Christmas recap

Fun times with the stuff in the box that held Caleb's present. :)

My grandma's house

Sideways paci. It's how I roll.
Stockings!
What Santa left for Caleb

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! We baked lots of goodies, with Caleb "helping" (aka eating the decorations), we enjoyed Christmas Eve at my mom's house with my brother and his wife, and had a great Christmas Day at my grandmother's house (for the last time). This year was definitely more fun for Caleb than last year...by the end of the day on Christmas Day he had gotten the opening presents thing down!! Santa brought Caleb a ride-in fire truck that shoots real water, a kitty cat that meows (he LOVES cats), a CD player, and a nice kickball that the dogs hopefully can't destroy. He also received many other nice presents from everyone...he is one blessed little boy! I have been MOST excited about all his new books...we were growing weary of reading the same books over and over and over...Anyway, we started Christmas morning by reading the Christmas story from his little book, and singing happy birthday to Jesus. I hope to make that a family tradition, complete with birthday cake!

Having Christmas at my grandma's house was bittersweet. It was decorated like it always was, the food was delicious, it was wonderful to see so many family members there...the only thing missing was HER. I know she was there in spirit, but it was a little sad. Especially since this will be the last year it will be at her house. My dad was saying he had spent every Christmas there for the past 58 years...every year of his life...wow! And I realized the same has been true for me--pretty much every year for the past 30 years I've been there for Christmas Day. It was truly a wonderful day and we all left with great memories made.

Christmas preview

Bryan is working tonight, so I have time to update my blog, but I'm sleepy, so I'm just going to put a few of my favorite pics up from the day. I'll write a longer post later. It was a great Christmas!!

Christmastime fun

Here are a few pics of Christmastime fun we've been having around here!!

THIS is the after effects of Caleb's first candy cane, ever. QUITE the mess, but oh so fun. I'm still cleaning up candy cane residue off the cabinets. :)

Meeting Santa Cow at Chick-fil-a on Santa's Workshop night. Free kids meal, meeting Santa Cow, and older kids could make a toolbox. He loved him from far away, but was NOT sure about him up close. He was so cute waving to him and Elf Cow. Wouldn't sit in his lap by himself, though. No siree.

Mommy's sweet little elf at Southern Lights this past weekend. We had a lot of fun.

Watching the really neat trains at Southern Lights--sooooo much detail went into these displays. I think we're going to have a train lover on our hands!!

Sorry to be short and sweet but I'm fighting a cold and am about to fall over asleep. Enjoy!
Family shot at Southern Lights. LOVE LOVE LOVE that Caleb is waving. :)

Special ornaments and ramblings...

I got this idea for a post from Mandy, because I just loved it! These pics are totally out of order because I have yet to figure out how to make them go in the order I want, but that's ok!! Over the past few years, Bryan and I have made it a point to buy special ornaments that symbolize our year together. We try to remember to get ornaments at places we've visited that year, etc. I wanted to post a few of my favorites!

This was Caleb's First Christmas ornament. So sweet.

This was from the first year we were married. Love it!

This was from the year I was pregnant with Caleb. Didn't know he was a boy yet!

We bought this one on our honeymoon at Sandals in Jamaica.

Our first ornament as a family. :)

Cooper's first ornament
Bentley's first ornament

Our family ornament from this year--with a house, since we just bought our first home!!!

Caleb's ornament for this year

Saved the best for last...this ornament is the first thing I ever gave Bryan. We started dating at Christmastime and talked a LOT about foreign missions during our first dates together. It is something that is very much on our hearts. I found this and thought it was perfect--our earth, with Christian symbols surrounding it.

We've had so much fun decorating this year. We have lights outside AND inside for the first time. We bought super cute matching stockings embroidered with our names. We've gone to Southern Lights, which Caleb enjoyed immensely, especially the petting zoo and the model trains. We went to the Christmas parade and tree lighting downtown. We had hoped to go to my friend's church's live nativity, but I came down with a 24 hr bug that Bryan then caught, so that didn't happen. :( Next year for sure! This time of year is so magical, and having a little one who is old enough to be excited about the lights is very fun this year.

