The Isham Family!

Micah and I are so thankful to have Lindsey and JR Isham here with us in NC! The Lord has used this family to provide for us in so many ways so I thought they deserved a blog post!! It is amazing how the Lord orchestrates our lives so that we meet people and have experiences that will prepare us for his plans in the future.

Lindsey and I first met our freshmen year of college at a mission trip in Destin, FL. She was a student at UT and I was at Ole Miss. We were both involved in Campus Crusade for Christ and both in sororities at our respect universities. Through the ministry of Crusade and the Lord working in our lives, we both had desires to see our greek friends experience the gospel-this desire led us to a mission training called "Greek Summit." We lived together at the beach for 3 weeks as we took classes on sharing the gospel with our friends.

Two summers later we "met" again-this time at Camp Greystone! Camp Greystone is a christian summer camp for girls and Lindsey and I were both counselors-what a fun experience! After our summer at camp, Facebook became big and Lindsey and I kept up with each other through the online social network. Three years later, when Micah and I were praying about moving to NC for seminary I saw on facebook that Lindsey and her husband JR were in Wake Forest at the seminary. I was excited to at least have a contact in the area and emailed her for info on the area, seminary, etc. Before I knew it, we were here visiting, staying with the Isham's--they were super welcoming and helped us plan our move. It was through Lindsey and JR that we found a nice place to rent and make several friends! Micah got to know JR while we visited and when we finally moved JR helped Micah get a job at the seminary with him. The boys became almost instant best friends and our friendship with this family continued to be such a blessing!

We have had so much fun with Lindsey and JR. The boys are hilarious together and sometimes get each other in trouble! Moving to a new place is scary and Lindsey has been such a friend to me and helped me through the adjustment, welcoming me into her circle of friends! You can see from the pictures that we have so many fun memories with Lindsey and JR! Lindsey and I shared an 80's Birthday party together, we all visited the pumpkin patch, we dressed like fools at the tacky Christmas party, etc! What fun times!



We were able to be at the hospital when their son Griffin was born and they were among the first people that found out that we were pregnant with Lottie and then they stayed until well after midnight to meet her the night she was born!




























With babies and busy schedules we don't always get to spend as much time with the Isham's as we once did but we love the times we do get to be together and we are now enjoying watching Griffin and Lottie develop a fun relationship! We call them "boyfriend/girlfriend" and love to watch them play together!













So, we are thankful for the Isham's! Through this family, the Lord has provided housing, jobs, encouragement, friendship and so much more!!

Labor Day Weekend at "Home"

For Labor Day weekend we decided to go "home" to Scottsboro and visit our families. We took Friday off of work and actually drove down Thursday night after work. This plan to drive through the night worked perfectly with Lottie but was SO hard on Micah and I. I was nervous about making the 10 hour trip with a 7 month old strapped in her carseat but she fell right asleep and we hardly heard from her the entire trip--what a good girl! Micah and I were so tired though!! We tried to take turns driving but I wasn't very good at staying awake so Micah took one for the team and drove most of the way. We arrived in Scottsboro around 4 am and couldn't get to bed fast enough!

We had a great weekend at home! We hadn't been to Scottsboro since May so it was nice to be home, eat good food, and watch our families with Lottie! They savor every minute with her!! We pretty much did EVERYTHING this weekend--shopped, ate, hung out, ate, saw family, saw friends, watched football, ate and did I mention ate?! Here is a quick photo recap!


Lottie did a lot of "walking." Micah's mom and Aunt Linda held her chubby hands and she wobbled around the house pretty much all day on Saturday! "Walking" is her new trick and she is actually doing pretty well--I honestly wish she didn't enjoy it--she is too young and little to be learning to walk (at least in my mind) and I want her to stay a baby for as long as possible!

We watched football! We love college football and after eating pretty much all day we were happy to sit and watch Auburn kick off the season with a victory!

We actually didn't do much sleeping but how adorable is this picture! Lottie woke up at 5am one morning so I let her in the bed with us till morning. When I woke up, this is what I found!


I was so glad that my Gran was able to come up and visit with us on Sunday afternoon! She loved getting to see Lottie and we were so thankful that Lottie was in a good mood and let Gran see all of her tricks and of course get some good loving too!! I just love this picture of the two of them!



We went to Scottsboro's annual "Arts in the Park" and walked around. Lottie loved being in her umbrella stroller and getting to look around. She pretty much held her feet like this the entire time-I personally thought it was adorable! We didn't' really buy anything but we were able to run into several people we knew and show our girl off so that was fun!


