Prayers in the Nursery

Each day, we get closer and closer to Nelson's birthday! Still surreal to think we're about to have our baby boy in our arms! One of our favorite spots to go for prayer is Nelson's nursery. Just this past week, a dear friend that I work with gave us a precious book: Prayers and Promises for My Little Boy by Stormie Omartian. We wanted to share the first one with you today:

Prayer of Gratitude for Nelson {Our Little Boy}

Lord, THANK YOU for Nelson. He is such a wonderful gift to us. Help us to raise him well. May the beauty of Your Spirit be so evident in us that we will be godly role models for him. Give us the communication, teaching, and nurturing skills that we must have. Grow us into being the kind of parents You want us to be and teach us how to pray and truly intercede for his life.

We are grateful that we don't have to rely on the world's unreliable and ever-changing methods of child rearing, but that we can have clear directions from Your Word and wisdom as we pray to You for guidance. We rely on You for everything, and this day we trust our child to You and release him into Your hands. 

In Jesus' name we ask that You will increase our faith for all the things You have put on our heart to pray for concerning our son. 

Thank you for your continued prayers for our growing family during this special time. Words cannot express how much it means to know we are being lifted up! And below are a few more updated photos for you to take a "sneak peek" into our baby boy's nursery...!!! Can't wait to have him here...soon and very soon! 

Weekend Fun

Thank you for your patience with this blog post! We used to post each Wednesday, then that turned into Thursday, then Friday...and now apparently MONDAY! We've actually been without internet at our apartment for awhile so it's made it a bit tricky to find a time to make our post for the week. Turned out well, since we wanted to share with you some photos of the fun weekend we had.

Something you hear a LOT of as you turn the corner of the homestretch in pregnancy is..."enjoy your time together"..."go to the movies"..."go out to eat, just the two of you"..."sleep in"..."run to the grocery store"...! In other words, it gets a lot more "involved" when you have a little one with you...to even do the more basic things in life! So here are a few pics of how we have been enjoying our time, as the two of us! 

Friday night, we ate dinner at a (new to us) local Mexican spot,
"El Barrio" in Downtown Birmingham!

Saturday we enjoyed a day at "Farmlinks" in Sylacauga, AL.

Sweet day with friends! The guys had a great time golfing!!

On Sunday, there was quite a downpour out at the baseball field during B's game!
Needless to say, there was no shelter to hide under during the monsoon.
But the rain felt GOOD to this pregnant mama!

With this heat, there are a lot of "outfit changes" throughout the day.
When I got home from the baseball game, I made a quick change into a different dress
AND got my "do-rags" out of the freezer. 
They have been quite the life-saver these days with all the humidity!

Sunday evening concluded with watching "Sleepless In Seattle"!
Couldn't have asked for a better weekend. Thankful for the wonderful QUALITY TIME!

By Faith

There is a song written by Keith and Kristyn Getty called, "By Faith". We sang this last week at church and it's been in my head ever since. It's a sweet anthem to have in my head as we enter these next four (+) weeks of the pregnancy journey. To say there's a lot going through my mind at any given time is an understatement! B and I are thoroughly enjoying each and every moment we have yet looking forward to our son's arrival with great anticipation. It sure has been encouraging when we come across the "positive and joyful" parents who remind us what a blessing having children is...and not just talk to the ones who tell us how we're never going to sleep again and so forth. I know there is reality to both - but we know that the LORD is our strength and has gone before and behind us each step our lives thus far and will not leave us now.

We keep talking about how interesting it is that one of the biggest days of our lives cannot be planned for. When we got married, we knew that "September 13th" was the big day! With Nelson's arrival, we don't know if it will be the end of July, beginning of August, morning, noon, or night. It's certainly a reminder to let go of control and ask God to increase our FAITH, be the ONE we put our total TRUST in, and lead the way!!! This sums up many conversations we have had this past week and we'd like to come before you today on July 6, one month from our baby boy's "due date" and ask you to stand in prayer with us. Pray specifically for the LORD to strengthen our minds and be our GUIDE no matter what this next month and beyond holds! Whenever people ask when Nelson is going to be born, we love telling people..."on his birthday"...!!! It's true! We just don't know which day that will be! What an adventure life is! Thankful to be on this grand adventure with the LORD as our guide, and with my husband who loves the LORD and seeks His guidance - above all - for our family...an answer to sooooooo many of my prayers!!!

Here is a link to listen to the song we love, "By Faith". May it bless your heart as it has ours! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-YISm700Pc ...And here are the words if you'd like to simply read the lyrics:

By faith we see the hand of God
In the light of creation's grand design
In the lives of those who prove His faithfulness
Who walk by faith and not by sight

By faith our fathers roamed the earth
With the power of His promise in their hearts
Of a holy city built by God's own hand
A place where peace and justice reign

We will stand as children of the promise
We will fix our eyes on Him our soul's reward
Till the race is finished and the work is done
We'll walk by faith and not by sight

By faith the prophets saw a day
When the longed-for Messiah would appear
With the power to break the chains of sin and death
And rise triumphant from the grave

By faith the church was called to go
In the power of the Spirit to the lost
To deliver captives and to preach good news
In every corner of the earth

We will stand...

