Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
May and June photos
Sorry for not posting. Raising a boy is very time consuming! Here are some photos. These are from June, so he's 3 months old in these.
That's my boy! He's stretching... just like mom and dad love to do. This is at Alex's highschool graduation.
Here's Elijah and Mom. Note he has Dad's hairline. :)And that's it for now.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Life's Firsts
Here is mom back in the kitchen.... just kidding... no seriously ;)
This is our first night out to dinner with Elijah. He was amazing! He slept the entire 40 minute drive to San Luis, and then shopping, dinner, and more shopping. We woke him up to feed him because we figured he'd wake up on the way home. Next time we'll wait for him. He probably would have made it the whole way!
So cute!
Our first "hike" to a swimming hole about 25 minutes north of Cambria.And lastly, may we present to you elimination communication success! If you haven't heard of this before, this may sound crazy. Basically, every time Elijah pees or poos, we make a pssss pssss sound. Then this last week, his third week out of the womb, we started taking him the the sink after he'd go and would make the psss psss psss sound to help him associate peeing and pooping with the sink. Check out this footage we took today to see how it works. He's exactly three weeks old today! Video may...... okay.... does contain nudity!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Elijah videos. 1 week old.
Look at this milk junkie. Click on photo to see a video of him before this video was taken.
Here's another. Click photo to see video.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Hurd Family Video
I still haven't figure out how to post videos on the blog itself, but here's one I made today.
Where Elijah was born
Hi all,
We finally got DSL hooked up here at Hurd's Castle. It's located about 100 yards from the Pacific Coast here in our new home town of Cambria.
This is where Elijah was born.
Here is the view from the back deck. Amazing. We decided to stay for the entire month that we have off from the motel. Why would we leave this place?!? Thanks Dad for being so generous and letting us use your beach house! Better your grandson was born in your house that in a dinky little motel apartment right? :)
Smiles are hard to catch on camera, but here is the best we have so far.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Elijah Bravery Hurd
Beloved,
Sorry it has taken as long as it has to post photos of Elijah. I am "borrowing" internet from neighbors using unsecured networks, and for whatever reason, it does not work during the day. I think maybe the heat or the sun rays block it somehow. Anyway, here he is!
This is Nadia, our very committed doula. She was an angel! A gift from God to us. She was there through the entire night... except when she left to get dinner at a friends and got bitten in the face by a chihuahua. She went to the hospital, got stitches, and came back to help us.
Sorry it has taken as long as it has to post photos of Elijah. I am "borrowing" internet from neighbors using unsecured networks, and for whatever reason, it does not work during the day. I think maybe the heat or the sun rays block it somehow. Anyway, here he is!
First time holding Elijah Bravery Hurd.
9 lbs! 23 inches long, 14.5" head, 14.5" chest.
That's Mary, our incredible, wonderful, talented, gifted, marvelous mid-wife.
That's Mary, our incredible, wonderful, talented, gifted, marvelous mid-wife.
That's my bicep, not a boob. :)
From the first time I held him, he is always so calm. Love it!
This is Nadia, our very committed doula. She was an angel! A gift from God to us. She was there through the entire night... except when she left to get dinner at a friends and got bitten in the face by a chihuahua. She went to the hospital, got stitches, and came back to help us.
Birth story to come shortly.
You'll Know When You Hug Her
Beloved, I know you are all anxious to see photos of Elijah. However, before I show you the first fruits in my life and Robin’s life, I want you to know a bit more about the foundation… the soil and the seed if you will. I encourage you to find a bit of stillness in your heart, calm your mind, and open your spirit to receive from the Lord. I’m confident He will speak to you through these words. And when you see the beautiful fruit to come, the joy will overwhelm your heart.
-Keegan
YOU’LL KNOW WHEN YOU HUG HER
“You’ll know when you hug her.” Said the Lord. “What?!?” I thought. “You’ll know when you hug her.” This is what the Lord said to me when I told Him I wanted Him to choose a wife for me. I asked Him to choose, but tell me how I would know. This was February of 2005. I know that words from the Lord are subjective, many Christians today are even quite skeptical that our Lord Jesus still speaks to us outside the Holy Scriptures, so when I heard this immediately in response to my question, I wondered if it was really the Lord who spoke to me that night alone in my car.
