Layna's 6 month Pics

So here are my 6 month pictures of Miss Layna Aleese Jones! I just smile looking at these. The dress she has on was actually one of mine when I was a baby that my Mom gave me. I haven't edited any of these, but don't worry Mamaw and Nana....I will print you some :)

So for her 6 month appt.....Layna weighed 14.1 oz and was 25 in long. She was in the 25th percentile for ht and wt. She is our little runt :)

One last thing......please pray for us as we have an interview with World Medical Mission on Saturday. If we are accepted then we will know what we will be doing for the next 3 years. Aaron has one more year of residency here. It is a two year overseas program, working at a mission hospital somewhere. More details to come.....the WMM website says that we should know details by the end of August if we are accepted! So that's not long. Thanks for your prayers! We are excited to see what God has planned for us.

A few more July pics

Just some fun pics of the girls. Layna, as you can see, is chewing on everything! And she is officially sitting up all by herself. She is 6 and a half months old now. I am going to do a post of a little 6 mo photo shoot I did with her the other day. I am really enjoying her more and more the older she gets. Braelyn is such a good big sister. She enjoys playing dress up and cooking in her kitchen. Honestly, she probably loves watching PBS kids most of all :). I have to make her turn the tv off or else she would sit there all day i think. She loves puzzles and anything Dora. She is doing well with potty training....still diapers during nap and bedtime, but big girl panties most all the rest of the time. She stayed with her Nana for a few days and our house was so quiet! even with Layna still here. We feel so blessed to have two beautiful girls who bring so much joy to our lives. The bottom picture is our Sunday School class at church and our teachers(He is also our associate pastor). We had a wedding shower for Ryan and Amanda who are getting married Aug 20th. Braelyn is the flower girl and I think she is most excited to wear a "pretty dress":). We are so thankful for this group of friends that God has provided for us here in Bristol, just another picture of His faithfulness to provide for all our needs. Because friends are a "need" :)

July happenings

So I am now trying to upload pics on here from Picasa and it is definitely faster, but I can't get it to let me type anywhere but at the bottom of the page?? If anyone has a fast way of putting pics on a blog, please share with me. So, July was a good month. I spent a week in Dandridge and we got to spend a lot of time with family and friends. We went to the splashpad, the zoo, and I had a girls day out with my roommates from college. We walked all over UT campus and relived all our great adventures! It was so fun. Layna turned 6 months old in July and we started baby food, as you can see from the pictures. She had already been eating rice cereal, but didn't care for it much. She likes the oatmeal much better. She has enjoyed all her veggies so far. We are just now starting some fruit. When we got back from the beach in June she really started rolling over a lot, and now she pretty much can get anywhere she wants by rolling and scooting. No crawling yet, but I'm sure it won't be long. I think Braelyn just has more fun with her everyday as she gets bigger and more interactive. Layna has made some progress in napping. There were two days last week that she napped for 2 hours!! And yesterday and today she napped for 1 and 1/2 hours in the afternoon!! that's progress for my 30-45 minute cat napper :)) There is hope!
I keep wanting to blog about things I am learning in my bible study at church and what God is teaching me in everyday walk, but usually there just isn't time. I do good to actually get my bible study done and/or have some quiet time to pray! I have realized it is of UTMOST importance that I make bible study and time in prayer a priority each day or else I am running on empty and feel powerless to handle the demands of taking care of my family. I am so often reminded that I have to be careful in how I spend my time each day bc this life that I have been given by God is a gift and the time here on earth is SO SHORT! But eternity is forever.........I want to invest my time in things that are of eternal value: relationships, family, friends, growing in my relationship with the Lord.
Last night at church, we were watching a Beth Moore video and she was talking about evaluating your walk with the Lord. She was saying that if you are a child of God then your relationship with the Lord needs to be growing. You need to feel like He is working on You, like He is showing you things that you need to change.....you should be able to look back and see how God is continuing to TRANSFORM you to make you more like Christ. I really liked that and totally agree....being a Christian is about being transformed by the power of God and living a surrendered life that's goal is to please the Lord in all things. I was talking with a friend just the other day about "life" and I shared with her how I try to keep in mind that there will be a day when I see Jesus face to face and at that moment I want to hear "Well done, good and faithful servant". I don't want to regret how I lived or how I spent the short time I was given on this earth. I hope you all feel the same way and realize that this earth is not our home, our houses are not our homes, our towns are not our homes......they are just temporary places that we live while we serve the Lord. Our true homes are in Heaven, with the Lord Jesus! That is what we should be living for and looking forward to......
These are the things I like to talk about.......thanks for listening :)