Labor Day weekend might as well have been Christmas for Lottie!!! Mom and I went to the Gap and Oshkosh outlet and got her several outfits for fall (including the most adorable overalls!!!) and then mom had several toys waiting on Lottie when we arrived! Lottie has recently fallen in love with toys and playing! She is happier on the floor playing now then she is being held. One toy mom got her was this spinner toy-when you spin it, it sings a song about animals or letters- and Lottie LOVES it! She was so good at it and we pretty much all had the song memorized by the end of the weekend!




And lastly, here are a few sweet pictures of Lottie in her pack and play! She can't pull herself up yet but if you stand her up she will stand for quite awhile. One morning she would be happy unless she was standing and she stood like this then entire time I dried my hair!!


It was a great weekend!!! We don't get to go "home" very often so we soak up the time we have with our families! We are so glad that both families live in the same town so that we don't have to divide our "off" weekends between two places!

One thing though is that going "home" always makes being away harder. It is a lot harder to be away now that we have Lottie because we so want our parents to know and enjoy her! But, all we can do is be thankful for our families and enjoy the time we have together! This weekend was one of those times!! We had a blast with our parents and I know they enjoyed our sweet girl!!!

7 month pictures!

So, we took Lottie last weekend to the Picture People and had some 7 month pictures made. We surprised our parents with a few of our favorites when we went home this past weekend! Lottie is getting so fun to photograph because her personality is really starting to come through! We had so much fun watching her and I think the photographer thought she was pretty cute (who wouldn't!). Anyhow, here is a link to her pictures:

http://www.picturepeople.com/sso/publishconfirm.sso?data=U1KBvDzYWEwNJOkCdg2Var2AstRa2Fzpd7KjJ7hfRtuPBQpQWEnInsEYPSjrKrBn9kLh9ixNIq2z3KEdGO%2f%2flA%3d%3d

They will only be available for a few weeks! How adorable is she?!!

Pure Joy!!!

So, I have yet to blog in detail about our precious precious baby girl, Lottie. That is because Micah asked me to please avoid making every post about her (despite the fact that she is almost ALL I think about!) So, I've done good until now but as the princess of our household she deserves her time in the spotlight!!

What a joy this precious baby girl is! She is 7 1/2 months old now and I fall more in love with her every day! Each night when I lay her in her crib I think that there is no way I can love her more...but each morning when I lift her out of bed I love her even more than the day before! Being Lottie's mommy is the best job and I love love love every second and every aspect of it!

Here is a list of our daily excitements:

• Lottie has 4 teeth now: her two bottom teeth and her top two fangs! Seriously- her top middle teeth haven't come in yet but her side teeth have! She looks like a little vampire!
• She is full on eating solids and LOVES to eat. She eats oatmeal with a fruit for breakfast, yogurt and 1/4 a bagel for snacks during the day, and rice with 2 veggies at night.
• She is feeding herself "puffs" (cheerio type treats)
• She is drinking juice from a sippy cup
• She sleeps 10 hours most nights
  
• She splashes in the bathtub and loves loves loves bath time
• She can crawl backwards--not quite forward yet
• She is trying to pull up
• She laughs and squeals almost constantly
• She loves her toys and loves to play
• Her smile is the most amazing thing I have ever seen!!

Again, I LOVE being this little girls mommy! Lately I have been overwhelmed with how quickly she is growing up. I love watching her learn new things and grow but at the same time it makes me sad! I find myself tearing up as I watch her feed herself cheerios or drink from a sippy cup! I just wish I could freeze her and keep her little and safe always. But, Micah reminded me yesterday that she isn't here for me and that while she does bring us great joy-there is a greater purpose for her life and I have to let her embrace her independence and develop into the person the Lord has made her to be! I have been trying to make more of an effort to enjoy this stage and soak up each moment with "baby Lottie" because I know that these days are fleeting. So, for now I will enjoy the random night wakings and welcome that extra time I have to rock my sweet girl in her footie pjs. For now I will enjoy cleaning up mushy bagels and sticky hands. I know that far too quickly I will be watching her drive out of the driveway, dropping her off at college, and helping her get dressed for her wedding! I am so thankful for Lottie and I am so honored that the Lord chose me to be her mommy!!

We Have Moved!

