Update #1 (of 2)

Sorry it has taken so long to update the blog...who knew having an infant would be so time consuming??  There is so much to say because SO MUCH has happened in the last 5 weeks.  I will keep this post to talking about Jackson and the next one will be devoted to my mom.

Jackson has grown up so much already!  Here are his stats:

Birth weight:  7 lbs. 6 oz.
Left hospital:  6 lbs. 15 oz.
2 weeks:  8 lbs. 12 oz.
4 weeks:  11 lbs. 2 oz!

Needless to say, the kid loves to eat.  In fact, the pediatrician encouraged me to feed him a little less (he's at the very top of the chart for weight).  Whereas some babies pull away from feeding when they are full, I've learned that Jackson would eat ALL AFTERNOON if I let him.  There is no pulling away for him.  So, mommy has to do it for him.  But, he has adjusted to his "baby diet" quite well, and is starting to go for a longer stretch at night, which makes mommy and daddy very happy.

Here are some recent pics:

His first real bath...he liked it!

Most adorable kid ever!  This is right after his bath.

Classic Jackson pose...he loves to sleep like this.

God has used Jackson to teach us so much already.  Ryan has been learning a lot about breath and it's significance in Scripture.  It all started with the fact that Jackson wasn't breathing when he was first born.  In fact, he gave a really awesome talk about it last night at a local college/young adult gathering.  But I'll let him write about that some other time because I will not do it justice!

I'm not really sure how to sum up exactly what I've been learning except to say that now, I feel everything so much more deeply than I did before.  I feel like I understand the depth of God's love a little bit more now (although I'm sure I have still only scratched the surface with my understanding).  My depth of joy and love and appreciation for Ryan, Jackson, my family, and my friends has risen to a whole new level.  The depth of passion for others to know Christ is far greater.  The depth of my sorrow over the brokenness in the world and in others is far deeper too.  It's good to feel such intense emotions, for I believe they help me live closer to the heart of Christ.  Yet I realize in the midst of it all that I am, therefore, all the more vulnerable.  But, I would rather experience this depth of emotion than live more "safely" on the surface.  As C. S. Lewis put it in the Chronicles of Narnia (and I paraphrase), "He [God] is good, but He is not safe."    

And speaking of God being good, but not safe, onto my mom...