Ben and Kristen

2010-03-04T21:52:00.004-06:00

Here are a few pictures of the kids from this week. Avery is wearing one of her "vintage" looks from when I was a baby. Jonathan took the picture of me and Avery!

Ordained Praise

2010-01-05T20:34:00.004-06:00

Her tiny fingers pointed toward the mantle.
Ba-bal.
What? I asked, lifting her closer to the nativity scene she was pointing to. It is still lingering a few weeks after Christmas has passed.
Ba-bal, she said again, reaching toward the manger.
My lips were eager to share an early gospel with her, opening to tell her about the baby Jesus. And then the truth caught my breath.
Yes, baby girl, you are right. You are so right. He is the Bible.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T21:21:00.001-06:00

Vacation

2009-09-02T21:25:00.003-05:00

Melissa over at the LPM blog just inspired me to get my rear in gear and post our vacation pictures. Ben and I went to Puerto Rico for our 10th anniversary and it was FABULOUS! We had never done a vacation like that and let me tell you it was life changing. At the end of a summer in student ministry we were more than ready for some down time together. To have that in an amazingly beautiful place was more than I could have hoped for. It's so hard to choose which pictures to share. Everything was so great.

These guys hung around outside at our resort.

One of the waterfalls at El Yunque rainforest

Our lunch spot while in the rainforest

The blue cobblestone streets of Old San Juan

The fort that once controlled entrance to the new world

And finally, one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Culebra island. We flew in a teeny tiny airplane to get there.

See? Told you

Ten years together. Wouldn't trade it for anything. Love you baby!

Inside where the bones are

2009-07-02T10:14:00.001-05:00

Last night I was trying to explain to Jonathan that something that had happened had hurt Avery's feelings. She wasn't hurt on the outside, but her heart was hurt. I felt like he understood when he asked, "Does it hurt inside where the bones are?"

News Flash

2009-06-15T22:27:00.003-05:00

Avery took her first steps tonight! We were reading Bible stories before bedtime in Jonathan's room, and she finally got enough courage to take a few steps from Amy to Ben. We were so excited and she walked back and forth between Ben, Amy, and I several times. Jonathan thought it was the best thing ever, I don't know if I have ever seen him smile so big. I am so glad that it happened when we could all be there to cheer her on and make her feel special.

sisters and roses

2009-06-13T20:51:00.004-05:00

When I was growing up and we would drive hours away to visit family, my sisters and I used to laugh and laugh about how my mom and her sister would always be matching once we got there. Now look at us:
Amy came into town today to stay with us for a while. We are so excited to see her!

Also, look at this rose bush that is growing in our back yard. They are mini roses and are vining on a tree. Gorgeous!!!

Catching up on pictures...in reverse order

2009-05-28T21:10:00.004-05:00

Avery turned 1!
We actually got a decent family picture.
Jonathan turned 3!
Easter. I know it's blurry, but it had been a long morning.

Melt my heart

2009-04-02T11:07:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I was changing Avery and Jonathan came over to the changing table. He stood up on his tiptoes and touched Avery's face and said, "Avery, I'm glad you are my sister".

Raindrops on Roses

2009-03-26T20:05:00.005-06:00

Today was my favorite MOPS meeting of the year, called "favorite things". It is very similar to Oprah's show in that the leadership brings in some of our favorite things to share with the group. Lots and lots of things are given away, some in a drawing and some items are given to everyone. It is sooo much fun to hear what makes other moms lives easier and happier.
Here are ten of my favorite things:
1. Stila lip glaze. This is what I shared with our group today as my favorite splurge. It is really the best lip gloss I have ever used. It stays on, tastes and smells great, and really looks like the color that it is in the tube.
2. Lindt truffles. YUM! This is the best chocolate ever. My favorites are the milk chocolate, white chocolate, or dark chocolates. Next time you see these next to a checkout stand you need to snag one.
3. Clorox wipes. I imagine that life without these would feel something like the stone ages. I use them everywhere, on everything.
4. Mrs. Meyers clean day geranium scent products. This.stuff.smells.so.good. The idea behind Mrs. Meyers products is that you can use one scent throughout your home so there are no clashing smells. My grocery store carries limited items in the geranium, so I usually stick to the hand soap and use it by my kitchen sink.
5. My Rowdy diaper bag. We all know how hard it is to find a great diaper bag. With Jonathan I ended up using the black one from the hospital because it was the only one I had that I could completely wipe down. This one is all that and so, so much more. It has a removable, washable liner and a removable clutch purse for my stuff. I use it with the long shoulder strap, but you can also make it into a backpack or use the short strap to carry it on your arm. Plus I think it is super cute. I'm all about stuff with form AND function.
6. Lansinoh diaper rash cream. Sorry Beaudreaux's, this stuff is better. It has zinc oxide to heal the rash, and lanolin to soothe it.
7. Wellness dog food. Ok, this is more like Mazie's favorite thing, but it is really great dog food. It has all human grade ingredients, no corn (almost every dog food and treat has some kind of corn), and it seems to taste great. Mazie practically inhales it when we set it out, and she has never been like that with food before. The lack of corn has helped her allergies tremendously, as she no longer scratches her skin raw. Many thanks to Superchikk for introducing me to this brand of pet food.
8. My Gym. This is the other thing I shared with our MOPS today. We love love love Jonathan's class and look forward to it every week. I have seen him grow so much in our time at My Gym.
9. Francine Rivers Christian Fiction. I have loved reading fiction ever since my first Ramona Quimby book in the second grade. Francine Rivers is unbelievably talented and reading one of her books will consume every minute of your spare time until you finish it. You are warned.
10. Rainbow flip flops. I almost forgot about these because I have to keep my feet adequately covered in the winter time, but here in about 3 weeks I expect that my Rainbows will attach themselves to my feet and stay there until, oh, about September. This will be my 3rd summer with them and they only get better with age. And water.

Now, what are your favorite things? Please leave me a comment with at least one!

Snow Day!

2009-03-02T09:03:00.004-06:00

We woke up this morning to find snow on the ground! Here are some pictures of our adventure in the backyard.

Pat a cake

2009-03-02T08:50:00.003-06:00

Avery has been a busy girl this week. She's pushing up on her hands and knees a little bit and trying hard to pull up. She also is saying hi and loves to pat a cake.

Avery's room

2009-02-17T21:42:00.010-06:00

A while back, I wrote that we were having to find a new home because the owner of our rental was filing bankruptcy. It was a frustrating process to find a new house, but the Lord led us to a house that we are in love with. We moved in just before Christmas, and I am just now getting to the point where I can really settle in.
Avery finally has her own room here. In our last house she was sharing with the guest room, and it was white walls and pretty boring. Here she has a yellow room with a pink ceiling fan that matches her bedding perfectly. The Lord is so good to give us good gifts...things that aren't essential but He gives them to us because we love them.
Here it is:

Ok, I need a lesson on adding pictures to my blog. I can never figure out how to get them where I want to go. Hopefully you get the idea.

When I grow down

2009-01-29T19:58:00.001-06:00

Last night Jonathan said to me "When you grow down, you can be little like me".
Love it!

2009-01-21T14:53:00.002-06:00

Over the past few days I have had three separate and entirely different earrings disappear from my right ear. What in the world is going on? Luckily I was able to find two of them (including my cherished diamond earring that Ben gave me when Avery was born) and the one that seems to be gone forever was a cheap find. So, I will be taking a break from earring wearing until I can figure out if I have developed some kind of crazy earring rejecting disease.
Any thoughts?

