Forgot to point this out!

On the last post, there was a pic of Caleb and I in our pjs. Caleb had red ones that had gingerbread men on them. Bryan got me pink ones with gingerbread men on them...totally NOT remembering that Caleb had almost the same kind! Isn't that funny?? We matched! (No, I did not get Bryan gingerbread pjs...would've been cute, though!)

Christmas fun!

We sure had a fun first Christmas with Caleb this year! On Christmas Eve, we went over to my mom's house and ate dinner and opened presents with Uncle Matt and Aunt Ashley. Caleb got REALLY sleepy though, so we left earlier than I would have liked. He got some fun presents, though, including this really cute bear and a stuffed octopus. He also got money to get a new carseat, because it won't be long until he's outgrown his current one (CRAZINESS!!!). My mom totally spoiled us by getting a poster we picked out at the Art Institute of Chicago framed. We put it over our couch and it looks so great. I'll post a picture of it later. Our church had a Christmas service the previous Sunday, so they did not have a Christmas Eve service. We went home and Caleb CRASHED!!
Here are some pics from Christmas Eve:





Then, on Christmas Day we got up early to open gifts! Santa brought Caleb a toybox that matches his nursery!! He also filled his stocking with goodies like teethers, small stuffed animals, etc. He "opened" his other little gifts from us as well. I was SOO excited because Bryan got us tickets to go see "Wicked" in January in Louisville!! He also lined up a babysitter and everything. I totally didn't expect it, so I was very surprised. We opened all our other gifts, hung out, and then left for Northern Ky to see my dad's side of the family. We had a good day--Caleb was the center of attention, for sure! We kept trying to get him down for a nap, but then someone new would want to see him, so he was pretty sleep deprived! :) It was good to see everyone. We ate yummy food, opened presents, and hung out together. We left around 7 due to Caleb's sleepiness/fussiness...he slept the whole way home! All in all, it was a great holiday that was especially meaningful to me this year with having Caleb. I felt more like I know how Mary must have felt toward Jesus...that pure, unconditional love that is unlike any other.
Here are some pictures from Christmas Day.

Some recent pictures

Update

Tonight was so fun! My mom watched Caleb while Bryan and I met my brother and sister-in-law for dinner at Logan's--I got the yummy steak salad--and then we went over to their new house and played games. Their house is really cute and I loved seeing their dogs Lucious (sp?) and Sophie. We found out Lucious got into one of their Christmas bags for Caleb, got out the toy they'd gotten him, and destroyed it! We played Simpsons Clue (fun!) and Scene It on XBox. I lost TERRIBLY at Scene-it and Bryan won Clue! I would have liked to have played Scene-It again but we had to hurry back to relieve my mom of her babysitting duties!

I finished up all my Christmas shopping this week, PHEW! We bought Caleb a toy box that matches his room decor-it's so cute! We also got him a plastic bib, a Christmas outfit, some little teethers, and a wonderful book called "God Gave Us You." Oh, and this awesome wooden block from Craft-E-Family that has his first initial engraved, along with his date of birth, time of birth, length, weight, our names, etc. It was very inexpensive and had free shipping! I was so impressed with it-I will be buying one of these for anyone I know that has a baby in the future, and I highly recommend them!

On Thursday night I went to a Christmas dessert party with some girl friends from church. It was a lot of fun and we had two little boys (aged 2 and 3) who decided to streak!! It was so, so funny. Boys!! (What am I in for??) I made a chocolate chip pie from my friend Liz's blog (see sidebar under Liz's recipes). I think she calls it a Tollhouse Pie. It was so so good!!

Looking forward to the Christmas program at church this weekend and hopefully taking Bryan and Caleb to see Stephanie's amazing Christmas trees!! Oh, and good news-my friend Suzanne from college just found out she is having a BOY in May!! Woo hoo!

Snow day!

