Presleigh Turns 1!!!

It's easy to say "it's hard to believe how fast that went", but it's harder to really imagine it! On this day, one year ago, Presleigh Gabriella Pina was taking her first breaths and glimpses of the "outside world". It was mere hours after Mommy had been induced into labor after a 41 week pregnancy. Wow! This was a long awaited baby!!!

To think that Presleigh has been with us for a whole year is such an amazing concept. But, knowing how great and awesome our God is, it should come as no surprise. He has truly gifted us with a delightful, precocious, and wonderful little girl. Today, she walks, runs, and babbles as an infant months older than her should and we are thrilled with her progress for her. (Someday, she too may be thrilled with it!)

Since Google is forever (or until Jesus returns), Presleigh will likely get to read this when she learns how to read, later when she reaches school age, even later when she's a teenager, and perhaps even someday when she's all grown up. For her very first birthday, what if we all left her a comment - a prayer or wish for her as she grows that she can hold onto long after she's 1 year old and be blessed by all of her days?

Here's mine: may God walk with you and guide you all the days of your life. May He always surprise you by showing you how much He loves you and how perfect His love is compared to our limited understanding of Him and His great love. May you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Mommy and Daddy love you, support you, and desire to guide you toward His perfect plan for your life. I love you, little Presleighgirl. - One Proud Pappa.

Let us all take a moment to thank God for our precious child, His precious child, and His son's finished work on the cross which brings us all into relationship with Him.

in Christ,
The Pina's

P.S. This photo shows Daddy and Presleigh sporting team colors. It's not an advertisement for Seasons of Life Ministries. Rather, I'd like it to turn your attention to Kim Smith from Vintage Onesies, who made us a huge batch of SOLM T-shirts for our first and second quarter donor recognition campaign [Thanks, Kim!!!]. Kim was nice enough to include a Presleigh sized onesie with the T-shirt design on it at no additional charge. Please visit her site for your next baby shower!!!

Worth a Thousand Words...

I know enough about Photoshop to get myself off on a tangent for about three days, if left to myself. Thankfully, I have work and my wife to keep me from falling into the time-vortex of photo-meddling.


Except for today. Today I was able to whip something up pretty quickly that we wanted to share with you... I'm sure Presleigh would say so if she knew more words than "blkl-blkl-baa-baa-mummummumm."


See below for explanation:



All in the same day, we found out this news and that a friend of ours will be leasing us his rental home for less than what we're paying for our apartment. PRAISE GOD!!!

Now, Presleigh will have a back yard to play in, Brianna will have her own domain, and when "Untitled" comes along, they'll have a place, too!!!

All good gifts...

Amen.

Presleigh Goes on a Date...

We've become connoisseurs lately of free concerts. Partly because, well, they're free.

Our new hobby began last week when Mommy and Daddy really needed a date night on which Presleigh could tag along. In checking out the local listings on the web, they found a "concert in the park" was starting in about 30 minutes (that's ten minutes after they discovered they had nothing planned and just enough time to drive across town to). We found ourselves in a local "Old Town" section of the North Atlanta suburb of Norcross, a place where the train still comes rumbling through the now repurposed train depot - a cool restaurant with AWESOME fried grouper and our first foray into fried green tomatoes.

There, we ran into people we hadn't seen, quaint houses with spacious wrap around porches (our fave), plenty of playground and park for Presleigh, and some cute (read: inexpensive) restaurants for Mommy and Daddy to be sickeningly romantic in. As usual, Presleigh made a huge splash with the locals, reaching a speed limit breaking 50 "adorable"s per hour.

Well, this week, with "great" Atlanta weather (read: mid-80s with humidity below 80%), we couldn't pass up continuing our new hobby. Besides, Mom wasn't available to babysit and we didn't have any tickets to the O.A.R. show at Verizon. We found ourselves in the old town section of Duluth, proximal to the same railroad from last week, just a few miles north.

The Gwinnett Symphony played a great show while Presleigh met puppies, little kids her size, and one of those cool, programmable fountains that she discovered to be a fun place to poke her fingers. Since she didn't have a swim diaper on, it was best that the fountain show wasn't playing... There, Presleigh met a nice little boy. No, it wasn't a date. I mean, if it was a date, Daddy chaperoned like a Papa should - a Papa-razzi! I'm not sure who this kid is, but the press wouldn't leave him alone. I wouldn't leave him alone with my Presleigh! Nice enough kid, but I don't know his peeps, you know?

What you miss from this picture (but, was captured below) is that the cute, little boy with her was eating a piece of pizza. When he joined her in exploring the fountain, he decided to put his pizza down behind him, which of course, he promptly picked back up and went to work on when the fountain fun was done...

Yummm... Pepperoni and Park Pizza!?

Ah, we'll give him a pass. Kids will be kids, right? 45 second rule? It was a great night for all, with a yummy dinner for Mommy & Daddy at a local hole-in-the-wall, plenty of fun pictures of Presleigh, and one more notch on the "free concert" belt.

Date night - gotta have it!