We've gotten most of our Christmas shopping for Caleb done, but haven't even BEGUN shopping for each other yet...sigh, it WILL get done!! I'm really trying to focus on keeping the MAIN THING the MAIN THING this year....and that MAIN THING is Christ, not commercialism, overspending, or Santa. I have struggled this year because I can very easily become discontent with what we have when I watch TV commercials for items we don't have or go to the mall and see things I want...this is great for the advertisers of these products, but I don't like what it does to my heart. I have to literally turn off the TV and get away from the mall to refocus on that Baby in the manger. HE is the greatest gift of all. And so many people have so little...never has that been nearer and dearer to my heart than this year, with the focus our church has put on the poor being so heavy this year, and we are trying to do what we feel God would be most pleased with when it comes to the Christmas season. To be in a place where we have to have FAITH that God is going to take care of us is scary yet exciting. And He will, He always has...in good times and in bad. Francis Chan, in his book "Crazy Love," talks about how so many times we live so comfortably that our lives wouldn't look any different if we stopped believing in God tomorrow...and that's a tragedy!! And a challenge. God didn't step out of heaven and take the form of a man, only to die a gruesome death on a cross for us to sit back comfortably in our nice houses and with our fancy toys, going to warm a pew for an hour on Sunday and live the "American dream"...that is called lukewarm Christianity...and honestly, American Christianity. Chan goes as far as to say that lukewarm Christians will not be in heaven, based on the verse where Jesus says he will "spit the lukewarm out of His mouth"...doesn't sound very welcoming, does it?? If you read what Jesus said at all, you see that He calls His disciples to give up EVERYTHING...mother, father, homes, jobs, comfort, etc. to follow Him. And He goes and reaches out to the people no one else in society wants to touch. And the religious people of his day hated him, because he didn't do things 'their' way! I am praying for God to change my heart and change me into someone who follows Christ with that kind of "crazy" passion...and this is difficult because it is SO very easy to go about my life in a self-centered fashion, where I do nothing that requires a step of faith or any discomfort whatsoever. Lukewarmedness. God is moving in my heart, and Bryan's...and although things already haven't worked out in some areas like we had prayed, we know that God is concerned with our hearts...if they are seeking Him and His ways. We know He will bless our efforts and our desire to honor Him. We've got a long ways to go, but I see His hand already, and it is exciting.

Phew, sorry to ramble!! Lots on my mind here lately, lots going on in our church and our lives and we are so blessed to say we know God is with us all the way. He is our shield and rampart, our best friend, our King, our Savior. My heart is just bursting with love for Him this Christmas. :)

Milestones and such

Caleb is growing and changing every day, and I keep forgetting to blog about the cute new things he is saying and doing!

He will now say "buh-byyyyyye"...sooo cute I can't hardly stand it!

He also says "uh-oh!"

He has learned to walk backwards, crawl backwards (hilarious), spin around in circles, and "dance". He does this super funny thing where he looks like an Irish step dancer...we call it his "happy feet".

He recognizes mama and dada in pictures and will point us out and kiss the pictures.
Melts my heart every time.

He helps clean up when we're picking up his room or playroom.

He likes to "help" me sweep the kitchen.

He has certain books that he wants read to him over and over and over. Right now it is "Mary Had a Little Lamb", "Arthur Goes to School" (a lift the flap book--his FAVORITE kinds of books), "Fuzzy Yellow Ducklings", "Playful Pets" and others I can't remember at the moment! If it has flaps or different textures, he loves it.

He can follow along when someone is leading hand motions during a song (like at storytime). If I sing it at home, he can do the motions along with me. Our current fav is "1-2-3-4-5 fingertips".

He knows most of his body parts...when asked, he can point to whatever you ask him to point to. The cutest is when you ask him where his tongue is...he sticks it out, but it's to the side and twisted.