Well, yesterday was a snow day, but it was business as usual around here! I kinda missed the whole, "Are we gonna have school??" thing (complete with sleeping in), but it was still fun to look outside and see snow. I was glad I didn't have to get out in it, that's for sure...I'm a nervous driver as it is, and bad weather sends my driving anxiety into overdrive! So I stayed in, made Amish friendship bread which was SOOOOO good, wrapped some presents, played with Caleb, etc. while Bryan studied for his finals that are tomorrow. We also got a surprise visit from my dad (Grandpa!) who was in town briefly. That was fun! Bryan went to his men's group at church last night and I spent forever trying to get Caleb to sleep! He finally fell asleep at 10:00...phew!! I don't know why that was the case, but it wore me out!
I forgot to mention, on Monday night I went to dinner with 2 teacher friends, and then went to one of their houses to see her 17 Christmas trees!! They're all a different theme-it's pretty amazing. And her house is not that big-probably a little bigger than ours!! I'm going to bring Bryan and Caleb to see them on Sunday I think. It was fun to reconnect with them and get the scoop on everything going on around school these days. I miss seeing them all the time, but wouldn't trade my current situation for the world. :)

Such a big boy

Here are some pictures of my little boy eating some rice cereal this week! He's such a big boy these days! I just do the rice cereal every once in a while-we're waiting until 6 months to really get serious about it. He just looks so happy here!

Cable

The cable guy came yesterday. I watched old episodes of Full House yesterday afternoon (I'm talking, Michelle was a BABY), then Bringing Home Baby and Take Home Chef on TLC. (All while Caleb was napping, of course!) Sweet bliss!!! Thank you, dad, what a great gift! :)

5 months!!!

Today is Caleb's 5 month birthday! Wow!! One year ago on the 10th was our very first ultrasound-he looked like a little upside down monkey/peanut. It is SOO hard to believe that was one year ago. We were only beginning to grasp the idea that WE WERE HAVING A BABY! Now we have this awesome little baby boy who is reaching, grabbing, giggling, drooling (like a madman!), trying to sit up on his own, loving "standing", enjoying his baths now, and generally making me happy to be alive each and every day. I mean it, the world could be falling down around me, but when I go in to get Caleb out of his crib every morning and he smiles in recognition at me, it makes it all worth it. What an amazing love to experience, and how extra-cool that it's happening at Christmas time. I never understood the love Mary must have felt for Jesus until this year. In my Bible study we talked about if she knew what his fate would eventually be, and how she would be able to stand that knowledge. I cannot even begin to imagine.
Today I rounded up a bunch of things to give away to this Christmas store our church is participating in--games, books, etc. that we no longer use, and it was so fun knowing someone else will get enjoyment from these things. We hope to make it a yearly tradition, because the Lord knows how abundantly blessed we are!! :) This is something that was modeled really well for me, and it feels so good to be able to do it. We're hoping to actually volunteer at the store as well. It's a really cool idea. I also wrapped a few of Bryan's gifts today, as well as a gift for our life group Christmas party. It gets me so excited! UPS dropped off a couple more presents today, too...I have to say, this online shopping thing is GREAT, esp. with a little one who I'm not always ready to cart around the mall.
Today I saw my brother and his wife Ashley, who just moved to Lexington from Richmond. They hadn't seen Caleb in quite a while, so they stopped by and hung out for a little while and played with him. They ALSO brought me seasons 1 and 2 of Jon and Kate Plus 8 and a season of Everybody Loves Raymond to borrow; woo hoo! We're getting cable as a Christmas gift this year and I must say how excited I am to get TLC again! AND ABC Family. Bryan is especially pumped for the History Channel and the Discovery Channel. Maybe we'll save money on renting movies!

Weekend update

Is it already Sunday night?? How does that happen so quickly?? :) This Friday night we went to Bethlehem Revisited at a church in Versailles; it was pretty neat. They had the church all set up like Bethlehem, complete with a marketplace, animals, lepers, etc. and of course a sweet manger scene with a real Baby Jesus who was so tiny and sweet it made me tear up! We also sang some carols and listened to a short message. My mom watched Caleb and I'm glad because we had to wait in a pretty long line, and he wouldn't have "gotten it" anyway. We ate at Ramsey's afterwards and I got my FAVORITE thing there; chicken and dumplings, YUMMY!!! My stomach is growling right now just thinking about it.
On Saturday we didn't much of anything. I made homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese from www.allrecipes.com. They were pretty delicious. We rented "A Muppet Christmas Carol" and "The Santa Clause". Can you believe I'd NEVER seen "The Santa Clause"??? It was cute, and I love the Muppets in anything, so that was a sure winner. Caleb fell asleep right when we would leave for church, so we decided to wait and go in the morning.
So we went to the 11:30 service today at church...the message was about love; God's love that was shown to us at Christmas, and the amazing ways in which Jesus fulfills so much of the Old Testament prophecies. He also talked about giving to others this Christmas. Next week they are doing SIX weddings as a part of the message series, one at each of the services, plus an extra one in a separate building at the 10:00 service. It should be great! Think of all the wedding gifts they're going to get...thousands!!!! Whew!
After church we came home, Bryan studied for a test and did some paperwork, I played with Caleb, we went to life group, ate yummy tacos, and came home. Got Caleb to sleep, read some more of "New Moon" (not so sure about this werewolf thing at the moment), and need to go to bed now!

