Joy Prom

I've been meaning to post these for a while, but here are a few pictures I took at this year's Joy Prom. You might have heard me rave about this event. It's an event just like a high school prom (except cooler and less awkward) that Providence puts on for special needs individuals in the community. They can pick out an outfit beforehand and the paparazzi greets them on the red carpet. They eat dinner, get their pictures taken, have their shoes shined or make-up done and then do some serious dancing. This year, I took pictures as normal, but Jonathan got to come and serve on the medical team. It was fun to have him there, and I've included a cutey picture of us that one of our volunteer photographers, Gregory, took.

I said it the first year, but I seriously think that's its a little glimpse of heaven on earth: lots of smiles and joy, unconditional love all around, and the crippled dance.

The local ABC station also did a great story on it. Click here to read it. I'm actually in there briefly as one of the paparazzi. I wanted to tell the guy I was "press" too, but I just decided to go with the flow.

This guy was on the red carpet asking for autographs.

Jonathan's Graduation Video

Jonathan's dad took this video of his graduation. What cracks me up is you have to strain to hear his name and then the roar of cheering is deafening.

Jonathan Moseley, Doctor of Medicine

That's what they announced on Sunday as Jonathan walked across the stage at the Dean Dome, so we guess it's official: Jonathan received his M.D.! It was a sweet day as we celebrated this accomplishment, and more importantly, God's graciousness to give it.

Receiving his hood. Doesn't his robe look like what you imagine the Slytherin robes to look like?

I think he's smiling here because he just heard us all cheer very loudly and Parker shout "Go Jonathan!"

Moving his tassle to the other side.

Hugging the proud parents.

Just five more years till she'll be wearing a mortar board for her high school graduation!

He might be a doctor, but he's still my sweet hubby.

His grandparents came all the way from Vienna, Austria (via Birmingham)!

My family came up from Atlanta.

And we all had a great weekend together! The boys saw part of the Carolina baseball game, and the girls went shopping on Saturday. We celebrated that night at Fat Daddy's and ate Mother's Day lunch at Mom and Dad Moseleys' house.

Here we are with our friends Jamie and Caron, and their cutie little boy, Matthew. It's been such a joy to walk through medical school with these two.

Dr. Moseley and Dr. Lye! I'm sure one day Matthew will be more excited about his dad's degree.

In Case You Were Wondering...

Here are the results of the previous post requesting help with registering. The whole process is a little mind-boggling, but the wisdom of all these mother-friends made it a lot easier. And in case you happen to be searching for us, we listed our state as North Carolina, even though Baby Moseley will technically be arriving in Alabama.

Babies "R" Us Registry
Target Registry

How the Tide-to-Go Pen Made My Day

Here is the promised post about why this is a great product (I feel like I should get paid for this advertisement).

The other day I had a pregnancy moment (or at least I'll blame it on that). I was eating strawberries in the car for breakfast and thought I would avoid getting anything on my white-with-black-print skirt by simply putting a paper towel on my lap. I then proceeded to put the strawberry hulls on the paper towel, which of course soaked through and stained my skirt. Duh.

I was all set for my day to be ruined. I'd have to either buy a skirt or borrow one or go home. I already had a busy day, so this was going to be majorly incovenient. Then I remembered that the handy stain removal pen that my thoughtful mother-in-law had put in my Easter basket. Amazingly, I had actually put it in my purse. I was skeptical, but a few swipes later...ta-da! The stain was completely gone. Fabulous!

Product plug complete. We will now resume our regular programming.

Reaching New Audiences

As many of you know, one of jobs at Providence is putting together on our monthly magazine, Inside Providence. I've pondered many times: "Does anyone actually read this?" "Will this make a difference?" I felt very validated today when Danielle sent me these pictures of Bennett. Someone takes the time to read this thing! It's a different demographic than I was aiming for, but I'll take it. I might need to start lowering the reading level that I write at and including more pictures though...

Ryan and Susan's Wedding

April 21 was a very special day for our family. My dear cousin Ryan, who is kind of like a brother to me, married Susan Hauser, a dear friend of both of Jonathan and mine from college (and one of my bridesmaids). It's a crazy, yet so sweet, way that the Lord worked to bring these two together. We were doubly blessed on this day to have a close friend married into the family and a cousin married to a woman who we knew of her godly character so well before they even met.

Here are a few pictures of the big day. Unfortunately they are not comprehensive at all. Hopefully soon I can post some more!

The beautiful, stunning, gorgeous bride and the pregnant bridesmaid who fit into the dress by the slimmest of margins!

My sister-in-law Rachel, my cousin Jaclyn (Ryan's sister), Suz and me. Suz and Rachel were good buddies in college too, and Susan and Ryan actually re-met at Parker (my brother) and Rachel's wedding (thanks to Jaclyn, to whom they owe everything :)
Is anyone confused yet?

This one is a little simpler: Jonathan and me and my brother Parker and his wife Rachel. The UNC InterVarsity connections ran here too though. Rachel and I were pals in college. I introduced her to the Clef Hangers, and she led the Bible study I attended my senior year. Jonathan led Parker's Bible study his freshmen year. Jonathan and I both led Bible studies with Susan. And now we're all one big happy family.
(Now how does Kevin Bacon fit into all this? No, it's gotta be your bull.)

