A Day At The Park

We went to the park the other day with my dad for lunch. John and Pa fed a few ducks and John made some new friends on the playground. We met a squirrel who had absolutely no fear and John drove a fun, blue car. I love beautiful weather and letting my boy use up all that energy!

A Boy And His Dog

I'm not sure I've ever introduced our dog, Noel. Here she is in all her chubby glory. She's a beautiful chocolate lab that we bought when she was a puppy for Christmas the year we got married. John is just beginning to really enjoy her and she, in typical lab fashion, has a fun, sweet personality that works great with kids. I really think he could jump on top of her and she would be just fine with it. She is oddly afraid of small dogs and confined spaces. She will walk around a mound of dirt instead of going over it because of some strange phobia. Fear of heights, maybe? She loves to field balls when John's hitting them off of his tee. Sometimes she won't give it back, though. : ) I'm not really sure what standing on the picnic table and showing his belly had to do with anything, but I sure thought it was funny! These pictures are a little blurry because I was taking them through a window. I knew if I went out there it would change everything that was going on!

Funny E-mail

This is one of those e-mails that goes around every once in a while. I recently read it again and laughed so hard! John and I are big fans of maintaining a pretty serious level of insanity at our house. Most people would be fairly surprised at just how crazy we can be with absolutely no stimulants except our love for the funny and silly. We want our children to grow up with as much fun and laughter as we had in our homes as kids!

20 Ways to Maintain A Healthy Level Of Insanity

1. At lunch time, sit in your parked car with sunglasses on and point a hair dryer at passing cars. See if They Slow Down.

2. Page yourself over the intercom. Don't disguise your voice.

3. Every time someone asks you to do something, ask if they want fries with that.

4. Put your Garbage can on your desk and label it "In."

5. Put Decaf in the coffee maker for 3 weeks. Once everyone has gotten over their caffeine addictions, switch to espresso.

6. In the memo field of all your checks, write "For Smuggling Diamonds"

7. Finish all your sentences with "In Accordance with the Prophecy."

8. Don't use any punctuation.

9. As often as possible, skip rather than walk.

10. Order a Diet Water whenever you go out to eat, with a serious face.

11. Specify that your drive through Order is "To-Go."

12. Sing along at the Opera.

13. Go to a Poetry Recital. And ask why the poems don't rhyme.

14. Put mosquito netting around your work area and play tropical sounds all day.

15. Five days in advance, tell your friends you can't attend their party because you're not in the mood.

16. Have your Co-Workers address you by your wrestling name, Rock Bottom.

17. When the Money comes out the ATM, Scream "I Won! I Won!"

18. When leaving the Zoo, start running towards the parking lot, yelling "Run For you Lives! They're loose!"

19. Tell your children over dinner, "Due to the economy, we are going to have to let one of you go."

20. Take the weekend to recuperate from the long, stressful week.

Documented Proof

Okay, I have documented proof of exactly how things work when groups of families get together. (Of course, I didn't take pictures while the guys were holding the babies. That didn't serve my purpose. :) ) To give the guys some credit, this picture was taken before our game of Pictionary. Our small group is very excited about our newest addition, Cason Freeby! We can't wait for him to come join us on the floor!

The girls at small group

The guys at small group

Little John after small group and his bath getting in some Tiger Woods golf in the buff

You've Gotta Love Them!

Do you ever have moments where you just love your kids so much you can hardly stand it? I've been having quite a few of those lately as I try to treasure each day with my babies. I love being able to enjoy a toddler who talks and interacts with me while at the same time having a little baby to cuddle. I feel no rush for Kailey to grow into the next stage and yet I do look forward to the future with eager anticipation as I think of continuing to discover her personality just as I am able to do with John each day. Little John and I have been working together on his reading as well as all the counting, colors, shapes, animals, etc. that you find yourself discussing with a toddler each day. I love watching him learn! It makes me so excited for the years of learning we have ahead of us together!!! He is also already beginning to teach Kailey when he feels he has a bit of info she needs so I've already enlisted my biggest helper in her education. :) God is so good to me, and I feel overwhelmed with His rich blessings!

Bowling

We decided to take a little family outing last night and took Little John bowling. We went to Main Event in Grapevine which is nice because they don't allow smoking, the bumpers pop up on the lane for whoever wants bumpers, and Tuesday nights are half price. Tuesday nights are just a cheap night to go out in general with a lot of restaurants offering deals like kids eat free. As soon as we told John where we were going, he got SO excited and was dancing around making sure that we were all going to go. Lately whenever we say we're going somewhere he starts into, "Daddy going? Mommy going? Kailey going?" He had a blast and to my embarrassment actually beat me the first game. In my defense, I didn't have bumpers. :) The little man got the only strike of the night! Big John was off his game because he's usually really good. If you look closely you can see his neon orange bowling shoes in the pictures. I am a horrible bowler! I received some wise advice years ago when frustrated about my lack of bowling skills, "If you can't be good, have fun and look really cute doing it." I do my best.John's 6 lb. ball which he could handle quite well!

Watching the ball. It took a while to reach the end sometimes!

A little swagger once the pins fell down.

Of course, one of his favorite things was watching for the ball to return and lining all the balls up by color!

