July 24, 2010

Pump It Up, Baby

When we moved to Fort Worth a little over a year ago, we not only left the only home we'd ever known, but we left our family and some of our closest friends. Moving away from the people you love is never easy. In fact, to be truthful, it just plain sucks. There were many days I cried until there were no tears left and just wanted to go "home." I'm pretty sure that is a natural reaction to picking up your life and moving to a whole new place, but even so, it was hard! Regardless of how difficult a transition it was for us, we trusted God and knew if Fort Worth was the place he was leading us, he would take care of us and provide for us. Has he ever! He has provided for our every need, in every area of our lives.

From the beginning, our church family at New Life Deaf Fellowship has been such a wonderful support to our family. I can't imagine our lives without the close friendships that we've developed there. God has blessed us with such wonderful people who love us and who love Noah as well. Josh and I thank the Lord often for the church he has placed us in.

It was also my desire when we moved for Noah to have little friends around his age to play with, as well as for me to develop friendships with other moms who have young children. When we first moved, there were many Sundays where Noah was the only one in the nursery. Oh how I longed for it to be filled with little buddies for him to play with. God has been working because this past Sunday we had five little boys, all under the age of two, in the nursery! God is good!

I am so thankful to the One who knows my heart. He knew not just what I wanted for Noah but also the kind of friends I desired for myself. Not just any friends, but friends who are deeply rooted in Him. Friends I can relate with and share my heart with. Friends I can be myself with. And, wow, God has abundantly provided for those needs and desires.

If you have been reading our blog for a while now, you've probably met Laura and Ian. What a true blessing they are in our lives. Laura and I have become great friends, and we often find ourselves chatting the night away on Google Chat. And even though Noah is several months older than Ian, I know they will grow to become close buddies. Thank you Laura for reaching out to me when I needed a friend.

But our good Lord wasn't finished. He had another friend for Noah {and me!}. Several weeks ago on a Sunday morning, I was in the nursery taking care of the children, and in came Lindsey and AJ. Lindsey and I immediately hit it off and started talking. Come to find out, her sweet little AJ was, you guessed it, 22 months! Exactly the same age as Noah. And she was sharing with me her desire for AJ to have friends his age to play with. Isn't it amazing how God works?! Of course we decided a play date was a must.

Laura and I had already decided a week or two ago to get together for a play date, so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to ask Lindsey and AJ to come along and play. And, let me tell you, I found the perfect place to take our wild little Indians. The place is called Pump It Up: The Inflatable Party Zone. It is a huge building filled with huge inflatable slides {Noah's favorite!}, bounce houses, obstacle courses and more. It really is amazing! And it is FREE for all of us to play. Can't get any better than that! Noah and I have been going twice a week since we found out children under the age of two are free. And, they encourage parents to get in there and play with the kids. So much fun!

So, we decided this past Wednesday to all meet up at Pump It Up for our play date. We all had the best time! It took Ian and AJ a little bit to warm up to the place, but not little Noah. Oh no, he was all over the place jumping and sliding. He was ready to play!

I almost didn't bring my camera along {gasp, I know!} because I didn't want to have to keep up with it, but I'm so glad I decided to bring it along. I got some really cute pictures of our fun at Pump It Up!

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All six of us: Me & Noah {far left}, Lindsey & AJ {middle}, and Laura & Ian {far right}
I love all the boys expressions. Makes me laugh.

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Cute little Ian & AJ

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Ian holding onto Mommy for dear life! But don't let that little face fool you.
I could barely get any pictures of him because he was running all over the place!

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The boys in their police cars! AJ is the cop you want to pull you over.
Noah, well, you better hope he's having a good day.
And Ian, he must have been having car trouble.

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Adorable!

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Just a few of the inflatables.
You would not believe how big this place is!

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These next two pictures of AJ and Noah are so funny.
They both loved the slides! And I have to admit, so do I.
Their expressions are priceless.

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Then some little girl thought AJ and Noah were little hotties.
I had to break her little heart and tell her they
aren't allowed to date for another 30 years.
She ran off crying.
Should I not have done that?

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Ian and Noah discussing how many tickets they had given out that day.

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AJ and Noah downing their CapriSun's that Laura brought for the boys.
Poor little guys were so thirsty. Noah had never tasted the goodness of a
CapriSun before, so it didn't take him long to flatten his out.
Looks like he is considering stealing AJ's. Haha.

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We decided on our way out we must get together for weekly play dates. Thank you Laura, Ian, Lindsey, and AJ for playing with us! We had so much fun.

Isn't God so good!

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6 comments:

Amanda said...

Praise God... what a blessing true fellowship is. I really enjoy this whole post girl!

Be blessed-
Amanda

The Christians said...

Awww...you are too sweet! God has totally blessed us more than you know with your friendship! We had a blast...will definitely have to go back. Ian is storing up lots of energy to run off!

The Christians said...

Btw, I keep meaning to tell you. Apparently blogspot recognizes we are friends (or we've commented on each other's blogs enuf!) that it no longer asks me to type in any sort of security letters in order to post.

OurLittleBlessingS said...

aww great post!! THat's great you have found friends for you and Noah. God is great like that!! He knows exactly what He's doing and I'm so happy you guys have put all of yoru trust in Him and that you finally are seeing it's all worth it! I can't wait for Mia to have more little friends to play with; thanks for reassuring me that it'll come.

I wish we had a bouncy house! Mia's never been in/on one!!
jess

and ps-i would have told the little girl the same thing;)

Mom said...

Yes, God IS good and yes, He did answer our prayers! Thanks for sharing!

floodedsoul said...

Tell Lindsey that Marci Walker-Purtell says hello. I was at Little Elementary and Miller Elementary in Arlington ISD when she was a young girl. CRAZY small world and NOW she has a son... I"M OLD!