life

Life. There is joy, there is sorrow. There is excitement, there is disappointment. But in all circumstances we can rest assured that God is not surprised by anything that happens. And, when the storms come, He will see us through!


Andrew was born with a hole in his heart. He also has a condition called pulmonary stenosis (a valve in his heart doesn't fully open). January 20th we went to our 2nd pediatric cardiologist visit to find out that one of the two issues had resolved on its own - yes, the hole in Andrew's heart had already closed in just 6 short weeks of life. I think this is sooner than most if I'm not mistaken. And here's our little man...



That same week Daniel's dad was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. He'd been having pain in his chest for about a year - the doctor thought it was a pulled muscle. Finally he was encouraged to get a chest x-ray. The x-ray showed fluid on his lungs, and everything went from there. The week following his diagnosis the Audis had planned a trip to see us. Despite the diagnosis, they came. And, we were so glad to have them here! What a special visit it was.

We got to process some of the diagnosis with them, we played games, shared meals, watched Josiah play, read books with Josiah, played in the snow, laughed, prayed, worshiped together. This was the first time Josiah had seen Daniel's parents since July. They are "Grandma" and "Grandpa" to their other 8 grandchildren. To Josiah, they are "Guh" and "Pa-pa". Eventually he'll join the others with the longer names, but for now, I think his names for them are kinda cute!

Here are 3 generations of Audis: Norman, Daniel, Josiah & Andrew Audi.

Yesterday...

Yesterday. Yesterday Josiah had his 2nd big mis-hap. The first was a couple of weeks before Christmas. He tripped in the driveway and ended up with this scrape on his nose. The scab finally went away a couple of days after Christmas.

Yesterday, like I said, was his second big mis-hap. And it was a double mis-hap.

It was about 5:30. Daniel's parents are in town and they were on their way to our house for dinner. Daniel had Andrew. I was in the kitchen catching up with Nikki on the phone while preparing dinner. Josiah was in the computer room next to the kitchen when suddenly I heard screaming and saw blood. I hung up quickly with Nikki to discover he had only busted his bottom lip, but he was pretty upset about it and the blood covered his bottom teeth and was pouring out of his mouth - it seemed worse than it really was. We got him settled down and got the blood cleaned up. Daniel's parents arrived and dinner was almost ready when suddenly, I heard screaming again. This time from the back of the house. Daniel runs in the room holding Josiah and says, "It's bad." I looked and a big knot was forming between Josiah's eyes and the area was already blue. "ICE!" I said to Daniel's mother. Josiah was screaming. I was trying to console him while not trying to panic, all the while thinking, "Oh no, his little head must be throbbing. This doesn't look good. How am I gonna get him to be still enough to let me put ice between his eyes?" We sat in front of the TV and put our PRAISE BABY DVD on (thanks, Molly, for a fabulous gift!) Josiah sat fairly still and calmed down quickly, though putting the ice on his bump was still a challenge. It was 6:25 when we finally sat down to dinner...

(see the black and blue between the eyes?)

Josiah went to bed just fine. A little banged up, but fine. He woke up this morning chitter -cattering away. Guess the black and blue between his eyes and the knot on his head and the fat lip are really only affecting me, he's quite resilient!

(see the knot between his eyes?)

Welcome to Mommyhood of 2 boys, right!?!?!? Guess I should get used to the bumps and bruises!!

On this day...

On this day 14 months ago....

Josiah was born! And our family of 2 became a family of 3...

And less than 13 months later, on this day 5 weeks ago...

Andrew was born...

And our family of 3 became a family of 4!

And, today...

the boys are loving life together!! (Well, you can't tell that Andrew is loving it in this picture, but trust me, he is!) ;-) We have been so blessed that Josiah is so in love with his new brother. He wakes up in the mornings either asking for his drum set next to his bed or saying, "baby, baby". And, when Andrew is crying, he has this sweet concerned look on his face and says, "baby, baby". (He also sometimes mimics the cry, which is terribly annoying, but we're working on that!) When I tell Josiah that the baby is sleeping, he says, "shh, shh" and puts his pointer finger up to his mouth. He really is adapting so well and learning so much! A few times a day now he walks up to me while I'm holding Andrew and pats his tummy, which I've learned means, "Mommy, will you put Andrew in my lap?" Of course, he's only interested for 1 second, maybe 2. Then, he shoves him off of his lap and is on to bigger and better things!

We've been so blessed these past 14 months! Thank You, Jesus, for entrusting us with these little lives! May we raise them in such a way that their lives honor You!

Happy New Year

We weren't so sure about our New Year's Eve plans until the last minute, but....Josh & Elizabeth and Caleb & Michelle moved their party from J&E's house to our house around 9:00 last night. We played Wii until 2:30 this morning, stopping only for a smooch with our spouses at the midnight hour. Then, we were back to our Wii playing. This is our 4th year to play games into the New Year with J&E and C&M. Thanks, guys, for a fun night bringing in the New Year. And, for wanting to celebrate with us despite the fact that we now have 2 wee ones at home!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, blogging world! ....can you make out our human 2-0-1-0???

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Friends...

Andrew enjoyed his first Christmas party with our small group...minus the 2 Brendons. You've seen pictures of most of these folks before, but this semester, Caleb & Bre Beacham joined our small group and we've really enjoyed getting to know them. They have tender hearts for the Lord and Bre is becoming such a dear friend. I'm loving getting to know you, Bre!

