Psalm 23

9/29/10

So Jake and his classmates are memorizing Psalm 23.

They'll actually recite it at one of their programs later in the year.

And I think I've mentioned before that he's almost never (ever, ever) quiet, so what he's learned so far is on the tip of his tongue.

It's great back up, you know?

It really helps him keep his pace of the hours of the day that he spends sleeping being just about the only time that his mouth isn't moving and sound isn't coming from it.

So I decided last night to capture it on video.

It's not quite perfect just yet...he gets lying in green meadows and being led by peaceful streams a little intertwined. "...He renews my dreams..." should really be "...He renews my strength..." And as you can tell, it's his favorite part, so he always works that one in there more than once any time he's quoting all that he knows.

And I won't even go there when it comes to Thomas the train. I'll just let you see for yourself.

Yesterday, Today, and Every Day

9/26/10

Yesterday...I took the easy way out.

After spending hours and hours of cutting literally hundreds of tiny squares of fabric, realizing that I truly have no idea what I'm doing (although I really don't think it's that hard), almost being to the point of never wanting to see a cutting mat and rotary blade ever again, fearing mistakes that might be made and hair being pulled directly out of my head, I decided I would designate the task of finishing the quilt I started for Jake to a professional.

Of course, I always knew I would leave the art of machine stitching all of the layers together to someone who owned a machine that could actually do that sort of thing, but I had really hoped I would actually piece together the top layer of it myself.

But I gave up. It just didn't happen. And surprisingly, I'm okay with that.  I have not one (zilch, zero) bit of regret. I'll never be so happy in all my life to ship the box that's already loaded in my car (See what I mean?  No regrets!) to another part of this state tomorrow at lunch time, and know that when it comes back to me, it will be the finished project I hoped it would be.

And Yesterday...he watched our entire family's favorite football team come out victorious against the Arkansas Razorbacks (Speaking of pulling my hair out...).


He also slept his newly re-arranged room.  This (re-arranging his room) was Jim's idea.  He decided a different layout would work better and give him more room to maneuver around his play table so he can actually reach all of the parts to his Thomas the Tank Engine train track.

It wasn't until today, though, that he and I painted his face this way. 

I was too overjoyed and relieved that I had found someone who was willing to finish his quilt that I spent most of my morning cutting the last  few (few as in one hundred and twenty) squares of fabric and just didn't make time. 

But he was okay with that. 

Every day is a good day to wear his football jersey and throw a little paint on his face to him.

Thousand Words Thursday

9/23/10

I think it's safe to say that this photo...

is definitely worth a thousand words!

Besides the dozens more I took last year when we visited the Animal Safari in Pine Mountain, Georgia.

Hmmm...I think this may just call for a Rewind.

People

9/22/10

I have to admit it's my daily read.

I just have to.

I need my celebrity scoop, and I look forward to it.

Most of the time, I'm not really surprised by what I see (because I'm prepared for pretty much the craziest of stories), but I never go un-amazed when I read some of this stuff (if that makes any sense).

Like this for example...


I'm not really or completely surprised by the fact that this dad of six was arrested. 

After all, I've seen the show.

But what does surprise me, is the fact that he was actually smiling in his mug shot as if he had just found out he had won a free trip to the Caribbean.

Really? 


And Carrie Underwood...

Who doesn't think she is one of the most classic and breathtakingly beautiful people that has been born?  I'm amazed by the fact that I never see a bad photo of her.  I seriously think she wakes up and looks just as timeless and beautiful as she does right here (I'm also inspired to go platinum blonde at my next salon visit after seeing this just so you know).


Oh Kate...


I'm just not sure what to say...

or maybe I mean what not to say.

There's just so much ground to cover with her. 

What I'm really missing is her performances on Dancing With The Stars. Thank goodness for video clips on YouTube, right?

At least now she's certain that she's "in the best shape" of her life, and she's waiting for Mr. Right.

Hopefully he hasn't seen any episode that has ever aired of Jon & Kate Plus 8. Otherwise, I'm thinking he may never come along.

And last but not least...


How does he go from being so unknown and living a "normal" life in New Jersey to earning thousands of dollars on an MTV reality TV show and for making appearances at night clubs, and now to being a celebrity guest on Dancing With The Stars?

See what I mean?

Never un-amazed!

Look Who's Growing!

9/21/10

One week ago yesterday, (Did I say that right? Maybe I should just say last Monday? You can tell I had plans to post this last night, but the male members of my family decided what they needed to do with our home computer was more important: i.e. Jim - scanning and e-mailing documents to Bank of America and Jake - playing his favorite games on NickJr.) we got to see the latest addition to our family on ultrasound.

