A Mother's Love

A mother's love is something that I couldn't understand until 10 days ago when I had my first child, and I'm sure I will spend the next twenty years trying to explain it. I look at him and I feel like I can connect with all the other mothers out there. I have been thrown head first into this crazy yet so rewarding time in my life, and as everyone told me when I was pregnant, life will never be the same again. Praise God for that, because with this new life has come so many blessings. Joey and I have grown even closer together through this experience.  The way he is as a father just blows me away. I knew he would be good, but wow, it is truly special to watch.  We have for sure grown closer to the One who gave us this amazing blessing.  Everyday, God has equipped us for everything that we have needed to care for and love baby Jackson.  We have had to rely on Him through the times of struggle, especially during the labor and trust that He knows what is best for him.  We just are cherishing every minute we are given with this little guy.  Thanks again for everyone's prayers, food, cards, flowers, gifts, and love during this amazing time in our lives. I would also like to send a special shout out to my mother. I had the honor of having the best mother in the world teach me for the first week how to mother my own child. I can not tell you what a blessing it was to learn from her.  Not only did she teach, but she cared for Joey and I, she stayed up all night so we could sleep, she helped me feed him, she cleaned our house, cooked food, grocery shopped, made christmas dinner, did laundry, kept me laughing when I thought I might break down, encouraged me,  and just did it all with so much grace. If you know my mother you know she would never admit that she is wonderful because she is too humble for that, but as her daughter, and I speak for her other daughter as well, she is.  She is the most giving person I have ever met and the most thoughtful as well.  She would give away her last dime if we would let her and she would do it without ever expecting anything in return. That is what she does, that is who she is.  She gives simply to give.  She has a servant's heart, and Joey, Jackson and I were so blessed by it this past week. Thank you mom for being that kind of mother who is so thoughtful and giving and I pray that that which you have lived out for all these years, Jackson might one day see in me. I love you mom. 

P.s.  Check out another slideshow of Jackson. It is on the right titled "Baby's Bath".  Hope you enjoy!

Mr. Personality

Wow, Baby Jackson has so much personality already. He is officially one week old and is so much fun to watch!  He makes the funniest faces and is constantly making us laugh.  I have even gotten my camera out at 4:30 in the morning to snap some pictures of some faces I couldn't resist. I wanted to share some with you and have a link on the right of my blog that will take you directly to a slideshow of him. Hope you enjoy!

We are truly blessed by this little boy.  We are so happy to have him home and healthy.  We are just trying to take it all in. We don't want to miss anything.   No need to say that we are not getting a whole lot of sleep, but he is sleeping great so that is all that matters.  Joey has found one of his favorite things to do. This is a picture of the morning ritual with father and son.


We have had to take him up to the hospital everyday this week for a shot of antibiotics because he had a slight infection at birth, and we decided that his christmas outfit would be perfect for yesterday's visit. Look at those sweet cheeks!

  "Nan", Joey's mother graciously showed us how to give him a sponge bath.  He did great.
This is a picture of what he looks like most of the time, because luckily he is a great sleeper! Can you believe those cheeks?!
We are truly so blessed. God shows us everyday what an amazing blessing Jackson is and humbles us with how we must rely on Him for the smallest details.  Thank you guys for your continued prayers.  We will keep you posted.

Jackson Philip Kraus

Our beautiful, healthy baby boy: Jackson Philip Kraus!!! He was born on Sunday, December 16 (Joey's Birthday) at 11:39 p.m., weighing 7 pounds 3 ounces at 20 3/4 inches long.

Here are a few pictures of our son. We will post more soon. 

I'm obsessed!!!!

Ok..I know must of you know I'm crazy, but I have become utterly obsessed with digital photoshop elements. I am trying to learn all I can before the little guy gets here in TWO DAYS! I can't wait to capture all the fun and crazy memories, so I am learning as much as possible now. I have been taking photos I have and transforming them in different ways and just playing. Here are a few of the things I have been up to. I have had quite alot of time of my hands since I didn't work this week. Check it out! If you click on the pic it will enlarge to see some details

This pic of Joey and Johnny is one of my favorites. I think the photo is hilarious. I played with the saturation and focus of this picture and I think it came out fun!


This one of my adorable nephew is an example of what a layout would be for like a scrapbook. I played with frames, embelishments, and texture. I cropped him out of the photo to put him in a simple white background.

This one of Julie and Tatum is again just an example of a layout using frames and embelishments. I really played with the colors of the pictures and then cut them out of their blah backgrounds.

I love Photoshop!!!! I can't wait to really get good at this stuff. I also can't wait to play with my new digital camera. I hopefully will have more things to post soon. Whoo hoo...I found a creative outlet! And I need a special thanks to Donna Freeman, my great friend who got me books to teach me these crazy effects.

Christmas Fun!

Tis the season! We had a great time hanging out with friends this past wednesday. We had an early christmas party and ate great food and had an awesome time just hanging out. We had a little friendly game of Pop Culture DVD, of course guys vs. girls and unfortunately the girls didn't win. Now, I think the boys got all the easier questions, but thats just my opinion. Hope you enjoy some of the pics from that night.






How cute is Tatum.....I think she has a crush on Joey