Happy Birthday, Punkin'!

Jacob just turned 1 on Sunday, October 26th! Can you believe a year has gone by already? It feels like yesterday that he was just in my belly trying to kick his way out.

As I reflect on this past year, I keep thinking of just one word to describe how we feel: utterly and totally blessed. What more can we ask for? God has blessed us beyond anything we could have asked or imagined! Many of you know how we yearned for a child, but what we got from our Jacob is more than we could have ever thought it could be. I may sound a wee bit corny, but he is absolutely the sunshine of my day! He is such a happy and fun baby, and Derek and I just love to laugh at (I mean with, of course) him. He is such a ham and truly captivates us. And he really is such a lover - he loves to cuddle and hug and sometimes kiss, although he plays it cool with me. He only kisses me occasionally, but he freely doles kisses out to everybody else!

What amazes me the most after having Jacob is the revelation of how much our God really loves us. I mean, if Derek and I love Jacob so incredibly much, this tells me how much our Father in Heaven loves us. He loves us so much, even those of us who want nothing to do with Him. That breaks my heart to think about . I couldn't imagine Jacob not wanting anything to do with us one day. How does that make our Lord feel when His children turn away from Him?

I just pray every day that Jacob will love God and obey Him and follow His Word. I pray that He is molding the perfect, Godly wife for him one day, and that together they will do mighty things for the kingdom.

I love this sweet baby boy, and I am so excited for this next year to come! Here are just a couple of photos from his birthday party. We had a costume party since his birthday is so close to Halloween. I wish I could post more, but there are too many to choose from!