The Happy Wife

A Thousand Years? Really?

2012-02-07T09:35:00.001-06:00

There's a popular Christian song with a verse that says, "When we've been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the Son, we'll no less days to sing His praise then when we first began." I was singing this song to Caleb this week when the words very directly and pointedly prodded my heart. Ten thousand years of praising God.. Nothing but the same praising for all eternity. And I'm supposed to want to do this? And my answer back to myself was, "yes". I was happy that I wanted to do nothing but praise God for his goodness and mercy for all eternity. Nothing but praise for a God that deserves so much more.

Why not start now?

If my end goal is to be in heaven, praising God, and this is something that could be started now, then why not start it now? Why am I not living my life as a continuous praise? Why am I allowing these trivial earthly matters affect me when there's a much bigger picture? Eternity.

I need to be more patient with my children. When I am doing something and they want to snuggle, I want to snuggle with them. I want my children to lead me to worshiping God. When Caleb wants me to run in circles with him, I want to do that. If Micah wants me to play never-ending peek-a-boo, I want to do that. Mommies aren't allowed to get tired apparently. And if I work on being less selfish, then I won't get as tired when playing with the boys. I can spend my energy on them instead of whatever it was that seemed so important. Spending time with the boys is much more important than sorting laundry. And so much more un too. Why do I get impatient? It doesn't make sense.

I need to be more loving to my husband. In the car yesterday I told him how much I love and admire him. I told him how sorry I am that I don't always treat him like the wonderful person that he is. Within the hour I was back to being frustrated with him for some trivial action. Luckily after almost three short years of marriage we're learning good communication skills that lead to the issue being resolved immediately. But it really struck me how I could flop so easily from loving him the way I should to being bitter so quickly. This is sin in my life. Felipe is wonderful of helping me learn.

I am spending time with God every day. I quite accidentally wake up before everyone else. This gives me ample time to read my Bible. I don't do anything fancy. I don't spend an hour, or even half an hour...well, maybe half an hour. I just read a few verses, pray, and that's it. For the rest of the day, those few verses pop into my head and convict and encourage me. I used to think I had to be some super Christian, reading chapters a day. But I find that the little reading I do is adequate because it isn't a chore and it allows a large impact from a few rather than a small impact from many.

This is fun: I'm sitting here typing and Micah woke up. So now he's in my lap, being cute, just looking around the room. We're enjoying each other's presence without doing anything other than snuggling together. Sometimes that's all they want. Personally, I don't think you can ever give your child too many hugs. God could never give me too many hugs.

My Father God gives me hugs and I give my babies hugs. And do you know what?

I could do this for a thousand years and all the way into eternity.

Indulgences for My Indulgences

2012-01-25T22:21:00.000-06:00

I indulge unholy behavior on a daily basis. Today's basis is plain self pity. I have an unholy cycle of sinning through self-pity which leads to the sin of over-eating which makes me fat which leads to me feeling sorry for myself. (Why do I eat when I feel bad? Luckily, I left my chocolate pie at someone else's house last night, so I've mostly just eaten animal crackers today).

...and I still feel so, I don't know, disappointed? Yes, I feel disappointed. Not only do I feel disappointed in that we are no longer moving as anticipated, but I am disappointed in God. I hope this a safe place for my confession. The actual depth of my thoughts was, "Why can't he just leave us alone?" Why does He keep teaching us and trying to get us to trust Him more? I know He will always provide for us and I know everything will turn out ok, but why must this process of finding a real job take so long?

I knew it was sinful and wrong the moment the thought finished. But there it lay. Thought-ed [that's how I said it in my head]. It could not be unthought. The true horror of this thought is that it revealed my innermost being. Vile and unholy. I found myself sympathizing with the Israelites as they left Egypt. I knew what they were feeling. They just wanted rest. They didn't want all this testing. An all-powerful God who is loving and gracious should be able to provide rest for His children. So why doesn't He? My accusations and cynicism grew. Now I can relate to Job. Poor man. Why did God treat such a loving and wonderful servant in such a way? Job never knew and I may never know. But our sin is the same. Surely God will have the same answer for me, then.

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.Who determined its measurements—surely you know!Job 38

It seems I am a sinner in need of grace. God says it is not my place, and not Job's place, to question God. Can we understand as He understands? God uses the foolish things of this world to baffle the wise (I Corinthians). If a wise person cannot understand, then I humbly submit that I do not have a chance. Although I wouldn't call myself a fool, only a fool would call himself (or herself) wise. All things are in His control. He uses bad situations and evil to bring about His good. Romans 8:28 tells us that God brings all things together for His good. And Hebrews assures us that even though we can't believe with our eyes that He is in control, He truly is.

My sin was indulged. I "fell" into it. But God's grace abounds. For Christ's sake, I will indulge in His gift of grace. For while my sin abounds, His grace abounds more so. I will take my indulgence of His grace. I will accept my failings and be covered in His blood that removes stains. For it is only the sons of God that go through testing and trials...And I find encouragement in the letter to the Hebrews, chapter 12:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resister to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives."

My sin that I am asked to lay aside is my selfish desire for rest from the training of God. I am encouraged to continue to run the race of life and look to Jesus as an example. Jesus lead a life that he knew would end terribly so that he might draw his sons to himself and he finished well. So I can finish well too. His shame was greater than my shame. I am ashamed to not be able to have a job and afford to live on our own. But what is that compared to the shame Jesus endured to save my entitled being? So I will endure as well.

We run out of health insurance February 1st. My parents, with whom we now live, are moving. What if we get pregnant? We'll need a new car. Where will we live? How can we afford the necessities? Will we ever be able to afford any luxuries? When the cares of my heart are many, his consolations cheer my soul. I know that mine is not as sad as other's predicaments but I still cast these cares to the Lord and allow his word to sustain me. As I started the post out, I know that I am full of sin desiring to do good and failing. And now at the end of the post, I know that it will only be his grace to sustain me. Then perhaps he will tell me, too, that my faith has made me well.

And now, some words from Daily Light on the Daily Path:
Every Branch in me [Jesus] that does not bear fruit he [the Father] takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. (John 15:2)
For he [God] is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord (Malachi 3:2, 3)
Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who had been given to us. (Romans 5:3-5)
It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there that his father does not discipline? If you were left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate and not sons. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:8, 11-12)

Thank You Family!

2012-01-16T12:34:00.001-06:00

5x7 Folded Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Yes! I finally got our Thank You notes out in the mail!

For Life

2012-01-15T21:22:00.005-06:00

I have never met a person who was not pro-life. Even those who believe in women's rights would not harm a baby once he was born. We all believe in protecting life once it begins, but the debate is over when life begins.

CHristians do not unanimously agree on when life begins. Some Christians define the beginning of life at different stages. Some Christians even define life as beginning at birth, some with the first brain activity, and some when blood is produced. Most Christians that I know personally will at least preach, if not also practice, that life begins at conception. But what I don't understand is why so many Christians do not practice what they preach.

If its simple ignorance, then perhaps this will help educate: http://www.answersingenesis.org/media#/video/ondemand/fearfully

The videos basically show the biology behind conception and what it means to have "life begin at conception". For those of you who get queasy at the mention of sex, ~~grow up,~~ I mean, stop reading now. Within 24 hours of sperm entering a female, an entire new person could be growing if that sperm fertilized an egg. new DNA = new organism.

Once the sperm, with half a set of chromosomes, meets the egg, with another half, the chromosomes join together. The single cell has its own unique DNA, different from mother and father. At this moment, this single cell has personhood. This is the basis of the anti-abortion movement.

If you are a Christian who agrees with me, then perhaps you might be interested in learning about the birth control pill. Perhaps you roll your eyes, but bear with me and be educated. It is my deepest desire to see you glorify God.

I once had a friend on Yasmin. I was curious and looked up the drug in the Physicians Desk Reference. The page describes unemotionally the three mechanisms of contraception used with Yasmin. The first mechanism is to prevent ovulation. No ovulation can potentially lead to a decreased, if not completely eliminated, libido, as well as permanent damage to the release mechanism causing the mother to become infertile. In case an egg is dropped, the second mechanism will change the viscosity of the mucous so the sperm cannot get to the egg. But if an egg is released, and a sperm does make it to the egg, then we have conception which leads to the third mechanism.

The third mechanism is to strip the endometrium of all nutrients disallowing a zygote to implant. A zygote is the growing person. By blocking its only food source, the person starves to death and is passed through the mother's system often without her even knowing she was pregnant. Sometimes it is noticed by a slightly more bloody period. Ignorance is bliss! While aborting a baby so passively, most Christians callously murder their own children and then tell abortion doctors how evil they are. Both are unwanted pregnancies, and for a Christian I have to wonder why they don't want their pregnancies.

Here's a pdf from Randy Alcorn on Does the Birth Control Pill Cause Abortions?

Why do so many Christians fear having babies? Surely a Christan believes the Bible. And doesn't the Bible say that children are a blessing? A reward? Then, Christian, why do you not believe it? You say one thing but your actions say another. Christianity is not about actions. It is not about doing this or not doing that. But even as Christ is advocating for your soul, your fellow man judges you to see if you truly believe what you claim.

Do you fear having enough money? Look at my life as an example. We have not had enough money for over a year. We couldn't pay rent and sometimes we barely had enough for food. My husband could not provide for us. But were we supposed to be trusting Felipe to provide for us or trusting God to provide for us? Who is Jehovah-Jireh? The Lord will Provide. And he did. My parents let us move in with them. It was terribly embarrassing and humiliating. I guess God is showing me how much pride I have.

Maybe we should have waited to have children until we had enough money. But when I look at Caleb even on his bad days no amount of money is worth his life. But perhaps your children will not be as wonderful as mine? Or perhaps you fear that that is true? What blessings we all miss out on when we take matters into our own hands!

I do not need to pray if the timing is right. I do not need to worry if any children come too soon or if they are not coming soon enough because I trust God. I believe that God will not create a child that he does not want. And I live that belief out.

I do not fear the plan of God. I let him create what he chooses to create. Is my life more difficult sometimes because of that? Yes. I am not free to lie about and do what I please. I must be selfless. God is conforming me to the image of his son. And having these two boys is wonderful! I cannot imagine how life would be if I had chosen life.

Fellow Christian, choose life. When you choose the world's wisdom over God's wisdom, you wait until your own plan can succeed. You wait until you have all your ducks in a row. You wait and do what you please with the right house, job, and wealth. But these will all burn away. God wants you to place your treasure in heaven and look to him for your satisfaction. You have missed out on your own Caleb and Micah because you did not choose life.

I'm embarrassed that I was envious of you. I was obedient. I had my husband, my sons, and my God. And yet I wanted things that are meaningless...things that amount to nothing and will burn away.

I John 2:15-17

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life —is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

My Body, God's Temple

2012-01-13T13:13:00.000-06:00

A friend recently asked a question on facebook wondering if she should get a nose ring. I think nose rings when done tastefully are beautiful.

distasteful and ugly vs elegant and beautiful:

"It's my body. I can do what I want with it." I'm sure we've all had a friend with this mantra as their focal point during adolescence. Whether it's hair color, tattoos, or piercings it seems there alway a trend for kids to jump on to be different just like everyone else.

However, the Bible has a different opinion than most teenagers (I know! What a shocker!). The Bible specifically says to not get a tattoo. So to me, that means don't get a tattoo even if it's of Leviticus 19:28. But there's grace and I would not condemn someone with a tattoo, even though I think they are all ugly.

As for hair color, I'm a naturalist. I like grey hair. If someone wants to dye their hair pink, that's fine. It's fun. But if I am so conceited that I can't admit that my hair is not naturally strawberry blonde, then this actually seems like a more significant issue that needs prayer. [I once had my older sister say to me, "I'm so glad you have more white hair than I do." Now I have no idea what her motives were. Perhaps this is a new way to be encouraging or loving, but I just thought it was odd and part of her awkward personality. My younger sister has solid brown, no noticeable silver at all. Absolutely beautiful! But she still said to me that she likes my silver streaks because it reminds her of tinsel. Me too! And tinsel reminds me of Christmas and angels! But I digress...]

I don't know what kind of nose ring my friend wants to get. I had a roommate once who had a nose ring that made her look like a pig. But she thought she looked cool. One person wrote on my friend's facebook wall that she should not get one. But I considered Ezekiel 16 where God is describing how he came to Jerusalem and found her (figuratively) and dressed her. He put jewels on her including a ring for her nose. And he called her beautiful. If God calls it beautiful, it must be beautiful. Everything can be corrupted just as everything can be redeemed.

Her friend wrote again doubting that my quote was in the Bible. And that got me thinking how twisted American Evangelicals have gotten. How often we have put aside what the Bible actually says for the substitute of some politician or conservative ear-tickler. Consider what the Bible says, not the opinion of man. I wrote to her and told her that we need to fight the urge to try to fit Scripture into our opinions and instead simply believe what the Bible says.

Her reply (I'm editing what I believe to be typos): Hmmm...I think too many people try to take scripture and mold it to what they "think" it means without really diving into it. I myself need to "dive" into it. To each his own on tattoos, piercings, etc. It's your/their body, but His Temple. so one should treat it as such in whatever form it may be.

