tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39814506753579563212011-11-21T16:59:19.883-05:00A suitcase always packed, a camera always on, a Bible always open, and our hearts always turning to God and each other.Jonathan, Charisma, and our little miracle Judah Emmaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15277742961784121081noreply@blogger.comBlogger161100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3981450675357956321.post-86577503127186521692011-11-21T16:56:00.002-05:002011-11-21T16:59:19.892-05:00

have you discovered the vision forum yet? I feel like a kid in the candy store whenever I go to their website or get their free catalog in the mail! so many awesome resources! from family friendly audio and video, inspiring Christian books and curriculum, and awesome toys, too! we've especially enjoyed the Amazon DVD's and audio books and teaching CD's.

Jonathan, Charisma, and our little miracle Judah Emmaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15277742961784121081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3981450675357956321.post-15053155098990897802011-07-13T13:44:00.006-04:002011-07-13T20:39:11.455-04:00

I love books. Growing up, we went to the library every two weeks and brought a milk crate to fill up. I loved to read! I hope to instill a love of reading in our children, too. And already have accumulated quite a collection for Judah. In fact, it's probably a borderline hoard of books. I suppose if you're going to have an addiction/hoarding problem, children's books are lower on the scale than

Jonathan, Charisma, and our little miracle Judah Emmaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15277742961784121081noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3981450675357956321.post-47743425745549030122011-05-16T14:51:00.008-04:002011-05-16T15:58:14.328-04:00

I wrote about the topic of birth control back in November, simply to share what issues we had been facing as a couple over the past several years, and the conclusions we had come to (and the questions that still remained). I never dreamed that I would get the responses I did, even months after I posted it. I can only give credit to God for the aftermath of that blog post, because I honestly

Jonathan, Charisma, and our little miracle Judah Emmaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15277742961784121081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3981450675357956321.post-15833884158862319412011-03-10T23:28:00.003-05:002011-03-11T00:15:39.724-05:00

This is something I've thought a lot about since October, when Judah was born.I was looking at pictures of Megan Hutching's birthing experience (beautifully done by Kali Park, by the way. And congrats to the Hutchings on Eric's arrival!). And I know this sounds weird, but seeing those intimate and beautiful moments of labor and delivery makes me feel like I missed out on something amazing with my

Jonathan, Charisma, and our little miracle Judah Emmaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15277742961784121081noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3981450675357956321.post-56221037143399779402011-03-03T07:47:00.011-05:002011-03-03T08:58:19.222-05:00

So I abandoned yet another blog for months at a time. Here's to hoping I get back into the swing of things and post more often in the future ;)As you can imagine, most of our life has revolved around Judah's progress, and the transition into life as a family. Quick recap of the last 3 months:DECEMBERMid-December, Judah had a major growth spurt! He reached 6lbs by Christmas: what a wonderful gift

Jonathan, Charisma, and our little miracle Judah Emmaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15277742961784121081noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3981450675357956321.post-13750803417632436852010-12-09T13:36:00.003-05:002010-12-09T14:40:34.363-05:00

I should be making Christmas cookies right now. That was on *my* agenda today, at least. But I think the Lord had other things in mind for a little while.You know how easy it is to look at one website, that's linked to another article, that links to a blog post and then a video and before you know it you've been sitting in front of the computer for over an hour? That happens to me often, but in

Jonathan, Charisma, and our little miracle Judah Emmaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15277742961784121081noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3981450675357956321.post-49878005933055740682010-12-06T01:35:00.006-05:002010-12-06T02:10:54.452-05:00

There are things I never noticed before becoming a mother. Things that have made me say, "ah, now I understand/know why", and things that have made me say, "I never thought I'd be doing this" or "I just sounded like my mom". These are a few of those things:1. Looking for sanitary wipes for your shopping cart2. Worrying about loud music or what's on the television with children in the room3.