Two and a half years later, on my birthday no less, I went out to dinner with Robin. I had invited a few other people to come, but no one was able to show but Robin. A “setup” no doubt by my loving Father. For those of you who don’t know our history, we had lived in the Del Playa Ministry house, or the “DP houses” for two years, girls upstairs, guys downstairs, being a light in the darkness to the people in Isla Vista CA, just outside Santa Barbara. The second year in the houses, I was in a motorcycle collision where I crashed into a 19 y/o girl’s car when she made an abrupt, illegal u-turn in front of me while riding to work at 3pm on Monday, March 19th, 2007. I was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance, and when asked who I’d like them to inform I’d survived, this revelation came to me that Robin was the most important person in my life. Upon facing death, Robin was the only one I cared to see while recovering after nearly leaving this earth. “Robin” I thought. “She’s the only one I want to see.”
[Important note to remember: I stopped hugging Robin shortly after my accident. She always started a hug with a “double pat”…. you know…. when someone wants to end the hug. I didn’t want her to feel obligated to hug me, so I decided I’d let her hug me. We didn’t hug for a very, very long time. :) ]
Within a few months, I told her that I was in love with her and that my heart was hers, that I did not expect her to return the feelings, but nonetheless I was hers. “Thanks.” she replied, “That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.” This was something like in a movie when a guy spills out his heart and the girl kinda shrugs and says…..”Thanks.” Fortunately I wasn’t expecting her to jump into my arms. :). Then a few weeks later she never wanted me to talk to her again. With tears running down my face I responded, “I do love you, but I will leave you alone.” I cried for days, left town and went to visit my wonderful mother in the desert. I think part of the little boy in me wanted to lay my head on my mother’s breast and cry, feeling so heart-broken. However, after returning home to Isla Vista, Robin agreed that she was willing to remain friends with me. We hung out a few times after that, but most of the summer passed and we didn’t see each other. If I thought she wouldn’t think I was pursuing her, I’d have called her every day. But I agreed to be her friend, not her pursuer, so I didn’t call much.
Going back to my birthday, September 12th, 2007, Robin and I were at dinner alone, and I felt like I was meeting Robin for the first time. She was so beautiful. I remember feeling so much love and joy in my heart, I thought “I’m screwed. I am so in love with this girl. How am I going to go on being ‘friends’ with her?” After dinner we went for a walk, and while walking toward my car, I got this incredible unction to embrace her. I grabbed her as we walked and pulled her close. She hugged me back for the first time ever. I cannot express in words how powerful this moment was! So overwhelming, as if the floor of Heaven broke open and pored some love straight into my heart. I went home and as I walked back out to my car to grab a few things, “You’ll know when you hug her.” said the Lord. Whoa. I hadn’t even thought of that since He’d said just over 2½ years ago.
A few days later, I told her about it all, intending to tell her that I either needed to move forward toward marriage, or that I could not handle being just friends and I couldn’t see her anymore. She responded calmly with, “The Lord told me last summer (15 months prior) that you were gonna be my husband.” Robin was simply waiting for God to open her heart, and He had that summer while we didn’t see each other.
That day, Robin and I began a dating relationship, knowing that we’d one day marry. It felt awkwardly like it was arranged by our parents, like it used to be done throughout much of history. Four months into dating, my heart wanted out. We had stepped on each others’ pain that we’d each experienced throughout our respective lives, and we both were hurting so much. Neither one of us knew what to do, even though we both knew we would marry one day. After about two weeks of space, we started meeting with our beloved friend Joseph Dalton. Joseph had recently completed “Healing for the Heart” training and had met with a few of our friends, who had had beautiful fruit come from meeting with him. Healing for the Heart ministry is a biblical approach to healing and an alternative to traditional counseling methods. After over 30 hours spent with Joseph and Jesus working together, Robin and I both felt like our hearts were reborn…. or perhaps born into the Kingdom for the first time. Almost as if our Christian lives until then had been like being in the mother’s womb, growing and waiting for the day to be born.