Encouragement

Sometimes I think that I was born a little bit needy. At this stage of life, I really do feel confident in who I am as a person and desire most for the Lord to be pleased with me. I have had a lot of practice with doing what I knew He wanted me to do when the rest of the world thought I was crazy. I have also learned that the journey with Him is the one I want to be on whether or not it includes fellow travelers walking the exact same path with me. This is one reason that I feel God called my parents to raise me the way they did. I was given constant support and approval for growing closer to God and learning about Him above all other achievements. I was encouraged to be an individual who answered to God and not to what was normal or easy to do. I truly believe that had I been in a different family or different circumstances, I would be a completely different person. I would have become whatever brought me the most approval. God, through His wisdom and my parents' obedience, gave me the perfect setting to grow out of my too-deep need for the approval of others and learn that His opinion is what truly counts. This has given me a courage I would have never thought I was capable of possessing. Now I can easily make unpopular decisions for me or my family as long as I know it is where He is leading me! I look forward with eager expectation to His results for those decisions! I have never ceased to be amazed at the far-reaching effects these decisions have had on my life so far! His ways are truly so far above mine!!!

That being said, I LOVE a good piece of encouragement from someone else, as I'm sure we all do! I was thinking about that this weekend because I had found myself at a place where I needed a pick-me-up. Nothing terrible or difficult was going on, just a lot of work and time and wondering if it was worth it. Star Time has taken a large time commitment from me and the numbers have been dropping pretty low. I'm not a big fan of determining success in numbers, but instead feel that sometimes God does big work in small things. However, on top of the drop, I had been getting a lot of feedback on what could be done better with very little said about how hard we were working! Shannon and Mike are pouring so much into their ministry to families, and we just want to bless those who are wanting to spend this time attending this service with their kids! Anyway, just as I was feeling all of this, Saturday night several small things were said that made such a big difference for me! The people who said them probably thought very little of it but it put a little boost in my tank to keep us going in this work! What sweet timing when I needed it most! This made me wonder how often I think something about others like how wonderful they are, how well they do something, how pretty they look, how much I enjoy spending time with them, but keep those thoughts to myself. All those nice thoughts aren't doing anyone any good sitting in my head! So, I've determined to say all of those things when I think them. I am trying to do a better job of expressing those things to others in order to encourage them. John and I spend time with a couple weekly who we feel does the most tremendous job of this exact thing. They are very honest with their praise and make others feel wonderful with what they say. Dwight is John's favorite golfing buddy because he's like having a personal cheerleader in your cart who laughs at all your jokes, and Tara is always sure to notice if you've worked on something or look good or even if your house smells nice! I love those little things! So John and I have been challenged to be more like Dwight and Tara in this area and we are working on it. So, to the Goodwins, thanks for showing us how it's done! I want God to be able to use me to encourage others and I don't think I can do that very well unless I take the time to open my mouth or pick up my pen and let you know!

Marriages: From New to Tried and True

Whew! It was a busy weekend! I hosted Carli's church bridal shower, and we had a lot of fun. She had a great turnout and was given so many beautiful gifts! One of my favorite things someone gave her was a new Bible with her married name on it! She loved it, and I thought it was such a sweet idea!

On the same day that Carli and Cameron had a party as they begin their new marriage, John's parents had their 40th wedding anniversary! Tonight we are having John's family over for a family celebration. It's amazing to think about having been married for twice as long as you were unmarried! It certainly makes our five years seem pretty short. I cannot possibly express my gratitude for the wonderful example of my in-laws. They are incredible people who have done a great job of modeling love, commitment, and family for their children. I am so blessed to have married into a family with so much love for each other and now for me and our children. I pray that on my 40th anniversary I can say that I have been the kind of wife to John that my mother-in-law has been to her husband. She is selfless, encouraging, loving, and always his biggest cheerleader. I love that about her! I also deeply appreciate the desire that John received from watching his dad to be a devoted family man. I know that I owe much of his commitment to us to the way he was raised and I constantly thank God for the security that his faithfulness brings to our little family! John and I have four sets of grandparents who all passed their 50th anniversary. This year our parents celebrate their 40th and 35th anniversaries. None of us will probably ever understand the impact those six marriages have had on us and the generations to come. Martin and Sandy, I love you dearly! Thank you for all you mean to our family!

Sweet Nappers

Yes, I know I am always talking about and posting pictures of my kids sleeping. To a stay-at-home mommy of a three-year-old and an infant, sleep is a beautiful thing. Sleeping children are especially endearing! I was cleaning today getting ready to host a shower on Sunday. I put both of my kids down for naps and when I went to check on them, this is what I found. For those of you horrified that my baby sleeps on her stomach, she can be put into her bed in any position and this is how she situates herself before going to sleep. Both of my kids have been very partial to their tummies and both have rolled over very early so it's pretty much up to them! I figure if they're strong enough to roll over, they must be pretty safe!A sweet girl with her teddy blankie!

I guess John was watching me as I cleaned and just fell asleep because he got still and quiet!

Apparently it wears a boy out to organize his trains in a perfect line!

Little John's Playlist

A few of John's favorite things to listen to at bedtime, playtime, car time, or dancing time!

• Psalty - John and I both grew up on this one. Full of fun stories and great praise and worship songs you're probably familiar with ("I Love You Lord," "Be Glorified," "Arky, Arky")
• Veggie Tales - anything Bob and Larry is welcome around these parts! He especially likes the Sunday Morning Songs CD and the Toddler Songs CD.
• Jordan's Songs - my brother-in-law is an extremely gifted musician, singer, songwriter, and producer. John is always asking to listen to his music. He has a great instrumental CD.
• Star Time Music - since we are constantly listening to and practicing the songs for Star Time, we get to spend lots of time in the car listening to these songs!
  

God Bless My Little Sleeper

Tonight it is very late and I am tired. All I can think about is how extremely glad I am that Kailey is a good sleeper! John was not and trying to get him to sleep through the night was a 6-month battle. Kailey, on the other hand, is already giving me at least a six or seven hour sleeping stretch at night before a quick feeding and another four hours or so. She also naps really well! I think God knew I needed the sleep with a super energetic three-year-old boy on my hands. So bless the baby girl who is lying peacefully in her bed after I sang her one song and put her there awake, and now will stay there until I've been asleep for several hours!

