Zoe Harper: Full of Life

On Sunday, we celebrated our sweet, baby girl, Zoe Harper.

It was a beautiful day full of love, family, friends, and God.

When I started dating Lance...oh about 10 years ago (wow! has it been that long?), he told me that he wanted a little girl and he wanted to name her Zoe. At that time, I had never heard the name before, but thought it was sweet he already had his daughter's name picked out. He told me this cute story of a little girl he had met named Zoe. He said she was the cutest little girl he had ever seen and he told himself if he had a girl, he would name her Zoe. 

Well, the story was always in the back of our minds, but we had two boys. After unbelievable horrific pregnancies with both, we weren't planning on having anymore kids. Lance and I would often talk about maybe one day we would adopt a girl and name her Zoe.

When we chose the names Jude and Caleb, we chose them for a number of reasons. But, we loved the fact that both names were biblical. One day we were in church and our pastor started talking about Zoe in the Bible. At first my thoughts were...I don't remember anyone in the Bible named Zoe. Come to discover, Zoe wasn't a name at all. It was the greek word for life or full life. And, this type of life is the life Jesus gave us after He died on the cross and rose again. 

Definition

life the state of one who is possessed of vitality or is animate every living soul life of the absolute fulness of life, both essential and ethical, which belongs to God, and through him both to the hypostatic "logos" and to Christ in whom the "logos" put on human nature life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed, in the portion even in this world of those who put their trust in Christ, but after the resurrection to be consummated by new accessions (among them a more perfect body), and to last for ever.

http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/zoe.html

My favorite part of that definition is "the absolute fullness of life". I don't believe it was by chance Lance knew if he had a daughter, he would name her, Zoe. Her name was chosen by God, and given to Lance years before she was ever conceived. How awesome is that?

Well, God let us know we weren't done having children when I became pregnant for the third time. When we found out it was a girl, we thought of a few names, but none of them were right. We knew she was meant to be a Zoe. God gave us this beautiful gift of another life to care for. We know children are a blessing from the Lord and we are grateful He entrusted 3 beautiful lives to us. It is a huge responsibility. By dedicating Zoe, we are telling God that she is not ours, but His. We know we could not raise her by our own strength, but we need Him in every aspect of her life. We made a promise to God that He will be first in her life. We will follow His commands for her, and guide her in His truth. We surrender her life to Him. How amazing is that? I could not think of anyone more capable to put our trust in than Christ himself.

Zoe with her godparents, Jason & Jenny

Zoe's Outfit Details: headband / bracelets / dress / shoes

Let's Play Ball!

I remember, as a little kid, always wanting to have boys when I grew up. I think growing up with a brother and 3 boy cousins, who lived with us, I thought boys were so much fun...and they are.
I could not wait until the boys started sports, and here we are. Jude and Cake (Caleb) started playing baseball this season.
I originally signed them up thinking they would be on the same team. I knew with a new baby in tow, going to multiple games and practices was out of the question. Well when I went to sign them up, I discovered they were on different teams. Caleb was T-ball age and Jude was moved up to AA. Ugh! It was not what I was expecting, but I couldn't turn away now. The boys were too excited to start playing baseball (Although, they had no idea what baseball was).
So, here we are in the thick of baseball season. It is a HUGE commitment...and I don't know what we are going to do when the boys start playing multiple sports. And, add Zoe in there...maybe she will be in dance or play a sport. I don't know what Lance and I are going to do.
For now, it is more than we expected, but not too bad.
They have games Tuesday, Thursdays and Saturdays and practices one day a week. Add swim classes on Monday, and, yes, Lance and I are exhausted.
I can't even tell you the last time I mopped my floors. Maybe when Zoe starts crawling, I will get around to it. haha...

Watching the boys play is the highlight of my week. They are so cute and have so much fun playing...I can't get enough. They are really serious too. When I want to take their picture, they give me the..."I'm here to win" game face. I have no idea where these kids get their personalities from, but they're hysterical.