A few Christmas pictures

2008-12-29T20:35:00.002-06:00

Here are a few pictures from our Christmas festivities. Ben's dad came to spend Christmas with us and it was very special to have him here. On Christmas eve we made a birthday cake for Jesus and Avery said Grandpa about four times. We couldn't believe our ears but we all heard it and there was no mistake that was what she was saying, because Jonathan had just been trying to get his Grandpa's attention and was saying "Grandpa" over and over. Her little seven month old voice just said "Gampa" as plain as day.

Jonathan and Avery got a kitchen to share. Jonathan was teaching his little sister all about it. We had a fabulous Christmas and hope you did as well.

2008-12-19T22:35:00.012-06:00

Tonight was our annual LSM Christmas banquet where our kids go all out and get dressed up and act like they are all grown up. It is a ton of fun and a good chance to get some pictures of our family in our Christmas clothes.

The kids received lots of attention. Avery waved at people all night long and it cracked me up! She started babbling a lot more this week and I'm pretty sure she said "Daddy" a couple of times. She loves her daddy! She stares at him nonstop and gives him the girliest smiles I have ever seen. She also started eating baby food this week (yeah, I held out on that till almost seven months) so now she thinks she can eat anything. Here she is gumming a wrapped Tootsie Roll. She still isn't moving much. She will roll from front to back if she absolutely had to but seems completely unmotivated to transport herself from one place to another.

Jonathan got a haircut today and looks so grown up to me. He is so excited about Christmas this year and it is so fun to see the wonder of the season from his eyes.

Here is our fabulous student ministry staff. We love them like crazy and surely would not be able to do what we do without them.

Merry Christmas to you all!

Vintage Baby

2008-11-16T21:11:00.007-06:00

Here are some pictures of Avery in the clothes I talked about here.

And here are some pictures I took of here about a month ago, her 4 month pictures.

I would love to show you a picture of Jonathan, but here is an example of what happens when we try to get a picture of him these days.
He is so busy all the time and is always coming up with new things to say. Right now he is loving his Bible stories book and asks me to "talk about" all the stories. He told his friend last night "I need to hang out with you", and told me "I need money" because he wanted candy from the vending machine. This morning he was eating Trix for breakfast and one of them fell on the floor. He said "I need my trick". His favorite game in the car is "which animal" where he says "which animal mommy" and I name every animal I can think of. Fun times!

Happy Halloween!!!

2008-10-31T19:14:00.003-06:00

Like Water to my Soul

2008-10-24T13:54:00.004-05:00

God's Word came so alive to me in my quiet time today. I want to share. As I was reading I was thinking about the question that students often ask and that I have also asked in the past, "Why don't we offer sacrifices anymore?" The answer is that Jesus was the once and for all sacrifice for our sins. This truth made it deeper into my heart today as I read. I will type scripture in bold and my thoughts as I read in italics. I hope this is water to your soul today too.

From Hebrews chapter 10:

For if the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer year after year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshippers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins.

Makes perfect sense- if a sacrifice made a person perfect, that person would not have to make any more sacrifices.

But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.

But they did have to make sacrifices again and again. Until Jesus came. Then no more sacrifices. Why was His sacrifice the last one? Because it made us perfect. PERFECT!!! My heart is jumping for joy at this truth. Here's how scripture says it:

For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

Then He adds, "Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more." Now where there is remission of sins, there is no longer an offering for sin."

So I don't have to offer sacrifices because the Lord sees me as perfect. Is there anything in my life that I am offering as a "sacrifice" because deep down I just don't believe that the Lord really sees me as perfect? My spirit tells me that there is. Lord, show me what those things are in my life.

Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with at true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

I don't have to make any of my "sacrifices". I can come BOLDLY before Him-just like I am. I am in tears over the goodness of this. Oh Lord, your work is so good, so perfect, so thorough. I am overwhelmed by it today. Praises!!!

I want to share one more thing that happened in my quiet time today. I mentioned in my last post that we recently made a big financial commitment. The Lord is providing for what we thought would have to be extra money for rent, and I'll be able to share more details of that in coming weeks. Another thing that the commitment involved was that we stop the habit of running through the drive through for food all the time. Well, tonight the kids and I will be out until after 5:30 and I know that when we get home we will all be hungry and cranky and I won't have much time at all to prepare anything. Especially now that my quiet time has taken up a big portion of my afternoon. So I was thinking that we would need to go ahead and get something on the way home tonight. Without knowing any of this, Ben sent me a text message while I was in the middle of this awesome time with the Lord that said that he will be bringing home leftovers from a function they are having this afternoon. How about that? Jehovah Jireh - the Lord our provider. I'm in tears again. Blessings!

What a Difference a Day Makes

2008-10-13T19:01:00.003-05:00

The economic crisis hit home with us today. I mean really hit home. I got a call from the realtor that manages the house we are renting and learned that the owner is going into bankruptcy and this house will be foreclosed in January. So we are in the market for a rental home. We have been planning on moving to a bigger house when the lease is up in May, but it's interesting that this happened now because last week we made a big financial commitment that doesn't allow us to pay any more in rent than we are now. I think it's going to be a blessing to us because we have time to look around and see what's out there. Our moving dates are very flexible, any time between now and January, and maybe even after that if we need it. We get all of our deposit back and don't even have to clean the carpets when we leave. We are trusting the Lord to provide the perfect home for us. I'm excited to see what he is going to do. We are praying for the owner during this time of hardship, she had purchased this house with an inheritance she recieved and now it is gone. She is a believer and the realtor said her church is being very supportive of her as she walks through all of this.

Avery rolled over for the first time today! I put her on her tummy and went into the kitchen for a minute and when I came back she was on her back.

So that was our day, well part of it. The rest was toddler madness.

Friends

2008-10-11T19:55:00.002-05:00

Last night Jonathan and I were talking about his new big boy Thomas the Train underwear.
Me: Who are Thomas's friends?
J: Percy AND Gordon
Me: Who are Jonathan's friends? ( I had no idea what he would say and definitely wasn't expecting this)...
J: Mommy and Daddy...AND Avery

Thank you Lord. Oh how I wish he feels this way forever.

Playing Dress Up

2008-10-10T09:04:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I got a box in the mail from my mom with some clothes that she had picked up for the kids. In it was some dresses from when my sisters and I were babies. Oh my goodness. I am in love with these little vintage baby dresses, and I spent the evening last night looking for more online. I may have found a new hobby...collecting vintage baby clothes. I can't wait to wash and iron them and get them on my sweet baby girl!
Jonathan is loving him some blue's clues these days. Yesterday we were in the parking lot at the church and he said "Where's an orange clue? Where's an orange clue? OVER THERE!!!" Sure enough someone had orange "go tigers" paint on their car complete with Orange paw print. I have learned that when he says he sees something he really does, and it usually takes me a few minutes to figure it out.

Figured it out

2008-10-09T20:52:00.001-05:00

Change template to minima. Wasn't reading close enough.

HELP!!!

2008-10-09T13:54:00.002-05:00

Ok, this looks rediculous. How do I get my old template out of the middle of this thing?

