All Thumbs

Titus has finally found his thumb; And his Momma sang and danced the happy dance!

Eden and Josiah each began taking a paci days after they were born. It was a huge help for soothing them and sleeping. That is of course until it falls out and they were too young to put it back in there mouth. That's why you put 5 in the crib each night. So you only have to feel around until you find one and pop it back in.Years later, we're still using them with Josiah, Thus creating a whole other issue. I'm sure he'll give it up before college.

Titus however doesn't like anything plastic in his mouth. He will not take a bottle or a paci. Soothing Titus has taken much more work...we're talking lots of walking, bouncing and nursing. So I was super excited to check in on him during his play time to find him sucking his thumb sleeping :) Imagine the Hallelujah chorus playing loudly in my head as I watched my newest blessing soothing himself to sleep. It was a great moment. We'll figure out how to get him to stop before college too :)

Sweet Boy

Isn't Titus cute? I love chubby babies. Thankfully, He's packing on weight. Looking at him you wouldn't think he had such a hard time putting weight on in his first weeks of life. Titus has started cooing and smiling. It's nice to see this growth and know he's developing normally. I would love to give you lots more detail of how life is going in the Gilbreath home, but it's time to feed him again :)

Just hanging out :)

As the weather has been cooling down, we've been hanging out outside.

 Josiah takes hanging out to a whole new level :)

Young lady

My little girl is growing into a young lady.

 I love these pictures of her sweet face and beautiful blue eyes :)

Labor Day/Gilbreath Visit

 I'm blessed to have married into a wonderful family. Jeanne and David have never treated me as just Larry's wife. They treat me like the daughter they have prayed for since Larry was born. They are a wonderful example of marriage and ministry and work hard to encourage us. For two brother's to be born so close in age, Timmy and Larry show no signs of competition. On the contrary, I have never known brothers who love one another so deeply and want good for the other like the Gilbreath boys. And Corey is the perfect fit that brought additional joy  with her relaxing good nature.

We all wish we could spend more time together as family. Sadly we are spread over many miles. So we try to cherish special weekends like Labor day when we can all be together. We have a great time and look forward to the next time it will happen again.

Goodnight Moon

Have you ever noticed when your day is hectic and you're on edge that something happens to make you stop in your tracts and smile? I love those moments; I need those moments!

After nap time, Eden and Josiah climbed into her rocking chair and Eden started reading to Josiah. Keep in mind Eden can't read just yet, but she knows the story. We've read Goodnight Moon many many times. Eden did such a great job, and Josiah loved having her read to him. 

This moment was so sweet to watch as their Momma. It gave me hope for the time when Eden would be reading to Josiah for real. It made me realize how much they love one another even though they fight so often. It made me happy they are so close in age, because they have a built-in playmate and best friend. 

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!