Grady's BIGGEST decision.....

So I'm sure most of my readers (all 2 of you!) have heard that Grady accepted Christ into his heart on 8/10/10. It was seriously one of the neatest days of my life! My kids births are fantastic and all - but knowing I am going to spend eternity with them - is probably even more exciting!!!

So here's the story for those of you that want to know:

Grady had asked about asking Jesus into his heart about 6 months ago. Ryan and I talked to him about it and we weren't quite really sure he knew what all that meant, etc. (do any of us, really?!) But we had asked him to wait a little bit longer to make sure he really understood what it meant. I asked Ryan the Sunday before the Tuesday he made the decision, if he thought we had discouraged him and wondered if he would ask again about it. Well God answered....as usual!!!

It was a Tuesday and Grady had been having a rough day! It was evening time and he had done something mean to his brother/sister (can't remember which one) so Daddy sent him to the bathroom for disciplining..... (insert clear throat here for those grandparents reading!) Ryan said he would take care of it and I left to go work out.

I came home and asked Ryan how Grady did (since he had been having a rough day already!) Ryan said we needed to talk about that later. So 8pm comes, the little ones are put to bed and Grady is up with us. Ryan told me about their talk in the bathroom that we always have after ahem - disciplining.... Here's the conversation as I remember it:
R: "Why did you ____________ ?" (can't remember the offense!)
G: He broke down crying and hid his face. "I don't want to be like that anymore!"
R: "Who's the only one that can help us change?"
G: "God"
R: "That's right! We can try to change, but we need God's help to change completely."
Then something to the fact that Grady wanted to ask God for help and Ryan asked him some questions about having Him live in your life, etc.

Now jump to after 8pm when only Ryan, Grady and I are up. We are sitting on the couch asking Grady all kinds of questions to see how much he truly understands. I remember at one time Ryan asking G a difficult question. I was thinking of an answer when Grady spouts off an answer that even surprised me! We thought he had a better understanding of what Jesus gave up and offered us for free!

So we all 3 sat there on the couch as Grady repeated a prayer that Ryan was saying. I cried through the whole thing - and I think I saw tears in Ryan's eyes (this coming from the man who is made of tin and doesn't own tear ducts!) when we were done.

I mean, we have prayed for this day for quite some time for Grady.....then it came! It was truly amazing and incredible - I think I smiled through my sleep that night!

Grady has amazed us with how much he loves to read his Bible and such. But now when I look at him reading it - I wonder, what is his life going to be when he gets older? We he stick and walk with God, will he turn away and dismiss what he has done, or will he just go through the motions? I pray that Grady will keep God close and will see how much easier life is with Him in it!

Grady has started doing devotionals everyday and I think he feels older since making such a BIG life decision on his own! I can't wait until (hopefully ALL) more of my children start living their lives with God as their center!
Thank you God for saving my son for eternity!

The Star of the Show....

Baby Caylor is the star of the day today! She is changing by the minute! Sorry Grandparents for not getting more pictures posted faster!!! Bear with me!!!

Caylor is 4 months old now and we can hardly believe it! The last 4 months have flown by so quickly! We can't imagine our family without Caylor in it! Don't get the wrong impression from this photo that she actually like to be on her belly any more than day 1! I just caught her at a good moment! The dr. recently asked if she was still doing belly time and I just laughed! Caylor has NEVER done belly time! She HATES being on her belly! We get about one good (good=5 minutes) session a day with Caylor on her stomach! Girlfriend would rather go without food than lay on her stomach!

But she sure is cute when she does lay on her belly!!!

What you don't get to see in the picutre is that Ellie and I were painting our toe nails at the dinner table one afternoon and Ellison wanted her baby sister to come over and join girl-time too! She sat in her Bumbo seat the whole time and watched us.....she will soon ask to be getting her toenails painted! Ellie wanted to paint her toes, but theyare still rather small that this pedicurist opted out of that one!!

Caylor is now sitting in her bath ring for bath time. No more baby tub (can I get an "AMEN"?!) She will soon be in with the younger boys - but for her first time, we decided to let her have her own private (not to mention, quiet, calm, non-splash) first bath without her brothers.

The rest of the pictures are just fun towel pictures - mommy loves her a nakey baby!!! Enjoy!

As you can see, she is quite expressive - not to mention chubby!

Caylor is rolling over from her back to her belly - followed promptly by screaming that she is on her belly and wanting to know who put her there. She is just starting to reach out for toys, but not all that good at it yet!

Little Miss Stinker Pants will take a bottle (yay!) but only with breastmilk - absolutely NO formula will go in that childs mouth! I had no idea that a 4-month-old would be able to tell the difference, but ole girl does!!! We are going to start rice cereal probably next month, but no rush there. Both Daddy and Mommy hate the baby food stage, so we procrastinate as long as possible!!!

I think that is about it for our Caylor Lindy! Come and see her - she is a great baby that will let you love and squish her to pieces! She is starting to get a temper though if not attended to quickly when called, so you better come soon before she turns into a full-blown Ellison! :) Just kidding grandparents!!!