Here Lately...

 Life has been a little hectic here lately. Unfortunately, living 3,000 miles away from family, I haven't been able to help nearly as much as I would like. Since we returned from our holiday visit, my  brother had a brain bleed linked to his radiation treatments 7 years ago and is now in extensive therapy and recovering. My sister and BIL also welcome her first baby mentioned in my prior post, as well as Jude having his tooth extraction procedure. (After having a double ear infection and having his tooth become abscessed.)

It's been a lot, but let me tell you, God is faithful. Jude has been an amazing trooper through it all and continues to melt my heart every day. His love for books, animals, and choo choos blows my mind and how he is able to express himself blows me away. His vocabulary grows more and more every day and Justin and I are going to have to work hard to stay ahead of him. Let me give a disclaimer, my child is not perfect. He has began to learn the "art" of throwing himself to the floor but I think he's quickly learning that gets him no where fast. He can be whiny and bossy. But, in the midst of his sinful nature, he is sensitive, sweet, and pretty dern smart.

Thankfully, my boy does not like messes like his Mommy so he's pretty good about wiping up spills and helping with chores like sweeping, putting laundry in with Mommy, and picking up after himself when asked. There is the occasional "no" he gives me, which is usually ignored while he is then guided to do the said task. He knows where every thing is, meaning, his animal magnets on the fridge, yeah, when he plays with them and one random "dino" is missing, he tells Mommy, "Find dino peese!" It's usually behind the recycling bin or slipped under the fridge, but he knows it's not there, and he has over 20 of them. Maybe type A personality?

What has really melted my heart this month though is his spiritual development. He has learned 2 new Bible verses, 1 from church and one we've been working hard at home with. He says "Jesus washes white snow." Meaning, "Jesus washes us what as snow." and "I can all thing thwough Chwist". He's also started to help say the blessing at dinner, which makes my heart so happy.

There are so many horrific things he can and will be exposed to in this world. Oh how I pray for his soul and that his heart will be sensitive to the moving of the Spirit as he grows. I can't believe next month we'll be celebrating another birthday but until then, we'll enjoy these daily steps of Jude learning and growing.

And, on another note, is my nephew not the cutest thing you've ever seen? I can't wait to see him in just 2 more weeks. I love getting my daily updates on him from my sis and Jude asks to see Eli too. I hope and pray they grow to love one another and be best buddies.