So, I mentioned in a previous post, that we have been spending the majority of our summer moving and getting settled into a new home. This move was an unplanned spur of the moment decision that we made to move next door into a bigger house. We moved to NC two years ago from Alabama and swore to each other that we wouldn’t move again until Micah graduated. But, this wonderful house became available and we just couldn’t pass it up! It is on the same farm that we previously lived on, we have the same wonderful landlords, our commute won’t change, and Lottie will remain at the same day-care so we assumed that it would be a simple transition! WOW! What a task it has been! I don’t know if it is the fact that we spent our time moving with at 5 month old on our hip or the fact that we didn’t pack a single box! We literally moved using Lottie’s radio flyer wagon!

But, we are finally settling and feeling more at home! Micah was amazing and painted 3 rooms within a few weeks and did a great job dealing with my nagging! My wonderful mom came and helped with the interior decorating (she is amazing) and I only have the guest room and dining room left to finish! We love living in this new house-we have more space with bigger rooms, TONS of storage and the best part, a screened in back porch! It is just perfect for us right now and we feel that we can live comfortably here which is great because it allows us to not feel rushed during this stage of family. We are here for a purpose and being comfortable allows us to feel more settled. Micah is about one-third of the way through his Master of Divinity degree here at Southeastern Seminary and we don’t know what the Lord has in store for us here in NC or in the future. So, we are thankful for a home that we can take pride in and feel secure in at the end of each day!

There is one small detail that is keeping us from feeling fully settled in our new house-it doesn’t have a name! Micah and I began a family tradition of naming our homes when we first got married. We did this because our first little house was-for lack of better words-a dump or crack house! It did however, have a nice Magnolia tree in the front yard overlooking the every so busy Pepperell Parkway and the Opelika Walmart Supercenter. So, we (in effort to endear ourselves to our home) named the house “Magnolia Plantation.” When we moved to the church parsonage a few months later we decided to name that house as well! So, the tradition began.

Below are pictures of each of the houses we have lived in since getting married 5 years ago along with the names and a short description! What should we name this new house? The Blue Biltmore has my vote since we are in NC and it seems so roomy and spacious to us but Micah hasn’t given the approval nod! So, what do you think? Any neat ideas?
"Magnolia Plantation"-our first home! We (especially Micah) worked so hard on this house to make it clean and cute. We did a pretty good job but the fact that it didn't have heat, was on a busy street across from Walmart, was in a not safe neighborhood, and we had a not nice landlord, kept us from living here too long. We moved after 5 months into...
o, I me"The Wilderness Lodge."-our second home. This house was wonderful! It was our church parsonage and was in Bleeker, AL which was what I considered at the time far from civilization! It was really only about a 10 min drive out of town but my "neighborhood girl" mentality felt that it was farther! The house was only about 300 yards from our church, was set far off the road with a field for Ted to play in and a nice little grove of trees. We made so many wonderful memories during the 2 years we lived here. Then, the Lord moved us to NC where we met our new home...
"The Messersmith Mobile Mansion." This house was perfect for us and the Lord totally provided for us with this house! It is a good 15 minutes from town on a small farm (living in the Wilderness Lodge prepared me!) and we have the most amazing Landlords! The house got it's name because even though it is a "double wide" it is very spacious and had large rooms and closets. We were perfectly comfortable here until we had Lottie and then we began feeling a bit cramped. So, the house next door became available and we jumped on it!
Here is our new house! 2 stories of useable space! Not a square inch is wasted! We have a kitchen, living room, dining room, guest room, office, master bedroom and bath, and a nursery and amazing closets and storage...not to mention the wonderful screened-in porch!
So, what do you think? Do you have a name for us? We would love to hear your ideas!
There is one small

Our Students

I have been thinking a lot about our students lately. Before Micah and I made the move to NC two years ago we spent our time with an amazing group of teenagers at Concord Baptist Church in Salem/Bleeker, AL. Micah was the youth minister at this wonderful church for 4 years-what an incredible experience! We LOVED this stage of our lives and loved our students so so so much! Of course at the time we were newlyweds and didn't have children so we were able to focus all of our energy and time toward our teenagers and play hard with them! We were so blessed to develop fun relationships and get to know each of them and their families as they grew up through the awkward and difficult teenage years! We only hope that they learned something from us as we learned tons from them!

When Micah first started at Concord there was a large group of 8th grade students. They were like all middle school kids-silly and awkward-but they were committed and faithful! We followed this group and they became our "core" group of students and really the heart of our group. We had amazing students in each grade but this group was different because they were large in number and very close friends. We watched these students start high school, date, get their drivers license and prepare for college. We actually moved from Alabama just one week before their high school graduation. So, we REALLY watched them grow and invested so much into them!

