our first family vacation

sailing. sunshine. turquoise water. toes in the sand.  
pink sunsets. dear friends. family.
All of those add up to the perfect family vacation!

Last Thursday we returned home from the most fabulous week in Key West, Fl!  We met up with Captain Maury and his wife/First Mate Ginger, and spent the week on their sailboat, Gypsysails, in the blue waters of Key West.  Those two had a great influence on Josh's love of sailing.  Together they sailed down the east coast a few Christmases ago. What a joy it was to finally meet them and spend a whole week on one of Josh's favorite sailboats.  We shared some great laughs and made memories to last a lifetime!

It was the perfect first vacation for our family of 3.  Cade was a great traveler...even though he started some serious teething the day we arrived!  He loved the rocking of the boat & getting to spend uninterrupted time with his mom and dad, but he was NOT a fan of the water. O dear!  Hopefully he'll get over this soon, as we plan on spending many more vacations at the beach/ sailing on the water.  :)

                    ready for a day at sea!

               Captain Josh - ready to brave the storm!

 

                                                                                                                                                                 
                      mommy's favorite little chunker

                    Maury sure can make Cade giggle

                                               little sailor man

 

                                         

                      Cade and Da-Da taking a stroll on the beach

                            those eyes make mommy melt

                           one night it got a little chilly,

                         but there was a beautiful sunset

                                                      

                           not so much a fan of the wa-wa

                             he looooves blowing those bubbles

                          my sweet family

                              the crew of "Gypsysails"

                                 sweet Ginger and baby Cade

                                                             
                          Maury thinks Cade looks good in shades

christmas memories 2009

This Christmas has been full of memories, family time, laughter, and love! There is simply nothing like a baby's first Christmas, when a childlike excitement fills the room on Christmas morning. We are so looking forward to Cade understanding that the real reason for Christmas is to celebrate Jesus' birthday! We hope you all shared special times with your families and friends, too. The pictures below capture our Christmas festivities...

our little candy cane

adorable

no denying they're related


our precious gift

 waiting in line to meet santa!

who is that big fat red man?

 love how neither one is smiling.

santa must have just woken up from his nap, too. 

 

playing with his cousin grayson

 

 cade loves sweet amelia

 

 he can sure woo the crowd with his good looks

serious face

i love my anna kat!

who is now 1/2 way across the world in singapore

can't wait to have her home again next christmas

 

 lyndsey came all the way from NYC to meet cade

 

ready for christmas eve church service

 

 playing with champ

christmas morning with mimi

 the best gift we got this year

 

the perfect way to wrap up a christmas day

cade and i got to meet sweet abigail!

the last time  katherine and i saw each other

we were very, very pregnant

their first kiss

 

 

cute little babies

a little thought to share

Josh's sweet Aunt Holly send me this Max Lucado devotional yesterday.

I thought it was just wonderful and wanted to share it with y'all.

Merry, Merry Christmas!

God's Great Gifts

Thanks be to God for his gift

that is too wonderful for words.

2 Corinthians 9:15

Why did he do it?  A shack would have sufficed, but he gave us a mansion.  Did he have to give the birds a song and the mountains a peak?  Was he required to put stripes on the zebra and the hump on the camel?...Why wrap creation in such splendor?  Why go to such trouble to give such gifts?

Why do you?  You do the same.  I've seen you searching for a gift.  I've seen you stalking the malls and walking the aisles.  I'm not talking about the obligatory gifts...I'm talking about that extra-special person and that extra-special gift...Why do you do it?  You do it so the heart will stop.  You do it so the jaw will drop.  You do it to hear those words of disbelief, "You did this for me?"

That's why you do it.  And that's why God did it.  

Next time a sunrise steals your breath or a meadow of flowers leaves you speechless, remain that way.  

Say nothing and listen as heaven whispers, "Do you like it?  I did it just for you."