I'm gonna miss this

2008-10-04T13:25:00.004-05:00

The house is a wreck today. Last night I took Jonathan on a "mommy date" to buy him some big boy underwear. While we were gone Ben set up a tent in the living room. He and Jonathan attempted to sleep in there last night, but couldn't settle, so after about an hour and a half they retired to their own beds. Ben is out with students today so I'm leaving the tent up so they can play later. It feels very cluttered today, so I decided to try and find some beauty in it.
As far as the big boy underwear goes, I told Jonathan he could wear them after he went, well, you know, in the potty. I left him diaper and pant less this morning, and right now my jeans are wet from crawling in a spot I had to clean up to try and find beauty. Oh, and the mom thing was just a phase. I'm back to mommy now.

Where'd Mommy go?

2008-09-29T19:11:00.002-05:00

Jonathan has been calling me "mom" all day. I hope this is just a phase.

2008-09-06T20:27:00.010-05:00

"Hurricane" Hanna came through today. It wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. I never even heard a clap of thunder. We were supposed to go to the beach at the Outer Banks this weekend, and she put a stop to that.
I have been keeping busy at home lately. Here are some pictures of what we've been up to.

I finally packed up my maternity clothes and am in the process of cleaning out and reorganizing my closet. What a big job it has been! I still have clothes in the attic that I need to get out. Hopefully I will finish this up this week.

Jonathan has been so creative lately. This is a "pool" that he made. He has been coming up with all sorts of things for us to do. He has asked to go to a restaraunt, to go to the seaside, to go to work with daddy, to play all day with mommy, eat a picnic,walk around the block. Yesterday he was playing with our next door neighbor and all of a sudden started saying "Simon says..." and telling her to clap hands, sit down, and jump. I had no idea he knew how to play Simon says.

I have been baking bread! Several years ago a good friend introduced me to the benefits of milling wheat, but it has never been the right time for us to do it. I was finally able to buy a mill and heavy duty bread machine. It is so fun! My bread machine isn't in yet, so I'm using the one we received as a wedding gift nine years ago.

And here is a picture of the kids from earlier today. Avery is sitting in the Bumbo seat a little bit. She loves being involved in what we do. If I leave her in the living room while we are eating dinner she cries until I sit her in her bouncy seat beside the table. And even then if we don't pay her enough attention she cries until we do.

So that's what we've been up to. Hope you have a great day!

Feeding Time

2008-08-17T21:18:00.003-05:00

Jonathan LOVES his little sister. Tonight he wanted to hold her for a minute, so I told him to climb up in the chair and set her in his lap for a minute. Then I told him that it was time for mommy to feed her so I needed him to get down and let me sit in the chair. He replied "No, my feed her" and lifted up his shirt. Sorry bud, it just doesn't quite work that way.

Obsession

2008-08-15T13:51:00.002-05:00

This is what we've been eating after the kids are in bed. First we microwave a Betty Crocker Warm Delights Mini, then add a scoop of vanilla ice cream (last night I used frozen yogurt to save a few calories), then Magic Shell on top. YUM!!!!

As promised

2008-08-09T21:23:00.004-05:00

Here are the pictures I promised. The first two are Jonathan and Avery from earlier this week. Avery is growing like crazy! We went to the doctor last Monday and at 10 weeks she was weighing in at 12 lbs 3 oz, 85th percentile! She is smiling a lot and making tons of adorable baby noises. Jonathan still loves her like crazy and wants to kiss her, hold her, and be around her all the time.

These last 3 pictures are from camp a few weeks ago. We went to Showshoe in West Virginia. It was amazing! The last picture is the view from the balcony in our condo. We literally watched the sun go down behind the mountains in a matter of minutes. We were so thankful that my sister Amy was able to come with us. There were so many things for Jonathan to do. The waterslide in the pictures went into a pool that was a foot and a half deep. Perfect! There was also a big sandbox with lots of toys right outside the Starbucks. So Amy and I were able to sit and drink coffee while Jonathan played. Perfect again. Other things he did were jump in a bounce house, play on playgrounds by the lake, and ride paddleboats. It was hard to be really involved with the camp activities because of nap schedules and all that, but we were able to go to worship one night. Jonathan loved the music and clapped his little hands the whole time. His arms would get tired and he would rest his elbows on his knees, still clapping. It was a very special time for me to be in there with my family and our student ministry worshipping the Lord who has entrusted it all to us for this time. I sang "I surrender all" with trembling hands because I feel like I have been so blessed and have a lot to surrender. For several years now the Lord has convicted me about holding my blessings with an open hand. Everything in me wants to close the fists of my heart around the blessings He has given me and claim them for myself. But they really are all for Him, and I must remember that at all times. He has total rights to them, and I really have none. He gives, and He takes away, and I will bless Him either way. I hope this makes sense, it's a bit of what I've been thinking about a lot lately.
On a lighter note, the next night when we attempted to go to worship Jonathan kept saying "ready to go now" and "wake up now" to the people around us who were worshipping with their eyes closed. So much for Jonathan in the worship service.

A day of rest?

2008-08-04T20:57:00.003-05:00

Since Ben has to be at church early on Sunday mornings it is my responsibility to get myself and the kids there by myself each week.
The goal is to be heading to the car at 8:30. In order to do this, I need to get up no later than 6:30.
Yesterday I first heard the alarm at 7.
But I didn't have to shave and had a dress I could wear without ironing, so no problem. I can do this. Things are going smoothly, I have Jonathan dressed and eating breakfast a little after 8. Avery is dressed, the bags are packed, and I am all ready except for my clothes when I sit down to feed her at about 8:15. All I have to do after this is throw on my dress, get her in the carseat, wash Jonathan's hands and face and get him down from the table, put Mazie in her crate, and we'll be on our way. This is a little later than I would like, but still doable. Really as long as we leave by 10 till 9 we will be fine.
8:25, about halfway done with feeding, has burped once, but let's try again for good measure. Then it happens. Spit up like I have never experienced. And I have experienced plenty, let me tell you. DRIPPING off of my freshly washed, freshly flat-ironed hair. Half of it. DRIPPING as I run across the living room to get her in the bouncy seat. And all over the back and seat of the chair. And all over her Sunday clothes.
So up the stairs I go, soak my hair with a wet wash cloth, pull out the hair dryer and turn back on the flat iron. Fix Fix Fix, Fast Fast Fast, put my dress, shoes, and jewelry on, grab a new outfit for Avery, back down stairs. Spray down the chair, change her clothes, put her in the car seat, wash Jonathan's hands and face and get him down from the table, here we go. Nope, Avery crying. Hard. She is hungry. After all, she just lost her breakfast. Tell Jonathan he has a few minutes to play with his new trains, make Avery a bottle, since now I am wearing a dress and nursing is pretty much impossible in a dress. Feed Avery. Listen to Jonathan whine for help with his new trains since he hasn't quite figured them out yet. Tell him I'm sorry I can't help right now but I know you can fix it. You can do it! Put Avery back in carseat. Pry Jonathan away from trains. Head to door.
Carrier in hand, diaper bag in hand, backpack in hand, bible in hand. Jonathan down the stairs to the back door. Me down a few of them.
Sniff sniff. Is that what I think it is? Yep, dirty diaper. Carrier down, diaper bag down, backpack down, Bible down.
Carry Jonathan up the stairs. Change diaper. Down the stairs.
Are you still reading this? Or have you quit? Because that's what I wanted to do at that point. We left at 9:47. Why didn't I quit? Why? Because the only thing I needed at this point was to drop my kids off at childcare and walk away. And that is just what I did.