I've been thinking much on what she wrote. From her picture she looks young. From her typos, I'm guessing mid to late teenager. She's obviously a Christian and obviously wants to learn more. Kudos for that. But she still has me thinking. And thus this blog post came about.

The passage that speaks about our bodies being God's temple is I Corinthians 6:19. Paul is speaking about sexual immorality. Don't have sex with anyone you aren't married to because marriage symbolizes God's covenant with us. He doesn't want us whoring with the devil. Our bodies are his temple. This is a very specific scenario.

Tattoos, I've already addressed. Piercings, I've already addressed. Sexual immorality doesn't seem to fall into the same category though. Also, we're talking the big BC/AD change. Old Testament dispensation was a different grace than New Testament. Tattoos are an OT no-no. Piercings are an OT symbol of beauty. Sexual immorality is always bad. Our bodies being God's temple is a NT analogy to help the OT temple analogy make more sense (that would be an awesome Bible study and I plan on doing it soon).

So, in conclusion, no it isn't your body. Tattoos = no. Piercings = yes. And only have sex with your spouse because God.

discourage discouragement

2012-01-11T14:00:00.001-06:00

After reading the finished entry, it seems the tone of this post is harsher than I intended. I don't mean to be judgmental. Sometimes things are not accurately conveyed through the internet. Please give me grace as you read this and try not to judge me too harshly!

Discouragement is generally unwelcome. Since getting married and having children I've tried to pour encouragement into Felipe, Caleb, and Micah's lives. Coming from a family where sarcasm and discouragement was considered an achievement and a way to communicate, a language to be fluent in or a (backwards) sign of intelligence, it has taken awhile to reprogram my thinking. I have needed to discourage my discouraging tendencies.

Some people have this constant need to ridicule others and put down any idea not their own. I believe this is a sign of insecurity. When I was insecure, I, too, would try to make other people feel as insecure as I felt. How rude and unloving of me! Thank God for his grace. But this was communication in my family. I even remember coming home for a visit one year, the reprogramming nearly complete, I happened to be in the car when the other four members of my family started speaking very rudely to each other. I said something about it to which my younger sister replied that this was just how they speak to each other and if I was going to live with them then I needed to get used to it. But instead I decided to discourage rudeness.

Pride was the first recorded sin and I believe can be traced to the root of every other sin as well. In my experience proud people are always wrong about themselves. Growing up we had a backward understanding about what pride and humility was. We were all very proud. But if you said that you didn't have some talent that you did in fact have then you were humble. This has adversely affected my life many times. How confusing for a child this must have been! But now I discourage pride in myself.

Over competitiveness is a character trait I simply don't handle well. I've tried to be competitive, but I didn't like it. I knew that I was full of lies and I didn't like the taste of bullying others. I see other people being overly competitive and it is always unbecoming, ugly, and repulsive. I look at those peoples' lives and I think, "no wonder." Caleb watches a children's tv show that sings a song, "Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Either way, it's ok. We're just having fun anyway." But when people get competitive over Go Fish and enforce penalties in Charades, it shows their general lack of mercy and grace that runs throughout their souls. So I discourage competitiveness.

If you can't have fun playing a game without seeing your opponents suffer for wrongs committed, check to see if that's a common theme throughout your day. Do you wish to see your fellow men suffer for being born to the wrong family? Do you want those who aren't able to feed their family "deal with it"? I saw a friend's political views as written on facebook say, "Don't take the money I've worked hard for to provide for MY family and give it to someone who won't get off their rear to support theirs!"...If you're a non-Christian conservative I can understand why you might think this. But if you believe that Christ was sent to save sinners even when they can't help themselves, I don't understand this hatred and lack of compassion. Discourage harshness, gracelessness, and lack of mercy.

Encourage love! Whatever is true, or honorable, or just, or pure, or lovely, or commendable, or excellent, or praise-worthy, think on these things (Philippians 4:8). What you have learned and received and heard and seen, that is LOVE, GRACE, COMPASSION, MERCY, practice these things and then the God of peace will be with you! Discourage ungodliness.

What is godliness? Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-control. The Bible does not say, "Be kind to others as long as they are kind first." The Bible does not say, "Love and take care of the poor as long as they are willing to get a job." The Bible does not say, "Help someone get a job so you don't have to take care of them any more." No, rather the Bible says to love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5) and do good, and lend expecting nothing in return...Be merciful even as your Father is merciful. (Luke 6) The Bible says, "I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ …‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’" in Matthew 26. Make your peace with God. And if you believe that you can reconcile being given grace and mercy from your sins through the death of Christ on the cross even though he knew and knows that you will sin again and at the same time not help you own brother, that remains between you and God.

Matthew 18
23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished ato settle accounts with his servants.8 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him bten thousand ctalents.9 25 dAnd since he could not pay, his master ordered him eto be sold, with his wife and fchildren and all that he had, and payment to be made.26 So the servant10 gfell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and dforgave him the debt. 28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundredhdenarii,11 and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. 32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.
33 iAnd should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’34 jAnd in anger his master delivered him to the jailers,1 kuntil he should pay all his debt.35 lSo also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brothermfrom your heart.”

Does God Nurse Us?

2012-01-10T13:55:00.003-06:00

My younger son is still nursing. It's very good for him and it is instinctual at first. The older he gets, the less instinctual he becomes.

Also, he has shown interest in eating what the rest of us are eating. He might try a crumb of bread or a single grain of rice, but I can tell he just wants to tear into the steak that we grilled for ourselves!

He actually took my cup of water from me the other day with his feeble grasp and he took a sip. Now any time I'm drinking water he tries to take a sip. He loves the stuff and simply can't get enough.

And now he's playing with toys, rolling around, trying to crawl, and so many other distractions. It is getting difficult to get him to focus! In fact, today while he was nursing he kept turning away and looking at other things and then whining when he realized he wasn't getting fed...and he reminded me of me!

Does he remind you of you? When I first started drinking the milk of the gospel, I was focussed and hungry. I instinctually knew I wanted as much as I could handle. I took notes, listened to the same sermon multiple times, cross referenced verses and ideas in different translations, verified facts. You would have called me a theology nerd! The longer I was a Christian the more intense my hunger became and eventually I left the milk and tasted the meat! Just like what Micah wants to do!

But I also have found that it hasn't been as instinctual any more. I find that if I am not purposeful in setting aside time to pursue God, he falls by the wayside. I'm getting distracted by all the cool things he has given me - husband, kids, stuff. I'm losing focus.

Do you think that when we go back and forth between what God has given us and God himself, that perhaps sometimes he simply keeps himself from us until we "get serious" and take him in? This is what happens with Micah: if he gets distracted while nursing and I can't get him to focus, I stop nursing him. I give him over to his desires, whether it's looking at the picture or playing with a toy. Eventually after a minute or two, I'll let him nurse again and he's focussed because of how hungry he is.

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? Psalms 42:1-2

O God, you are my God; Earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Psalm 63:1

Jesus said to the, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. John 6:35

As We Enter

2012-01-06T20:13:00.007-06:00

Right now I am thinking about entrances. What a peculiar topic to think on! But it's something we each do multiple times a day without thought. Perhaps I will become a more grateful person as I reflect upon entrances.

We're entering into the New Year right now. New Year's Resolutions are flying all around us. Most will be broken multiple times by the end of this week and by the end of next week most will be completely disregarded. I don't usually make New Year's Resolutions and most of the few I have made have fallen by the way-side. One commitment that I thought about pursuing this year was a renewed intensity to read my Bible more. Daily. I thought of this shortly after Christmas and wondered why do I need to wait until January 1st? So I started immediately reading more and committing time in the morning and in the evening to reading my Bible as well as to pray for my family every evening in my bed. With every new event in my life, it has been getting harder and harder to set aside time for God. So that's ending now.

That leads to another entrance. Entering into the presence of the Lord is the best entrance of all, in my opinion. And yet it is so quickly set by the way side, forgotten, replace with temporal commitments with little to no lasting value. Taking care of my family is a great thing to do. No one is suggesting or has ever said to me that I should forget about my husband or children. But how much better can I take care of them if my relationship with God is good! Likewise, if my relationship with my husband is good, I will be able to give a better example to my children.

How do I enter the room that my husband is in? Do I think, "There's that old oaf. What can he do for me?" Or do I enter with love? Do I look at him and think of the ways I can serve my brother in the Lord? Do I enter looking for his betterment or for my own personal gain? I am so grateful to God for my husband. He is my dream come true! He's given me the children of my dreams. My life is wonderful. I don't have a bucket list because my dreams have all come true. I have my children; I have my husband; I have my Savior.

When I enter into a mess that my children have made, I do not think what a bother it is. I gladly clean up after them knowing that God has given me a gift. He's given me a responsibility to take care of these precious little people. So when I feel down for not being on top of the laundry or dishes, I remember that there's more to my children's relationships than cleanliness. Most importantly I want them to remember happiness with me. I want them to remember having fun. I want them to remember joy. I don't care if they remember dirty dishes.

When I enter the grocery check-out line, am I annoyed at it's length? Yes. Most definitely. But I also look for a friendly conversation and a way to lighten the mood. Often people comment on how cute the boys are. Yes, they are, thank you.

And they love each other. We enter that into their memory. We speak that "into their lives" - not some sort of incantation that we claim in some erroneous reading of the Scripture, but a gentle reminder to them that they love each other. If we retell the stories of how the have wronged each other, then that's what they will remember. But if we remind them of their kind acts to each other, and if we remind them of their love to each other, then that's what they will remember. If they remember their love, I hope they can forgive and forget their sins to each other much easier than I have been able to with my sisters.

So my children teach my about God. He doesn't remember my sins. He remembers His love. He came, he lead, and he died. He showed me how to live my life for God. And as I enter the new day each time I wake, I need to enter in humility knowing that my next entrance could be into death. I should enter with thanksgiving and with joy. Thankful for Jesus and joyful at his salvation. And that's how I will enter into peace and contentment. If my life is not as I will it to be, then I should enter into the life as God wants it to be, and so my life will be as I want it to be. I want my life to be always entering the will of God.

A year ago today I found out I was pregnant with Micah.

January Fifth I Spoke Abrasively and the Spirit Convicted Me

2012-01-05T23:13:00.004-06:00

This evening my first action after speaking abrasively to my husband I read the following Bible Verses. So, of course, I apologized immediately. Oh, how the Spirit convicts with a sense of humor. This is a habit of mine, to be impatient. I am working on it...

Psalm 141:3

xSet a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;

ykeep watch over the door of my lips!

Psalm 130:3

If you, O Lord, should fmark iniquities,

O Lord, who could gstand?

Psalm 106:33

33 for they fmade his spirit bitter,1

and he gspoke rashly with his lips.

Matthew 15:11

11 rit is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”

Proverbs 16:28

28 aA dishonest man spreads strife,

and ba whisperer cseparates close friends.

Proverbs 12:18

18 cThere is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts,

but the tongue of the wise brings dhealing.

Proverbs 12:19

19 Truthful lips endure forever,

but ea lying tongue is but for a moment.

James 3:8

8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, kfull of deadly poison.

James 3:10

10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers,1 these things ought not to be so.

Colossians 3:8

8 But now qyou must put them all away: ranger, wrath, malice, sslander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

Colossians 3:9

9 tDo not lie to one another, seeing that uyou have put off vthe old self1 with its practices

1 Thessalonians 4:3

3 For this is the will of God, iyour sanctification:1jthat you abstain from sexual immorality;

Revelation 14:5

5 and iin their mouth no lie was found, for they arejblameless.

Visiting Felipe

2012-01-02T19:20:00.004-06:00

What a wonderful day! Nina is home and she, the boys, and I went to visit Felipe for lunch. I was so sad to have Felipe gone all day and it was nice to be able to visit him.

Official photo of January 2

I was also able to buy my ideal baby backpack for much less than expected!

I used to read the Daily Light on the Daily Path when it was handed out at church. But now I get it through a website. I read about Aaron's sacrifices today. I struggle to find the significance of this Light on my personal Daily Path. Most significantly I think how great it is that we don't have to sacrifice regularly any more. First, there isn't even an altar place any more. Second, I live in America and that would be a ridiculous commute. Third, I'm not Jewish; so there's that.

How wonderful it is to live in the Grace of God! Because God loved us He sent His Son to redeem us. Jesus was the final sacrifice. I pray that my sons will one day trust in Jesus for their salvation.

New Year Obligatory Post

2012-01-01T21:18:00.002-06:00

Official photo of January 1, 2012: Daddy with Micah after work today
I call this the "obligatory post" because I feel that everyone always says something on New Year's Day to try to encapsulate their feelings of loss and excitement. I, however, had a completely different intent in writing this post and it just happened to occur on January 1, 2012. Now that I've started, though, I think I, too, will try to encapsulate my feelings of love, regret, loss, excitement, expectation, happiness, and joy at leaving 2011 behind and entering 2012.