As you can tell, he's just a little bit "super-sized" in these photos. 

This ultrasound was what I call "the big one" in which he was beyond the twenty-week gestational age, and everything from his brain to his toes can be looked at in full and complete detail.

Here he is just waiting for me to install suction cups all over his body so he can stick to mine and never leave, to play football with his male family members who stole my computer from me last night, to cry on my shoulders all hours of the day and night, to crash cars with his big brother Jake (and, of course, that's in his own words), and to leap into the arms of his proud Grandma and Grandpa. 

He is absolutely perfect and healthy.

He is fearfully and wonderfull made (Psalm 139:14).

He is thirteen whole ounces big (Well, actually that was over a week ago.  So by now I could probably say he's a whole one pound big...or bigger based on the way he moves my entire abdomen inside and out when he kicks).

He is scheduled to be "seen" again on October 28th to measure his growth and progress and mine as well (My ultrasound tech found what appears to be a scar on my uterus from my previous c-section, so Dr. Waller wants to monitor that closely as well as Parker to make sure we are both growing as we should be from this point on.).

He is very, very, very (Okay, I'll quit.  I could say "very" like ten thousand times.) loved!

Just Wait

9/19/10

I keep this poem in my absolute favorite devotional book.

I've read it several times here lately, and I love the words all over again.

It was given to me at a time in my life when I was asked to wait. I not only learned what it means to wait, but I also know how to hope, to trust, to cling, to depend, and to give thanks. I look at my three and a half year old, clever, manipulating, affectionate, smart, athletically-inclined, impatient, twenty-eight pound, baby (don't tell him I called him that...remember, he always corrects me and tells me that football players are not babies) who just came up to me while I was typing and asked me how to "wear this" (while he held a bra in his hands up to his tiny chest), and I see promise, faithfulness, and a love poured out that I don't deserve. And as thankful as I am that he was always the prize at the end, I'm even more thankful for the wait.

The vision is for an appointed time. Though it tarry, wait earnestly for it, for it will surely come. Habakkuk 2:3



Those who wait for the Lord, who expect, look for, and hope in Him, shall renew their strength... Isaiah 40:31

Just Wait

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried,
Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate,
And the Master so gently said, "Child, you must wait!"

"Wait?, you say, wait!" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By FAITH I have asked, and am claiming your Word.

"My future and all to which I can relate
Hangs in the balance, and You tell me to WAIT?
I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,
Or even a 'no' to which I can resign.

"And Lord, You promised that if we believe
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply!"

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate
As my Master replied once again, "You must wait."
So, I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut
And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting...for what?"

He seemed then to kneel and His eyes wept with mine,
And He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens, and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead, and cause mountains to run.
All you seek, I could give, and pleased you would be.
You would have what you want - but you wouldn't know ME.

"You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint;
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint;
You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there;
You'd not know the joy of resting in me
When darkness and silence were all you could see.

"You'd never experience that fullness of love
As the peace of my Spirit descends like a dove;
You'd know that I give and I save ...(for a start),
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of my heart.

"The glow of my comfort late into the night.
The faith that I give when you walk without sight,
The depth that's beyond getting just what you asked
Of an infinite God, who makes what you have LAST.

"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that 'My grace is sufficient for thee.'
Yes, your dreams for your loved ones overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss! If I lost what I'm doing in you!

"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
THAT THE GREATEST OF GIFTS IS TO GET TO KNOW ME.
And though oft may my answers seem terribly late,
My wisest of answers is still but to WAIT."
-Author Unknown

"But let him who glories glory in this: that he understands and knows Me [personally and practically, directly discerning and recognizing My character], that I am the Lord, Who practices loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord. [I Cor 1:31, II Cor 10:17] Jeremiah 9:24 AMP

This morning...

9/17/10

Jim decided to let Jake stay home for school, and they somehow left for the golf course about the same time I left to spend my last 7.75 hours in Rose Administration for the week (Niiiiice! I just love how they rub it in sometimes.)...

I broke the all-important rule of fashion that says you shouldn't wear white after Labor Day (But I just couldn't help but wear my white jeans that I got about a month ago from Gap Maternity for $15.99 at least one more time. I love wearing them because a) they fit and b) it reminds me that I got such a great deal - even though I've probably worn them enough by now to have gotten my sixteen dollars worth out of them.)...

