Snapshots of our life lately...

A few days before our move, James and I went to see his second movie in theaters. The local movie theater shows older movies for children for 2$ which includes the movie, popcorn, and a drink. It's a pretty good deal and made me feel better about taking an unpredictable two year old. The first movie we went to see a few weeks earlier (Kung Fu Panda), James sat so still in my lap the whole time because I think everything was just so new to him. The second movie (Madagascar 2) he wanted to sit in his own seat even though he didn't weigh enough to hold it down fully and he got in and out of the seat throughout the movie to come and get one piece of popcorn in each hand at a time. I tried many times to help him hold the seat down with my hand, but he refused and seemed to enjoy his game so much more wanting to do it "all by myself!" Such is life these days! (It's a challenging and fun stage all rolled into one!)

This is a picture of his first nap in his "big boy room" in our new house.

We celebrated my 28th birthday a few days after getting into our new house. We were all overwhelmed with moving and all sick with sinus/cold stuff so we kept it pretty low-key. We enjoyed dessert (chocolate chocolate chip muffins) for breakfast ...

 ... and key lime cheesecake for dessert after dinner. Stephen bought some slices of cheesecake for my birthday at a bakery in town called Delicious Bakery. Ha! He said some sweet, older ladies offered him about 83 different samples while he was there, and he said it was all so good but he was so sick by the time he left. I guess they were trying to lock in new frequent customers to Delicious Bakery in the future. :)

Until we had all of our kitchen unpacked we had to eat several meals out at local fast food restaurants. These are the glasses that James got in his kid's meal at "Arfy's" (Arbys) that he wants to wear all the time. He told the lady that took our order at "Arfy's" that we were eating here because "Chick-fil-a's closed" (on Sundays)! She laughed and was really sweet about it. It's funny the things that he repeats these days!

This is the birthday present I got from my boys. I love it! This verse has so much significance in my life, and has been my favorite verse of Scripture since I was a teenager. It was so fitting for my birthday this year days after moving into our new house and into a new chapter of our lives after the most difficult year. I am so happy to have it displayed in our living room as a constant reminder of God's faithfulness and work in our lives even through difficulties. 

We are still sorting through lots of little corners in our house that look like this, and trying to take it one box at a time. Chaos and lack of order is hard for me, but I am trying to balance the working and unpacking with knowing that James needs me too. I forgot how much work moving is (especially with a curious two year old little boy), but we are all enjoying our new home so much! If you would please pray for us:

1) Pray for us to get plugged into a local church and to decide on a church home (either in the one we have been visiting or as we visit a couple of new ones closer to our home). We were so uncertain about whether we would be in Birmingham long-term for so many months, and so we are just really lacking being plugged into a community. Pray for divine appointments for us to develop much needed friendships for all of us.

2) Pray for Stephen to be a light in the secular work place. The harvest is truly plentiful at his place of employment, and there are just so many opportunities for him to be such a light for Christ with non-Christians and even Christians in the midst of incredibly difficult circumstances. 

3) Pray for continued healing for our family. We have walked such a difficult and painful road the past 10 months, and we all need continued healing as we move forward. Pray that we can fully grieve and just leave the past behind, and just focus on today and the place that God has us in the present.

4) Pray that God would direct our steps, decisions, and the timing of our lives in many different areas as we move forward from here.