Monday, December 20, 2004

The Potty Blues

Potty training. You would think that as complex as God, our awesome creator, has made the human body, that potty training would be a breeze. It seems simple enough. You feel the urge, you go to the potty. And, with my oldest son, Sam, it was almost that simple. 2 years and 2 months into his life, he learned this basic principle in about 2 1/2 days.



Ben, our 3 year old, is a COMPLETELY different story. He was born premature, so we have been acustomed to him being a little late reaching various milestones. For that reason, I didn't even begin trying the whole potty training process until just recently. He turned 3 last week, and I made a commitment to have potty training boot camp this week. Saturday went wonderfully. Sunday was a mess. With church and naptime, the day was almost over before we made any effort and no progress was made. Today, let's not even go there. I know it's a learning process, but if I clean up any more accidents, I may as well invest in some carpet cleaner stock.



We've put him in "big boy pants" full-time now, except for naptime and nightime. I've always heard that's best because kids don't like being uncomfortable in wet pants.



They didn't know my child.




He could have the entire contents of Niagra Falls poured onto his clothing and he would sit quietly and watch TV until he was discovered.



You gotta love him,though. The look on his face when he is successful in "going potty" is priceless. And for that reason, I'll press on.


Protected Identity

My husband has informed me that I need to use pseudo-names for our family.......so I submit to my hubby and will change the names of our children to protect their identity. For those of you who really know them, here are the changes:



Our oldest, 4 years old, will now be known as Sam.

Our middle, 3 years old, will be Ben.

And the baby, 19 months, will be Aaron.



There you have it. I didn't ask him if I'm to change his name to. HMmmmmm.......that could be interesting...........

Up and rolling

whoa. Time flies when you're having fun. It's been almost a year since I've written anything. So, instead of picking up where I left off, I decided to make a fresh start. Seems to fit my life better these days.



So, here it is. A new version of my ramblings about my kids, my hubby, and our crazy life.



Sit back and "Saddle up your horses, we've got a trail to blaze" (Steven Curtis Chapman)

Thursday, November 11, 2004

I'm BAAAACCCKKK

Wow it's been a while! In the midst of all that has happened in our lives in the past 9 months, I truly forgot about my blog. I think I'm finally ready to start back up. I have A LOT to blog about.



These past 9 months have been the most challenging of my entire 29 years of life. God has used them to stretch me to a point that I didn't know existed. He has taken me out of my comfort zone and put into my life everything which I previously deem uncomfortable. Maybe over the course of the next few months, I will be able to put into words the experience He has led me through.



My kids are all as busy as ever. Lucas is 4, Noah will be 3 next month, and little Jacob is 18 months. Time sure does fly when you're having fun (is that what they call it?)



In fact, I think I hear little voices now. Check back soon. There will be more updates to come!

Tuesday, February 10, 2004

Well, I had an appointment to correct my hair color. Then my husband came home.



"I really like it" he kept insisting.



So I canceled the appointment.



Here I sit.......copper hair and all.



Maybe tomorrow, he'll change his mind.

and the results are in

I finished the color experiment and........



it looks as though a ton of liquid copper was poured onto the top of my hair.



I should have ended at step 1. The highlighting step went haywire.



As long as I stay in a dimly lit room for the next 4-6 weeks, everything should be just fine.



And the lesson I've learned........never mess with what God gave ya (unless you pull out the big bucks for a professional!)

15 minutes and counting

whoa. I'm now waiting for step 2 to be rinsed. The highlighting step.



This may send me on a trip to the salon.



Not sure how "evenly spaced" these highlights will be. Not even sure they will all be the same shade of color.



A little scared to see what the next few minutes has in store.



is there something I should know?

Someone found my blog page by doing a search for Hot Mommies.



I don't think they found what they were looking for.



25 minutes and counting

I've always wanted to get enough gumption to highlight my hair. However, I've never been able to justify paying $100 or more to make my hair a color that God obviously never thought it should be.



So today, as I was walking through Target, I bought a box of L'OREAL colour expert multi-toning hair color on a whim.



I thought it'd be a fun project for my hubby and I to do tonight (to my hair).



I became impatient, though, and here I sit with the 1st application waiting to be rinsed. 15 more minutes and we, hopefully, will see the "praline" color shining through. Then there's one more step.....the highlighting step..........that takes a little more skill and know-how. I don't know how, but will learn very quickly.



So, tomorrow, should you see a 5'3" woman walking down the street with very oddly colored hair and even odder colored highlights....don't make fun. It was my first try.

Wednesday, February 4, 2004

my little boy

Lucas just informed me that he was too big for me to "hold or carry."

**sniff sniff**

Tuesday, February 3, 2004

on my soap box

I haven't been keeping up with this lately. Trying to find a house in MS, sell our house here, pack, and still run a "normal' routine for the boys is quite overwhelming.



