Birthday, Birthday!

I am fast approaching my 25th birthday. This makes me feel old. Ever since I turned 21, it seems as though I feel more and more ancient with each birthday. Especially now that I'll be a married mother of 2 by the time I turn 26 next year. Craziness! Never thought this is where I would be at this point in life.
Life tends to take a lot of different turns that can't always be anticipated. This is not to say that I don't have an amazing life. I am so incredibly blessed. But in my wildest dreams, I never would have imagined that I would be pregnant with my 2nd child at 25. I probably wouldn't have guessed that I would even be married!
But life is good and I wouldn't go back and change a thing about it.
We got the birthday festivities started tonight. Andrew's parents threw a party for all of us September birthdays in the family. My brother-in-law, Paul, and my sister-in-law, Cora, as well as my little brother (by way of Andrew, and technically my brother-in-law as well), Seth, also have September birthdays. So we had dinner and gift exchanging together. Fun fun!

What do I hope this year holds in store for me?
I hope that I can genuinely be transformed by the power of God's word as I take part in my Bible study that began last week. I hope that God's word will affect me strongly and that it will trickle down into my marriage and the parenting of my son. I hope that I will feel confident and at peace about bringing another child into the world. I hope that I can be a bringer of life and encouragement to people around me in everyday life.
I'm excited to see where I will be at one year from now. I've come a long way from last year and as I type that I have a genuine smile on my face. Remembering where I was and realizing how God has carried me through this past year is so encouraging. Makes me feel like I can do anything with His help.

Looking forward to my birthday dinner with Andrew and some close friends next Sunday, which is of course my actual birthday. The Melting Pot......mmmmmm!

I've been meaning to post a few pictures of some fun we had a few weeks ago. Andrew and I decided to take Judah to the splash park at Forest Park as a last hurrah to summer. The splash park was only going to be open for another week or so, and summer is quickly drawing to a close. In fact, today is the first day of fall! So here are a few pictures from the splash park. Although Judah seems more and more like a big boy here at home, I was quickly reminded of how small he still is while he ran around through the water. I had to help him watch out for the big kids.