Somebody Likes Eyeshadow!

Is this a guilty face or what?!?Parker got into my make-up when I stepped out of the room this morning. Apparently, she likes blue.

In case you've been wondering, my hands are FULL!

Our Miracle Baby

UPDATED***



My child doesn't always act like this. He's unique, but he was in an unusual performing mood for this particular video. Hyper. His mother's laughing pushed him a little further too. I happen to love the line "I stand alone on the Word of God" the first time he sings the B-I-B-L-E song. I bet you couldn't sing that line just like he does! He nails it the second time around though.

*****

Parker has finally really started crawling. It's such a dainty crawl though. Very girly. She's not yet very fast, thankfully. On Monday night, she saw some little pieces to a game that Joel, Jonah and I were playing and she got motivated by them to start moving! She wanted the game pieces so badly. So we finished up our game while keeping her little paws off of everything as best we could, and then we were sitting around watching her go. Jonah wasn't paying any attention to her, and I excitedly said, "Look at your sister! She's crawling now!" He took a quick look at her, seemingly disinterested, turned back to what he was doing and, with no expression whatsoever, said, "Yeah...she's a miracle baby."

What?! Where in the world did he get that??

That Kid Cracks Me Up

One morning last week, I had a most unusual conversation with my son. It was early, and I hadn't been out of bed for long. My hair had not yet been brushed; it was still pulled back in a ponytail from the night before and had a few random fallen pieces hanging down. I was standing in the kitchen doing something at the counter, and Jonah was in the family room. I felt him looking at me, he called out, "Mom!"and I turned to him.

Me: "Yes, Jonah?"
J: "Look at your hair."
Me (thinking to myself): "Nice. This should be humbling."
J: You look kinda like a fish."
Me: (stare blankly at him)
J (studying me closely, appearing deep in thought): "No. No. You look like an anteater."

WOW. Never been told that before. He sure has a way....

I was feeling especially good about myself after that comment, as I'm sure any woman would.

But he made it up to me later that morning with another conversation while we were working on a puzzle. He suddenly stopped and asked me if he was going to grow up and be a daddy. I told him he probably would but that he'd need to have a wife first and that he would marry a woman, like daddy married mommy. He said, "I want to marry you too. Like daddy." (I'm thinking, "AAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!") I explained to him that daddy already picked mommy, and he immediately asked if he could marry Gigi (my mom). I told him Papa T already had her, and before I could explain that you can't marry a family member, he asked, "Aunt Joy?" Argh. "No, Jonah. You have to marry a friend from a different family so you can make a new family together." He asked if he would marry one of his little friends he has now. "It's possible." He then looked like he was thinking very hard, and I figured he was thinking of which friend he might marry...and then he said, "Can you hand me that puzzle piece?" He was done with that talk. He found out everything he needed to know about marriage in those 30 seconds. What is really funny to me, though, is that I was telling his Aunt Amy this later that day, and my niece Maggie had asked her the very same questions THAT MORNING! Isn't that ironic? She asked if she could marry Papa T (my dad). So funny how three-year old minds work! To them, what's so weird about marrying a parent or grandparent?

I'm just glad Jonah doesn't hold the anteater look against me.

The Great Thing About It Is....

This title reflects the phrase I hear ALL the time now around my house, in reference to "The iPhone." Joel has been enjoying a new phone and all the perks this particular one has, and he regularly tries to impress me with its goods. And I've been feigning annoyance. I know he likes it when I act like it bothers me to hear about the iphone. It just reminds him that he has one. And that he's happy he has one. But seriously, we don't have to talk about the iphone all the time, right? Like, maybe limit it to 20 references a day. That would be nice. Oh, it's pretty funny because Jonah was asking Joel something the other day, and instead of saying, "Are you talking on your phone?" (which is what he would have said two weeks ago about the old phone), Jonah said, "Are you talking on the iphone?" He said "THE iPHONE"!!! That probably won't be funny to anyone but me and Joel, but it cracked us up. This phone is so amazing, I guess, that it needs a "the" in front of it and needs to be called by its proper name to set it aside from all of the other lesser cell phones. Whatever. It's great, but it isn't saving the world yet. I'm a little uninterested in "the iphone" because I could care less what kind of technological anything I own. But Joel is slowly but surely teaching our son to care about which tech things are the newest and coolest. Blah.

BUT, the great thing about it is...that it can capture my little girl's smiles, like this one:

We had a great day yesterday...the four of us went to Dallas to do a couple of fun activities we've been wanting to do with Jonah. We went to Grapevine Mills first to have lunch at Rainforest Cafe. Jonah recently went there with my parents and it is his newest love, so we went back. Several friends met us there for lunch, which was so nice. My friend Megan and her new husband Nick were there (such cute newlyweds), and my friend Lizzy (from college) and her husband and adorable little girl met us there. Her little girl Autumn is super cute. It was fun seeing them, although it's so loud in that restaurant that it was hard to carry on conversation with everybody. Whenever I spend time with close friends from out-of-town, I always leave feeling like it just wasn't enough time. But we had so much fun, just the four of us. We went to the Dallas World Aquarium, which is just one of the coolest places ever. I mean, seeing a real live manatee up close is just quite an experience. We had a great time. Parker slept through most of it. By the way, she was an angel the entire day. She got a little fussy at lunchtime, but thankfully, there were extra arms to hold her! (Thanks Meg and Liz!) It's been a rare occurence lately to have both kids have good days on the same day, but we were blessed with Jonah having an appreciative attitude and Parker being sweet and smiley (or asleep) for the day. I wish I could remember to take more pictures. I meant to get some with our friends and a ton more of the kids. Unfortunately, most of my aquarium pictures didn't turn out because of all the glass and reflections. We finished the day with dinner at Chipotle, left downtown shortly after 5:00pm, but thanks to that wonderful HOV lane, we were home by 7. It couldn't have gone better.


But speaking of Chipotle, do you prefer the burrito or the bowl? I say once you go bowl, you never go back. Joel just made the switch to bowl, and I am pleased with his decision. If you need me to give you a list of all the pros of eating your Chipotle burrito in a bowl instead of a tortilla, I will. I'd be quite delighted to!

Random Updates/Pictures

Thought I'd write about a few random happenings in the last week and a half....

Parker has been doing much better. After about five days on Prevacid, her screaming fits during and after feeding time seemed much improved. We even made a road trip to Lufkin on Saturday, and she didn't cry much at all! That day was a huge turning point for her. I still would say she's a pretty fussy baby...a different kind of experience than we had with our first baby, for sure! But she's coming around. The crying is getting less and less, and once the medicine started taking effect, she began to smile a bunch. I'm starting to have hope for her temperament! =)


The road trip mentioned was for my cousin Cory's little girls, Kate and Reese, who turned 6 and 2 this week. The kids, my parents, and I made the trip while Joel stayed home to play golf with some friends for his Father's Day gift. Jonah had a blast, jumping in inflatable bounce house things that they rented for the party. I could barely keep up with him. Thankfully, I didn't have to because since I had taken my parents with me for back-up! I'm a girl who always loves spending time with my family - just wish we saw those guys more often!

