Trip to Nashville!

I must confess that I am cheating a little bit in this post...the first picture below is NOT from my trip to Nashville...it's from today.  Mr. Emmanuel and I were in the kitchen having the best conversation, and I was able to capture one of his smiles before we headed outside.  He's sitting in a green bumbo, which is a seat for infants.  Tonight he also laughed a few times--it was really precious.  

Okay--so back to the Nashville trip.  Thanks for your prayers--the airplane ride went really well.  He was intrigued by looking at all of the people and the lights.  The pictures below are not in chronological order...so please bear with me as I try to recapture the story with pics that are out of order.  

On Sunday after church, my brother came to my mom's house looking like Bruce Pearl!  (For those of you who don't know...Bruce Pearl is the head men's basketball coach at the University of Tennessee, and we all know how Eli loves his alma mater).  Emmanuel and Joshua sort of posed for this picture.  

On Saturday, my mom and I drove Emmanuel, Mia (3), and Joshua (20 months) to visit my granddaddy, who happens to be 82 and born on July 4th (2 days after Lil' E) in Henning, TN.  It was really important to me that Emmanuel meet my granddaddy.  I LOVE this picture of my granddaddy holding Emmanuel with his hands.  My granddaddy has hands like my dad had...really strong, large hands.  I loved my daddy's hands.  Anyway, you get the point--here's the picture. 
Okay--the reason for the trip!  Kelly Marie Benda married Byron Aubrey Earnhardt!  Now--unfortunately, I don't have great pics from the actual wedding...but I am getting some sent to me from the maid of honor.  I promise to post those later.  Kelly Marie was absolutely gorgeous...below is a picture of her and her precious daddy, John, at the rehearsal.  

My brother's kids were in love with Lil' E.  Here were there responses: 

Joshua (20 months):  He kept saying "my baby...my baby," and he lowered his head next to Emmanuel's and kissed him.  It was really sweet. 

Mia (3 years):  She could not wait to meet this little boy!  She kept following me around, asking to change his diaper...and reminding me how many times she held him.  She would say, "You know I've only gotten to hold him ____ times."  She's a good little helper...and she counts well, too...she reminded me over and over and over again. 

Michael (7 years on Friday, Oct. 10):  Michael wanted to know all of the facts about Emmanuel.  Once he got the answers to his questions, then he repeated them back to me--he knows who Emmanuel's parent's are and when and where he was born.  

James (8 years):  James thought it was his duty to take care of Emmanuel....he sat next to him in the car and tried to comfort him...he held him and walked around with him when he was fussy...he said, "My Uncle Eli told me that I was supposed to take good care of Emmanuel while he was down here."  He wanted everybody to know that he was doing what his Uncle Eli told him to.
My favorite part of this post is this video of my granddaddy first being introduced to Emmanuel.  I just loved how he grabbed hold of him and kissed him.  I often imagine that my dad would have reacted the same way.  After granddaddy kisses him, I edited in Mia saying Emmanuel's name.  She calls him, "Eman--yell."  It's super cute!  Thanks for reading.

Baptism, Take Two

I finally got video of the baptism posted (see below), but I thought that I would share some more random photos.  Below is Allegra (one of our youth) holding Lil' E.  She came over early for Bible Study one day and helped give Emmanuel a bath. 

Here is me and my man...he fell asleep and I was transporting him upstairs.  

Here are our friends, Courtney and her little girl, Zadie.  Courtney is letting us borrow Zadie's exersaucer (a really expensive toy).  Courtney and her hubby are due to have another little girl in December.

Here is a snapshot of Emmanuel's Baptism.  Karl said some really amazing things about our relationship with the Lord...but unfortunately, I couldn't load it.  He really did the best job I have ever heard at explaining infant baptism and our relationship to the Lord.  Pastor Wy, our dear friend, actually baptized Emmanuel.  In the video, I am laughing because Pastor Wy was nervous about holding Emmanuel.  

He has engraved you on the palms of His hand...

Emmanuel was baptized on Sunday!  Here are some pics of our little man in his baptism outfit (thanks, Ms. Ethel!)  He was the only one in church allowed to get away with wearing all white after Labor Day.

There is also a video on this post (thanks Chanel and Brittany).  The video is an abbreviated version of the whole baptism--we would love for you to watch it...but it's having problems loading...I'll try again later.  

(Above)  Emmanuel waited patiently on his daddy. 

(Above)  We prayed after Pastor Wy and Pastor Karl baptized Emmanuel.  We were so grateful to the Lord to have Karl and Wy baptize Emmanuel.  We really respect and admire them and their wonderful wives, Debbie and Shirley, and we felt so honored that they poured out love on Emmanuel.  Also, Eli's parents and his brother, Wil, made the trip up for the baptism.  