Matthew 18:2-4 “Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.’”
The Father’s heart for Robin and I was revealed so intimately and so powerfully through our time with Joseph. (What a wonderful shepherd you are Joseph Dalton! Praise God for you! If anyone needs marriage counseling in Santa Barbara area, call Joseph!) Joseph helped teach us that if we simply opened our heart toward one another (and anyone for that matter), that Jesus would be faithful to meet us in that place and that the living rivers of water would flow through our heart to the other person. We never had to worry about “having enough” to give. (Matt 5:3 “ Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”) Even if we felt like we had nothing to give, just by making our heart vulnerable and open, willing to love, God would love with His perfect Agape love through our heart and the Kingdom of Heaven would go forth.
Robin and I began to say “no” to worry, and stopped trying to figure everything out and control things in our lives. We began to allow God’s Agape love to flow through us toward one another.
Psalm 37:3-5 “Trust in the LORD, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Delight yourself also in the LORD,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.”
We began to trust God, delight in Him, and to feed on His faithfulness. Robin and I loved one another very much, and were continually learning how to act out this love. Toward the end of April, 2008, while driving to Robin’s one day, the Lord said “You’ll have a son by this time next year.” Hmm. “Alright.” I thought. (I was definitely learning to recognize His still small voice.) I didn’t tell Robin right away, because we had yet to make any definite plans to marry. However, within a few days, Robin received a phone call from Liza, who had thought of her when she found out her friends David and Sharla were buying one of the oldest Cambria motels, and needed live-in managers. At the time, we did not know why, but we both instantly thought, “Yes! That’s exactly what my heart wants.” We interviewed a few weeks later, and after interviewing on a Sunday, I said to Robin “We’re going to find out by this Wednesday that we got it.” Sure enough, on Wednesday, Sharla called and informed us that we were chosen!
Wow. We were getting married within a month! Fortunately, Robin and I had decided we wanted to get married privately, and have a reception later, because one month to plan would have been tough! :) God worked out everything so perfectly for our wedding, and we ended up getting married in perhaps the most beautiful garden in Santa Barbara, on an avocado ranch, overlooking the ocean and the Channel Islands.
Our wedding was really something out of a dream. Ephesians 3:20-21 “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” It really did exceed what we could have asked. We didn’t even know where we would marry just seven days prior. However, we chose to trust God that He would provide the perfect place. One week prior, we went driving, drove across a bridge, passed a no trespassing sign, and asked a perfect stranger who managed the ranch if we could get married there at sunrise seven days later. “Sure.” He said lightly. “Why not?”
Robin and I married on June 23rd, 2008, and honeymooned in Napa Valley and in Tahoe, and then returned to our new home in Cambria July 1st.
By the second week in July, Robin had missed her period by just one day. Day 29 and she knew she was pregnant. She said she’d always been 25-28 days, and that this had never happened before. I was immediately delighted and overjoyed! Robin was a bit shocked and not so happy. We had decided to trust God with pregnancy and children (although I wonder what we’ll be saying after 10 kids! ;) Robin said “You said the Lord said a year from now!” I replied. “Honey, the Lord said ‘You’ll have a son by this time next year.’ Our son could be three months old…. that would still fulfill His word.” Robin just cried :) The next day though, she had fully embraced being pregnant and was so happy.
Shortly, I will post our birth story, and of course include photos of our son, Elijah Bravery Hurd.
-Keegan
YOU’LL KNOW WHEN YOU HUG HER
“You’ll know when you hug her.” Said the Lord. “What?!?” I thought. “You’ll know when you hug her.” This is what the Lord said to me when I told Him I wanted Him to choose a wife for me. I asked Him to choose, but tell me how I would know. This was February of 2005. I know that words from the Lord are subjective, many Christians today are even quite skeptical that our Lord Jesus still speaks to us outside the Holy Scriptures, so when I heard this immediately in response to my question, I wondered if it was really the Lord who spoke to me that night alone in my car.