Jonah and Parker with all their cousins there:

The birthday girls with their adorable personalized birthday shirts:
Kate holding Parker:
Jonah was given the Better Batter baseball toy for his birthday, and we've been pleasantly surprised by his skills. This child had yet to show us any signs of athletic ability, which would be just fine. But he really picked up this baseball thing...he has a great swing, and he even naturally turn his hips just right when swinging. Who knew?! Of course, as of now, there's not a competitive bone in his body, so we'll see.






He'd been playing in the sprinklers, one of his all-time favorite activities, although it looks a little like we don't feed him:
My brother's family is coming for a visit next week, and we are just so excited. They'll be here Tuesday through Saturday, so we'll be spending as much time at my parents' with them as we can. Everyone except for me and Amy and the two little babies are going camping for one night. They'll have a great time. But I am not jealous, no I am not. Not one bit. Amy and I have plans to hire a baby-sitter one afternoon so we can go to the pool and lay out...alone! How wonderful. I am blessed with a great sister-in-law, and as much as I love having all our kids together, it will be nice to just spend some time without them. That probably has never happened before! I will be a sad girl if the weather doesn't cooperate with our plans. (But don't worry, Amy, I have back-up plans!)

There is a man from Lowe's here right now, working on assembling a birthday present Jonah received from Joel's mom: a swingset/fort for the backyard. It will take a few days, but we are really excited! While we have a great big shady backyard, we have pretty much had nothing for kids to play with. So we're working on making it more kid-friendly.

Our family vacation (with Joel's side of the family) had been planned for two years and was supposed to take place in a few weeks, but it recently got canceled. Not everyone is details-oriented; therefore, misunderstandings happen. And a big one did this time. We all had different dates scheduled, and now things can't be rescheduled. So no Sea World this summer. I'm mostly sad for Jonah. We had been talking a lot about feeding the dolphins. I was extremely disappointed about this turn of events when I found out, but I've just had to choose trust. It's obviously not supposed to happen at this time. I think instead, the four of us are going to spend a four-day weekend in the Dallas Metroplex and do some fun things like the Aquarium, maybe a baseball game if the Rangers are in town, and spend some time hanging out with close friends there. This woman needs some kind of vacation-like thing to do this summer! Oh yes, and I have some serious shopping goals for while we are there. I need some new clothes!

Jonah has been really sweet. We had one rough week...the one when Parker was the most high-maintenance with the reflux. He certainly was demanding much more attention than was physically possible for me to give him. To say I felt stretched is quite an understatement. But the only way to deal with that was to turn to the Lord for some supernatural help! And He's been showing me a lot of things about my parenting. I'll write about that soon.

My girlfriend Kelli is coming this Friday to meet Miss Parker, and I can hardly wait. We have lots of catching up to do, so hopefully the playset will be finished so we can throw our older kids outside to allow for better conversation between us. =)

Another of Jonah's birthday presents was a goldfish. After thinking through lots of potential names for his new pet, mostly from the Nemo movie, like Swordfish, Starfish, etc., he finally settled on the perfect fish name: Selfish. Yes, SELFISH. Can you tell what we've been talking about a lot at our house lately??? This boy is so hilarious. He just doesn't really know it.

A True "Mom Moment"

There are experiences of motherhood in which you just cannot fake that it's glamorous. I had one of those experiences this morning. I feel compelled to share what may be a funny story one day. Just not today!

The day started off well. Any of you ministers' wives know what I'm talking about when I use the phrase "Sunday morning widow"; it can be quite tricky being responsible for you and your kids getting to church on time and alive, all by yourself. I don't know why it's harder on Sunday mornings when I do it almost every other day of the week by myself. Maybe it's because I attempt to have us look somewhat presentable for church, and that's a goal we don't even strive for anymore on other days. But on Sundays, we usually try a tad harder. Since I'm still well within the trial period of having two kids instead of one, my Sunday morning routine is still in an experimental phase. Haven't figured it out just yet. And we have yet to make it on time to church. Except for one Sunday. But that doesn't count because I wasn't showered. Mission remains unaccomplished. But today, we made it very close to start time, and things went remarkably well during the first hour at church. Parker was amazingly sweet during the church service, and we were able to stay in there the entire time. A whole service! She was either happily awake or she was asleep in my arms. It went perfectly smooth. I also decided to take a bottle for her at church today so that I could attempt to be present for more of church. If you know me at all, then you know being engaged in church is very important to me, and when I am unable to fully participate in it for weeks at a time, it really starts to wear me down. I just don't believe you can have abundant life without an abundant church life. But that's an entirely different soapbox that I'll refrain from getting on. Hopefully ever again. But you can imagine my delight in being able to soak up an entire hour of corporate worship, there with my precious baby girl in my arms and my husband by my side. It just does wonders for my outlook on life. After first service, I headed upstairs to our Bible study class, excited that I would be able to stay longer in class, thanks to the bottle I brought, and not have to leave to go nurse her. I was practically floating up the stairs. I felt so energized by the smoothness of the morning thus far. Surprised by it. But feeling pretty blessed. And quite confident actually.

And then in two seconds, everything changed.

(Now let me just say that I really don't embarrass easily. I guess when you do and say as many dumb things I do, you really get quite used to it and you tend to just be amused by your own wackiness. Embarrassment is just an emotion I rarely experience. But today...today was different. What happened in class mortified me!!! Don't continue reading if talk of baby bodily functions grosses you out.)

As I was feeding Parker her bottle, she raised up and projectile spit-up like nothing you've ever seen. The class just stopped. Everyone stared. No one knew what to do. It was like time stood still. She has barely spit up at all in her life, so this was new. I wish I could describe to you how much it was. The sheer volume of spit-up and the distance it flew was both mesmerizing and completely disgusting. Within seconds of this, I looked down and saw yellow all over my black pants. Oh yes, she simultaneously had vomited like a crazy woman and graced me with a leaky poopy diaper. In my lap. My shirt was completely soaked with spit-up and my pants completely covered in poop. I am not exaggerating in the least. It was unbelievable.

The worst part was the reaction I sensed from most in the room. I could tell they were completely disgusted by it. It's not like this happened in a room full of other young moms. Oh, no. This class is mostly middle-aged and older, with just a few young families. Even if you're a parent or grandparent, you really don't enjoy seeing other babies' poop. I really thought a few people were going to throw up. A bunch of people had to look away. Sadly, Joel had not made it up to class yet, so I didn't have him to help right then. It was the most awkward moment ever. And I completely froze. I couldn't think of what I was supposed to do. I felt like if I moved, the puddles of my daughter's fluids would slide off my body and onto the floor, creating an even bigger mess. I don't know what happened. I tend to think of myself as a fairly competent mom in moments of chaos like that. But all that confidence has gone out the window this morning. Thank God for two men who jumped into action (after the initial shock and moment of silence that seemed to drag on forever) and grabbed some things to help me clean Parker and myself. If not for them, I think I might still be sitting there, paralyzed in my shock and sense of incapability. But thankfully, with help, I figured out how to pick her up, get our stuff, and quickly get out of there! I am pretty sure I won't be attending that class until she is old enough to go to the nursery (one more month!) for fear that our presence together in that class will only serve to remind people of an image that I'm pretty sure they are desperate to forget. Some of them couldn't even look me in the eye. And I'm not sure I can look them in theirs either for a while!