Prayers for my Sweet Friends

For those of you who don't know, my precious, courageous friend is struggling right now through a very difficult pregnancy where she has been extremely sick! That is actually an understatement. It makes my 36 weeks of pregnancy nausea seem like a walk in the park. She has a long history of some difficult hospital stays, etc. but right now seems especially hard! Just to give you a picture, she is in the hospital, her husband is working and taking care of things at home, they just closed on a house and have some remodeling to do before they move (yes, move) in a few weeks, both of their families are taking care of them as much as they possibly can as well as helping with their two-year-old son, who I'm sure is very confused about this whole situation! And I don't think any of them care about much of anything except Mommy and Baby being safe and well! My heart hurts for all of them, the kind of ache where I can only stop thinking about it for a few minutes before I feel the need to continue my ongoing prayer for healing for this sweet family! Please join me in this prayer!!! To read more about Christine you can click here to read her mom's blog. Her mom, Mindy, is my other sweet friend and my mommy heart breaks for her as she watches her baby hurt! I know that they are all exhausted beyond description. Please pray for Christine's complete healing, for supernatural strength for her and her family, for peace and comfort for their aching hearts (especially little Jack's), and also that we, their friends, will not miss one single opportunity where we could have made things a little easier for them!

Bedtime Prayers

Little John has recently decided that he wants both Mom and Dad to pray each night before he goes to sleep. It is so precious because he doesn't want to go to sleep unless he has both. He'll say, "Mom, you want to pray?" Are there two ways to answer that question? I didn't think so. Last night I bathed and put him to bed while John was talking to my brother after the rest of our small group had left. We read for a little while as the yawns got bigger and bigger and then I prayed. He said, "Daddy want to pray?" I went and got John and he went upstairs. Little John pulled him down, wrapped his hands around his arm and said, "Pray, Daddy." As John was praying, our little man went to sleep, content that both Mommy and Daddy had prayed. I love this! John and I both remember the very secure feeling of dozing off as our parents prayed. In my family, we would gather in the living room and each take a turn praying. You can imagine that by the time we got through all the siblings and to Mom and Dad, we were ready to doze off! :) It was such a peaceful feeling. One thing I am really looking forward to is hearing what Little John has to say to our Heavenly Father as he begins to pray his own thoughts. I'm not sure many parts of parenthood will get better than that!

Three Little Words

For some reason I recently began thinking about how often the words, "I love you" are said around here. I think because John and I both grew up in households where it was said to and by us constantly, that has rolled over into our family. I'm pretty sure I easily say that to my husband 10 times a day, Little John 15-20 and since Kailey's in that little baby stage where I feel it necessary to tell her every time I pick her up and she gives me that big grin, she probably hears it from me 50 times a day. : ) While this may seem slightly excessive, it is extremely important to me to say and hear these words as often as possible. I love that my husband tells me he loves me every time he leaves the house or hangs up the phone. I love that my parents have told me they loved me more times than I could possibly count. I love that my grown brothers and teenage sisters still tell me they love me on a regular basis. I love that my in-laws (and my husband's in-laws) tell me, my husband, and my babies that they love us all the time. I love that I have friends who tell me they love me often. I know that this may not be as important to my children as it is to me, but at least I will know that I have told them as much as I possibly could so that when those little doubts start to creep in, those thousands of "I love yous" might be replayed in their minds and hearts. I am determined for the times I've said those words to far outweigh the times I have to discipline or correct and at this stage of the game with a two-year-old, that's going to take a lot of talking!!! I want my children to understand a little bit of how much their Heavenly Father loves them even when He disciplines, corrects, and allows hardship for them to grow. Maybe that's even when He (and us as parents) are actually loving them the most. I pray that I will have a son and daughter who are quick to share their love for other people, even as teenagers and adults. We all hear enough other things from many places, we need constant reminders that we are loved! So, if you haven't heard this yet today, my friends and family, I love you!

Taking Care of Baby Sister

The other day I was in my bathroom getting ready when Little John came in upset because he couldn't find Kailey. I told her she was in my bed and he ran to check on her. He came back to tell me she was awake and this picture is what I saw when I walked in the room. He had brought Kailey her blanket, a toy, a book, and put her play gym next to the bed. She was set. Then he proceeded to read her Goodnight Moon. I got it on video and it was priceless. It did have this one part that I didn't remember. It had some yelling and macho noises and overall excitement in what I remembered as a very calm book. So, it was Goodnight Moon translated by John into what he thought it should be. Just a little more adventurous. Kailey will never be bored in this household!

Silly Sleeper

Here are two pictures of what I found when checking on John this week during his nap. He hasn't napped a lot lately, instead just having a quiet time in his room, but these two days he actually went to sleep for a while. He's a funny little man! He asked me last night if he could go to sleep with a basket on his head again. Apparently he put it there because he couldn't go downstairs. Go figure.

Two's Company

Well, here are the last pictures from our fun weekend. The bottom one of them playing the piano makes me laugh every time I see it. They just look so serious and like they're playing some concerto with plenty of feeling. John was asking me today where Emmitt was after sadly looking into the empty guest room. I guess it will be Emmitt's room until he comes back to see us. It is very special to me that now my son will be looking forward to their visits as much as I do. That's something that Katelyn and I dreamed about and now it's come true. We even have husbands who enjoy being together! So much fun. We miss you guys! I'm ready to start planning a visit that includes our husbands for next year!