Two and a half years later, on my birthday no less, I went out to dinner with Robin. I had invited a few other people to come, but no one was able to show but Robin. A “setup” no doubt by my loving Father. For those of you who don’t know our history, we had lived in the Del Playa Ministry house, or the “DP houses” for two years, girls upstairs, guys downstairs, being a light in the darkness to the people in Isla Vista CA, just outside Santa Barbara. The second year in the houses, I was in a motorcycle collision where I crashed into a 19 y/o girl’s car when she made an abrupt, illegal u-turn in front of me while riding to work at 3pm on Monday, March 19th, 2007. I was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance, and when asked who I’d like them to inform I’d survived, this revelation came to me that Robin was the most important person in my life. Upon facing death, Robin was the only one I cared to see while recovering after nearly leaving this earth. “Robin” I thought. “She’s the only one I want to see.”
[Important note to remember: I stopped hugging Robin shortly after my accident. She always started a hug with a “double pat”…. you know…. when someone wants to end the hug. I didn’t want her to feel obligated to hug me, so I decided I’d let her hug me. We didn’t hug for a very, very long time. :) ]
Within a few months, I told her that I was in love with her and that my heart was hers, that I did not expect her to return the feelings, but nonetheless I was hers. “Thanks.” she replied, “That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.” This was something like in a movie when a guy spills out his heart and the girl kinda shrugs and says…..”Thanks.” Fortunately I wasn’t expecting her to jump into my arms. :). Then a few weeks later she never wanted me to talk to her again. With tears running down my face I responded, “I do love you, but I will leave you alone.” I cried for days, left town and went to visit my wonderful mother in the desert. I think part of the little boy in me wanted to lay my head on my mother’s breast and cry, feeling so heart-broken. However, after returning home to Isla Vista, Robin agreed that she was willing to remain friends with me. We hung out a few times after that, but most of the summer passed and we didn’t see each other. If I thought she wouldn’t think I was pursuing her, I’d have called her every day. But I agreed to be her friend, not her pursuer, so I didn’t call much.
Going back to my birthday, September 12th, 2007, Robin and I were at dinner alone, and I felt like I was meeting Robin for the first time. She was so beautiful. I remember feeling so much love and joy in my heart, I thought “I’m screwed. I am so in love with this girl. How am I going to go on being ‘friends’ with her?” After dinner we went for a walk, and while walking toward my car, I got this incredible unction to embrace her. I grabbed her as we walked and pulled her close. She hugged me back for the first time ever. I cannot express in words how powerful this moment was! So overwhelming, as if the floor of Heaven broke open and pored some love straight into my heart. I went home and as I walked back out to my car to grab a few things, “You’ll know when you hug her.” said the Lord. Whoa. I hadn’t even thought of that since He’d said just over 2½ years ago.
A few days later, I told her about it all, intending to tell her that I either needed to move forward toward marriage, or that I could not handle being just friends and I couldn’t see her anymore. She responded calmly with, “The Lord told me last summer (15 months prior) that you were gonna be my husband.” Robin was simply waiting for God to open her heart, and He had that summer while we didn’t see each other.
That day, Robin and I began a dating relationship, knowing that we’d one day marry. It felt awkwardly like it was arranged by our parents, like it used to be done throughout much of history. Four months into dating, my heart wanted out. We had stepped on each others’ pain that we’d each experienced throughout our respective lives, and we both were hurting so much. Neither one of us knew what to do, even though we both knew we would marry one day. After about two weeks of space, we started meeting with our beloved friend Joseph Dalton. Joseph had recently completed “Healing for the Heart” training and had met with a few of our friends, who had had beautiful fruit come from meeting with him. Healing for the Heart ministry is a biblical approach to healing and an alternative to traditional counseling methods. After over 30 hours spent with Joseph and Jesus working together, Robin and I both felt like our hearts were reborn…. or perhaps born into the Kingdom for the first time. Almost as if our Christian lives until then had been like being in the mother’s womb, growing and waiting for the day to be born.
Matthew 18:2-4 “Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.’”