By faith this mountain shall be moved
And the power of the gospel shall prevail
For we know in Christ all things are possible
For all who call upon His name

Sneak Peek

It's been another {busy but good} week! B started off the week in Dallas for a business trip and I was in Chattanooga for a sweet shower for Nelson! We hit the ground running at work and in my "free" time I have been working with Mama Sue on putting the nursery together. Now that we've had a moment to focus, we have been two ladies on a mission! Here's a "sneak peek" of our new favorite room...aka: Nelson's nursery! Seeing all these pieces come together make the fact that we're going to have a baby soon, all the more real! 

In other news, we now have cable {it's been a year without it} and B is enjoying having his "cave time" again where he can actually watch sports and shows like "American Pickers" on the TV instead of the laptop. Works out great for me so that I can use the computer while he watches and we get to be together...without me sitting over his shoulder wondering how much longer he's going to be on the laptop watching his sports on there. Hilarious! 

Thankful for a weekend to rest and relax in our own home this weekend. Reason 598 that we love where we live...there's a pool! On these 100+ temperature days, it sure is delightful to go take a swim. People keep reminding us how few and far between these moments will be before long. Even though we hear what they're saying, we must say...we are all smiles around these parts about our baby boy's upcoming arrival. Soon and very soon he will be in our arms. Thank you for your continued prayers for our growing family. Eeek! We are so excited! 

Yard Sales, Nesting & Lots of Baby Movement

It's been a full week! We have been given the opportunity to "serve the other" on many occasions! We'll recap a few of the highlights...

For starters, Saturday morning when B went to play basketball with the guys, I went around to a few yard sales. While driving from one to another, I passed by one that had not been on my list to go to. It looked like a good one so I pulled over and parked. While I was doing a quick glance through, my eyes spotted one of the items that I had been looking for...a changing table! We have a dresser that we had considered painting but I was all for going ahead and getting this precious "Jenny Lind Changing Table" that was already white (like we wanted!!) and having one less project to work on! HA! I knew when I saw it that I would go ahead and jump on it if was $20 or less! Bargain shopper!! When I asked the people how much it was, the man told me $10!!! Holy cowabunga...let's load this on in the car! So he put it in the car and I didn't like the way it was facing because I felt like it may fall whenever I started driving...but he insisted that it was in a fine position and would make it home a-ok. I drove slow and tried to take the turns easy...but about five minutes into my drive...I heard the whole changing table take a tumble...a loud tumble. I was almost to the place where I was picking up B from basketball so I stayed the course and was just cringing. Even though I had only spent $10, I was so excited about this purchase and the last thing I wanted to find when I opened up the door was a cracked and crumbled changing table. When I got to Brandon, he was sitting out front of the gym with one of his buddies. I think he could tell by the look on my face that something was up. I started off with, "Hey yall! Babe, I'm about to cry..." and then the tears just came! I explained what happened and he very calmly hugged me and said, "Oh babe, it's going to be ok...let's go take a look at it"...Sure enough, we opened the back of the car and despite the loud crashing sound it had made, the changing table had NOT broken!!! PHEW! I felt pretty embarrassed for breaking down over this (especially in front of the friend) but I think the fact that I am pregnant helped explain a lot of the tears! As we drove off...B even said, "Sweet Whitty! What a marriage moment!" ...I am so thankful to report that the changing table was all in one piece but more so than that, how sweet Brandon was in that moment...and throughout this whole pregnancy journey. His patience and love towards me has been amazing. 

Nelson's Changing Table! 

So then we move along into Monday...! I came home from work that day with FULL energy! Don't ask me where it came from...I truly have no idea! I think it would certainly fall into the "nesting" category! For starters, the other week we had a friend drop off dinner for us...just because! It was the biggest blessing to have that unexpected meal provided and we were able to eat off of it for a couple of days. It made me think about how this would be a great time to seize the moment of any extra energy and make some meals now to keep in the freezer for these final weeks before Nelson's arrival. I know how sweet people are to bring meals once you have a baby - but in these weeks where (for the most part) I am t-totally wiped out at the end of the day, it would be awesome to have some pre-ready dishes in the freezer to whip out and serve my husband who feels LOVED when food is on the table when he walks in the door from work! All that to say...I spent about 4 hours on Monday afternoon COOKING! I whipped up some casseroles and my Mimi's famous spaghetti recipe! Stocked our freezer FULL and still had energy to spare to even clean the dishes...whoo! Again, no idea where this all came from! I truly love cooking when I have the energy. It's fun when you're on a roll! When Brandon walked in the door on Monday evening, I don't think he could even believe his eyes!!! With his love language being "acts of service" (aka: FOOD)...he felt extremely loved and cared for. It was a blessing to be able to serve him this way!  

