Blessings in Nephews

I am an aunt who is totally in love with her 2 nephews! The three of us made a trip down to H-town to see my newest nephew Truitt. He is PRECIOUS!! I also got to spend some fun playtime with Jed. He is one of the silliest kids!! He cracks me up! He and Truitt are going to have some good times ahead! Here are some fun pics from the weekend!

Isn't he beautifully handsome!!!

Such a weird ( in a good way:) stage of life to watch my brothers transition to being daddys! What a blessing it is to see them love their sons so passionately! Kayci and Jennifer are amazing moms! I can't wait to watch their families develop! I tell them both ALL the time (probably annoyingly too much:) that Malaya and I can not wait to babysit!!

Jed just keeps me in stitches (just like his dad). As you can see, his new game is peekaboo. He is one precious kiddo. I can not believe he is about to be the big ONE!!!

I LOVE being an auntie!! Next week 3 of my neices and one other nephew will be coming in town! Malaya is so excited to have her cousins come stay!! There will be lots of great memories to share!

We had a great Mother's Day! Good family time!Here is the precious miracle that gave me the title of mommy 8 years ago!! She makes my heart burst! Speaking of her...she is almost a stinkin' 2nd grader!!!!!!!!!!!!! Where does the time go???? I LOVE being her mom! I am excited about our summer together!

We passed through a major milestone tonight and I survived!! Every night since the day she was born (with the exception of a few nights when she was a new born and I was too tired:) I have read to her. As I was doing the dishes tonight I started thinking that one day she is not going to want me to read to her anymore, she will want to read by herself. It wasn't 10 minutes later and she came into the kitchen and said she would like to read on her own tonight!!! I think God put it on my heart to prepare me for the heart break. :(:(:(:( As we did bedtime I told her I would make a deal that she could start reading on her own but I still wanted one night a week! Is that selfish?? Don't tell me if you think it is:) Let me grovel in my own selfishness for as long as she will let me.

Pray for me....:)

MY SECOND NEPHEW IS BORN!!!

Well, Truitt arrived early!! He was born at about 3:30 today! Check out the handsome new Ross boy at www.truittross.blogspot.com
We will be waiting VERY impatiently till we get to see him next weekend! Please say a prayer over him!!
YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!

I'm Alive!!

I really have gotten bad with this blogging thing! Thought I would fill you friends and fam in on what has been going on in our world. It has been a busy, busy month. I feel like I am just now recovering from the weekend! I was wiped!!!

Continued from the last blog...Malaya wanted a slumber party this year so we had 8 little girls over for some pizza, dancing and no sleep:)

2 girls had to leave early so here is the all night crew. We had a dance contest which the girls took very seriously. There were some future KidStand back up dancers in the mix:) I will just show Malaya to not embarrass any of the girls! The party started right about the time tornado sirens started going off and it began down pouring! Another mom stayed b/c of hail so I calmly gathered all the girls and we sat in my bathtub for 30 minutes. Many funny times from that!

My cousin Hutt is graduating this year. A few ladies from their church threw Hutt a party. It was so nice! I can not believe he is graduating. He is one of the smartest people I know. He is an amazing baseball player! He has an amazing singing voice! He is a great leader in his youth group. I am so proud of him!
Another SUPER exciting thing is that my brother and sister in law will become parents next Monday the 7th!!!! She is being induced that day so hopefully he will come fast!! His name is Joshua Truitt Ross and we will call him Truitt!! I can not wait to meet him! These little nephews are going to be so much fun!! Jed and he will be good buddies and I am sure Malaya is ready to teach them all the ropes! Here is a pic from her shower a few weeks ago. Doesn't she look beautiful!! I love my girls!! I have such amazing sister in laws.!!Malaya is so blessed to have such great aunts. Almost every time we are with them Malaya wants to "dress them up" by either doing their make up or hair. Jenn is always so patient and lets Malaya do pretty much anything she wants. She allows Malaya to practice her "creativity":)
I wasn't able to get a great picture but Malaya signed up for a speaking part in their 1st grade play. I was so proud of her. We practiced her lines for weeks and she whipped them out like a pro! You may not be able to see but she is the pig! I cannot believe this year is almost over!!

This past weekend, the whole KidStand team went to Fort Lauderdale, Florida to do the children's area at a huge Christian festival! We worked our tails off but it was SOOO much fun and God was so good! When we first got there Satan tried his attack hard but we prayed and fought and God revealed his glory in some powerful ways!! 80 kids signed up to know more about Jesus and wanted to dedicate their lives to Him!! ( 26 of them never went to church before) Each child was individually counseled by our team and were encouraged to find a church home, Christian friends, to be baptized, and to start reading the Bible. It was an amazing experience to be a part of. Our team consists of some AMAZING people that I learn so much from. Because we were ministers at the festival we were allowed backstage access. On Friday night Jeremy Camp was the headliner! He led us through a powerful time of worship! I am such a huge fan of him and his wives music. The lyrics to their songs have meant so much to me at different phases in my life. "This is My Desire" is still one of my fav songs of all time! He is an amazing writer! So we were able hang out with him backstage for a bit and get a pic with our team! My friend, Liz got a pic so as soon as she sends it me I will post it!

On the last day the festival got finished about 6:00 so we took off to spend a few hours at the beach!! Considering the only beach I have ever been to is Galveston, I was stunned at the beauty of the beach! It was beautiful to be there with my friends and KidStand family! I love each one of them!!

Liz is taking the pic. But here is the line up: Joe - does our marketing and carrying equipment:), his wife Kim - does fundraising and lots of other stuff:), me - KidStand assitant (I dab a little in it all.) bottom is Marissa, KidStand dancer, Jessie - Kidstand visionary, founder, president, Valarie- KidStand dancer and actress, and Solrun (KidStand dancer).

Life is such an adventure! God is still working through a lot of junk in me but I hope He is being able to use the parts of my heart that do belong to Him. ("I pray that he continues his good work in me.") At least I hope it is good:):) I am learning a lot lately about the broad community of faith and it exists WAY outside of my little box. He is so much bigger than I have ever known and I know He will continue to amaze me right up to the point I look into His face of glory. It is a blessing to have people in my life that continuously point me to that moment and encourage me to live me life with that moment in mind!

Blessings on you until next month when I update:):)