So Father's Day was this past weekend and I had a great time. This is only my third one (as a Dad myself) but this was the best one. We had lots of good food, I got to spend lots of time with Noelle and Jaime (and the coming baby), and I even got lots of time to myself. All in all it was a great weekend in general, but even better as Father's Day.

Saturdays are Jaime's day to sleep in, so when Noelle woke up at 6:45 I jumped out of bed and went to get her. She was in a great mood so we talked while I got her dressed. You might recall that the Matthews' have joined a CSA program (think farmer's co-op), which we share with Brad and Heather Daugherty. Sat is the day that Eric and Cher (from Bugtussle farms) are in Nashville, and it was the Matthews' turn to go pick it up.

Noelle and I headed over to pick up the produce, singing and laughing and talking the whole way. When we got there she helped me collect our goods, and even helped me weigh the peas. After we got back in the car, I decided that Jaime hadn't had enough chance to rest, so Noelle and I sacrificed our time and went to eat at Fido's.

All in all, my weekend with Noelle was great. We had so much fun playing and talking and laughing. It's a special blessing to have a child who's so good-natured, and bright, and clever. I'll leave you with this little story about Noelle to tie it all back together. We planned on calling both my dad, and Jaime's on Sunday and so we trained Noelle to yell "Happy Father's Day" on cue. "Okay Noelle, when they pick up the phone what do you say?" "Happy Father's Day!". "That's right Noelle...good job." Right before we called Jaime's dad, Noelle let's out a huge toot. Jaime looks over at her and says "Noelle...what do you say?" to which Noelle responds loudly "Happy Father's Day!!!"

I hope everyone had as good a Father's Day Weekend as I did.

...healthy baby! We won't know the gender until October, but we had our ultrasound today and everything looks great. We had some anxiety going in, for sure, but I had prayed that I would feel the baby moving this morning prior to the appointment and I absolutely did. This is definitely a big weight lifted off our shoulders. The second our ultrasound tech turned on the machine, we could see the baby's strong heartbeat and lots of movement.

The only possible snag (and it's a VERY minor one) is that I might have a low-lying placenta. This often corrects itself as the pregnancy progresses, but if it doesn't it requires delivery via c-section. The radiologist will have to look at the ultrasound to know for sure whether I have this, and if they say I do it will just mean they'll do another ultrasound early in the third trimester to monitor it.

Check out the pictures of our baby and one I took of myself this morning right here!

Thank you all for your continued prayers,

Andy and Jaime

Out of necessity, we've decided to start letting Noelle take naps every other day instead of every day. Over the past week or two she's been getting harder and harder to put down for a nap on a daily basis, but great the following day. So rather than put up with the whining and tantrum throwing from Jaime (haha), we'll just let her nap M-W-F-Sa, and give her some quiet time on the off days.

So since today is a "no nap day", we decided to go shopping right after church. It also happens to be "Tax free in Tennessee" weekend. Noelle and Jaime both need new clothing because they are both outgrowing what they have. Jaime because she's over 4 months pregnant, and Noelle because she's growing like a weed.

After church we drove down to Cool Springs which is a big shopping area. We decided to eat lunch first, at Schlotsky's Deli. I've only been there a few times, but this lunch was fantastic. Their ciabatta bread sandwiches and pizza were amazing. We shopped at a few places, ended up spending about $200, then came home exhausted. Shopping is hard work.

Most of you already know this, but baby #3 is finally on his or her way! We are 7 weeks pregnant, and I am a ball of anxiety but also so thankful and excited. We had an ultrasound on Friday and everything looks great so far. Baby is measuring the right size, has a strong heartbeat, and everything is where it should be. Our due date is October 13, so 2 weeks shy of what Charlotte's was. My current prayer is that I wouldn't let fear get the best of me, and that I would start to feel this baby moving as early as possible to give me a little bit of relief. I would love for all of you to join in those prayers!

We're traveling down to Tampa for Christmas this year. It's going to be great having all that time with my parents. Plus Noelle is changing and growing at an almost daily pace now. I can't wait for my mom and dad to see her and talk to her.