He actually is enjoying the church nursery now...this is HUGE, because he used to have gigantic fits every single weekend. It makes it much easier for me to enjoy the service when I know he isn't hysterical upstairs!

This is SO bad, but when you tell him "no", he wags his finger at you and says "ba-ba-ba" (as in, bad bad bad). He totally got this from us getting on the dogs...and it's so cute, but sooooo frustrating, because he doesn't "get" that we're not happy with HIM. Lord help us when it comes to this whole discipline thing!!

We took him to see Santa today at Lexington Green--it was such a great experience. This Santa was so great, laid back, noone was there except us, and we got a great pic. They let Caleb "get used" to the environment, Santa, etc. before they plopped him on his lap, and I think that was HUGE. I was looking at the difference between last years and this years pictures and WOW. He is sooo big. Where did my little baby go?? He was only 5 months old last year...now he's a full fledged toddler. Sigh.

That's all for now...he's growing like a weed and I just loooooove seeing the little boy he is becoming. What a blessing!!!

Pictures taken by Meri

A friend from my playgroup, Meri Tackett, takes pictures, and she is soo very talented. Here are the ones we chose from her session with Caleb. Stunning, aren't they??

Thankfulness post

This Thanksgiving, here are the things I am thankful for:

-Christ's sacrifice on the cross for me (well, for everyone!) and His undeniable and unexplainable love and forgiveness. "He tore the veil, He made a way, when He said that "it is done"..."

-Bryan...can I say it enough? He is hands down the most loving, supportive, gracious, unselfish man I know, and just an absolutely amazing husband and daddy. I hit the jackpot when God brought him into my life...and since helping my friend through her divorce, I realize more and more how blessed I truly am. Thank goodness that, like Job, the 2nd part of my life has been immensely more blessed than the first. I am also very grateful that in this economy, and since I'm staying home (another huge blessing!), he has a good job.

-Caleb...my precious little boy...I can't get enough of his sloppy kisses and sweet hugs, "mama's", giggles, "dancing" in place, clapping anytime I finish a book, song, etc. (God has DEFINITELY made him an encourager), even in his disobedience I have to look away and smile because he's just so daggone cute and sweet. I love seeing his personality blossom every day!

-Friends and family that love us and that we have a blast hanging out with

-Our amazing church and a pastor who "gets it"..."Nothing else matters except faith expressing itself in love..." Galatians 5:6

-The fact that I live in the USA, which means I can have a good education, a roof over my head, food on my table, clothes on my back, medicine when I'm sick, and can freely worship and be a Christian without fear of imprisonment or death.

-Books...right now I just finished two amazing books..."God is Closer Than You Think" by John Ortberg and "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. "Crazy Love" is THE most challenging-to-my-faith book I may have ever read. Extremely convicting and I am praying that God works on my heart-then my actions-BIG TIME since finishing it. I didn't realize I was becoming a lukewarm Christian until I read it, and God clearly states that He will "spit (the lukewarm) out of His mouth..." I certainly don't want that! So...a lot on my mind when it comes to that!

-Chocolate-in all forms. Yum.

-Music

-Flowers

-Chick-fil-a :)

and so much more. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Gatlinburg 09

Here are some pics from our trip to Gatlinburg with friends this past weekend! We had a great time!

Mommy's Little Superhero, among other things

So, while out the other day, I found these super cute Superman jammies at a local consignment store, brand new, tags still on them, for $2.50!! How awesome is that?! They are 2T so the pants are too long, but it's still really cute, and he'll grow into the pants for sure. There is even a velcro cape that he promptly pulled off as soon as he figured out that he could. :) He was about to go to bed in these pics so he's a little grumpy, but still cute!!

In other news, we have officially given up the 'ba-ba' (bottle) this week. I thought it would be harder than it was, but it wasn't bad at all...for him. I, however, feel like my little baby is all grown up now. :( He's not a big drink-milk-from-a-sippy-cup fan, but I'm trying to be extra vigilant to make sure he drinks enough milk.

