a picture-perfect morning at centennial olympic park

another gorgeous summer day with friends. free and fun!

a jog stroller print ad

perfect picnic

oh, oh here s/he comes

we could not be more excited that baby T2 is coming in 2 days! since i know somewhat WHAT is required of us as parents of a new baby and i know somewhat of how i will feel about this new person, i am both more excited and more anxious than the first time through. unlike what most people say about their 2nd and beyond pregnancies, this one has seemed much longer than my first. i am absolutely DYING to know if it is a boy or girl and WHO s/he is! with maddox, i was excited, but didn’t know the magnitude of love that would occur. so, esp this last half has dragged on and on.

on saturday the 7th, i got to hold our friends katie and art’s ONE DAY OLD little girl harper. she is precious, we are very excited for them and it made us look all the more forward to ours. i have really appreciated everyone who has been encouraging and asking about us. the #1 questions are how are you feeling? and how do you think maddox will react/does he get it?

1) i am feeling very uncomfortable but good and healthy. i know the uncomfortable-ness is normal but ayayay. the pains and typical “issues” are upsetting to deal with when you are expected and want to play all day with a toddler! shout out here to dear friend courtney who annoys herself by updating her facebook status too much. ha. i know you feel me with this little answer. you have 2 more months and YOU CAN DO IT! the waiting will make it all the more sweet when larson comes to meet us all. “easy for you to say with 2 days to go” right?

2) no maddox has no idea what is about to hit him. we call the baby’s room the baby’s room, put a teddy bear in the cradle, we strapped a stuffed dog into the baby car seat, show him baby in mommy’s tummy, etc. all these little tricks! but now i just think that he thinks baby is another word for tummy. last night, however, we did get him to respond when we said “what’s the baby going to do? he might eat … he might sleep … and he might cry. what will we tell the baby when s/he cries? ‘it’s ok baby! shhh.’” so his response is now lifting up my shirt to say “hi baby” but he also pretends to cry. oh well, we gave it our best shot! i am glad though that they will be so close in age.

i was blessed to have a baby essentials shower given for me and baby T2 by my cousin melissa and sis-in-law jessica. every one of my closest friends was there and we took time to each pray God’s Word for this baby as well as for our family. it was such a special and unforgettable time.

aunt jess is always full of fun

don got baby noah to laugh for the first time! here they are with maddox.

thanks to our friends and family for your prayers for thursday at 1pm AND BEYOND. they are priceless to us and we love you!

jeremy

Don here. We had a rare chance this weekend to spend the day with some long lost friends. We packed up Maddox, Joy (and, in a package deal, Baby#2) and headed down to Newnan to see friends Kevin & Carolyn, their twin girls and son. As an added bonus my friend Jeremy was in the country and made time to drive down as well. Maybe Joy will post some pics of the weekend later. It was great fun.

But I wanted to tell you about Jeremy and why I am so impressed with him. Jeremy, Kevin and I became friends around the same time back in 1997 – we were in a small group together. Kevin and I had just started law school. Jeremy was working with troubled teenagers in downtown Atlanta. And when I say working with, I mean living with: day-in, day-out, investing through relationship in their messed up lives. After that Jeremy felt God leading him to Brazil, where he has been since 2003, working with children living under some of the worst conditions I have ever heard of: these kids have been abandoned by their parents and many beg, sell drugs, steal, or prostitute themselves in order to stay alive (not to mention that the government may well kill them if they are caught). And again, when I say Jeremy works with these kids, I mean living with: day-in, day-out, investing through relationship in their messed up lives. And yes, I know I am repeating myself, but I think it takes guts actually live with those you minister to, don’t you?

Jeremy’s a smart guy. He could pursue any professional tract and be very successful. While he has been pouring his life into these kids, I’ve gotten married, been through law school and have built my little successful life and started a family. And I’m not saying my choices are therefore evil and Jeremy is some perfect saint. But I can’t help looking at what the past ten years have allowed me to accomplish and realize the opportunities that Jeremy chose to pass-up so he could be obedient to God’s leadership in his life and minister to the poor and the helpless. That is admirable and deserves some recognition.

I’m no fundraiser but if your looking for a worthy cause, here it is. The ministry is called SombraRoad and their website can give you all the information you might want. I’ve added their blog to the blogroll although I get the feeling they don’t have much time to post very often. They have their hands full, believe me. Regardless of whether you feel led to donate money, please consider committing to pray for these kids and for the people that have committed themselves to their well-being.

the TAQ does the trick

hey moms. what have you tried to make your labor start? working out? going to a certain restaurant for a certain dish? i tried both. but now i have a proven solution! It worked for me and it worked for my friend! go eat at the taqueria del sol on cheshire bridge!! on 3/8/07, we ate there with our awesome friends, the zilers, and the next day i had maddox! ok, fine. yes, it was a scheduled C/s but can’t i count it?? i think i can count it because… we then ate there again with the zilers on the night of 5/2/08 with no knowledge that this would be a night that would go down in history! 7 hours later, stuart ziler was born!! we are so excited to know this new little guy and be part of his life. and now for the best part! here are the pics! one of us 4 the night before maddox’s birth and us 5 the night before stuart’s birth!

and here is stuart!

our mom/baby group

here is our “group” who have gotten together since these 3 founding members, caroline glenn, maddox and maggie mae ritter, were 3 mos old. here’s their latest side-by-side pic. more feb1st playgp pics here.