Train Ride

On Sunday Katelyn and I left Kailey with Marmee and took the boys on a train ride from Grapevine to the Fort Worth Stockyards. They were very excited and had a wonderful time. They kept saying, "All aboard!" Of course the horses and cowboys were a big hit and having some peanut M&M's on the train was certainly not John's least favorite part of the outing. Yes, he's related to me. Emmitt took a nap on the train and John and I worked on a train sticker book that Marmee had found and sent with us.Making sure he doesn't miss anything going on outside the window.

It's not very often that my energetic boy has time to just sit in my lap. It was a treat!

I think the boys enjoyed the quarter rides as much as anything we did with them all weekend!

Emmitt got to pet the horses and went home with a Texan cowboy hat and pretend six-shooter.

Zoo Trip

We had a blast this weekend with Katelyn and Emmitt! It was certainly different than our old trips full of eating, shopping, and painting our nails. This visit had a lot more refereeing, strollers, chicken nuggets, and golf balls. The first day they were here we went to the zoo. It was fun and exhausting! : ) It was Kailey's first trip. The male lion was roaring at the top of his lungs, upset about something. I had never heard that before in all my trips to the FW zoo! Here are some of the pictures we managed to catch of the kiddos!A wagon for two silly boys

Kailey liked the flamingos

This elephant was playing with balls in the water!

Emmitt & Katelyn feeding the birds

The train ride was a big hit

Visitors

Little John and I have company this weekend. We have been so excited waiting for this! One of my best friends is here from California with her son who will be three on Wednesday. They arrived last night and yesterday was a super busy day getting ready, stocking the house with groceries, cleaning, etc. Here is my question for you. Why do we wait to do things until they have to be done and then run out of time? I thought of twenty things I would like to have done around the house over the last few days that I could have done any other time and not been in a crunch. Things like hanging pictures in the guest room, organizing a few things in John's closet, and cleaning off the patio. At the same time John has worked fifty hours in three days finishing the launch of their updated website that they have been trying to get done for a few weeks. They are leaving for a conference today and wanted the site finished before they went since it will be advertised there. Again, why have to pull all-nighters right before they leave instead of doing that last week or the week before? Human nature is so funny that way. It seems like we have to have a serious deadline in order to get things finished.

Well, we are trying to head to the zoo. You can imagine how quickly we are going to get anywhere this weekend with two three-year-olds and a baby. : ) I'll post some pictures soon of our big fun!!!

Playing Around

Most of the time my kids play separately. Obviously, the things that a two year old boy and three month old girl can do together are fairly limited. However, the other day they found a toy that they both liked. John was telling Kailey what the colors and animals were and making the balls spin around for her to look at. It was precious. It made me think of my brothers and the countless hours we spent playing together. They have so much fun in store.Later that day Kailey was playing in her crib. When I went to check on her, this picture is what I found. She was ready to go shopping! It made me laugh because you could almost hear her saying, "'Gymboree' or 'Janie & Jack' anyone?" I think she may be one of those kids who's up for socializing of any kind, any time. Hmm, I wonder where she would have gotten that? : )

Blogging Lessons

I've learned a few things from blogging almost every day for quite a while now.

1. When you really want to do something every day, you can find the time to do it. I tend to be a procrastinator at times so this is a good reminder to me to stop making excuses and make time for what it is I want or need to do. It's also a convicting reminder that I absolutely can find those minutes for a quiet time each day if it's one of my top priorities.
2. Sometimes being a stay at home mom can feel like days filled with the same activities which seem to revolve around meals and nap times. When coming up with something to journal or share each day, I realize anew how full this life is of the sweet, funny, unexpected, and treasured moments that come with raising kids.
   
3. People who have really funny stories about their kids often have them, not because their children are funnier, but because they know how to tell a really good story. Sometimes we get used to things our kids do all the time which are hilarious to other people.
4. It really helps me to get some thoughts out where I do not feel that I constantly have all these things going around in my mind with nowhere to go! Writing is extremely therapeutic for me.
5. I love it when people comment on my blogs. Then it feels like a conversation instead of me talking into thin air. Thanks for our little "talks," girls!
   

Housework

I have suspected something for some time and today I think I have confirmed that it is true. I like to do housework. I like cleaning, laundry, ironing, and even cooking! Now before you decide I am totally insane, I'm not saying that I don't have other things I would rather do or that I sit around longing to break out the Windex. I do, however, love the feeling of accomplishment that comes with most of the jobs around the house. I know they have to be done over and over again, but for a few minutes you have visible results for your hard work. I like to put on a good movie and get some ironing done where I can have fun and accomplish something at the same time. I like it when our drawers and hangers are full of clean clothes, the windows are sparkling, and my husband sits down to my dinner at the table. And I want to do it myself. It just isn't the same for me when someone else does it. It certainly has nothing to do with me being some kind of domestic goddess (far from it), I am just admitting that it isn't that hard for me to do because I enjoy the process. So, that's my admission for the day. I think I will probably also enjoy watching my children do housework. : ) Get ready, kiddos!

New Pictures

Kailey's pictures are up on Kristin's site for anyone interested in seeing them. On the page that comes up you click "Client" at the bottom of the screen and the password is "kailey." Kristin and I have some pretty funny stories after trying to get the two of them in the same picture. As you'll see, we did much better when they were separate, but there are a few good ones with everyone. She got some wonderful pictures of each of them, and now I have the difficulty of choosing!!! I have to pace myself. We are doing this every three months this year. Let me know if there is one that has your vote as the best.