Caleb & Bre Beacham, Elizabeth & Josh Audi, Caleb & Michelle Dulock
Andrew, Daniel, me, Josiah, and Nikki, Tessa, Craig & Jesse Comolli

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Announcing...

The birth of our son.

Andrew David Audi

Born on December 4, 2009

7 lbs. 7.8 oz.

19 1/2" long

As we talked about what we would name our 2nd son, we began throwing out names that we liked – oddly enough, not many of them were names we had seriously considered for Josiah. The name Andrew was one we both really liked. In the book of John, John records that Andrew was regularly bringing people to Jesus. Andrew was one of the first followers of Jesus and when he followed, he went to find his brother, Simon Peter, and brought him to Jesus. In John’s account of the loaves and fishes, Andrew is the one who finds the little boy with the loaves and fishes and brings the boy to Jesus. Our prayer is that our Andrew would be like the disciple – that he would bring people to Jesus. Another reason we liked the name was because of its meaning. “Andrew” means “manly” or “warrior.” Our pastor began a series a few months ago on the end times. As we’ve talked about what those days will be like and as we anticipate that living as a true disciple of Christ in this world will increasingly become more and more challenging, we really felt the Lord confirming in our spirits that our little Andrew will be a “warrior” for the Kingdom of God in the coming years. Finally, “Drew” is a family name in Kim’s mom’s side of the family, and this was an added special bonus.

As for his middle name, David. Well, we all know that David was called a man after God’s own heart. We pray that our son would be called a “man after God’s own heart.” That he would fulfill the meaning of his name, “Beloved.”

So, we pray over our son that he would be a perfect combination of his two given names – “warrior” and “beloved.” That he would be tough, yet tender.

Family Pics

Our good friend, Izehi, took some pictures of the 3 of us just before the arrival of our little Andrew. We had a great time with her and got some fun shots!

dedication

Josiah's first birthday fell on a Sunday this year and we decided to dedicate him at our church on his first birthday.

Our church doesn't have a group dedication, we just let them know that we'd like to dedicate our child, and they make a time for it during the service. Mom & Dad came in town for his dedication and one of Daniel's old roommates, Chris, came just for the dedication as well.

It was a really sweet time. Josiah of course performed for the crowd, smiling and clapping when they clapped, etc. We do have quite the social little man. Don Beacham was the pastor in charge of that part of the service, and if you remember, Don is the pastor who we trekked the mountains of Nepal with, so it was special to us that he was the one to be a part of the dedication. After all, Josiah hung out with him for 3 weeks before he was even born! ;-)

Daniel spoke sweet words over Josiah and shared about the confirmations we had received through other people guessing his name, through a dream our sister-in-law had about his name, and well, the bright red confirmation of his hair. You probably also recall that one meaning of "Josiah" is "fire of the Lord" and well, he came out with bright firey red hair! Daniel finished our time of dedication reading the passage out of 2 Kings about the King Josiah who became king at a mere 8 years of age. He was regarded as a righteous king and the Bible says about him that there was no one like him who came before or after him. Then we prayed over Josiah, dedicating him before our friends and family, to raise him as best we can in the righteous fear of the Lord. We are asking the Lord that our Josiah would be like the King Josiah - that he would walk righteously before the Lord and that there would be none like him before or after him!

Happy Birthday to....JOSIAH

Josiah will officially be one year old tomorrow! It's so crazy to think that on this day last year our lives were so different - our little man hadn't yet arrived. It would still be a day and a half before he would enter this world. And now, 364 days later, our lives are fuller and busier and crazier! But, a good full, a good busy, a good crazy! We had no clue just how much our world would turn upside down with his arrival. No preparation, no advice can really do justice to clue a new mommy and daddy in to what life is like with a baby. And despite the sleepless nights and the crying and all of the wondering if we're doing things "right," we couldn't be prouder and more thrilled! Josiah is a gift to us.

Somehow the Lord chooses to entrust us with a living, breathing creature. And somehow, by His grace, we learn to be parents. And Jesus teaches us more about Himself and more about ourselves as we learn how to parent Josiah. There have been many days and nights that the Lord has reminded me that I am a lot like Josiah in the way that I relate to the Lord. Those moments are often humbling, yet tender. And, it's just like the character of the Lord to allow me to learn so many things about Him through the ins and outs of daily life.

We celebrated Josiah's birthday a week early with family in Ruston. The theme? MONKEYS, of cousre! We had a monkey smash cake for him, and I made monkey-faced cupcakes for his guests, and we had banana splits. It was really fun!

And, he loved being the center of attention. If you've seen him in pictures, you know that he has a smile that lights up a room, but one thing you couldn't know just by the pictures is what a social butterfly our little man is! And his party was quite the social event - 8 little cousins, grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts and uncles, great aunts and uncles and big cousins filled the house.

He wasn't too sure what to do with his smash cake. He was mostly mezmorized by the flame of the candle. And the fondit icing was just too thick for him to figure out. He just poked his finger in the nose of the monkey for the longest time. I dug into the cake to give him a taste or two. He liked it, but could take it or leave it.

Thanks to everyone who came and celebrated with us! Josiah loves all of his new toys and his Mommy loves all of his new fashionable outfits! A special thanks to Josh & Elizabeth for driving from Arlington to Ruston to be at the party, and to Uncle Sonny, Aunt Evelyn, and Donna for driving from Houston.