Life is Beautiful

This weekend, Alexa participated in a “Life is Beautiful” photo shoot at Il Dolce (a delicious local gelateria). The owners put it together for an event April 14 to raise awareness for life. It was a before & after shoot in that they ask us to bring our child’s ultrasound pic and then they took a pic of each child devouring his/her gelato. The motto will be something like, “Every child should have the chance to eat gelato.”

So, it might look something like this . . .

Alexa Hope - 28 weeks.
Alexa Hope - 2 years.

Although I do believe the image below looks more like her ultrasound pic – crazy, huh? The only problem is I inadvertently focused on the gelato and not her.

Please join us at Il Dolce on April 14 to celebrate “Life is Beautiful.” You can also enjoy some delish gelato. My personal fave is coconut.

Another event we recently attended was an “Adoption not Abortion” breakfast to raise funds for two adoptive families as well as participate in a picture campaign to promote the Personhood Amendment. This was in reaction to several images posted by anti-personhood supporters stating messages about “choice” and not wanting government to invade their reproductive parts. Here’s our pic . . .


It says, “Don’t tell us our miscarried children aren’t people.” Alexa was sad in the pic.

Here is another video from the event . . .

We Are Not Afraid to Live What We Believe from Adam Oxsen on Vimeo.

MORE WAYS TO GET INVOLVED . . .

-- Support your local pregnancy wellness center – ours is the Eden Clinic. They graciously accept donations and volunteers. I just attended their spring banquet and they ARE making a difference! http://www.edenclinic.tv/

-- We’ll soon be going through our house to pack up goodies to donate to the “Yard Sale to Help Heroic Women” (May 19th at Berry Road Baptist Church). This yard sale gives all of its proceeds to women who choose life for their baby. And yes, the Gospel is shared in love as well. If you want to donate, let me know.

--  PRAY! Some of my friends pray once a week next to the local abortion clinic. Gulp . . . I have honestly avoided this one because it seems so hard to me. I have lost two babies I desperately wanted. It breaks my heart to watch women purposefully walk into a building of death. Not only will a child be murdered but I know the emotional, physical damage the woman will face because of her choice. It will haunt her the rest of her life. So . . . we’ll see if I can get myself together enough to do this. Babysitter, anyone?

-- Adopt . . . We are surrounded by adoptive families and it has changed my life. To see the Gospel lived out through adoption is something to behold and it brings tears to my eyes. It humbles me.

Who knows what the Lord has in store for the Kennedy crew? We simply want to be obedient where God has called us, to be stewards of His grace, to proclaim that life is beautiful – in the womb and out!

Monday pick-me-up

CHOOSING LIFE!

The symbol in the bottom lefthand corner stands for “abolish human abortion.”

Yep . . . we are pretty passionate about life (and the fact life begins at conception). You’ll be hearing lots more from me about it in the days to come because life is valuable. I have been convicted for the last several months I need to be more vocal about my stance. I need to be more literate on the subject so I can share why I believe life begins at conception and why every life is valuable (wanted or not, healthy or with defects). I need to pray more and fight harder. And, I need to share this conviction with the world around me. Why? God creates life. He values life and MILLIONS of lives are being lost every year to a genocide in the womb.
The Psalmist says, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.” Psalm 139:13-16
So, we want to encourage all of our readers to not only choose life but to also fight for life with us. This is a spiritual battle the Enemy is desperately trying to win. His lies are convincing and his deception is thick. As followers of Christ, we must stand for Truth. We must stand up and speak out for life.

I’ve included three ways you can begin making a difference right now. Tomorrow, I’ll include a few ways our family is trying to make a difference in our community. We desire to live out what we believe. Join us!

1. If you’re an Oklahoma voter, sign the Personhood Amendment petition. You can read about and sign it at the link below. We need signatures to get this on the ballot to proclaim that life begins at conception. Spread the news to your friends, family and churches, but most importantly, sign the petition!
http://personhoodoklahoma.com/news/

Josiah is a young man from our church who survived an abortion and advocates for life.

2. Join the Abolitionist Society of Oklahoma or an abolitionist society in your state. The goal of this society is to eradicate abortion by being “salt and light” in our communities – to fight for life and live out the Gospel while doing so. To learn more, you can check them out on Facebook or their blog. http://blog.abolishhumanabortion.com/

3. Support pro-life movies . . . go see “October Baby” this weekend! Other great movies include “Rescued” (check out my post on Feb. 22), “180,” and “Bella.” Here’s the trailer for “October Baby.” http://octoberbabymovie.net/

October Baby trailer

Let’s fight for life together!

Hey world . . . I’m TWO!