The good thing is that we'll get to spend almost a week with my parents in Brandon. The drawback? Not getting to see Jaime's family on one of the more special days of the year.

So, rather than not get to see us on the 25th, Dean and Diane are driving to Nashville to see us THIS weekend! They're already on the road, and should be arriving sometime this evening. It'll be nice because with this being Noelle's first Christmas (that she'll actually "get"), they'd miss a lot otherwise.

So bring it on! We can't want to see them and spend time with them.

We just got back from a Trunk or Treat event at our church, where people decorate the trunks of their cars and park in the lot, and the kids go around to all the cars to get candy. They also had inflatables, cotton candy, hot dogs, chips, and lemonade, hot chocolate and cider, and a few other little games. We went last year, too, but Noelle was obviously more able to enjoy it this year. She was a ladybug, as you can see to the right. She didn't want to wear the hood, so we used it to store her candy. Candy was definitely Noelle's favorite part. On the way home, she was repeating all the things she had said to get candy. "Turk or Treat!" "I'd LOVE some!" What a goof.

Last night, Andy and I went on a big date night. We went to dinner at The Melting Pot, which was a lot of fun and so good. How can you go wrong with dipping bits of food in cheese and chocolate? We had a great waiter, but I think they are all trained to be that way. Every waiter I saw acted like they were assigned to us, making sure we were taken care of. After dinner we walked down Broadway downtown and did the tourist thing a while. They certainly perpetuate the myth that Nashville is all about country music on that strip! Then we made it to our hotel where we stayed overnight downtown, and in the morning we went out to breakfast at a local place called Fido. Andy dropped me off at the hotel to have a few more hours to myself while he came home and relieved our friends that had been taking care of Noelle. I spent my time taking a nice long shower, reading a book, and watching a little tv. It was very nice.

All the while, of course, I was thinking about Charlotte. Today was her due date, and all week I have been thinking about how she should be in my arms now. We drove past the hospital on our way to breakfast, and I teared up thinking about the fact that I wasn't there this week, and that I was there 5 months ago and came home brokenhearted.

One of my friends tonight asked me if I had been able to ask God yet what purpose he had in all this, and although I don't know that the answer makes it any easier, I really feel like He revealed that to us early on. Andy and I both decided from the first moment that this had to be something that brought us closer to each other and closer to God, or what was the point in all the suffering. Charlotte's death has put a lot of strain on our family, to be sure, but I think more than that it has bonded us in a way that we weren't bonded before. I have a new desire to know the Lord in a deeper way, and especially to know more about Heaven and His promises for us.

This week I read a little book my mom gave me after Charlotte died called "I'll Hold You in Heaven." It talks about what the Bible says about miscarried, stillborn, and aborted babies - their souls, whether they are in Heaven, and if we will meet them. It talks about how Jesus, when he was barely conceived, caused John to jump in Elizabeth's womb, and how John, 3 months from being born, was already fulfilling his role of announcing the coming of Jesus. Then it talks about David, and his son with Bathsheba that died a few days after he was born, and how David rejoiced and said his son would not return, but that he would be with his son. The book meant a lot to me this week, and really helped me to be able to claim Charlotte as my daughter and a part of my family that is just experiencing Heaven before I do. I know now that I will tell people who ask me how many kids I have that I have two daughters. One on earth, and one in Heaven.

So we've been neglecting the photo section for quite some time now. But not really though. You see, we've been using Google's Picasa service to store our photos online. It's only just today that I took the time to write some code that would display all our galleries from Picasa on this website.

So browse away everyone, and enjoy. If you're interested in signing up for Picasa, here's a link for you. Did I mention that it's free?

As Andy mentioned, we just spent 10 days in Chicagoland for the weddings of my friends Ali and Sean, and my Grandpa Bartling. Andy was there for both of the weekends and weddings, but during the week he had to come back to Nashville to work. And be a big time bachelor. So, Noelle and I stayed with my parents and visited some other friends and family along the way. I was able to get away a few times by myself or just with friends, which is really more than I get sometimes while I'm at home! Plus, the majority of the time I had grandparents and others that wanted to help me entertain Noelle. She was sick and irritable for a good chunk of the trip, then I got sick and irritable, but overall we had a great time.