Joel saw us after we left the class and helped me change her....there was seriously poop all over her back, all the way up to the base of her neck. Changing her was quite the task. I finished feeding her, and she and I headed home as quickly as we could. I was starting to be able to smell the stink on myself.

(Side note: I also realized as we were leaving that my legs were woefully unshaven. And I was wearing cropped pants. Disgusting. Oh, to have a complete shower again one day!)

Ok, Lord....I get that this morning has been one big lesson on humility. Can we stop now??

Oh, this little girl and I have bonded. We've been through a lot together today. I'm still immensely thankful for the one hour we did get at church today without making a scene! I just love her so much.

More Weird Pregnancy Stuff

I went to the doctor again today. I haven't felt great the last couple of days and just needed reassurance that things were ok with Parker. On Tuesday night, I noticed a little bump protruding from the bottom of my sternum...just felt like a knot. I know, one more weird thing. And it was painful to touch. I woke up the next morning feeling soreness around that area, more extreme pain at times, and real shortness of breath. I know difficulty breathing is a typical pregnancy symptom (I didn't really experience it when pregnant with Jonah because I carried him so low), but it alarmed me that it began at the same time that chest pain began. Anytime I bend down (even the slightest) and raise back up, I feel pressure in my chest.

So I went to the doctor and it turns out that the kind of people who bruise their uterus are the same kind who sprain their xiphoid process. Yep, that's weird ol me. I have a sprained xiphoid process. Not only that, but I learned that mine is longer and more pronounced than the average person's, so it explains how this injury occurred...by my uterus being thrust into my long, protruding xiphoid process. And why it hurts when I barely bend over, or just when my posture is bad and I slump forward. It's extra inflamed. But I'll handle it - just grateful that there's no harm to the baby! And grateful for the peace of mind that came from going ahead to the doctor to get it checked out.

We had a few good laughs with Dr. Fanning though. First, Joel was describing to him what the knot felt like, since he had been the one who had felt and pushed around on it more. (When I first discovered it, I made him touch it and tell me if it felt normal or not. It freaked me out to touch myself.) Joel's description included a reference to what gristle on a steak feels like. Dr. Fanning just looked at me and said, "That's nice!" to which I added, "Yes, just how every woman wants her husband to describe her chest!" Wouldn't you agree? So, we were a little giggly at that point. We found it interesting that Joel was born without a xiphoid process (interesting, huh?!) and I have a freakishly large one to compensate for the one he lacks. Dr. Fanning found it really funny....that our kids now have a chance for a normal xiphoid process. And Joel and I are in disagreement about which of our abnormalities is stranger. I have a feeling he will be making fun of my large, pronounced xiphoid process for the rest of our lives.

Need to go get ready for a Girls Night Out tonight - can't wait for some uninterrupted, grown-up conversation!

This is Ridiculous

Ok, who bruises their uterus??!!!

Apparently, I do.

The doctor yesterday said the area where my stomach pain is occurring does not feel like a hernia and he thinks the top of my uterus is bruised from being pushed up against my rib cage and it probably happened doing something strenuous. And I think that's just the weirdest thing I've ever heard. I'm sure it's more common than I think, but I have never heard of that. I feel like such a weirdo. I mean, really though....how does that happen?!

But if that isn't weird enough, read what advice I found online in helping to cope with it:

"Gently pushing the baby off this spot with your hand at times can give you temporary relief." (HA! Like that's possible! If we could get our babies to move positions from how we push on them from the outside, then no one would have to worry about babies being in breeched positions and all that, right?! Parker doesn't go anywhere if she doesn't want to.)

"Pelvic rocking (similar to belly dancing) on the hands and knees can move the baby's back more around to the front of the mother's belly, and possibly off the 'bruised spot'."
(Ok, seriously?!!!! Like I would ever consider belly dancing on all fours! How weird would that be! And what on earth would my husband think if he walked in on this "pelvic rocking"? I'd hate to have to explain that one.)

Anyway, the doctor's update was good. Parker's heart rate was considerably lower than it's ever been. Not scary low. Hers has just always been really high. Not this time. I didn't just love that. But she's still really active, so there's no need to be concerned about that if she's moving around so much. I can't believe we're getting so close to her arrival. Seven-ish weeks to go. I need to get in gear and get some stuff ready. We're having a cookout at our house this weekend with our community group, so it will take me all week to get my house cleaned...that's how slow I am right now. Oh yes, and I'm getting ready for a garage sale this week too. So, her nursery is once again on the back burner for this week. One thing I'd like to do this week is find some ribbon with which to hang her name letters on the wall. But that's all for this week. Man, at this pace, her nursery should be ready by the time she's outgrowing it.

What Happened to Spring?

Last week was warm and sunny here, and this week, cold and rainy. Today...we woke up to SNOW! It was so beautiful falling. We bundled Jonah up and went out to play in it. It was his first time ever to actually be out in the snow as it was falling. He loved it! He just wanted to run in it, of course, back and forth across our backyard, over and over. Such fun. Unfortunately, the camera was on the wrong setting, so these pictures are blurry and didn't turn out very well. You can't even see the snow falling and know how big the flakes were! (Not that many of you would be impressed. But this Texas girl is!) But you can tell this little guy was having a good time....


My azaleas were very sad this morning.


Other memorable Jonah-moments from the last few weeks:

• A couple Sundays ago, I was almost finished getting ready for church when Jonah came in my room and gave me a long stare. "What is it?" I asked him. It sounded so sweet as he replied, "You look nice and clean." I like to think it was his version of telling me I looked pretty (and I'll take it!) rather than referring with surprise to the fact that I had showered.
• The first time Joel and I called him from Colorado, we told him we were about to go up in the mountains, not having any idea if he even had a clue what a mountain way. But he showed his concerned heart when he quickly warned, "Don't fall off!" Sweet thing.
• When we returned, I laid on the floor of Jonah's room while he played with his little cars. My body became what every woman dreams of...(that was definitely sarcasm)...the "hills" and "curves" that the cars must drive on. He insisted on me laying still so the Hot Wheels could go up and down and all around the hills. Nice. He then looked at my beginning-to-protrude belly button and poked at it and asked if that was the baby sticking up out of my belly button. I thought I had convinced him that it was, in fact, NOT a baby coming out of my belly button, but a few days later, I overheard him telling my mother-in-law that you could see Parker's toe coming out of my belly button. I guess he just doesn't believe me. So, if you're wondering what my stomach looks like, evidently, like a human TOE is extended from it.
  
• Last weekend, while Joel's mom was giving him a bath, she noticed a dry spot near his bottom that had gotten raw enough, I guess, to make a little cut. So she tended to it with some Vaseline. The next morning, I asked him if his bottom was feeling better. He said, "It's ok....it doesn't need any more gasoline."
  