The Saturday Marathon

I completely forgot to post yesterday. I just got busy doing several things and never thought about it! Tonight I feel a little brain frozen. Saturday is quite a long day for us. We are at the church from 2:45 until after service, and that's a long time with two small children! We are continuing to experiment with the best way to do things with Little John. We are enjoying doing Star Time, though, even though weekly preparation is a lot of work! We have had a difficult time with some technical issues with the sound, etc. and are continuing to pray that God will smooth the bugs out where nothing will distract from the message of worship and His character that we want to share with these families. It's amazing how God gives you the strength and stamina to do something like this when it's His timing for you to be involved in a ministry. I can always tell when I'm working on things where He wants me because I feel like I have extra time and energy in other areas to make up for the time spent for Him. Lately I have felt as if I had an abundance of time to get the daily things done which is nothing short of miraculous with a newborn and a toddler!
After the activity-filled day we have each Saturday, we always look forward to Sundays and having our small group in our home. Meeting with our group is one of the stress-free joys we look forward to each week. My biggest question for tomorrow is if I make chocolate chip cookies or snickerdoodles. Hmmm. Here is a cute picture of a few of our small group's young people socializing. This has all the kids in our small group except either of mine! I love Eva, Scout and Kyndall!

Closet Fanatic

I have a confession to make. I am a closet video game fanatic. I know. . . that's not normal for a girl. I seriously love playing them! We were at Best Buy last night and there were about five new games I really wanted to get. I definitely don't have time to sit and play by myself anymore, but it's something our family likes to do together.
I guess this came from growing up with brothers. It was never quite as much about the game for me as about playing it with other people. We would play, compete, laugh, and get frustrated together. We still play Mario Kart on family night sometimes, but we have to take turns because there are far more of us who want to play than there are controllers! Carli will make our ninth Scroggins sibling with in-laws and Little John plays too so that's ten. Pretty funny.
When I got married I played them with John. Before kids we would sometimes stay up until the wee hours on a weekend playing "Empire Earth" or our latest find. Now I play with my son. He has one of those educational games where he learns while he plays as well as really enjoying the active play of the Wii. I'm glad I know how to play those games because instead of Little John playing by himself, we can do it together. Maybe this will make me a cool mom. Either that or my son's friends will go home crying that I beat them at the games and wouldn't share! : )
So, I have confessed. I assure you I do not sit around the house doing this while my kids cry and the laundry is piled everywhere. I do however sometimes choose to leave the chores, sit with my son, put Kailey in my lap (she likes to grab at the controller), and play for a while. I may not be his favorite video game partner forever!

Are You Kidding Me?!

My parents and sisters are on a cruise this week. I'm so excited for the girls because they are there with their best friends, dressing up and having a blast! I keep imagining what fun they're having and how cute that gaggle of girls is running around the cruise ship. This is a graduation trip for the two oldest girls who will be graduating in May. I'm sure my parents are also having a great time with the other two couples who are a lot of fun to be with. Yesterday I showed Little John a picture of their ship on the internet and told him that Marmee, Grandpa, Caitlin, and Carissa were on that boat. He stared at it for a second, dropped his jaw, and said, "Are you kidding me?!" in this slightly disgusted, slightly surprised tone. It was hilarious. He sounds just like his dad sometimes.

Our favorite photographer came and took Kailey's three month pictures today. It was "wheels off" to borrow a Walton expression. Little John is NOT good with having his picture made. All of his cooperative abilities go out the window when the camera comes out. Amazingly though, Kristin will end up with these beautiful photographs of him that show absolutely nothing of the difficulty we had in getting them. Kailey did great but was much more serious than she usually is. She is so easy to get to smile or laugh but, once again, bring out the camera and total deadpan face. Hey, they come by it honestly. I am the most unphotogenic person I know. Kailey did very well with all of her wardrobe changes and us putting her in different positions in all different places, though. I can't wait to see them. I love pictures of my kids so much because I know how quickly they change and I love to look back and see how they were! I would rather spend money on pictures than almost anything else we buy for ourselves. My problem is getting them framed and displayed somewhere. I really need to do better with that. I love going to other people's houses who have lots of pictures of their family everywhere. Maybe I really like pictures (just not of me)!

Favorite Toy & Camera Hog

Sadly, I don't remember who bought us this toy when Little John was born. I would like to thank them again. If it happened to be one of you who reads this, I love you dearly. He played with it for countless hours and now Kailey does the same thing. It is part of our daily rotation of "solo" play time. I did that with John and he has always played so well by himself for periods during the day. Kailey is already doing some great playtime by herself as well. I'm very grateful. We love the piano!John decided to get in on the action when I was taking pictures of Kailey. I guess we've gone from camera hater to camera hog! We'll see how pictures with Kristin go tomorrow!

I love baby feet!

6 Weird Things About Me

My friend, Meredith posted six weird things about her on her blog. This was my response with six weird things about me. Looking at this, I realize that I am a strange person. There are probably much odder things that I just can't think of at the moment. What are some weird things about you?

1. (Meredith said she loved to fall asleep watching movies and this was my response.) I totally agree about the falling asleep during movies thing, but even more than that, I love to fall asleep in the car when someone else is driving. Like late at night when you're coming home from somewhere or on a Sunday afternoon. This started when we lived 30 minutes from everything while I was growing up and I loved to sleep while my dad drove us home from church or my grandparents' house.

2. I forget to eat meals sometimes. This has gotten better since I had kids but I just get busy and will completely forget about breakfast or lunch. John thinks this makes me the weirdest person in the world.

3. I was looking at pictures the other day and realized that I was still wearing several shirts I had in high school. I get rid of things all the time but I'm not hard on my clothes and sometimes have a hard time getting rid of them if they're still nice and fit well. When I saw those pictures, I promptly gave the shirts away.

4. I LOVE brussel sprouts.

5. I can ride any roller coaster or thrill ride anywhere but have a very odd fear of standing next to those glass walls on the second floor of the atrium at church. For some reason, the glass and looking down at the first floor freaks me out.

