the one about {mornings}

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed,

for his compassions never fail.

They are new every morning; 

great is your faithfulness. 

- Lamentations 3:22-23 

Rosemary Jane arrived on July 22nd at 11:37AM. From that first morning until now, mornings have become my favorite time of day. Each morning, when my Rosie wakes up - I am giddy all over again, eager to hold the cutest bundle of answered prayers I've ever seen. Don't get me wrong, there have been nights of blown-out diapers and spit-up on bed sheets and un.real.exhaustion and drama-queen tears (her's...most of the time!) and did I mention exhaustion? - but all of those stressful moments fade away when the sun comes up.  The sun rises, a new day starts, and once more I get to kiss those long-anticipated sweet cheeks, see those little (but pudgier-by-the-day) arms stretch and stretch, and watch a teeny, toothless grin smile back at me and light up my whole world. 

Lamentations tells us that God's compassion for us is renewed every morning. Let's think about that for a second -- like, really think about it: Everyday, God looks at us - at YOU - with the doting eyes of a parent with fresh eyes of love, of grace, and of compassion. Yesterday's mistakes are wiped clean and the tears, the metaphorical "blow-outs," and even the tantrums are forgotten and replaced with a whole new helping of love. Our God chooses to forget and instead, I imagine him looking at you and I giddy to see our grins and eager to connect with us anew. After all, if I, with my limited amount of patience, can extend daily compassion to my daughter - how much more can our Heavenly Father do the same for us? 

Over the last six weeks, I've connected with this idea of God seeing me with compassionate eyes like never before. I meditate on who the Scriptures say He is - a Father eager to enjoy me, eager to console and soothe me, and eager to meet my needs.  And let me tell you - I have had a LOT of needs as of late. I've needed His grace like more than ever as my physical and emotional weaknesses have never been more obvious! I'm realizing that this verse (and many others) promise me access to this mistake-erasing, all-encompassing, absolutely relentless love every morning.
And me?

Well, I just get to smile back.

...

 Our friend, Jonny Havens, an unbelievably talented film maker, made Rosie a welcome-to-the-world video as a gift to us! Jonny made us our wedding video (only his second ever!) when he was an undergrad at Emerson College. Anyway, he made us this video and I cried when I watched it - cause, you know, hormones...and UGH SHE IS PERFECT. And believe it or not, this is the short version he made for us. The website won't let me upload a file that large (buh!) but the longer one is on Facebook. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

xoxo

A+J

*All photos by Fergie Medar Photography*

the one with the kid-borrowing

This past weekend, J and I were asked to babysit for some of our great friends. The Millers have three kids ranging from 3 to 9-years-old. The original plan was to stay from Friday morning to Sunday night. We had a great time with the kiddos - we ordered pizza and made brownies, we built forts and went to Caleb's soccer game, we watched movies and rode bikes - all in all it was a great time. We were loving every minute with some of our favorite munchkins:)  

Little Man's soccer game. He scored his first goal!

But on Sunday night, Superstorm Sandy brought our perfect weekend to a major halt. Kevin and Melissa called with some bad news - they were stranded in Colorado. Upon finding out, the kids were pretty heartbroken - their parents were missing out on one of the biggest weeks in a kid's year - Halloween week! So, Jesse and I mustered every ounce of creativity we had left and tried to create the happiest, safest, snuggly-est night we could imagine complete with hot apple cider, Tarzan, and pulling the big air-mattress to the living room. The next day, the kids were out of school and the power went out due to the storm (dun, dun, dun). We called in some reinforcements and boy am I glad they came - Jon and Rachel arrived midday on Monday and took on some of the kid-duties while Jesse and I recuperated from non-stop parent patrol. Even though it was a crazy situation, it was wonderful to have time with Jon and Rachel. Those who babysit together, stick together:) 

Apple cider therapy:)

Tuesday night - some incredible things happened - the power came on and Mommy and Daddy came home. The happiness on those kids faces was one of the best things you can imagine. J and I won't be ready to have children of our own for awhile but watching him take on the role of dad for a couple of days was pretty much the sweetest thing ever. As we resumed our normal lives on Wednesday he kept mentioning how much he missed those kids. He kept wishing he could talk with them and hear their little voices. And my heart went pitter-patter.

Baby Bear watching Tangled with J. See what I mean?!

One day, I hope I'm lucky enough to have pictures just like these of our own kids with Jess. But until then, I'm so glad we have friends that let us "borrow" their cuties for a couple of days. Here's to "someday" with the world's best future papa!