I love my family. There's just no getting around it. My husband is the most amazing man I have ever met. He's good, kind, and peaceful. He's given me the best children ever! Caleb is so loud (!) and happy. Micah is peaceful and curious and isn't up to much in his infancy.

I regret not keeping up with old friends. I miss them. I was so grateful for the few friends who have kept up with us and who came to our Going Away party. I can't express how deeply touched I was! Beautiful Friends, thank you. I love you!

Our newest addition, Micah, enjoying his saucer toy.

We lost some of the best of God's creation this year. A miscarriage in a family of 7 from church, a miscarriage in a newlywed couple, a random suicide from a cousin suffering unknowingly from a stroke, unexpected heart attack from a friend's one true love, and felt most deeply on Christmas Eve was the loss of my good friend's second child. Through all this devastation and loss of life, we remember that God is in control. We remember Job and the amount of loss he felt and his response in the end. I don't know why such terrible things have to happen, but I do know that God loves us all. He loves all those people who we've lost this year and those that we will lose this coming year. I pray for God's protection on my family and I hope that I will not have to feel the pain of loss any closer than I have so far. I know that God will never allow anything to happen that does not conform us to His image. I have decided to trust God with the lives of my husband and children. I pray his protection on us and trust that when we each die we will see each other again. For us, it won't be an ending but only a momentary pause before waking in the presence of the Almighty.

Hipster Caleb listening to bluetooth headphones before it's cool while wearing his Brobee backpack.

I am excited and have great expectations for this new year! We're moving to South Korea! It's a dream come true for me. I've always wanted to move to Asia. My cousin grew up in Korea and I had planned on visiting her several times and never did. Now she lives in New Jersey and she'll come visit me!

Micah enjoying his first ever swing ride!

I'm happy to be leaving the bad economy and lousy paying jobs of 2011. I'm happy to leave the constant dependency of other people's good nature. I'm grateful for their good nature though, whether it was family letting us stay with them or giving us a grand to help us with medical bills, or friends with new borns passing along their maternity clothes when mine went missing, all credit to God for not letting us go hungry. This may have been our worst financial year, but it has been good to show Felipe and I that we should be generous with no strings attached. We should walk the extra mile and give the extra cloak. We should give without conditions and love without expectation.

Often people get themselves into a mess, and if we can we should help them out even though we know they will just mess up again. Can you imagine if God treated us that way? What if God only covered our first mistake even while knowing that we were planning our second? I cleaned a sloppy lady's kitchen today. I know that it will be gross again tomorrow. But it's Jesus' perfect example of unconditional love that spurs me onward. Jesus didn't leave me in my allegorical messy kitchen. He came in and cleaned even though he knew I would just mess it up again tomorrow.

Caleb opening Grannie Clare's Christmas present for her.

I have learned great contentment which has lead to great joy. I have learned from the wisdom of experienced families to not let my life be run by the expectations of parents or peers. But do what I believe is right. By submitting to my husband, offering insight when he asks, serving God and dying to self daily, I can know I'm doing what is right. It might not always be the popular opinion. You might not always agree with me. But my conscious will be clean and I'll be at peace knowing that my life is run by the fear of God and not the fear of man. I hope you will lead your life in the same manner. I hope you nothing but the best.

What It Feels Like to lose 9 pounds and 6 ounces in one day

2011-09-18T06:46:00.002-05:00

It feels really good.

Felipe's Endeavors

2011-08-06T11:14:00.006-05:00

Felipe has been an amazing chef recently. I thought I'd share some of his creations.

I forget what the recipe is for the bread loaves he made. They were delicious!

Then I made some strawberry shortcake. mmmm, yummy!

New Room Accommodations

2011-08-04T17:56:00.005-05:00

This is probably the nicest room Felipe and I have lived in since we got married. We are renting a room from my parents. We were very grateful for the original room they gave us, but we were a little crammed all three of us in there. They had another room that was my sister, Nina's, junk room where she just left things that she felt had value...things from when she was 6. She's 25 now. She just doesn't know how to throw things away.

So I decided to help her out. Not so that we could move in there, I hadn't thought of that. But so that we could get Caleb's toys out of my mom and dad's living room. They didn't like them there. So one day I decided that enough was enough and I started clearing our Nina's old room. I then moved Caleb's toys into the room. Nina's stuff that was of any value I put in the living room. She came home the next week and went through, finally, throwing away or packing and generally sorting through all her stuff.

She has two of the largest thrash bags I've ever seen in my life filled with stuffed animals that she's collected since she was born. She intends to keep them all...or at least most of them. She told me that she'd sort through them at Thanksgiving time and donate/sell those that aren't of any particular sentimental value. I think that if you can't remember that it exists, then there isn't much sentimentality. All I know is that my mother wouldn't allow me to keep any of my childhood stuffed animals even though I was about to get married and have babies. It would have been nice to give some to Caleb. But who am I kidding? That kid doesn't need any more toys. In fact, I'm going to sell some of his less played-with toys.

The room looks awesome. We have a queen-size bed, which is good since we're sharing it three-ways. We have a dresser and two end tables, a 42" TV that was a gift, and a huge closet that everything we own fits nicely inside of. Everything is neat and organized. In addition to all of that, there's plenty of floor space so we can walk around without tripping or claustrophobia. We have some beautiful pictures hanging on the walls and it is the coolest room in the house - both figuratively and literally. I love being in this room and I don't like leaving this room.

The bathroom is wonderful too. It fits our diaper changing table. No more poopy, stinky diapers in the bedroom!

Here's some pictures:

And this is Caleb watching Yo Gabba Gabba. The first one was after Daddy didn't need Caleb's help any more. The second is just some random day, but it's so cute because he's in a basket!

If You're Happy and You Know It

2011-07-14T00:46:00.001-05:00

This might be the best video I've ever compiled. Enjoy!

Double Stroller!!

2011-07-13T12:14:00.007-05:00

The other day I had some spare time and thought that I should put the double stroller together before Micah comes. Caleb was awake and helped me. At one point one of the wheels was too far away for me to get and I asked Caleb to get it (it took awhile for him to understand what I wanted him to do) and he went and got it for me!

This is Caleb in his skivvies working on a wheel:

And him trying to test it out and push it around:

And finally, him testing out the back seat while I pushed him around (he very much liked that):

Whispers...shh!

2011-07-13T11:56:00.007-05:00

Yesterday, Felipe, Caleb and I were at Starbucks. Caleb was playing on one of the oversized chairs.

He was being very cute but suddenly became very loud! So I put my finger to my lips and said, "Caleb, shh." And he immediately put his finger to his lips too and quieted down. It was so cute. This was the first time I had ever seen him do that.

Here's his "shh" pose (not as good as the original):

Now he's showing Daddy:

He's showing me and is so cute for completely missing his lips!

Today Caleb and I watched "Yo Gabba Gabba" and there was a song called "Inside Voice Outside Voice" and during the inside voice the characters put their hands to their lips and said, "Shh." Caleb remembered how to do that too and every time they said, "Shh" he put his finger to his lips! Good job, Caleb!

This is Caleb hugging Mama's big belly!

Godliness with Contentment is Great Gain

2011-07-05T22:19:00.005-05:00

Sometimes I feel foolish that Felipe and I have decided to follow God. I think of the non-Christians who look at us and think we should have just lived together until we accumulated enough wealth and we should still have waited to have children until we were settled into our marriage. Even many Christians would look at us and think we were foolish to trust God with creating children when He saw fit instead of trying to "play God" and guess at when He would have created by accident and created on purpose - as if God didn't know exactly what He was doing when a child is formed.

I can understand such sentiments from non-Christians. They don't have Christ and could never understand that before all things following Christ is most important. But it saddens me that Christians look at us as think that because we've chosen to trust God we are foolish. We believe that God creates and nothing created comes from anyone other than God. Therefore every child is a gift from God not a symptom of sex. And while God does use sex to bring about children, there are many people having unprotected sex who are not conceiving and even one recorded instance where someone conceived without having sex.

We also trusted God with our jobs. We were told to forge grades, forget about teaching just make them pass the TAKS, don't count kids tardy or absent because it'll interfere with our funding...unethical and illegitimate. It went against every idea of what an "education" should be. It's no wonder Americans are ranked near the bottom of all developed countries for education. Not only were those the dumbest kids I ever met, their parents were dumb, their teachers were dumb, the administration was dumb, the church was dumb and the rest of the local population was dumb. I've never met a dumber group of people. We left when we attempted to make a positive difference and were told to stop and forced to stop.

There's nothing I would do differently. I've trusted God and He has graciously provided. I've gotten all of Caleb's toys at yard sales and through craigslist. We shop at Aldi and rent a room from my parents. We don't eat out or go to the movies. We don't buy new clothing. We have a loving church body that has provided me with more than ample supply of maternity clothing when they found out that I didn't have any. Felipe's job switched locations so that we don't spend hardly any gas any more. And his tips are better. We are living frugally.

The Lord has been good to us. And still I complain. I don't like having to rent a room from my parents. I don't like their furniture and I don't like the lack of storage. I don't like the sewing stuff in every nook and cranny and everywhere I turn. I hate the stairs. But it is so much better than so many other places. And I'm grateful that when I'm especially worn out, my mom is here to watch Caleb while I take a nap. In our own place I would just let Caleb play or watch Baby Einstein while I napped, but this place isn't baby-proof and so Caleb needs to be watched.

I am grateful and need to be reminded that things are good. I often feel like the Israelites as they left Egypt. They were miraculously provided for over and over and yet they still doubted and had fears and complained. I had a friend once point out how ridiculous they were because God's shakina glory was visibly before them showing them the way with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. And yet that same shakina glory resides inside of me and I'm the same whiny Israelite.

So wouldn't you know it - today's Bible passage was from I Timothy 6. And it struck a nerve. God should be allowed to be God without having to be held accountable to me. I heard one person say that God's decisions are the same decisions we would make if we knew all the details...which we don't and couldn't ever. I'm only concerned with myself not with the butterfly effect my acts and lack of action has on those around me that eventual lead to something completely unseen or unheard by me.

I heard someone else say that while what's happening is terrible that Jesus loves us, and God will do anything to transform us into the image of his son. So it might not be fun. But not only is God concerned with the well-being of the over-all human population, He is also very concerned with my individual strivings. And while it doesn't always seem that he cares about our mini-trials and tribulations, I need to realize that what I'm experiencing is insignificant to the sufferings of Christ and His martyrs across the world and time. I am very blessed. But still whiny.

And so I leave you with I Timothy 6:

False Teachers and True Contentment

Teach and urge these things. 3 If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, 4 he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. 6 Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Fight the Good Fight of Faith

11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, 14 to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

Focus on the Family

2011-05-23T13:16:00.002-05:00

I received an email from the President the other day. I thought, "Oh my! What is Obama emailing me about?" Obviously it wasn't exactly him, but rather his office on his behalf.

But actually, no. It wasn't that President at all :(

It was from the office of the president of Focus on the Family. HA! Well, I wasn't too disappointed...especially after I read what was written. But first let me tell you that my sonogram photos were courtesy of FoF and I had written them an email saying "thanks, this was the best gift ever" and I included some of the sonogram photos that I had scanned into my computer.

This was the reply:

Dear Lauren:

Thanks so much for your e-mail, accompanied by the sonogram pictures of your son! We were so moved by these images, and we can’t tell you how much it means to know that our donation to the Women’s Pregnancy Center in Arlington enabled you to see your precious baby on the ultrasound screen. That’s such an amazing experience, and we trust the Lord has wonderful things in store for little Micah in the years to come. May His hand of blessing and protection be on you and your son throughout the remainder of your pregnancy and during the birth.

Thanks again for getting in touch, Lauren -- your e-mail brightened our day! If there’s ever some other way we can come alongside your family, we’re counting on you to let us know. Please give little Micah a kiss from his friends at Focus when he arrives! All God’s best to you and yours.

Tammy Masters

Focus on the Family

Put a smile on my face. Not often (or ever) do people do something nice for me and then not expect something in return.

Daily Time in the Word

2011-05-16T12:06:00.002-05:00

I often miss days spending time in the Word. Time management was so much easier when it was just me. Even when it was just Felipe around I could manage my time fairly well...but Caleb is a handful - in a good way. I don't resent him or anything bad like that. I just have to be better about organizing my time. For instance it takes discipline for me to not browse the internet instead of spending time in the Word.

However, a couple of things I still have difficulty with. First, even if I do read the Bible, I'm not always convicted or learn something. Often I don't know why I should read something when I have it memorized. I don't remember what the other things is that I was going to write about.

So today I read Daily Light on the Daily Path and even though I knew the passages, it was refreshing. And that's when I realized that even if you don't learn something new your spirit will be edified by reading the Word.

The Party

2011-05-15T12:13:00.004-05:00

Caleb had a wonderful birthday party. He thoroughly enjoyed being the center of attention and loved the pizza and cake!