We were also able to finally bury Charlotte's ashes on the last day of our trip, Sunday, September 30. Four months after we lost our baby girl, we put her ashes inside the box my engagement ring came in, dug a little hole between where my Grandpa Wadsworth is buried and where my Grandma will be buried when she dies, and laid her to rest. It was hard, something I hope to never do again, but I am also so glad that we could do it. Now Charlotte has a place in this world of her own where she will always be with family. As her due date approaches at the end of this month, I've been finding it more and more important to find a way to make her existence real to me. She was here, she was my daughter, and I loved her as much as I love Noelle. The picture above is of the flowers we bought to mark where she was buried. My parents are going to go back and plant some flowers that will mark Charlotte's place more permanently, but we thought these were beautiful.

Last week Andy was asked to take a quick overnight business trip to Atlanta this Tuesday through Wednesday, and partly because I just did the single mom thing a few weeks ago, I thought it might be fun for Noelle and I to go with him. We could swim in the pool in the morning, have lunch together, and go to Ikea in the afternoon for a little shopping. All of those things happened, but they weren't as "fun" as I had pictured them being. Quite the opposite, really.

We left later than I thought on Tuesday and ended up getting to Atlanta around 11:30 PM their time. Noelle had fallen asleep in the car around 9:45, and after trucking her through the hotel, waiting for a crib that was supposed to already be in the room, and getting ourselves situated, she was wide awake by the time we were ready to crawl into bed. After many tears on all our parts, daddy finally got her to sleep only to have her wake up about 45 minutes later. She was inconsolable, and we had to bring her into our bed. Meaning nobody got any sleep.

Andy's phone alarm went off at 7:30 AM GA time and Noelle was ready to go. We quickly got ready then ate breakfast at the hotel, where Noelle wanted nothing but blueberries. Back up to the room, and Sesame Street didn't hold a candle to all the exciting stuff she could mess with in the hotel room. So, finally I decided it was time to head to the pool. Noelle loves to swim. Usually. That day, she just wanted to run around the outside of the pool and bang on the little round glass tables that she called drums, and pull the cushions off the chairs, and push the button on the water fountain, and put her foot in the hot tub. Needless to say, our time at the pool didn't last very long.

Tried for a nap, she wasn't having it. At one point I think she would've fallen asleep but she got a dirty diaper. After that I tried to get her to sleep in the bed with me, but she kept saying "pizza?" or "fishies?" Apparently she was hungry.

Off to lunch, which was not too bad, and then to Ikea, where I thought they had child care. And they do, but only for toilet trained kiddos. And you apparently can't take regular carts up in the elevator, you have to use this stupid "stroller" that is basically a cart but it holds a bag instead of having a metal basket. Ridiculous. Noelle didn't want to be there, I didn't want to be there, it was WAY past time for a nap. So we got back in the car and Noelle fell asleep pretty much immediately. I drove around until I found a little park where I read while she napped, and she was still asleep when Andy called to say he was finished and ready to go.

Pouring rain as we leave, so much so that we missed the exit to take 75 and went about 45 minutes out of our way because of traffic and having to turn around. We stopped at Chuck E. Cheese for dinner, and it just wasn't as cool as Andy and I remember it being. Noelle had a good time, so I guess that's all that really matters.

So we got home around 9 PM Wednesday night, and Noelle didn't want to go to bed and has had a rough time falling asleep every time since we left on Tuesday. Quite possibly one of the worst ideas I've ever had in my life.

After a pretty long day of entertaining the little girl who tends to run our household these days (at least she thinks so), we decided to venture out to Bicentennial Park where they have fountains that you can run around in as well as a Farmer's Market right next door. Noelle and I had just gone to the fountains this past Thursday morning and she had a blast, so I knew she'd love to go again. I did hope that this time she fell down a lot less, and she managed to stay upright the whole time today. On Thursday, she was bleeding from about four different places by the time I called it a day.