Looking so cute

I was getting Caleb ready to go this morning, and snapped a couple pics because he looked SO cute. This little "snowsuit" (since it WAS snowing this morning briefly!!) was actually my little brother's! It's a little big on Caleb, but that's ok because that is a rare thing! Enjoy!

Good words for today!

Here's what I'm reading today: "Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life...you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious-the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not to curse." Philippians 4, The Message
What great words...it makes me think about that old hymn that says "Oh what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer". This goes right along with the sermon from this past weekend. I am really working on filling my mind with those GOOD things...right now those things are: my precious baby boy, the real meaning of Christmas, the unconditional love I have for Caleb, my incredible husband, my great friends and family, yummy food, how blessed we truly are, God's love for me, His searching my heart and teaching me new things, even when they hurt (that's called growth!), His forgiveness, His Word, uplifting music, books, etc. I am determined to rid my heart and mind of JUNK and fill it with these good things, so that out of my mouth and heart will flow GOODNESS, kindness, sweetness, and love, not bitterness, anger, jealousy, lies, etc. God is really working on this heart of mine right now, pruning it and reshaping it to (hopefully) look more like His. It's not always pleasant, but it will be worth it, because more than anything I want to look like HIM in all I say and do. Especially now that I have little eyes that are watching me. :)

90 Minutes in Heaven

Have you heard of this book, 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper? A lady I know let me borrow it yesterday and I'm already almost finished with it!! It is a true story about a Baptist minister who was in a terrible car wreck in 1989 and actually died and was dead for 90 minutes. He went to heaven, and talks about what it was like. It is really amazing!!

Bolt

GREAT movie!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) Bryan and I saw it yesterday and it was too cute. Definitely a must-buy when it comes out. I highly recommend it, you will fall in love with this "awesome" dog!

Good words

Words I am meditating on this morning..."Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your REAL life, is with Christ in God...and that means killing off everything connected with that way of death...it wasn't long ago theat you were doing all that stuff and not knowing any better. But you know better now, so make sure its all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk..now you're dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with His label on it...So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It's your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it...let every detail of your lives-words, actions, whatever-be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way." Colossians 3, The Message
I want a heart like this-thankful, loving, kind, forgiving...my life is hidden with Christ in God and I am a NEW creation. So I MUST act like I am. I must put off the worldly way of dealing with things: bitterness, rage, malice, jealousy, etc. and try to be like Christ. Lord, teach me to have YOUR heart today, forgive me when I have fallen back into the old life, and give me a fresh perspective. Help me to make You proud in all I say and do. I love You.

My little Thanksgiving turkey

Isn't my little turkey adorable?? He slept most of the day, but he looked cute regardless. :) The feet of those pjs say "Gobble gobble"...so cute!! He seemed content with his bottle this year...soon he'll learn about foods even yummier than bottle...mashed potatoes! Sweet potato casserole! Rolls! Turkey! Stuffing! Pie!
The day after Thanksgiving, we put up our tree, complete with new ornaments for our new addition...so much fun. He LOVED looking at the lights. Heard a great message at church last night from Mike Breaux (LOVE that man!) about having peace instead of panic in your life. He talked a lot about the verse that says to think on what is pure, righteous, true, holy and to pray continuously. I woke up this morning and literally shifted my mindset to do just that, and it made a great difference. I also saw a sorority sister of mine at church-she was one of my "little sisters"-and that was so much fun! I know she was pretty strict Catholic in college, but she said she'd been coming to Southland with teacher friends and really enjoyed it, so that was a pleasant surprise!! She is very sweet and I had missed seeing her. Oh, and we sang my new favorite worship song last night-"Hosanna"-I believe it is a Vineyard song, and it's just plain awesome. Going to see "Bolt" today with our free movie tickets Bryan got for donating blood this weekend...hope it's good!!!