(Max Lucado, the Great House of God)

the most wonderful time of the year

Christmas has been in full swing around our house since the day after Thanksgiving!  All of the fall decorations took their place back in the attic, and the lights and garland adorned the mantel.  Josh had a fun experience hanging the lights on our house for the first time...  And our tree has been quite a pest, to say the least.  THE tree was selected, brought home, centered perfectly in its base, lit and decorated.  Only a few minutes later we noticed that it was leaning a little to the right.  The tilt was fixed, only to find it laying on the couch the next morning.  So, sweet Josh came home and fixed it on his lunch break.  It fell again right after he left.  All in all the tree has fallen 5 times...next year we are getting a smaller tree.  But for now, my ingenious husband rigged wire and bolted it into the window sills to hold it in place.  The tree still leans a tad bit forward.

No matter which direction the tree is leaning or whether its standing straight up or against the window, Cade is absolutely fascinated by the bright lights and ornaments.  He could sit/lay in front of the tree all day and stare at the pretty colors!  He is our inspiration.  Our prayer has been that we would find as much wonder and excitement in celebrating Christmas as Cade does.  How fulfilling to celebrate Jesus' birth with a wonder-filled heart.  We've been reading a chapter of Luke every night to focus our hearts on the real reason of Christmas.  Yes, lights, garland, trees, ornaments, cookies, and presents are wonderful things, but the reason for all of it is to celebrate Jesus' birthday.  The biggest birthday celebration of the year!  I pray that you too will be filled with awe and wonder as you and your family celebrate the real reason for CHRISTmas.

Here are some pictures of our little gift...
punkin.

 wonder.

 

 

 Lots of packages have been arriving at our house lately, so Cade got to play in the peanuts!

 

Merry Christmas!
Love, The Meeh Fam

wonderfully made

I was working on some stuff at my computer today, and as it happens so often, I was distracted. Distracted by pictures of baby Cade.  Not of his first days in the hospital, or our trip home, or his smile, or bathtime, but of his very first picture.  The first time we ever saw him, only 11 weeks old, still inside of me.  It brings tears to my eyes to think how God formed Cade from his first day of life when he was as small as a period on this page into the 14+ lb. precious baby boy that I get to feed, hold, rock, sing to, comfort, and love each and every day.  Josh and I are incredibly blessed parents.  Blessed by Cade's life and by the opportunity to see how God created Cade from the very beginning. What a powerful and mighty God we serve! 

his very first picture

our precious boy

 

Psalm 139:13-14
"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

all. night. long.

YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cade slept from 10:30pm to 6:30 am! I was the happiest mommy in the world this morning! To put a cherry on top, he rolled over 5 times today, too! I'm just so proud of him! Enjoy some more pictures of the sleeping-all-night-rolling-over-pro...

i thought CM stood for cade maddox - looks like it really stands for cookie monster 

 swinging in lambie and sucking on binky ~ happy boy

trying out his big boy bed

I'm entering this photo in a "cutest baby contest" 

 

chunky legs are mom's favorite!

Time is FLYING by! Baby Cade is already 10 weeks old! He changes every day and is cooing and smiling all. the. time. We went for his 2 month check-up a couple of weeks ago and were blown away by how much he had grown!  When his sweet Dr. saw him she said "Who is that baby? Are you sure that's Cade?"  After that we knew he would have a great weigh in...he weighed a whopping 13 lbs and 2 oz and was 22 in long.  He had gained 5 1/2 lbs and grown 2 3/4 inches since he was born.  His new nickname is "Chunker"! I love the fat rolls on his legs, all signs of a healthy baby boy!  Here are some recent pics of Chunker...
                                                              smile!

check out that boy's chunky legs

 

 happy boy

 

 cold bath water?

 

 already loves those aggies

 

last week was grandude's birthday...we found

these shirts and couldn't resist! They were a big hit.

 

 That same night Grandude presented us with a book he wrote called "The Crib Story."  What an amazing story about how he lovingly crafted Cade's crib!  Grandude is so thoughtful and did a wonderful job.  I am sure it will be one of Cade's favorite bedtime stories.