• He's been praying for our friend with cancer. He'll say, "Dear God, thank you help Mrs. Thomas feel better." It comes out just like that every time. But it's a sweet reminder to me to be thankful to God, even as I present my requests to Him. (Phil. 4:6)
• Yesterday morning, out of nowhere he told me, "I am not a princess. I am just a boy." Glad to hear it, son.
• And Wednesday, he had been occupied with something while I was finishing up preparing for Bible study that night with the community group girls. I was looking up the meaning of a word on the computer, and he was ready for us to do our next activity that I told him we would do together. So I was typing on the computer as I slowly said to him, "I'm almost done...one more word to look up..." and without thinking about it, I just started explaining what I was doing, "I'm trying to find out what this word means so that I can know better what God is trying to say to me through the Bible." He said, "God says something to me." As I closed it down, I said, "Great. What does God say to you?" He answered, "That God is with me." I could have cried all afternoon over that one. I can't believe the mercy of God sometimes that He drills into the hearts of our children what we ourselves fail to teach and remind. I know Jonah was referring to the Joshua 1:9 verse that has been taught to him in Sunday school (although I have done such a halfhearted job of reviewing that and building on it) and it just motivates me to be more intentional about speaking Truth into his life and reminds me that he really is hearing and soaking up more than I think. I must make better use of the time we have now to do that!!! Do any of you have suggestions for how to be more intentional in those things? Any certain activities you do? I'm asking because as much as I want it to just be a natural flow in our home where we are constantly weaving truth into every experience we have, I do think I need to set aside times to do this in a more structured manner. I think it would help me.
  

It amazes me to watch Jonah's personality develop. As much as I like talking and thinking about temperaments and love languages, I wouldn't have a clue how to label his personality in any way! I know it's way too early to detect some of those things anyway. But I like seeing signs and glimpses of what he may become one day. And it's just so fascinating right now because I see such a unique blend of traits in him. At times, he can be so intensely serious....even pretty insightful about life....and then so very silly and random the next moment. Daily experiences with him range from conversations about the most serious of situations where he shows deep concern and compassion for others to conversations about the silliest and lightest things of all where his sense of humor and desire to entertain really shine through. He is curious about everything and is constantly asking questions. He takes pride in learning new things. He loves people, but he demonstrates some real "beaver"-like qualities too as he plays....his favorite things to do with his toys are still to sort them. We sort his cars by color, by type, and in all different ways possible. And we do it over and over, every day. He loves routine. But in a number of ways, he's so flexible and adaptable too. He reminds me almost daily that he "is big now and not a baby anymore." He has never been an extremely physically-affectionate child, yet lately, he enjoys cuddling and kissing and hugging more. I can't believe that him he's actually wanting to be held now that my back feels like it is going to break every time I lift him! But I'm loving it. I celebrate these things that I see as strengths and natural gifts in him, but I also pray for wisdom and insight into his weaknesses and struggles too. I think neglecting the reality of those could prevent me from knowing how to talk through with him what need He has of Christ. And I need to be more on top of addressing with him those heart issues such as selfishness and pride that seem to drive every kind of human sin. Trying to remember some of that Shepherding a Child's Heart stuff! It is such an amazing journey. Who knew that parenthood could bring so many lessons and opportunities to grow (I'm talking about us...growing ourselves, the parents)?! I don't know why it surprises me....marriage was the same way! But oh, how interesting that God designed for some of us to learn this way....through the very challenges of parenting....and how wonderful that in the midst of it, we are given this incredible gift of the enjoyment of our children as well. Just so you know...I'm REALLY enjoying this kid right now.

Wwwhhhheeeeeeeeee!!!!

That's what I've been wanting to scream all day long. Actually, I have been. Oh my, this has just been a blast. We got to Colorado pretty late last night, and we woke up this morning and walked out of our hotel to this view:

I was so glad God let it snow for us during the night! What a beautiful sight to see. For this Texas girl, snow is a big deal. And I love snow when it covers everything and makes it so pretty...and then the temperature gets up into the 50s and is bright and sunny and the snow melts off by the end of the day. That's my favorite kind. Because let's be honest, I'd be really sad if I had to live in snow all the time. But THIS is amazing! The conference we are attending didn't start until late this afternoon, so Joel and I spent the day driving around and sightseeing. We just took in all the beauty as we drove through the Pike's Peak area, saw some adorable little towns nearby, and visited the Royal Gorge and Bridge. And it was a blessed time. Really. Joel and I spending that much time together in the car and actually enjoying it and each other's company is kind of like a miracle. Some of you married people have the gift of glorious togetherness in car traveling. We do not. So what a sweet gift that not only were we not ready to kill each other by the end of this sightseeing adventure, we actually have really enjoyed each other's presence. Quite a lot, in fact! I like that man. =) He's very cute. Speaking of his cuteness, this was his first time to be in Colorado, and I just loved watching his excitement and discovering with him all these places that are so beautiful. He couldn't hide his enjoyment at all, and I just loved it. I lost count how many times he pulled over on our scenic drive to take pictures. He led us on these adventures without being the least bit task-oriented, and I just loved the time we had to just be together, not be rushed, talk, and enjoy together this creation of God's that we don't normally get to see. I'm telling you, it has been WONDERFUL.


Please try to ignore Joel's "halo" in this next picture:

We did all kinds of goofy touristy things at this next place...the world's highest suspension bridge over the Royal Gorge:

The conference "we" are attending is a training event for a simulcast Focus on the Family will be doing in the fall for The Truth Project. If you haven't been through this Truth Project curriculum, well....you should. In my opinion, it's the best thing Focus on the Family has ever done. It's a DVD series/study that is being used in small groups and Sunday school-type classes in churches all over the country, and it's just amazing how relevant and powerful this ministry is. I'll let you check out the link to learn more. Or you can ask me questions anytime! I say "we" are attending because I am not quite committed in my attendance. I left out early tonight because my back has not been my friend lately and I needed to rest it instead of continuing to sit in extremely uncomfortable chairs. I plan to join Joel for what I can. Originally, I had planned to go very little, if at all, and instead lay around the hotel and read and relax and all that. But the opening session tonight got me so excited...I got highly energized about the purpose of the Truth Project and so want to be a part of the conference as much as I am able. To see the hundreds of people representing churches all over the country who are participating in The Truth Project and leading people to get involved in it is just so amazing. I really believe so many people's lives will be changed. I know they already have. But I think it's going to be really big. The whole idea of this study is that there are so many Christians who really are under attack in their beliefs and are starting to believe Satan's lies about life so much that they are really not living much differently than the non-believing world. So we need to learn (or re-learn) the basics of truth. Real truth. And it explores so many different facets of truth. It is basically a worldview curriculum, and the teaching is so clear and helpful. I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone. (Random note....we happened to run into two different people we knew from our church in Bartlesville. It was funny. For those Bville friends who read this, we walked in at the exact same time as Joe Kauffman. Quite ironic.)