Jonathan, Charisma, and our little miracle Judah Emmaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15277742961784121081noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3981450675357956321.post-54022095875861404412010-11-21T15:16:00.002-05:002010-11-21T16:17:24.318-05:00

"Careerism--centering life around work, not home--is one of the main reasons men and women view pregnancy as a threat and rely on contraception to prevent it. Christians should have an entirely different view of life's purpose than the surrounding culture. Ours is a life of sacrifice, to be molded after Christ's. Both husbands and wives are called to sacrifice their immediate sexual desires for

Jonathan, Charisma, and our little miracle Judah Emmaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15277742961784121081noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3981450675357956321.post-46461595131468429102010-10-25T20:35:00.004-04:002010-10-25T21:26:44.950-04:00

It's amazing how my thoughts can be completely consumed by my son in one form or another. Everything seems to relate to him somehow. How can a tiny 1lb 11oz being capture my heart so completely?Observations of preemiehood1. The NICU is a very intimidating place, but we've learned that as long as the nurses are calm, we can be calm. All the staff at UVA has been wonderful, patient, kind, and

Jonathan, Charisma, and our little miracle Judah Emmaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15277742961784121081noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3981450675357956321.post-73334638471521435552010-10-12T21:43:00.009-04:002010-10-13T00:39:21.535-04:00

October 8th, 2010 was surrounded with a flurry of miracles, blessings, joys, fear, and loss. Not only did we gain a son unexpectedly early, but we've also had several friends and family celebrating new babies and new pregnancies as well as experienced injuries, and even loss of loved ones-- all in one day.This is our story of how our son, Judah Emmaus Tack, came to be a part of our family

Jonathan, Charisma, and our little miracle Judah Emmaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15277742961784121081noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3981450675357956321.post-85233458900193239182010-09-27T17:18:00.004-04:002010-09-29T13:13:04.445-04:00

For those who may not know, as of September 9th, I've been ordered on bedrest due to an 'incompetent cervix' - meaning I'm (stable, thankfully) at 1cm dilated and 80% effaced.Our baby (BOY!!) is perfectly healthy and growing, and nothing has changed in the last 2 1/2 weeks since then.When this issue was originally discovered during my ultrasound, I was 22 weeks along. We were given the "worst

Jonathan, Charisma, and our little miracle Judah Emmaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15277742961784121081noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3981450675357956321.post-74138236766335112282010-08-13T15:27:00.005-04:002010-08-13T16:03:37.257-04:00

I sit here in tears as I come to the realization that sometimes it is the things that matter most in this world that require the most from us.Just as, spiritually, we must fight to maintain our faith and integrity... and just as, relationally, we often need to fight for our friends, our family, and our marriages... though it is extremely difficult at times, and we feel defeated, deflated, and

Jonathan, Charisma, and our little miracle Judah Emmaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15277742961784121081noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3981450675357956321.post-91161429391704493402010-08-12T13:36:00.004-04:002010-08-12T13:55:06.573-04:00

Second trimester is here at last, and, at least for today, I can now say that I might start believing those of you who have been suggesting that these next few months are the best season of pregnancy. Let's hope today stays for a while.Just a few weeks ago I was still cursing the world for turning me into something that resembled a slug... and I certainly couldn't see the light at the end of the

Jonathan, Charisma, and our little miracle Judah Emmaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15277742961784121081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3981450675357956321.post-17669890686765712452010-08-10T22:32:00.002-04:002010-08-10T23:00:31.159-04:00

This will be short. I just wanted to make an appearance here to start up some writing inertia. A year has gone by since my last blog entry, and just as much time has elapsed since i've written a respectable letter to anyone outside my wife. Writing is not an abandoned art for me, for i still write by hand in my journal often.So here i am, composing words which i now can expect for my own children

Jonathan, Charisma, and our little miracle Judah Emmaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15277742961784121081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3981450675357956321.post-62126635869647247882010-07-19T20:47:00.002-04:002010-07-19T21:19:31.035-04:00

This is obviously my first pregnancy. No one can prepare you completely for all the changes that begin to happen in your body. You can read all you want, get all the advice that you want. It's totally different when it's YOUR body. I am sure the next 6 months I'll have plenty more to say on this, but here are some things I've observed in the past 3 months.But, first, go to these blog posts: this

Jonathan, Charisma, and our little miracle Judah Emmaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15277742961784121081noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3981450675357956321.post-66077006190021664952010-07-19T10:35:00.007-04:002010-07-19T11:14:20.699-04:00

As most of you are aware by now, we are expecting our first child! As of today, we are 14 weeks (see pic on right) along in the journey: baby Tack is now the size of a lemon :)The reason we waited 'til now to share the news was because originally we had planned to announce it in person to our parents... but due to several reasons, those plans fell through. So we did it the old-fashioned way: 3-

Jonathan, Charisma, and our little miracle Judah Emmaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15277742961784121081noreply@blogger.com1