Back to the Mountains

Our first trip to Tennessee with Behr happened this past weekend (that is, it was his first trip on the outside with us and not inside me). He did great! Our little buddy loves the car and slept most of the way, and yes, we're counting our blessings for that. We stayed at my parents house as always and had a marvelous time. I was so excited to finally introduce our son to the Smokey Mountains and his grandparents home there. It holds such a precious place in our heart and I hope that he'll soon grow to love it as much as we do. 

I realize that most of these pictures are of our Behr cub with my family. I don't apologize for it though because I love going back through these images and getting to see how very much he his dearly loved by everyone. 

We shot a wedding while we were there. It was Behr's first day away from both of us, which was definitely not fun; we missed him all day! So you can imagine we were pretty happy when my parents surprised us at the reception to let us show him off. He kinda stole the show for a little bit ;) 

And we got to do a mini-photo shoot of our little family. My boys + my favorite mountains. This is the stuff of my dreams.

It had been too long since we'd been able to visit this sweet place and be with the ones we love there. The loud craziness of my family. The solace found in mom's lovingly planted flowers. The way the last sun rays warmed those blackening branches. And always the comfort of the blue mountain ranges framing all of it with their majestic quietness. It was needed and we're so thankful. 

'Tennesee, you've been good to me…..'

An Introduction

Jonathan Behr Owen

Born at 4:50am on July 11th, 2014

8 lbs. 3 oz.

21 1/4 in. 

Jonathan

 'gift of God'

Behr

 'strong, courageous'

Owen

 'little warrior'

The little one we've anticipated. Our manly little cub. The fuzziest, squishiest, most adorable (in our opinion anyway) child we've ever known. Given by God and all wrapped up tight inside our hearts. 

It may be the cliche thing to say but, we. are. so. in. love.

Hopefully soon (and when I get caught up on sleep and feeling back to normal) I'm going to tell his birth story here. I want to the take time to remember all the hard, intense, achingly beautiful details of it; to find the right words in my heart that will do it justice. All I can say for now is that it was something that Jonathan and I are beyond thankful to have experienced together. We'll never be the same thanks to this child of ours. Oh, how wonderful that thought is to us!

Welcome to this adventure of ours, Behr Owen. You've been long thought of by Jesus and wanted by us  your whole life. Of all the earthly gifts we've been given, you are the greatest. 

Love, 

Dad & Mom

Today

one month until

the hurting begins

the sweat and tears come, salty on my skin

the swaying and heaving starts

and the 'just keep breathing' repeats

the shaking, and pushing

the clutching tight

and then

this joyous meeting 

your crying out and our hearts answering

us reaching to touch you, finally

 the end of waiting 

our eyes locking into one another

and the all grace and glory of that 

is 

a call to not give up

the fuel, flaming us to finish this 

our banner cry through the waiting days

a burning light leading us home

and our hope that will not disappoint 

p.s. I feel like maybe this post needs to come with a little 'disclaimer' so here it is: 

As of right now, we've been told that our son should arrive around the second week in July. But as we all know, things don't always go as planned or hoped. He could come early, he could be late, his time on this earth might be way shorter than we thought it would be. Who knows what could happen? I sure don't, but I still believe the words you just read up there would still apply no matter what the outcome of our baby's 'birth story' may be.

I didn't write any of this to depress you but just to say that we're giving it all up to Jesus.  He's got a plan for our son and all we can do is take it one step at a time. He knows what's coming. Due dates, potential health issues, natural birth vs. c-sections; all included. We may not know the future but we do know Him and that's all we need. Jesus, our Hope.

We're Still Here (and so is this blog)

First of all, thank you so much to anyone who prayed for us three as we traveled. God was so kind to grant us safety the entire way, there and back. Plus, this third trimester mama was able to endure the looong car ride, three different types of beds and lots of walking with just mild discomfort. It was all a true blessing and we're grateful that Jesus answered all our prayers in the way He did. 

We're back home now and I'm looking forward to getting everything from our trip put together so I can share it here. My camera and heart are overflowing with all we were able to experience on our getaway. As you can imagine, there's much to process and organize in my thoughts from it all. That, coupled with the fact that we are in major 'baby prep' mode around here, means that it might take longer than I would like to be able to share the all stories + images I want to. But, I do plan on plugging away at it when I get the time; there's much to tell! We fell head over heels in love with Maine and it's mist filled forests and rocky coastline. The adventure of exploring completely unknown places together was something that both our souls needed. We're so grateful that we were able to experience it.  So keep your eyes peeled, and (hopefully soon!) you'll be able see it all here on Light & Letter. 

Onward and Forward!

 We've been counting down the days for months and it's finally here! The Rodgers are officially on vacation and, believe me, it's much needed. We've been SO busy and the thought of going somewhere together to just breathe for a short while before it all cranks back up this July feels pretty good. This will be our last trip as 'just us'. We've absolutely loved the almost three years of just being husband and wife and this trip is (in part) to celebrate that. Of course, Pickle is along for the ride and which thrills us because that means, not only is this our last 'Jonny & Brea' trip but also our first vacation as a family too. So many good things all wrapped up together! 

We've been wanting to go to the New England area for quite awhile and it just worked out for us to now. Yes, it's a little late in the pregnancy to be traveling so far…we know. But, don't worry, we've cleared it with our midwife. Plus seeing that me + Baby are doing great, we're not too concerned about it ;) If you think of it, please pray for safety, alertness and overall traveling mercies. We'd be humbled and honored if you would. 

Here's to that taste of wanderlust. 

To adventures lived and the new ones unknown. 

To miles of highway winding and pulling us into new experiences. 

To the siren call of the ocean and the mystery of unexplored forests. 

To being the hand he holds as the new horizons grow closer.

To traveling through all of life with him by my side.

 Here's to what's to come. 

We're ready.