Growing Faith

Eden has never liked wind, or rain. Storms tend to scare her. We've worked on this over the past few months. I was worried how the hurricane was going to effect her. Friday, before the weather got bad, I took the kids out to let them play in the rain. I figured it would be a good reference point for not being scared, instead it would be a fun time.

In the middle of their playtime, Eden sat down on the ground and started to pray. Eden's prayer brought deep joy to my heart as I was able to witness her growing faith. I was so impressed by her willingness to stop what she was doing and pray. On her own initiative, she called out to God. She asked him to help her with her fear and protect us from the storm. Oh how I could learn from Eden. If I could just stop and talk to God in simple faith like a child.

Hurricane Irene Before and After

      After Hurricane Irene

Before Irene- Snowy Christmas with trees



People love before and after pictures. You always see drastic change occur and the end result is wonderful. But you never see all the hard work that occurs during the middle.  But It's the middle part that deserves all the attention.

One of the families in our church needs to be admired for all the hard work they did in our middle period. Roger, Mary, Gary and Jones Manning arrived Sunday after the hurricane with Roger's horses Bob and Bill. In a manner of 2 hours they took down and cleared our yard of the fallen trees. It was amazing to watch this family love and serve our family and church by all their hard work. We would have never been able to accomplish this on our own.

This is yet again another time when country living makes me smile. I told Gary, The difference between city people and country people is that city people would call the insurance company and a tree cutting business to take care of the mess. Country people bring their horses and chain saws and take care of business like it's just another day's work.

To the Manning family, I am so very thankful for all of your hard work. You are a wonderful testimony of Jesus's love in action. Thank you for taking such great care of our family and the church property. We feel loved!

My joyful mess

Taking pictures of my children is one of my favorite activities. I love capturing the special events and ordinary moments of our family. Every now and then I capture something like this and I get so excited. This is such a great expression of my "all boy" boy. It depicts him just as he is, a joyful mess!

As the first rain from Hurricane Irene came in, I took the kids outside and let them play. They had a blast! Josiah found a mud puddle and pursued with great vigor making himself a mess. He was so very happy and you can't help but smile when you see how joyful he is just being a little boy.    

                                                      A smile of joy!

                                                                    The shirt says it all!

                                                    Hmmmm, should I throw this or wear it?

My favorite men.

The girls are out numbered at our house. We're not in testosterone overload yet, but I can feel those days are just around the corner. Here are a few photos of my favorite men.

Josiah loves to hold "baby Titus", but still has to do so under a watchful eye. I can anticipate a day soon when he'll try to do it all by himself. I am trying to train Josiah to wait for Momma and Daddy, and that he must be gentle with baby Titus. Josiah loves to kiss Titus and decides each time if he should kiss Titus's head or foot. It's so sweet!

 Just today, Josiah told me Titus was his little brother, which beats the heck out of his previous answer when asked who was Titus....Josiah would say, "I don't know!"

                                          Titus is thinking...
                          You look like your happy to hold me, but if you hit me there will be payback one day!

                    Larry is such a wonderful Daddy! I couldn't imagine raising these little men with out him.

Little Momma

Eden has become such a great little Momma since Titus was born. It's humbling to know that she is watching and learning how to be a mother by how I treat Titus. I have found myself laughing at the conversations she has with her baby doll ( Baby Einstein) and Josiah about how to treat a baby. When it's time for me to feed Titus, she will grab Baby Einstein and little pillow and feed her baby doll next to me on the couch. We've had some real interesting conversations about bodies, babies and roles of Mommies and daddies. It

is a sweet time with her as she learns what it is to be a woman, wife and mother. 

I often wear Titus in a sling. Eden has wanted a sling to wear her baby in as well. We visited our friends Kelly and Brian this weekend, and their daughter Lydia loaned Eden her mini Sling. Eden thinks it the greatest thing! She loves wearing her baby like Mommy. Sunday we both wore our Babies to church. To say she was a hit is an understatement.

                                                                  Look, no hands!

                                                                            Sweet girl!

                                                                      Holding Baby Einstein

                                                             Holding Baby Brother

                                                       I love that look in her eyes and that smile :)

This is my favorite.

Eden knows one of her jobs as a big sister is to be a protector for Josiah and Titus. This photo, with her arms around Titus, is a great visual of her taking her role seriously. She is a great big sister and will be a wonderful Mommy some day.

Titus- 5 weeks

Titus is 5 weeks old today. I wish I had time to write an eloquent or funny post, but Mommy is tired and hopes to get a nap with the kids. Isn't he cute? :)

My little Student

 If I had myself better organized, I would start Eden in home school this year. But I'm giving myself a big heap of Grace. ( we do have a lot going on right now) I want her to enjoy being four, and I want to enjoy our newest arrival without having to focus on schooling.

That being said, Eden loves to learn.  Recently I bought her some lined paper and showed her how to write letters. She loves it! She has been writing her letters over and over again. She keeps asking me how to spell words and family members' names.  I'm so excited for her and look forward to slowly working with her this next year on her reading and writing skills.

While you were out

This is what happens when you leave a two year old in a room by himself  to give his new brother a diaper change. It simply amazes me how quickly a mess can be made and enjoyed by my children. I walked out and Eden and Josiah were watching a DVD. This is what greeted me when I returned.

 "Look Mommy....letters!"

So you can see my first week of three against one went well :) Kids 1, Momma 0

Daddy's Hands

There is something amazing in the way a newborn looks in their Daddy's hands. As I think about the role that Larry plays in our children's lives I couldn't imagine raising them without him. He is their protector, provider, and role model. He's the example Eden will have in her head when she thinks about the kind of man she wants to marry. He's the one who will teach our sons how to be men. Larry is the spiritual leader in our home and will be the one most responsible for their knowing and loving the Lord. 

Yes, Daddy's hands hold a lot of responsibility, but in these pictures they hold our future.

Survival Mode

We're in survival mode here at the Gilbreath house. Motherhood comes with many advantages, forgetfulness is one of them. I forgot how hard these newborn days could be. Don't get me wrong, We love Titus and are so happy he is here. We simply forgot how the sleepless nights affect the following days.

Titus is a blessing! He loves to cuddle and sleeps best when being held or snuggled up next to me. He still has his days and nights mixed up and is most awake at about 3:00 in the morning. Nursing has been a challenge for us, but we seem to be figuring it out. He's dropped weight and the pediatricians are concerned because he hasn't gained back to his birth weight yet. He's not losing any more and he's peeing and pooping well, so we're not overly concerned. Motherhood also has you keenly aware of your child's bathroom habits :)

Larry and I are hanging in there. Larry is still recovering from Pneumonia, but is feeling better. This third C-section has been difficult. I'm healing slower than I would like. The doctors are trying to figure out if I have developed an infection from the C-section or if there was just a lot of trauma during the procedure. I am so very thankful to my awesome Mother in Law who has stayed with us to help. My mom is coming back up tomorrow. They are both such blessings! I am so very thankful for their loving help. We have also been blessed by our awesome church family. They take such great care of us. This is a season in which I realize that we could not do this alone and am so thankful for our family, friends and church family.

Titus and I have been struggling to find time and energy to take some pictures. He likes to eat and poop during the sessions and because his days and nights are still backwards he likes to sleep during the daylight. He's not real crazy about posing yet, but we'll continue to work on it. Here are a few of my favorites from today.

Eden loves being with me to help with Titus and she wanted to pose too.

It's hard to believe how grown she looks.

Big Yawn, let's go take a nap!