Andy was able to come along this time, and we had a great family outing. Playing in the fountains, chasing Noelle all over the park, changing her diaper in a public area (and forgetting the diaper on the bench, going back 45 minutes later to throw it away. oops.), and sharing a fresh pear and a falafel from the Farmer's Market. Noelle even met a little friend during dinner that gave her a picture she colored.

And now, thankfully, she is in bed. She woke up at 5:59 this morning and I've not had but an hour or so of "free" time all day. Such is the life of a mom, and although I get frustrated with days like today when I really felt like spending some time with my grief, I know how blessed I am to have a child to hold and love and care for. And just look at that beautiful girl splashing away in the fountains - how could that not make you smile?

Church yesterday was hard, as I knew it would be. A lot of people that I hadn't seen since we lost Charlotte who wanted to offer sympathy, a lot of pregnant women, and just being well loved by our church body all contributed to a good number of tears shed. During the opening prayer, the elder was talking about God's power and how he can move mountains and heal his people and bring children into the lives of families. As I sat there listening, I experienced the anger stage of grieving for the first time. That's right, God, you are all powerful, and you can save and heal and bring life. Why didn't you do that for Charlotte? Why wouldn't you do that for me? It passed pretty quickly, but I was very angry during that prayer.

During the service, I just couldn't pay attention, so I started to flip through a book our Children's Pastor gave me called "Losing You Too Soon" by Bernadette Keaggy, wife of Phil Keaggy. They lost three pregnancies in a row in the second trimester, the first being triplets and the second two single children, so a total of 5 children lost before they even had a chance to live. They went on to have two children after those experiences, and she wrote about finding hope after such incredible loss. Three in a row? I feel like I am processing the loss of Charlotte pretty well, but how would I feel if it happened again? And a third time? We want three more children, and now I know first hand that no pregnancy is necessarily safe until the baby has been delivered. And of course after delivery there are even more things that could happen to a child. I have never been the type to get caught up in "what if" and I'm not going to start now, but I do have a larger respect for things that I've just always thought wouldn't happen to me.

After church I went to a Women's Ministry Team meeting, where more tears were shed as the women I serve with prayed over me and allowed me to talk about Charlotte. Then during prayer at the end of the meeting, I prayed over our meals ministry. Being the good southern women we are, we cook and bake our hearts out for those in need, and this ministry helps us do that. Whenever someone is sick, or has a baby or some other need, they can get meals out of the church freezer that is kept well stocked by women that just make an extra casserole or buy an extra bag of rolls or vegetables and bring them in. Then women sign up to bring meals to the family for a week, a few weeks, or even longer depending on the need.

The meals we have received since Charlotte's death have been such a blessing, and as I prayed for that ministry I was overcome by how blessed we are. It is hard to accept such generosity, and harder this time than it was after we had Noelle. Bringing home a new baby, I was willing to admit that I had no time and energy to make meals for my family, and I was thankful for the break. But this time, I do have the time, technically, and usually the energy. But my friends know more than I can easily admit that I just can't handle the daily routine stuff right now. Because of these meals, I don't have to put any time into planning what my family will eat and then doing all the prep and cooking of those meals. With my mind off of cooking, I have been able to do some journaling, praying, connecting with friends, and just plain resting. Grieving is harder work than I would have thought.


Quickly on a much lighter note, today Noelle and I went to the grocery store and she was getting restless in the checkout line. I handed her my credit card to hold while I unloaded our cart, and she held it up near the credit card machine and started swiping it through the air. Someone behind us said, "just one year old and she already knows how to use a credit card!" That's my girl.

It has been one week since I discovered that my daughter Charlotte, who I thought was happily gestating along, had died in my womb some weeks earlier. One week since I was told that the very cord that connected her to me and was meant to sustain her life had taken it instead. One week since receiving some of the worst news a parent could ever hear. One week since I learned all over again that sometimes life is very, very unfair. One week since I held my 3.4 ounce little girl and had to tell her goodbye, then hand her back to the Lord before I even had a chance to know her.

