The Miracle of Birth

Last week I had the opportunity to witness my newest nephew being born. It was an AMAZING experience that I will remember forever! I always wanted to have a natural birth experience with little intervention but I was not so lucky. My sister in law, Melissa, invited me to be part of the labor and delivery for baby Jackson and I could not pass it up. I was so intrigued to find out what a normal delivery would be like. The coolest part was that Melissa had a home birth! Her midwife delivers a lot of babies in the Mennonite and Amish communities around Lancaster County, PA. She had an amazing ability to make everything calm during even the most intense contractions and pushing. The labor was pretty quick as Melissa started having contractions at 4:30 am and had her water broken at 6:50. Baby Jax was born at 7:30 am. I know......those of you who had 24-30 hour+ labors are extremely jealous right now. Anyway, Melissa did an awesome job and was very calm and collected.
After seeing the whole process take place I was reminded of just how miraculous and precious life is. It is an awesome reminder of how creative and powerful our God is.

Sticky Orange Fun

Today Ella Grace invited a bunch of friends from her play group over to decorate pumpkin cookies. 7 toddlers plus orange icing and lots of sugar = a delightful and fun mess!

Grandma & Grandpa Took Me to the Pumpkin Patch!

One of the great things (for us personally) about my dad's job is that he and mom get to visit Charlotte quite frequently to meet with people at Gordon Conwell's campus here.
We had a great weekend together walking on a greenway (much needed for my busy daddy), getting breakfast together, visiting the pumpkin patch, and watching the Gators lose miserably to Alabama (could not believe this).
Here are some shots from Hunter Farm (a 5th generation farm in South Charlotte)...