Growing, Growing, Growing

Pictures of Our Little Lydia

Today was Lydia's 1 month appointment. We praise God for a healthy little girl. She weighs 10 pounds 13 ounces and is measuring in at 22 1/4 inches. (90th percentile for both!) The appointment went really smoothly considering I had all three of my little sweeties with me. They did so well. Thank you LORD!!! There were no shots today which was nice. Next month she will get some and Emme has already assured me that "she will care for her" when she is sad after her shots. Lydia continues to sleep so well and is just a really sweet, content, laid back baby. Such a blessing. The fact that she sleeps so well allows me to spend more time with the other two girls. Then when Emme and Faith go to bed I get some extra Lydia time before she is ready to eat and then go to sleep for the night. Which reminds me....she ate at 9:00 pm last night and slept till 5:00 am this morning!!!! I was amazed and realize that it could just be a one night thing, but it was nice to get those extra couple hours of sleep. I was very thankful for them. Any extra amount of sleep is helpful in taking care of three precious little girls:)

Our Three Little Ladies

Choosing Joy

The other night Emme wanted to do something and I told her that she couldn't. It had been a day of Emme having a hard time of choosing joy and choosing to obey rather than disobey. So after I told her told her no she came over to me visibly angry that she could not do what she wanted to, stood beside me, put a smile on her face and said, "Mom, I am shaking with JOY."

One Month with Lydia

This is Lydia's one month picture. My friend Shannon gave me the brilliant idea of taking a picture of each of my girl's on their monthly birthdays for the first year. (Thanks Shannon:) It was so neat to see how Emme and Faith changed through their first year. I am looking forward to seeing how Lydia grows and changes. Lydia continues to be such a joy to us and is definitely making herself more known with her vocal cords:) She still is a very content baby though, praise the Lord. She is also starting to get little rolls on her arms and legs. So cute:) The girls are loving her and love to give her kisses and hold her. We are very thankful for their love for their sister and pray their love for one another will only continue to grow through the years.

Six Years With My Love

Tomorrow, May 19th is our six year annivesary. When I think back on these past six years with Damien God's faithfulness and kindness are a constant theme I see interwoven through the years. Three lovely little ladies, a tremendous church where God has caused us to flourish and grow in our love and passion for Him, friends and family that are a means of grace to help us grow in our marriage, etc etc etc. So many blessings to recount. One of the biggest blessings is the man of God that Damien is being molded into. God continues to grow my dear husband. As Damien continues to grow in godliness, my love for him deepens more and more. I have seen him grow in the areas of humility (humbly confessing sin and asking for forgiveness from me), passion for worshiping his Savior (specifically in leading worship at church and his song writing), more of a love for God's word, he becomes excited to read and study God's word and we talk more about what we are individually reading. Servanthood, he more readily offers to serve me by helping out with the girls or by taking kitchen clean up duty. His love for his family is such an evidence of grace in his life. He provides for us so well and loves spending time with us. We always feel so well cared for by him. I am amazed that God would bless me with such an amazing man for my husband. I am aware that I do not deserve to be loved and cared for so well by this amazing man, but how grateful I am that God does not treat us as we deserve. He gives us more than we could ever deserve. Starting with salvation which is the BIGGEST blessing and all to follow are just huge bonuses! Thank you Lord for my dear husband and for these six years you have blessed us with. Another testimony of God's kindness and faithfulness.

I love you, Damien...apart from my salvation in Jesus Christ you are the biggest blessing in my life. Thank you for pursuing the Lord like you do and for loving me as you do. Happy six years, praying that God will bless us with many more:)

Lydia's Dedication

On Sunday we had Lydia dedicated to the Lord. What a privilage to be able to dedicate her to our Savior and invite family and friends to pray for us and come along side us in this awesome task of parenting our precious daughter. We are so aware of our weaknesses as parents and are so aware of our need for God's all sufficient grace and the means of grace that friends and family are in encouraging us and sharpening us. We pray that our sweet little Lydia would know Jesus and trust in Him. We pray that she would love Him more than anything or anyone else. We pray this for all three of our girls. We know God is faithful and will do more than we could ever ask or imagine with these precious lives He has placed in our care.

Happy Mother's Day

Mom Drago with Emme

Happy Mother's Day Mom Ryan and Mom Drago! As we think of you we are amazed at how kind God has been in giving us mothers who have cared for us so well and who continue to pour their love out onto us and now our family. Thank you for all the ways you have sacrificed over the years for us. Thank you for teaching us about Jesus and how much He loves us. God used you to bring us into a saving relationship with Him. Thank you for the way you were so affectionate and loving with us and are now that way with our girls. We honor you today and every day for how much you have treated the call to motherhood with such high value and have sought to glorify God in your high calling. God is well pleased with your godly examples. We love you!

Mom Ryan with Dad Ryan and Emme, Lydia, and Faith

Faithy Time

Faith showing off her painted toenails

We have been cared for so well with the arrival of our newest little lady, Lydia. Yesterday my friend from church, Jona offered to take Emme for a few hours. (Thank you, Jona:) It was the perfect opportunity for me to get some "Faithy Time. Lydia slept while we played in the sand, painted her toe nails, and ate lunch. Then we went on a nice walk together with the double stroller. I was so grateful for the time together one on one. I love being with all my girls together and being with them alone allows for such sweet times and such wonderful memories too. I am so enjoying being the momma of three little ladies.

God has been so very kind to give us so many people to care for us during this new season. Thank you Lord for your provision and constant care for our souls.

Giving Honor Where Honor is Due

Damien's mom came last week to help me care for our three little girls. What a huge blessing she was helping me ease into the adjustment of caring for a newborn, 4- year old and a 21 month old. She was broken in fast wiping runny noses, giving baths, pushing Emme on her bike for blocks at a time as she is learning how to pedal and steer:), comforting Faith as she was miserable from being sick, pulling weeds, making dinners, doing dishes, fixing things for me:), helping me with projects that I would not be able to do easily in this present season and doing whatever else needed to be done. She was the perfect help, always joyfully caring for my little ladies and me. Nothing was ever too much to ask of her. Thank you so much Moms, for caring for us so well and for loving us as you do, runny noses and all. We miss you already and love you lots. Thank you Gramps (Beach as Faith affectionately calls him) for lending your dear wife to us. We are so very grateful.