It's a Boy!

Our beautiful son, Timothy Edward Bilbo is here!  He is perfect and we are already so head over heals in love with him.  He arrived on August 2, 2011 at 8:52am via c-section.  He was 9lbs, 9ozs and 20 1/2 inches long.  We are so excited to have a little boy and Grace is a natural Big Sister.  Thank you all for your prayers, he arrived exactly as the Lord planned and we are all doing well.  I'll post more later, but for now here is a picture of our Timothy.  I'll upload more when I get the photos downloaded off the camera.

Grace's Baptism

We celebrated Grace's Baptism into the Covenant today. My mom made her a beautiful gown, she looked so lovely I almost cried putting her in it...it was so special to have her in something handmade by her Grandma. Wow, it was so much more emotional than I thought it would be. Seeing God's grace for us literally poured out on our daughter was just amazing. I was doing fine with the vows and the charge until Jim said Grace was our long awaited miracle. I lost it then and cried through the baptism. After the service, I told Jim he got me with that and he said that it was ok to cry happy tears. :)

We had all our parents as well as David's oldest sister Carol and her family with us to celebrate. In addition our friends the Drehers & Crabbs joined us to celebrate. Afterwards we rented a pavilion at a park for a celebration picnic. There was a field on one side and a playground on the other, it worked out wonderful as the kids were able to play hard and enjoy themselves which was great.

We are certainly blessed to have such an amazing group of friends and a wonderful family. Grace is surrounded by so many people who love her so much, she is a blessed little girl. Here are a few of the pictures from her big day.

Our familyThe whole groupAll Grace's Grandparents3 GenerationsWith our Dreher FamilyGrace loves her Uncle PaulieGetting SprinkledI love this picture of Grace & Jim. She is looking at him like he's crazy, too funny. :)
We had alot of family who couldn't be with us today, so Carol took a video for you so you can enjoy her baptism from afar.

A full 2 weeks

It's been about 2 weeks since I posted last...wow time flies! You would think being unemployed I wouldn't get behind on anything, but we have had a lot going on. After we finished getting all the decor (that we were going to put out anyway) up and the presents wrapped, I had a few gifts I needed to finish - that's all I can say. It's been time consuming, but joyful as I love putting some heart into the gifts we give. That in combination with my still fruitless job search (that leaves me spending an hour or 2 each day searching job sites and finding nothing), writing our Christmas letter, keeping the house clean, laundry done, etc., and catching up on EVERYTHING else that I was behind on from all the hours I was working last month leaves me wondering where I would be if I hadn't lost my job. I guess I'd be really, really tired. =)

So here's just a few highlights from the last 2 weeks:

• I got approved for my unemployment - woohoo!


• David got new lenses for his glasses due to a manufacturer defect - he needed new ones anyway so this saved us $500. God is good!


• I spent a few wonderful days in Clarksville, TN with Lacey & her family in celebration of her 30th birthday!


• We hosted the last leg of the progressive dinner for the Youth Group's Christmas party and a good time was had by all.

Last night we went to see Harry Connick Jr. live in concert, which was SO much fun!! He put on such a wonderful show. The music almost brought me to tears a few times and I was in stitches a few other moments when Harry, who is also quite funny, was telling stories or messing up in good fun. I knew it was going to be a good show when the second song he played before he even greeted the audience was (It Must Have Been Ol') Santa Claus. It was nice to get out of the house together and enjoy some holiday fun. Have I said lately how much I love my husband?

Finally, please pray for my family. My grandfather is in the hospital and he has a series of serious health issues...it looks like he may be leaving us to go home and meet Jesus sooner rather than later which is both joyous and heart wrenching. This is hard for all of us, but specifically for my grandmother who lost her brother this fall and for my grandfather himself. Please keep them in your prayers. Pray for wisdom for the Doctors who are caring for him, and for Grandad to be in as little pain as possible.

Unemployment

First, I owe a recap from my trip to Richmond, which I'll do sometime this weekend I hope, but I know there are questions on what's up here, so here's the deal.

Yup, I lost my job. Wednesday night my boss called me and told me that our office was being shut down. Today is my last day and I'm currently finishing up the last minute admin stuff and cleaning out my office. I'm surprisingly ok with it. I'm going to file for unemployment while I search for something else, though I'm not sure what that something else will be. I haven't had the time I had hoped to finish preparing to launch my photography business, so that will definitely be a high priority and I want to find something that is far less stressful than this job has been.

David is doing well with this too, though I think everyone is surprised (me included) by how at peace I am with all of this. I know the Lord has a plan and I rest in that despite the lack of understanding. I haven't shed any tears and I'm looking forward to turning in this blasted laptop and cell phone which have been permanently attached to me since Jan when I started this gig. I also take solace in the fact that Bluegreen (where I was working for the first 2 1/2 years we lived here) closed in Sept, so at least I got 2 more months than I would have had.

If you have any leads or suggestions, I'm open to it. Post a comment for me. If you know someone who needs a photographer, let me know that too...I'll be available - ha! =) I'll keep you all posted as we go through the next few months and we certainly covet your prayers.

So that's it! I'm at peace. I trust the Lord's plan. And most importantly, I am so looking forward to a stress-free holiday!

xoxo,
Red