Don't Ask...

...since I know everyone WILL ask...(how could you not, really??)...this was from my friend Monica's birthday. :) Since we have so lovingly nicknamed her "Mon", we decided that a Jamaican-themed birthday celebration was in order. SO, this was the authentic island garb that Adam chose for the evening...somehow it ended up on my son. Although somewhat disturbing, you have to admit - pretty hilarious.

Carter James Makes His Arrival

This is my beautiful nephew, Carter James Mowrer! He was born on July 28 at 10:06 pm, weighing in at 9lb 10oz!! He was 22 inches long and has brown hair. He is amazing! Chelsey was such a trooper...she broke her foot about 6 weeks ago and hasn't been able to walk, so that was something she had to deal with along with the pain of childbirth! She was in labor for 22 hours...and these pictures were taken about a half an hour after Carter was born. She looks SO good! She seems to be recovering well, and the new familly should be going home today. I love you, Carter!!

"unmerited divine assistance"

That's the definition of something I think anyone who has a relationship with God has struggled with at one time or another. It's something that we talk about frequently but that we rarely (if ever) can wrap our minds around. GRACE.

The Bible is clear about the topic. The Word of God makes no apolgies for proclaiming that it is the ONLY way we can receive salvation.

Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

We have all read this verse before. We have all heard a lot about grace...but seriously?? It's that easy? I know I struggle with not trying to insert more of myself into this equation. We all think there is someting we should have to do to earn this love and salvation...and God certainly desires nothing less than our everything...but his love is not at all dependent on our "earning it". We can't make ourselves "good enough" to stand in his presence.

My high school girls' small group read Ephesians for our meeting last week and I was preparing to lead them in this I was reflecting on how I could explain this kind of unconditional love when I, myself, cannot understand it most of the time.

If I had a penny for each lesson I have learned from Roman I would be a rich woman. My son is only 13 months old, but God has revealed so much to me through him in his short lifetime. I always tell people that giving birth is the most painful, crazy, amazing and thrilling experience you could imagine. There is nothing like it. The love that you have for your child at birth is so immediate and SO intense. I loved him when I was pregnant...I didn't think I could love him any more...and then I saw him for the first time.

Having a child and getting to know that individual person is like falling in love with your husband all over again...except kind of in reverse order. When I met Joe, I was very excited to get to know him because he seemed like a great guy. We developed a friendship, we dated, we fell in love, we got engaged, we got married, and our love continues to mature. Having a child though is falling in love and then getting to know this new little person.

There is no reason that we should see a new born baby and be totally taken with them. They are usually screaming and haven't been cleaned off yet...that's a whole other topic. :) But, honestly, the fact that I would have died for him in that moment is still overwhelming to me. When I see my child, I understand a fraction of grace. I will be the last person to ever claim to fully grasp the concept. BUT, I understand that there is nothing that Roman could do or not do that would change my love for him. He is so precious to me. I am not always happy with the way he acts. I am not always feeling up to the task of dealing with a teething baby in the middle of the night. My love for him is not always perfect. God's love is.

So, the love that I have for Roman (with my imperfect love) cannot even be compared to the way that God loves us. But, of course, he reveals these little pieces of his love for us in the smallest of packages...a baby boy to love.

Blog Neglect...Sorry!!

Yet again, I realize that I have neglected my blog for too long! My life feels as if it has been a whirlwind the last couple of weeks! (Also we didn't have internet for a while.) :) Anyway, I love summer because it seems like there are all kinds of changes happening...marriages, babies, friends and family moving (not as fun) vacations, concerts, new plans for the upcoming year, and whatever other random events get thrown in the mix!


It has been such a fun, although sometimes challenging, ride...and I would like to share some of it with you.

• The biggest change we have been dealing with is that Joe's parents and younger sister are moving to South Carolina in August! This is such an awesome opportunity - his dad got offered a job as head of the food science department at Clemson University! Congrats, Dad! He is really excited for the change and we are SO happy for them! We know he will do fantastic work there! Of course, we are a little sad too. It has been nice living so close to them in Boone for the last 9 months or so. Roman's best friend is his grandpa...so we are thankful that the little guy isn't quite old enough to understand that they will be moving. But, we anticpate that it will be a little bit hard for him as he yells "BA-PA!!" everytime we pass their house. :)




• Our nephew Carter is going to be born soon!!! We can't wait to see him!!!!




• Our Godson, Joseph, was baptized a couple of weeks ago...I just haven't shown you any pictures yet! He did a super fabulous job and we expect that he will love Jesus quite a bit because he was very attentive and receptive during the ceremony. We thought he would cry because he hates his bath but his eyes just got wide and he looked very contempletive! What a good little boy! We love him SO much!

Sealed with the Holy Spirit! - in Ephesians, St. Paul refers to baptism as the "first installment*" of our salvation - *the footnote in my Bible says "a down payment on our salvation". I like that.

What a beautiful little family!

The newest member of the church, Joseph Benedict Stone. (Pictured here with Father Aquinas)This, of course, reminded Joe and Phil of the scene in Lion King where they lift Simba in the air and sing "The Circle of Life". This is their reinactment...complete with Phil's version of the song. :)Joe and me with Suzee, Phil, and little Joe.All the friends. Baby Joe is popular.

• Roman had his first spaghetti, which was quite the experience (and a big deal in Italian families). Fun pictures:

Testing it out...

Diving in...literally.

No trouble downing that meal.

Yum!

Fun video of post-spaghetti dinner:

Anyway, I feel like there is so much more to say, but I guess I will save the rest for another time. God is good and he continues to teach me more everyday through my family, friends, and high school girls' small group. More to come soon! Love and blessing to all of you!

