Party at the Cambells

Last night we got together with friends from our very first Life Group to introduce Elijah to the old gang. When Ethan and I first got married, we attended a "Casual Family" Life Group through our church. We loved it! It met at the Pollock's house on Sunday nights and every week we would have a potluck dinner, fellowship with other parents as the kids ran around and played, praise and worship, time in the Word, and prayer time. The only catch was, we weren't parents yet. The rest of the group (which varied in age but all had kids) all thought we were a little crazy for wanting to be a part of the "chaos" and kept asking if we were sure we didn't want to go to a young married life group instead. We didn't, and assured them that we were where we wanted to be...and they are still our friends today.

Last night they threw a shower/dinner for us in honor of Elijah...we are so glad that we finally fit in now that we have a kid of our own. :) We had such a good time hanging out with everyone and especially loved hearing all of the tips, advice, and funny stories from their early parenting years. Elijah did great, and even though he completely skipped his nap, he LOVED being held the entire time and was such a smiley and happy boy. The Cambells, Rainwaters, Pollocks, and Tweedy's also surprised us with gifts! We are stocked up with tried and true books and things Eli is sure to enjoy. The evening was truly a blessing to us. It meant so much to us for all of these families to have this celebration for us. We appreciate their prayers, their support, and their generous gifts. It is so helpful to have other families who have already been through these early parenting years to lean on for Godly advice, wisdom, and encouragement. It also means so much just to have them rejoice with us at an exciting and fun time in our lives. Thanks guys, we had a blast!


Above: The special cake that they got for us! It reads "God's Blessings on Elijah." I love the way they put the picture of Elijah on it. I told Becky that she was a whiz with the icing...it looks just like him. :)


Above: Ethan and I opening presents. We got some super cute, and very manly, denim overalls for Elijah from the Rainwaters.


Above: We also got a flap book with "over 50 flaps" from the Rainwaters! You can tell that I am quite amused with all of these flaps myself. :)


Above: Here is a good shot of most of the rest of the group. From left to right, you can see Dallas and Becky Rainwater (Becky is holding Eli), Tiffany and David Tweedy, Chuck and Betty Cambell, and on the very far right is Sarah and Amie Pollock- Robert Pollock is taking the picture- and of course the back of my and Ethan's head. All of the kids were busy playing upstairs.


Above: Opening more gifts. I am very excited about all of the books! This is something we don't have a lot of yet and I am working on growing our "kid" book collection. We also were blessed with diapers, wipes, washcloths, a kid friendly video, and gift cards. Thanks everyone!


Above: I told Ethan this morning that it was so nice having everyone else hold Eli. Not that I don't love to hold him, of course, but it was a nice change to have other experienced mothers hold him and pass him around all evening. I must say he was quite content with the arrangement and I think he is the kind of baby that will be happy 24/7 if someone is holding him. Thanks "moms", this was a gift for me as well!