I am thankful for the 19 weeks I carried Charlotte. I loved her before she was even conceived, and I had so many dreams for her. I saw her wiggling inside me at a 9 week ultrasound, I heard her heart beating strongly at 14 weeks, and I am sure I felt her tiny movements in what must have been her last days. I bought new clothes to show off my just beginning to grow belly, because I was so proud to be carrying another precious child. We bought a book to tell Noelle about the little baby that would be coming into our lives, and we knew that they would just be the best of friends. We were so excited to be adding this new little life into our family.

I will probably never understand why this happened, and really I guess that isn't all that important anyway. It happened, and it was a medical fluke, but I have to believe that the God who created Charlotte has something beautiful planned to come from the life she lived only inside of me. Most of the time, it gives me comfort to know that she is in the arms of Jesus even though I wish she were in mine. I know that grieving is a process that I can't put a time limit on, and that a day will come when I don't want to weep every time I think about Charlotte or see a pregnant woman or a new baby or a pair of sisters, but this is all pretty new to me right now. I am so thankful that I have friends and family who understand that I don't know how to do this, and who want to give me the time and the support I will need to grieve and heal. More importantly, I am thankful that God knows my heart and can understand my pain even when I can't speak at all, that he loves me even though I sometimes feel angry at him and question why this had to happen. I know that on the other side of all my current grief and suffering is the hope that can only come from knowing God.

The pain that I feel over the loss of Charlotte will never go away, but I know that it will get easier in time. Grief comes in waves, but it gives me hope to know that the waves that are currently crashing over my head and knocking me off my feet will eventually turn into calmer waters.

This past weekend, the three of us went to Tampa to visit Andy's parents. Grammy and Papaw to Noelle. This pictures is my favorite from the weekend because Noelle looks so silly, but you can see more pictures here. We had a great time, mostly relaxing and letting the grandparents play with Noelle. They came and got her every morning when she woke up, fed her most meals, and even took her out for the afternoon one day. I know it was just as nice for them as it was for us. My favorite part about getting together with family is playing games after Noelle goes to bed. We have some friends who play games, but with kids that have a bedtime it's just a hard time of life for that kind of thing. We play games or watch a movie every night when we are in Tampa.

This weekend, Andy and I are headed to Huntsville, AL for our Anniversary. My parents are going to come stay at the house with Noelle and the dogs so that we can have a weekend for ourselves! This will be the very first time we've both been away from her overnight. I've had one night away, and Andy has had several where either he's been gone or I took Noelle out of town, but together, we've never had the opportunity yet. We are trying to get to all 50 states by our 30th Anniversary, so we picked one this year that is close and easy to get to. There are some fun things to do there, but I am most excited about sleeping in! Or maybe ordering whatever I want to eat without thinking of whether it's easy to share with Noelle! Or not changing any diapers!

I know I'll miss her, for sure, but knowing that I'm taking care of myself and my marriage helps a lot.

Jaime's pregnant??? Why didn't anyone tell ME? I have to find out about it by reading our blog?

Just kidding of course, but how funny would that have been? Or should I say how pathetic would that have been? Anyway, how cool is this? We're going to have another baby, and we're blessed that it happens to fit into our planned goal of one baby every 2 years or so?

Jaime and I have talked quite a lot and we want our children to be as close in age as possible so that they can at least have the chance to be friends. We're shooting for 2 of each (boy and girl) so for the next 2 (this one included) we don't really care about the gender.

Names you say? Well, we've briefly discussed names for this child, but we haven't delved into it yet. We decided to give all the leftover names we had from last time a "bye" to the second round. So, now that we're blogging quite a bit more, maybe we'll have a poll and let you all help us decide.

I had my first appointment with my midwife on Thursday, and since we weren't able to hear the heartbeat at the office we decided to send me for an ultrasound. Not hearing the heartbeat at 10 weeks is not unusual, but I was glad to be able to check on the baby.

