Mommy's Birthday

Well, my birthday has come and gone quickly. Before Judah was born I used to make a big deal out of my birthday and made sure that Eric did, too. The first year we were married we went to a bed and breakfast in Fort Bragg for a few nights. It was such an amazing birthday!
After Judah was born, we've obviously made a HUGE deal about his birth and then his 1st birthday. Since his birthday is about a month before mine, I don't really feel like doing much. Also, I know that Christmas is coming up in a month, then Eric's birthday a month later, then Valentine's day a month after that. (Yes, I am a holiday person and yes we do make a big deal out of all of these).
Anyways, all that to tell you about my birthday. I woke up early with Judah and Eric slept in, because of course, he needed to rest his back. Then I made us breakfast and lunch. I took Judah downtown and bought myself a peppermint mocha (Jill, peppermint is my FAVORITE...thank you!), then came home to clean the house and do the dishes.
For dinner, Judah & I went out with my mom, sister, Grandma, & Bill. Eric stayed home with some dvds. We went to La Hacienda because my Grandma likes it and I couldn't think of anywhere else to go. The best part of my whole birthday was when I put my head in this wooden cutout thing and Judah could not stop laughing. He thought it was hilarious. The only time he looked away was for the picture, but he was still laughing.

Eric's Back

Well, Eric did throw his back out, but he's feeling MUCH better. He's learning what it means to "take it easy." It happened on Monday and he couldn't do much other than lay on his back until Friday.

Here's a picture of Judah & Sweet Pea. He loves to give Sweet Pea smooches:

The Weekend- Eric & Morgan's Encounter Part II

Sorry it's taken so long to post Part II (Caroline & Scott). I hesistate to even write about the Encounter, because it's one of those things that you can't really put into words. You have to experience it to really understand. So, this is my 2nd attempt- the first was deleted- at describing the Encounter.
At about 5pm we headed up to Richardson Springs, a Christian retreat center & YWAM base. The people who lead the Encounter Pastor Richard & Pastor Claudia Vargas are from Miami, FL (originally Colombia) and in the leadership of the G12 vision. There are several topics and then after the teaching there is a time of ministry.
One part was on forgiveness. She taught on the importantce of forgiveness. It's not a feeling or emotion, it's a choice you make for your own freedom. When you have unforgiveness and bitterness inside of you you withhold God's blessing in your life. Then, we all paired up. Our partner was the person/people we were forgiving, so we looked at them and forgave them face-to-face. It is super intense, because in order for God to heal you of things they first have to come to the surface. So, it's looking again at all the difficult rejections, hurts, etc...
One things she said, really stood out to me. And that's the difference between remorse and repentance. A lot of "Christians" live in remorse. They feel bad about their sins, cry, etc... but nothing ever changes. They go right back into their sin. God is calling us to live in repentance. It's where you realize the depths of your sins and never do them again. You turn from them. In order to come into relationship with God or be saved and also to maintain that relationship the requirement is repentance. Feeling bad is just not enough.
The main thing God showed me is just how much He loves me. I was truly overwhelmed with the revelation of His love. The weekend looked different for everyone and for some it was an incredibly intense, difficult battle. It wasn't like that for me and at first I was like, "what's up God? Why isn't that happening to me?" And, he just showed me that He knows me so well. He knows exactly what to do in my life and all I need is to completely trust Him.
Well, that was about .023842 percent of the Encounter. There's just soooo much. If you want to know more about just ask.

Our Weekend Away - Judah Part I

This weekend was our first night (actually two) away from Judah EVER! Eric and I went to an Encounter (which I'll talk about in Part II) and Judah went to stay with Grandpa Robb & Aunt Kim.
Now, never being away from Judah for more than a few hours I was really freaked out to leave him. Actually thinking about it, I knew he would be great. But, I was more worried about myself, missing him to death, than actually worrying about him. I, also knew, that during the day would be fantastic. During the night I wasn't so sure. He's a great sleeper at home, but everytime we've been somewhere else....well....not so great.
So anyway, I stressed out about the day we would actually leave him, but didn't actually cry until a few hours before. I just needed to get it out of my system. When we actually dropped him off, we didn't want to leave him and when he started crying it made it even worse. But going back to he would "be ok," we left.
If you want to find out what actually happened you'll have to ask Kim to write a blog. The only things I know about are they went to Farmer's Market on Saturday and Judah came back with a bundle of fresh brocolli. On Saturday night they went to dinner at Great Grandma Marian & Great Grandpa Ed's house (my mother in law's parents). They gave him a bowl of veggies and he flung them across the floor (don't worry...the same thing has happened to us). Sunday morning he woke up at 4am and they weren't sure what to do with him (neither were we, that's why we didn't leave any specific instructions), so Robb got up with him and he ended up going back to bed at 5:30am.
We didn't call the whole time we were gone. Of course, I wanted to, but Eric said "if he's not ok they'll call us." So it was hard, but wise, because we didn't have that distraction.
So, when we got home Robb & Kim were all in one piece and we were so happy to see our little man. Thank you so much for giving us a break and taking such great care of Judah!!!!!

He's SO tall!!!

Well, on November 1st Judah had his 12 month well baby visit. He is 31 inches long and 22lb, 4oz. His weight is in the 50th percentile and his height is in 90th. His pediatrician says that you can tell a babies adult size from the average of their first year. Well, all year Judah has been well over the average for height. I think we're going to have a tall little man our hands. He definitely didn't get it from Eric & I and will probably be towering over us on the basketball courts.
And as for the walking, the most asked question...he's not walking yet. But, he is climbing and his doctor says that climbing is more complex than walking, so he has the ability to walk but just not the will. Whenever he wants to he'll be walking. But as for now, we love him just the way he is!!!!