Thankful post

As I reflect on this year, I think about what I am thankful for. There are so many things, but I wanted to name a few.
1. Of course, the love and grace of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He rescued me from the darkness, turned my weeping into rejoicing and dancing, and I am eternally grateful. He is my Maker, my Savior, my Father, my Lord. I am not who I was. I am His.
2. My amazing husband, Bryan. He loves me unconditionally and thinks HE doesn't deserve me. HA! I couldn't ask for anyone more perfect for me, who I want to grow old with, and who I know will be an absolutely amazing example of what a Godly man is to our son (and future children!).
3. My baby boy, who just a year ago I was finding out existed. We told my family on Thanksgiving day the good news-hard to believe that was a year ago, and now he is here, and growing and changing each day. He is an enormous blessing and I want to give him the best life I possibly can. God is so good to have heard my cries for a baby, and an answer them.
4. Family and friends. Couldn't do life without 'em. Specifically our new life group who help us out in the most practical ways with having a little one. I am also thankful for "old" friends who have seen me through so much, and love me so unconditionally. It's so fun to see how God is blessing their lives as well. I'm thankful for older, wiser women who teach me things and help me grow.
5. Our church. I love Southland and the people there, who really strive to BE the church in our community, not just warm a pew and pass the offering plate every week. I love Jon's HUGE heart for the world, for people to come to know the REAL Jesus. I love the worship. I love being a part of something bigger than myself. Southland has had a huge part of my heart since 1998, and when I was baptized there in 2005 it was like coming home.
6. Our little home. It's not much, but it's home. It's where I lived right before we got married and ever since. I certainly can't wait to own our own home, but God is good and where we are is good. I'll never forget this place with so many memories...Christmases, bringing the puppies home, coming home as a married couple for the first time after our honeymoon, romantic nights, saying goodbye tearfully every night BEFORE we got married (that really stunk), running to the bathroom to show Bryan my positive pregnancy test, cooking surprise meals for Bryan, getting the nursery ready, bringing Caleb home from the hospital for the first time, the list could go on and on. I'll be very tearful the day we move out.
7. Our doggies. They can be hyper and crazy and they sure do poop a lot (not to mention all the things they destroyed when we were puppies), but I love them. Cooper is the most empathetic dog I've ever met--he literally comforts you when you're down, sick, whatever...and Bentley wants to be curled up to you no matter where you are. Bentley was our first "baby".
8. Our country. We live in the greatest country in the world, I'm sure of it. Sure, we have our problems and there are times I worry about the future of our country, but...we have freedoms other people elsewhere would do anything for. I don't have to hide out to read my Bible or go to church, and that's huge. The right to vote. The right to speak our opinions freely. The opportunities we have in America are fantastic, and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.
9. My education. I am so grateful to have gotten to go to college debt free. This education gave me a job teaching precious little ones about everything from reading to multiplication to how it is important to pray for others. It introduced me to a school that has such a special place in my heart that I one day hope to be able to send Caleb there so he can encounter these women of God who want to develop a spiritual maturity in little ones to help guide them in life. What a privilege to be a part of that. At UK, I got a great education (minus a certain calculus class that was horrible and an education class that was beyond pointless hahaha), had wonderful experiences in the sorority and campus ministries that I wouldn't trade for the world. Those years shaped me. I went in a naive, pretty judgmental girl and came out wiser, with a better heart and perspective on life. Those 4 years went by entirely too fast.
10. The fact that I've been so blessed to have seen so much of the world. Through family vacations, mission trips, trips for fun with Bryan, etc. I have seen amazing things in this world. The beaches of Jamaica, the rainforest of Costa Rica, the beauty of the Redwood Forest, the Swiss Alps and breathtaking Austrian mountains, the green fields in Northern Ireland complete with wild horses at sunset, the mountains of Eastern Kentucky that house the camp where I came to know Jesus for the first time, the ancient Grecian ruins, Niagra Falls, majestic windmills in Holland, the London Bridge, Louvre, the busy streets of Dublin. And the PEOPLE-these amazing people in Costa Rica who own NOTHING of worth, but have hearts overflowing with love and gratitude to God...what a lesson they taught this selfish American teen. Irish teens who spend their free time in coffee shops playing live music to teach these strict Catholic or Protestant teens about Who God really IS and how uninterested in labels He is. I could go on and on, but I feel truly blessed to have seen so much in just my short 29 years. This IS my Father's world, and to explore it is true bliss.

