"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it." - William Arthur Ward
Today we take the time to say that we are so thankful for everything God has blessed us with, including the amazing friends and family who have showered us in love these past few months upon the birth of our little angel. We love each of you and appreciate everything you have done for us!
Happy Thanksgiving
I got to enjoy an early birthday present tonight and go watch the Lady Vols play at MTSU. It was the first time in school history for MTSU to have a sold out crowd for their women's basketball team. 11,802 in attendance to be exact. Surprisingly the crowd was made up mostly of Blue Raiders fans. I say surprisingly because I am such a huge Lady Vols fan I cannot imagine pulling for any other team. 
We started out in seats pretty much at the top of the gym. We didn't realize when we bought them that they were literally bleachers = no backs. Not a fun situation when you have an 11 pound baby strapped to your front. Not to mention Brent and I are not sure the last time we had to sit on bleachers with someone's knees pressing into my back. Oh so fun!...not
As we get ready for Thanksgiving this upcoming week, remember this is how pumpkin pies are made:
1. You can never wear too many layers to a hockey game. Hooded outfit, toboggan, and hooded fleece coveralls. She stayed toasty to say the least!
After 2 days in the G-burg, we came back home where we spent a fabulous weekend with the Moncriefs. We had a great time doing a whole lot of nothing other than eating (we're all good at that) and playing Cashflow. 
It was quite possibly the most enjoyable weekend we've all had in a while - as displayed by Ada's pure excitement and joy over eating a PB&J. Her exact words: "Oh Boy!" 
We've been on a journey for quite some time. 1 1/2 years to be exact. I don't know that we've reached our destination but it sure feels like we're getting there. A few weeks ago we had a good friend invite us to their church. The original week we were to attend we had to cancel, but the following weekend we managed to get a newborn and 2 adults to a church service and ON TIME. Yes, it truly was a miracle.
We've been to a lot of churches this past year and a half. All of them had the same thing in common: they were not the right fit for us. We knew there had to be something, somewhere here in our new community that had a little "God-shaped hole" for us. We're not jumping into the membership waters yet, but we do have our second visit under our belts and it is feeling good.
Last week I ventured into the "women's Tuesday morning Bible study" crowd. This was a new crowd for me (for obvious reasons), but I have been looking forward to finding camaraderie with other new moms. This group and the material it is studying is refreshing. Honestly. It's not cheesy. It has substance. It's real. And it's full of real women. Real moms. All of us coming together looking for friendship, a listening ear, and wisdom on this little job called motherhood.
Today's topic was on the heart that we should have as mothers. It may not sound as if it's something we should be concerned about, but think about this: we may be able to fool others, but we cannot fool our children. They know our hearts. And here's a fun fact: matters of the heart are mentioned more than 1,000 times in the Old Testament alone. Think God was trying to tell us something important? Kind of like in school when the teacher says, "if I repeat this or write it on the board - it's important."
Even as Gabbie is just 2 1/2 months old, I know she senses when I'm tired or in a hurry. I can only imagine how much more that will be amplified once I have to start verbally disciplining her. Last week we talked about the type of mother God calls us to be. I love this: God calls us to be the type of mother for the child that He gave us. He doesn't call us to be the type of mother that our own mothers were to us, or our mother in laws were, or our best friends. Why? We're married to a different man, we live in a different culture and we're raising a completely different child. Isn't that awesome? If you're a mother you can probably get such relief from this. For me it helps take that guilt that's already building over the million thoughts running through my head at. all. times. all because we're women and we do one thing REALLY well: we compare. You know you're guilty of it. You compare yourself to other women. You compare your husbands to other husbands. You compare your child's development to other children. And it's exhausting to say the least.
So what type of mother. woman. daughter. child. has God called you to be?
Don't think this isn't applicable just because you might not be a mother...yet. Think about how it applies to all of your current relationships. ESPECIALLY as a woman. No man can ever understand the battle going on in our mind. One over our thoughts. Actions. Words. No man can....except for God.
The morning we left for NC, Chad helped me out by entertaining Gabbie and she loved it! Chad is going to be a great daddy. 
After about a 5 hour road trip, we made it to my grandparents house and they got to meet Gabbie for the first time! We had a great weekend celebrating my grandfather's 80th birthday. It was more a family reunion than anything else, so that was really neat.
Here are a few great pictures from the weekend - Gabbie did sooo great all weekend. She slept well in her pack n play and even did great in the hotel room with Brent and I. Hopefully this will stay true throughout her little life :)
This is an awesome cake that my mom made! It was completely her idea - she baked all the pieces and Jen and I helped her assemble it. I thought it turned out amazing. My grandfather was a carpenter and now does a lot of wood work, so we made it to look like his "shop."
Papaw has always called Jennifer, Casey and I his "chickadees" so we made tshirts that said Happy Birthday Papaw on the front then we had Chickadee and our number on the back. Jen's the oldest, she was #1 Brittany and Gabbie are the youngest so they are #4 and #5. 
The night before the party we were at the church pretty late getting everything set up. Needless to say my dad was POOPED and took a little cat nap in a chair.
My Mamaw and Papaw holding Gabbie. It's kind of surreal to see a picture of YOUR grandparents holding your baby. I can't wait to tell her all the neat things that they did for me growing up. We always had so much fun at their house!
Our entire crazy family: the last time we took this about 10 years ago there were only 10 people TOTAL in the picture! We have been blessed to have a great family!
