First Beach Trip and the One Thing I Can't Live Without

The tater tot has decided that sleeping is a hobby and not a necessity. It is KILLING me! More importantly, its killing Bert. After 10 months of waking up at least 3 times a night to get my colicky, sleep optional baby to sleep; I have learned to let her cry it out. Not Bert--after sleeping restfully through the first year of Loulie's life, his motherly instincts have kicked in and he can't stand to hear her cry.
Or as we have both come to realize, whether we let her cry it out or not; no one can really sleep through "Mama Dada Mama Dada Bidge"! So all the coffee in the world could not help me out this morning. I plan on lots of jumping jacks and toothpicks for my eyelids :) So please excuse any rambling or grammatical errors.


 Loulie seems to keep finding herself surrounded by cute boys....

My cousin, his wife and their two kids were staying out at Wild Dunes this past weekend. We headed out there so Loulie could play with Clayton and Bubby. They are 6 weeks and 17 months older than her--just enough to keep her on her toes. It was our first afternoon on the beach this year only to have the weather turn on us after a few minutes. It was fine by Loulie who we discovered does not like the sand on her feet. A true girly girl! That will be plenty convenient this summer since we live at the beach. I guess Loulie is going to be THAT kid on the beach in laced up sneakers. Even though we had to head inside, you can tell the fun didn't stop for these three characters.  With a condo full of toys their favorite pass time was yelling and singing to people walking by on the beach.

The weather that rolled in on Saturday has stuck around for the entire week making me feel like it is still winter and giving us lots of time to catch up on our indoor activities. We've started reading Radical by David Platt for small group along with several other small groups in our church.  It is challenging to say the least. Platt discusses whether or not we have taken the gospel and adapted it to fit the American dream. That God's blessings don't necessarily mean a nice home with a two car garage, only eternal life offered through a sacrifice by His only Son. That the blessings God offers are available if we are willing to take up our cross and follow Jesus. 
See what I mean by challenging? 
"It is by grace that you are saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that one can boast." Ephesians 8:9 
Platt chalenges our response to this gift and describes the response to the gospel as this...
        "that gift of grace involves the gift of a new heart. New desires. New longings. For the first time, we want God. We see our need for him, and we love him. We seek after him, and we find him, and we discover that he is indeed the great reward of our salvation."
There's really just nothing else to say after that.


Have a happy weekend!