The Beginnings of Caleb's Party

2011-05-13T22:38:00.004-05:00

(top left to right, middle right to left, bottom left to right)

The above is a photo collage I made for Caleb's birthday party. I was trying to figure out a way to nicely display it and also the photo we got from Sears together. I was trying to be frugal and creative and this is what I made:

Here's the rest of the Sears photos:

There were a couple of photos that I felt were too "little" for him - one where he's holding his toes lying on his back, like a little baby, and another where he's on his belly looking like he's going to crawl...but he's already walking and doesn't lay around on his back much at all, so I didn't like those. He was very obedient and good the entire time we were at Sears; so much so that the staff there was amazed! First they were amazed that he was running around, then they were amazed that he did just what I asked him to do.

I also made Caleb's birthday cake:

This is Caleb "helping" me ice the cake (notice the green icing on his forehead):

And I drew him a chalk message on our back patio:

Happy Birthday Little Stinker!

Sonogram of BABY MICAH!

2011-05-13T22:31:00.002-05:00

We got our sonogram of Micah earlier this week. Here it is (almost 8 minutes):

Caleb Found Some Cereal!

2011-05-11T13:46:00.004-05:00

"Did I do something wrong?"

No, not really. Just very, very cute. Some mommies and daddies might get upset but that's just silly! How can you get upset with such a cute kid? I can't.

This was the scene earlier this week when I was making lunch and I heard Caleb playing with some boxes in the kitchen. He was shaking them and pounding him in his usual way when he suddenly became almost silent. I turn around and find this waiting for me:

Family Back Ride and Sonogram of Baby M!

2011-05-11T12:45:00.005-05:00

Here's a cute photo of Felipe carrying me and Caleb. I had jumped on Felipe's back and Caleb wanted to join us:

We had our sonogram yesterday. It was very sweet. We were able to tell that we're are going to have a boy. We're going to name him Micah Jude!

This is Micah, seeming to be smiling at the camera:
Here he is rubbing his eyes:

And here's Caleb snuggling up to me when we were all done. He's so sweet!

I will work on compiling a video for a future popsting. It takes a little work and I'm tired right now.

Thanks to Focus on the Family for donating the equipment to Arlington's Pregnancy Center that allowed me to get the sonogram and meet my little son. We would not have been able to afford it without you! Also, thanks to my mom for driving :)

Satirical Commandment

2011-05-07T00:18:00.003-05:00

I found this today and thought how it rightly pointed out the ridiculousness we sometimes hold ourselves to.

Here's the repost:

Commandments Concerning God’s Will

And concerning God’s Will thou shalt strive with all diligence to figure out where it is hiding and stand in the perfect center of it. And thou shalt accomplish this task with all fear and trembling for one false step shall surely mean utter destruction of thee and all thine house and thy little dog too.

And when thou abidest in God’s will thou shall in any wise take care that thou not scooch up over on the side nearby the edge or lollygag over on the left side of it nor take field trips over to the right. For if thou takest but one small step to the right or the left thou shalt land right smack dab in the permissive will of God and this is confusion of heart and will land thee in a heap of trouble.

And even if thou shalt be in the perfect center and not in the permissive nor yet standing outside it where the Presbyterians freely roam, thou shalt still spend many weary hours second guessing and agonizing over the one thou shalt marry, and the school thou shalt attend, and on which street thou shalt soulwin. For the Lord doth dearly love to play head games with thee and then chuckle at thy missteps.

And if it shall come to pass that thou know not at all the will of God, thou shalt seek it out from the Holy Spirit. And for thy convenience the Holy Spirit hath taken residence inside the leadership of thy local New Testament Independent Fundamental Bible Believing Baptist Church and thou mayest ask the leadership what the Spirit sayeth on any matter they shall be more than happy to tell thee.

Independent Baptist Book of Everlasting Rules and Requirements, p 15

Posted by Darrell

Happy Birthday Felipe!

2011-05-06T18:36:00.009-05:00

Today is my wonderful husband's birthday! I was so excited to be able to help make him feel special today. He didn't want anything in particular. Last night after he fell asleep, I made him a really cute card with a bunch of family pictures and some warm-wishes on the inside:

We happened to be awake when Felipe woke up to go to work at 4:30 and we gave him his card. Then in the morning Caleb made his daddy a hand-made card! It's way better than mine! It's the first birthday card Felipe has ever received from his own son:

When Felipe got home he had a wonderful surprise waiting for him!

Then we sang him Happy Birthday and ate the cake.

and after the cake...

And now, we go to eat Daddy's birthday dinner. yum!

Mother's Day

2011-05-05T20:23:00.005-05:00

I've been trying to figure out why I didn't want to celebrate Christmas, Valentine's Day, my birthday, and now Mother's Day too. I think I was finally able to pinpoint and articulate why in a conversation I had the other day.

At first I thought it was just something with Romans 14:5, "One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind." That may be part of it.

Then I thought that maybe it was just becoming a parent and putting things into perspective. Did I really want to receive gifts on Christmas when Caleb could receive more if I didn't? Do I really want to receive a new gadget or something [from Felipe] when that money could have been used to buy us groceries? (this is why Felipe and I did not give each other gifts this past Christmas.) Felipe and I have had a couple of nice Valentine's Days, and birthdays, but that's more money that could be better spent...spent on Caleb! or on groceries.

While these two aspects might have a hand in why I suddenly dislike these holidays, I think it is mostly that each of these have been so abused by our consumerist, self-centered, and entitled society.

Christmas has become so much less than a celebration of Jesus. Every Christian I know has said something along the lines of "remember the reason for the season" but has also focussed too much time on what gifts they can receive. They are welcome to do as they wish. It's their money...until they start saying, "what did you get for me?" and expect that I get them something 'good enough'. When that happened, I decided that family pictures is what everyone is getting for now on.

It seems that Valentine's is all about the man acting like a slave to the woman. And birthdays are innately self-centered. Then Mother's Day...

So many people have decided to let Halmark decide for them if they should be offended or not on a certain day each spring. Instead of being offended and telling my husband and children to buy me things and make me cards and telling them to take me to an overly expensive dinner, I want to celebrate why I'm a mother, Caleb. And I couldn't be a mother without Caleb's father, Felipe. So on Mother's Day, instead of insisting on focussing on me, I want to celebrate being a happy family.

On Mother's Day for the rest of my life, I want to let my children know that I conceived and birthed children not slaves. I did not selfishly choose that I wanted children. I did not decide to selfishly not have children. I chose to be submissive to God and part of that submission was to allow him the right to give and take children as He sees fit. He said children are a blessing, not because they are supposed to make my life easier, because they most certainly do not. Being a mother is difficult. But the love that is passed on to Caleb and Felipe make motherhood a blessing. Even when Caleb is cranky or bratty, I love him and I never want him to think his birth was a birth of convenience or a mistake. We did not choose to have Caleb because we thought our lives were missing something or that he'd complete us. We didn't choose to have Caleb at all. We chose to love and follow God. God chose to give us Caleb. Felipe is the best gift from God I've ever received. Caleb is the second best blessing I have ever received. I would never want to demand anything from them because I love them. I would never want to guilt them into doing anything for me because love does not insist on its own way.

So this Mother's Day I celebrate my family.

Pictures from previous post

2011-04-28T11:36:00.006-05:00

This is us as we baked. Caleb has some cookie on his lip. You can see a little bump on my belly that is Baby M.

Here's our spoils from our baking...yum!

This is Caleb conquering the treehouse. It was a hot and sweaty day so I let Caleb go in just his diaper.

And down the slide!

This is a 2 minute video of Caleb climbing his treehouse:

And this is me trying to show off my baby bump:

...and a Good Time Was Had By All

2011-04-26T15:01:00.007-05:00

We bought a very fun out-door toy ("Lookout Treehouse") for Caleb to climb. It's the same one we have at church that he loves so we knew he'd love it. I found it on craigslist for a percentage of the original price and the worst part was that it was dirty. So I cleaned it. Caleb loves it. He still needs to be supervised while he's on it but he's pretty much self entertained on it. -which is great for a tired and pregnant Mommy!

This morning I put Caleb in my sling and we made cookies together. I had so much fun and I'm pretty sure Caleb did too! He especially enjoyed the part when he got to eat the cookies!

Caleb had fun this morning with Dada eating breakfast...apparently there was much egg-eating going on while I tried to get a few more minutes sleep. Breakfast is Felipe's time to shine and he always makes a better breakfast than I do - generally when I first wake up I can't handle most typical breakfast foods so I make plain toast and butter or cereal...if I'm feeling especially fancy I might toast some frozen waffles!

I'm finally getting to the point where I enjoy breastfeeding...almost a year later! I think having a schedule and also changing my mindset have both helped. I've been running dry but I drink over 100 oz of water a day and usually closer to 200. I'm also eating like crazy and barely gaining weight - I wish I had this dilemma ten years ago!

Baby M has been snuggling his/her little head against my uterus in the most uncomfortable manner. I pushed on his/her head last night and s/he swam away - it startled me...and probably her/him too! Generally, the only discomfort with this pregnancy has been constant urination and fatigue. -not bad at all! I'm very excited about this new baby. Caleb loves babies and is very good with children. He's always sharing and trying to get others to smile. He'll make a great big brother.

The other day at Starbucks, a lady came in who looked rather sad or vexed about something. And Caleb walked right up to her and started dancing for her and smiling at her and generally flirting with her. And she smiled and laughed and said, "Thanks, you just made my night so much better." -Caleb is such a blessing everywhere he goes. And now that he's a pretty regular and consistent schedule, he's less bratty for me too. Schedules bring happiness.

accompanying pics and video coming soon...check back later for those.

Life on Purpose

2011-04-23T09:38:00.005-05:00

I know there's a book out there with a similar title, but I've never read that book, I have no idea if it's any good, and I don't even know what it's about.

But yesterday Caleb was a bad little stinker, again. So I went to sleep thinking of ways I could adjust his schedule to bring me and him more peace. I decided that whenever he first started to stir after 7am, that's when we'd get up. So at 7:20 we purposefully got up to start the day.

We went downstairs to eat breakfast, which he threw his on the floor and watched as it went "splurt" (that's the noise it made) all over the floor. Apparently, he doesn't like bananas this morning. He wanted to eat my Cheerios. Which is fine. I used to eat with him and then read him a story from the Bible, but I decided that since his attention span is so short, I would read to him while he ate/I fed him and then I would eat.

This is Caleb's Bible:

every story whispers His name

Today we read about how the Israelites wanted a king. And God gave them a king but Saul grew distant from God. So, God chose a new king, David.

You can find the full story in 1 Samuel 16. And I did. (I've been having difficulty having any quality alone time with God since Caleb was born. Caleb is a more than full time job. And since we're doing "attachment parenting" we've made the job even harder on ourselves; but we believe this is less selfish, more natural, more God-reflecting, and with potentially better outcomes.)

I decided that whatever story I read Caleb I will go and immediately read in my ESV. I love it that the author of Caleb's Bible says that "every story whispers His name" because that is the exact purpose of the Bible - to glorify Jesus. Read what the author says about why we have the Bible:

Every story ends with a foreshadowing of Jesus. For instance, today's story ended with how God would one day send The King to rule the earth forever. It very nicely leads me to tell Caleb that that King is who? Jesus! And what do we know about Jesus? He loves us very much and died on the cross to forgive us of our sins so that if we repent we can live with him for eternity in heaven. Then we sing "Jesus Loves Me"and "Jesus Loves the Little Children" and "There's Something About that Name" and whatever other songs I can think of at the time. -I should really purposefully write down some titles so I can remember some songs. Whenever I'm put on the spot I can't remember ANY!

So after our wonderful morning Bible study, we went outside to play in the backyard and then went for a walk around the neighborhood. on purpose. Why? To get him sleepy again. Or rather, to remind him that he was sleepy. I was sure to drink plenty of water and take a couple of vitamins so I'd have some milk for him. And as soon as we got home, I put Caleb to sleep 2 hours after he woke up. He's still asleep now an hour later. yay!

I am, as you might be able to tell, in the middle of changing our sheets. But that can wait.

Craigslist and Easter and Navy

2011-04-20T21:14:00.004-05:00

I love buying and selling stuff on craigslist. But today was a major disappointment. I put up my entire porcelain doll collection as well as a bunch of Caleb's toys that don't interest him any more and there hasn't been a single bite :(

In spiritual news, Caleb was really bad last week and I didn't have any energy for him. I think that just made it worse. So today when he started getting bad again I decided to suck it up and exert energy that I didn't think I had. I decided that I would serve Caleb like Jesus serves me even though I'm bad. And this made all the difference. I still don't know what was wrong with Caleb (perhaps another nap?) but we ended the day well because Jesus lives in my heart. I didn't get mad at him. I didn't yell at him. I didn't do anything except love on him. And loving on him brought him back to the happy Caleb side of life!

Just think of how terrible life would be if Jesus didn't love us even though we didn't deserve it. Just think of what life would be life if Jesus punished us for being bad instead coming in love to save us from ourselves. Love should permeate our lives because of Jesus.

And while Easter is fun and all, I'm sure, for a lot of people, for me I like to remember that Jesus is alive every day. I can see him at work in my soul and he brings me peace.