6. (Meredith said she loved to swallow big pieces of Bubble Yum and this was my response.) Your gum thing reminded me of something weird I like to do. I like to chew a piece of gum and then eat a Lifesaver or other hard mint while the gum is in my mouth. The combination makes a strange texture and taste that I like. But that does make me want to swallow the gum sometimes. I completely understand.

So, you had no idea you had such a weird friend, did you?!

Golf Enthusiast at Two?!

Little John has been cracking me up this weekend. He insists that he wants to watch golf on TV. I was turning it on for him to watch something yesterday and he saw the golf tournament on the channel so he asked to watch. He gets very frustrated when the commercials come on or they start showing scores because he only wants to see the guys actually playing. He keeps saying, "They almost hit the pin," or, "It's going to go in the pocket" (which is the hole). It is too funny. It's like he's a little man. John almost never watches sports so it's not something that is on much at our house. Occasionally he watches golf on the weekend which I enjoy because I actually understand golf and I think it's nice to nap during since the announcers are quiet and relaxing when they talk. I guess Little John is going to be quite the golf fan. He told me that he wants a golf, baseball, boxing, tennis birthday so I think we may go for a sports theme. Sounds easy to me! I may have a long road of sports equipment, weekend games, and smelly uniforms ahead of me! : )

New Denim

Something you may not know about me is that I have a very difficult time spending money on myself. It's a little easier for me to spend money on my kids or my house, much easier to spend money on my husband (he made the money in the first place!) and easiest to spend it on other people for gifts, showers, needs, etc. I can hear my credit card screaming, "Put me back in the wallet!" every time I pull it out. I also have a hard time allowing other people to spend money on me. Because of this, I rarely buy myself clothing. Every once in a while, John takes me shopping and makes me buy a new pair of shoes because he's tired of hearing me say that I don't like any of my shoes. He's kind of a clothes person and I love having him shop with me because he thinks I look good in everything. : ) Not a very unbiased opinion, I guess. If I shop by myself, I won't buy anything that's not on sale and I end up not liking anything I buy. I also do the, "I'll come back and get it," which I never do. I have pretty much zero confidence when I shop alone. I'd be much better off to wait and put a little money into something I love every once in a while. Anyway, I have been needing a new pair of jeans and we decided to go on John's lunch break the other day to the brand new "Buckle" at Southlake Town Center (John works in the building over the Gap there). So, we took both kids and tried on jeans. I got two new pairs and I LOVE my new jeans! I feel like a totally different person in them! That was long over due. I wear them all the time so it's really nice to have some I like. So, while I'm sure you didn't need to spend time reading a random blog about how much I like my new jeans, just remember, every once in a while it's good to get something that just makes you feel good whenever you put it on! I think this is especially important for mommies, and our husbands like to look at something new on us occasionally too! Hooray for comfy, feel-good, new jeans!

I Can't Fly

Yesterday morning I was putting on my makeup in the bathroom and Little John was playing in there with me. He had turned Kailey's bouncer seat upside down and was throwing balls through the stand, then he sat in it like a spaceship. He is extremely creative. Anyway, he was doing all of this and suddenly looked at me and said, "Mommy, I can't fly." This is a sad realization. While we are disappointed, we can still hope for other super powers to emerge at some point. We haven't ruled out elasticity or super speed yet. : )

I was thinking about this and realizing that it probably is a little disappointing as you discover our many human limitations and begin to see our weakness both physically and spiritually. I am extremely grateful that I have something to offer my child besides "the power inside of him." If that was all there was, this would be a sorry life. I can't wait to help him understand that he is more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ, that he can do all things through Christ who gives him strength, that in his weakness, Jesus is strong. These are the very real and miraculous super powers that I can promise my son he has beyond the shadow of a doubt! I can also already begin preparing him for the life we look forward to after this one where even his physical body won't have these limitations. He can put that creative imagination to work and never come close to the wondrous things awaiting us in eternity with God! Thank you, Lord, for what you give us. Thank you for your power at work in our lives!

Wake Up and See the Glory

I am a huge Steven Curtis Chapman fan and have been since the "old" days.  I love
his lyrics and the thoughts he gives about God and our walk with Him. I was
listening to this song yesterday and was struck again by the picture he provides
of the way we miss what God is doing because we're paying attention to such trivial
things.  Why would we play Gameboy standing in the Grand Canyon?!  I want to
wake up and see the glory.

I never did like the word mediocre
I never wanted it to be said of me, oh, no
Just point me to the top and I'd go over, over
Looking for the very best that could be
So.. what is this thing I see

Going on inside of me?

When it comes to the grace of God
Sometimes it's like

I'm playing Gameboy standing in the middle of the Grand Canyon
I'm eating candy sittin' at a gourmet feast
I'm wading in a puddle when I could be swimming in the ocean
Tell me what's the deal with me
Wake up and see the glory

Every star in the sky tells his story, oh
And every breeze is singing his song
All of creation is imploring
Hey, come see this grand phenomenon
The wonder of His grace
Should take my breath away
I miss so many things when I'm consumed with

Playing Gameboy standing in the middle of the Grand Canyon
I'm eating candy sittin' at a gourmet feast
I'm wading in a puddle when I could be swimming in the ocean
Tell me what's the deal with me
(I know the time has come for me to)
Wake up and see the glory

We Have a Talker!