The verse we chose for Emmanuel is Isaiah 49:16...see, he has engraved you on the palms of His hand...

When I was in college, Erin-Ashley gave me a plaque with Isaiah 49:16 on it...and she said, "Maybe one day when Eli is a pastor, he can have this on his desk!"  EA...thanks for pointing me to this section of scripture, and it is more than just on Eli's desk...it is what we pray for our Emmanuel...we pray that he would know without a shadow of a doubt that Jesus desperately loves Him. 

Sunday was also my grandma's 77th birthday!  Happy Birthday, Grandma Myrtle!  Emmanuel and grandma will always share a special day.

Emmanuel and I make our first trip on an airplane next week to go to Kelly Marie's wedding in Nashville!  Pray for us and the people sitting around us on the plane.

Splish Splash I was taking a bath!

Emmanuel is 10 weeks old this week!  I can't believe how quickly the days have turned into weeks.  He has outgrown most of his newborn outfits..and now he's wearing 0-3 months clothes.  It's hard to believe that our little baby is now a BIG BOY!  

He's doing a lot more smiling and socializing this week!  Below is a picture of Emmanuel at our Kick-off Cookout for the Youth Group (some of our high school girls are in this pic with Lil

 E).  He also went to our HS Girls Bible Study and a moms group and over to a friend's house.  Our lives are even more busy with this little one.  

Emmanuel LOVES bath time...from the moment he first took at real bath at 9 days old (after his umbilical cord fell off), he has loved the bath.  He used to just sit back and chill while we washed him, but now he is becoming more active...and he loves to splash in the water!  Now, the only problem is that I have bamboo floors, which are not supposed to get wet--so we're going to have to figure out a healthy compromise with all this splashing!  I've got a throw rug to put on the floor, and I guess that will have to suffice.  We love that he gets so excited during bath time.  Enjoy the video! 

He's also beginning to grab hold of things..including my hair!  I thought to myself...why do I use all of these colorful mobiles and attach rings to his stroller that he can bat away--when he is just as happy hitting and pulling my hair.    

Thanks for all of your prayers...he gets baptized next week...I'll be sure to post some pictures! 

When you smile...the whole world smiles with you!

Emmanuel was all smiles this week!  This was our first official week of lots and lots of smiles.  I must admit that after carrying this child for 9 months, spending 5 1/2 hours in labor, and waking every two hours for the last 2 months to feed him--I had high expectations--I thought that he would smile at me first and ALL the time!  Boy, was I wrong.  Whenever he sees his daddy, he just smiles away.  He often looks at me like I'm crazy!  Below is a big smile.

Below is his "cool" look....a man at our church said that the girls are going to be banging down his door.  I said, "Whose door?  They've got to get through my door first, and it is locked and alarmed!" (I'm just a tad overprotective, can you tell!)

Two of our high school girls, Chanel and Brittany, tie-dyed this onesie for Lil' E.  We dressed him in it for church last Sunday!  Thanks, girls!

On Monday (Labor Day), Eli and some of the youth passed out flyers in our neighborhood about our church's tutoring program for elementary and middle school children.  They all headed back to our place to play Madden '09, but Prashauna (the young lady below) opted to hang out with me and Lil' E.  She and I baked cupcakes (with an extra special homemade chocolatey filling).  When I needed a few minutes to mix the filling, she watched Lil' E and played with him.  It was so nice to have her help for a few hours.  
After Eli and the other youth were finished, we all enjoyed cupcakes!  

Our church youth activities start up next week.  One night, both Eli and I are committed to leading high school Bible studies.  Please pray that Emmanuel would enjoy coming along with us.  We are a bit concerned about how he will do for 90 minutes in the evening, since it is so close to his bedtime.  

I am more convinced everyday that Emmanuel was the best name we could have chosen for him.  "God with us"--this is such a fitting meaning.  I am constantly reminded that we are not in this alone but that we serve a God who is sovereign and who is leading us as we raise this precious son.  

8 weeks old already!

Emmanuel is 8 weeks old this week!  His week consisted of getting his first round of shots (harder for me than for him), going to a Baby Shower where he was the guest of honor, wearing an outfit to match his daddy, and helping his mom get in some much-needed strength training! 

Thanks to Lilia for this great red outfit and to Aunt Peggy for the socks that match.  