What else? He does the cutest thing these days. If you ask him, "Do you have happy feet?" he does a little dance--he looks like he's doing the riverdance...I just think it's so stinkin' adorable. He also is impressing me at storytime now...he can do all the motions to this one song we do now...he anticipates when the librarian is going to get out the balls and the shakers...he's sooo big! Also, the other day, he did the sweetest thing. He went and got a picture frame down that had Bryan and I in it. He pointed at the picture, said "mama" and proceeded to kiss it. HEART MELTING!!!! I was so glad I didn't race to grab the frame from him (first instinct, since he likes to throw things...especially things that break into a million pieces).

We're going on a road trip to Gatlinburg with friends this weekend...hopefully we'll have a great time and he'll sleep in his pack and play...I'm a little worried!!!

3 Funerals in One Month...

...is more than enough for me, that is for sure. But this month of funerals has definitely been God's way of getting my attention, and for different reasons.

The first 2 funerals I attended were for my step-grandmother and then my grandmother. Both women who had led long, good lives, leaving behind children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren with wonderful memories of their time here on earth. My sadness with these funerals came in the realization that they won't see my children grow up like I would have liked for them to...nothing made me happier than sending my grandma pictures of Caleb and her seeing things in him that reminded her of my grandpa, or dad, or herself...and she was so proud of every little accomplishment, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant. These funerals left me thinking about the kind of legacy I want to leave when I'm gone. Everyone had so many funny stories and good times spent with these women to share, and I hope that will be the case for me as well. My grandma was also someone I could look up to when it came to my Christian faith...and I hope I can be that to my children and grandchildren as well. And so, while of course it is sad to say good-bye, I walked away from those funerals knowing I will see them again, and knowing that they led long, wonderful lives...and death is a part of life...and not a shock when someone is in their 80s.

The third funeral I attended was altogether different. A girl that Bryan knew from youth group growing up and who also attended Southland with us passed away on Wednesday morning. Lauren was only 28 and had only been married 3 weeks. 3 weeks. She had a blood clot, and it happened almost instantaenously. Bryan had also been on staff with her husband, James, so he was shocked and saddened on many levels. And although I didn't know either of them personally, it was impossible to not let this touch me. The funeral was Saturday, and it was amazingly powerful. I am friends with both her sister and husband on Facebook, and I have been so inspired by their faith through this tragedy...they know that God is STILL GOOD, even in spite of this terrible thing of a young girl going Home entirely too early (in our view). As the song we sang at her funeral says, "You give and take away, but my heart will choose to say, Lord, Blessed be Your Name!" So many times, so many people let something like this push them AWAY from God, or make them think He isn't good, or doesn't exist at all. Yet this family has chosen to let it strengthen their faith more than ever before. Such a blessing to see such spiritual maturity in the midst of pain...and I hope that if that kind of tragedy ever befalls me, that I will greet it with an underlying sense that the God we praise in the good times is the same God who holds us close in the painful times. It was also a realization that life is soooo fragile...and as much as it pains me to accept, I have to accept that Caleb is NOT mine...He is God's, and on loan to us while here on Earth...if God ever needs him more than we do, we have to trust that God is good and his ways are higher than our own. I can't imagine the pain Lauren's parents (and sister and husband and friends) must be feeling, but I know that they know that Lauren is GOD'S...and is now with Him. Jon Weece gave the eulogy and he said something that was very powerful as well..."live your life (accepting Christ's sacrifice for you) so that one day when it is you the funeral is for, someone like me doesn't have to stand up here and pretend you're in heaven, when you're really not." Wow. So glad to know that Lauren loved God and knew Him, and He knew her.