Independence Day

These pictures were taken at the end of July last summer when my brother came home from Iraq. Sometimes I forget that last year on Fourth of July he had already spent a year and half in a war-torn country and was not celebrating, but fighting for his life and the lives of others. It is such a blessing to have him home, to live in a free country, and to be celbrating today with family and friends. God Bless America!

Kim and Andrew are Married!!

YAY!!!

I had the pleasure of being a bridesmaid in my friend Kim's wedding on Friday. She and her husband had an absolutely beautiful ceremony and we are so excited for them. It is always such an awesome experience to attend or be a part of a wedding. It's literally witnessing someone entering into their vocation...for a lifetime! It's not just a fun day, it's life changing...two becoming one in Christ. What a blessing.

I love being married...not that it's always easy by any means...but there is so much grace in living a reflection of the love of Christ for his people. We fall so short, but we are constantly overwhelmed by the way that God so intimately invites us to be a part of his plan for salvation.

Kim and Andrew have been great friends to us for a lot of years...Kim was the maid of honor in our wedding and we have thoroughly enjoyed watching Kim and Andrew's relationship grow over the past couple of years. These people are amazing witnesses to us and to those around them. Kim and Andrew, thanks for waiting. It's so worth it and it's such an inspiration to everyone who knows you! Just to give you a glimpse into the kind of committment they have, not only to one another, but to God, these are the words engraved on their wedding bands: "free total faithful fruitful". These are the qualities of agape love.

Here are a few pictures from Kim and Andrew's big day...the start of their new life together! Here's to many years of love and joy - may you always turn to God in every situation, may you keep the company of good friends and fellow believers, may your children be a gift to you in the most profound way. We love you guys!

Fun With Water!

We got Roman a baby pool for his first birthday! He was excited about playing outside, but not so excited about actually playing in the pool. Maybe it was too cold...he liked splashing the water from the edge, but wasn't a big fan of sitting in the pool...even when Mom or Dad sat in the pool with him (quite the sight!)

He did, however, love being chased around (by Joe of course) and sprayed with glacier water from the hose. I was freezing when some of it accidentally splashed onto me...Roman was also pretty shocked at the temperature, but for whatever reason, put up with the icy blast because it was just too much fun to pass up. Here's a video:

He then decided to take matters into his own hands...literally. (My apologies for how annoying my voice is in the video)! :)

My life in Summary (for the past week or so)!

Hello friends! I feel like I have not really written for quite some time! Life has been busy but good. Let me update you on a few of the happenings in the Pometto household over the past couple of weeks:

1. We celebrated Roman's first birthday on June 15! He is getting to be such a big guy...walking and talking like crazy...and thoroughly enjoying his first cake eating experiences! :) Kim made him the amazing little cake (which he has already pretty much demolished) in these pictures.

2. Unfortunately, bad news for #2. :( My poor sister-in-law, Chelsey, (who happens to be almost 8 months pregnant) fell down her stairs last weekend. My brother wasn't home, so not only did Chelsey break her foot in 3 places, but she had to crawl back up her stairs in order to get to her phone and call 911. She is my hero. She has been such a trooper...learning to hop along using a walker because she can't put any weight on her left foot for the next 6 weeks - and crutches are hardly conducive to help balance a woman who is 8 months pregnant! The good news is that she somehow managed to fall in such a way that their baby, Carter, is doing just fine...and her injuries could have been a lot worse, too. Get well soon, Chelsey! (Here is Carter, our little nephew, who we cannot wait to meet!)

3. Back to happy news! We celebrated Kim's bachelorette party last Saturday! We stayed at the Suites of 800 Locust and ate dinner at Centro. Despite the fact that we had to rearrange plans several times due to flooding, we had a blast! SO excited for Kim and Andrew's wedding this Friday!!!

4. Vow of Silence (the band that Joe plays in) had their first show for a really long time on Friday night in Ames! It was so much fun. They played at Bali Satay - where they will be playing a couple more shows over the next couple of months. Also, it was a super exciting show becuase Joe's brother Tony had his debut performance with the band as their bassist. He did a fantastic job and the boys are really excited about playing as a four piece. Joe's sister Mary took some amazing pictures:

Check out the VOS myspace page at: www.myspace.com/vowofsilencemusic

So proud of those boys! I love them so much!!!

5. We have been enjoying summer with Roman. We got him a baby pool for his birthday, but the other day when we went outside to play in it, he enjoyed Joe chasing him around with the hose much more! :) I will post pictures and videos of him soon!


In conclusion, I will try to keep posting about all of the excitement of our lives! I know I'm leaving things out right now, but hopefully I will catch up one of these days. May God bless you all!!

This is a slideshow I made of Roman's first year! While it is not very professional looking, it is nice to be able to see how much he's changed over the last 12 months. It is pretty long(20 minutes) but if you get the chance I think you'll enjoy it!

Commerical Corruption

So, last night Joe and I were watching a little bit of TV before we went to bed. We have our favorite shows, but other than that, we don't watch it very often at all. Occasionally, however, when we need to wind down a bit, we catch a little bit of Jon and Kate plus 8 on TLC, or some reruns of other favorite shows. :)

We were sitting our couch and enjoying watching the innocence (and chaos) of what it would be like to have 8 children...then comes the commercial break. Now, there are always some commercials that I really enjoy. For example, I always get a good laugh at the Sonic commercials. However, (warning...I feel it deserves an R rating) this commercial for AMP energy drinks made me stare at the TV in stunned silence. I could not believe the casual talk about one night stands that was being aired for all the world to see. It was appalling to say the least. As the commercial ended, I sat, mouth wide open still in disbelief. Joe turned to me and said "I can't believe that just happened".

Seriously...something needs to be done about the disgusting programming that I'm sure many families and children are seeing on a daily basis.