In sad/happy news, Felipe is in Jacksonville, FL! It's so sad that he isn't here next to me right now. I miss him sooooo much and he's only been gone for less than 12 hours. But this is a good thing. He is visiting NSB Kings Bay to tour the submarines as a special guest of the Navy. I take this as a good indicator of his position toward entering OCS. I could not be prouder of my husband! He's going to look so handsome in an officer's uniform.

Sometimes I Find Happy in Unusual Places

2011-04-16T17:17:00.004-05:00

Today I found happy here: http://www.earslap.com/projectslab/otomata

After playing for awhile, I came up with this: http://www.earslap.com/projectslab/otomata?q=8w626d

which evolved into this: http://www.earslap.com/projectslab/otomata?q=3v422t2g09092w0b0b2w3d6w

and it continued to evolve. and I enjoyed myself.

It's addicting and pleasant. Perfectly relaxing after hours and days of crying and whining.

About Baby Registries

2011-04-14T16:42:00.004-05:00

I don't know if we'll be having another baby shower. I've had friends and family say they want to have another one, but no one has committed to throwing one. People at church might have one closer to the date. Maybe. I don't really know a lot of people at our church yet though, so maybe they won't.

I've officially registered at Babies R Us, Target, and Amazon. I started registries at a couple of other places but they were weird and not local, so I'm not going to mention those. You can find the items listed in a previous entry plus some extra items like wrist rattles and foot rattles - I had wanted these for Caleb but Babies R Us did not have them.

You can find them all conveniently located here:

www.amazingregistry.com/BabyMulford

Enjoy! And thank you in advance.

Divine Cosign

2011-04-13T22:32:00.004-05:00

Divine Cosign is a HUGE consignment coming in August to Plano and September to Grapevine!

The Grapevine dates are right after Baby M will be here. I am considering going if I feel there is something I'd like or need.

If you'd like to go to, you can find out more information here: www.divinecosign.net

Here's an email I received from them:

Mark Your Calendar!

Dear Lauren,

If you're like us, you like to get important dates on your calendar as early as possible so here are some you need to know:

Plano:

August 6--Consignor/First Time Mom registration begins

August 6-August 10--Volunteer sign-ups

August 26-August 30--Plano sale

Grapevine:

September 3--Consignor/First Time Mom registration begins

September 3-September 7--Volunteer sign-ups

September 23-September 26--Grapevine sale

Hopefully this gives you plenty of time to plan ahead for the sale you'd like to participate in. By the way, please note that Grapevine registration starts during Labor Day weekend so you'll need to plan accordingly. We know that will work out great for some of you and be harder for those out of town but with a little planning it should work out fine for everyone.

We'll be sending emails more frequently between now and the start of registration, than we normally do in the off-season. This will give us time to really concentrate on one topic at a time and to go into more depth on each subject, as needed.

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to email us at divineconsign@hotmail.com.

Have a great week,

Tina and Stephanie

www.divineconsign.net

New Baby!

2011-04-10T20:41:00.006-05:00

I'm getting more and more excited as Baby M develops toward his/her birth. Our sonogram that will tell us what gender as well as to check everything out is coming up in a few weeks. I can feel the baby kick every once in awhile. And today I made an online registry at Babies-r-us. All these things are adding up to me getting very excited. A couple of times during the making of the registry I got teary-eyed thinking that soon ANOTHER baby is going to join us.

It seems like we have a lot of the things we would need for Baby M. There are just a few big items that we could use. I wish there was a way on the registry to assign importance to each item.

For instance, the Arm's Reach Co-sleeper Bassinet Angelica is number 1 on our list. EDIT: This is no longer even on our list because we're having a boy and I thought this particular bassinet was too feminine. We'd still like an Arm's Reach Co-sleep, just not this one. You can find the correct one here: http://www.amazingregistry.com/BabyMulford But even this one we only need if we're still at my parents'. There's another bassinet that we want no matter what because it's mobile and can move from room to room with a battery-operated mobile.

But it only shows up closer to the middle of the page.

So, I guess I'll put the order of need here.

Next, we need an infant car seat. I chose this practically because first, you never want to use a used one. You never know what accidents the seat has been through. Second, Graco is the double stroller we have so I want a Graco seat to be sure that they'll fit each other. Others will fit, but Graco is just as good as any. Third, I like the blanket that covers the feet. And fourth, the bear is adorable and that isn't really necessary but still fun. Edit: Now that we're having a boy, I'd really like the bear car seat.

The next item I registered for 2 of them. This is excessive. I was thinking one for the house and one for the car. I don't think the one in the car would work because there's nothing for it to attach to. I had wanted one for Caleb but we never got one and then he was suddenly crawling and then walking. It's called a Floor Piano and is kicked by the baby in the crib.

Next on the list is this adorable Swing that actually plugs into an electric socket and keeps the mobile going. Caleb loved the Rainforest theme and so I'm hoping that Baby M will too!

We need some new thermometers. Caleb has a set and I'd like a separate set for Baby M. If we get any more babies, I think we'll have to get a nurses station in the house complete with those thermometer covers for each new patient. After going through several with Caleb, Felipe and I decided that we do NOT like the forehead ones. very inaccurate and imprecise. They're good for telling IF there's a fever but not how high it is. So, I prefer the ones with rectal readings; also I prefer electronic.

For feedings I'm going to try to pump more and use bottles. We've misplaced many of our bottles. We've given away several. Besides all this, the kids I baby sat when I was a kid had these bottles that had liners. The milk went into the liner and the liner into the bottle; and the nipples were very different than the ones we have. I thought they weren't made any more. But then I saw them the other day at Target. So I'm registering for them:

Some items that we used and used and used completely up and I thoroughly enjoyed and found very favorable were the BabyGanics cleaning supplies: all-purpose cleaner, hand sanitizer, all-purpose wipes. These were my favorites.

The baby monitor we have is very nice. One time it fell. It's slightly damaged which is annoying. Then there's the mobility issue. If I move from one room to another, there are those moments where the baby is unattended while I unplug, move, and find a new plug. I wish there was a monitor that I could carry with me. And that's when I discovered the upgrade to the one I have!

I'm planning on being less involved with Baby M's sleep. This baby soother will be ideal to help with restlessness. Maybe even Caleb will like it. The video demo at babiesrus.com showed a water scene and the picture shows a land scene. I'm hoping for a water scene, but if it soothes, it soothes!

We need a high chair, but I put it lower on the list because it isn't as "fun" as the other items. And really it doesn't even have to be this high chair. I chose this one because it matched the car seat. It's pretty. Any high chair will do.

This jumperoo we had in the nursery at our old church and Caleb LOVED it! We have a "johnny jumper" that hangs from a door way. Caleb would always run into the door jam and hurt himself. So we stopped using it. We actually only used it twice. Both times ended in tears :( This one is much better!

Close to the end of my list is the Baby Bjorn carrier because my other baby wraps are either missing or very tedious to tie on in a hurry. Baby Bjorn goes on in a couple of snaps. This will be very handy with two babies wanting Mommy to carry them. Usually baby #2 seeks more independence from Mommy, so perhaps this won't be a very big issue. Edit: Even better (as found on our registry list) is the hip carrier. You'll still find this one, though.

Something else I'm hoping to get maybe this week is a changing pad for the changing table we just bought at a yard sale. This one even comes with a toy bar. But we may just end up hanging a toy from the ceiling.

That just about rounds it out. I didn't register for any cutesy items because everyone enjoys getting those for babies even if they aren't asked for.

We have plenty of blankets, swaddling blankets, towels and cloths. We could use diapers, of course. I have a diaper bag and don't need another one. We have a couple of newborn toys, but Caleb didn't really like toys when he was little.

Here's the list in order: Baby Registry -with pics above the description and links.

I feel like I should really stress that buying new is NOT necessary. I know that the Baby Bjorn Carrier is being sold at Kid-to-Kid for less than $20. So why buy it new for almost $80? The only item that I will buy new is the car seat. Everything else is just as good used. Especially baby clothing! There are so many adorable outfits at used shops. Also, Amazon has wonderful bargains.

I registered just to let you know what I need. I do not care where any items are bought...as long as they weren't stolen - haha.

If there was only one item on this list that I could ask for it is the bassinet.

Not Sad Because It Was the Right Thing To Do

2011-04-06T17:17:00.003-05:00

I went to Kid-to-Kid yesterday to buy Caleb an outfit for MiYoung's wedding. As soon as I walked in there, I saw the cutest 4 piece casual suit. Perfect! It is grey with shirt, vest, tie, and pants. It is the 12 month size. For $7.99. Perfect! When I got home I showed the outfit to everyone and I noticed that the pants seemed HUGE. I looked at their tag and the pants were size 24 months even though the shirt was 12 months. Then I looked at the tag of the shirt and it clearly says, "3pc" meaning the pants were not supposed to be included.

So there's my dilemma. Do I call? Do I just return them? Do I accept it as a "gift"?

Option 3 was completely out of the question. The least that I was going to do was to call. But it was too late for a call. It's quite the drive to the store for us, and I knew that I didn't feel like making a special trip because the store made a mistake. But since I was right there in the area today I went in and explained what happened. The lady simply said, "Thanks for your honesty." Nothing especially nice came out of it for me.

I love that store and I want them to do well. Nothing came of me returning the pants, but I believe that greed, entitlement, selfishness, and other vileness would have been seeded in my heart if I had not returned them. So it was a benefit of nothing bad happening.

Ever since I noticed the error I kept thinking of the Honest Abe story they told us all when we were in kindergarten. It isn't a Bible story, but a golden oldie nonetheless. Abraham Lincoln is tending a store when he accepts too much money for a lady's purchase. Once he realizes the mistake he runs after her to give the correct change. Lesson learned. Thank you, Mr. President.

Dear Non-Pregnant Persons,

2011-04-04T18:39:00.002-05:00

A friend of mine sent me this humorous and truthful letter to a non-pregnant person. It was good to read that I was not alone in feeling that people are generally way more entitled than they should be and WAY too intrusive.

Dear Non-Pregnant Person, I hope you find these guidelines helpful in your interactions with pregnant women as failing to follow them may result in serious physical harm. If you are thinking surely she doesn't mean me- then you should probably read this twice.

1) The appropriate response to a couple telling you they are having a baby is 'Congratulations!' with enthusiasm. Any other response makes you an a$$.

2) Through the wonders of science, we now know that babies are made ONLY by the mother and father- not grandparents. Unless the baby is in your uterus or you are the man that helped put it there, you may not ever use the phrase 'my baby'.

3) On the same note, unless you made the baby as defined in #2, the pregnancy, birth and raising of the child are not about you. You do not have input. No one wants to hear your opinion unless they ask for it.

4) The body of a pregnant women should be treated the same as any other body. You would not randomly touch someone's stomach if they were not pregnant, nor would you inquire into the condition of their uterus, cervix or how they plan to use their breasts. Pregnancy does not remove all traces of privacy from a woman.

5) Likewise, no woman wants to hear comments on her weight - ever. A pregnant woman does not find it flattering that you think she is about is pop, must be having twins, looks swollen or has gained weight in her face. Telling her she looks too small only makes her worry that she is somehow starving her baby. Making such comments invites her to critique your physical appearance and you may not act offended. The only acceptable comment on appearance is 'You look fabulous!'.

6) By the time we are 20-30 years old, most of us have picked up on the fact that the summer is hot. We are hot every summer when we are not pregnant. We don't need you to point out that we will be miserably hot before the baby comes.

7) There is a reason that tickets to L&D are not yet sold on Ticket master. Childbirth is actually not a public event. It may sound crazy, but some women really do not relish the idea of their mother, MIL or a host of other family members seeing their bare butt and genitals. Also, some people simply feel like the birth of their child is a private and emotional moment to be shared only by the parents.

8) Like everything else in life, unless you receive an invitation, you are NOT invited. This includes doctor appointments, ultrasounds, labor, delivery, the hospital and the parents’ home. You do not decide if you will be there for the birth or if you will move in with the new parents to 'help out'. If your assistance is desired, rest assured that you will be asked for it.

9) If you are asked to help after the birth, this means you should clean up the house, help with cooking meals, and generally stay out of the way. Holding the baby more than the parents, interfering with breastfeeding and sleeping schedules and making a woman who is still leaking fluid from multiple locations lift a finger in housework is not helping.

10) The only people entitled to time with the baby are the parents. Whether they choose to have you at the hospital for the birth or ask for you to wait three weeks to visit, appreciate that you are being given the privilege of seeing their child. Complaining or showing disappointment only encourages the parents to include you less.

Joy!

2011-04-04T08:35:00.006-05:00

The past week or so I've been feeling little Baby M kick and swim around. Finally a couple of nights ago Felipe was able to feel too. S/he finally feels really real to me. One thing I really don't like is everyone always touching my belly. I thought about wearing a sign for the last pregnancy that said "don't touch me" and I think I might actually do it for this pregnancy. Yes, there is a living creature in me, but I'm still human and very much appreciate my space. I will not come up to you and rub your belly, or head, or foot, or any other body part and I'd like the same in return. If you ask to feel the baby kicking, do not be surprised if I say "no"...I suppose I should really email this to everyone since no one reads this, especially my family who will be at the wedding. I don't know if they are the "invade your personal space" types, but maybe I just need to be prepared to push a lot of hands away.