It took a long time for my son to be interested in talking. He would more often just lie there and think about what was going on around him. He'd furrow his brows and take it all in. Now he talks up a storm but usually only when talking is needed. He talks to tell you he's hungry but less often just talks for the sake of telling you something. When he does, I love it. His thoughts are precious and his pretending is the cutest thing ever! Kailey is already showing signs of being the exact opposite. I think she just likes to talk. When she wakes up in the morning she starts and this morning talked solid for more than half an hour! I think she was talking to me and I didn't even have my eyes open! Right now she's lying in her crib talking to her stuffed animals. She'll talk to blankets, the wall, her brother, you name it. It's adorable! It will be nice to have someone who likes to talk. You might want to remind me of this when she's two or three and I can't make her stop talking for even a few seconds of peace. : ) I love watching her personality form already. These precious babies are like little treasure chests and it's so much fun to dig deeper and continue to find all the wonderful things inside as they grow. It is so special to me to be the one who so often gets to be the first to find out these things about them!

I'm Back!

Well, I think this household is finally over our junk. After Little John and I returned to somewhat human, Kailey came down with it. I've never had a baby this young with a fever. It was very sad. She kicked it quickly, though, and we're all fairly close to normal. I have missed my daily, therapeutic blogging so I will attempt to get rolling again. Thank you to all the sweet friends who have actually missed me! I will try to have some very interesting things to say. Right now all I can think about is being hungry. :) How's that for interesting?

Happy Valentine's Day!

After three weeks of posting every day I haven't written this week. I'm sure the two or three people sweet enough to read my blog on a regular basis are very disappointed! : ) Little John and I have actually been sick since Saturday and are still not feeling very good. I would appreciate your prayers for our continued return to health. Being a sick mom is a very difficult job, especially with a nursing infant and a sick toddler! I'm sure John would also appreciate your prayers that I'm well enough to do Star Time on Saturday or he's on his own with the girls!

We have postponed Valentine's festivities at our house until we're all well. To the rest of you who actually celebrated today, Happy Valentine's Day. Any time you think about love may you be overwhelmed with the love of our Father for you! Bask in the fact that He chooses you and says, "BE MINE!" What an invitation. I love you, sweet friends!

For Kailey & Hermie

Yesterday Little John picked out a toy at Target for Kailey. He apparently was very particular and didn't want all the girly things, he had something more fun in mind. He chose this cute little thing and wanted to give it to her as soon as he got home but she was asleep. He ran in her room and chunked the toy into her crib but, fortunately, she wasn't there. She was in my room in her bassinet. Anyway, he couldn't wait to give it to her and as soon as I opened it (and removed all the incredibly annoying little ties that kept it in the box!!!) he ran and gave her the toy. It was a sweet moment to watch. The final piece he decided to play with himself because it was a caterpillar and reminded him of Hermie. Hermie is very special at our house. If any of you haven't tried the Hermie videos, you'll have to check them out. I get a huge kick out of John saying, "Look, it's Max!" whenever Max Lucado does the introduction. Hermie teaches us lots of wonderful things about honesty, courage, God's design for us, obedience, and friendship. That's my kind of video.

Comparison

Here is a picture of Little John at a little older than Kailey is now. I just felt like comparing to see how much they looked alike. There are certainly big similarities!

Clearing the Air

Last night I had a conversation with people I dearly love just for the purpose of clearing the air. I felt like some healing needed to happen and I know that healing starts with humbling ourselves, so the Lord convicted me that I needed to start by humbling myself and then He could bring the healing in the lives of all of us. Have you ever had one of those conversations? The kind where it's sort of like a rain shower and everything feels so clean and smells so good afterwards? I love that feeling. I also love these times when the Lord prompts me to do something and I actually listen and act quickly. Why I don't do this more often, I'll never know. Satan throws so many lies my way about why I shouldn't mess with it or why it will just make things worse, etc. when all along he knows how good it will be! I claim to be doubting myself when I am really doubting God by my disobedience to His call. I am not a fan of hiding things, ignoring things, or even lying to avoid hurting someone else. That always ends up feeling worse in the end. It always hurts me deeply when I find out someone has been less than honest because he or she didn't want to tell me the truth. Bring the truth on. It's much easier to take.

My family tells stories about how hard it was to get me to say I was sorry when I was little. In my defense, I thought it would be lying when I didn't really feel sorry! I know, it's lame. This is one area where my precious husband has greatly influenced my life. He was always so quick to apologize and finally my competitive nature kicked in and I wanted to manage to say it first just once! Then I realized how good it felt and now the race is on. We usually manage to just stop before we ever get started, apologize, and move on. Now I love saying I'm sorry and getting my big "it's okay" hug (although I'm certainly not saying I don't ever revert back to my childish behaviors).

May we all accept the grace God offers us to keep the air cleared constantly so we are clean channels for the Lord to use in the lives of anybody around us!

"A Cup of Flour"

Continuing his quest to become the next Emeril, Little John pulled out my mixing bowls the other day and informed me that he was "making cookies." He kept using the little bowls to "pour" into the big ones while saying, "a cup of flour." It was so cute!

My Boy

I have to tell you that I love this boy (in spite of a particularly difficult week in the discipline department) ! He has been climbing into the crib lately when Kailey is not in it and playing with her toys. I was looking for him the other day and found him happily lying in the crib with her blanket on top of him and all of her stuffed animals around him. He was kissing Baby Pooh in this picture and has quite the model pose going in the bottom one.

Movie Time

Here are my sweet kiddos enjoying a Baby Faith video. If you haven't seen these before they are wonderful for babies and toddlers and teach them about the Bible using the music from hymns and some "Baby Einstein" type visuals. This was Kailey's first movie-watching experience and she loved it! The top picture shows her cooing at the screen. I know she's young but when Dad's gone at the men's retreat, you've got to do what you've got to do!