I stopped and talked to God.  I mostly said "Thank You".  He gets that a lot from me...pretty much every time Jake crosses my mind or I feel Parker kick or stretch...

I heard "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" by Poison on the radio, and I just had to turn it up a little.  What can I say?  I love the 80's when it comes to music...even though Jim says technically I'm a 90's child...

I went through the drive-thru at Jack's for a delicious gravy biscuit and hashbrowns.  It's been a while, so as of this moment, I have no regrets about it.  I do think, though, the two or three runs through there each week last month contributed to the six pounds I gained versus this month only three...

I heard all about my girlfriend Kelly's gender reveal party last night.  She found out yesterday she's having a girl, and they decided to tell their family all about it over dinner and dessert.  Each person was instructed to wear pink or blue depending on what they thought the baby's sex is.  She ordered cupcakes..some with pink icing, some with blue.  But when each person bit into the cupcake, each one was full of pink cream filling as their way of saying, "It's A Girl!"  I love her creativity, and I love her, and I'm so excited for them...

 I started counting down the minutes until this weekend is here.  And I'm happy to say, I'm almost there!

Where One Ends...One Begins

9/15/10

Tonight, one TV series (or one weekly TV addition...you could honestly call it whichever in my case) ends and one begins.

The winner of Big Brother 12 will walk away $500 G's richer...

but not before this show...

airs for the first time this season.

And normally I wouldn't really care. 

I can truly take or leave Survivor (I think it's because Australia is my favorite season of all time, and a cast since then has - in my book - never topped those that survived the Outback). 

But this season, there's someone playing for the million dollars that I actually know in real life...

this lady...

She was actually Belle's professional dog handler (without the professional if you know what I mean) for part of her show career (notice I said part), and I can definitely attest to the fact that she's a true survivor and will do whatever it takes to win.

I can't wait to see how this season plays out.

And well, it looks like I won't have to wait much longer to watch this first episode...

because it's about to start.

Goodnight! 

Saturday For Two...or Four

9/14/10

Besides thinking about and pondering the fact that this past Saturday was September 11th, Jake and I spent the entire day together, just he and I.

After we were in and out of Lowe's, Anders Toy Store, Baby Bundles and Sugarfoot's (Yeah, Jake actually opted to sit in the car on that last one. And I truly wish you could have seen his face and heard his response when I told him we had one more stop to make - "Mommy, I just really want to sit in the car. I will just wait right here for you. You'll be back in a minute, right?"), we came home and both got busy doing this...


bathing the shelties that share our address.

Jake was definitely a huge help.

Actually this was his idea, so honestly he didn't have a choice.

I swear I wouldn't have let him cop out on me even if he had tried.

But obviously it didn't take long for him to turn the water away from Belle and onto the grass, his Army men that I bought an hour earlier, the driveway, the shrubs, and of course...


himself!




Yep! By the time we were all done here, our Saturday had definitely become a day not just for two...

but four!


P.S. Ivey declined to be photographed and sends her regrets a) because she's terrified of water except for the kind that stands still in her water bucket waiting to be licked and b) she has a habit of leaping from the tub if I manage to get six inches away from it at any given moment.

A Day We'll Never Forget

9/11/10

When Jim and I made a visit to Washington D.C. in the early Spring, Jim had the opportunity to tour the Pentagon with his long-time friend, Sean (who is currently stationed there) and his wife, Lisa (while I stayed busy listening to lectures on how to properly report financial data on federal contracts and grants).

Even though he technically wasn't supposed to, he managed to get a few photos of the memorial built in honor of those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001 (Thank you, Buddy!).

Today, we are remembering everyone from New York to Washington D.C. who never made it home that day...


their families who still miss them and only hold memories, not hands...


and the men and women in uniform who are still fighting for the freedoms we couldn't be more grateful for.

We will definitely never forget!

The Glory of Love

9/9/10

Today when I got in my car to drive home from work, this song was playing loud and proud on my radio.




And let me just tell you. It just does something for me. The words. Peter Cetera's voice. Oh Baby! It makes me want to sing along as loud as I can...makes my heart beat a little faster...takes me back in time to when I was almost ten years old.

Can anyone say The Karate Kid II...Mr. Miyagi...Kumiko...Daniel LaRusso...Ralph Macchio?

And even though I definitely wasn't of dating age when this song was rocking the number fourteen spot on Casey Kasem's American Top 40, believe me when I say, this song and the dream of a love like Daniel's and Kumiko's was definitely playing over and over in my mind.

Prayer Request Update

I wanted to write this last night, but the words just didn't come.

