Hello Again + An Announcement + Our Disney Getaway

Dusting off the cobwebs of the dear old blog today.  To our readers, a big thank you for being patient as a lot has been going on lately {and that is probably an understatement}.  Now, if you follow Matt + me on IG, Twitter, or FB, you are most likely aware of some of the happenings going on.  The greatest joy in our life right now is...

WE ARE HAVING BABY #3!

This was very surprising and welcoming news.  We have always had our heart set on having at least 3 children and since we have had fertility issues in the past, we thought it best to try right away.  So, when I was feeling completely exhausted for the first part of the year, I never dreamed it was due to being pregnant.  We found out when we were a little over 11 weeks along...almost through the first trimester!!  This week we get the joy of finding out the gender of this little one.  This process is very familiar, yet so exciting even still.  We truly appreciate all of the love we have received from all of our family and friends already concerning this announcement.

In other news, Spring Break happened to be a pretty exciting week for us too.  We were able to take the boys on a family vacation to Orlando, Florida.  Our time included staying with our our friend, Robert {aka Uncle Robert}, going to Disney's Magic Kingdom, and visiting the ocean.  All of it was a bit of fantastic whirlwind.

Magic Kingdom was every bit of the magic and more.  Jude loved it so much.  To a boy that loves boats, cars, trains, and Mickey, well...it was a moment that he won't soon forget.  Actually, he brings up Disney World almost daily and our trip was over a month ago already.  The most precious moment of the day came at the very end of our time there.  We got to meet Mickey Mouse himself.  Jude pretty much jumped out of his daddy's arms to hug Mickey.  The excitement and awe he had in his eyes during that moment was just so special.  

The visit to the ocean was also a very noteworthy occasion.  It was Ezra's first time to the beach.  Since he was born at the end of October he has never experienced the sunny, warm weather like we did there.  I think it was love at first experience for him though.  He would just lay in the sun without one cry of discomfort and even took a nap on his beach towel.  As far as the ocean goes, it certainly was not warm water, but he loved splashing in it nevertheless.  Of course, this is Jude's 2nd time at the beach and he was rather pro at it too.  Building and digging in the sand seems to be his specialty or even chasing birds around.  

All in all, the vacation was well-spent and most enjoyed.  Here are some of our captured moments. :)

Ezra's Dedication Video

We had the formal dedication of Ezra to the Lord this morning at our church.  It was such a sweet and blessed day.  A special thank you to all of our family and friends that were there to support the blessing of our sweet fella.  Here is a video we created to share at the dedication.  Enjoy.

Ezra James Wilson's Dedication

An American Weekend

We celebrated America in a big way over the weekend.  Celebrating Independence Day deserves more than just a small party, so we started on the 3rd of July by taking Haven to fireworks after service.  We were sans Jude.  With us not knowing how he'd react this year (you may recall last year was not a success in the firework department), we thought it best to send him to his Mamaw's.  The fireworks were fantastic (thank you, Dayton, OH), but just being with our friends made the night all the more amazing. 

We began the 4th by taking some family pictures.  Matt used to work at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and received a more-than-gigantic American flag that had been retired.  He decided that he would hang the flag this year in front of the house.  It was larger than our house and totally in the holiday spirit.  We took a few pics in front of it and the sun decided to add some flares to a few of our pics, but we rather liked their festive look.

(yes, the union should is displayed on the left... we were on the reverse side because of the wind)

We then ventured out to a couple parties for the afternoon on the fourth.  First, we went to my Uncle Jeff & Aunt Mary's house for a family cookout.  We had such a relaxing time with our family & the food was out of this world.  The downfall was I only managed to get a couple iPhone photos from that event.  Afterwards, we went to our friends' house Kent and Kandy Keller for their annual firework show.  This one we decided to let Jude in on. ;)  There were so many friends to catch up with in attendance and Jude had too much fun pretending to drive their golf cart, hunting lightning bugs with Papaw, and playing with sparklers.  The fireworks seem to only get better with each passing year at the Keller's.  Jude got a little scared (could've been something to do with the fact that we felt like we were practically right under them), but nothing like in the past...so we are chalking it up as a success.

We ended the weekend with a celebration of freedom at church.  Again, I only brought out my iPhone, so the pictures are not that great in quality, but wow, what an amazing day.  Our church service reflected on historic times that led us to the freedom we our privileged to enjoy in our country.  Then, we had a potluck feast followed by a water slide, corn hole tournament, bouncy house, children's race, and softball.  We forgot all about nap time and played until our hearts were content.  Like I said, we celebrated in a big way.  We hope you had a great weekend too.

Easter 2014

Easter...a precious day to remember the sacrifice and love of Christ our Savior.  Sometimes the holiday part kind of takes over the meaning.  For us, the little stressors added to the holiday look like this...the planning of outfits, the church productions, the egg hunts, the easter basket planning, the family get-togethers, making food for a fabulous holiday dinner, etc.  Don't get me wrong, I love all of these things, but sometimes the focus on what it is most important can get hazy.  I caught myself really upset and even crying yesterday morning, because things were not going as smoothly as I had planned (and anyone who really knows me, knows I can easily get stressed when things are not as I expect them to be...eeeek! Type A personality, maybe?!?!).  Anyways, I took a moment and just asked God to forgive for being so selfish.  I mean, this is supposed to be the day that I focus on His completley unselfish love for me, and here I am upset that I don't have the food prepared, my son bathed, and myself dressed in a timely manner.  So after repenting and taking a few breaths, I gathered myself together and it actually ended up being a really special Easter.  I had such a lovely time in the presence of God at church.  Jude loved his Easter baskets (yes, that is meant to be plural...he gets plenty of love around here) and he had way more than his share of candy.  We all had the best time at our church's Easter egg hunt.  The eggs were actually delivered via helicopter...making it definitely the best egg hunt we've ever been to.  We hope you all had a blessed weekend and were able to make special memories too.  Happy Easter!

 Too pressure...all of this waiting. ;)