Brance, Lauren & Haddie

After talking with our dear friends Fred and Phyllis from church, I feel encouraged to post more often.  Sometimes it feels pretty pointless to post to our blog, because judging by our feedback it seems like very few people even check it.  But if Fred and Phyllis faithfully read and don’t comment… maybe there are others .  If anything it’s nice to have a record of our family’s happenings.  And so I’ve decided to make it my goal to try and write one post over the weekend and at least one post during the week.  We’ll see how well I do… time will tell.

Haddie makes Brance and I laugh these days.  She does the funniest things.  Today while in her room for her nap, we could hear her all the way out in the living room saying her own name over and over again.  I’m not sure what that was about, but it was pretty funny.  We’re always wondering what must be going on behind those blue eyes to make her do the things she does.  ”Haddie” isn’t the only name she’s saying either.  She loves to say “mama”, “dada”, “nana”, “papa” and “Holly” which comes out more like “hah-wee”.  Of course her favorite word is not a name at all,  it is “puppy”.  We took her to the St. Louis zoo the beginning of this month while in MO shooting a concert DVD for Clear Blue Productions.  It was amazing; you’re not going to believe it… the St. Louis zoo was a zoo full of nothing but puppies.  Black striped puppies, puppies with beaks, puppies with humps, leopard spotted puppies etc. etc.  Yeah, you got it.  Every.single.animal. we looked at was a puppy to Haddie!  It was pretty cute.  If I remember correctly Haddie’s cousin Katie went to a zoo last year that had nothing but kitties . 

My cousin Seth and his cute baby girl Caleigh had dinner with us last week.  Here are two pictures from that.  Haddie and Caleigh were both starting to get a little fussy by the time we decided to take pictures.  The other pics are Haddie “helping” me with laundry this week .  She loves laundry… pulling it off the couch, putting it on her head and pushing it around in her plastic wheelbarrow.  You can click on the pictures to enlarge them.

 I was browsing the Desiring God website yesterday and discovered a recent message delivered to 600 women by Rachel Barkey.  Rachel is a 37 year-old wife and mother who is dying of cancer and only has weeks to live. I would have to agree with Desiring God that this message was probably one of the most beautiful, God-honoring, inspiring and convicting things I’ve ever listened to. I know that you will find the time you spend listening or watching (you can choose between audio and video) well worth your time. I listened to it while doing my morning chores. Just make sure you have a box of tissues handy!

You can access the message here on her website:

http://deathisnotdying.com/eventvideo/

I pray that this message of truth would take root in the hearts of many for His glory.

Haddie was rummaging around in some of my things this afternoon, something she really enjoys doing and something that usually ends with something broken or torn. Thankfully I caught her playing with an old journal of mine before she had the opportunity to rip a page out. While taking the journal from her, an entry I had written on a loose piece of paper fell out. It was a short journal entry I had written in 2004 while I was in college. I always hate reading what I’ve written in the past, but since it really pricked my heart I thought I’d share…

I’m certain I don’t know what it means to lose my own life. I can be very self absorbed – focused on my own problems, focused on my own pain. Yet living this way is not fulfilling; oddly fulfillment and contentment result in behavior that run counter to human inclination. Our human natures scream that for us to be happy we must focus on ourselves – on our own pain, our own problems. But when we do we find that the pit of discontentment has deepened… True contentment only comes when we die to ourselves and lay down our lives [for Christ]. I pray for the strength, courage and wisdom to do just that.

It is hard for me to believe that Haddie is now 1 year old!  In some ways it feels like she has always been with us, in others it feels like just yesterday that we were bringing this little bundle of joy home with us from the hospital.  I will never forget as long as I live the feelings I had when I saw her for the very first time.  It was love at first sight.  Becoming a parent hasn’t been without its challenges, though the joy of having Haddie in our lives makes each and every one of them worth it.  It has been a fun year of watching Haddie grow and learn, full of many firsts.  We were thankful to celebrate one year with our sweet daugher Haddie Grace.  Here are some pictures from that celebration…