the newest merkle: andre adam

Adam and Jill (my youngest brother and his wife) welcomed #4 into their family on Monday Jan. 25th
Madelyn Eve (5), Hudson Dante (almost 4!), and Cosette Isabel (2) welcomed their new baby brother, Andre Adam!!!

Don't they make an adorable little family?!?!

We went and visited when he was 48 hours old :)

Can't wait for our own!

(only 5 months left to go!)

"We should not be ashamed to discuss what God was not ashamed to create"

-Dr. Howard Hendricks

what a profound statement!
this was one of the many note-worthy message i received in my sexuality, intimacy, and gender class thursday night at huntington university.
i am currently working on a masters in counseling there and have 33 of 60 credits completed (working on an additional 9 this semester)!
i know this class will change my self, self-esteem, marriage, ideas of motherhood, and life in general!

we began with some Scripture readings to learn how to focus on what God says to us in His Word about sexuality:
Phillipians 2:1-11
- the first principle in healthy relationships is humility
1 Peter 1:13-16
- the second principle in healthy relationships is holiness
Ephesians 5:1-20
- have courage and faith to be the person that others can sit with; so they can bring to light all of this junk and sin in their lives
1 Thessalonians 4:1-8
- God's will is that we be sanctified to have nothing to do with sexual immorality
Matthew 22:36-40
- love God with our sexuality
John 15:1-17
- If He's the vine and I'm the branch - what does that mean for my sexuality?

i hope in this mini lesson you were able to gain insight, peace, understanding, or at least interest into this topic of learning God's will for our lives and our sexuality

i want to challenge myself and all of you if you're willing to accept the challenge, to "not be ashamed to discuss what God was not ashamed to create"

"goodnight, i love you, merry christmas"

this is the silly phrase joel and i have been hearing around our house the past week while we've been caring for our 2 year old niece, cosi.
she's in the bluffton-care for an undetermined amount of time due to becoming a big sister in the near future!
adam and jill are expecting #4 and we're enjoying caring for their littlest tot while they spend some quality time home together preparing for the new baby

in the meantime - joel and i are getting much needed practice with bedtime stories, messy faces, cuddling, eskimo kisses, and giggles!
(p.s. cosi is totally head over heels for uncle joel - when he's home, it's like i don't even exist!)

in other baby-related news - surprise! my appetite has come back!
while i'm still trying to eat healthy and in moderation, tonight i had a sloppy joe, corn, and sunchips for supper followed by a homemade chocolate milkshake and smore pop-tart for dessert..........yeah. wow.

anyone else have any funny food stories from their pregnancies?!?!

...and baby makes three!!!

baby draper is expected to arrive early july!
the past 14 weeks have flown by!

this holiday season has been sooo fun-filled with telling family and friends our exciting news!
joel and i loved having this intimate secret between ourselves for nearly two months
it has strengthened our marriage and been the most wonderful weeks of our lives together yet!
we can't wait to see what the next several months brings for us as we prepare to be a mommy and daddy

thank you to our brothers and sisters-in-law who have gone before us on this parenting road and taught us sooo much!
thank you to our friends who are also going through this with us that can share with and reassure us
we appreciate you :)
your wisdom and honesty is priceless and precious to us as we start this journey