Blessings: Another little Lewis & more!

"Every good and perfect gift is from above..."
James 1:17

The Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year are always a time to pause and remember how blessed we are.  Not because of material blessings, delicious food, and family time--although those are GOOD gifts--but mostly because I remember how undeserving I am of all these things and so much more.   

I am truly thankful and excited that Dave and I are expecting another little Lewis around August 1st this year!    

For the past 13 weeks God has graciously sustained a growing miracle within me.  Two days before Thanksgiving I saw that magical (+) sign on a pregnancy test.  Fast forward through the holidays that were accompanied by a moderate amount of nausea, tiredness, cravings, and mood swings--Big thanks to my patient family!--and here we are at the end of January 2013.  

It's been a couple months since I last blogged and in addition to being preoccupied with the holidays/pregnancy, I also think I've been a slacker since we're not counting the months of Cameron's life as much as we did the first 12.  There's a lot to catch up on!

First, here's what Christmas looked like at my parent's house:

Nana & Pop-E were surprised with our big news!

Despite Cameron's "deer in the headlights" look, 
he really liked this ginormous cuddly bear...
as you can see below, Chewy took a liking to it too :)

Lighted hats...???

Aunt Katy & Uncle Jeff are expecting too!  She's due ~6 weeks before us.

Tired of waiting for the food...

 Doggie love

Got to visit with some sweet friends and their adorable babies too!

In the past couple months Cameron's personality has been showing more than ever, which brings both excitement and challenges!  He lets us know when he wants something AND when he doesn't. 

Some of his favorite things:

• pacifier during the day (a habit I'll be eager to break in another 6 months or so!)  We hear a lot of "ci ci ci" when he can't find it or is wanting us to get it for him
• crackers, cheese, fruit, cereal (Breakfast is his best meal)
• music
• basketballs, footballs, tennis balls, etc. 
• animals & their noises
• Chewy
• playing at the park & just being outside
• Marbles museum with friends
• pointing to familiar things in a book
• trying to say words & jabbering a lot more in general (I love his sweet voice!)
• bath-time
• hiding in closets, corners, or small spaces.  He is learning the game of hide and seek and once we start playing he asks for more and more.  

Some things he tends to protest:

• being forced to come inside
• being carried if he's in the mood to walk
• green beans & some other foods depending on mood
• when Dave & I correct his fork/spoon usage at meals.  He insists on doing it himself, even if that means most or all of the food ends up falling off the utensil! 
• occasionally diaper changes & bedtime.  His favorite bedtime-stalling technique is running off to our room and quickly shutting the door (he even locked it once--whoa!) 

I'm anticipating more excitement AND challenges in the coming months as we face new adventures in parenting Cameron and preparing to become a family of 4 along with whatever life brings.  We are trusting and thanking the Lord for His faithfulness to guide us always and provide blessings each and every day above and beyond what we deserve.  

Psalm 107:8

Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, 

for his wondrous works to the children of man.