Encouraging Words...

So a close friend of mine sent some very encouraging words my way and thought I would share them. I was feeling particularly overwhelmed with the stress of my program when I read them. My program was daunting enough before we threw a baby into the mix. I was feeling like there was no way on earth I would ever get all the things done that I needed to complete this week when I opened up her email. Jesus really spoke to me through her words and His scriptures and gave me a new perspective on things. I am so blessed to have such Godly people in my life to keep me keeping on when it seems like there is no way on earth I can.
She passed along some of the message her pastor shared on Wed night... one line read "Remember, Jesus carried the cross so that we would not have to carry our own burdens". For those who grew up in church/attend church a lot, this is nothing new and something you have heard repeatedly. However, it was nice to be reminded that it doesn't have to be the huge ginormous decisions of life that are counted as burdens. All the little things build up and make us weary and drag us down, but I think maybe, just maybe, He is even more interested in all these little details b/c it is in going to Him with the small things that we will truly grow in our faith and learn to talk with Him and lean on Him more. Hope a few of these verses will encourage you as they did me! Remember, He gives rest to the weary!

Matthew 11:29-30

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Isiah 40:29
He gives power to those who are tired and worn out; He offers strength to the weak.

Psalm 40:1-3

I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.

Philippians 4:19

My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 2:10

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (I love the Message version: Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. )

Sammy's first Halloween!

Thought I would put a few pics of Sammy's first Halloween up, we had so much fun with him. I couldn't help thinking back to the previous year when I was oh so pregnant and waddling around sooo uncomfortable and all I could think was puh-lease stay in until at least midnight, I really didn't want him to be born on Halloween.. although his cousin Cole sure did, he thought it would be cool to share a bday with baby Sammy (Happy Birthday Cole! We love you!). Now just a year later we had the cutest little lion ever to share the night with. We drove up to Jax that morning since his bday party was the following day. We decided to take him to the fall festival at Debbie's church and it was such a fun time. They really had a nice set up, Sammy went in a bounce house made just for preschoolers, it was a miniture one and he LOVED it! His Grandaddy helped him learn to jump in it- thanks Richard! At first he just slid on the slide some (with assistance of course) and then he got very brave and crawled in. He crawled right over to the wall and pulled himself up and started to bounce, he giggled and just had a blast!
He of course loved the loud music and danced most of the night but he also enjoyed the scarecrows and a little digging game b/c he could push the red wagon around. My favorite part was when he got to see horses for the first time! We decided not to go on the hayride b/c it was getting pretty late and he was oh so tired but he got to pet one and talked with her. It was so cool. Once they trotted away and everyone in the wagon waved to him he squealed and kicked, so cute! I think his fav part of the evening though was that his Aunt Cindy suprised him and was waiting back at mom's for him. He LOVES to hang with her so they had fun tickling and playing with the dogs. He really liked Cindy's lighted up pony tail, pretty fancy. Gigi (Cindy's dog) & Pixie (mom's dog.. that is not a misprint, MY MOM has a dog now and no... the world has not stopped spinning yet!) had costumes on! Our poor little Franklyn was naked.. hey we were doing good just to have the baby dressed up! Here is a scrapbook I made with some of the pics, the others are on our Shutterfly page, the link is http://deluccafamilyphotos.shutterfly.com/ you can click directly on it (no password needed) and view our favorites. I am going to upload albums from my pictures on my computer so they will all be stored in one spot. This is not only b/c I would like for everyone to see them (proud mamma, I know) but also b/c I am so paranoid something will happen to them! Will be nice to know they are safely stored online too. Well thanks again for reading about our little fam as we embark on this new blogging thing.. haha!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Can't believe he is ONE

Well, our little guy turned one this week and I am still in shock! How on earth has it been a year already? It is all going by too fast for my tastes. I LOVE being his mommy and all the fun baby stages (well I could have done with out the serious lack of sleep) and don't want this baby stuff to end. I keep reminding myself that we do have a ways to go before he is officially a toddler but every now in then I get a glimpse of a little boy rather than a baby and it is so weird! I am a little scared of the walking that is coming any day now. He is so very close.. he barely holds on to things when he cruises and he LOVES to let go and just stand their on his own. He has so much personality and actually gets sillier with each day and he is just learning things so quickly. Sam and I were just talking tonight about how he literally amazes us daily with something he does or says. The other day he said "sticker" when I showed him my "I voted" sticker... it is now one of his favorite words and he says "sticker" to anything that looks remotely close to one. He was thrilled today when I took his sticker off his back from church (his nursery identification tag) and let him play with it. Although I absolutely adore the way he says "daddy", my favorite word of his by far is his most recent addition .... "ma ma"!!! That's right folks, the long awaited words finally came out last night. It was so hard to wait.. I mean c'mon! He has several words now in both languages and yet not even a "ma" out of his lips. Let me tell you though, when he finally said it.. it was simply beautiful! I of course way over reacted and clapped, hugged, kissed him, and laughed all at the same time which prompted him to repeat it 6 more times.. I was in heaven! Sadly, he hasn't said it since but it's fine. He said "ma ma" and it was directed at me and it was soooo sweet! We are quickly realizing that he is very strong willed, he knows exactly what he wants and how he thinks things should go, which although challenging has provided us many laughs with the situations he has gotten himeself into.
Even with all this growing up he is doing, he is still just as sweet and snuggly as ever. He loves to rub my arm while I rock him and he gives the absolute best hugs and kisses in the world (although his little cousin Jamin sure gives him a run for his money). He often stops playing and crawls over to hug me and grab a quick kiss then continues on his way and I know pretty soon he will be way to busy to steal kisses from mommy so I am just trying to enjoy every moment that I have with my little baby because before I know it... he'll be a big boy. Well, he already is a giant but you know what I mean.. (for those of you who haven't seen him in a while, he is still quite a little chuncker). It really seems like just a few months ago that we broght him home and everything was so new and he was so little and delicate.
I am hoping to get some pictures posted up soon.. I can't wait to upload the pics from his bday party and from Halloween.. so cute! For now though, here are just a few of the more recent pics we've taken (sad to say I still have the last couple months on my camera and have yet to even transfer them to the computer) . I've also included one of the online scrapbook pages I made a while back. I think he was 7 months old here, we had gone to the beach to visit Sam's family and just had a fabulous time. Hope you enjoy it. ... I think I'm getting the hang of this blogging, phsewy!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

First Blog Post ever!!!

I am learning how to set up my blog!! Yay! This is my first official post.. Hopefully I can get this whole thing figured out and have it up and runnig soon so we can stay in touch with our family and friends better. Ok.. here goes!.......