We were able to visit Focus' bookstore, and if you know me, then you know that that was definitely my favorite part of the day. Conference attendees received a discount at the bookstore, and I was so giddy. I did pretty well though....we only left with a few books. One was a Bible Joel picked out for me. As our community group wives have been studying 1 Peter the last couple of months, I have used Joel's Bible a whole lot because it's a version that I haven't used before but that has brought lots of great new insights. So I started borrowing it on occasion to look up a verse or two in this translation that is evidently closer to the original Greek text. Then, I started using it a whole lot more, borrowing it almost every time I was studying the Bible. He has another Bible he uses, so he didn't mind too much. So after a while, I just decided to keep it for myself. Some might call this stealing. But I contend that it's not stealing if he knows who has it and how to ask for it if he needs it back. I knew he knew I had it, and I assumed he didn't mind. But he came up to me in the bookstore today and showed me what he decided I needed to have....it was the same Bible I've been 'borrowing" from him, only it is hot pink!!!! I actually started jumping up and down. Yes, there were people all around, and I'm sure they thought I was crazy. But I didn't care at all. I actually planted a big kiss on him. Yep, right there in Conservative-ville. I was so excited! I've never had such a pretty little Bible before! Y'all, it's PINK! Does my husband know me, or what?! I'm so in love with him.

Crazy (but fun) Week

Friday morning began a week-and-a-half that is surely my busiest in quite a while. But so many fun things have happened in the last few days and will be happening this week! I planned to take pictures at all of these fun things, but so far, I've forgotten every time. But anyway, on Friday I met my sweet friend Megan at a town about an hour away (at the halfway point between where we both live) and hung out for a good part of the day. Jonah went with me and was a great traveling buddy. We met at Starbucks and chatted for a long time while Jonah watched a few videos on his DVD player....yes, I was that mom and it was more than worth it. That thing is one of God's greatest gifts to our generation of mothers, I am convinced. Then, we spent several hours shopping together and eating lunch. It was great to catch up...it had been a while, and it's always refreshing to spend time with this friend. We have great conversations that always uplift, and I was so excited to hear all about her wedding plans and thoughts on her upcoming marriage. I don't think I've written about this before, but when she got engaged this past fall, she called to ask me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding and I had to tell her I was pregnant (only six weeks at the time and wasn't telling anyone yet)....her wedding date is five days after my due date, and she's getting married in Maine. So that obviously won't work out! I was really sad about it. I don't think I have ever looked forward to a friend getting married as much as I do for her....she has such a passion for the Lord and a(n) (uncommon) wisdom about marriage that I think will just prepare her in ways I certainly wasn't prior to getting married. Their dating relationship has been such a mirror of God's glory, and I know their marriage will be as well. I don't know if it's just my experience...but it seems like opportunities for real excitement about people getting married (for the right reasons) just keep getting rarer. It's so sad. So I'm really celebrating this one. Anyway, it was a great day and a fun, refreshing time with a dear friend.

I hurried back home to throw my stuff together and immediately head out to our church's women's retreat for Friday night and most of the day Saturday. The topic of the weekend dealt with moving from fear to freedom, and I'll be blogging about that soon. I can hardly wait to share with you some of the things God placed on my heart during the retreat! It was also fun being there with some of the sweetest friends God has brought into my life since moving here. I got to share a cabin with some of my closest friends and we definitely shared some laughs. But it didn't seem like enough time! It seemed like good conversations got started but there wasn't enough time to finish them. I told the girls I think we need a follow-up retreat very soon...maybe at Starbucks one evening?? =)

Then, last night we hired a baby-sitter for only the third time ever, and Joel and I attended a wedding. It was good for the reasons that the groom's family is very dear to me and I loved being able to celebrate with and show my support for this couple and also because it was gorgeous!!! I so love a pretty wedding. I really wish I had taken pictures of the flower arrangements because you just wouldn't believe them. Lavishly beautiful. So I really did enjoy being there and being a part of it. But it didn't take long for the evening to go downhill just a bit. My extreme tiredness set in very quickly. Not to mention my hormonal craziness. I can't explain it, but I have started noticing that lately I have been pretty weird emotionally. Not that I'm never weird or emotional, but this is different. I don't even feel like the same me at all. I left the wedding wanting to cry, not knowing why. (Except maybe partly because we stayed at the reception for a long time and still had to leave before the cake-cutting. Wedding cake is near the top of my list of favorite things in life, so I was just a tad bitter. But that's a different story...) I really couldn't place my finger on what it was exactly that was bothering me, but you know how sometimes you just have these really high expectations of how an evening is going to go - like it's going to be all grand and glamorous - and then there is a let-down when it just ends up being normal? Well, that's how it was....enter in crazy emotional pregnant hormones. It was not pretty. Speaking of pretty, it's embarrassing to admit that that may have had something to do with it too....NOT feeling pretty. I felt unattractive, so obviously tired, and not dressed quite right for the occasion. (The dress I had planned on wearing - my only good option for maternity clothes for a wedding - got ruined an hour before the wedding. Completely ruined. So what I was forced to wear was not something I felt good in at all.) And when I got home, I took off my tall boots and my calves and ankles actually expanded past the width of my boots. And they weren't tight boots! It seemed like they were never going to stop growing outward. I have never had swelling like that before! My feet were HUGE. That has a way of making a girl feel prettier. No one else better get married before I have this baby, because I am not going. I have decided there is no need for me to attend a wedding while pregnant. It just couldn't be a good thing. Everyone will be in their beautiful cocktail dresses with strappy high heels and I'll be the very pregnant-looking one in the frumpy dress. They'll all be dancing and having a great time, and I'll be sitting down the whole time doing nothing but retaining water. Nothing good could come from putting myself through that again. And I hate to admit all this. Really. I like to think I can rise above the hormones. I mean, I do know that the Holy Spirit isn't limited during the nine months of pregnancy. But man, this is hard for me this time. The weird hormonal stuff. At this point in my pregnancy with Jonah, I was just starting to feel good physically. I had a different kind of experience where my last trimester was the one I felt the best in. So...maybe having more energy helped me not to experience the yucky emotional aspects of pregnancy as intensely...? And this time, I've really noticed a significant increase in my tiredness and lack of energy the last couple of weeks. Could that be contributing to me being this emotional basketcase right now? I mean, I'm telling you....I'm like a freak show. I've really had to apologize a lot to my husband this week....just for meanness. Nothing else. Just found myself being mean for no reason. Well, you know... for reasons like him getting a bad headache, forcing us to leave the wedding before we were able to eat cake. How dare he. Control your sickness, husband! =) Oh...I just am finding new things all the time that are making pregnancy even more interesting. And what's funny....someone who obviously doesn't know me very well asked me this weekend if I am enjoying my last months of pregnancy. Ahem. Couldn't she have used a different word than "enjoy"? It's not the word that first comes to my mind. I didn't want to lie. But I didn't have to, because a truthful answer came to mind very quickly: I am grateful for these months of pregnancy. There are things I don't enjoy but that I wouldn't trade for anything. These are signs of a life that God is growing and a blessing that He is cultivating in the life of our family, and I'll take nausea, back pain, big fat feet, weird emotional outbursts that come out of nowhere, ugly clothes....ALL of it. I'll take it all. I can't get over how blessed I am to be carrying this little girl inside of me and to be mothering this precious son of mine. What an unbelievable gift. So I will choose to praise Him for these things. But I'll need to deal with the meanness aspect. It's not good. Any thoughts about not being the wicked witch of the west when the pregnancy hormones are this high?!! They're kind of catching me off guard. Thanks for letting me be real with you about how I'm feeling right now and what struggles and insecurities have plagued me recently. It's not fun admitting them at all. But I did so that maybe just writing them will scream at me how superficial they are and I'll be disgusted with my fixation last night on the unimportant. I need to get it together. My family doesn't need to suffer through three more months of Crazy Hannah. I think they must have liked Old Hannah! Evidently, they miss her.

