Write YOUR Story

Well, finally, it seems that spring has made its arrival here in VA. I'm so thankful for warmer temps and the ability to start making our way to play outside more. We were able to get to the park a couple of times this month as well as playing out in the yard. Yay for spring!!

The month of March has been quite busy. We enjoyed some much needed time with both grandparents.  

We celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday, St. Patrick's Day, and the first day of spring!! We also shopped for shoes... I was trying on shoes and when I looked up, this is what I found! :)

If ya can't tell, I like to celebrate..

We also attend story time at the library once a week and enjoyed some fun at their spring party. 

This month Caleb also had his first sickness of the winter, an ear infection. Thankfully, within 24 hours of getting the antibiotic, he was back to normal.  He's quite the active toddler these days! One of his favorite things to do is "run circles"! He's also a dance machine :).  Sometimes we have dance parties. Ok, actually, we have dance parties about every other day!! He will ask for music so he can dance. It's great exercise :).  His new word right now is "sure". Everything we ask, he will answer with "sure". He's still obsessed with cars, trucks, trains, tractors, basically anything with wheels. He also likes his books, blocks, and loves to paint and glue. His favorite food, which has been his fav for months now, is "ogurt". He would eat yogurt for every meal and be just happy! Thankfully, he is a healthy, happy little boy and I couldn't be more proud!

The month of March has also brought a lot of tragedy, sadness and death within the surrounding communities of where I live, as well as within my circle of people and connections I've made. Of course, this is not even including the death and tragedies going on around the world. I must say this has been challenging for me and has caused me to do a lot of thinking and praying. In certain instances, I've prayed and prayed that God would change the outcome for certain people. All to realize that God had different plans; plans that are hard to accept and understand. In most of these circumstances, life had been cut too short. Also,diagnosis' have been given at what seems too young of an age. Reality has hit me in the face this month. A reality that I've known but seem to ignore... no one is guaranteed tomorrow. 
I've been thinking so much this month on my life. Many questions have been flooding my mind... Am I doing what God has called me to? Am I living my days as if it could be my last? Do I love enough and give enough? Am I intentionally sharing my faith? I could go on but I won't. :)  As I've been praying and sharing my heart with God, I know this journey is His, not mine! I don't want to waste the time he's giving me on this earth on worthless things. So many verses have been coming to my mind lately. 

 Matthew 6:19-21, Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 

Colossians 3:1, Since you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.  

Through the situations this past month, I'm truly realizing how I am to live out God's purpose and  story in my life no matter what may come.  Most of my life as a Christian I have expressed a certain truth,  but honestly, I feel like I'm just now really getting it. It's the understanding that my life on earth is not my permanent home.  Although I thought I understood this idea, I find myself still living as if this is my forever home. I think I'm finally getting it. Boy, I'm sure glad God doesn't give up on me!! I'm finally getting what really matters. To love God with all my heart, to serve and worship him only. Therefore, it is my mission, my passion to seek out those who have not heard and to be intentionally going and sharing the saving message of Jesus Christ with everyone I come in contact.  Through sickness, trials and pain, I pray that I realize every situation is an opportunity. God's faithfulness and love does not change with our circumstances. Our circumstances become opportunities to share God's love with those you may have otherwise never met.

There's a song that reminds me to continue to allow God to use me, guide me, and to give him authorship of my journey. The song is called Write Your Story by Francesca Battistelli. The words to the chorus are:
                             I'm an empty page
                             I'm an open book
                             Write your story on my heart
                             Come on and make your mark
                             Author of my hope
                             Maker of the stars
                              Let me be your work of art
                             Won't you write your story on my heart

As my heart is heavy, I pray for these families who are being called to journey a difficult path. 

May we all let Christ write His story on our hearts.  Happy Easter!!!

Life

This poor little spot has been much neglected for quite sometime now. A lot has happened over the past year.

