Praise to God for Recent Milestones Met!!!

Cole is crawling and pulling to stand!  At 9 months!  On time! Praise the Lord that our son has overcome his birth injury in many ways.  Praise the Lord for making our son so motor-coordinated and motivated.  Cole started crawling last week for family in California (Calla first crawled in CA and later first walked in CA one year ago, last Thanksgiving).  The last video is him pulling up this evening.  We are so proud of our little guy!

'Tis the Season

We just bought our Christmas tree last night!  The Georgia weather urged that we must do this to make the cold weather a little more bearable.  I don't know that we have ever bought a tree so soon after Thanksgiving.  Besides the weather, having an excited toddler shout "It's Christmas!!!" upon seeing the city lights from the airplane as we descended into Los Angeles last week made us realize how much fun this Christmas season would be, urging us to start quickly.
I'm extra excited about starting to celebrate Advent with Calla.  We are actually a little late starting, but some friends posted this Advent resource: Free Jesse Tree Advent Devotional Book and it looks fun.  Check out my friend Ashley Turner's blog about her advent tree: My Owlet
I'm also extra excited about our Christmas cards this year.  Partly because my friend Ashley Lee from  LoveLee Imagery took our first family photos since Cole was born.  Also, there are so many deals going around the web for free photo cards, that we can have something nice without breaking the bank!  I have always been an avid Shutterfly user, but just discovered Tiny Prints and their Rainbow card collection!  Rainbow Christmas cards?  Sounds funny, but I love bright colors.  Just ask Calla.
I found a good tip on Pinterest for how to take a picture of your child in front of the tree, it's from the  Ashley Ann Photography blog.  The big thing - take the picture in the day time!  Click on her link to see the differences.  I'll let you know how mine turns out.
Can't wait to blog about the fun Christmas season!  I'll also have a post up soon about our trip to California.  In short, it was a great time with family and friends, with answered prayers along the way.  Love to you all!

Happy November!

Some recent pictures for your viewing pleasure...

Right before our family pictures, we are practicing her smile.

Hanging out on the porch watching Daddy do yard work.

The only "pumpkin patch" we went to this year, this is in front of Kroger!  

Took Calla to a pet store for the first time.  If you didn't know, my Mom owned a pet store all while I was growing up, so it was fun to introduce the kids to the family business!  They loved the animals, of course.

Cole is enthralled with the fish tanks.  

We are proud of Calla for her Scripture memory this year.  

At the park, Calla is driving the train.  This is probably her favorite thing to do at the park, because it doesn't involve any risk taking!  She told me that she is driving the train to church, then to California.

What a big girl, she can do the slide all by herself now.  She  loves it and will do it over and over.

 
 

Terrified of swinging. :(  Poor thing didn't even want to be bribed with M&Ms.

Cole, on the other hand loves to swing!

God's Design for Parents

I'm so thankful for our church and our pastor.  I just wanted to pass on a link to the sermon we heard on Sunday, God's Design for Parents.  It's one of those messages I want to listen to a few times, and then again in a year or so.  Pastor Koehler is preaching through Ephesians, and is in Ephesians 6.  We are praying that the Lord would help us to be the parents He has called us to be!