So, I hope having to attend these 3 funerals isn't a sign of things in my own immediate future (!) but it has certainly given me pause. I am much more cognizant of life's fragility, and how I need to hold the ones I love so close to me, and most of all, how I need to live out my faith and grow in maturity each day. I want to be a better wife, mother, daughter, friend, sister, etc. than I have been...because life is short. Praise God for His goodness even in the midst of pain and hurt...that He is a God who cries with those who cry, and will strengthen us when we are at our weakest point. Keep the Davis, Carter, and Rutledge families in your prayers, I know they are grateful for the strength each prayer gives them.

Beauty from ashes

I have recently be reacquainted with one of my best friends from 6th grade through high school and beyond...we lost touch for a few years due to crazy life circumstances, but she recently contacted me due to an unfortunate incident going on in her life...she is in the middle of what looks like will be divorce. When I got her email and began talking with her on the phone about everything, my heart literally felt like it was breaking into pieces...the Bible clearly states that God HATES divorce, and talk to anyone going through it and you can see why...the heartache, the loneliness, the confusion, the loss of friendships you thought were solid, the monetary troubles, the loss of control, the loss of your identity as a wife, the fear of the future and all of its uncertainties...God does not want his children going through this kind of pain and agony! And because I have been through it myself, the thought of anyone I love and care for going through it is extremely hard to stomach.

Here's the thing though...I am so, so glad that I am on the other side of things now...my past is my past, and I have been of the belief that God RESCUED me from what surely would have ended horrifically if I had stayed in it. I believe that God had Bryan for me all along, and if I had just waited on HIS timing, I wouldn't have had to endure what I endured. God taught me so incredibly much through the process...I became closer to Him than ever before, relying on Him for my EVERYTHING...I truly fell in love with Jesus and He was ENOUGH. I learned to trust Him more deeply. I learned to cry to Him, wait on Him, sing to Him, just be with Him in silence and let Him speak. And did He ever...through prayer, through His Word, through songs and friends...I felt more alive than I knew possible. Did I make mistakes along the road? Yes...but God continued to lift me up, forgive me, and let me run to Him time and time again. I prayed so desperately for God to use my experience for good someday...to be able to encourage someone else walking down this dark, lonely path. To turn my ashes into beauty. And then I get this email...

I don't feel like I am doing much, to be quite honest. Just listening and offering advice when asked, and just grateful to have a friend who has known and loved me since we were 11 years old back in my life...but it has sparked something in me...a reminder of what it felt like to be 100 percent reliant on God to meet my needs...for a friend, a Husband, a Father. I have too easily let my life slip into a comfortable place where I am so very happy to have such a great husband as Bryan, ridiculously giddy to have such a fun, sweet little boy to call my son, a roof over my head, good friends, an amazing church, etc. etc. etc. I'm not DESPERATE for God like I was during that time of my life...and I miss that...not the desperation really, but the way it spurred me to action--to reading my Bible faithfully, for talking to God constantly...and then, to see Him work so amazingly... miracles, really, that I could write novels about!

So, will my experience help my dear friend? I hope so. But I am grateful for that email, not for what I hope to give her, but for what it has done for me...made me reevaluate my relationship with God and pray for forgiveness for my lukewarm-ness. I am so glad I serve a God who is in the business of redeeming, because I sure do need it. :)

OH how He loves us!

So, there is this song...by David Crowder Band...I cannot get enough of it. Here are the lyrics and the link.

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realise just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

Yeah, He loves us,
Oh! how He loves us,
Oh! how He loves us,
Oh! how He loves.


We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
And Heaven meets earth like an unforseen kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJyW55AXJAk

Halloween 2009

We had a pretty good Halloween this year, although it could have been better!! Caleb came down with a double ear infection, pinkeye, and an upper respiratory infection the day before, so we didn't end up getting to do half of what we were planning on doing. We were supposed to go to a playgroup Halloween party and trick-or-treat with some friends from playgroup, but that obviously couldn't happen. So we had a low-key Halloween at home, just going to a couple houses in the neighborhood. He was in a surprisingly good mood and let us keep the costume on him the whole time! Here are some pics of my sweet little dragon. :) Sorry they're out of order, I don't have the energy to fix them at the moment!