Ok, so I could go on and on. I'm thankful for chocolate, and coffee, and Diet Mountian Dew Code Red. I'm thankful for music and laughter (specifically Caleb's), happy memories, and BOOKS, definitely books. I'm thankful for people I can look up to and learn from. I'm thankful for jeans, movies, soft sweatshirts, sunrises and rainy Sundays. I'm thankful that when I don't want to get up in the morning, I go in the nursery, look down at Caleb and see his face light up with smiles when he knows mommy is there to greet him. Life is good, God is good, and I just wanted to say, I am thankful.

Professional Christmas Photos

We went today and got some great pictures made! We picked out 2 to put on our photo Christmas cards we had made-I won't tell you which ones in case I am sending you one! :) Caleb was SOOO good the whole time we were there, which was a long time! I love the ones where he's smiling. Here are a few of them-there are more, but these are some of my favs. He's so stinkin' cute!!!

Some recents pics of my baby boy

YUMMMM Zuchinni bread!!!

I was SO Betty Crocker today! I was making homemade chicken noodle soup when I remembered I had zuchinni in the fridge that we hadn't used. I didn't want it to go to waste, so I googled what I could do with it, and decided to make bread! I had never heard of grating zuchinni before, so I had to learn how to do that first! Anyway, it was pretty easy and it is SO yummy! I found the recipe on www.allrecipes.com. Next time I would use some applesauce to cut down on the oil, and I added some nutmeg, but overall, delicious! Warning-this might be my Christmas gift this year to you! :)

INGREDIENTS
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups white sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F ( 165 degrees C). Grease and flour two 8x4 inch loaf pans.
In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and frothy. Mix in oil and sugar. Stir in zucchini and vanilla. Combine flour, cinnamon, soda, baking powder, salt and nuts; stir into the egg mixture. Divide batter into prepared pans.
Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until done.

Woo hoo!

Caleb is now napping in his crib!!! There are times I want him to lay with mommy for sure, but it's nice to know I can lay him down and get some things done around the house if I need to. He's getting to be such a big boy!!

A new look!!

Do you like the new look of my blog??? I had so much fun designing it!!! I can't wait for a Christmas background!

This weekend

This weekend the weather was GROSS!! But we managed to have a pretty good one regardless. On Friday night, I had a Thirty-One party, and it was really fun to hang out with the girls from life group until late that night (even though I missed my family!). Then on Saturday I had another party that unfortunately was a waste of time, but it was still good to get out there and get exposure. I really regretted being away from Bryan and Caleb that day. Once I got home from the party, I hung out with my "boys" then that night Bryan and I went to dinner and a movie-we went to Corky's for dinner (I had to have SERIOUS self control to not order the fried pickles!!) and saw "Fireproof"...it was SO good. First of all, Kirk Cameron? That was such a blast from the past! The message of the movie was so great--about keeping your marriage strong by basing it on Christ...showing love and respect for your mate on a daily basis, dying to self, and never leaving your partner behind. I came away from the movie overwhelmed at how BLESSED I am...it's almost unreal. I prayed for a good Christian man who would love me like Christ loves the church, and boy did God answer my prayers. Is Bryan perfect? No, of course not...but he is perfect for me, and he is more than I ever imagined I'd have in a husband. He makes me want to be a better woman/wife too. There is a companion book to the movie called "The Love Dare" that I want to get-a friend of mine's Sunday School class is doing it all together, and I think that would be so fun. I highly recommend this movie!
Anyway, on Sunday we woke up to SNOW and really didn't want to take Caleb out in it since he's been kinda sniffly, so we stayed in, ate breakfast, cleaned, Bryan ran errands, etc. My good friend Laura and her hubby Tim came over briefly (they live in Nashville) to see us and Caleb and then we headed out to life group. We ate yummy homemade lettuce wraps and just hung out and had a great time. So, overall it was a good weekend! Next weekend my grandma and aunt are coming down from Northern Ky--they haven't seen Caleb since he was about a month old, so I'm excited for that!

