Who you callin' Squirt?

Lilly is our peanut and Jack is our squirt...
But both are cutie pies as well....

Looking for baby Jack

Lilly Jo is getting more and more interested in baby Jack everyday. She will often go to the stairs and say "Nac" or "Nah" when she hears Jack crying upstairs...it's so cute.
She gives him lovin' but also likes to pound on his head if we're not careful to watch her:)
I think they're going to be great friends before too long:)

Lilly Jo in the Hood

Thanks to Brooke and Jerren for this super cute and stylin' coat for Lilly Jo:)

It's not everyday...

You get a baby brother for your birthday!
We obviously couldn't celebrate Lilly Jo's birthday at home on the 18th, but Aunt Natalie and Uncle John brought a cake for LJ to the hospital when they visited us! We had a blast watching Lilly and Milana dig into the cake!

Wolfpack Jack!

It's like de-ja-vu...

We gave Lilly Jo her birthday gifts when we got home...she loved the Fridge Phonics, although not quite the way they were intented to be loved:)

Our first in-home visitors were our great friends the Lowthers! They stopped by not long after we got home on Wednesday and brought us a delicious lunch from Pei Wei:) Thanks yall.

Welcome Jack

We found this balloon (and a few more) when we returned home from the hospital! Thanks Davis' for the great balloon and for watching Wilbur for a bit!

Jack.Lewis.Apple

Jack.Lewis.Apple (and Rebecca is a beast)

Jack arrived at 10:38 p.m. on January 17th. He and incredible mommy are doing great. He weighed 7 lbs 13 oz's. January the 17th was an adventure to say the least.

Here is the short form of the story: We had clearly been eagerly anticipating the moment of Jack's arrival (for a month) just like any other parent awaits the arrival of thier child. Rebecca had an appoitnment today with Dr. Martin at 1:40. The results of that visit were Dr. Martin encouraging us to get admitted and induce labor. Rebecca was 5-6 cm dialated and 100% effaced. We wanted to let it happen naturally so we declined. So as the day went on, Rebecca had some inconsistent contractions / pressure which were common for her after her doctor visits, so we didn't think a lot of it because it wasn't consistent or painful. So as dinner came, we ate and things began to progress rather rapidly. We decided to ask Rebecca's mom to come on over and stay with Lilly Jo. Rebecca's contractions quickly became consistant between 6 and 10 minutes apart. At about 9:15 she decided to call the doctor. They were expecting our call because of our visit today and Dr. Flanagan told us to come on in. So we waited (and I had to get Lilly Jo some oatmeal) and I expected us to still have a good portion of time until delivery. So finally we left the house around 10:00. The contractions became very significant in the car and approximately 5 minutes down the road her water broke (we'll say that it is about 10:05 at this point). Things got really serious really fast. For the remainder of the drive to the hospital, Rebecca describes her contractions as having not much relief. Based on the claw marks on my arms, the peaks of those contractions were probably about 2 minutes apart. About half way there, Rebecca is genuinely concerned we are going to have Jack in our front seat. We decide to call Flanagan again to give them a warning so they'll know her water broke, contractions were out of control, and we are concerned they baby might plop out at any moment. So we arrive at Rex at 10:25 and proceed upstairs to the room. Flanagan takes one look and says, "yep we are about to have us a baby" (she could already see his head). So 5 sessions of pushing and 13 minutes later, Jack was out - alive an well. Rebecca delivered him in record time with no epidural, no medication, and everyting went fine. At this point we were all excited, shocked, confused, happy, and overjoyed.

So that is the short story. There are many nuiances Rebecca and I will be very excited to share with each of you, but we figured we'd get the word out in blast form for all those we aren't able to talk to on a regular basis.

A quick word from momma - God was so merciful and gracious to me during this time - I am utterly amazed at His goodness and mercy. He was and continues to be my Ever Present Help, and has provided me a wonderful earthly present help, who mentioned above, has the scars to prove it:)

On another note.....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILLY JO!!!!

Lilly Jo is 1 year old today!!! She has been a blessing and taught Rebecca and I so much more about Christ's love, marriage, and one another. Children are truely a gift from the Lord.