 Life... busy, fun, exciting, frustrating, overwhelming, scary. It seems life comes in seasons. As I look back over my thirty-(cough, cough) some years, I  can completely see how this is so true. I was married in my early twenties and of course, like most newlyweds, I tended to view my future and life with rose colored glasses. Of course, I had read the books,  had pre-marital counseling, and seemed to think I had a good grip on life. But I quickly realized that life requires work, effort, patience, understanding, endurance, and most importantly, a solid relationship with my Savior, Jesus Christ. Even though I "knew" these things, as I experienced "life", I became fully aware that it is not easy. I've experienced pain, loss, heartache, as well as joy, happiness, fulfillment, excitement. But, what I've learned the most is through it all, there has been one constant in my life who has proven himself to me over and over again... Jesus Christ. No matter what situation I have ever faced, he has been what I needed. He has been my peace, joy, firm foundation, and constant through every storm and joy of life. 

I say all of this because as I was thinking of possibly taking down this blog, I realized the original reason I started writing was to journal my journey.... which can not be separated from my relationship with Christ. I want to continue to document what the Lord has done and is doing in my life. May it be a source of encouragement to you and a reminder to my family and friends of the God I serve. He is a good God, a mighty God, the ONLY God! 

Over the past year, I have said good-bye to my job as teacher to stay at home with my boy. Originally, this was not my plan. But, of course Isaiah 55:8 reminds me that my ways are not always His ways. God had began tugging at my heart in the fall of 2013. You see, I have a story here. If you don't know me, then you need to know that my husband and I were not suppose to be able to have children. Well, the exact wording from the doctor was "you may have a chance with medical help". In other words, infertility treatments, surgeries, etc. Let me stop here and say I have nothing against medical help for those dealing with infertility. But for my husband and I, we both agreed that we did not want to go down that road. I had witnessed this same scenario with friends. After surgeries, traveling once a month for treatments, it completely took over their life and in the end they still ended with heartache and disappointment. I did not want that kind of life. We surrendered it to God and said your will be done. If you want us to have children, we will. If you don't want us to have children, we won't. Either way, we wanted God's will. Now, I realize I just made it sound like we were just happy go lucky either way. But in truth, we were heartbroken.  I cried... a lot! I prayed.... a lot! It was my desire to have children and be a mommy. Ever since I was a little girl, all I really wanted to do in life was to be a mommy. So, for 11 and half years we waited, we doubted, we trusted. We even attempted foster care. You can read about that here and here. Looking back now, we know God had a plan. Then we had the surprise of our life. In February of 2012, we found out we were going to be parents. Only God! We welcomed a healthy baby boy on October 18, 2012. 

 I went back to work after three months and did ok. It was difficult at first, but I loved my job and students and my boy was being taken care of in the same building which made my transition fairly easy.  But, truth be told, I felt like staying home wasn't an option for me, ever. And honestly, at the time it wasn't... but God had a plan.I survived the next few months until summer break and then enjoyed the best summer I had ever had. When I went back to work in the fall, I just felt dissatisfied. And then it happened, God spoke to my heart and began placing that strong feeling and longing in me to be at home, raising the blessing he gave me. I've been through enough in life and have read in scripture that when God says something is going to happen, it will! But, I doubted, was scared and unsure and honestly could not see how it would work out. But.... God had a plan. In reality, I wanted it to happen. But, oh my faith needed some work. Then I happen to come across an old prayer journal I had written three years earlier. It was one of those days. Longing, desiring, heart aching to be a mom. I wrote how I just wanted to be a mom, a stay at home mom. I completely realized that God was giving me the desires of my heart. I needed to trust him, depend on him and watch him work out the situation. Which is much like how Trevor and I got together... haha! that's a whole other story. Anyway, I prayed and asked God to increase my faith and I surrendered to his call. 

Here I am six months into this stay at home mom gig and I must again say God is faithful. Has it been easy? No, not completely. Have there been sacrifices? Absolutely. But God has provided in more ways than I could have ever imagined. The joy of being with my son everyday has completely outweighed any sacrifices I needed to make. 

So, this is my new season for now.  Again, I can't say it enough... God is faithful.  I choose to soak it up, enjoy it, take it in, knowing that this season will not last forever. 

New Year

Now that January is almost over, I’ll write my New Year’s post! HA! So, HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!!!! I hope your 2014 has had a great start and that many exciting things are in store for you this year!