And I think you'll agree that God knows exactly what I need when I need it when you hear this: My husband and I will be leaving for a three day trip to Colorado this week. He'll be attending a conference while I spend lots of time reading and relaxing at the hotel. I'm hoping to have some good blogging time too. We'll also have lots of free time to spend together doing vacation-y things, and it's the refresher that I so obviously need right now. It was an unexpected trip that just came up in the last few weeks, and it's the sweetest surprise gift from the Lord. Pray for our travel and time together and for this mother's heart who is torn over leaving her son for these next few days. Satan is definitely trying to attack me with anxiety, and I'm just trying to fill my mind with truth as I prepare to get on that airplane tomorrow.

Thanks for your participation in the discussions of the last two posts. Loved it!

Halfway

Well, at least we're past the halfway point of the longest short month of the year!!! Does anyone else feel like this time every year, it seems that March will NEVER come?! Well, I'm starting to get optimistic that spring is just around the corner. But I confess I'm cautious about my anticipation of it. Kind of like my anticipation for the new Taco Bueno by my house that was supposed to open a year ago and once again this week, the opening date has been pushed back a couple more weeks. Ugh. I wish I could say I am overemphasizing my disappointment and despair, but I'm quite frustrated by it. Granted, food has been a very important part of my life lately. A little too important. I finally ventured out from my regular order at Schlotzsky's this week and ordered a chicken and guacamole wrap that was so amazing I actually could not stop thinking about it for that entire afternoon. Everyone I saw, I told them about the wrap. I couldn't help myself. I did draw the line on blogging about it that day, which was pointless since I am writing about it now. I'll spare you the details that I didn't spare those poor souls on Tuesday who had to hear about the wrap over and over. But anyway, I've been a little obsessed with the things I want to eat lately. I don't remember being this way as much when I was pregnant with Jonah...I think I was too sick to like food as much. Well, I like food now. A lot. And there's something wrong with the world when a girl can't just have a party burrito when she wants one. Ok, on to other things...

(Well, not yet, because there still is one more food-related picture below.)

Happy Belated Valentines Day, everyone!

If those don't look yummy enough, this little guy sure does....


Look, Brady is awake!!!Now, back to sleep. I hear he's doing a whole lot of that.

Love this picture of Maggie as the proud big sis:

And here's Blake with all three of his kiddos - Nathan, Maggie, and Brady:

Oh, I love that family. Just a few more weeks until I can see them. I know it sounds quite dramatic, but it feels like one of the longest waits of my life!! If everything goes according to everyone's plans...ahem...this is the last niece or nephew that I will ever welcome into the world, and I'm a little sentimental about it because being an aunt has been such a sweet joy in my life. I was blessed with some good aunts, and I hope I can be for these punkins what mine have been for me. My relationships with the sweet sisters of my mom's have grown even more special and deep as I've been an adult, and I am so thankful for them. It's such a gift to even be able to try to be that kind of aunt to the kids God has given me to...um..."aunt." (My way with words just gets better and better the longer I'm pregnant!) Thanks for letting me show off this new little one I'm just dying to get to know. And hold and squeeze and pinch and kiss. Watch out, Brady, I've got big plans for us when I get to Kentucky next month! Get ready for lots of cuddling.

Thanks for humoring me with my Hey Dude post. I'm so glad to know that there are some of you out there who share in my weirdness. You don't know how that comforts me! =)

Some of You Will Remember This....

I woke up the other night with this theme song running through my head. Don't ask me why. SO RANDOM! But I had totally forgotten about one of my favorite childhood tv shows....I had such a crush on Ted. Anyway, if it was one of your favorite shows as well, then I knew you'd appreciate hearing the amazing theme song. (You might be mad at me when you find it running through your head all the time...."It's a little wild and a little strange....when you make your home out on the range....") The first 35 seconds or so is weird, but then it goes to the song. Someone PLEASE tell me you liked it as much as I did. And if you have no idea what show this is, well, then, I'm sorry....you missed out. =)

The Beginnings of Parker's Nursery

Ok, this week I got the crib sheet we ordered, so I threw it and the crib skirt on the baby bed. Obviously, it needs some ironing work, but I had to just go ahead and see what the pieces looked like together, since I didn't know if they'd match. They do! I think I'm going to use a light pink solid-colored bumper with it. I have to admit....I'm really giddy over this!

Here's the sheet up close:

I've been blessed with some great deals on Parker's nursery bedding. So good that you wouldn't believe me if I told you. So I'm hoping that with what I save, I can splurge on something like this. Joel isn't exactly all the way on board with that idea yet, but I'm pretty sure he will be. =) So, for those of you who have been asking me about nursery decorating plans, there's you a little update.

One little thing about Jonah before I end this post....you know that old Sunday-school song that goes, "I've got joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart. Where? Down in my heart. Where? Down in my heart..."? Well, he's been singing that lately. But I've realized that the meaning of this particular fruit of the Spirit is going to be a little complicated for us to teach Jonah due to the fact that he has a great-aunt named Joy. The first time he sang that song on his own, he finished and then excitedly said, "Let's do Joe now," referring to my aunt Joy's husband, of course. He sang the entire song again but inserting Joe's name every time the word "joy" came up. Yesterday, I overheard him singing, "I've got daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy down in my heart..."
I do not doubt that this will make for some very interesting theological discussions at some point whenever we decide to address it. For now, it's ok with me. It makes me smile!

What a Week

First of all, thanks for all of your congratulations!!! It's finally starting to sink in that we're having a girl. What's embarrassing is that she already has her wardrobe started. Cute little girly things. That's the life now, I guess. As was mentioned a few times in comments, the name we have chosen for our little girl is Parker Jane. I am soooo wanting May to be here.

