Life with Jillian

Life with Jillian couldn't be any better. Jacque and I aren't really sure how we lived the past 4 1/2 years without her. Sure there have been a few sleepless nights. Sure we have gotten frustrated with one another. BUT none of that matters, our lives have been truly blessed just by having Jillian join our family. Having Jillian has opened me up to be the person I used to be. The person I was before all of the pain and struggles to overcome what so many people placed in my shoulders and threw at me. Jillian Grace Cunningham, you are exactly what was missing from our family. Thank you God for my little girl. You gave her to us in your perfect timing instead of that of the world. It couldn't be any sweeter to be me right now. I have the unending love of my savior, the unending affection of a beautiful woman, and now the prettiest little girl I've ever seen.

Busy Life....About to get busier!

I always fall behind on this blog, but now I can blog from my phone so that should help.  If you read my blog before I hope you will keep coming back, and tell other people about it.  I am changing the title and content to reflect the new focus of my life.....our family, which will soon include Jillian Grace Cunningham.  She has already completely changed my life.  In the last 6 months I have watched as my focus shifted from the things I want to have to the things we are going to need.  We feel truly and deeply blessed to have this sweet baby girl on the way.  I will say that what parts of my heart her momma had not already softened, Jillian has already completely softened my heart, and that is a good thing.  I already love my little girl with my entire being and can't imagine loving her anymore, but know I will once she gets here.  There are still a lot of preperations that need to be made, but we have 4 months to get it all done.  We are officially registered for everything we need, and have started buying diapers when we go to the store.  We have decided on which room will be her's and are beginning to prepare to start painting it and getting it all set up.  I am already really loving my new role as a daddy.  Every night I lay in bed and feel her kicking.  When she starts kicking I talk to her for a little while, and then I read her a book. Then I sing her the lullaby that I picked out for her.  I think she is beginning to recognize my voice as crazy as it may sound, because she moves towards it and calms down when I sing to her.  I can't wait for February 22nd....on second thought I can wait because there is still so much to be done, but I can't wait to meet my daughter.

                                                    

Work is going really well this year.  My class is the best class I have ever had, and I feel like I am a better teacher than I have ever been before.  I don't feel like I drag into work every morning.  Most morning I am excited to go to work.  I am also excited about the idea I have to start a class blog to keep the parents up to date with what is going on in my class, and to share with other teacher.

My family has moved to Grapevine, so now instead of being 7 hours away, they are 1 hour away.  That is nice, and will be really nice when Jillian gets here.  I am so thankful that my mom and dad moved closer in time to be around for the birth of the first grandchild.  Shelby is at ASU and Jessica will be coming to live with us in January.  So like the post title says, I have a busy life that is about to get busier!

WOW

Wow, where has time gone? My baby sister Shelby is graduating from
high school today. It seems like just yesterday she was following me
around asking what I was doing and if she could do it too. She has
grown up so much that it's hard to believe she is even the same
person. She has truly turned into an amazing Godly young woman. I
guess I can't really call her my baby sister anymore.

In other news we flew to Lubbock for her graduation because we still
aren't out of school yet. I had never flown before last night, so I
was a little nervous before we got on the plane. I can now announce
that I LOVE flying and believe there is no better way to travel.

I get to spend the weekend with my family and go to my nephew's second
birthday party. However right now I'm going to go back to sleep. Later

Just a picture of Shelby:

Multimedia message

Just a test to see if I can now blog from my iPhone.

Take Five Hundred Thousand Nine Hundred Sixty Two!

Have you ever noticed how life just gets crazy? Well in case you haven't ever experienced that phenomenon BE WARNED: LIFE GETS CRAZY!!!!! Jacque had her surgery on Dec. 22. She is doing well, she went to see the doctor and they said that she is right on track. God has been teaching me lessons over the last 5 weeks, not that He doesn't usually, but they are just more obvious ones right now. I have learned that I am much more capable than I thought when it comes to cooking and cleaning. I have also learned a few new lessons on being a supportive husband. I have always been supportive, but she just needs it more right now. I have been doing a devotional every night and every morning. Every night at some point during my devotional I look for a scripture dealing with something Jacque needs support in. Right now most of them center around strength, and how the only true source of our strength is God. I then take that scripture and write in on a post-it and stick it to the door, where she can see it when she leaves. We have such different schedules in the morning, I try to be at work by 6 or 6:30, when she is usually trying to get up, this is a way that I can still speak God's word into her life daily. It has become something I really look forward to doing. School is much better than it has been in the past 6 weeks or so, God is blessing me in ways that I would have never imagined. He has used the stress of Jacque's surgery to draw me closer to him. I have found my center in my faith again, and that has made everything else much easier. Not easy, because we were never promised easy, but easier. Look for God's blessings in your life. Maybe they will come from the student who finally understands the skill that they have struggled with for longer than you care to remember. Maybe its a coworker who takes time to remember you and just stop in to ask how things are. Maybe its that you made it through another day of something you thought you weren't capable of surviving. I will leave you with this, because I should be in the shower right now. First check out the songs at the top of the page, they are good ones. Second, if you get discouraged or start to feel your strength waining, do me a favor...check out this scripture: Psalm 3:5 (NIV) "I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me." The Lord will sustain you through anything, you just have to trust that he will, and get out of His way. Later.

Cowboy Stadium

What else!?!

What else is going to happen? We lost power again last night at about 10:00, and had to stay in a motel. Now I have found out I may not be able to go to the men's conference that I really want to go to. I don't mean to complain, so I'll just pray...
Father,
Please give me patience and strength today so that I can make it through the day. Thank you for all you have done for me, and the life you have given me. Amen