In other news, the no paci thing has been going well at night, but Jonathan has yet to actually fall asleep during naptime without it. And today I told him I was going to the attic to get something and he asked "pacis?". So we're still getting there. But we're determined.

Angela, I will post pictures soon, I promise.

Milestone moment?

2008-08-01T18:20:00.003-05:00

Our boy is crying in his bed right now. Tonight after dinner we got down his baby picture album and looked at the pictures, explaining to him how he was a tiny baby once and showing how he has grown. We told him how, as he would outgrow things, we would pack them up and put them in the attic. We packed up some clothes from his closet that he has outgrown, and then added his pacis. Now it is bedtime and he doesn't seem so excited about no paci for bed. I am nervous that it may be a long night, or few nights. We will see.
Avery is crying because the sun is going down, a nightly event for her. A lady at church told me that babies, the elderly, and people with brain injuries get upset when the sun is going down, and there is a medical term for it..."sundowning". I asked if she knew what to do about it, and she said no. Hmm. So we just wait it out every night and do what we can.
We went to camp last week and had an amazing time. There was so much for Jonathan to do! I will post pictures as soon as they become available to me.
Have a great day!

Say that again?

2008-07-10T13:45:00.001-05:00

You know how you can tell if someone has been spending a lot of time around someone else because they start talking just like them? Well, yesterday I found myself asking Jonathan:
"You need mommy to come help with your twains?"
Um. Make that tRains...

FW: fw: a little bit of info

2008-05-31T20:38:00.002-05:00

Ok, I know I did one of these not too long ago, but Jeni sent me this one and named me as the one most likely to respond, so I have to.
1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Not that I know of
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? yesterday
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? sometimes
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? I buy one pound of butterball honey turkey every week, and just about every week we eat it all up
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? two...still can't believe it, seems so grown up
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? I hope so
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A Lot? never
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? nope, they came out along with my adenoids (whatever those are) two days after my fourth birthday. I also had tubes put in my ears during the same surgery.
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? only if I was planning to induce a heart attack on myself (by the way Jeni I had no idea you had done this!!!)
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? I have no idea. I eat a lot of cheerios these days
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? I don't think so, but I don't wear tie shoes that often
12. Wasn't in the email. I guess someone deleted it along the way
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Breyer's vanilla bean with fresh strawberries on top is very good. I also love the kind with those tiny peanut butter cups. And coffee coffee buzz buzz buzz, and pretty much all of it.
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? I don't think I know this one. I'll try to figure it out.
15. RED OR PINK? pink
16. I am deleting this one.
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? A lot of people. I really miss Jeni.
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK T O YOU? If you are reading this and have a blog, do it too!
19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? this is embarassing but I have on gray sweat pants and a purple bayou Bill's Crab house tee that I've had since 9th grade (Beth do you still have yours?)
20. Also missing
21. WHAT ARE YOU listening to RIGHT NOW? lullabies with the sound of a human heart beat...weird but Avery likes it
22. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? purple for today
23. FAVORITE SMELLS? Mrs. Meyer's clean day Geranium scent
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Crystal
25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? so much!
26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? football
27. HAIR COLOR? blonde, thanks to Kara at Hair on Fire
28. EYE COLOR? blue
29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? yep, since 7th grade. I started with glasses in 1st grade.
30. FAVORITE FOOD? How do you choose? I love good fresh fruit
31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? happy endings
32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Little black book on tv last night
33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? purple
34. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer!
35. HUGS OR KISSES? depends on who it's from, most of the time hugs :)
36. FAVORITE DESSERT? chocolate
37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? don't know
38. Least likely to respond? don't know
39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? I've been reviewing Baby Wise and reading a book called Queen of the Castle and one called Romancing your child's heart
40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? exact mat x control, it's Ben's
41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? Little black book and the spelling bee
42. FAVORITE SOUND? the ocean
43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? beatles
44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Probably here, I've never been out of the country
45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? typing and feeding baby at the same time
46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Pine Bluff, AR
47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK? anyone who answers

More hospital fun!

2008-05-21T12:32:00.004-05:00

Here are some more pictures from the hospital, day 2 and 3.

Sleepy Baby!

Soon after...

Our little girl

2008-05-19T21:01:00.007-05:00

We were able to spend an hour with Avery right after she was born. Here are some of the pictures I took during that special time.

She's here!

2008-05-19T18:59:00.002-05:00

Avery Diella Trueblood was born this afternoon at 4:45pm, was 8lbs and 20" long. Both Kristen and Avery are doing very well. We have moved from the labor and delivery into our normal room where we will be until Wednesday morning if all goes well. We will be posting pictures as soon as we can charge our camera battery, we had enough battery to take the pictures but not enough to load them onto our computer :)

Waiting...

2008-05-19T11:58:00.002-05:00

Well, here we are in the hospital waiting for Avery. Here is a quick rundown of the events of the day:

6:30am - we arrived at the hospital for our scheduled appointment
8:00am - they started Kristen on the pitocin (spelling?)
10:00am - Kristen's water broke
10:45am - epidural was put in
1:00pm - the current time here in VA as we continue to wait

We will try to post updates throughout the day as things progress. Please keep Kristen and Avery in your prayers.

A-Boose, A-Boose

2008-03-15T18:17:00.007-06:00

The weather here has been beautiful the last few days. Yesterday I took Jonathan's choo-choo out to the little park in our neighborhood and took a few pictures. Here's my favorite.

Today Ben had a mission trip meeting at the church, so Jonathan and I ventured out to the mall to find him and easter outfit. We found what we were looking for and sat in the food court for a Chick-Fil-A lunch. As we were eating, this conversation took place:

J: Ja-shin eesa bunny?

Me: You want to see the Easter bunny?

J: Yes

Me: Ok, we'll go back by there after we eat.

I have never been much for seeing Santa or the Easter bunny or any other character, mainly because of the long lines and I had no idea how Jonathan would react. But we always stop to look as we go by, which is what we had done today. So, I took him back by the Easter bunny after lunch, thinking that looking and waving would be plenty. But no. When he saw him, he began trying to get out of his stroller to go see the Easter bunny. I explained that if he wanted to go see the Easter bunny we would have to wait for our turn in the line. He replied "Ja-shin tuwn eesa bunny". So, we got in line, changed from his apple juice soaked tee to his new Easter outfit, and sat on the Easter Bunny's lap for pictures. He was wide eyed, but loving every minute of it. I don't think he was ready to leave when his turn was over. His second birthday is still a month and a half away, but he has been acting like a two year old a lot lately. He knows what he wants, when he wants it, and he doesn't forget. Ben and I are in for a whole new experience in parenting. We are trusting the Lord for wisdom and patience.

I have been trying for several weeks to get a video of Jonathan reading. It is one of his favorite things to do, and he blows us away at the things he remembers and can say. I finally got a decent one of his current favorite, The Little Red Caboose. It's not the greatest angle, but you can hear him talk quite a bit. He says his name and even does his new favorite trick, sticking his fingers down his throat until he gags. So go get a cup of coffee and settle in for story time with Jonathan.

Hey Baby!