Milestones galore

So, I forgot to mention that Caleb rolled over this week during Grandpa's visit!! He hasn't done it since. :( We also tried rice cereal again...still didn't love it!

Feeling better today

Ok, I think I was having a weird, PMS-y moment last night when I was all discontented and such...I'm feeling much better today. I've just always struggled with wanting the next big thing...marriage, a baby, a house...instead of living in the moment like I should. Plus, I've just been plain envious of what some of our friends have, which is just plain wrong. Bryan and I talked, and we KNOW God is going to give us the desires of our hearts...a nice (nothing fancy!) home for our children to be raised in, a Christian education, fun family (and just us!)vacations...we just need to be patient, so we don't get stuck with something we can't afford and can't get out of. It might be a couple more years, but I know it will be worth it. :)
And we really do have so many blessings...I don't know many people who have BOTH grandmothers in the same town-we are so blessed with that! Plus, I really truly have the best husband there is, I'm sure of it. Noone else could be so patient with me, so hands-on with our son, so giving, loving, romantic, unselfish, and such a man of God. Who am I to complain, seriously?? Like Bryan says, we'll get there. We're being smart, paying off debt, not using credit cards, no car payments, etc...doing the Dave Ramsey thing...I can't wait to be able to use our finances to BLESS other people and give, give, give it away. Maybe even adopt a little one someday? Only God knows the plans He has for us, and it's so exciting!!!
Sorry to ramble on and on. Just wanted to clarify my feeling much better today after gaining some much needed perspective. God is good. We are blessed.

Discontentedness...

I am feeling very discontented with my current living situation and just needed to vent. For some reason this week, I have been bombarded with thoughts of "why don't we own a house??" "our house is SO small!" "we're never going to buy a house!" "I'm too embarassed to invite people over because EVERYONE has a bigger/nicer house than we do!" "everyone thinks we're poor" I know that once Bryan starts working at the hospital while staying on at church (a HUGE blessing)we'll be able to start SAVING for a down payment, but that seems like forever and ever away. It's just a matter of patience and waiting till we have enough to get something we really like. Our place right now is fine, I LOVE the nursery and the location, but I just long for a place of our OWN. And to not have to throw money away every month on rent. Bryan's devotion this morning was actually about jealousy, and how it is pointless, since life is not about how many possessions we have. I KNOW this in my head. I KNOW that "storing my treasures in heaven, not on earth, where moth and rust destroy" is what I'm supposed to be doing. So, I need some peace tonight...and some perspective. I have a wonderful, loving husband who is a great father to my precious blessing of a baby boy-something MANY people would give up their own houses for-Bryan has a good job and school is being paid for by the hospital, our moms babysit anytime we ask, we have a great church and friends who help us out when we need it, and most of all, we have our relationship with God, Who sustains us and blesses us tremendously. I have nothing really to complain about. We're rich in comparison with most of the world, who would give anything for our little duplex. And we're rich in many other ways, none of which are materialistic. Ok, that's all for now...just needed to write things out so I could gain some perspective. :)

4 month doctor's appointment

I took Caleb for his 4 month appointment today-turns out he is in the 98th percentile for length and 77th for weight...he is a LONG BOY!!! No wonder his 6 month clothes stop at his knees!!! He did very well and only cried for a couple of seconds after his shots. I got a LOT done yesterday besides the doctor's trip! Dropped off some sweaters at the dry cleaners, 2 bags of clothes at Goodwill, bought things for the shoebox we're sending (Samaritan's Purse-Operation Christmas Child), and a bunch of other small things. Then last night I had an open house for my Thirty-One business-it went well...let me know if you would like to order anything! It was a good day!

4 months old!

I cannot believe my baby boy is 4 months old today!! He is grabbing at things, studying them, "talking" in his baby way, smiling, laughing, holding up his head great, and halfway rolling over. He also likes to "stand" when I hold him on my lap...it's so cute. We tried some rice cereal today and he was NOT a fan...he made the most disgusted faces and spit it all out. Oh well! We'll get there eventually...it was fun to try though! Here are some pictures I've taken in the past week or so...a friend from church is letting me borrow her Bumbo seat, and he looks SO grown up in it. I am so in love with my precious little boy I can barely stand it! :)