So we all went in for the ultrasound, and everything is looking good. Baby has a strong heartbeat and measured the right size for how far along we are. Even though it is only 3.18 cm from "crown to rump", it was moving it's little body all over the place. Feeling Noelle moving around was one of my favorite parts of pregnancy, and I look forward to that again.

Still feeling sick, but I am not sick to the degree I was with Noelle. It does sometimes last all day, but it isn't debilitating like last time, at least not very often. I've had some cravings (last night I wanted hot dogs for dinner) and some food has made me want to vomit. I can't brush my tongue anymore without gagging.

It's all part of the package, though, and it's all worth it in the end. Of course, I say that while my daughter who should be napping is in her crib doing everything but, and her daddy and I have no desire to entertain her for one more minute today. Earlier I suggested we go to the park, and then said "I don't want to go either, but I also don't want to sit here and try to entertain her until dinner." To which Andy said he just didn't want to do ANYTHING. And I said I agreed, but we've got a 15 month old so what can you do. I won't say what he suggested next, but it involved the fact that we're starting over anyway. We really love being parents, honest.

Yes yes, it's been quite some time since I posted, but I was washing my hair, or trimming the hedges or some such thing. I promise.

This time I'm coming at you with a touching story about my baby daughter. She's 14 months old now and learning new things every day and I am truly amazed and humbled at this precious gift in our midst. Here's a quick rundown of what she's doing lately, then I'll get to the good stuff.
? walking (that's right...full on walking)
? saying real words (up to about 20 or 30 I believe)
? giving kisses and hugs on request (when she's not distracted by something else)
? drinking out of a straw
? She knows her feet, hair, nose and eyes

Jaime and I were eating dinner with Noelle tonight and Jaime decided to play with Noelle by blowing in her face. She just thought that was the funniest thing and started cracking up. So of course Jaime did it a few more times, then as a joke, told Noelle to do it. Well, we've noticed that Noelle is a really good mimic and this time proved to be no exception. Noelle pursed her lips up and blew right back and Jaime. We both about died laughing, and I thought Jaime was going to spit out her drink. So Noelle can blow now...

The other story is really cute. I was reading her a book tonight called Two Hands, Two Feet. It's the story, in rhyme, of a typical day for two little girls. As you might expect, they talk about hands and feet in this book. Remember earlier how I said Noelle knows her hands and feet? That comes into play soon. As I was reading this book, each time I would get to a word that she recognized ("stamp your feet"), she would move the appropriate part of her body. When the story mentioned dancing, she shook her whole body.

Those of you that don't have children just can't understand the feeling you get when you watch your child walk, or talk, or dance, or laugh. It's the most amazing thing and each time I see it, I still get shivers thinking about the trust that God had in me that he would give me this person to care for. Thanks for letting me share.

Round 2!

We made it home last night from a very fun Christmas in Chicago. We always enjoy our time there, and having Andy's parents with us too was even better. We talked on the way home about how we didn't even leave the house much, but we barely noticed. We played games, laughed at the kids, ate VERY well, and enjoyed each other's company. Also, having to get 8 adults and 3 kids ready for church on Sunday morning wasn't nearly as difficult as I imagined it might be!

We took some family pictures after church that turned out really well. Ours is featured here, but you can see the rest at our Google Web Albums page.

Noelle did well in the car both ways, and even without Ella this time. She actually ended up sleeping more on this trip, which we were grateful for! She really is a great kid, and we can't believe she also turned ONE over the holiday! We are the parents of a one year old. Now if she'd only start sleeping like the big girl she is!

We're leaving tomorrow afternoon to spend Christmas in Chicago with my family. Andy's parents are coming to Chicago as well, so we'll have the whole gang together just like last year. Being Noelle's first birthday, they really wanted to be with her this year. They must have, to give up Florida weather for a chilly Chicagoland Christmas.