Last week Joel had back-to-back retreats to attend, so Jonah and I made a roadtrip to keep from being alone while Joel was busy with work stuff. So, we went to Houston, and our first stop was to stay with Angela and her little girl Payten in Katy for a night. We did lots of shopping, talking, and laughing. Angela is the kind of friend that it doesn't really matter how long it's been since we've seen each other, we know we'll have fun and have LOTS to talk about when we do get together! And that's how it was. She was one of two girlfriends in Bartlesville who had babies within a month of when Jonah was born, so we have shared many pregnancy and new mom memories....seeing her and Paytie just brought back so many sweet memories of that precious time in life when we were just starting out on the whole motherhood road and those babies of ours were teeny tiny. Oh, back when they didn't embarrass us by dumping huge containers of sprinkles all over the floor at Chick-fil-A or take off running away from us in the mall while we chased after them. Or, say, throw cat food all over the floor or, you know, fill a bathtub with water, splashing in it with their clothes on. Twice. Ah, yes....times have changed. We had such a great visit....by the end, Angela and I were two tired mommies though! Those two played and played and were so hyper and active together that they pretty much exhausted us. And Jonah's behavior warranted so many disapproving looks from strangers while we were out and about that I'm not sure I can face the people of Katy, TX for a while! They all think I'm a bad mom. I just know it. But they did provide so many laughs as well! Another friend who used to live in Bartlesville with us and has also moved to Katy recently, Amanda, met up with us at the mall with her sweet punkin, and it was fun catching up with her...although it really wasn't long enough. I'm kicking myself for not having taken pictures of all the kids together. I'm hoping I can get them to come for a visit soon and us all go to Canton one weekend! I mean it, girls!! Thanks, Angela, for hosting us - and for the bag of adorable baby clothes you sent us home with!

Following our time with Angela (and after several wrong turns leaving her house), we went to stay with my cousin Lacey at her cute apartment in Houston. We picked up food from La Madeleine and hung out at her place, talking and catching up. The next day was her birthday, and we went out for breakfast. Before we left, her parents arrived with birthday cake, so we all celebrated before Jonah and I headed back home.



And Jonah with a bow on his head: (Hmm...is this what Miss Parker might look like?)



It's so sad, but all my son ate that day prior to a 2:30pm drive-through run was a pop-tart, a cinnamon roll, and chocolate cake. I really do get the Bad Mommy award for last week. =) It was so worth it though...I had such a blast spending time with my son. He's used to long car rides (visiting Nanny and family in OK), but this was the longest trip that it's just been me and him. And he did really well! That was even minus the DVD player on the way home because I couldn't get it working. It's funny....the most content he was the entire trip was the 30 minutes we got stuck in traffic not moving at all when we first got into Houston on Thursday....he was fascinated by all of the big trucks and overpasses. City traffic was just a tad stressful for me, but it was so fun for him! Go figure.

Today was the first day of some pretty uneventful few weeks, or at least I'm expecting it to be. Last week before we left town, I rearranged a bunch of stuff and reorganized his toys. It's amazing how just moving around toys to new locations suddenly makes the old ones all interesting again! He played with his hot-wheels all morning long and didn't leave them until close to noon when he came to tell me he was hungry. This morning was a big first for our family. Joel got up with Jonah when Jonah awoke very early, but Jonah started playing with his cars and let me and Joel go back to sleep until 8:30!! It was amazing! It would be great if this were a new habit of his. I could get used to it. Of course, I'd only have a few months to enjoy, but I'll take it! Most of Jonah's things have been moved into his new room, and we will be starting the transition into the big-boy bed very soon. I had wanted to have it all decorated and ready before he moved into it, but I think I'm now ok with it just being a work in progress for a while (like all the rooms in my house!) because we're ready to make the move soon while our schedule is really slowing down for a few weeks. I'm sure you'll hear more about it soon! I'm more nervous about it than I was potty-training! Pray for us, if you think about it!! =)

Well, I'll just close with telling you how sweet the Lord has been to my heart over the last week or so. The several weeks prior to that contained several really intense battles for me. I was struggling to trust in the face of huge anxiety and was dealing with some very personal pain in regards to a hurtful relational situation. Contributing to those battles (or maybe partly due to those battles) was me grinding my teeth at night which resulted in a broken tooth. And I'm not normally scared of the dentist, but this time, I was terrified due to being pregnant. It sounds little, but it was a huge and very intense opportunity for me to put into practice what all the Lord taught me and reminded me through my Bible study last fall. I was broken, completely having to trust Him for whatever He had planned for the life of my baby....dealing with the very real fears I had that whatever dental work was necessary could harm my child and jeopardize my pregnancy. It was a tremendously hard place for me to be. So, for a few days I was definitely pretty emotional! But it was good. It forced me to fall at the feet of the only one who can really heal. And the only Scripture that kept running through my head when I was in a pit of anxiety was the sweet verse in Zephaniah that says,

"The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing."

So I decided to cling to it. And rest in it. Even while my emotions were a little crazy. And the amount of calming that the Lord did for me so soon after placing that Scripture on my heart just amazed me. I kept thinking how He didn't have to do that. He didn't have to take my healing by Truth so far into my emotional life...and so quickly. What I mean is that the healing wasn't the change in my emotions; it was the change in my perspective as my mind was renewed with truth (and my thoughts replaced by His.) It was a real blessing. And I felt it. And for that, I am thankful. The morning that I went to my ultrasound was the first morning in a couple of weeks prior that I awoke from having slept well and not feeling beaten down emotionally. I felt fresh. I didn't know what to expect at the doctors appointment - I think I probably mostly expected to hear some bad news. But what I did hear and see was far more exciting than receiving the news of this baby's gender. Finding out what it was wasn't what I was waiting for that day. I'm so thankful that beyond the blessing of seeing a healthy baby at this point, God also blessed me with sweet heart-encouragement throughout the experience....the kind that only makes me want more. So I'm just a little hungrier this week for the Word and for His presence. It's great how His grace works that way. What a motivator grace is.

Trick-or-Treating and Time for a Survey

Joel and I walked with Jonah to some neighbors' houses last night, and he really had a fun time. At one house, an elderly man answered the door and greeted us, and as he called for his wife to come get a look at Jonah, our little lion walked right in the door and stood in their front entry hall to wait for her. It was funny how comfortable he was! I guess he was just making himself right at home. When we turned to leave, we reminded him, "Say 'thank you,' Jonah" and he turned to look at them and enthusiastically said, "thank you Jonah!" It was a very hilarious moment for all of us.


Now, time for some business. I've had a lot of things on my mind lately that have made me think, "I need to blog about that." Some posts I've already started writing in my head. But this is what happens....everything comes at once and I get overwhelmed because I don't know where to start, and then somehow I end up not blogging for ridiculously long periods of time. I don't want to go a long time without writing something, so I'm asking for your help in knowing where to start. Below are some possible topics I'd like to write about:

• Thoughts on a book I'm currently reading called Beyond the Masquerade, Unveiling the Authentic You
• 
  
• My excitement over something I found out about the next season of 24. (All you fans/fellow obsessed ones, I am DYING over the new trailer for the 7th season. Just dying. Care to know why??)
• 
  
• Why my 2007 could also be called "the year of surrender"
• 
  
• A "review" of the movie High School Musical
• 
  
• How I would encourage The World to help a friend through miscarriage, if The World wanted to know
• 
  
• In anticipation of Oprah's upcoming most-popular-show, I'd like to share my very own list of favorite things
• 
  
• Thoughts on politics and the upcoming election - Can a conservative Christian who loves Jesus vote for a moderate/more liberal candidate? (Sure to be full of surprises. IF I decide to write it. I could very well chicken out of this controversial topic.)
• 
  
• Ideas for celebrating Jesus with your little ones at Christmastime. Hopefully creative.
• 
  
• Basic grammar/spelling help geared towards assisting The World in more effective usage of the English language. =)
• 
  
• Possible new once-weekly scheduled post, with installments focusing on the topic of "What I Saw in the Bible Today"

So, now....you tell me. What would you like to read about? Please leave comments, sharing your top-requested post-topic(s) or rank these in the order you'd find most interesting for me to write about. I'm aware that you're not exactly requesting anything from me. It's not like I'm promising them to be any more interesting or special than they've always been. In fact, I'm sure they won't be. Don't expect too much! But I'd still like help because I'm stuck in my decision-making process here!!!