A few weeks ago, I requested prayer for Zach, Becca, and their unborn baby, Oliver.

On Tuesday of this week, they learned that Oliver is one of Heaven's newest additions.

This morning, my heart breaks for them. I can't even begin to imagine their sense of loss and pain, but I know there is One who does. He is bearing their grief and carrying their sorrow as this very moment. His love is unfailing, and He makes everything beautiful in it's time.

Today, Oliver is beautiful and perfect and running on streets of gold.

There is a time for everything
and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
What does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in it's time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. ~Ecclesiastes 3:1-11

Game Day and Labor Day

9/7/10

This past weekend, Jim and I were left all alone.

Jake somehow scored a stay at his Grandma and Grandpa's house starting Thursday night (I think it was because he asked them oh probably seven or more times while they were here last weekend to help us celebrate Jim's 40th birthday).

While he was there, he managed to log his first 12-minute flight with his Grandpa (Yes, in a real airplane.), earn ten dollars in cash (How? I still don't have the answer. For all I know it was just because he asked.), and bring home a gallon size ziploc bag half full of cars (one with a remote control even) from his Great Aunt Linda.

And while Jake was playing hard with his cousin Emily, sporting his UA football jersey, and tossing his football with his Aunt Cathy and Grandpa, Jim and I were here doing a little bit of just about everything.

Let's see...we shopped in Birmingham, shopped in Tuscaloosa, pay-per-viewed the Crimson Tide season opener, cleaned our house from top to bottom, stayed up super late, went out to eat whenever we wanted and wherever we wanted (namely Outback and Cracker Barrel), and accomplished our own individual projects. For Jim those projects included making the tub in our bathroom no longer look like a disaster zone (Now, it looks as if the ring incident never happened.), and as for me, well, I spent nearly seven hours sewing the crib skirt for Parker's bed.

By Labor Day, we were all back together under the same roof - just in time to eat at Chick-fil-A for breakfast and spend more than enough time in Toys-R-Us. We definitely didn't "labor" very much yesterday...which is what the day is all about.

I think Labor Day should take place at least once a week.

Hmmm...now there's an idea I like! I seriously wonder who could make that the new rule.

Not that it would ever fly, but you can't blame a working girl for trying right?

The Boys of Fall

9/2/10

My little boy...

is dreaming to one day be one of these...

the Boys of Fall.



2 days and counting...

New Habits

9/1/10

New habits are definitely forming around here, and they have everything to do with Alabama football.

Take for example, Jake's new obsession with his football jersey.

He wakes from his sleep each morning and bursts through the door each afternoon with this 100% polyester, crimson, pull-over, bearing the number 14 and multiple Nike swooshes, on his brain.

He literally must know where it is at all times, and almost completely (other than growing at least three feet, six inches and gaining 200 plus pounds) transforms into another human being.

This jersey means he's a football player (and that I can't call him my baby anymore because babies don't play football - obviously this his opinion...not mine).

It means he gets into a stance as if he's about to tackle an opponent who's crouched right in front of him and yells, "Hike, hike!" as loudly as he can.

It also means there's a lot of running up and down the longest hallway in our home and rolling into the carpet as if he's just reached the end zone.

And so now I'm wondering.

Should this new habit of him wearing the same exact shirt every single day be incorporated into his preschool wardrobe?

Hmmmm...it would definitely cut down on my laundry volume...and make it easy to decide what he should wear each day...hmmmm...

3 days and counting!

Rewinding and Counting Down with the Crimson Tide

I can't believe I haven't started doing a countdown yet to the start of the new season of the National Champions.

Because by the looks of him...then and now...he's definitely counting (literally, he's counting everything - sheep on the pages of his books, his set of four dinosaurs who somehow manage to stick to the walls and ceiling when he throws them against it, matchbox cars he lines up along the side of the bathtub every single night...).



Maybe it's because for the past two nights I've been sewing the fourteen yards of fabric I picked out and bought for Parker's room (Drapes...check!). Or maybe it's because in the back of my mind, I know I have months and months of it coming up.

Either way, my Better Half and my Baby...Excuse me...my "Big Boy" because he has nearly banned me from calling him "my baby" altogether (Little does he know I'll be calling him "my baby" long after this Earth is not my home because that's just what he is.) are waiting on pins and needles for the first game of the season this Saturday.



And I have this feeling, as I continue to become "outnumbered" by the males in our family, Saturdays in the Fall will always revolve around the sport and the team they love so much!

So who else is ready for some football?