Hall Ways: Not in vain...

I keep telling people that nothing would have prepared me for how much I love our little Benjamin or for how very hard this would all be. Derek and I have been really excited the past couple of days to get almost four straight hours of sleep! The lack of sleep is tough! It has brought out the best and the worst in both of us! We are loving being parents, though. We are so grateful God has chosen us to be Benjamin's mom and dad.

I've been working on a Bible study during some of Benjamin's naps. It is about being a mom, and there are some great scripture verses I've been learning about. One is Genesis 1:28... God commands us to be fruitful and multiply. A great reminder that what I'm doing is by God's design and even a command. Nice to remember there's more to this than just feeding a baby and feeling sleepy all the time!

Another verse I've read is 1 Corinthians 15:58. "In the Lord, our labor is not in vain." So, being a mom is a job God has called me to, and in the Lord this work will not be in vain! What other job has such lasting results... for good or for bad! We're praying that raising our children will be for good and believing it will be.

Here are a few new pictures from the past couple of weeks...

My parents were here this past weekend. We spent Saturday watching college football. Benjamin even dressed for the occasion. Derek is convinced that Ben will be a Tennessee fan... I'm still betting on A&M.

We're getting better at the bath thing. His first few did not go well! We were trying to do this in the tub, and I think he was just getting too cold. The kitchen sink works much better, but it does take two sets of hands! He's actually starting to like bath time!

I swear we weren't pinching him. Sometimes he just likes to fuss! Pass him to mom, though, and all is well... as long as I'm nursing him. That is his absolute favorite thing to do!!