Joseph's Dedication and 10 Months Old!

"Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all he has done." -Colossians 2:7

On Sunday, October 18th, we dedicated Joseph's life to the Lord at our church, Westover.  It was a wonderful time and very special.  Our Pastor, Don Miller, did the dedication.  He is the same one who baptized me when I was 13, and the same one who married David and me back in 2009.  It ended up being one of the best weekends we've had since Joseph was born!  *Many thanks to my mother for being our photographer for this weekend!**

David's parents (who are now officially retired in Highlands, NC) came in from the mountains on Saturday afternoon and hung out at our house (they stayed with us), and then Saturday night the whole family (David/Me/Joseph, my parents, my grandmother, and David's parents) went out to dinner at Lucky 32.  We had such a good time!

The whole fam other than my mom (who was taking the photo)

Jojo and Poppy (David's dad)

The next morning, we got up and got ready for Joseph's big day.  David's mom took a picture of us before we left our house...

We got to church waaaaay early to get prepared, so we had plenty of time to hang out, chat with Pastor Don, take more pictures, and let Joseph have some good play time on the sanctuary floor. My cousins from Chapel Hill also came into town and met us at church.

David's parents chat with Don

Sitting Joseph down for some pre-church floor time

Finally, service started and it was our time to come up on stage.  Joseph did great - he didn't cry when I handed him off to Don, and he behaved very well.  We chose Colossians 2:7 as Joseph's life verse.  Don read his life verse, prayed for him, and then offered to take him home after the service, to which everyone laughed.  :-)

God must have really smiled on us that day, because our normally very restless little churchgoer was so exhausted from his big moment that he fell fast asleep on his daddy's lap for the rest of the service!  It was amazing! 

Afterwards, everyone came back for a reception at our house.  It was such an unbelievably fun time...it will go down as one of my best memories ever!

Joseph's dedication cake

 David's dad, my grandmother, Joseph, and Jan (my Dad's cousin's wife)

My Dad's cousin Ray and his daughter, Syd

The female table, except somehow my grandmother and I got stuck with the men, lol!

David's mom holds Jojo

The men's table (plus my grandmother)

At the end of the afternoon, just before David's parents left to go back home, Joseph got some snuggle time with Poppy.  Poor baby was so tired that he could barely keep his eyes open!  After everyone left, David and I laid down on our bed to take a nap and put Joseph in between us.  We all snoozed away!

Sleepy boy with Poppy

 I am so thankful that we will have the support of our family, friends, and church as we strive to raise Joseph to know and love the Lord.  I pray that, at an an early age, he will come to profess saving faith in Jesus.  It will be the most important and best decision he will ever make!  And as parents, there is nothing more important we can do than to direct his gaze towards the Lord every day of his young life.

Also, this past week, Joseph turned 10 months old!  I can hardly believe that my sweet little man is approaching the one year mark.  Time is truly going too fast.  He is such a precious joy to me, and even though I am with him virtually all the time, it still never feels like enough.  The night of his 10 month "birthday," David was going to have to work some very late hours at work.  Whenever this happens, my sweet and protective husband makes Joseph and I stay with my parents so he will know we are safe, and then when he's done with work he comes and spends the night with us there.  So here are a few pictures from our "10 month birthday" stay with Nonie and Papaw.  There was a full moon that night, and so Joseph wore, what else, a full moon shirt! ;-)

Pretending to drive Papaw's truck

So thankful that God gave this little guy to us and so excited to see what kind of future He has planned for him!