music, and the fact that he knows David Gray, Coldplay, Jack Johnson and several others just by the sound of their voice
12. He is very compassionate towards animals..he says "they're so sweet" about every single one - even roadkill! :-)
13. He gives the best "great big hugs"
14. He still likes to cuddle up in my lap and read
15. The way he sings the Curious George TV show intro music - it cracks me up!
16. The way he says "I'm going to win" every where we go
17. He loves helping me do the dishes (maybe I can make that one stick- ha!)
18. When I tell him that Daddy is at work, he says, "I love Daddy very much. He works hard to take care of us."
19. He entertains Judah in the back seat of the car, which is HUGE since Judah cries in the car if he's not getting attention - yes, he's spoiled :-)
20. His gorgeous blue eyes - they are the first thing everyone notices
21. He looks like a perfectly balanced mix of Jason & I
22. Even though he has his moments ( on a daily basis :-) , people always tell me how sweet, respectful & well-behaved he is
23. Sometimes he just randomly tells me that I'm gorgeous
24. He likes to quotes movies & TV shows...sometimes they are part of his dialogue and I have no idea what he's talking about
25. He is an encourager and tells others, including me, that they are doing a great job
26. His bedtime routine...he prays every night for God to make him a mighty warrior for Him, and the way he sings "Good Night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite"
27. When we tell him we're going somewhere that he's really excited about, he does a happy dance
28. He genuinely loves his friends & cousins
29. He loves sno-cones as much as I do - now Jason can't just make fun of me anymore!
30. Anytime we are outside, he picks up a leaf, stick, twig, whatever to give me and says, "Happy Birthday Mom"

I could go on and on about our sweet Elijah. We think he's the best 4-year old in the world and that God couldn't have given us a better firstborn child. I will probably go back and add more things as I think of them or as he does them, so I can remember how precious 4 years old was.

I LOVE this kid!

Elijah singing the Curious George intro song - it cracks me up because he doesn't know what most of the words are, so he makes them up. He was very aware of the camera this time though so it wasn't quite the performance I usually get, and I had to bribe him to do it...he doesn't like to "perform" (just like me!). Sorry it's kind of dark.


Judah's new trick...you have to wait for it. I believe today (Aug 8th) is the anniversary of the day we found out we were expecting this little stinker!

This & That

Be sure to watch the video to see this incredible story about giving generously and selflessly: click here.

Also, while I'm thinking about it...here are 3 great low-budget, thought-provoking films that I highly recommend. Click to view their websites.
1. Bella
2. Sicko
3. The Business of Being Born

Another update on our family to come soon!

3 months, wow!

There are no words to describe how quickly Judah is growing up. 3 months old - I don't even know what to say. He is smiling, cooing, laughing, rolled over a couple of times and loves to play! And Elijah is a wonderful big brother - he is a great helper and just wants to hug, kiss and hold him all the time! Here is the 3-month sock monkey picture compared with the newborn one.

And just some more recent pictures of the boys

I got a better video of Judah talking than the last one...it's just the sweetest baby talk in the whole world...Please excuse MY baby talk, though! :-)

A Good Reminder

Death is all around us right now. In the past week, we have had four deaths hit close to our little family.

Today we buried my "aunt" Judy at age 66, my mom's only cousin that I grew up 3 doors down from. Her name was Judy Jane, and when I took Judah James to go see her last week before she died, she was convinced we had named him after her and told me that she would look down on him from heaven all of his life! Even though I didn't realize her middle name was Jane until a few weeks ago, I am glad that we could pay tribute to her through him and that it made her proud in her final days.

On Friday, Eric Clark will be buried at age 22. His life was way too short. What do you even say to this family whose lives have been consumed with drugs, gangs and violence. They never in a million years thought his life would be taken at the hands of his 15 year old brother.

Yesterday I learned of my dad's cousin in Tennessee who died of cancer and was only in his early 50's. I spent several weeks in Tennessee every summer when I was growing up and loved living life on the farm and playing with my many cousins there. He was the only Newman cousin that had boys, and so his two boys are the only ones to carry on my maiden name.

Today Jason learned that a very close friend of his family's was found dead in his bedroom this morning and he was only in his early 50's as well. The cause is not yet known, but this family has already had a tragic year...the death of an infant grandson, infidelity. He was the song leader at his parents' small church where Jason preaches once a month...needless to say, it is a tragedy.

I am trying not to let all of this get me down. If nothing else, it is a good reminder of how fragile life really is. None of us knows when our final day will be, so until then I think I'll spend more time in prayer, love my husband more and give my children even more hugs & kisses! That's what life is really all about anyways.

Goin' to the chapel...in a year or so!

YAY!!! My sweet sister-in-law Lauren got engaged to her wonderful boyfriend Matt this week. Lauren is just like my little sister so needless to say I was so excited for her! I think Jason was in shock that his little sister is engaged...and it's still sinking in for him. Check out Lauren's blog on my list to get a very detailed description of the night and more pictures.

Lauren, we love you and are so very happy for you! You couldn't find a better match for you than Matt...you both find pleasure in the small, goofy things throughout the day, and that is rare! :-) Matt, welcome to the family! You better treat her right or, well, Jason and I will take you out! :-)

Just for fun

Here is what Jason got me for my birthday - the RCA Small Wonder, and it IS a wonder! I love this thing - it fits right in your hand, records quality videos that you can upload directly to your computer and he found it on ebay brand new for $50! I highly recommend it! Below is a video of Judah - I was trying to get him to talk but for some reason when I pull out a camera or video recorder, he thinks it's really cool looking and wants to stare at it. It cracks me up but is a little frustrating.

Please pray...

for the Clark family from Fortress church, where we were involved with inner-city ministry for years. Their 15-year old son shot and killed their 22 year old son during an argument. It is such a tragedy and these kids have been coming to Fortress since they were very young. The story is on these news websites: here and here.

Thanks so much for your prayers!

Our 4th of July

Here is where we spent our 4th of July weekend - at Camp of the Hills in Marble Falls, TX. One of my very favorite places on this earth, and one of the most beautiful! My mom and my sister's family plus Jason's parents, brother & wife all spent the weekend together. We had a lot of fun!

The boys on Judah's first July 4th, in their flag shirts

Going out in the boat on Lake Travis

Tuck the Turtle - we found him at the dining hall and Elijah named him Tuck

The wonderful front porch rocking chairs at camp

Swimming in the lake

Looking for rocks

We did a lot of lounging around like this last weekend

My little Jude-bug

My nephew, Kristopher

Jason, trying not to fall off

My niece Katherine, the model :-)

Me and my nephew, Jonathan - Elijah decided he wasn't ready to try this yet

My mom and I on the back deck on the 4th

I got my new video camcorder and will try to get a video on soon that has sound!