Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Merry Christmas

from our family to yours!

Jesus!

Pleased as man with men to dwell! Jesus our Immanuel!

It’s mind-boggling if you ponder it for very long. He gave up His Throne for us! It pleased Him to be veiled in flesh, to be wrapped in swaddling clothes, to be laid in a wooden feeding trough.

"But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:” Philippians 2:7

No reputation though He was Royalty. A servant though He deserved to be served. A man though He created the very men he would live among.

He submitted himself to a humble birth for the sake of a sinful world.

His birth is enough to leave us amazed at the humility of our Savior, but then we look ahead to a hill outside Jerusalem where He continues to place our needs above His own.

“And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” Philippians 2:8

It’s there we see Him stretched upon a wooden cross, wearing a thorny crown upon His head. As a crowd of onlookers are gawking at his broken and bleeding body, He continues to serve them and the millions of sinners who will live in generations to come. The Eternal One hung there in our place though it meant a slow and painful death.

As we see His sacrifice, we are amazed by a Savior not only willing to submit to a humble birth but also to a horrific death.

Our Savior gave much so that we wouldn’t have to live under Sin’s Curse forever.

“And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.” Jeremiah 18:12

”That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:” Ephesians 2:12

His humble birth and horrific death brought hope to a people once hopelessly trapped in the chains of their own sinfulness.

Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that man no more may die!
Born to raise the sons of earth!
Born to give them second birth!

We have hope because He laid aside all He is to become all we were.

"To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:” Colossians 1:27

We have hope that assures of His Presence in our lives in a personal and daily way.

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13

We have hope that assures us that the One once laid in a manger then nailed upon a cross will one day return to rapture those He made such sacrifices for.

"In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;” Titus 1:2

“That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Titus 3:7

We have hope that Heaven will be our Eternal Home though we have done nothing to merit entrance.

May the Hope He gives be yours this Christmas and in the year to come!

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Two Months

At two months, our sweet Londyn Girl weighed in at 8 pounds 3 ounces! She is still a peanut but gaining every day!

Londyn girl started smiling this month! She has a way of making us smile every time she does it!

Her favorite toy this month is a stuffed turtle squeaky toy with a mirror on his belly!

Londyn still isn't napping well unless we are in the car. Her carseat works like a charm!

She spent most of month two nursing. She is still eating every two hours and taking nearly an hour to eat. Nursing has been the most challenging part of motherhood for me, but with the encouragement of Daniel, my mama, a cousin who is currently nursing as well and a sweet friend at church I've managed to keep going! I cherish our nursing sessions but have dealt with a lot of worry and anxiety over whether or not she's getting enough milk. I don't get much when pumping, but our wonderful pediatrician assured me that if her diaper count is good and she's gaining weight than I have plenty of milk for her.

Speaking of our pediatrician, Londyn Grace went to Dr. Schlacter at six weeks old. We initially used a different pediatrician for her one week appointment, but were not impressed. We scheduled her one month visit with him and then it was delayed due to Hurricane Sandy. Once the electricity was restored and everything was back up and running, we were able to go in for a check up! He is an old school doctor and his encouraging laid back personality was exactly what this stressed Mama needed! We are grateful for his thorough examination and for his prognosis of a healthy, growing girl!

During month two, we took Londyn Grace to celebrate her first Thanksgiving in Maryland and Pennsylvania with our precious families! We were definitely thanking the Lord for our baby girl and looking forward to all she would experience and accomplish in December!

Monday, December 10, 2012

Instagram...

It's a silly thing to be thankful for, but it has sure come in handy! Since it's a whole lot easier to hold my phone than my Canon these days, I love using the fun filters and effects on my many cell phone pictures of my baby girl!

Here are a few pictures of our Sweet Pea...






Birth Announcement...


Better late than never, right? A certain little girl has kept me a little busy lately so I am way behind on posting! Since we took her two month pictures today, I thought I should post this first!

I use Shutterfly for most of my photo and card printing and have always been pleased with their product! I was so happy with how her birth announcements turned out!

We also added James 1:17 to the reverse side in the same pink font as her name!