The first's keep happening one after another....

1st time to eat cereal. The first night most of it came right back out, but by the 3rd night she was swallowing it and opening her mouth for more after each bite. She is a good little eater. I thought this face was priceless.
This is just funny...but this is the 1st time to have a double hair style....one in the back and one on top. I have to have fun with her hair now before she begins telling me no or starts taking out her hair bows and bands.
1st time to open a Christmas gift! She was more interested in eating the wrapping paper... :)
1st time to meet Great Grandma Murphy!
I know you must be wondering where in the world I have been. Well, I have traveled to Mo and simply I have been relaxing from the stress of school. But, now I am way behind on uploading pictures on here. So, the first update will be on some of Abigail's firsts' she has had in the past couples weeks.
She also giggled for the 1st time on Christmas day. But, she has not done it since then.
She is rolling from her stomach to back and back to stomach now. But, funny thing is she only rolls from her stomach to back in her crib. She is really active in her crib. It's kinda funny. Actually, right now she is sleeping with her butt straight up in the air. It is pretty cute! She has come to take a trait after her Uncle Jesse, she loves sleeping with a silky blanky. Sorry Jess, your secret is out. :) That was the only way Jesse would go to sleep when he was a baby. If Abigail is a little fussy when she goes down for a nap or night time I just give her the silky blanky and she is out.
Next up....our trip to Mo!

Lead me Lord

I remember in college telling God that I would go wherever he wanted to send me. I always had in mind that I would go to Africa one day and work among villages taking care and loving on orphans. A LOT has changed since my singlehood in college....

Justin and I have always talked about oversea missions, we have even talked with the IMB a couple years ago. You may be thinking this has to do with us maybe moving overseas somewhere, actually it has to do with moving and living right here in the states.

Now that I am married and with child making decisions has become harder. I think that I use to be so much more flexible in college when I was single because I did not have to think of the best interest of others too. Now, when a decision is made Justin and Abigail have to be included in on it too.

I will go wherever Justin leads our family, because I trust Justin listens to the Lords leading. My heart is to be back in Mo. But, that is not good weight to use to determine if we are to move anytime soon. Justin looks at his job now and sees that it is stable and knows moving means he would have to find a new job with a B.A. in Christian Education. I know that having a Masters woudl help get him a job in a church, but moving would only take him away from getting his education. I have deep convictions of knowing that Justin is called to the ministry and he needs to finish his education. But, I also have deep convictions of being home with our children. As for now, Abigail. I do not think it is fair for our children to be raised by someone else during the day while we go off to work. I know many people do it, and I do not look down upon those families. These are my own convictions.

Back to the beginning of this post I said I would go wherever the Lord wanted me. It never crossed my mind that He would want me in Fort Worth, Tx for awhile. If this is where He has called us for a few seasons, this is where I will stay. But--if only it were that easy. Staying here still means hard decisions need to be made. Not sure if that means we will move off campus once I graduate because Justin may not be able to stay in school full-time while working full-time...or if that means I will start working full-time so Justin could go to school full-time. Right now, this is all unknown.

The unknown always makes us or atleast should make us reach out to God more. It does for me. I want the best for my family....I want to be seen as a woman that fears the Lord and is guided by His mighty right hand. My prayer comes from Isaiah 41:10... ( So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand). Join me in prayer. Amen.

Abigail's 1st Christmas

Abigail is helping daddy pick out where to put up the Christmas tree.

Abigail is not too excited about the beginning process of the tree.
The end result!

Now for the Christmas decorations-- Abigail's 1st stocking.

The puzzle we have begun to work on. As you can see many pieces are still on the table not put together.

Got to have Christmas mugs for all the coffee drinking that goes on in this house!

You got to have little candies around the holidays! :)
Abigail is getting a kiss under the "mistletoe"...I just used a pretty ornament as our mistletoe. It still works. Okay--more pictures to come. Hope you enjoyed! :)