iphone update

Here are a few of my favs as of late. Sorry if you follow me on twitter or instagram... you may have seen them already.

The last 11 months

Wow. We can't believe our baby girl is almost a year old. I know it would be pointless to catch you up on what we have been doing since Christmas so I decided to put together a collage of the past 11 months. What a joy it is to be a mother. For those of us who have prayed and prayed to bear children it is an abundant blessing .What a high calling and overwhelming privilege to nurture and nourish a tiny human soul. It doesn't mean that it doesn't come with it's set of  hardships (sleepless nights, sickness, frustration, sacrifice...) but it makes us better...all suffering refines us and sanctifies us. I am definitely not a perfect mother but the past 11 months have made me more like Jesus and for that I am grateful to the Lord. For those of you still praying for children, continue praying. God does not promise that we will all bear children but he does promise to hear us when we pray (psalm 34:17 John 5:14-15) .So do not grow weary in prayer and be lifted by the fact that he is always faithful. I have learned through my journey that God is so good! Even when our prayers are never answered, even when we stare in the face of despair. He is still good and he will meet us in the deepest valleys and comfort us will supernatural comfort in our times of need.
 We love you Elizabeth Mae and give all the glory to the Lord for your life!

Baby's First Christmas

Our little "Ella"phant

We made a brave attempt to take our little "Ella"phant out for her first Halloween. We weren't quite how sure how long she would last but we thought it was worth a shot. She started the night super excited to see her cousins and be with lots of "big" kiddos. We ate pizza, crammed in some cupcakes, and started off. By the third house she was already ready for bed...in these photos she was pretty delirious. Overall it was really fun seeing everyone out in their costumes and spending time with friends and family. Hopefully next year she'll score some candy so Mommy and Daddy can steal a few pieces :)

August Recap

We spent most of August visiting family and friends trying to soak up the last days of summer. Ella has proven to be a good traveler so far and has done her fair share of it in the past three months. The first weekend in August was spent at Lake Martin celebrating Jared Wingfield's 30th birthday with some of Josh's dearest friends from college. It was great getting to catch up, share stories, and cruise on the lake sipping our gourmet coffee. It was also Ella's first introduction to two of the Wingfield boys, Hank and Conrad Hudson, who are both sweet as pie!...for more on the weekend click here and here. On our way back from Lake Martin we made a stop by Auburn to eat at Mama G's and drive by some of Josh's favorite places. The second weekend we spent time at Lake Hartwell with the Bluster family. We had a great time and made some hilarious memories...most of which will never be blogged about . After our fun at the lake Mom, Ella, and I headed to St.Simons while Josh was on business in New York. My cousin just moved into an adorable cottage on the island so we went to visit and help her get settled...my new favorite place is Moo Cow Ice Cream. We ended August by celebrating my sweet Grandmother's birthday in Habersham with the whole Bluster family . It is amazing how fast times goes by when you have a little one...I felt like yesterday we were bringing her home...she is a little slice of heaven

Here are a few pics from August...

* Lastly, this Sunday (Sept. 4th) Josh is preaching while his father is away...we girls are so proud of him :)

If you'd like to watch live or sometime afterwards go to www.apostles.org. The service begins at 10:30 a.m.

baby girl's first time in the lake

Happy birthday Jared!

Ella with Hank and Conrad Hudson

Josh and Ella outside Mama G's

Nene with all her treasures

Any kids dream

Eli having fun on the slide...none of us expected how fast he would fly!

precious one

Ella Mater Tater

Youssef Beach Trip 2011

It has been one busy summer here at the Youssef home and besides changing diapers we have been busy soaking up the summer sun with our little Ella Mae in tow. We were all excited to welcome Josh's sister Sarah, and her boys Aidan and Oliver, in from Kenya to spend a month here in Atlanta. A few days after their arrival we all headed down to St. George Island to vacation for a week. It was a great time catching up and laughing together...since it is rare that we are all together. We also celebrated Joshie's 33rd birthday with a delicious chocolate cake compliments of his sister Tash. Ella enjoyed all of the sweet kisses from her cousins, time with her grandparents, and naps on the beach. We are now in town for a short while before heading to the lake for the next two weekends with family and friends. Hopefully I can be better about taking more pictures...but for now here are a few from this week.















From Left to Right Oliver (3) Bryce (3) Knox (9 months) Ella (2 months) Aidan (5)

oh how we love her