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!!!!!!

Waiting, Patiently!

Well, I had every intention of writing a post last month. I actually even had one saved that I never published.... oh, well. Anyway, these past two months have flown by and I would love to be able to introduce my sweet baby boy, but unfortunately, he seems to be very comfortable right where he is. So, we wait... Can I tell you how HARD it has been to wait. I mean, I've been preparing for this little boy for nine months now and I'm completely ready to see his face and hold him in my arms. Should I also mention the years we've prayed for and never really thought this time would come. When the doc said I had made progress and she would like to wait until next Monday to see if he would just come on his own, I was thankful for her wisdom but at the same time my heart sank, "one more week?". As I have been learning to wait, God has reminded me of how my situation relates to the anticipation I should have for his return. Our bags are in the car, the cameras are charged, his room is completely ready, and we've even washed and cleaned out the car! We've done this knowing that any day he could come, so we've made preparations and are ready to go at any minute.  As we've prepared, we continue to do our daily tasks. All this preparation, anticipation that I've put into my son's arrival, do I do the same in my preparation for Christ's return. Am I living my life daily prepared  for His return, knowing that He may come at any minute. Am I filling myself with His word daily, and relying on Him, knowing that any second He may return. Am I preparing myself to be used by Him and allowing Him to guide me to share the gospel with those He puts in my path. It seems through this waiting period God has been speaking to my heart and I'm thankful. I'm thankful that God continues to help me, teach me, and guide me. I know that one day I'll look back and cherish this time God had me to wait. I'm so thankful God's ways are better than my ways. 

As I finished up with my students last week for my maternity leave, I must say I've enjoyed the time I've been able to have with my hubby these past few days. Last week, we celebrated his birthday and tomorrow we'll be celebrating mine. Yes, we're six days apart and I LOVE that! We usually celebrate all week together and this year we were hoping to include our little guy into the celebrations. It's crazy to think that our birthdays will all be in October. Trevor and I use to joke that if we ever did have children we would like their birthday to be in October and the same week as ours, that way we could just extend our celebration. When we found out we were pregnant and that our baby's due date was exactly in between our birthdays, I had to laugh and then be amazed at God's timing. So, who knows, I may get my birthday present tomorrow?! 

Well, I also have to play catch up of what else has happened over the past two months. Yes, I started back to school and I love my group of students this year. They were so sweet to me and made me cards and some even made cards for Caleb. Every morning when we would pray, the students would take turns praying and it was so sweet to hear them pray for me and Caleb. I'm SO thankful that I teach at a school where the students can learn about the power of prayer! Here is a picture of my classroom this year....

My co-workers gave me a surprise shower after work one day. I do believe I shed a few tears. So many of my co-workers have journeyed with us through our desire to have children and have seen how God has worked through the ups and downs. They went in together to buy us the swing we registered for and few other little goodies. They had even called Trevor to come, so I was completely shocked when I saw his cute face enter the room! It was a very special time. My church also gave us a shower. Again, it was lots of fun. I was trying to remember to take it all in and treasure every minute. Some people from the last church we were on staff at also came which made it that more special. Here are some pics from that day....

                                                                                                         

We also completely finished baby boy's room... well, almost. We have one more pic to put up that was made by my friend Anna Ruth, but we're waiting on his arrival so she can finish the date!! But, everything else is done. I LOVE his room. Some days I just go in and sit in the rocker and stare at everything and at night I pick out a book off of the shelf to read to him. I can't wait til he comes and we can actually start putting these sweet little items to use! So here's his room.....

                                     Ok, so I was going for a story book theme in
                                     his room. I framed some old golden books that I
                                     found at the Good Will. I think they turned out cute.
                                    The ABC book from Richard Scarey is one that Trevor
                                    had as a child.

                                     The Poky Little Puppy, which goes along with
                                     the wall hanging my mom put together!

                                 This is his cute, little, jammed packed closet!!!!

                                           And of course, we already have lots 
                                           of books! I'm praying he likes reading 
                                           and books just as much as his mommy does!!



Other random activities over the past few weeks......Trevor and I did make it to the apple orchard this year but we didn't pick apples. We just bought the apples already picked. I've enjoyed several craft shows, yard sales, and fun times with friends, especially our trip to the White Oak Tea Tavern!!! Love that place. 

I feel blessed beyond measure! Although everyday is not perfect and I have my struggles, God is in control and everyday I choose to see the blessings and live in the joy of the Lord!!

Have a blessed week!!

Celebrating

Over the past few weeks, I've had a chance to slow down a bit and enjoy being with friends and family. As a celebration for ending some classes I've been taking, my friend Anna Ruth and I traveled to Scott's strawberry farm to pick some delicious strawberries. There's nothing sweeter than fresh picked strawberries. I made some strawberry smoothies that were really good. Next on the list is to make strawberry shortcakes. 

This past weekend, we enjoyed having Trevor's parents at our house to celebrate his mom's birthday along with Mother's Day. On Sunday, Trevor's brother and family came to surprise her but she had already figured it out. Oh well for surprises, we had a great time together anyway!!

As for baby update, things are moving along smoothly. Hopefully on Friday, we will get to find out if we're having a BoY or a gIrL!!!! 

As for school, we're down to 16 days left! I think I'm more excited about summer break than my students. There's so much to be done this summer and I'm so looking forward to being off from work to get it all done. 

Other things I'm looking forward to: 
                                                            planting the garden
                                                            working on some home projects
                                                            catching up on my scrapbook
                                                            spending time with family/ friends
                                                            cook outs/ picnics
                                                            having some fun Fridays with my baby

Summer break can not get here fast enough!!!!!!!!!!!!

I leave with a couple of pics of some cicadas I took a couple of weeks ago on field trip with my students. Actually, the field that we were in was covered with them.