Some of the cooking action that was happily welcomed in the Nall kitchen! 

We'll close today by sharing that not a day goes by these days without us taking (lots of) moments to pause in our marriage and thank the Lord for this precious gift of life He has given to us! Nelson has been moving and a groovin' for quite sometime now but over the past couple of weeks he has really been quite the free entertainment for us! I was able to capture a little video the other day of him in action. There are NO words to describe what a blessing he already is to our family! "Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare." -Psalm 40:5 ...We can't wait to meet you in just a few short weeks, Nelson!!! 

A Joyous Celebration!

One week ago today, family and friends were gathering on Lookout Mountain for the joyous celebration of Parker & Liz's wedding week! Parker is my dear brother and Liz is his beautiful bride, my new sister! It's true that "a picture paints a thousand words"...so instead of going into full detail about each and every thing from the truly blessed weekend that we will never forget, I want to share some photos with you from this momentous occasion. Enjoy...

Thought it would be special to share part of my toast to Parker & Liz that I shared at the Rehearsal Dinner: "I’m so excited to see how the Lord is going to use you two as you become husband and wife tomorrow and start your family from this point forward. My prayer is that through each “marriage moment” you have, each of you will be so filled up with the love of Christ that it spills over to the other one. You’ve heard it all -- the importance of communication, talking through expectations, and learning how to walk in a state of forgiveness and move on...and I pray that as you start to practice these things, you will truly want to out serve the other one and seek the Lord first and foremost because neither of you can satisfy the other like HE can satisfy you."


The passage from Scripture that was expounded upon at the wedding was from Colossians 3:12-17. “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” 

The Lord truly spoke through the pastor as he talked about the importance of being filled up with Christ first so that we can overflow with these items mentioned in the Scripture above (compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience) to our spouse. It was a GREAT charge to Parker & Liz as a newly married couple and a FABULOUS reminder to the rest of us on how to love and forgive in our own marriages. 

Congratulations again to Parker & Liz!!! We are so thankful that the Lord brought you two together and look forward to seeing how HE is going to use YOU TWO as TEAM WEBB!!! To God be ALL the glory! 

Quality Time

Talking through the many translations of "quality time"...!!!

These are more than just “two words” that seem to have a nice ring to them! This is something that B and I talk about often. One of my love languages is “quality time”...but the reason we wanted to write about this tonight is to talk about the different ways we each translate this! 

Brandon sees quality time as any time we’re together. For instance, if we have 10 friends over to have a “Scrabble tournament” and spend a fun evening with games & fellowship, at the end of the night...his quality time tank is full. At the end of that same night, I had a wonderful time with the games, friends, & fellowship...but I am then looking forward to at least five minutes or so of one-on-one time with Brandon. I see quality time as time when we are face-to-face, he has my undivided attention and I have his...and he is asking me about my day or talking about something intentional. 

This past week, we got to spend some great quality time together during our babymoon. We had great time in the car on the way there and back, plus great time together clocking 21+ hours together on the beach. It was a blessing to run into some of our friends at the same beach where we were and get to have some great time spent with them as well. It was quite hilarious when we were sitting out on the beach bonding with this other couple (that we knew from Nashville but had not had the opportunity to hear each other’s stories, etc before now) and something came up about how he sees quality time vs. how she sees quality time! 

After we heard how he view it vs. how she views it...the guys were everything but high fiving each other (!!) because the (obviously) saw it the same way...and she and I were t-totally on the same page as well. Refreshing to say the least. Sometimes in those moments where Brandon and I are talking this through, I often wonder if I’m just crazy or something to think of quality time as the TWO of us...not the two of us within a crowd or in the same state! And by state, I literally mean that it has been said before that Brandon feels like we’re together when we’re both spending the day in Alabama...even when he’s driving all over creation and I’m at work!

All in all, it was neat to talk through this with another couple who had recently talked about the very same thing we had...and share different insights with each other. Whenever we do have these conversations, I must say that it’s cool to see Brandon initiate some one-on-one quality time with me...it means the world! And like I mentioned at the start, it doesn’t even have to be long...even five minutes sometimes of “how was your day, babe” is all that it takes! Thankful that God has given us mouths and ears to talk these things through and listen to where the other is coming from. Enjoying the journey of growing together as we talk through the different ways we often “translate” what seems to be the same thing. It’s something to think about if you’re spouse’s love language is quality time. I highly suggest making sure you are both talking about the same TYPE of quality time...ha!