Nolan: Month Nine

Niiiiiiine.

Reaching this month just feels like an extra big deal, doesn't it?

A sweet friend told me today that now that you've hit that 9-month mark, I'll blink and you'll be one year old.

Wahhhhhh.

Let's celebrate what a wild month this has been:

We formally and publicly dedicated you before our church and family, promising to raise you in a home that loves Jesus. Oh how we want you to know Jesus.

We celebrated the fact that you made me a mom with my first Mother's Day ever.

You started crawling last week and haven't slowed down in any way whatsoever since.
Whew.

You're pulling up on things to stand.

When we say "Give me that paci," you'll spit it out.

There's a new front tooth upstairs.

We introduced you to some finger foods, and you're starting to get the hang of it.

You love:

when Daddy comes home from work

playing in your swimming pool

light switches and turning lights off

books

playing at the park

sand and water and dirt and grass and...

swinging and spinning in your bouncy swing that hangs in the doorway

watching the Very Hungry Caterpillar on Netflix

rice puffs

Nolan, you seriously love life, and apparently I love taking pictures of it.
Sorry not sorry :).

I still love being home with you. There's no place else I'd rather be. You are the craziest, funnest little human with a sweet and tender heart that steals ours more every day.

WE LOVE YOU.

Happy nine months, N!

My First Mother's Day

I have felt so celebrated by my two boys today (well, you know, as capable as Nolan is of celebrating at his stage of life).

My very first Mother's Day has been super special, and I just really want to remember it:

I slept until Nolan woke up (and even when he did, he must have known it was a special day because he snuggled and nuzzled me like he ..umm.. NEVER does).
I took an uninterrupted, leisurely shower.
I got ready at my own pace while Kev fed Nolan breakfast and prepared a super yummy one for me.
We ate breakfast, all 3 of us at the table at the same time, I think for the first time ever.
I read the sweetest letter written by my baby-daddy (cue the teary-eyed mess I became).
Even as I'm typing this, Kev is doing ALL of the dishes.
At the moment, Nolan is napping intensely (I apologize to all who encountered his lack of nap-ness at the Sunday gathering this morning. A special shout-out to those sweet gems in the nursery!)
Kev says he has a little "surprise" outing planned for us later.
And I can hardly wait to grab Wendy's to-go and eat it in the park with my little family this evening.
And, above all, I am graciously reminded that my identity is not in who I am as Mom, but in who I am as Daughter.

Kev, so much of how you've loved on me today you do on the regular.
I'm so proud to call you mine.
And let's be real...without you, I wouldn't me a momma ;).

Nolan, in short, I ADORE being your mom.

It's hard.
It's busy.
It's messy.
It's fun.
It's unpredictable.
It's hilarious.
It's awkward.
It's humbling.
It's mine.

There will forever be a Nolan-sized space in my heart that only you can fill.
You make me Mom.
I love you, buddy.

Thank you, Kayleigh Dhiman, for these priceless pics.

And my Mother's Day wouldn't be complete if I didn't recognize my own momma and mom-in-love.
You two are the epitome of mommyhood, and we couldn't possibly love you more.
I waaaaant to be friends with Nolan's mother-in-law just like you two are when I grow up!

Our Baby's Dedication

Yesterday, Kevin and I stood alongside four other families that we love in front of church and hometown family we adore to commit to living and leading a life of gospel-centered parenting.

That's a lot easier said than done.

When Kev introduced us as a family, he comically but quite perfectly revealed where we're at with this whole parenting gig:

"Hi, I'm Kevin Dickerson, and this is my wife, Meagan, and our only son, Nolan. 

And we don't know what we're doing."

Enter...Jesus.

The service and message yesterday reminded us of nothing less than our need for Jesus and our need for him to work in my heart and in the heart of my husband's in order for him to be reflected as we parent Nolan. 

We will fail.

But I pray that Kev and I walk humbly and live transparently in front of our son, and that ultimately, Nolan comes to know, too, that he is loved and accepted by God because of what Jesus has already done.

Part of yesterday's message went something like this:

Today we publicly state, in a ceremonial way, that we are committing to raise our children to know Jesus and, by his grace, to join us as a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19). We are confessing that we are, by nature, a people of darkness but, by grace, are a people of light (1 Peter 2). We are boldly saying that together we will live, love, and preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God in the great hope that God would be pleased to translate our children from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of his beloved Son (Colossians 1).

Amen.

In addition to the serious nature of what yesterday's dedication represented, there were also some crazy, downright hilarious moments that I just have to share. It was a great excuse to snap a whole bunch of pictures, have an 11-person slumber party in our house (with blow-up mattresses everywhere), watch my son swoon over his future bae and act a fool on stage in the middle of the service, and oh the list goes on and on...

Such a fun weekend!

 Kevin Dorsey, Nolan Dorsey, & Hugh Dorsey