Yep – it’s official. Alexa turned two on Tuesday, March 13th at 11:59pm. I celebrated but let our mature two-year-old hoop-n-holla in her dreams. Random but Chris surprised me with a DSLR camera for our anniversary. I already LOVE this camera. I don’t know why we waited so long to get one – oh yeah – it costs money. I’m looking forward to my official tutorial from my ridiculously talented friend (and professional photographer) Shannon. (Please don’t set your expectations too high). Here’s a pictorial rundown of how Alexa celebrated her first day at two.

BREAKFAST WITH MICKEY & “SPRINKLERS”





PLAYDATE WITH EVA (and Liberty)



DADDY TIME


ADVENTURES AT PLAYGROND #2


Two-year-olds jump . . .


and climb . . .


and hang . . .


and hang some more. . .


and descend . . .


and lounge . . .


and eat, “Want some?” . . .


and explore.

BATH TIME & ALEXA EXPRESSIONS
--oops, some are with a flash and some aren’t (pardon the amateurs . . . we’re learning)








. . . and that’s a wrap!

Happy 2nd Birthday Sweetie!

The Lord knew our daughter before the creation of time but it was only two short years ago we were introduced to her sweet face and beautiful spirit. It was a life-changing moment, and we’ll cherish it always. 




Fast forward two years and here we are. I know we’ve only begun to lament how time flies. Whoosh! It really does, doesn’t it!? But no sadness today – this was a celebration. A celebration of life, of growth, of hope – Miss Alexa Hope. We thank God for the joy, the laughter and the indelible moments we’ve shared with our undeserved gift from the Father. Shine, sweetie, shine! That is, after all, what you’ve been doing in our lives, and many others, the past 24 months. As my dear friend, Brooke, said about being a mother, “It’s been the best two years of my life.” I couldn’t agree with her more. Thank for you for this privilege Father. We are rich indeed!!

This post is all about Alexa’s 2nd birthday party (which took place on Sunday, March 11th). I’ll follow up with some fun “the actual day” birthday pics in a later post. I was overwhelmed by the amount of pics (which means someone who isn’t Alexa’s mommy would definitely feel overwhelmed). Enjoy the party! We sure did.

THE DETAILS

It all starts with an invite. This one invited guests to “pop on over” for a birthday party.


I created bookmarks to include with the invitation asking Alexa’s immediate family to pray for her in this 2nd year of life. I asked them to pray for Alexa’s salvation and for her eagerness to learn about and follow Jesus. Finally, I asked them to pray for a specific Fruit of the Spirit to be manifested in her life. For example, this bookmark is for “self control.”  At the bottom, I included Romans 15:13 which is Alexa’s life verse. We also invite you to join us in praying these over our daughter and your children.


A festive “Waldo” and treat bags for our guests.


I wanted to make a banner for Lil’ A last year but ran out of time. Without a Cricut, it took a bit more time than I anticipated, but I loved putting it together.


It says, “Alexa’s 2!” Thank goodness we didn’t name her Alexandria!


Alexa’s life verse – “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 15:13

THE FOOD

Every little girl needs a pink cupcake to celebrate #2. Thank you Gigi’s Cupcakes!


. . . and every guest needs a slice of cookie cake to help Alexa celebrate!


I heard if you add sprinkles to anything, it makes it taste better. Yummmm . . .

THE BIRTHDAY SONG
Alexa woke up singing, “Happy Birthday to me!” on Sunday morning. This was unprovoked but she had been told we were celebrating her birthday the night before. Here was her reaction “real time.”






THE GUESTS


Ama & Opa (Chris’s parents) joined us for the celebration via Skype.


My parents – Pop & Mimi.


Our precious three musketeers – Layton, Rylen & Alexa.


Aunt Hol & Uncle Mark (Hol, so sorry you got whopped in the head by Lil’ A!)

THE GIFTS


Alexa received a “Huggums” doll by Madame Alexander. Thank you sis! My mom, my sis, my niece and I all had the same doll growing up. It’s a family tradition. She loves feeding her in her highchair. We’ll need to get a stroller for walks. 


Alexa’s showing Ama and Opa via Skype the glammed out sunglasses she received from “Aunt Brooke.” She asks to wear them anytime we go outside. Our little rockstar.


Give Alexa a card that plays music and open the door to endless delight. The precious tee Alexa is wearing is courtesy of my very talented friend, Martisha.


The birthday dress from Mimi & Pop.


I don’t know why we bothered with a party. All we needed was balloons!


Tickle time with Pop is a pretty great gift too. We love to hear those giggles.


My greatest gift? Those brown eyes, those chubby cheeks . . . yep, I’m holding her!