Happy 1st Birthday to our sweet Little Man!!!

Dear precious Jackson,

One year ago today you were born. One year ago today, our lives were forever changed.

We were anxious and scared, but one thing we knew for sure, was that we were blessed.  You see, we had prayed for you day after day after day, even before you were created. And then once you started growing in mommy's tummy, we prayed for you each night. 

Even after you were born, we have continued to pray for you. We pray that you grow up knowing how very deeply you are loved by not only us, but your heavenly Father. We also pray that you are humble, strong, willing to serve others, and compassionate.

We pray for you to grow up knowing what it means to truly love other people. And we want you to understand that the most important thing you can do with your life is serve Jesus. 

We have watched you grow and grow over this past year, and as each day has passed, we have seen more glimpses of your budding, and determined personality. :)

Each day as we experience the unfathomable love that we have for you, we are reminded of how much God loves us.

Although you are a small little guy, God has already used you in mighty ways in our lives. Your just being here is a testament of God's faithfulness and goodness, and sovereignty in all situations.

So today, on your very first birthday, we want you to know  three things.

You are immeasurably blessed.

You are diligently prayed for,

and You are deeply loved more than you know. 

We love you!

-your parents-

__________________________________________________________________

Fun Facts:

Fav. Foods  : cheese (still), sweet potato fries, oatmeal and fruit, waffles, grapes, turkey and cheese sandwiches, green peas

Foods Jackson will not touch:   carrots, tomatoes, broccoli

Sleeping: 11-12 hours at night, 2 naps (most days)

Fav. toys: books, books, and more books, anything with buttons or flaps, his stacking cups, his cell phone, his leap frog table, his big bouncy ball, and more books. He LOVES books!

Fav. activities: He loves to play chase. He loves crawling and wobbling away from us so we will chase him. He also loves riding his firetruck, and rocking on his giraffe rocking toy, and his airplane rocking toy. He likes playing in the water faucet outside, and he likes opening all of his DVD cases, and taking all of the baby wipes out of the container. :) He also loves going on walks around the neighborhood or park.

Fav. words to say:  We are not sure if he has "technically" said his first word, but he likes to say, "Ma-ma" and "Da-dee". Other than those two identifiable words, he babbles and jargons all the time!

Stats:  Size 4 diapers, about 24 pounds, and not sure on his length. (we go to the doctor tomorrow), but I'm sure he is  very tall! He also wears about a 5.5 size shoe, poor kid inherited our big feet! And Jackson is in 12-18 month clothes. 

To see pics of Jackson's First Birthday Party, click here.

Thanks for stopping by the blog! Have a beautiful day!

~monica

Pouring into others

Hello friends! This past weekend was one of the best weekends we have had in a long time. It was filled with lots of celebrations for our little man who is turning one tomorrow. I am working on a post about his first birthday, his party, and his baby dedication. Until it is finished, I thought I would challenge you to hopefully seek to influence the next generation.

Going on 8 years now, I have been mentoring and leading high school girls small groups. Working with high school girls has so much been apart of my life that I couldn't imagine living life without spending time with them. I've been able to watch them grow and learn, and be challenged, and make good decisions, and make bad decisions, and learn from their bad decisions, and find out who they are ultimately in Christ. It is such a joy to allow Christ to work through me so I can speak truth into their lives. Culture today has so confused and overwhelmed and corrupted the biblical view of womanhood, that I am seeking to restore these girls to a correct mindset of who they are and who they are to be in Christ. 


My husband, who is the Family Ministry Pastor at our church, says frequently (quoting someone else)


"We are to build relational bridges strong enough to bear the weight of truth." 


If we really want to influence others, we must focus on building  real relationships with them. 


My husband has also mentored high school, college, and single guys for years and years. He is currently meeting with one guy on a weekly basis. They have been meeting for roughly two years, and just now he is starting to see major life change happen in this kid. My husband has been loving, and persistent, and God has used him.


One of the greatest feelings is knowing God had used you to influence someone else's life. 


