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.