The Father’s heart for Robin and I was revealed so intimately and so powerfully through our time with Joseph. (What a wonderful shepherd you are Joseph Dalton! Praise God for you! If anyone needs marriage counseling in Santa Barbara area, call Joseph!) Joseph helped teach us that if we simply opened our heart toward one another (and anyone for that matter), that Jesus would be faithful to meet us in that place and that the living rivers of water would flow through our heart to the other person. We never had to worry about “having enough” to give. (Matt 5:3 “ Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”) Even if we felt like we had nothing to give, just by making our heart vulnerable and open, willing to love, God would love with His perfect Agape love through our heart and the Kingdom of Heaven would go forth.
Robin and I began to say “no” to worry, and stopped trying to figure everything out and control things in our lives. We began to allow God’s Agape love to flow through us toward one another.
Psalm 37:3-5 “Trust in the LORD, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Delight yourself also in the LORD,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.”
We began to trust God, delight in Him, and to feed on His faithfulness. Robin and I loved one another very much, and were continually learning how to act out this love. Toward the end of April, 2008, while driving to Robin’s one day, the Lord said “You’ll have a son by this time next year.” Hmm. “Alright.” I thought. (I was definitely learning to recognize His still small voice.) I didn’t tell Robin right away, because we had yet to make any definite plans to marry. However, within a few days, Robin received a phone call from Liza, who had thought of her when she found out her friends David and Sharla were buying one of the oldest Cambria motels, and needed live-in managers. At the time, we did not know why, but we both instantly thought, “Yes! That’s exactly what my heart wants.” We interviewed a few weeks later, and after interviewing on a Sunday, I said to Robin “We’re going to find out by this Wednesday that we got it.” Sure enough, on Wednesday, Sharla called and informed us that we were chosen!
Wow. We were getting married within a month! Fortunately, Robin and I had decided we wanted to get married privately, and have a reception later, because one month to plan would have been tough! :) God worked out everything so perfectly for our wedding, and we ended up getting married in perhaps the most beautiful garden in Santa Barbara, on an avocado ranch, overlooking the ocean and the Channel Islands.
Our wedding was really something out of a dream. Ephesians 3:20-21 “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” It really did exceed what we could have asked. We didn’t even know where we would marry just seven days prior. However, we chose to trust God that He would provide the perfect place. One week prior, we went driving, drove across a bridge, passed a no trespassing sign, and asked a perfect stranger who managed the ranch if we could get married there at sunrise seven days later. “Sure.” He said lightly. “Why not?”
Robin and I married on June 23rd, 2008, and honeymooned in Napa Valley and in Tahoe, and then returned to our new home in Cambria July 1st.
By the second week in July, Robin had missed her period by just one day. Day 29 and she knew she was pregnant. She said she’d always been 25-28 days, and that this had never happened before. I was immediately delighted and overjoyed! Robin was a bit shocked and not so happy. We had decided to trust God with pregnancy and children (although I wonder what we’ll be saying after 10 kids! ;) Robin said “You said the Lord said a year from now!” I replied. “Honey, the Lord said ‘You’ll have a son by this time next year.’ Our son could be three months old…. that would still fulfill His word.” Robin just cried :) The next day though, she had fully embraced being pregnant and was so happy.
Shortly, I will post our birth story, and of course include photos of our son, Elijah Bravery Hurd.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
What? Robin has a blog??
For more photos of belly, click here.
You all know me as NOT the blogger type but thanks to my unborn baby, who can come ANY day now...Lord please!...I wanted all of you to have a way to see and experience our coming joy. The plan is to update this blog after the baby is born so all of you can see him.
We are having a home birth about two miles away from our home at Keegan's dad's vacation home. It's the perfect place to labor at because it's near the ocean and it's quiet and peaceful. Originally the plan was to have the birth at our home which is tucked behind the motel lobby. This would have not been the ideal set-up. Thanks to Jesus, our needs have been met once again.
Please keep us in your prayers as I am about to experience the biggest challenge of my life, giving birth and raising a child! I am so thankful that I have the Lord, who continues to tell me that I have nothing to fear and for my husband who is so good at praying over me, massaging me, and loving me in the day-to-day. My request is that all of you would pray for my health to stay strong, that the baby's position would be favorable, and that Keegan and I would have an amazing time laboring together. Thanks all!
With Love,
Robin
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