A New Chapter Begins

Finally...the word is out and I can write about what has been going on in the Blackburn life that has been keeping us so crazy busy!

To make a long story short... after lots of prayer and unmistakable leading from the Lord...Jay decided to return to full time ministry and has accepted a youth ministry position at Grace Crossing in the Woodlands...so we are moving! It has all happened really fast. We put our house on the market a couple of weeks ago and within four days we had 4 offers on the table one of which was for $5K over our list price! Needless to say that was a no brainer...we went with that one...God is so faithful! We have a contract on a really cute house in nice neighborhood in Spring near the Woodlands and not far from the church. It is beautiful there...tons of trees and pretty wildflowers, doesn't even look like Houston. It is going to be a fun place to live. We are set to close on our current house on April 30th and on the new one May 14 so we will be staying with family for a few weeks during the interim. We are so excited about the our new church family, they are a people truly seeking after God's own heart, we can't wait to get there and join them in their pursuit of the Kingdom! And we are super excited about working with teens again...Jay has such a passion for that age group and he fits right in with them...crazy man! I have a feeling Josiah will be immediately embraced by lots of tons of teenagers...it should give him plenty of stimulation for sure!

We are also sad to leave our friends and family, neighborhood, and house down here. So it is a bittersweet thing. But God has just opened so many doors and given us such solid confirmations that this is where He wants us...and there is no better place to be than in His will...we are eager to watch and see what all He has in store. One thing we know for sure...it is gonna be good! "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Please keep us in your prayers for a smooth transition as we move...especially for Josiah that it won't create a feeling of instability for him.

There are apparantely a lot of baby boys right around his age at the church right now...so he will have buddies when we get there. Today we stopped by the office and one of the other ministers and his wife had their almost 4 mos old baby boy, Eliam, up there and we put the boys on the floor together and they just stared at eachother for a while, then Josiah rolled towards Eliam and reached out and touched his face...so precious, they were instant buds!

Pics of the new house to come...eventually!

Half a Year!

We have been crazy busy and I have been seriously slacking when it comes to blog writing. But I thought Josiah's 6 month birthday deemed a break from the craziness so that I could share some pics and updates on him!

As you can see...Josiah is officially sitting up now without support! It has been slowly coming but Thursday he just started being able to sit for long periods of time while playing with his toys without falling over. He still topples every now and then and sometimes purposely lunges forward like he knows how to crawl...but he doesn't yet. He did start rocking a little on his knees yesterday though...except he pushes himself backwards instead of forwards. He he!

He is still such a happy little boy. He just goes with the flow. I am thankful that although he is not a great sleeper he is a happy little camper! So on a whole for the sleep situation...I thought we were making slight progress when a few wks ago he had a couple of 5-6 hrs stretches at night with no waking. Then this week it has been rough every night...until last night...and he surprised us with 9 hrs of sleep no waking! Jay and I had gone out for our 5 yr anniversary (yes, and it has been a WONDERFUL 5 YEARS...I have been blessed with an amazing selfless and servant hearted husband who keeps me on my toes with his passion for the Lord and life!)...anyways, Jay's parents kept Josiah, gave him a bottle of formula at 7:30 and put him to bed. Normally he wakes up to eat again between 10:30-11 but he didn't wake up until 4:30am! Jay and each woke up once to go check on him b/c it is so unlike him to not make a peep...but he was just sleeping like a little rock. He had shots yesterday so I don't know if that had something to do with it or if maybe...just maybe...he is gonna start sleeping longer at night....I hope and pray! And I think he will be getting a bottle of formula in the evening from now on if it continues to help the sleep situation!

He has been saying "hey!" lately. At first it was just an interactive little noise he would do back and forth with us. But now we are starting to think he actually might know it is a way to greet people. When he hasn't seen Jay or I for a while and he spots us he will say "hey", it is really cute.

We still think he might be teething due to all the drool and constant gumming of anything he can get into his mouth...but no teeth in sight yet.

We took him on his first camping trip Easter weekend. It is a tradition of my families to go camping every Easter...it was a whole new experience with a baby but such a blast. He loved being outdoors. Here are the TWO pics I took the whole weekend...pathetic I know. My mom and sister took a bunch so when I get a chance to download their pics I will post some more.

Hiking at the falls...so beautiful!

Josiah with his Easter presents!

....more camping pics to come!