Just know that I am on the verge of falling out of blogging if I don't get some direction here, so I will hold you personally responsible for my disappearance if I don't hear from you. =) Oh, and I'll only count the votes that appear via comments on my blog. Because I'm strict like that.

Happy November!

ABCs and Ephesians 6:1

Elijah and the Apples

It's really fun now that Jonah gets to go to a real Sunday school class at the church since being potty-trained. They do crafts and Bible stories and verses and all that! I knew the lesson today was on Elijah, so I was asking him after I picked him up what he had learned about Elijah. He said, "Elijah and the apples." I asked him several more times, and all the details I could really get from him had to do with apples. I kept thinking, "Hmm....I don't think there's anything about apples in the story of Elijah, but it has been a while since I read about him...." I was trying to think of some detail about Elijah that would clue me in to the apples, but I was coming up with nothing. So I mentioned to his teacher later that when talking about the Bible story about Elijah, Jonah was saying a lot about apples. She informed me that they went into another room for story time, and that room had a bulletin board that had apples in it. She noticed that the whole time they were teaching the story, Jonah was staring at that board and really focusing on that instead of the story. SO....my son had just mixed up his daydreaming with the teaching and associated the apples on that board with what they were saying. Great. We're going to have some really mixed up ideas of what God's Word says!

Today was the first day of our Shepherding a Child's Heart class at church, and I'm going to LOVE it! Today was all about asking the "why" questions about our children's behavior to get at the heart issues involved. I really want to make it a practice to constantly be thinking about the heart issue involved in whatever Jonah does and make sure to address that. I pray that God gives me that perspective all throughout the day, every day. We also talked about how hard that is to do if we as parents don't do that for ourselves and get at the root heart problems in our lives. We have to make it a practice, as adults, to deal with the things in our hearts that stand in the way of our fellowship with God, or we'll never lead our children there. What a good reminder to live in grace, or else I won't be imparting it. There was more, but I'm needing to make this a short post and get Jonah down for a nap. But I'm sure I'll be sharing more about this as the class continues!

I LOVE when God asks me to share my air conditioning!

Ok, so it's only happened for the first time this week, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. My friend Christa's air conditioning went out at their house, and since the air conditioner fixer people seem to have been inept at getting it fixed, she's spent the last two afternoons at our house with her three kids while they escape the heat. She says she feels bad, which is just so silly, because it's been such a JOY for me to have someone to just hang out with, let the kids be crazy and wild while we do our best to ignore them, and talk to each other as much as the munchkins will let us. Anyone who knows me well at all knows that I would love more than anything to hang out and talk to friends all day. I'd do it every day, if I could! Relationships are important to me. I feel that they are especially important during this season of young motherhood. I'm sure it's true for every season, but since that's where I am now, I can really appreciate the gifts that God gives in friendships with other women. It seems that God is blessing me here by bringing some great girls into my life, and I want so much to cultivate those friendships to a deeper level.

I have really enjoyed getting to know Christa and her family, and I am thankful that God is bringing more opportunities to get to know her better. I first met them soon after we moved here, and I recognized that this couple had such depth to their walks with God, and I was so impressed by their passion for Him. Truly their lives showcase to me God's grace in a big way, and it has been a huge encouragement. I feel like there is a lot I can learn from her. And she is just going to have to be my friend now, whether she likes it or not! Yesterday afternoon, I was holding her three-month old baby boy, and Jonah walked up and put something in my hand and asked, "What's this?" It was a little dark ball of something, and I told him I thought it was an old fruit snack that he must have found on the floor. Upon closer examination, I recognized an odor that would quickly indicate that it was not a fruit snack. Oh yes, it was a little ball of poop. Christa immediately grabbed the baby and I jumped up to dispose of it in the toilet, check Jonah's pants to see what he had done in there, wash my hands a bazillion times, and pray repeatedly and fervently that my son had not put it up to his mouth. We soon found another small ball of poop on the living room floor. I realized quickly that it was not a product of any of Jonah's activity, since he is not yet skilled in pulling his underwear and shorts down and up and there was no way he could dispose of one small poop ball without leaving evidence in his Spiderman undies. It looked suspiciously similar to Christa's daughter Rebecca's earlier diaper inhabitants when she had her last diaper change, so we eventually surmised that the "mystery poop" as we referred to it, must have escaped when Rebecca's dirty diaper was taken out to the trash. Don't know how that happens. Don't really want to know. But Christa, if you are reading this, now you know: you're stuck with me. I'm making you be my friend. And you can't say anything about it, because I held your daughter's poop IN. MY. HAND. It's a done deal. You owe me. =)

I've got to record video of Jonah soon, so he can perform for you a little bit. I'll need the technical support of my very computer-savvy husband for that though, and he's very involved this evening in the first college football game of the season. So I'll try to get right on that as soon as possible. Jonah is just getting funnier by the day. I asked him at lunch today if he thought it was going to rain. He looked out the windows up at the sky for a long time and then replied, " I don't see the thunder......probably not." Just adorable. And you wouldn't believe this kid's imagination. Every mealtime, he tells us that there are elephants under the table. Every time. He is always pretending something. It's pretty funny. It might be the first trait of his that resembles any part of his mother!!! I had quite the imagination as a child and some might say I'm still a little dramatic. Whatever. It's great that Jonah is that way, because it really allows him to play with one or two toys (which usually involves his farm animals or his zoo animals) all week and not get bored because his toys are "doing" so many different things every time. I'm loving it. Oh yeah, and one other funny thing he said this week....He slipped and fell in the kitchen, and I asked him if he was going to be ok. He said, "yes, I'm ok......I'm very happy," and he got up and kept going wherever he was headed. Oh, Jonah, you make your mama very happy.

Potty Training, The Diet Plan...

Potty training. It's the new diet plan. Have you heard? Get a jump start on losing weight by spending a week concentrating solely on your child going to the potty. You're watching your child so closely, tending to him every few minutes, so you really have no time to eat other than eating the necessary meals to provide sustenance. And even those have to be quick. But you're really distracted from snacking! No boredom snacking going on when potty-training, because there is NO TIME to be bored! And you don't lack motivation going to the gym, because you'll do ANYTHING to get out of the house for an hour when hubby gets home.

Brilliant, isn't it? Too bad it's already slowing down. Guess that's the bright side of when potty training takes a little longer to be successful. =)