Lastly, We've Been Busy...Part III

We all enjoyed our hike in Sedona...

We had to pause for a family pose...it was much cooler near the water than I expected. Jude needed a tobagan, which by the way, no one out west knows what that is...they refer to them at simply hats or beanies???

Jude made the cutest crocodile if I do say so myself :)

The 2 cousins finally got to play together. Jude and Jamen thought the other one was funny and questioned one another when taking each others toys. The last 2 times they visited, they were too small to play...

And, of course, Mommy enjoyed napping with Jude in the recliner...we were just about to fall asleep when Auntie J wanted a picture!

We've Been Busy...Part II

While at Mamaw's, Jude got lots of time to play with Aunti J

He also loved playing with Uncle Zach with Jamen's toy. Fortunately, Gran Deb and Papa Rogie sent one for Jude man for Christmas!

Jude greatly enjoys being naked...especially when he can play and ham it up!

Jude continues to love bathtime...especially with Mo Mo and Nana!

My Dad (aka Pop) is totally smitten with Jude...he can't stand to hear him cry and often sneaks him treats (like licks of ice cream). Dad insisted on giving him his night time bottle while we were visiting.

We've Been Busy...

Jude loved playing with Alli at Mamaw's house

We have been super busy since the end of October. We had the wonderful opportunity to visit Sedona with Nana and the Caldwells and they celebrated Halloween with us. Then over Veteran's Day, Jude and I travelled to TN to visit family and to celebrate Jamen's 1st birthday! When we got home, we've been moving into our new house (pictures will come on another blog), decorating for Christmas, celebrating Thanksgiving, crawling and teething!

Jude also turned 8 months! At 8 months Jude weighs 20 lbs and is 28.5 inches long. He is crawling all over the place. It's hysterical...Justin will throw Jude's favorite toys across the room, Jude will crawl to it and then laugh hysterically because he got it. He's also pulling up on everything, including the tub which makes me a nervous wreck. He loves baths and still enjoys being sung to. His favorite toys are his stacking rings, his jacks, his singing farm toy, and he can't sleep without his lovey. He is beginning to eat table food like eggs, brown rice, mashed poatatoes, chicken, and turkey. He also loves cheese. When you tell him he's going to have cheese, he starts kicking his legs and says, "Chee chee". He also says Dada and specifically looks for Daddy at bath time if Justin's not home. Jude LOVES Mason. If you ask him, "Where's Mason?" he started looking around for him. He also has cut a top tooth, with the 2nd top tooth almost breaking through. He enjoys watching himself in the mirror and snuggling with Mommy. He is growing strong and is a beautiful blessing! How blessed we are!

Whew... Please enjoy this blog of pictures/updates.

Jude helped Mamaw feel better after surgery by snuggling with her (She will be so mad at me for posting this picture! She had not had the time to color her hair, haha.)

Jude has a window over his changing dresser...needless to say, with him pulling up, it's been a challenge to change a stinky diaper!

Over Thanksgiving, Jude helped Mommy decorate the Christmas tree!

And, we've also been having fun wrestling with Daddy and our best buddy Mason!

Transparent

"A thousand times I've failed, still your mercy remains. The art of losing myself, in bringing you praise. Everlasting, your glory goes beyond all fame. Neverending, your light will shine will all else fades. My heart and my soul, I give you control, consume me from the inside out. Lord, let justice and praise, become my embrace, to love you from the inside out."

Father, I fail you over and over again. There are times when I don't want to be here, but I know in my heart there is your peace. I find myself complaining, but I can sense the Holy Spirit telling me to be thankful. My heart longs to be at home with Jude, to be closer to home, but I trust that Your ways are higher than my ways and your thoughts are higher than my thoughts. Help me to be still and rest in your presence and in the promise that You hold me by my right hand. Your love never fails, Your mercies are new every morning, and great if your faithfulness! You are worthy of all praise. Convict my heart of the sin in my life and may I be broken before you. Lord, please help me to let You shine through me. Oh, how I need you. I ask for your forgiveness, for your guidance, and for your patience. I love you Lord and ask that your will be done through me...

'Tis So Sweet

Jude LOVES to be sung to...he can be having a screaming fit and usually if I start singing, he'll start smiling and singing with me. Since he was tiny, I have sang hymns to him, and as he's gotten older, he continues to love them. It's been a good reminder to me because there are such good biblical truths and promises in so many of the older hymns. Here are a few of his favorites, as well as mine. I hope they can be a reminder and an encouragement to you today:

"Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus. Just to take him at His word. Just to rest upon His promise. Just to say, "Thus saieth the Lord." Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er;Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!Oh, for grace to trust Him more!"

"I heard an old, Old story How a saviour came From glory How he gave his life On calvary To save a wretch like me. I heard about His groaning, Of his precious blood's Atoning Then I repented Of my sin And won the victory Oh, victory in Jesus, My saviour forever He sought me And he bought me With his redeeming blood He loved me Ere I knew him And all my love Is due him He plunged me to victory Beneath the Cleansing flood I heard about his Healing, Of his cleansing pow'r Revealing How he made the lame To walk again And caused the Blind to see And then I cried "dear Jesus, Come and heal My broken spirit" And some how Jesus Came and brought To me the victory."

A few more to look up are "The Solid Rock", "I'll Fly Away" and "There Is A Fountain" :)

Sedona and Halloween

2 weekends ago, we had some special visitors. Justin's Mom, Nana, and some of his grandparents, Mamaw Ann and Papaw Mick came for a visit. We picked them up on Saturday morning in Phoenix and headed to one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen, Sedona, AZ. We had heard that is really is considered one of the most snenic places in the country, but I didn't believe it until we got there. All around us was sheer beauty! I'm typically a beach girl y'all, but I was in utter amazement. I definitely can't wait to go back!

There was lots of cute shops in the town of Sedona and we enjoyed yummy food while there of course. On Sunday, we had to enjoy the outdoor parts and we went to a National Park where we were able to take some amazing pictures like this one above. On the drive home, we saw some other beautiful parts of Arizona, including the Payson/Rim area. AZ is definitely not all desert!

We also stopped at some cliff dwellings near Roosevelt Lake. These were so neat! We actually got to go in these "houses" in the side of cliffs (of course there is a nice, steep walking path now) where Native Americans used to live, estimated in 1200-1500 AD. I can't imagine living there, HOLY COW!

Monday was Halloween and the Dellingers became the Irwins. :) As soon as we found out Jude was a boy I knew I wanted him to be a crocodile for his first Halloween and let Justin one of his idols, Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter! So, we did just that. I was "Terry", Steve's wife. We took Jude downtown to the town's Halloween Festival, but we didn't get candy since Justin and I would be the ones to consume it. They had a DJ and other fun things, but mostly we enjoyed looking at the different costumes and letting Jude enjoy the sights.

The family was able to stay until Wednesday morning and we had such a wonderful visit. Next time they come, we'll be in our new house so we won't have 5 adults sharing 1 TINY bathroom. :) Jude and I leave tomorrow morning for Tennessee to visit my Mom's side of the family. I am really looking forward to it. We get to help celebrate my cousins Jeff and Gerri Le's son, Jamen, 1st birthday! Say a prayer that Jude does as well on these plane rides as he did last month! :)