We had another unique group of students-"the babies"-another large group of students that joined our youth group as 7th graders. They were a blast and we worked with them through their middle school years-leaving as they finished 8th grade. I loved the middle school groups because they seemed to think I was more "cool" and were more interested in hanging out than the older groups who were busy with their school activities and friends!

I don't want to forget to mention all of the wonderful students that fall between these two groups because we had incredible students in all grades but it was these two groups that made up the core of ministry.

Thanks to facebook, we have been able to keep in touch with these students and continue to watch them grow. I stalk their pictures when they get their braces off, make a school sports team, etc. We see them a few times a year when we make it back down to visit and then Micah and I spend the entire 9 hour drive back talking about how much they have grown or how their voices have changed! We still love them so much!

Lately, I have been missing them a bit more-probably because I (again, thanks to facebook) am watching them grow up from afar and they all seem to be entering into new and BIG stages of their lives. For instance, our "babies" just turned 16, started driving and this week began their 11th grade of high school. We have three of our students that we worked with starting in 7th grade that are now seniors in high school and one that just moved into her college dorm! Because we have been gone for two years, it just seems unreal that this is all happening and they are so grown up!

Our original core group, are now juniors in college! They are young adults now, dating seriously (or even engaged), living on their own, applying to graduate schools, etc and we are so proud of who they have become. We are thankful to have remained in touch with these students and to still be apart of their lives.

We are excited that one event on our weekend agenda is to meet up with Steven-one of our original 8th graders! We called him "Steve-o" while we were in Alabama but his he is now 21 and I don't think it fits anymore! He is now in college in Boston and is traveling this weekend from Boston down to Alabama for a visit before fall classes begin. Luckily for us-his route brings him right through NC and we are going to be able to meet him for dinner tonight! We are so excited to catch up with him and meet his girlfriend! He will be the first of our Concord family to meet Lottie.

We love these students so much and cherish the times we had with them! We pray for them regularly and we are so thankful that the Lord allowed us to be apart of their lives for just a time as they grew and developed! We hope, if nothing else, they knew and still know that we love them-with our whole hearts-we love them!

I'm a Terrible Blogger

So, I'm a terrible blogger! As I stated in the last post-one of my reasons for not blogging is that I really don't have time! I know excuses excuses but I am now amazed at the women and moms that have time to blog several times a week! I am lucky to get 15 minutes on the computer a week these days and blogging has not been
a priority! But, I'm going to try and do better in coming days!

Our summer has been CRAZY busy and things finally seem to be slowing down with the close of summer! I am happy this morning to still be in my PJs at 11am and have no plans other than a quick tax free diaper run to make this afternoon! Lottie is sleeping and Micah is working on a bookshelf for Lottie so I am taking advantage of this time to be lazy and do NOTHING for the first time in 2 months!

So, much has been taking place in our lives these days and it would take forever to blog about it all so, here are some pictures to update you on the Messersmith summer:

The summer started with an amazing Memorial Day/Weekend with a visit from my dad and a fun family cookout with Will and Bekah! That weekend was followed by an interesting and eventful long weekend home in Alabama and then a weekend visit from my mom. After that, moving began and moving is not an easy task with a 6 month old! This is how I spent most of my "moving" time!

Moving was exhausting and daunting BUT we never could have done it if it weren't for my amazing in-laws who came and worked so hard to help us move during the 4th of July weekend! We are so thankful for them!!




Moving didn't stop Micah and I from celebrating our 5 year anniversary! We celebrated a mile in the sky with a hot air balloon ride!! SO FUN!

And, on July 15, Lottie turned 6 months old!! We celebrated by giving her a wagon that was given to us by Micah's wonderful Aunt Linda! Lottie loves it and wagon rides are now an exciting part of our daily routine!!
We finally settled in our new house as July came to a close and my parents came up for a wonderful visit! After spending a few days with us in NC, we all headed to Myrtle Beach for a weekend getaway! Lottie was able to see the ocean for the first time and we had a blast just hanging out with family!

And, finally, the summer ended last weekend with a very successful yard sale for my sweet brother and sister-in-law to help raise money for their adoption! This was a fun event and we are so excited about our precious niece or nephew on the way!!


So, that is our summer, our very busy summer! We did all of this on top of work and life with our precious 6 month old! We are now enjoying a break and gearing up for hopefully a relaxing fall!! And, maybe with a few less activities and trips on our schedule I'll be better about blogging!! We will see!