2008-02-28T19:40:00.006-06:00

We had our 4D ultrasound today and were able to see our sweet baby Avery's face for the first time. I am so amazed that this is even possible! In the first video she is smiling a little bit in the beginning (whoever says newborns don't smile is just wrong) and then snuggling in, in the second video she is yawning so big and you can see her toothless gums. I think she looks a lot like Jonathan, but she definately has her mama's humongo forehead. I'll add one of Jonathan's newborn pictures so you can compare.

2008-01-31T23:48:00.000-06:00

Here are some fun questions that Staci emailed me, so I figured I would answer on here. I skipped a few that were email related.

1. What is your occupation? Stay at home mom. I had the most stressful dream yesterday that I was quitting a job without another one and I was so relieved when I woke up and realized that I don't have to worry about that right now.
2. What color are your socks right now? white
3. What are you listening to right now? Watermark's Knees to the Earth
4. What was the last thing that you ate? Ben and Jerry's Phish Food, but the Light version
5. Can you drive a stick shift? Yep. I learned how to drive on one.
6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Hmm. Aquamarine?
7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? my mom
8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? I love Staci to death. She is a precious lifelong friend.
9. How old are you today? 29
10. Favorite drink? Hot peppermint tea or Sonic's Watermelon Sprite
11. What is your favorite sport to watch? I guess football
12. Have you ever dyed your hair? Have I ever not is probably a better question
13. Pets? Little yorkie Mazie Grace
14. Favorite food? Love a good soup
15. Last movie you watched? Apollo 13 on TV last weekend
16. Favorite Day of the year? christmas
17. What do you do to vent anger? cry
18. What was your favorite toy as a child? probably my dolls
19. What is your favorite season? summer
20. Hugs or kisses? I guess it depends on who's handing them out
21. Cherry or Blueberry? blueberry
22. What happened to ???? New Kids on the Block. Are they really trying for a comeback?
23. When was the last time you cried? Last week?
24. What is on the floor of your closet? lots of clothes and shoes
25. Favorite smells? Apples and cinnamon
26. Who inspires you? Other moms who work so hard for their families.
27. What are you afraid of? heights and sudden loud noises
28. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? spicy
29. Favorite car? I still dream of a little 2 seater convertible someday
30. Favorite cat breed? I am not a fan of cats. But I love Jeni's Kedi
31. Number of keys on your key ring? Maybe 5. I have 2 key rings in my purse though.
32. How many years at your current job? About a year and a half as a stay at home mom. 8 years as a wife, 7 years of that in full time minstry.
33. Favorite day of the week? Friday
34. How many states have you lived in? 3
35. Do you think you're funny? occasionally

Tag: Kate and Melissa

It's a new year

2008-01-18T20:10:00.000-06:00

Things are back to normal for us after the Christmas break. We had a great trip home to Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. It was lots of traveling but worth every minute of it. Jonathan was great and loved all the attention from everybody! He was so tired by the actual Christmas day that we had to put him down for a nap right in the middle of opening presents, at 9:30 in the morning. He didn't even open his last one until after we had been home for several days. He loves all his new toys. His favorite is his Little People airplane. He talks about it all the time, and once he even woke up in the middle of the night asking for it. It is so fun to watch him play and learn. He is talking like crazy and it's often a challenge for us to figure out what he's saying. Ben is the best at it, and Jonathan is so happy when we say the word that he is saying. For example, tonight I was putting his jamies on and he kept saying "fa fa, fa fa". I finally figured out that he was saying "flip flop". They are still in his changing table drawer from this summer. There's no way they fit on his feet anymore, but he loved it when I pulled them out for him.

This semester I am taking Jonathan to classes at My Gym. We have been twice now and it is a lot of fun. He is learning how to climb ladders and loves playing in the ball pit. It is great for right now since it's too cold to play outside, plus it gives me a chance to do something special with him before the baby comes.

We found out last Thursday that we are having a girl! We are excited and know that Jonathan is going to be a fantastic big brother. I am overwhelmed by all of the cuteness for girls that is available. It is going to require some major self control not to buy everything. Our lease is up on our townhouse here at the end of May, which is right after the baby comes, so we are trying to figure out a way that we can all fit in here so that we don't have to move and have a baby all in one month. Especially since it's the first month of summer and things get really busy around here during the summer anyway.

I guess that's it for us for now. I'll be back soon!

Where has the time gone?

2007-11-29T21:09:00.001-06:00

I have no idea how it became such a long time since my last post. This fall went by so fast!

The biggest news in our lives is that we are expecting baby number 2! He or she will be joining us around May 15, about two weeks after Jonathan's first birthday. Other than that, I'll let these pictures update you on what we've been up to.

We ended the summer with a trip to the beach at the Outer Banks.

For Memorial Day we had another Meat Feast...yum!

Jonathan loves to help with the dishwasher. Every time I open it he gets the soap out of the cabinet for me.

Grandpa came to visit.

Jonathan did this with his sandwich while I ran upstairs for a minute.

Jonathan loves to curl up in a blanket and read a book, just like his mommy. Books are his all time favorite thing right now, and this one, The Fire Cat, was Ben's when he was little. Jonathan is loving it now.

He found these things in his drawer and had to put them on. Who says boys can't play dress up?

To say "please" in sign language, you rub your hand in a circular motion on your chest. This results in food EVERYWHERE.

My First Living Room Fort. Fun Times!

Headed to class at church. He is there about 5 times a week.

My little man

The Fire Cat again.

Thanksgiving. The funniest part of this meal was when he realized that there was a picture of a dog on his plate (the same plate that he uses several times a week), gasped, and pushed all the food off so he could see better.

So that's where we are now. Getting ready for Christmas. Our good friends from Alabama will be coming to visit in a few weeks and then we will be headed home for a visit.

See you soon!

Meat Feast

2007-07-08T20:37:00.000-05:00

I'm so sad that I forgot to take pictures of our Fourth of July celebration. The guys (Ben, John Paul, and Trey) decided that they wanted to go all out and eat as much as possible. They were in charge of the meat and I was in charge of the sides. They told me they were going to do steak and chicken kabobs on the grill and ribs in the oven. I learned the day of that they were also doing sausage on the grill. I also learned that they were splitting this meat fest into 2 seperate meals...kabobs for lunch and ribs for dinner. Oops, I only planned sides for one meal, thinking it would be like Thanksgiving, make a lot of food at once and then eat leftovers later. But we did a little rearranging and a quick run to the store and all was well. Better than well really. Since I don't eat pork, they saved me a huge steak for my dinner. I also made my Grandmother's Banana Ice Box Pie, which was a big hit thanks to some last minute instructions over the phone. A few years ago my Grandmother, mom, and aunt made all the girl cousins a cookbook with recipes of the stuff we grew up on (except for one recipe in my mom's section that I have never seen or heard anything about...hmm). Girl cousins, if you don't use it, you should. Get it out. It is great! And moms and aunts, keep the recipes coming. I rely on them heavily. I love how they are tried and true. Anyway, it was a great day.

We finished the day off with a game of Texas hold em (no cash, just chips for fun), which I had to learn since I had never played before. I am hooked! This is a super fun game! Last night Ben, John Paul and I played again, and the above picture is almost all of my winnings. I somehow managed to beat the guys out of all theirs. I do have to say that my hair looks like that because it was after midnight. Please excuse it.