18 week old fetus:

I'm still very excited about my cousin's wedding. I have a few younger cousins who I have never met who will be there. Shortly after my cousin gets married my God-parents' son is getting married! He is having a wonderful wedding. But we are sadly not going. I would love to go but being that far along in my pregnancy and it being so far to travel, I did not think it would be comfortable. Then, having gone to my cousin's wedding, Felipe will have taken a lot of time off work. I don't think he could take even more time off.

My cousin and her fiance:

I love my "God-brother" (my parents are his God-parents, too). Sometimes I wish Felipe and I had done what he's doing and only invited 50 guests. Keep it sweet and simple. There were so many people on both sides of the wedding that neither of us knew. It just goes to show that weddings aren't really for the bride and groom but for the mothers and perhaps the fathers of the bride and groom. Felipe and I have gone over this many times that whenever our kids get married, we need to remember to not try to force our wishes on them or manipulate our will into their wedding but instead say, "Here's $$$ much money we've been saving for your wedding. Keep it, spend it, ask for suggestions, or don't. Anything you want us to do, just tell us." That way, if they only want to spend $200 and a used wedding gown, they can keep the rest to use toward a down payment on a house or something. My cousin wouldn't let her parents pay for anything at her wedding because she knew how parents get with saying, "well, it's MY money. We'll do what I want." and so her wedding is going to be just how she wants it.

Having Fun with the Family

2011-03-31T15:31:00.002-05:00

Today Felipe had the wonderful idea of having a picnic in the park!

Caleb had so much fun riding in the stroller and playing on the play ground. He was very good. He even asked for cheese balls instead of just crying like he used to do. It's so cute to watch him eat cheese balls. crunch crunch crunch.

My Cousin's Wedding!

2011-03-23T22:13:00.004-05:00

My cousin is getting married! I love her so much. She is going to be the most beautiful bride ever! I really wanted to go to the wedding but it just didn't seem like it was going to happen. Until my one algebra student told me that she was going to need another class taught and thus paying for my trip to Virginia for the wedding!

I'm so excited because the algebra student is essentially covering the cost for flying and we're getting a discount on the hotel. So the whole week long trip is only going to cost $300 (in addition to the airfare).

In addition to seeing my beautiful cousin get married, I also get to see all my family that I've missed for so long. We also get to go sailing with my aunt! I also get to stay two nights with my maid-of-honor and her new husband and daughter! I also get to see my other maid-of-honor and stay with her super-cool parents at their wonderful home.

One week we will be gone and I'm pretty sure this will be my favorite vacation for awhile! I have the best aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandma! Caleb is going to love being around them all. My mother wants to make Caleb a little suit for the wedding, and if she really does it, it will be just so cute. Felipe will look dashing no matter what he wears. And I have no idea what I'll wear since I'll be 6 months pregnant and nursing :/

All our plane rides have window seats. I was thinking of Caleb when I booked those. I hope and pray that he will enjoy the ride. We have videos and toys. We'll be flying right after his first birthday and I'm sure someone might get him a new toy and we'll keep it hidden until the flight just so he has something new to inspect.

Felipe

2011-03-17T12:10:00.002-05:00

I love my husband so much. Today is my birthday and he is my best birthday present. Everyone was wondering what they could do for me, but I just don't want anything because I have my husband (and now my son, too). Just sitting around playing with Caleb while Felipe plays Halo is a perfect day. And I get that all the time!

So, thanks Felipe, for making me feel like we celebrate my birthday every day! You are the best!

Brush Your Teeth!

2011-03-15T00:36:00.005-05:00

Caleb has four little teefies. "Teefies" seem to be the reaction everyone has whenever they see his teeth for the first time. It's always quite entertaining.

Caleb and I have a teeth brushing song with several stanzas. We usually only sing the first 1 or 2 of them though. Once I sang all twelve for him. Each night before we go to sleep, we go to the bathroom and get our toothbrushes and I sing, "When you wake up in the morning and it's a quarter to one, and you want to have a little fun, you brush your teeth..." and Caleb knows what's coming next and opens his mouth and lets me brush his top and bottom teeth.

Then I sing the second stanza and brush my own teeth, but it's difficult to sing with a toothbrush in one's mouth. So, Caleb will take his toothbrush and continue "brushing" his teeth while I finish brushing mine without any more music. I'm very proud of the progress that Caleb's made learning which end goes in his mouth and what object in his mouth we're aiming for. I think he especially enjoys sucking the water off the toothbrush.

Once he grabbed my toothbrush out of it's holder and stuck it right in his mouth. I promptly got myself a new one. I later found my old one under the television...oh Caleb, he's always carrying things to strange, far-off lands. Whenever I lose things nowadays I think to myself, "If I were two feet tall and enjoyed being sneaky, where would I put it?" And I usually find things this way. Caleb makes life fun. I can't believe our friends don't want kids. They don't know what they're missing out on! We're totally winning the kids-race.

Caleb Climbing the Couch

2011-03-14T13:54:00.004-05:00

So Caleb has been doing a lot of climbing recently.

This is Caleb wanting Daddy to give him a popcorn.

So we put it at the back of the sofa to see if Caleb could get it.

He had some help from a big cushion lying in front of the sofa. But it was so cute to watch him go after the popcorn.

Pride and Prejudice

2011-03-13T16:28:00.006-05:00

I very much enjoy watching Pride and Prejudice. I like both the BBC version and the Kiera Knightly version. Both offer insight into the character and spirit of the novel and offer something that the other fails to offer.

I just finished watching the BBC production. I don't personally relate to any of the five daughters and I can't see either of my sisters as fitting any of the characters. Nor does my husband fit the character of any of the men in the story. But occasionally Mr. and Mrs. Bennet seemed very familiar...

It took three days to get through but in the end I think it was well worth it. It always reminds me how much I love my husband.

One quote of note came from Mr. Bennet when Elizabeth had just been purposed to by Mr. Darcy. He said that he would not want her to have a marriage where she did not respect her partner. I don't know if he was comparing her to how her mother does not respect her father or the other way around...perhaps both. So I thought of some questions to quiz yourself on if you respect your husband. I did wives to husbands because I am a wife, but perhaps it works for husbands too. You can decide.

1. Are you entitled to service from your spouse?

2. Do you deserve better than your spouse?

3. Do you verbally belittle you spouse in front of others?

4. Do you verbally belittle your spouse in private?

5. Do you openly criticize your spouse's actions?

6. Do you know that your spouse is a buffoon?

7. Do you think your spouse should learn better from his mistakes?

8. Does your spouse act like an idiot daily?

9. Does your spouse always make mistakes that only children make?

10. Are you better at most things than your spouse?

11. While admitting that you're not perfect, do you wish your spouse was a little more adept?

12. Do you get mad at your spouse when he does not do something you asked him to do?

13. Do you get mad at your spouse when he forgets something?

14. Do you get mad at your spouse when he doesn't think of you first and automatically know that you don't like vanilla yogurt?

15. Do you treat your spouse like he's a child?

16. Do you treat your spouse like you have to teach him something?

17. Do you treat your spouse with ridicule and condescension?

I don't think you respect your spouse if you answer yes to any of the above questions. You can have disagreements. You can even have heated arguments. But if you can answer yes to the above questions, you don't respect your spouse. If you suspect that your spouse can only answer yes to the questions, then you probably don't feel respected by her/him.

Without respect, you cannot have a godly, Christian marriage. Sometimes I get so confused by Felipe and that leads to frustration. Felipe has had the same thing happen with me. You could tell when this happens because our conversation seems to go in circle with no progress. But because we respect each other, we know what to do. We do not start belittling and shouting at each other. We do not try to "teach" the other a lesson. We do not try to get a result by manipulation and bullying. We do take a step back. We start the conversation over. We clarify. We take deep breathes. Sometimes I'll say, "I need about an hour break." -it doesn't usually last an hour. But whenever we come back to the conversation the second time it always goes much smoother and things are concluded. I still respect him and he still respects me.

I know that older individuals are incapable of learning or even being open to suggestion from those who are younger than them. Older married couples are often even worse because they have fed off each other for so long they feel they have nothing else to learn. Even without their knowledge they are a model and example to the younger generation. Unfortunately, most older couples I know are an example and model of how to not behave and not treat your spouse and how not to have a happy marriage. And then there are those couples like the Hollabaughs and Phipps from our old church who love and respect each other and don't let a false word fall from their lips. And when such false words are spoken they are quick to repent. And this is why they have good marriages. Because they love and respect their spouses, they seek to out do each other in showing honor.

Poor Baby Caleb

2011-03-10T14:47:00.003-06:00

He is sick again. But this is only the third time and the experts say you can expect babies to get sick at least 6x before they turn one! Well, I don't think we'll reach that projected number in the next TWO MONTHS! Can you believe that in just two months and two days Caleb will be one year old? It's amazing. I feel like this time has just flown by. Also, Caleb just advanced so quickly that I feel like I didn't get a newborn for as long as I was supposed to. But maybe the next baby (or the next or the next or...) will be a baby for awhile longer.

Here's Daddy playing peek-a-boo with the "baby" Caleb:

It's fun to think about what grown-up Caleb will be like. Currently, I just can't wait to do pre-scool work with him. But I guess learning to talk should precede that.

For the first anniversary of his birth, we're having a water party. Baby pools for the littlest and water balloons for the older kids and kids-at-heart. I think for the middle of May this will be very good. We also have a little Tootin' Turtle Water Sprinkler that Caleb loves to play with, weather permitting.

Well, it's only an idea right now. It could change. We'll see. And sorry Nina, but we're going to have the party on Saturday, the 14th. Sunday is a very awkward day to plan events since we go to church on Sundays. We'll have another party just for you to say happy birthday to Caleb whenever you get into town.

Speaking of birthdays, mine is next week! My birthday isn't a very big deal. We're not even really celebrating it. I've been wanting to go to the zoo so we decided that we'd go "for my birthday". Then we're going to have a dinner since Nina is in town for Spring Break and call it my "birthday dinner" but really it's just because Nina is in town.

My Wonderful Husband

2011-03-10T09:30:00.003-06:00

Some women I know are not married to wonderful husbands. Many of my friends have very wonderful husbands. My husband is very wonderful and does an excellent job at loving his wife as Christ loved the Church. He sacrifices for me and took a job with good health benefits just so we would be able to afford another baby, if God sent us one...and he did. He is steadily pursuing another job and has drastically changed his eating habits and exercise regiment just to be better qualified for the job. And these changes are not temporary; he plans to live by this new lifestyle. If he were single, he could do any old job, take any old vacation, do any old thing he pleased. But because he chose to marry me and have children with me, he is choosing to provide for us the way Christ would have him.

Many of you might read this and think, "Of course, he would do that. What kind of a man would not do such things?" And there are many little boys masquerading as men that would go after a woman, give her a baby, and then leave her to continue in his selfish lifestyle of bachelorhood. Many people do not see anything wrong with this - both men and women see nothing at all wrong with this and they continue to live in their unhealthy, hedonistic lifestyle where they always put number 1, themselves, first...even first before their newborn children.

Even in our middle-to-upperclass circle of society, we have many little boys masquerading as men who do a good job at financially providing for their families. But spousal abuses are rampant, whether those abuses be physical, emotional, or vocal. It's sickening to see 40, 50, 60 -year old men treat their wives as if they were incompetent dogs.

But what about those men who do not behave this way? There are women who behave this way. Shame on them. And shame on their husbands for allow such disrespect and cruelty to abide in their homes. An abusive husband is bad, but so is the passive husband who never lovingly corrects his wife. This breaks my heart. When a Christian women decides that her husband is a buffoon, incapable of the simplest tasks, she disrespects him. When he does not speak up and tell her that her actions emasculate and do not honor him nor God, he fails to love her. He has chosen the easy way out.

Felipe has neither this aggressive behavior nor this passive behavior. Instead when I say something wrong, he points it out, without humiliating me and without hurting my feelings. I can say the same to him if he hurts my feelings. He also does not attack me when I do something wrong. He does not blame me for things not within my control. Nor do I do so to him. When I get upset with him, he is quick to love me by humbly correcting my perspective.

Most recently I was reminded how upset I was about trusting certain people with details of our wedding, nearly two years ago now. Why did they claim that they could take care of these things and offer to do them when they very clearly had no knowledge of these fields? I don't know. But Felipe reminds me that he loves me and he hopes that I would marry him despite of ugly flowers or ruined meals. He simply asks, "Did you marry me for a wedding or for a marriage?" And he does not only say, "Get over it." Although that was said, it was followed by helpful words of encouragement that remind me that no party of this size is going to be perfect.

He doesn't get mad at me. He doesn't yell at me. He doesn't force me to do what he wants to do. He talks to me gently. He listens to me and give heed to what I have to say. He doesn't treat me like I'm stupid. I love him and I respect him. I listen to him and follow his lead. I let him take charge of the family and do whatever I can so that he doesn't have to feel a burden from me and the baby.