Well, just like everyone else, I’ve made my goals for the year. There’s something exciting about a new year. It makes me feel like it’s a chance to start fresh in certain areas of my life. For the goals I’ve made, some are going well and others well; let’s just say they’re slow coming. (Like trying to make it to the gym 4 days a week!!) But, my main goal this year is to draw closer to the Lord, plain and simple! The hubs and I are doing the same read through the Bible in a year plan and have been taking time to share. Can I just say I LOVE this! I love how it is deepening our relationship and drawing us closer to the Lord. Years past, we’ve usually done our own plan, but this year Trevor encouraged us to do it together.

This year I’m choosing to place my attention, focus, and priorities on what matters! I think years past, I’ve had good intentions but often get distracted. So, with all that, a word that keeps coming to mind is legacy. With thinking about striving to be a godly woman, I’ve pondered a lot about this word. What do I want to pass on to my son? Is it material possessions, ideas, good morals, certain skills, etc.? As each day passes, I realize that what I do matters. My attitude, my ideas, and especially my relationship with the Lord are being watched, and observed by little eyes. My prayer this year is to seek Him first, in all things, in all matters and concerns. And as we go about this journey, I pray that my son will see, know, and choose one day to live and serve the one true GOD! That this desire of God will continue with his children and his children’s children, and so on. I want to leave a legacy of faithful followers of Jesus Christ, no matter the cost.  I recently read an article in a magazine that encouraged parents to not stress out about how they are raising their kids. The article stated that parents today are more involved in their children’s life than they were twenty years ago. Their reasoning for this is because parents carry more guilt today because more households have both parents working. So, their advice is for parents to let go of the guilt and not stress over how they are being raised. They suggested that parents really do not have as much influence on their kid’s life anyway, and so we should not feel the need to try to think we’re making an impact that carries into adulthood. I completely disagree. I believe that God has given me a great responsibility as a parent and what I do with it does matter.  Now, the article included some aspects of parenting that are negative that I did agree with that may be associated with guilty parenting, ~ over indulgence, instant gratification. I’m not trying to pick on the magazine; I actually have a subscription and do enjoy reading it. But, I know and have to keep in mind that their advice and articles are not written from a Biblically based view point.

So, I know my example to my son needs to look more like God and less like the world. I have other goals this year but goals that are worthless compared to the desire and need to be filled with more of God.

Well, now that I just spilled my heart all over the page, I’ll share about what’s been going on around here. Since it’s been so long since I’ve updated about the boy, let me give you the rundown. J

He is quite an active 15 month old. He is happy most of the time and loves to say “hi”, “bye- bye” and blow kisses. Lately, he is all about his cars, train, riding toys, balls and books. He can also make the best “car” noise when he drives his cars!! J He jabbers constantly but is coming along with his words. Other than dada and mama, he can say dog, ball, car, shoe, night-night, tree, and star. He loves being around other kids. When I drop him off at daycare, he gets really excited, giggles, and waves bye. He’s still eating well and his favorites are any kind of fruit, sweet potatoes, and bread. His sleeping is still a work in progress! J Sometimes he sleeps through the night and sometimes he wakes up 2-3 times per night. He seems to be a light sleeper and only a couple of times has he slept for 10 hours or more. He usually averages 9 hours. But unfortunately, he still wakes up early. I’ve even tried putting him to bed later but he still wakes up around the same time. Christmas morning he gave us a present by sleeping until 6am! He usually gets up at 5:30- 5:45am.

I was off work three days last week due to MLK day and snow days!! WHOOT! WHOOT! So we were able to have some serious play time around here. As Trevor was up with Caleb one morning, I could hear those little feet walking around and that little squealy voice. Why would I want to sleep?! I can’t wait to get up and squeeze that sweet boy! Needless to say, he’s a joy and blessing in every way.

Since I didn’t post at Christmas, here are some highlights in pics:

Have a blessed New Year!! Matthew 6:33

I'm Back

Well, I'm back after a 6 month hiatus! I didn't intend on taking that long of a break, but I did. The end of my summer seemed to bring lots of exciting adventures that I just didn't have time to stop and blog about it. Then I went back to work in August and since then it seems life has been quite the whirlwind, but I must say I'm lovin every minute of it!!