I'm also adding some pictues of Jonathan from our lazy Saturday morning. We got him the cardboard blocks this week and they are a huge hit. He loves to knock over the tall stacks. After they all fall down he squeals and stomps his little feet around in a circle. It's awesome! He's also saying so many words, but most of them are a one shot deal. If we don't catch it the first time, it's not coming out again. The ones he's saying consistently are ma for ball and tic tic for tickle (he tickles his own tummy while he does that one). This week he also saw an arena football game on TV and a baseball game on TV, and both times he took one look at the TV and said "ma, ma, ma" and they weren't even showing the actual ball!!!! How does he know that ? He also has been trying really hard to say avacado. I guess he knows it's a funny word.

Summer Fun

2007-06-27T19:29:00.000-05:00

We had a super fun day today. Jonathan and I were home all day, so after breakfast we took a walk to the neigborhood dog park and let Mazie run free for a little bit. Then after lunch I hooked up the garden hose and let Jonathan play in the water. It was so hot today and the water felt great! I ended up soaked too. Mazie wasn't the biggest fan of the water, so she hung out in the shade. After that we enjoyed some fresh apple carrot kiwi juice and then took a long nap. Yea for summer! I love it!

Summer's in full swing!

2007-06-26T19:04:00.000-05:00

Wow last week was a crazy ride. We had our Super Summer event Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights. It was such a great thing, and different from anything we've done before. The kids were divided into teams (each team was a different color), and they earned points for things like team spirit, bringing friends, winning games, etc. They loved it! It was so fun to see what they came up with for team spirit. So that was the beginning of the week. On Thursday one of the girls from our student ministry in Alabama came to visit for the weekend. She stayed until Sunday and it was so fun to see her and catch up. Now she's halfway through college and the last time we saw her she was just graduating high school. Thursday night we had our weekly college volleyball gathering. Friday Ben and I spent all day buying me a new car. My old one was too tired to work anymore. I am loving the new one more than I expected. I didn't realize how much I was putting up with in my old one. I was just loving no car payment. Then Saturday we spent the day at the lake (or the ocean, I'm not sure, I was told it was a saltwater lake?) with the college group. It was a lot of fun. Jonathan swam in the swimming pool for the first time ever and loved it. We got him this cute little crab floatie to sit in. The water was take your breath away cold so I coudn't handle it as long as I would have liked to, but it was fun while it lasted. So anyway then we had Sunday and that was our week. This week is an easy one. We don't have Wednesday night or Sunday night. So hopefully we will be able to finish unpacking. We're pretty much down to the stuff in the garage and hanging pictures on the walls. We need to go through the attic, but that will have to wait till fall when it's not 200 degrees in there.

Settling in

2007-06-16T18:33:00.000-05:00

We are finally mostly settled in to our new house. There are still a few boxes left, but we should be able to get to them this week. John Paul's fiance Crystal has been visiting this week and staying at our house, and we have had a lot of fun spending time together. I'm pretty sure Jonathan thinks Crystal is the most beautiful person he's ever seen. He stares at her with starry eyes and touches her face and hair all the time. John Paul is our new middle school pastor and we are so excited about being in ministry with him and Crystal.

Next week on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night we are doing an event with fun activities for the kids and then our student ministry staff will speak, presenting the gospel and teaching kids how to have a closer walk with Christ. We are praying that it will be a time that we see God move in a mighty way. If you are a believer, please pray with us.

Above are some pictures of what we've been doing lately. We stopped at the beach for a few minutes yesterday and planned on taking pictures there, but I didn't realize the batteries were dead, so we'll have to do that next time. This morning we went to the aquarium. Compared to other aquariums we've seen it wasn't very exciting, but Jonathan seemed to enjoy the outing. There was one fish tank that he could touch from his stroller. It had small fish and hermit crabs in it, and he pointed at each one and babbled on and on about them for several minutes.

The second picture is Jonathan's first ever sunday school art project. When I saw it in his diaper bag after church last week I was the proudest mama ever. I love it so much! Jonathan seemed proud of it too. If he gets ahold of it he pulls those little fuzzies off and throws them like a ball.

Next is Jonathan practicing his key skills. Tonight he got ahold of someone's keys and immediately went to the door with them. I am amazed because there are only a handful of times in his life that he has ever seen anyone do this. He is definately watching and taking in everything around him. Finally is a picture of him in his new PJ's. For those of you that know how he has still been in 6-9 month PJ's, you'll be proud of me for finally buying more.

Home Sweet Hotel

2007-05-22T20:44:00.000-05:00

Ben and I are sitting on the bed in our hotel "suite" just hanging out. We have one light on and the tv is on, but the volume is turned to like 2 because Jonathan is sleeping about 4 feet from the foot of the bed.
We signed the lease for our townhouse today and the movers will be here with our things on Thursday, so we'll be in the hotel until then.
The flight in was good, nothing eventful happened (thankfully), and the people we sat by on the airplane were very sweet, which was a huge answer to prayer for me.
My first Sunday here was great. Obviously Ben's was last week, so he was able to introduce me to the people he had already met. Everybody has been so warm and welcoming and glad we are here. I look forward to getting to know them all better.
Tonight Jonathan went to play with a new friend while we went to a reception with some church folks. Emily is 15 months old and her dad is on staff with Ben. Emily's aunts were babysitting and I think he had a great time playing with real toys in a real house. This hotel thing is getting old, even for him.
I think that's about all there is to tell right now. I'm feeling pretty disoriented since we're not in our house yet, but that's coming soon and we're going to have to celebrate somehow.

A day at the park

2007-05-11T20:57:00.000-05:00

Today we had a picnic at the park with the moms and kids from our Tuesday morning Bible study. The kids had a blast. I'm going to miss these ladies like crazy- they have meant so much to me over the past year and I have learned so much from them.

I'm also posting some pics of Jonathan's first haircut. He was not a big fan. I never have understood what it is that little boys think is so horrible about a haircut. Ben says it's because she was having to hold his head still. I guess he'd know since he was a little boy once too.

The only thing constant

2007-05-10T10:51:00.000-05:00

Moving is hard. Ben left a few minutes ago with Mazie to begin his drive to our new home. I'll be here for another week and then fly with Jonathan to meet them in our new home. I've tried so hard not to be super emotional this time around, and for the most part it's been easy. We've only been here 2 years (this time), I know we'll always be coming back for visits since our families are here, and I've moved away from here before and been fine. Plus I've seen this coming for the past 5 months, so I've had plenty of time to prepare. But it's so hard to close a chapter of life. The townhouse we're moving into will be our 8th place to live in our almost 8 years of marriage. Every place has meant something special to me. This morning Ben and I spent our last hours together in the house where we brought our boy home, bonded with him, had his first birthday party. It's the place where we worked together to make his nursery a special place. There have been very good times in this house, and it's sad to see it go. So I'm mourning its loss today, very thankful for the blessings that we have received here.

Happy Happy Birthday Baby

2007-05-01T11:50:00.000-05:00

Today is Jonathan's first birthday. We had his party on Saturday and it was so much fun! He scarfed down his cake. At one point I asked him if he was finished and he clearly shook his head no.

Last night I was looking through pictures of the past year. It has been such an amazing year! It is so fun to watch him grow and change and learn. I can't help but think what he'll be like on this day next year.

On another note, we will soon be relocating to the East Coast. Ben will be the student pastor at a great church there. We are excited about the new opportunity, but of course sad to leave friends and family here. I am very thankful for the time that we have had here and know without a doubt that God directed our steps from Alabama to here and now from here East.

