The Dyrud's Great Adventure

Justice is 6 months old today! He is learning to sit by himself and he has his two bottom teeth in. He is becoming very aware of the world around him and loves to smile and laugh at people. He also loves to put things into his mouth. We are in Santa Ana again this weekend with more speaking engagements and friends to re-connect with. Hopefully, Rodney and I are going to spend the day at the beach today :)

Here is a video of Justice enjoying his high chair at the MAF appartments in Nampa, Idaho. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzhudfukeIw These next two weeks we are in Ministry Partnership where we are learning how to build our MAF ministry team. Today we began writing out our presentations that we will share with everyone.

I (Rodney) just wanted to share this with you. Tammi is tickling Justice. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EB6YzhoblU

Justice is having a great time smiling at everyone and everything. The hard part is for me (Tammi) to try and catch it on camera. Justice is talking (cooing) and becoming more aware of the world around him. We have an eagle picture hanging above our couch and he loves to look up and smile at it. Rodney and I are keeping busy with mission's work for Mission Aviation Fellowship and Shadow Mountain. We have a deadline of December 1st to have all of our paperwork completed, so life is a bit busier than usual as we try to get all of these things done and make time to spend with Justice and each other. But something tells me that our lives will only get busier in January, so this is a nice way to ease into it. Have a super weekend!

I like to watch babies as they sleep; they are so peaceful without a care in the world. Justice doesn't know that Barak Obama is the President-elect and that California passed a ban on gay marriage. He wants to be fed and cuddled and have his diaper changed. But we all did at one point :) I am enjoying these days because I know they will go quickly; before I know it he'll be in school and then he'll bring home his first girlfriend. I love my little buddy!

Justice had a great time on his first Halloween; he slept through most of it! We went to a carnival at Sonrise Community Church in Santee with my parents, grandparents, sister and brother-in-law and niece, Emily. Justice was a cute pumpkin, complete with light-up socks :) Rodney and I are enjoying being parents and we know that these days will go by so fast. Now, it's November and we have Thanksgiving to look forward to.

Well, Justice is one month old today; how time flies! He is very alert and is starting to hold his head up when you hold him. He enjoys looking around and exploring his new world. We are so grateful that everything is going well and we hope that he will start to sleep through the night at some point :) I (Tammi) love being a stay-at-home mommy; I appreciate that Rodney is willing to work hard and support our family so that I can stay home. I realize that some people are not able to do this and I feel very blessed.

We are enjoying being parents, although we are quite tired at times. Justice is going through a growth spurt so he is eating a lot. His sleeping schedule varies, so I (Tammi) am trying to nap during the day when he naps so that I can feed him every few hours at night. We are so grateful that God has blessed us with a healthy boy; thanks for your continued support and encouragement!

Sometimes it feels like the weeks have gone fast since we got home from the hospital. Justice will be two weeks old on Sunday and he is already growing and changing so much. To me, he doesn't look like a newborn any more, he just looks like a baby. He seems so big in his bassinet; I wonder how long it will be before he moves into a crib. I am staying busy being at home with Justice and trying to keep up with all of our mission's paperwork and Bible Studies that need to be completed before we go back to Idaho in January. Rodney (Shannon's husband) arrived home yesterday after a nine month deployment with the Navy; it was his first time to see Emily and I'm sure they are enjoying being together as a family again. I can't believe it's already October; time flies when you're having fun!

Tammi Lynne and Rodney Kent Dyrud had a baby boy last night Sun Sept 28,2008 at 11:46pm. His name is Justice Kent Dyrud; he is 8 lbs, 20 1/2 inches long and so far the health baby we (Tammi and I) have been praying for. Thank you for all of your prayers. Here is one of his first pictures. I am currently working on getting a video posted.

Hello everyone. We are officially one week away from Baby's due date :) Rodney and I have spent the last several weekends cleaning and re-organizing the apartment to make room for all of Baby's things.... pretty amazing how much stuff comes when a baby is due! We are excited to meet our child and feel blessed that God has given us this little miracle. As always, Rodney and I appreciate your prayers; we look forward to sharing and celebrating with you once Baby arrives! I wanted to share a story about Rodney and the Baby. Last night, Rodney was singing to my tummy and all of a sudden, the Baby moved from one side of my stomach to the other in order to be closer to where Rodney was singing :) I'm glad that the Baby knows Rodney's voice and that they've started bonding even before Baby is born.

Well, I am 37 weeks pregnant and we are getting super excited about meeting our baby in a few short weeks! My friend Alexis threw me a wonderful shower last weekend and I received so many nice gifts. Rodney and I are spending the weekends resting and getting the apartment ready for baby's arrival (hence the picture of the socks drying). We feel honored that God has entrusted this little life to us and we pray that we will raise this child to serve the Lord with his or her life. Thanks for keeping up with us :)