This will be our first road trip with Noelle, so we're interested in seeing how she does. We haven't had her in the car for more than an hour or so at a time up to this point, and tomorrow's trip is about 7.5 hours, not including stops. We are traveling with our friends Brad and Heather, though, and Noelle's best friend Ella. We're going to have the girls ride in the same car together, which I think will help them both! The times they've been in the car together before have been fun.

Christmas in Illinois consists of the morning at my parents' house, the afternoon at my Grandma Wadsworth's house, and the evening at Grandpa Bartling's house. It's a very busy day, lots of family all packed in to one Super Holiday. That's the way it has always been, and I always enjoy it.

It's been hard for me having to split up holidays between my family and Andy's since we got married, and even moreso now that we have Noelle. Living a good distance from both sets of parents makes it even more difficult. Holidays are a built in excuse to spend time with family, and having to sacrifice one to see another is just a tough part of it all. Having children of our own, we would also really enjoy celebrating at home once in a while to be able to incorporate some of our own traditions. We didn't even pull out a single Christmas decoration this year because it just felt like a waste (and Noelle would have been all up in the tree anyway), and that's kind of sad to me.

I guess I should feel very blessed that I even WANT to spend time with both sides of our family on holidays. I know lots of people dread this time of year because of family issues, and if my biggest holiday complaint is that I don't get to see ENOUGH family, I'm very fortunate.

I hope that you all have a meaningful and blessed Christmas, and that you spend it doing what you love, and with people that you love.

Well, it's been over a week since Thanksgiving but I'm just now getting around to telling you all about it. Jaime and I have traveled quite a bit over the last few months and so we didn't really feel like traveling for Thanksgiving. Since we were planning on staying in Nashville anyway, our friends Jason and Shannon Truss invited us over for dinner.

It was a simple thing, but we had a great time. Shannon suggested that we do a sort of progressive dinner; we ate lunch over at their house, then walked to our house for dessert (yum). We had a fairly traditional meal: turkey with the most amazing gravy, mashed potatos (Sauteed Garlic and Goat Cheese by me thank you very much), green beans, rolls, and more.

Kids were running all over the place, the meal was superb and we just enjoyed the company of good friends. After dinner we walked over to our house because the weather was simply smashing. We ate Pumpkin Cheesecake and Apple/Pear crumble and just relaxed.

The end.

Noelle and I had on similar sweaters and jeans today, so it was a perfect day for mommy daughter pictures. Here is one of our favorites. I know some people don't agree, but I think there's nothing cuter than a little baby dressed in clothes that an older child or adult would wear. I mean come on, my baby girl in a turtleneck sweater? To die for!

Noelle is officially baptized. For those of you who don't know what infant baptism is, here's what the Presbyterian church believes about the topic along with a brief synopsis.

Both believers and their children are included in God's covenant love. Children of believers are to be baptized without undue delay, but without undue haste. Baptism, whether administered to those who profess their faith or to those presented for Baptism as children, is one and the same Sacrament. The Baptism of children witnesses to the truth that God's love claims people before they are able to respond in faith. (Book of Order W-2.3008)

Baptism, therefore, usually occurs during infancy, though a person may be baptized at any age. Parents bring their baby to church, where they publicly declare their desire that he or she be baptized. When an infant or child is baptized the church commits itself to nurture the child in faith. When adults are baptized they make a public profession of faith.

Baptism distinguishes children of those who believe in God's redemptive power from children of nonbelievers. The water that is used symbolizes three accounts from the Bible's Old Testament: the waters of creation, the flood described in the story of Noah, and the Hebrews' escape from slavery in Egypt by crossing the Red Sea. All three stories link humanity to God's goodness through water.

So we baptized Noelle, not so that she's "saved", but so that we declare before God that we want her to be set apart.

Anyway, it went really well, one of the people involved in the ceremony said that she was one of the best babies they'd had on stage in months. Yay Noelle. She was absolutely adorable and even reach out for the Carter Crenshaw (our pastor) several times.

We had a great time with family and friends this past weekend, but we're glad to be back to our normal routine. Thanks to everyone who came to Nashville this weekend and made this such a special occasion for us, and for Noelle.