Needless to say, we are super excited about the arrival of Jack Lewis and super excited he has such a wonderful big sister who is turning 1 today! Yay for Lilly Jo and Jack and Momma and Dada!!!!!

what a great patient!

so earlier this week LJ came down with some kind of stomach thing and is finally getting back to her normal self - Praise the Lord!
then this morning Seth came down with some kind of stomach thing. only his was way worse. poor man...all i wanted to do was cry for him. but he was/is a trooper and a great patient. he knows how upset stomach stuff makes me so he would close the bedroom and bathroom door before he was sick. he's been trying to make it seem as if it's not that bad, when i can tell he feels awful.

and earlier this week he even brought home beautiful flowers for me and told me what a wonderful job i was doing as a mom, even during the hard times. and he had brought home some lilies for lilly jo, because she's the best daughter:) again, almost made me cry.

now i'm sitting in the loft just pretty much praying non-stop for seth and also for myself and jack, whenever God has it planned for him to arrive...

seth mentioned something interesting to me today...he said while he was feeling so disgusting inside, he was also seeing things on the outside that were disgusting...for example, the show Friends. i have to say that show has been a favorite of ours for quite sometime, and many nights we fall asleep watching it together. having said that, we know there are many parts of that show that are not honoring to God and, well, downright disgusting. but we have told ourselves for awhile that we overlook the 'bad parts' and just enjoy the funny parts, which there are a lot of. but does 'overlooking the bad parts' really keep us from being polluted by them? probably not.

i can't help but think back to what Peter wrote in the Bible in 1 Peter 4:1-2 - "1 Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. 2 As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God."

i remember my dad speaking about this same passage after he had suffered so long with cancer...

i know that sickness is only one kind of suffering, but i believe God has used it today to reveal to seth (and myself) something in our lives that He wants us to change so that we can live more for His will.

this post is one that i'm sure has many points that could be developed much further, and many thoughts that aren't complete or seem jumbled and random...so forgive me for that and take from this what you will.

if you would, we'd love your prayers.

:)

1.8.83

Yesterday I turned 28:) I had a wonderful day with my family...and it started out with some Dunkin Donuts coffee and bagel with my wonderful hubby and baby girl...

Later that morning we met up with the rest of my family at a pottery painting place in Cary. I've been wanting to paint a ''Happy Birthday" plate for Lilly Jo, so this was the perfect opportunity. John and Nat ended up painting some pieces as well...and Seth and my mom helped entertain the girls (and Seth added his creative advice here and there since he didn't paint anything!).

Then afterward we headed back to my mom's for some lunch, dessert and presents. Mom always makes a special-request meal for our birthdays, and this particular year I was craving some of her creamy chicken noodle soup....ooooooh soooooo good:) So we had that with some salad and french bread...with a delicious chocolate desert from Trader Joes (that I can't right off the top of my head think of what it's called).

One of mom's gifts to me was a super cute basket full of cheeses and bell peppers. She knows I love both of them and don't normally spend the money on them for myself (since Seth doesn't eat them). She's quite the creative one and I just love how she makes every gift extra special - check out the 'Say Cheese' basket below:)

Uncle John reading to the girls...so sweet:)

And then, to make the day extra special, we had some visitors stop by my mom's for a little while - the Faircloths. I watched Taylor (above) and Faith (below) from the time they were both very little girls...I think Taylor was about 2 or 3 when I started watching her and then Faith came along a little later and I watched her from when she was about Lilly Jo's age. We had so much fun together, doing crafts, going on walks, playing in the park, attending the Cary Christmas parade, and tons more...I can't believe how grown up they are now, and that they will soon be able to babysit my babies!!

To end the birthday celebrations, mom took Lilly Jo home to watch her while Seth and I had a date. He took me to Sushi Thai and we had plans to go to Build-A-Bear to make a bear for Jack afterwards, however, I started feeling sick during dinner so we ended up getting dinner to go and heading home where we finished dinner and relaxed together since LJ was already in bed.

It was a wonderful birthday and I am so blessed that God gave me such a wonderful family!!