We had dinner with our pastor and his wife last night. They are very dear friends and probably will be missed the most of anyone here. They hold a special place in our family's heart that will never be replaced. They have been there through the birth of all 3 boys, come to our house at midnight to watch Lucas while we took Noah to the emergency room, met us in downtown Atlanta at 6am when Lucas had tubes in his ears, met us in the emergency room many other times to pray with us, and just have basically taken us in as "one of their own."



They are both the most humble people I have ever met. He is so transparent and real---the same from the pulpit as he is in person. Not to proud to admit when he's struggling or fallen short of what God has for him. That's quite rare in churches today. She is the greatest example of a Proverbs 31 woman I know.



Speaking of preachers.....

Why is it that so many pastors today seem to have a "star quality" about them while preaching? I'm talking about those whose voice changes the minute they step up to speak. Those who sit in their office of their mega-church (I have nothing against large churches, but that's another blog), try to think of catchy one-liners to use in their next message, and collect their 6 digit salary. Is that what our Lord had in mind when the New Testament church started? Personally, I don't think so.



Well, that's my soap box for the night. Guess I'm off to bed.

Thursday, January 22, 2004

revelation

Lucas had been watching a "Donut Man" video on tv while I was cleaning in the back of the house. (Donut Man is a 1990s fashioned children's musical video type of thing produced by Integrity music. Despite some of the cheesy script and the singing Donut, it is solid Biblical teaching on a preschoolers level.)



All of a sudden I heard him running to my room yelling "Mooommmyy, Moooommy"



I could tell whatever he had to say was very important, and expected the next thing to come from his mouth to fill me with terror and a trip to the emergency room.



"What is it, Lucas?" I asked



"God loves me more than BASKETBALL!" he said with more enthusiasm in his voice than I think I've ever heard.



"Why yes He does," I replied, thankful that God had revealed such a simple yet important truth to my 3 year old son.

Tuesday, January 20, 2004

not for the faint of heart (*poop warning*)

If reading about an infant's waste products disgusts you, then stop reading this now!



Jacob has had diarrhea since yesterday morning. After a quick call to the ped., it was decided that he probably just has a stomach bug, since there are no other symptoms. I was told to get special kind of formula for him and let it run its course.



After a call to 5 different stores, I finally found one that carries this stuff. So, my mother-in-law is on the way to pick it up and hopefully, we'll have the poops under control by days end.



Before I had children, I surely would have gauked at someone writing about their child's intestinal trouble.



However, after 3 children, I no longer even squirm when the talk of poop occurs. In fact, I heard Celine Deon (which in no way states an endorsement of her or her music) say once, "I dont' mind changin diapers. The truth is inside there." Maybe she's right.

Friday, January 16, 2004

Rock my world

Jacob (the 7 1/2 month old) has rocked my world.



At the beginning of his life people would ask, "so how is it with 3 boys so close in age."



"Piece of cake," I would respond, secretly proud of my mothering skills.



That was my answer.......until a week ago.



Jacob started crawling.



Now I have one more child that can disappear in a mere second. 1 more child to stop from eating things that weren't meant to be eaten. 1 more child to stop from pulling something off the shelf that could send us to the emergency room. 1 more child....well, you get the idea.



I knew it would come. I just wasn't prepared.



Now when people ask "so how is it with 3 boys so close in age" my answer is....



"if we all survive until they're in college, it'll be by the grace of God."





Moving

By reading Bryan's blog, I realized in the business of the past couple of weeks, I haven't posted about the recent happenings in our household.



About 2 weeks ago, we received an email newsletter from a missions ministry that I have traveled to Honduras with a few times. In the letter, it was stated that they had an immediate opening for a Director of communications.



I read the qualifications and thought that they matched Kyle perfectly, but since we were (and still are) extremely happy where we are, I deleted it and went on about my day.



When Kyle got home later that night, something (actually God) told me to go to the deleted file and show it to him. I did and he dismissed it. Actually he laughed and said "Mississippi....."



The next day, however, he began talking of sending his resume in feeling that God was telling him to explore the possibility. I told him they'd never pay him enough.



After confirmation from the ministry that they indeed would pay him what he needed, Kyle sent in his resume. We were both somewhat hesitant, yet still certain that God was directing him to do so.



To make a long story short, we traveled to MS last weekend, Kyle interviewed last Monday and they called on our way home to offer him the job.



I left out many details that were engineered by God to confirm our decision. Maybe I'll have time to share them later.



Now, we are praying that our house sells quickly so we can all move together and not be separated.

Wednesday, January 7, 2004

Decisions, decisions, decisions

It's been quite a while since I've posted. Been extremely busy and I honestly forgot I even had a blog page!



Our family is in the process of making a big decision. We believe we are doing what God has asked us to do, but our extended family is being quite obnoxious about it. They do not believe that God speaks to people, therefore, it is impossible for them to understand. They are being brutal about it and we have no defense except to say "We are being obedient to our Lord." which makes as much sense to them as jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge.



All we can do is ask God to soften their hearts and somehow give them supernatural understanding. Though it may seem a big request, I know nothing is impossible with God.