A few more fun facts (sorry we missed our toast at the rehearsal dinner, so I'm getting this all out of my system):
-Ryan was the first person the bring me to church when I came to UNC.
-He was also the first person to tell me that picking my nose in public was bad. (Parker must not have been there.) I'm glad I had a cousin to watch out for me...
-Susan was one of the first people to know that Jonathan was going to propose to me. He recruited her help in choosing a ring, and she had to keep it a secret for at least a week or two.
-Susan and our friend Megan were secretly present when Jonathan came to pick me up for our first date. They had come over to do hair and make-up, and when Jonathan came by, they hid on top of our washer and dryer in the apartment.

Festival of Flowers

When we were at the Biltmore, they were all ready to start their Festival of Flowers the next day. They had planted a spectacular number of beautiful tulips. That night was the big freeze, and it actually snowed the next day (Happy Easter!). We saw them covering the tulips in canvas as we were leaving.

Going all artistic on the cactus.

Easter Weekend Trip

Over Easter weekend, the Moseley fam traveled West to the mountains. We stayed in a great cabin in Old Fort, had breakfast at the Grove Park Inn, visited the Biltmore, played dominos, and shopped in Black Mountain. My dear Aunt Marisa works at the Biltmore, so she was able to get us some free passes. We were back in time for Easter services on Sunday (which is important considering we had a pastor with us).

Jonathan likes to put flowers in my hair.

Jonathan's brother David and his wife Amy.

His parents lovin' on each other. They're cute like that.

Registering

I'm going registering tonight (with the help of sweet Danielle - what a blessing!) and probably this weekend too. Do any of mom-friends out there have any suggestions or products they recommend? I'm probably doing the regulars: Babies 'R' Us and Target.

Movin' and Shakin'

I'm starting to feel Baby Mo move around quite a bit. The first time I felt a definite kick was last Monday (April 16) during my Bible study discussion group. I'm the group leader, and I was supposed to be paying good attention to what the group members were saying, but I was so distracted! Several people had described it to me as a flutter, but this felt more like an thud. Maybe I missed the fluttering stage. Jonathan hasn't been able to feel it yet, but the movement is becoming a little harder, so I'm hoping he'll be able to feel it soon. It's been my favorite part of pregnancy thus far (I know, how could it top morning sickness? :) because it's made me feel so connected to this little one.

Future posts:
Pictures from our trip to the mountains with the Moseley fam
Pictures from Ryan and Susan's wedding
How the Tide-to-go pen made my day

Home Sweet Home

After a long search (we saw about 40 houses in 2 days), some agonizing and then some quick decisions, we decided on a great little bungalow in Crestwood (an older, cute neighborhood in Birmingham). It was built in 1953, but has been completely renovated. We drove a hard bargain - 3 counter offers - but the Lord allowed it be accepted. The B-ham market was pretty competitive, so we had to move quickly. It's about five minutes from UAB, which means more family time! We feel very blessed. This is the home our child will come home to! Take a look around...

The previous owners used this as a den, but we're planning to put in a closet and make it the master bedroom. It's at the back of the house and has it's own bathroom, so we thought it made more sense. It also has three other bedrooms and another bathroom, so we're thinking nursery, guest room, and office.

Here is the pretty kitchen. Considering our refrigerator has been held together with tape the last four years, this is quite a shocker for the Moseleys.

This is the living/dining room. I would say that this color is inaccurate in these pictures. It's somewhere between this red and the orange below, but neither are quite right.

We're so grateful that God blessed us throughout the process. Thanks for your prayers! We'll be accepting reservations for Casa Moseley in the near future, but we are expecting to be fully occupied around the end of August.

Baby Bump - 20 weeks (5 months)

I've been asked on a couple of occassions to post a picture of my baby bump, so here it is. I've been hesistant to do so because, as you can see, it's not very exciting right now. This is at exactly 20 weeks/5 months (last Friday). If it helps, I feel very bumpy...

Happy Birthday, Dad!

My dear father turned the big 6-0 on Easter Sunday! Here are a few things I love about my dad: he raised his kids to know the Lord, he's wonderfully generous with the resources God has given him, he's going to be sucker of a granddad, and he loves to dance (see picture above) - just to name a few. But most of all I love him because he's my Sunshine. Happy Birthday, Dad!

Easter Egg Hunt

On Saturday, our LIFE class (Sunday School) helped with the Easter Egg Hunt for the children of the apartment complex located directly behind Providence. It was a fun morning!

Marilyn, Alex, Nate, Errica, Mark, Jean and Ryan observing the rush to find the "hidden" eggs.

Leslie and Jean sorting through the eggs.

How cute is she?

How most people hid their eggs...

How Drew hides his eggs...

And I might add, this is how my husband would be hiding eggs had he been able to be there.
The kids needed a little challenge, right?

Under Contract

The Lord has blessed us very richly. Yesterday, we received an offer for the full asking price of our house. We've only had the sign out for a week. We are so grateful for God's provision. It's more than we could ask for. It's such a nice relief to not have that taken care of. God was also gracious about a month ago to buy a car for a great deal off craiglist, and then sell our Buick (with 225,000+ miles on it) in a mere six hours. We're a little stunned, but in a good way.