"I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly."
~Jesus (John 10:10b)

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Naphtali is 15 months!!!

Our little girl is 15 months old now! She is a full-fledged toddler- hardly any "baby" left in our sweet little girl! She is truly a joy in our home. Many days I look at her sweet little face and cannot believe she is my daughter... that Daniel and I have a daughter to love, nurture, and raise up in the admonition of the Lord!

Here are some of our favorite pictures of our girl lately:


I had SOO much fun making cookies with my girl for the first time! I let her "dump" some of the ingredients in and of course there was some taste-testing involved!



One of the things that warmed my heart, was seeing my girl go straight to her play kitchen after finishing "helping" bake cookies with Mommy! It is definitely a humbling and yet, delightful thought to know that my daughter is watching me to know what being a woman is like!



Daniel and I were the band nerds. Ha ha. Well, I was a nerd and he was the metal head. In short, we LOVE music and creativity in the Lawson home. A couple of weeks ago, I was able to introduce Naphtali to my trumpet. These are some of my favorite shots from that afternoon. We would love it if she enjoyed music and learned to play an instrument! We shall see what the Lord gifts her with!
She totally looks like she's playing for a Jazz band here!



An area that the Lord is working in my life, is to really take joy in the moments that make up life. One of the struggles I am having as a stay-at-home wife and mother, is getting frustrated and impatient by the little things. It does not seem profitable to finish the same chores daily, to change three poopy diapers in one day (ha- really, that is what happens some days!), to prepare meals, and to clean up cheerios from the living room floor. And yet, the Lord is using these areas of frustration to reveal my impatience and to show me that service, though dirty, is LOVING and honoring to the Lord. It is a noble thing to serve. And in it, there are sweet joys. Like blueberry cinnamon rolls on a Saturday morning!


Or car rides with Daddy in our seminary parking lot to pick up mail!

Or designing my daughters room one Saturday! So much fun!
Or spending a Saturday morning with my girl in our pj's- watering plants and cleaning but enjoying each other's company!
A thrift store find that Naphtali is showing off! Mommy has big plans for this little desk- hope for it to be my next DIY project!

Thankful that the Lord is showing me the beauty of becoming more like Christ in serving my family! 

One big thing for our girl during this time, is that she is in the process as well of becoming a BIG sister! We are excited to see what the Lord will do in her life through giving her little brothers! I'm sure she will love to boss them around- ha ha! This is us with the adoption paperwork.


   We have LOVED having a zoo membership this summer! And so has Naphtali! She particularly loves the giraffes and elephants and the petting zoo :-) Such a sweet time to go during the weekend! These are few of our zoo shots recently.




 Naphtali has had so much time with her cousins this summer! It has really been a joy to watch her play, learn, and have SOO much FUN with her cousins!! She is trying to give Bethany a kiss in the above picture. 

Here she is enjoying Emma and Sydney at Caitlyn's b-day party! They were so good with her! She adored them- especially because they went sliding into the pool with her! This girl is addicted to adventure and the water! We found that out this summer. Here she is drinking from the hose- ha ha!


These are some shots when we went out for ice cream with family! 

Our girl LOVES music!


And some fun shots with Bethany and Caitlyn at the ice cream shop.


Besides all the fun, Naphtali is growing and learning so much!

Here are a few of the things she has mastered:

1) She is practically running! This girl is always busy walking, climbing up stairs, and exploring her world. She keeps Mama VERY busy!

2) She is understanding so much of what I say now! She knows when I ask for shoes that means for her to get her shoes (and go outside!), she knows what hungry means and goes straight for the fridge, and she knows what are names are when we are looking for Daddy or Mommy :-)

3) She loves coloring and writing! She cocks her little head and gets close to paper to "write" a letter and she LOVES to color on her coloring books. Of course, we are still in training mode for this, but it sure is cute!

4) She is saying words like, hot, hat, eye, ball (not all the time, but we're pretty sure she knows that one!) and animal noises like Moo, Roar, and Ooh-Ooh Ahh Ahh (Like a Monkey- thanks Aunt Hannah!)

5) She is waving hi and bye-bye, blows kisses and signs thank you, please, all done and more.



These are a few of highlights  about our girl! We are so thankful for our gift from the Lord!

Thanks for reading!


In Christ by His Grace,
Amber Lawson