a couple of 'firsts'...

JOSIAH'S FIRST WEEK WITH "GRAN-GRAN"

My mom and dad came Friday, November 7th, when my contractions started being regular, and they got to be here for Josiah's birth on the 8th! Mom stayed with us all week and was such a sweet servant to our new family - she cooked so many meals and things to freeze for us. She went to the grocery store and ran other errands, she rocked Josiah to sleep so I could get some rest, she treated me to an outing at Old Navy, she helped us clean the house, she videoed Josiah's arrival home and first bath. She was a great blessing to us. Thank you, Mama! And, Daddy, thank you for making 2 trips 2 weekends in a row to Fort Worth - to meet your newest grandchild and to see him again and come get Mama to take her back to Ruston. Daniel and I are very thankful for you and we love you! ...and, Josiah loves you too!!

JOSIAH'S FIRST VISITORS IN HIS NEW HOME

Rebecca and I have been friends for a few years and she has been my faithful workout buddy throughout my pregnancy. We worked out together 2-3 times per week since right before we got pregnant. She and her daughter, Caroline, came to meet Josiah the day we came home from the hospital. Caroline will have a baby brother or sister at her house in April which means Josiah will have another little friend to play with! Thanks, Rebecca and Caroline, for coming to meet Josiah!! You are special friends to us.

JOSIAH'S FIRST OUTING

5 days after Josiah was born, he went on his first outing - he came with us to our small group! We stayed a couple of hours for "oooooo-ing"' and "aaahhh-ing" time over him and then for a really sweet time of worship. Some in the group prayed over him and Nikki spoke words of life and truth into him, declaring that he has been marked by the Lord through the unmistakable fire in his red hair and declaring that he will be a man of God who will walk in the rich anointing of his daddy, Daniel, as Elisha walked in the double anointing of his father, Elijah. It was a really holy time together. Josh, Elizabeth, Caleb, Michelle, Craig, Nikki, and Brendon...we are truly blessed to walk with you through this season of our lives. And we pray the Lord will allow this to be a long season in our lives - we are richly blessed by your friendship. And we're so glad Josiah is now being covered by that blessing as well!

JOSIAH'S FIRST PARTY

Josiah turned one week old on November 15 at 2:53 p.m. so....we celebrated! Daddy had driven in town that morning and we all blew up balloons and sang, "Happy one week to you..." to Josiah. (For those of you concerned that we have balloons in the bed with our son, thinking it's a safety hazard, don't worry, he was never left alone in the crib. We just thought he needed 7 balloons for his 7 days of life. And, you must admit, it makes for terribly cute pictures!)