Asa Paul & Ava Gayle

Ava's 3 Month Pics

Blessed with a Wonderful Husband

From Heather: It has been way too long since we've updated the blog (again). I'm not even going to make false promises that we will do better (although, I'm putting it on my list of things to "keep up with" now). :-)

I wanted to write a post about my wonderful husband that God has blessed me with.

I've learned this year how much we take for granted in life: we take for granted that tomorrow will come for us and for those we love, we take for granted the things that people do for us and their love for us. We take for granted most those who love us the most and do the most for us. I want to thank God for Jonathan and thank Jonathan for being such a great husband and fantastic father. Becoming a parent has made me realize that you get to see your spouse in a different way than ever before and it's been so exciting to watch a new side of Jonathan. He is so great with Asa-playing with him, being patient with him (sometimes more than I am), helping take care of him and I am so thankful for that!!! Asa lights up with a HUGE smile when Jonathan walks in from work!

I am grateful for how God has worked in both of our lives over the past 2 years and thankful for the way that our marriage has become better and better. It's amazing to see how God will bless your marriage when the members are doing what God established for them to do and be. It's such a huge blessing to know that I have a husband who loves me even when I'm not acting lovable and that he wants to be there for me in every area of life. I appreciate our deep theological discussions, but also our shared sense of humor. I am thankful for Jonathan's deep convictions of Biblical truth and his commitment to doing whatever God wants for us. I am looking forward to serving the Lord with Jonathan in whatever area God has for our life.

I can truly say that I am married to my best friend! I would rather spend time with Jonathan than anyone else in this world!! I love and appreciate you, Jonathan!!

Asa is growing and changing

I wanted to update the blog with new pictures of Asa.
He's about 9 1/4 pounds now and 22 inches long.
He's growing and becoming much more aware of the world around him.






He enjoys baths and likes to be outside. He likes riding
in the car, but it doesn't put him to sleep.
Asa will be 6 weeks old on Thursday, the 30th.

Nixon Investigation

Thought this would have something to do with Watergate? Fooled you! It is just our cat, Nixon, taking a closer look at the new addition to the family.

Asa's First Full Day at Home

This is a short clip of Asa ready to go out for his first time. We're taking him for a doctor's visit this afternoon.

Asa Paul is in the house!!

Asa Paul Speer was born @ 10:22 p.m. 09/18/08. He weighs 7 lbs. 14 oz. and is 19 in. long.

He's awesome!

The Pets

Thought I would post about the animals.

Sophie, Nixon, Condi and June are all doing good. Into trouble all of the time of course, but they do make my day from time to time.

Nixon is still as loving as ever. He loves attention and is such a good cat!

Sophie can definitely have an attitude at times when things don't go her way or when things are different than they usually are. I was very proud of her, though, because we had to go get yearly vaccinations and she didn't growl at the vet and didn't get upset when we got home. She's been sleeping at our feet every night now for about 2 months.

Condi is the everlasting kitten. She' s a year and a half old, but looks like she's about 4 months old. She's a mischievous little kitty, but she's so cute. She loves Nixon and June. Sophie doesn't care for her too much, even though Condi would love to play with her.

June is beginning to listen to us much better. She is a big 85 pound baby. She really likes attention and thinks that she is a lap dog. She loves it when I lay on the couch at night and let her lay with me. She really likes all of the cats, but Condi is the only one who lets her get close. She's a good dog and one day we will master the electric fence collar. I have confidence. :-)

Trip to Maryland on vacation

After we left the Outer Banks, we headed to Maryland for my maternal grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary party and also my two grandmothers
had gotten together and planned a baby shower for us since this would be the only time we would be up there before Asa was born.
Thursday night was the night they threw my shower in the Community Building at the park in Williamsport. It was a good shower and there were quite a few family members there.

On Friday night we had my grandparents' 50th anniversary dinner at Hickory Bridge Farm. It turned out really nice. It was a good time celebrating what is a rarity in this day: a couple who stuck together and worked things out for 50 years, regardless of what they went through.

Beach Vacation

We started planning a vacation to the Outer Banks of North Carolina with my family back in the fall of 07. We had wanted to go for sometime since we had lived there for a short period back in the mid 90s. We finally decided to go and incorporate the trip with the 50th wedding anniversary party of my mom's parents in Maryland since OBX is somewhat on the way to the Maryland.
We rented a beach house and set out on May 24th. We got to the house Saturday afternoon and it was a bit on the cool side. We had pizza that night and got everything settled in-we made several trips out to Wal-mart and Food Lion. No shocker there. We also watched National Treasure II with a projector that night.
Pretty much every morning we had a good breakfast and the guys would sit at the table waiting while we girls fixed up the food. (see above)
Obviously, we spent a lot of time on the beach. Joey and Jonathan rode the waves for hours on Monday and Tuesday. The water was probably in the 58-62 degree range. It was not enjoyable. Once you got used to it, it was kind of bearable. Uriah preferred staying out of the water (and the dangerous jelly fish, sting rays and other creatures that were out to get him) and searched for beached creatures. He found lots of crabs. I finally coaxed him (and me) into the water a bit.
One night we went out to Dairy Queen for ice cream and one night a girl who had been in Dad's youth group at the church we had been at when we lived in NC came down to the beach to see us with her family. So, that was nice.
We also go to take good family pictures on the beach. It was a really nice vacation. Sarah, Jonathan and I left for Maryland on Wednesday. Wednesday was the only day of our time at the beach that it stormed and rained and was cold. We need to do the beach again one day.