He does hurt my feelings some times. Once he said something that inadvertently hurt my feelings. Once we were alone, I calmly, without raising my voice, explained that that specific scenario hurt my feelings and I wanted to let him know because I knew that he would not want to do anything that caused me pain. To which he replied, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know." And I said, "I forgive you. I just wanted to let you know." To my mind this is a much better way of handling this type of situation rather than raising my voice, screaming at how DARE he do something to belittle me in front of another human being!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This would have put up his defenses, hurt his feelings, and make me look like an idiot. This is a childish way to bully someone into submission. Whether or not you get a result that you wish, it is done out of fear and loathing not out of love and respect. A marriage based on Christ is a marriage founded on love and respect. Felipe and I have no room here for disrespect and hate. He is my favorite person in the world and I would hate to do anything that would damage who he is.

So Hot in Winter

2011-03-08T18:58:00.002-06:00

I don't have much of an update of any kind. I don't have anything interesting to say or share. Lemme think of sumthin...

We officially joined our new church. This is good but it was weird. We went down front at a certain specified time to say that we'd like to join and the pastor asked the congregation if they wanted us and someone said, "I make a motion to accept." Someone else said, "I second that motion." And then the pastor said, "All in favor say 'amen'"...Everyone else said, "amen." -That's not even the weird part. The weird part was that after that everyone walked down front to say, "welcome" and "congrats for being accepted" and shook our hand or gave a hug. I washed my hands immediately after :/ I've never had anything of this sort happen before. Once I was announced as having joined and after the service ended a few people came up and said "welcome" but nothing on this caliber. The pastor said that this was very old-fashioned Baptist tradition. The church is about 150 years old. The current pastor has been there for...actually I don't know. I think about 10 years.

In other news, I'm hoping to make it to my cousin, Miyoung's, wedding in May. I think I can do it for less than $300 in flight costs for me and Caleb. Be praying for us to be able to go!

Also remember Felipe and his attempts to join the Navy! We're super excited about this prospect and think that he'd be a perfect match for them. They'd be lucky to have him. He takes his MEPS next week sometime.

In Caleb news, I have a couple of funny videos for you via YouTube.

This is Caleb eating an icecream sandwich:

And this one is Caleb playing in the sprinkler in the backyard:

Thinking About Hospital Stay #2

2011-02-22T21:55:00.004-06:00

Just some quick thoughts I had today.

Learning from my experience with my first labor and delivery, I'm not letting anyone other than Felipe and Caleb into my hospital room when Baby M is born. Absolutely no one. About a week after I get home, depending on when I go home, I plan to have a "Come Visit the New Born" party at which point everyone will be allowed to come over and see the new little one for a couple of hours.

I don't know if hospitals allow older children to stay the night at the hospital. If not, then Felipe will stay with Caleb and only come see me for a couple of hours during my stay. -I'm perfectly fine with this. Caleb is welcome to stay during the whole L&D process but that is up to his daddy because Felipe would have to take charge of him. I'm not a screamer or anything else that Caleb might find disturbing, so he might just get excited about everyone getting excited. I'm not sure how much he'll understand at 17 months. He won't be able to go home with anyone because we co-sleep and that requires mommy or daddy to be present, I insist.

And final thought, Caleb is a big boy now. I hate breastfeeding. Caleb LOVES breastfeeding. I used to just feed him whenever because I felt that I had no other obligations so why not. But now I am simply tired of it. So I'm weaning him. But he doesn't like sweet foods like applesauce or yogurt. Today he ate a LOT of shredded cheese and chili (Hormel chicken chipotle).
Perfectly nutritious but odd. He also liked peanut butter bread. I used to only buy honey wheat bread but once I started sharing my bread with Caleb I, of course, could not give him bread with honey in it. Luckily we only have a few more months and he'll be out of the "danger zone" of honey-induced botulism.

This Past Weekend and Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T15:40:00.006-06:00

This past weekend I was feeling really discouraged about Felipe's job hunt. Hopefully, he'll be off at OCS soon though.

While I was feeling so low, Felipe decided I just needed to get out of the house. Whenever I'm feeling so sad he likes to buy me something to try to cheer me up. This is the perfect time for a wife to take advantage of her husband's giving nature and get whatever crazy thing she's been wanting. Well, I did not take advantage of my husband and only let him buy me ONE shirt. It is beautiful:

At church and at our obgyn's office there are those children's play kitchen sets. At each location, Caleb has loved to play with them - there's so many knobs and buttons. I was really hoping to get one for Caleb whenever we came into some money. But on the way home from the mall we saw one on the side of the road with a "free" sign on it! So now we have one and we didn't even need to wait!

The stove even lights up and makes noises. Caleb loves it!

Then later that same day we sold our Vue for $5000! We sold it through craigslist.

And today is St. Valentine's Day. We celebrated this strange holiday with a picnic in the park. Caleb fell and hit his head a couple of times but I think he had fun too anyway. We got a bucket of KFC and ate it by a water fountain.

I wish I had gotten a pic of Felipe and me together but every time I tried the camera would mess up :/ I'll try again later.

This video is really boring:

This video is really funny and short:

Snow Days!

2011-02-08T12:13:00.003-06:00

Caleb was sick when it snowed here over the weekend. But I thought he was better one morning and so I took him out in it. He loved it! Well, he loved it when I was holding him! He was fascinated by all the flakes falling as we stomped around outside.

Caleb is getting better and better. I expect he'll be perfectly fine in just a day or two!

Milestones

2011-01-29T18:17:00.005-06:00

About two months ago Caleb would push one of my hands away when I was helping him walk. He was so excited to be able to walk using only one hand. And now he's walking all over the house unaided and so pleased. I tried helping him using only one hand but he pushed that one away too as if he were saying, "No Mommy, I can do it myself."

Our old doctor said that if we continued night feedings the baby's teeth would never come in and we'd have to have surgery when he was 9 years old and other absurd things. We have a new doctor now. In addition, I decided to continue night feedings, and Caleb's second set of teeth just came in! Score 2 for good parenting and 0 for bad doctor! I tried to take a picture, but Caleb didn't feel like cooperating :/

And finally here's a small tribute to Erin H and the lovely hat she made for Caleb:

So cute! Thanks Erin, we love it!

Caleb had a Rough Day

2011-01-21T15:15:00.002-06:00

Caleb has been walking all over the house. He has way more energy than I do. And luckily, I haven't been getting sick very often.

Since he can walk everywhere, I'll just sit in one place and let him explore with his toys on his own. This morning he discovered daddy's guitar laying out. He plays with daddy's guitar often and I had no problem letting him play with it this time. But suddenly he started crying.

I didn't see anything wrong. No smashed fingers or anything. I picked him up and gave him kisses and figure he was just tired but he wouldn't fall asleep. However just now, 3 hours later, I've discovered some cuts on his right shin. Makes me so sad. Caleb must have cut his shin while attempting to crawl over the guitar neck.

It breaks my heart every time he gets hurt.

It has Begun

2011-01-18T11:35:00.004-06:00

Every episode of Planet Earth narrated by David Attenborough
Completely exhausted by 9am
Revisiting old meals
Bloating and swelling
Vivid dreams
Sore muscles everywhere
Excessive build-up of clutter and lack of clean clothing

That first one I suppose isn't exactly a symptom of pregnancy, but there seems to be a correlation. Also, I had to step down from Nursery at church due to the unpredictability of my morning sickness.

By the way, I'm still breastfeeding Caleb. So you can put away all those old wives' tales about breastfeeding being a natural contraceptive. I think I can be proof that that's a myth.

If you ever want to know what to get a pregnant woman, a gift certificate to a massage is a great idea. If you don't want to spend a lot of money, offer to come over and do laundry or watch the other kiddos - and insist on a specific day so that the pregnant lady will know that you aren't just trying to sound nice but that you are really sincere. Or make her a meal. It's nice to have a meal after the new one arrives, but it's also nice if she plans on eating before then to have a meal now. I wish I would remember this when I'm no longer pregnant. If we ever make some money, I hope to budget some of it toward helping expectant mothers.

The best thing you could do for her is to pray for her. It is so nice to hear someone say, "I've been praying for you." Even if there is no noticeable answer to those prayers yet it is comforting to hear that someone took the time to think of me. It makes me feel loved. And sometimes, a kind word will make all the difference in one's day.

Today is my dad's birthday. He's 55. And he's a grandpa. Happy birthday, dad! I know you're one of three people who read this ;)

I'm really hoping to instill in Caleb the necessity of being a good older brother. An older sibling holds the key to the sibling relationship. Will it be a rivalry or a friendship? If the older sibling decides to protect the younger then they can have a great friendship. But if the older sibling tries to point out how stupid and untalented the younger is then there won't be a friendship; instead this will stir up hostile feelings in the younger and the competition will begin. Friends won't sit and listen to others when they say "oh she's so ugly" but will instead tell those who say such things that a good sibling doesn't listen to that kind of talk about their siblings. When someone threatens the younger sibling, the older will come to their defense and stand up for the character of the younger one. Does the younger one need help with something? The older one will not say, "that's not my problem" unless the older one is not a good older sibling. When the younger is mistreated, the older will handle that situation.

I think my younger sister and I are a good example. I think I've been a good older sibling. I know that I've also been a jerk to her. But when the neighborhood boys were picking on her, I jumped out of a tree, grabbed their water guns and threatened to "tear their heads off." They went running. When another kid took her hoola-hoop and bent it so it couldn't be used, I yelled at that boy and told my parents and let Nina (my sister) play with my hoola-hoop. I never called her stupid even though she was three grades behind me...she was after all, three years younger than me. I encouraged her in ballet and math, and she copied me in majoring in math and pursuing a ballet career. She's my copy-cat. Imitation is the highest form of admiration. More recently, as adults, when she called me crying about how her boss had mistreated her, I called her boss and lectured her for 45 minutes on how you just don't do that to Nina. Who did she think she was that she could do that to Nina? I defended Nina's character. The boss later apologized to Nina and attempted to make things right. Nina still quit though (good for her). I encouraged Nina to pursue God and shared different resources with her. I introduced her in a non-condescending way to popular debates and misunderstandings in Christianity. I always encouraged her to form her own opinion on things and not passively rely on her parents who may or may not be right.

I also, got annoyed with Nina when we were little and she agreed to put on a puppet show with me, but then left me 2 minutes into it to go play with her friends. We had about ten neighborhood kids sitting their waiting for it. And she just left. I also ridiculed her for watching a Baby Animals video. It was so boring. She was 4. She said, "but Lauren, I like it." And then for some reason, I sat and watched the rest of it with her. And I made fun of her for carrying rocks around in her purse when she was 5. She said that she didn't have anything else to put in it. And, finally, I would hide around corners and wait for her and I'd jump out and startle her - my dad taught us that one, and she got me back quite a few times.

She was no angel herself though. Once, she and I along with another friend decided to jump on the bed. Well, guess who got in trouble for that and guess who didn't even get told, "no". That's right, I got in BIG trouble for that, and Nina and the other girl continued to play elsewhere. Then there was the time that Nina and I were playing ball in the house. Nina suddenly didn't know how to bounce the ball straight and she broke my mom's Wise Man, the black one, from the Manger Scene (it was christmastime). Well, Nina just stood there and I tried picking it up but my mom ran in and yelled at me. I tried to explain that it was Nina but she wouldn't listen. She said, "I think I might line up your porcelain dolls and throw a baseball at them." to see how I would like it. We hadn't been playing with a baseball and it wasn't me who had broken her wise man, and Nina certainly didn't speak up. She didn't want her dolls broken.

So in the end, I say Nina and I were typical sisters but Nina had an awesome older sister too who made up for her downfalls. Hopefully, Nina will also copy me in finding a godly man who leads her closer to Christ.

An excellent wife who can find?
She is far more precious than jewels. Proverbs 31:10

And then, hopefully Caleb and Baby M will want to be good siblings like us too. It'll be Caleb's job to protect Baby M, to teach her/him, to share with her/him, and love her/him. It might not seem fair to Caleb all the time, but that's the responsibility of the oldest. He's older so he'll have to be more mature. He'll also get to experience things first. Baby M will be depending on Caleb to not lie to him about Santa or being adopted or a swimming pool on top of the Washington Monument. I hope Caleb will be the best oldest brother ever.

New Year!

2011-01-06T20:41:00.003-06:00

Here's my family's first picture of the new year:

And for the new year we have a new pregnancy too! I go see the ob-gyn next week :) Baby MM I think will be due beginning of September. My grandmother's birthday is Sept 16 and 100 days from Christmas, so that would be neat if we had MM on that day!

I don't want to sound hostile but we aren't sharing the baby's name that we've already picked out. At least, I'm not sharing because I didn't like having to hear everyone's opinion on our first baby's name. At first it wasn't so bad but after awhile with all the pregnancy hormones it was unpleasant to listen to.

Any advice on how to make Caleb still feel loved is welcomed!!!!

3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the children of one's youth.
5 Blessed is the man
who fills his quiver with them! Psalm 127:3-5

We hope and pray that Caleb and baby MM will be godly.