The women at my work (there is only one man on staff...no wait, two) threw us a fabulous post-baby Baby Shower!  There was great food and conversation and LOTS of love given to Emmanuel.  I think he was only in his seat for a total of 10 minutes because he was being passed around by all of the women.  It was so nice to have our HopeWell Cancer Support family shower Emmanuel with so much love.  Below (from left to right) is my boss, Carole--she is wonderful to me...a true gift from God.  She has been a social worker for several years and loves me like I'm family.  She teaches me so much about our profession and we have endless conversations about life.  I am so thankful to work with and for her.  In Carole I have found a friend for life.  Carleen is the Assistant Executive Director and she is the most organized person that I know.  We go to her with all of our problems and she fixes them almost instantaneously. Patti is our Program Assistant and she is FABULOUS!  She dresses like she's getting paid by Vogue.  We have a lot of fun at HopeWell.  Emmanuel is sleeping...and I'm pretty sure that Carleen has some special touch because he was knocked out and holding on for dear life.

Eli and Emmanuel dressed like twins the day of the shower.  One of my favorite past times is to coordinate our outfits on Sunday for church.  Now that Emmanuel is here...it's all about the boy and his daddy!  Lil' E was pretty exhausted in this picture...but we managed to get the squinty eye look instead of having his eyes completely closed.  
Ok--this is one of my FAVORITE outfits.  Thanks to my mom for her great sense of cuteness.  There are even teddy bear booties to match.  He's worn this one plenty of times, but I needed to get a picture of it before he outgrows it! 
Emmanuel weighed in a 5 pounds 9 ounces when he was born.  At his 8 week visit, he weighed a whopping 9 pounds 13 ounces!  In the evenings before he goes to sleep, he has a fussy period.  I have figured out that if I hold him while I do squats, lunges, and inner thigh work that he will drift right to sleep in my arms.  So, it works out for both of us.  He goes to sleep, and I get to exercise with (almost) 10 pounds of weight.  Below is a picture of him after one of our workouts.  

And...on the sleep note...Emmanuel slept for 4 hours straight last night!  Hooray--that is definitely a victory!  Until next week...

Daddy, Parties, and Friends

Lil' E has had a busy week with more visitors and parties!  He is definitely a social baby.  When he's not entertaining a crowd, he likes to spend time with his daddy.  (I tried to get up close so that you could see the curls in his hair--but I wasn't too successful.)  

When I was in college, my friend, Alicia and I would meet together once a week and cook for one another.  We alternated weeks, and it was so much fun.  My roomate, Erin-Ashley, and I did the same thing on a different night.  It was a great way to connect with my closest friends and to swap recipes, too.  So, this week I wanted to re-create that with some close friends here in Baltimore.  So, I had a dinner party of sorts with 3 girlfriends.  Has anyone ever seen that show "Girlfriends" on TV?  Well, I sort of thought that our time together was like that.  We broke bread together and talked about everything from babies to food to Hollywood to what we look for in a church home.  It was fun to spend time together.  We hope to have these Girlfriends' gatherings more often.  From left to right, the girls are Jamie (and her baby, Bella), me and Emmanuel (sleeping again), Brooke, and Shana.  Eli was a huge help grilling the meat for us so that we could talk and talk and talk!
Our dear friend, Cricket, came over to spend some time with Emmanuel.  And, it just so happened that she brought over Eli's favorite (lamb chops), my favorite vegetable (asparagus), fresh fruit, and a tomato and mozzarella salad.  Cricket's husband owns a bakery in DC (that serves desserts at the White House!) and she also brought over a cake (Eli's favorite) and a non-chocolate dessert just for me (Key Lime Pie).  It looks like all that pregnancy weight will come right back on!

Cricket has been an amazing mentor and sister in Christ to me since I have been in Baltimore.  She loves Jesus so much, and it was so great to have her pour out love to our Lil' E.  
We also worked on planting a garden this week.  It was a family project, but Eli did the majority of the work while I fed Emmanuel.  We have pink and white rose mallows (hibiscus), black-eyes susans (they are super happy flowers that look like miniature sunflowers), and purple asters.  I plan to take some pics of the progress and post a little later.  

Emmanuel looked at me with those huge, brown eyes and I couldn't resist snapping this picture!  He is wearing a onesie that one or some of the women made for him at my baby shower.  This one was created by Shellery Washington, and it says "Jeremiah 29:11."  It is one of my favorite verses.  

Emmanuel is sleeping a tad bit better during the night, but we've got a long way to go!  He's still needing to eat every 2 to 3 hours.  Keep those prayers coming! 

We go to the pediatrician for his 2 month shots on Tuesday--so we'll definitely give you an update.  

Pray for Mr. Eli--he is preaching this Sunday at church.  Emmanuel and I will probably go to both services...if I attend both, then I have a better chance for actually hearing the sermon. Surely Emmanuel won't need to eat during both of the sermons, right?  Who knows!  We'll find out on Sunday.