I 'm finally getting to blog because we are kind of stuck indoors today due to the nice ice storm that came to visit! :)   I must say I love days like this because.... I stay in my pajamas all day, I lay around and eat junk/ comfort food, I have my family with me ALL day, and I get to do a few things that I want to do!! Also, the school I work at is on late schedule tomorrow. YIPPIE!!!! Although, this does not mean sleeping in for me. I really don't remember what that's like because I have a one year old who seems to think he needs to wake up between 5:30-6am everyday!! This works out great on work days, but not so much on the weekends. Oh well, on the positive side, I've learned I get SO much more done between 6am - 9am, than any other part of the day AND coffee is my friend! I keep telling myself to sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride because I know one day I'll look back on these years and realize how fast they went.

Well, around our house, we're in high gear for Christmas! The decorations are out, the gifts are bought, (well, for the most part), and our hearts are focused on the real reason to celebrate, Jesus Christ! I must admit, with all of the commercialism of Christmas, it can be difficult at times to keep our homes focused on the true meaning of Christmas. Now that I have a son, I've also been thinking about how to nurture him in God's Word and in understanding the real meaning of Christmas. I realize that my life and example will ultimately demonstrate this truth to him. Obviously, a child's understanding of God always starts in the home. So, I've been more mindful of how does my life reflect what I SAY I believe about God. Especially here at Christmas, I'm taking a step back, knowing what I believe about Jesus Christ, (his birth, death, and resurrection), but does what I believe reflect in the way I live my life. Because I do NOT want to be a Christian who says all the RIGHT things to my son but never show him that I believe it with my life.  So through prayer, I'm surrendering to God. It would be real easy for me to come up with a bunch of "things" to "do" to feel like I've accomplished this task. But, I know it's not about me and that I'm only human and that I can be a self-seeking, sinful human being at times. So, I continue to give it to God, read His Word, and follow His lead. So, for now we're keeping it simple! 

So, now that you know what I've been thinking on lately, I have more to update on but just don't have the time tonight to get it done. SO, hopefully, I'll post later this week on happenings around here and how my sweet boy is almost 14 months old!!!! So crazy!

Anyway, be blessed and keep Jesus the real meaning of YOUR Christmas!!!!!

Let the FUN Begin

Well, my LONG awaited summer break has finally made its way here! I survived going back to work and now I’m going to soak up every minute with this little cutie this summer.

                        

       

Over the past month and a half, we’ve been very busy. Of course, the end of the school year is always busy for me. But, the month of May is always busy for us. This year I was excited to celebrate my first Mother’s Day. Trevor and Caleb gave me a locket. I love it! And, we were able to spend the day with my mom, dad, my brother and his family.  It was a GREAT day! 

Then the last Sunday of the month, we had Caleb’s baby dedication at church. It was a very sweet occasion. Both of our parents were able to attend and of course we had to take pictures afterward.

(yes, my eye is red… unfortunately, I had pink eye that weekend… L)

We also celebrated Trevor’s first Father’s Day. We ate lunch out and Caleb and I gave daddy a gift certificate to play golf and a book for daddy and Caleb to read together. We had a great day as a little family of three!

And, we had our first fun Friday. We took Caleb to the park for the first time. We put him in the swing and at first he hung on as if he wasn’t sure if he would like it or not. But, after a few minutes, he was giggling. After the park, we ate lunch out and then came home for an afternoon nap. It was nice just having a day together, no interruptions.

I’ve also been catching up on my scrapbook and a few projects around the house. Caleb and I also have gone to the library each week… I’m hoping to get him used to it early because his mommy LOVES the library and I hope he does too! When he turns two, I will definitely be taking him to story time each week in the summer! I don’t know what it is but the library is one of my favorite places. It’s possibly because I love books and I love to read…. and maybe because my mom always took me to the library. Somehow, each week I end up being there over an hour.