Commenting 1O1

Alright, this will be a boring post for those of you who blog often but I have decided it's necessary for all the friends and family reading this who have never used a blog before. To comment on a blog (to say how cute your grandbaby is, defend yourself, disagree with me, tell me how much you love me, etc.), you scroll down to the bottom of the post you are reading and it will say "Posted by Courtney" and a time. Next to that it says how many comments have been made about the post. Click those words and it will give you a box in which to type your comments. Since you don't have a blog, choose the anonymous option and make sure you put your name at the bottom of what you write so I'll know you left it. Then click "publish your comment" and voila, there it is. You'll also be able to read the comments other people have written. Welcome to the blog world.

Love Languages Lived Out

Okay. . . Part II. Why is is that things look so much cooler when written in roman numerals instead of normal, boring numbers? It's true. Anyway, continuing my thoughts from yesterday, here are some examples of people in my life who live out all of the five love languages. They might not consider these their primary ones but they certainly express love well in these areas!

• Words of Affirmation - My dad has always done this for me by telling me every day that he loved me, praising me, telling me he's glad I'm his girl, writing me letters that express his love for me, etc. I have been incredibly blessed to always have this kind of love expressed to me by the man in my life (and now my husband does a fantastic job of it too).
• Physical Touch - When my sister, Carissa, was a baby she would cry in the carseat (this was when we lived at the ranch and had to drive at least 30 minutes anywhere we went). The thing that would always calm her down was if we held her hand. I would start out in the front seat twisted around with my arm falling asleep and end up just moving to the back so it was a little easier! It was precious. Now Little John loves to cuddle with his aunt! My mother-in-law is also this way, always rubbing people's shoulders, hugging all of us, and showering her grandbabies with kisses and snuggles.
  
• Quality Time - My sister, Caitlin, does this so well. She is about to be 13 and at an age when most girls are thinking mostly of themselves, but she is always thinking of others. She is ready at any moment to completely drop what she is doing and spend time with me, my children, or anyone that she loves. She never thinks she has spent too much time with her family and always has more to give. When she is with you she is also very focused and pays attention and remembers details of what you are doing or thinking about.
  
• Gifts - My sister-in-law, Brittany, has this one nailed down. She pays close attention to what people like or need and can always find the perfect gift. This does not necessarily require a gift-giving occasion but can be just because "it looked like you." This also translates into thoughtful things like taking really good pictures of my kids and giving me copies or spotting something that I was looking for while she was out. Definitely the person you want to draw your name in a gift exchange!
• Acts of Service - This one is my mom. Growing up I don't think I ever fully appreciated the extent of this, but now that I am a mom I realize how MUCH she did without acting like it was anything out of the ordinary. Now I think about all those hours I sat on the dryer in the laundry room and talked to her while she ironed, and I realize that she was ironing all those hours! Even though I wouldn't consider this one of my primary love languages, it is something that I appreciate with all of my heart and it does make me feel very loved. The fact that she has driven to my house to help me clean up my carpet when Little John threw up all over the place is only one example of the things she is always willing to do! Moms are amazing!!! John's dad is also this way and is constantly giving his time and hard work to do things for others - even people he doesn't really know!

Yes, I know I didn't use my husband as an example on these. I honestly have a hard time putting him anywhere because he constantly shows me love in every one of these five areas. Unbelievable, I know. His primary love language is acts of service and he is completely happy if I cook him dinner or bring him a glass of water. This mostly expresses itself in the way he is always ready to use his many skills to bless others. I don't know how many friends and family members he has helped to fix their computers, set up their sound systems, or move into their house. And he is always doing something around here that needs to be done. The other day he was randomly over at our neighbor's house carrying something upstairs!

Looking at this list I realize what a blessing families are and how God uses them to show us love in all of these areas. Maybe as we grow we are supposed to be able to express His love in every area! The differences we all have make our lives together so interesting!

Love Languages

In our class on Sunday mornings for the last few weeks, Chris and Stacie Hatchett have been teaching on marriage. They've done a great job! They spent one Sunday on the five love languages from the book by Gary Chapman. John and I read this book together before we got married and it has been very helpful to us in our relationship. It was interesting talking about it again because we both felt we had changed a little in our strongest ones. We had a great talk about what makes us that way and how we feel about the ways we express love to each other. I know that this is also important with our kids and our conversation made me think - I would love to know my friends better and how they like to give and receive love. What is it that makes you feel loved and how do you tend to express it?

If you're not familiar with the love languages, they are:

• Words of Affirmation - Hearing those three little words and have loving things said or written to you, compliments, praise
  

• Physical Touch - Snuggling, sitting close, holding hands, being near those you love

• Quality Time - Focused time and attention, doing things together
  

• Gifts - Thoughtful gifts that show the person knows you and was thinking of you
  

• Acts of Service - Doing something where you don't have to do it, taking care of jobs, housework, chores, kids, whatever is on your plate

Apparently most people have one or two that are the strongest but usually appreciate any of them. I must be needy or something because I want them all! : ) If I stop and think about the ones I really can't do without, though, it would probably be words of affirmation and quality time with physical touch right up there. I've always been a note writer and wanted to say things to people I loved. I'm not afraid of being mushy. It has also taken maturing to teach me that someone can love me without wanting to spend a lot of focused time with me. I used to think that if we were friends, we would be together all the time. I also struggle with wanting all of John's attention. Even an evening doing two different things is hard for me even though he is usually great at paying attention to me when he's around. I'm also a MAJOR snuggle person and only keep that at bay because of the risk of embarrassment to myself or others. I'm sure John feels like he married a puppy dog sometimes because I kind of sound like I'm describing our labrador - she wants to be cuddled and petted, and she wants you to talk to her and play with her all the time! Maybe tomorrow I'll blog about the people I know who show these five languages the best because I know people who do all of these really well!

Meanwhile, while you are breathlessly anticipating my next blog, what is your love language?