Are you mentoring someone? Are you pouring into other people?  If not, pray about doing so. It has the potential to be one of the most rewarding and fulfilling decisions you have ever made!

Party Prepping, Sunburning, Sippy Cups, and Hipstamatic

Hello friends! The Roberson Family has been busy busy busy around here! 


Here are some snippets of what we have been up to lately:


1.)We are planning a baseball themed birthday party for our little man. Adam was a huge ball player in high school (and would have played in college had he not felt the Lord call him in another direction), so the theme just seemed fitting. Not to mention, I found some great ideas of how to decorate "baseball" style!


I ordered this adorable shirt from a lady on Etsy. I'm thinking after his party I will turn this shirt (along with other special clothes Jackson has)  into a keepsake blanket. Cute shirt uh?! :)

I also found a banner for sale on Etsy, but since it cost $30 dollars, I decided to make my own. I found some card stock at Hobby Lobby for .44 cents AND they were having a sale selling the card stock sheets for half off! I also found the ribbon for the banner at the Dollar Store. Total Spent:  $8.00 ish.

It did take me about 2 hours to make, but I actually had so much fun making the banners, and Adam helped me with cutting everything out. I made a huge one that says "Happy 1st Birthday", and a smaller one for Jackson's high chair that says, "I Am One". (I'll post more pictures after the party.)

2.)Also, last week Adam got the opportunity to spend the day at the Masters. Oh he was SO excited. Honestly, he was so happy, he kept saying, "This is a once in a lifetime experience Monica! Isn't that awesome!" :) The downside to his amazing day, was a lack of sunscreen in the 100 degree weather. This picture doesn't quite do his burn justice.

 Poor guy! He now vows to never not wear sunscreen again. 

3.) In honor of Jackson's first birthday we've been trying to move him from the bottle to the sippy cup. I've bought at least 4 different kinds, all of which our little man has refused to drink from. BUT, this weekend I bought a 5th kind and, (cue the halleluia chorus), Jackson has found a favorite:

I was beginning to wonder if my sweet little man would ever drink milk from something other than his bottle. Now, he can down the entire cup in 3 minutes flat! The irony is that this sippy cup was the cheapest one I bought! I need to go back and buy a DOZEN more! 


4.) And lastly, I am officially obsessed with a new App on my Iphone. It's called "Hipstamatic". It allows me to take pics that look like this:

If you have an iphone, you should for sure, get the app. (On second thought, maybe not, you will only want to take pictures all of the time, and your laundry, dishes, dinner etc. may not get done. Consider yourself warned)


Alrighty, that's it for now! I'll be back later to talk about my small group girls at church, and Jackson's impending baby dedication.


Enjoy your day!

"For I will repay you for the years that the locusts have eaten." Joel 2:25

Just when you think that sin has wasted or destroyed days, months, or even years of your life, know that God is a God who redeems. 

Be encouraged. For what "Satan intended to harm,  God intended it for good." Genesis 50:20

~Monica

Weekend Update

Happy weekend friends!

So I have yet to get a card reader for my new "used" camera that my mom so graciously passed along, which means I have no means, yet, to transfer some pictures I've been taking. 

I guess, I'll have to settle for taking pictures with my new "used" phone ;)

Farewell my little Nokia. 

You have been such a trooper for the past 7 or so years. You have faithfully made calls for me despite the numerous times I have dropped you. I will miss you much. Well, not that much. Actually, not at all. 

SO......this blog post's pictures will be brought to you via my new phone that our dear friends passed to us when they upgraded to the new Iphone 4. Thank goodness for gracious friends! Here they are:

Meet Dave and Jess, two of the most giving, gracious, kind people you will ever know. Dave is an army pilot who just got home serving one long year in Afghanistan. He and his wife are a beautiful example of a godly marriage growing stronger in spite of year long deployments.

They are spending the weekend with us. Our weekend so far has been filled with sushi, settlers, movies, and lots of laughing.

And we tried to get an updated family pic...this is what Jackson was doing for 99% of the pictures:

Thankfully, we got at least one good one!

Hope you all are enjoying your weekend!