Anyway, summer doesn’t last forever so I’ve got plans… lots of plans. I probably have so many plans that it won’t all get accomplished but that’s okay. I’ll just do what I can and enjoy the journey.  Here are just some of the things on my list: visiting family, my cousin’s wedding, vacation, small projects around the house (deep cleaning each room, painting, etc), stocking the freezer (preparing for the fall), finish Caleb’s scrapbook, crocheting projects for Christmas, etc. Okay you get the point… a lot of stuff! But, I’m keeping it in perspective. My most important thing after spending time with the Lord, is spending a lot of time with my boy!

Speaking of my boy, he is growing like a weed! I can’t believe that he is eight months old, eight months old. Ok, sorry for the repetition. I just have to keep reminding myself of that fact. Every day it seems he’s looking more and more like a little toddler boy than a baby. His hair is growing more and he giggles at everything, unless he’s sleepy or hungry! He still loves his jumper and he cracks me up because he gets a serious face and jumps and jumps and jumps! His love of bath time has caused us to move him from the sink to the bathtub. He's still in his little tub but now he can splish- splash to his hearts content. He loves for mommy and daddy to hold his hands and let him walk… he’s still not crawling yet but he rocks back and forth on his hands and knees. He has started using a sippy cup at lunch and he's doing quite well with it. He loves to play peek- a- boo, play with all of his “light” up toys, and his musical toys. This past week, I really noticed him trying to “figure “out his toys. He has some stacking stars that light up and play music and he would pick up a star and look at it and then he would hit it against each of the other stars as if it should light up. So cute! Something else he enjoys is watching me blow dry my hair. In the mornings, I lay him on the bed while I fix my hair. When I get out my red blow dryer, he starts to giggle. Then he stays glued to it as I dry my hair. It cracks me up! Easy entertainment, right?! I just wonder what his little mind is thinking!

This week we’ll be celebrating Independence Day and then traveling this weekend to my parent’s house and to go to my cousin’s wedding. I’m looking forward to fun times!

Until next time... I leave you with this Bible verse.

        Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.   Philippians 2:3-4

Have a blessed week…..      Happy Independence Day!!!

Confessions of a Working Mom

Ok, so I wasn’t planning on taking this long of a break from blogging… but I did. Anyway, life has been whizzing by and I can’t believe it’s been over two months since I last posted. But as you can imagine, life is very busy now…. especially with a 6month old.

As a working momma, life can be quite challenging at times and there seems to be very little time to sit down and relax. Since going back to work in January, I have struggled with balancing or making time for my many roles, such as, balancing housework, feeling guilty when I leave Caleb at daycare, making time for myself, cooking meals, sleeping, and so and so on! If you don’t know me or haven’t read any previous posts, you may not know that I’m a girl who likes routine, lists, organization, and of course, being able to check things off my list! So, figuring out how to be a working mom has, at times, worn me down. As time has slipped by, I am continually learning to keep placing everything back into God’s hands and forever asking God for wisdom!!! And just let me tell ya… when you ask God for wisdom, he definitely gives it! He helps me to put things back into perspective and reminds me that I don’t have to do it all. I don’t have to be perfect….”Whew”. Just knowing this gives me peace and takes weight off my shoulders. I don’t know if anyone else feels this way at times but it is definitely something I struggle with. I’m so thankful I serve a God who is not asking me to be perfect, to do all the right “things”. He desires me to seek after Him with all my heart, to be available to be used by Him. I’m reminded in scripture to be like Mary and not Martha. (By the way, a good book that I’ve read on this topic is Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World by Joanna Weaver.) Now that I’m four months into this working mom thing, I can look back and see how God has given me strength, given direction, and has shown me how to balance this life he’s given me.

One thing for sure, my husband and I are a team. I could not do this without him. Many times since I’ve had Caleb and when Trevor was sick, I’ve thought about some friends I know who have raised their kids as a single parent and I must say, I should have prayed for them more. It’s a tough but rewarding role that can be challenging even with two parents sharing the load. Trevor and I have divided some of our household chores so that one person isn’t doing it all and to keep us on the same page. Since we both work, this is so helpful.