Above is a picture of the townhouse we will be renting for at least our first year there, and one of our family at Jonathan's party.

Juicy

2007-03-21T11:06:00.000-06:00

I've decided to start making my own juice. Yesterday at our moms group we had a guest speaker who told us all about eating for wellness. She said a lot of things that I have heard before, some I practice now, some I get on kicks about and do for awhile, some I haven't ever been able to implement, and some things I had never thought of.
One of the things she said was that as soon as a fruit, veggie, or grain is sliced, crushed, or opened in any way, the nutrients begin to oxidize into the air and go away. So the only way to know that you are getting maximum nutrition from your food is to eat it fresh and raw. Juicing is one of the ways you can do this, and since I have a 10 month old with no teeth and a hubby who isn't the biggest fan of fruits and veggies, it sounded like a good plan for us. She also let us sample some freshly made apple juice, and it was very different from the so called 100% apple juice that I've been buying for my boy. That juice has been pasturized (heated so that all the germs are killed, how are nutrients supposed to survive if germs can't?) and chemical vitamin C has been added back to it. She also said that you can get a juicer at Wal-mart for $30. So first thing this morning I headed to Wal-mart to begin this new venture. I decided to go for the $60 model, because the $30 one looked like you would have to cut the fruit pretty small before you put it in. The one I got can fit a whole apple...you don't have to cut anything! I still think $60 is a good deal for those health benefits, and will probably pay for itself if I use it enough.
So I got it home and washed it just in time for Jonathan's morning juice. I stuffed an apple in the top and out came about 4 oz of juice. He usually drinks 2 oz plus 2 oz of water, so I fixed this juice bottle the same way. He drank that stuff down so fast and cried for more. So I gave him the next 2 oz with 2 more oz of water. A big hit, and sure makes me feel better about what's going into that precious little body of his.
When I read or hear about how bad processed food is for our bodies, it makes me feel overwhelmed and helpless. I pray that the Lord will help me to take the time and effort needed to provide my family with the nutrients that He has made for us and BLESS THIS FOOD TO OUR BODIES.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2007-01-02T11:17:00.000-06:00

So it turns out I'm about as good at keeping a blog as I am at keeping a journal. That figures I guess since they're kind of the same thing. I would make a new year's resolution to post more often, but I'm sure I wouldn't keep it so I'm not going to fool myself.
We had a fantastic Chrismas withe Jeremy, Jeni, and Olivia. Jonathan and Olivia loved each other to death and had sooo much fun together.
Jonathan is completely mobile now. He's crawling everywhere. He's also pulling up on the furniture already. I didn't expect that yet. His favorite thing to crawl to is Mazie's bowl, so now we are having to put Mazie's food in her room and we leave the gate in the door but put it up high enough that she has enough space to crawl under, but Jonathan doesn't have enough room to get underneath. It works well since she's littler than him, but I feel sorry for her that she has to go to that extra trouble just to eat or drink.
Everything else is pretty normal around here. I'm ready to get back into the normal routine of things...Tuesday morning Women's Bible study and Wednesday night with the kids at church.
I'll try to remember to post more often, but if not, it probably means we're just carrying on as usual.
Have a great start to your '07!

Trick or Treat

2006-11-01T17:06:00.000-06:00

I know that some people are not fans of Halloween, but I absolutely love having adorable children come to my house, so last night I was all ready with 3 big bags of candy. So here is the story of my favorite Trick or Treater of the night: Tigger. I think Tigger was probably about 6 years old, I didn't know him and he didn't know me, but that didn't bother him at all. As soon as I opened the door he came bounding into the house. He went over to pet Mazie (who was behind her gate in the living room), looked through my candy bowl to see what he wanted in addition to what I had already put in his pumpkin, and said hi to Jonathan who was in his room swinging in his swing. His mother was just standing outside saying "you don't just go into people's homes" and I was thinking that I would probably have gone in after him, but it really didn't matter to me. I thought it was hilarious. And then I started wondering what Jonathan thought of the whole thing. If you are 6 months old, swinging in your swing in your room, and Tigger comes bouncing in to say hi, do you think it's weird, or is everything in this crazy new world of yours so weird that you just think it's normal? I didn't have a chance to see his face, but I sure would like to know.

Are you my Tio?

2006-09-18T16:55:00.000-05:00

Just a few minutes ago the pest control guy came to do our annual termite inspection and our quarterly bug spray. I had Jonathan in one arm and Mazie in the other as he was telling me what he was here for and what he would spray, etc. As he was talking, all of a sudden Jonathan busted out laughing harder than I've ever heard him laugh. He thought the guy was so funny. I think he may have thought that he was his Tio Edwin, who has apparently made a very good impression on Jonathan.
Then a few minutes later I still had both Jonathan and Mazie in my arms and I was sitting on the couch, and Jonathan reached out and grabbed a handful of Mazie's fur. Thankfully Mazie is a very good girl and didn't snap. She only screamed as loud as she could, and it was so sad. I'm just so glad to know that her first reaction wasn't to bite. Looks like she'll be able to stay! Here's a pic of Mazie...I'll let her be the star today since she was so good.

Rambling

2006-09-06T10:39:00.000-05:00

I had planned on going to the grocery store first thing this morning, but Jonathan woke up very cranky so he's back in bed and I guess we'll go later. He's been a little fussier than usual for the past several days, and I'm starting to wonder if he's not feeling well, but I don't know how to tell. I'll just keep a watch on his temp today and call my wonderful pediactric nurse practitioner friend Staci if anything gets worse.

Staci is one of my best friends from high school that is such a blessing to me!!! We had the most horrible experiences with pediatricians for the first 4 months (one clinic refusing to give us an appointment because they have too many patients, another office completely shut down after we'd been there once), but it's all better now. Staci is very smart, caring, beautiful, and one of the most Godly women I have ever known. So if you ever read this Staci congrats on being the star of my blog today :) .

I could be doing the dishes or the laundry, dusting or cleaning the bathrooms, but instead I figured I'd just wait for Jonathan to wake up here on the computer. I'll probably regret this decision later.

I started Tuesday morning women's bible study yesterday. I'm doing The Power of a Praying Woman, and I am excited about it. I think it is going to be a great growing experience for me, and a good opportunity to hang out with other moms that I don't get to see very often since we're in youth world on Sunday mornings.

I am substitute sunday school teaching for my friend Jill's 10th grade girls class this week. We're talking about spiritual gifts, and I'm thinking about giving them each a small wrapped box to remind them to use their spiritual gifts during the week. I need to find some small cheap boxes and wrapping paper though. Jill is a great teacher and has a huge group of girls.

Since I last wrote we've been to Dallas to watch Shiloh play a football game. They are very good and we are expecting an amazing season.

I had a great long conversation with my sister Amy last night. She is very gifted at sorting things through and will be a wonderful professional counselor in a few years. I am so thankful for the Word of God and the power that it has to speak and guide us when we're trying to sort out the messes of life. Once it speaks, there is nothing else left for us to say.

And speaking of nothing else to say, that's it for me for today. Have a good one!

Diaper Mania

2006-08-24T14:49:00.000-05:00

I have had it with diapers. I used to wonder what they did in countries without diapers, and I think now I know, because they are so faulty that I just about wonder why I even bother. I think I have washed poop out of every outfit Jonathan has worn this week. Thank the Lord for Oxy Clean Baby! I have tried almost every kind of diaper available, and can't find one I trust. Next on my list are the Pampers Swaddlers, which I haven't used since the hospital, and they are my last hope. I've even entertained the thought of trying that insane baby potty training idea (http://www.diaperfreebaby.org for more info on that). He's in a size 2, which is supposedly for 12-18 pounds, and while I'm not sure how much he weighs right now, he was 12 pounds at his last Dr. visit, and I'm sure he has not gained 6 pounds in the last month and a half. So, I guess I'll keep on trying and keep on washing poopy outfits until something works.

We are Family

2006-08-14T21:30:00.000-05:00

This weekend we went to Oklahoma City to celebrate the new marriage of my sister Melissa to her sweetheart Edwin. They were married in Miami, and had a reception at my Grandmother's house. We carried on the tradition of family pictures on the stairs. The picture I am posting is all of the cousins and their spouses. We always enjoy spending time with all of them, and I feel very blessed to be a part of such a wonderful family. Welcome to the family Edwin!!!

Happy Anniversary!

2006-08-10T12:42:00.000-05:00

Ben and I celebrated our 7th anniversary this week. It's fun to think back over all the things we've been through together. When we got married we were barely 21 and in the middle of college. Ben was working at Sam's and I was working at the bank while we were going to school. We lived in an apartment, and our schedules were crazy. It was very common for us to eat dinner at 9:30 or later each night. Our grocery budget was $70 every 2 weeks, and we had another $20 to go out to eat once every 2 weeks! It was just a year later that we moved to Alabama to begin full time student ministry. I remember at some point before we were married Ben and I were talking about the future and struggling over some decisions, and I said "I can just imagine God smiling at us right now and saying, 'It's hard for you to make this decision right now, but you have no idea how much I have planned for you, you're going to be just fine". He is so faithful, and has brought us so far. I am so excited about the rest of our lives together. Love you baby!

Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
Philippians 1:6

Summer Time

2006-07-29T16:55:00.000-05:00

Summer is winding down and it's time to get ready for school to start. I can't believe it's gone by so fast and our boy is 3 months old already. Last week we went to Hoover, AL to watch Shiloh in a 7 on 7 football tournament. They were amazing and won the whole thing, beating some big time teams. While we were there we were able to see quite a few people from our Hunter Street family. We miss them all dearly! God's timing is perfect, and we were able to be at Olivia Claire's first birthday party. We went straight from there to Dallas, Tx for our staff retreat where we were able to spend time concentrating on building our relationships with each other and fellow staff members. We have greatly enjoyed this time for the past 2 years. The picture is of Jonathan on a shopping trip we took in Texas. He loves being outside! He is learing how to use his hands, and beginning to talk to us. He makes the sweetest sounds. I love to watch him admire Ben. He looks at him with these sparkly eyes and I can tell he is thinking "Dad, you are the coolest person in the whole wide world". It is so much fun to watch him grow and learn!

Here he is!

2006-06-10T22:08:00.000-05:00

Well, Jonathan is here, and he's now almost 6 weeks old. Wow, time has really flown. In a way I can't believe he's already been here that long, and then at the same time it's like he's been here with us all along. I have to say that these past 6 weeks have been absolutely fantastic. Jonathan is so amazing, and he's already growing so fast! He's already smiling at us and trying so hard to make baby babble to us. As I sit and hold him I can't help but wonder what his little hands and feet are going to do someday. I wonder what things he will love and hate, who his friends will be, what his greatest accomplishments and hardest struggles will be. And Ben is just the best dad ever. He has been so supportive and loving to me, and is always happy to jump in and change a diaper or hold Jonathan whenever he can. He is the best!!!

Waiting for Jonathan

2006-04-11T19:59:00.000-05:00

Well, we are about 2 weeks away from our due date, and ready for Jonathan to be here! Ben's dad gave me some baby pictures of Ben today and I couldn't stop staring at them, trying to figure out if they looked like Jonathan did in the ultrasound. Silly, I know, because who can really tell what anything looks like in an ultrasound, but I tried. His room is almost ready and I can't believe we're so close to meeting our baby boy!

Kristen

It's a BOY!

2006-01-06T18:47:00.000-06:00

The long wait to find out the big gender question finally came to an end the Tuesday before Christmas. As the title points out, we will be having a boy! He cooperated perfectly with the ultrasound and was moving around like crazy. Our Scottish ultrasound nurse was very patient with us (me especially) as she pointed out things on the screen. Wow, it is difficult to see what is going on with those things. We have decided to name him Jonathan after my grandfather Trueblood. We are still unsure about a middle name.

The weeks are flying by and Jonathan is moving around more than ever! Kristen is still feeling him a lot more than I am, for obvious reasons, but when I jump at the opportunity every chance I get. April 27th seems like so far away but if the time to this point is any indicator then I know it will be here before we know it.

Now that things are happening more often we will do our best to keep this updated for all of you to check out if you so desire.

New Life

2005-10-13T15:16:00.000-05:00

We are having a baby! Kristen is 12 weeks pregnant this week, and according to babycenter.com, that means that our baby is about the size of a lime. Wow, that is crazy to think about. We got to hear the baby's heartbeat two weeks ago at our doctor visit and I have to say that is one of the most amazing things I have ever experienced. We both sat with eager anticipation as the doctor began to search for the heartbeat and when she found it our reaction can be described only as shock and excitement. We heard it for abot 45 seconds or so and that was not long enough. I think that we could listen to it for hours on end.

We are both very excited and know that many changes are ahead for us and our family. What changes? I'm not sure i can answer that yet but I know that all of you with children probably know the answer already. All we know is that things will change in a major way and it is a change that we are anticipating both with nervousness and joy.

The next big thing will be in about 8 weeks when we can find out the sex of the baby, and yes we will be finding out. It is kind of strange to me to refer to the baby as "it" or just the generic "baby" during this time when we do not know. I am ready to begin saying "he" or "she." Which brings me to the next question. Everyone wants to know what we would prefer to have, boy or girl. I have asked that question of those who have been pregnant and now I realize the difficulty in giving an answer. It is something that we are truly undecided upon and I think it will remain that way until we find out in 8 long weeks.

We will definately keep you all up to date on what is going on throughout this time. Please remember to keep Kristen in your prayers. Pray for her health and the health of the baby. We appreciate it more than you know!

busy...

2005-09-25T21:20:00.000-05:00

We have started tonight what will be a week of long days and late nights. The reason for this is the Team Impact Crusade that began tonight at church. The crusade will last until Wednesday night and we will be going to 30+ school assemblies this week with the guys from the team. Wow, every time i think about it I am blown away at the amount of work that will be done this week.

Work, yes but worth every long day and every late night. The guys from the team are amazing. They are authentic men of integrity who breathe to see people come to Christ. Many times when people hear of Team Impact or something similar the immediate thought is, "that's a children and youth thing." Well, I was impacted tonight not by muscles, broken concrete or snapped handcuffs. As I stood in the baptism water I was impacted by the 50+ year old man who I was about to baptize. Children and youth event only? Not for Bruce. I will never forget the look of excitement on his face when I brought him up out of the water. He shook my hand and thanked me and there was so much passion and sincereity in his eyes. Bruce was definately experiencing what it means to have new life in Christ!

Tonight, lives were forever changed through the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we are so thankful that He is blessing us to be a small part of what He is doing in Springdale, Arkansas.