Another thing we’ve decided to do is turn off the TV. Several years ago, I worked at daycare taking care of 2 year olds. One family in particular made a huge impression on me. Of this family, both mom and dad worked but yet they were not the typical working family. As I observed their son, I noticed just how much he was content with little things. Even at Christmas, when I asked him what his favorite gifts were, he said, “Thomas the Train underwear and pajamas.”:) I finally asked the mom how they made it work. How do you foster family time when you both work? She said that they had decided weekday evenings were to be focused on family. They weren’t going to be a family that came home each evening and plopped down in front of the TV and not spend time with their son. She said they ate dinner together and they played with toys, games, and read books until bed time. They did not turn on the TV until after their child had gone to bed. For over 8 years, what she said has stuck with me. That family was proof to me that it was possible to create a strong family even while both parents work. So, we’re trying to keep the TV off in the evenings until Caleb has gone to bed. We haven’t been doing this every night but we’ve found that we enjoy our evenings so much more when it is off. We don’t let Caleb watch TV anyway, at least until he’s 2.

Some other things I do to help the mornings run smoothly are pack Caleb’s daycare bag and my school bag the night before. I hang out our clothes the night before. Ok, so I try to do as much as possible the night before. I sometimes even set out Caleb’s bowl, spoon, and bib for his breakfast for the next morning. It just makes the mornings less hectic. I hate rushing to get ready and there have been days I’ve had to do this.

I’m still a work in progress. I don’t have it all together (as much as I would like to say I do). As I have a desire to try and do it all…. I know it’s not possible and that some days things will be hectic and not flow the way I want it to. But I’m learning to keep my feet rooted in God’s Word and let Him lead the way. There’s no other place as comforting and peaceful as being in the hands of God.

Well, that sums up my last umm.. four months! Ok, well, while I’ve been learning the ropes of motherhood, I have been having fun along the way. Caleb is 6months old now!!!!!! He’s halfway to a year, ahhh! So, I am trying to soak up every little minute with him. He is SO much fun and such a good baby.

We went to the doctor for his 6mo. check up and he weighed 16lbs and 3oz, and 26 and a half inches long! He loves his jumper, rolling around on the floor, and anything to chew on. He also loves to listen to us sing to him and he has started this squealing phase. Bath time has become a favorite for him because he like to kick his legs and splash the water. I also love the way he raises his eyebrows up as if he is intently listening to me. He is content most of the time and smiles all the time. He also has his two bottom teeth in. He also is doing great with eating solids. His favorite food is apples. He seems to like most any fruit! Of course he’s saying “da da” and that just melts Trevor’s heart. I’m still working on him saying “momma”. He’s formed his lips like he was going to say it a few times but he never has. And who knows, maybe he was wanting to say “monkey”!! We celebrated his first Easter with Trevor's family. We had a great day despite the "blah" weather. He even got to find three eggs with daddy. He’s growing like crazy and in just a couple of weeks we’ll be looking at a seven month old!?!

I have 24 days of school left until summer and I just can’t wait!!!!!!!!

he found a water toy in his egg!

decorating cupcakes at Easter

We also have a lot going on this month that I’m looking forward to… visiting family, planting my garden, maybe strawberry picking (okay, Anna Ruth?!), and Caleb’s baby dedication at the end of the month. Hopefully, I’ll post on some of these events, but, if not… you know what I’m doing…. Heehee!!

Have a blessed weekend!!

Monthly Adventures

Our past monthly adventures has been somewhat, not so adventurous… heehee. We started the month off with Trevor having the dreaded Norovirus… yuck! This was a total surprise because Trevor NEVER gets sick, especially with a stomach bug. Apparently, this virus is a new strand of the stomach bug and is highly contagious. With a three month old in the house, I was focused on keeping him well. So, if you can imagine, I was the Clorox Queen for several days and gave strict orders for my husband to only stay in the bedroom or bathroom! Caleb and I camped out in the guest room at nights. Then, within the past couple of weeks, Caleb has had RSV, thankfully he is doing much better but still has a little cough. This worried momma didn’t sleep but just a few hours a night just checking on baby boy which made for some tiresome days. But thankfully the Lord is my strength because I would’ve made it no other way. Well, I also found out that if your baby has RSV adults can get cold like symptoms and we did! Yay! So to say I’m ready for spring is such an understatement. We’ve never had a winter with this much sickness in our house.

Over the past month it hasn’t been all bad, there have been some good things that have happened. My parents came to visit a couple of weekends ago and at the beginning of the month we traveled an hour away to spend time with Trevor’s family at his great uncle’s surprise birthday party. On another positive note, we have missed school every Friday since Jan. 4!!!! -Which gives me more time with my boy! It seems this year we’ve had more ice than snow… which obviously is more dangerous and pretty much guarantees a day off. I feel like I work a job where I only work four days a week… although, this week I only worked three days because we had a scheduled day off for President’s Day.  WHOO HOO!! I know reality will set in real soon. The countdown to spring break is on!!!

We celebrated Valentine’s Day a little differently this year due to Caleb being sick but nevertheless, it was great and we enjoyed a relaxed evening at home! Of course I celebrated Valentine’s Day with my students and one thing I do with my class every year is visit a local nursing home. We team up with a few other classes, make Valentines, practice some songs, poems, and Bible Verses to present to the residents. I love this! Each year I’m amazed at the responses I get from my students. Of course we discuss what a nursing home is and why the people may have to live there and we discuss how we are being the hands and feet of Christ by sharing his love. As with any class, there are some students who have been to a nursing home before but others have not. This year I was surprised by a particular student who is typically shy. He ended up being the one who was double checking with the residents to make sure everyone had a valentine. As we were taking the elevator back down to the lobby, he would say “we didn’t give that person one”. He seemed to be on the lookout for people who might not have received a valentine. LOVE IT!!  I also love to see the responses of the residents. They completely light up and sing the songs with us. This year in particular, one lady touched my heart. She said she had a Valentine from a child and with tears in her eyes she said she just couldn’t believe that they had made a valentine just for her. As we left the nursing home, in my heart I was completely thanking God for using us and for teaching these students how be servants and how important it is to think about others- not just yourself or people like you. Now that I have a child, this has really made me think about how I want to do this with Caleb as he gets older. As we live in a world that is so self-absorbed, I pray that God will give me the wisdom to teach him how to love and care for others, to think of  “the least of these”. Even though I know through child development that it is natural for young children to be self-focused, I don’t want him to stay at this stage.   I see WAY too many children who seem to be all about themselves and have never been taught differently- even in Christian School!!I pray that I will lead him by example so that when he is old enough to make these decisions on his own, it will not be made through a self-focused lens.

Well, speaking of the cutie, he turned 4 months old this past Monday. He received a good report from his doctor. He is weighing in at 13lbs, 10oz., 25” long. She gave us the go ahead to eat baby foods! Yay! I can’t believe how much he is changing. He loves to sleep with his hands behind his head, which really cracks me up. He still loves his bouncy seat and musical gym. He loves putting anything in his mouth… we guess he’s teething but haven’t felt any teeth coming in yet. He loves mornings, which has really helped me to change- I’m not a morning person!! But, when I hear him wake up with his cute little coos and squeals, I can’t want to get up and see his sweet face! He loves tummy time and although I practice with him turning over, he seems he would rather try to scoot forward. When I read to him, he now really looks at the pictures and tries to hold or turn the page. He is SO much fun and I can’t wait until summer when I get to be with him everyday!! In the past, since Trevor is off on Fridays, we would deem Friday as “fun Friday” and try to spend the day together doing whatever. Now that we have little boy, it’s going to be “fun family Friday”… heehee, I know it may sound silly but I’m looking forward to it!!  Here are some pics of the past month:

(Thanks to Pinterest... my attempt at making "mini" king cakes. Since we used to live in New Orleans, for Mardi Gras, I fixed red beans and rice and these mini king cakes.  Unfortunately,  they are not all nice and pretty but tasted yummy!)

tummy time

fun play time in the morning... 

as the nurses said when he was born... just "chilled", although, I've learned from this pose it means I'm getting sleepy!

happy baby

getting ready to eat.... apples, YUM!

He did a great job and LOVED it!

Have a blessed week!!!!!!