15 Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. Malachi 2:15

Caleb Walks

2010-12-16T18:20:00.003-06:00

Caleb has always been very active. Perhaps this is because of that extra week he was in utero. From the moment he popped out he held his head up. That night he pulled the covers over his eyes to block out the light. He's always been wanting to do more and he just keeps trying until he's able to do it. He has great work ethic.

We put him in a baby walker at "too young" an age because we felt that he was more than ready to go for a stroll.

He loved it too! But then he discovered that he could walk by holding onto furniture. Now he has more freedom without the walker. Now he has been trying to stand and walk all on his own.

Caleb loves this video. We have watched it dozens of times. I wonder what he is thinking when he watches it.

Caleb's New "Bed"

2010-12-14T21:45:00.002-06:00

Caleb usually sleeps in our bed with us. But sometimes he needs to take a nap when we're not sleeping. We used to let him sleep on the bed with pillows all around him. But recently he has been so active that the pillows haven't been keeping him safe. He hasn't ever fallen except for once when I caught him before he even realized that he was falling! And that was the last straw. So we got him a new "bed":

Why don't we use a crib? We tried. But he hated it, he would cry the instant we started walking toward it, and then he started climbing out of it. And that was an absolutely devastating thought. So we don't use it any more. Caleb very much enjoys his big boy bed. And sometimes I can even snuggle up next to him for nap!

My Own Body

2010-12-14T20:50:00.007-06:00

Ephesians 5:28 says, "...husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself."

Today's Love Dare spoke about this passage and how as a wife I should love my husband the same way that he is supposed to love me. That same Ephesians chapter talks about wives submitting to their own husbands just as the church is to submit to Christ.

I also listened to a sermon by Matt Chandler today that spoke on the same passage interestingly. He pointed out that women are to be submissive to their husbands because their husbands are supposed to be serving them as Christ served the Church.

Wives, let's remember to love our husbands the way God intended us to love them. They are not our children. Single Ladies, prepare to love your husband by softening your hearts and learning how to be lead. I've seen many mature relationships not fare so well because the wife is constantly emasculating her husband...when I was single I didn't even know what behaviors were found to be emasculating. A lot of the time it is in how things are presented. Find a married woman with a gentle spirit to ask - that's probably the best thing you could do with the key phrase of "gentle spirit" not loud and domineering.

On a lighter note, Caleb's been making some very good attempts at walking! Today he stood up on his own several times and twice he even took a few steps before falling on his bum. This is very exciting! Although, I think I had anticipated him being a little more mature before he could walk. He still has a baby mind but now has a toddler's physical abilities. We're going to have to baby-proof very quickly!

He often walks on his knees:

Here he shows how he can get his toys out all by himself:

And finally, can I share a pet-peeve with you? I was talking to my husband about this today. This is long and is only intended for the eyes of a couple of people - those that I mistreated and those who are currently mistreating others:

Before I moved to Texas I had some acquaintances tell me that I always made them feel stupid. The manner in which they told me made it seem like they were addressing a character flaw. They couldn't say exactly what it was that I was doing; I certainly wasn't saying, "hey you're stupid." And my thought at the time was that maybe they were stupid. Today, I am ashamed of this behavior, and if you're reading this and I treated you in this way, I am very sorry to you.

I've since figured out what they were feeling and not able to articulate. It's a haughty spirit. It's people who say, "well, I know I'm smart." or "I'm smarter than everyone I know." or "It isn't that I'm smart, it's that everyone else is not smart." - Can you believe that people are this prideful? That was me a mere five years ago. If someone today said, "You know we're all very smart people here..." I would have to reply that such statements seldom stir up affections for Christ nor do they reflect the grace that has been bestowed to us and anyone we feel is less gifted. These statements certainly don't stir up affections for fellow mankind. To act as if being smarter is somehow equal to being better shows a void of understanding of what Christ did for us on the cross. I would gladly give up my IQ to be able to enter more freely into Christ's embrace.

So this is my pet peeve - what was once my sin is now the bane of my existence. I have not become dumber, but what has changed is the constant need to be correct. I simply stopped correcting people. I stopped being a "grammar Nazi". I stopped auto-correcting people's misunderstandings even when they were very obviously wrong. Why? Because it is not loving!!! To make other people feel stupid does not draw them toward Christ. What is my primary goal? To draw them toward Christ or to show others how smart I am? Being smart in this instance is a curse. Eventually, my thoughts changed too. I don't even think corrections any more (and it is obvious when you think corrections).

I have found that when I let go of my insecurities I could let go of needing to appear a certain way (ie "smart" albeit annoying and rude) and people generally found me to be more enjoyable to be around. You are not any body's teacher. Stop trying to teach them and simply let them live without fear of being corrected by you. If you don't stop, they'll start stepping on egg shells around you. This is an emasculating behavior for men. These types of women either don't find a husband or have terrible marriages.

This is the end of my rant. I hope it wasn't offensive. I hope that if this bad behavior describes you that you will repent. If this behavior describes how I once treated you, please forgive me.

Christmas Stockings

2010-12-11T23:24:00.005-06:00

This is Caleb's first Christmas! And that means it is also all of us Mulfords first Christmas as a family. Christmas '08 Felipe and I were engaged. Christmas '09 we were pregnant. And now Christmas '10 we're a family! Who knows what Christmas '11 will hold for us?

Last year we made Felipe a Bjorkman family stocking. He's not much into crafts...so he just put his name on it and left the rest blank. This year, we added Caleb's stocking, which you saw a glimpse of before. I left it undecorated for so long. Currently, it's wonderful though:

Caleb's stocking reads, "Merry 1st Christmas!"

No Double Standard - a long rant on how awesome my husband is

2010-12-07T21:14:00.007-06:00

Yesterday's Love Dare had three points that it ended with. The second one read, "No Double Standards. Be as considerate to your spouse as you are to strangers and coworkers." Neither Felipe nor I have a problem with this. We actually treat each other much better than we treat anyone else...not that we treat others poorly, but we do give each other extra special care and attention. But it is a good reminder. I've seen countless couples shout and bicker at one another over petty things and say things that they wouldn't dream about saying to a stranger. So why is it that we tend to think that we can treat those we love most with the least amount of respect? I had one friend who said it was because we know that our loved ones will forgive us. Isn't that so sad? I don't think we realize what we're doing.

I love my husband so much. It makes me sad to remember those times when I put myself above him and did what I wanted without consideration to what he wanted. I could justify with petty talk of how he's done the same blah blah blah. But the truth is is that my sin is never justified by anyone else's behavior.

My husband is so wonderful. He always speaks to me in a civil manner. He's not petty nor does he bully. He doesn't belittle me or shout at me for anything (and especially not for things outside of my control). He looks for ways to comfort me. He speaks well of me and comes to my defense. He treats me humanely and with respect.

My husband is a man. Because he acts manly, he makes it easy for me to act femininely. Because he treats me with love and respect, he enables me to respond with love and respect. I don't have to justify his actions because his actions are innately just. I don't have a "but" before my "I love him". There is no string of sins and errors followed with a "but I just can't help loving him."

My husband is godly. Other men would do well to follow his example. He isn't perfect, but he is a good man and a good husband (and a good father!). He genuinely cares and loves people. He reads his Bible and follows what it says rather than blindly following what another man would say it says.

I'm privileged that many of my friends' husbands fall into similar descriptions. And if you're single, I would encourage you to find one of these types of men. Don't excuse his bad behavior. Don't ignore the warning signs. Don't marry a man that tries to make you cry. (yes, I do know women who have married men who try to make them cry so that "they will learn their lesson" - isn't that verbal abuse? Their husbands are jerks and bullies.)

The other evening we snuggled on the bed together as I ran my fingers through his hair and talked about the prospective future by this fireside:

It was very niiiiiice! Maybe you can fullscreen it and do the same! Unless you have a real fireplace...then you can sit by that one instead of this one.

New Blanket!

2010-12-05T21:50:00.008-06:00

My mom is a seamstress. She loves to sew and collect things to be sewn one day. And today I found one of her collected items.

It's called a "no sew" project, but it's so so easy that I think it should be called a "no talent" project. I literally cut strips and then tied them together. I didn't do it "correctly" but it still turned out great! -correctly would be to have it perfectly edged, but I preferred the rounded edge and so that's what I did.:

It's just the bear fabric and the yellow backing fabric tied together. That's it. I did it while I watched...HGTV! (Caleb had already gone to sleep.)

And now that I've tricked you into reading my blog, let me share with you something important. Jesus. He's important. I'll be brief. Without Jesus, everything is pointless. But with Jesus in my life, I have a reason to take joy in my husband and my son. I can enjoy life because I know there's a bigger reason than just existence. That bigger reason is to glorify God and enjoy him. And I get to enjoy him not just while I live on Earth but also when I enter the after-life.

Since we're entering the Christmas season, there'll be a lot of inaccurate information concerning Jesus and who he is. There's silly songs, romanticized songs, and religious songs. I love this time of year. I love the songs. I love the decorations. But the most important thing to remember, not just at Christmas but always, is that Jesus was born so that he could show us the way to God. I'll leave you with these thoughts:

For I [Jesus] came not to call the righteous, but sinners.

I [Jesus] came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Jesus came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

A Christmas Production

2010-12-05T21:38:00.004-06:00

Yesterday, I started decorating our house. It's been very fun. I suppose I watch too much HGTV. While I can't possibly copy what they do due to budget and experience, I'm fairly creative and can throw some of our collected decorations in, what I think, is a pretty nifty design. I'm not done. But this is what I have so far:

Once I'm done, I'll show what it looks like from the front door. There's some more decorations that I couldn't adequately capture but I will. The look from the front door right now is amazing. I can't wait to show you!

Wonder(ful) Husband

2010-12-05T00:33:00.003-06:00

I love my husband so much. When I wake up and I don't know what to do that day, I like to think of a way to practically show my husband that I love him.

The first few days of the Love Dare have been really easy and enjoyable. I wasn't expecting it to be so easy...I suspect that it will get harder. I guess I should realize that the people in the movie were having quite a few marital problems and thus are not a good comparison for us.

So far day one was simply "Don't say anything mean." Done. No problem. The closest I think I got to saying something mean was getting nervous about something but not actually saying anything mean during that moment at all. Day Two was "Do Something Nice." Well, that was fun. I tried to be creative and I gave my husband a massage! Day Three was more difficult, so I improvised. Day Three was "Buy something for your spouse." Welllll, I did not do that. First, I have no money. Second, I have no transportation even if I did have money. So instead, I made him a meatloaf! It was yummy! And it definitely got the point across that I was thinking of him all day and that I love him very much!

I thoroughly enjoy being married to Felipe. He's provided so well for our little family.

I really enjoy staying with my parents too while we wait to hear about our job situation (we don't want to sign a lease and have to break it). Being with my parents has enabled me to show them how much I appreciate them and make up for not showing them this when I was a kid. (Kids are stupid and inexperienced. Once you have a kid of your own, your vision suddenly clears.)

Thanksgiving Eruptions

2010-12-02T01:00:00.007-06:00

Thanksgiving was a very eventful day for us Mulfords. Yes, we had the regular turkey, stuffing, rolls etc. But in particular interest is that Caleb's first two teeth erupted! And this right after our pediatrician tried to scare us into ceasing our night feedings by telling us an old wives tale about how night feedings lead to late teeth eruption. -I know, it didn't make sense to us either.

Here are those beautiful teeth...although you can't really see them in this pic.

Of course I couldn't get him to sit still for a second to take a pic until he was asleep...

And then there's the mental image of calling his teeth "erupting"...two volcanoes where teeth should be. I know what the word means, I just can't help of thinking of volcanoes though. I have a pic but it's terrible...but if you want to see it real bad just follow this link.

I know, that was dumb. That's why I made it a link instead of part of my blog.

And in other secret news, FELIPE STOP READING AT THIS POINT!!!!!

Seriously, Felipe, I want it to be a surprise...

Did you stop reading yet?

ok, in other news, I bought a copy of "The Love Dare" for me to become a better wife. I feel like I have become rather spoiled and I don't like it. So I've decided that I will stop thinking so much of myself and instead actively focus on Felipe. He's a wonderful husband that I don't always appreciate as much as I should. I'm hoping to gain perspective and appreciation as well as making him feel more loved as my love grows for him.

I've been thinking about what my purpose in life is and I continuously come back to "give God glory and enjoy him forever" and if I am feeling lost then that's because I'm not giving God glory or I am not enjoying him. One major way I can give God glory is to honor and respect my husband. I hope that God will show me how to give him glory through submission to my husband whom he has placed over me. I want this Love Dare to be a gateway for God to radically soften my heart.

If you could take one thing away from reading this today I would hope it would be that you would want to love your husband more too...and if you're single, then to not think that you would do so much better if you were married: It is very hard to be married to someone that is almost completely like-minded with you and to be reminded at the most inconvenient moment that you're only almost completely like-minded. There's always going to be something that you disagree over. And the pride that you feel now, thinking, "I would handle things so much better than those married peopler I know" is the same pride that is going to get in the way of any possible future relationships. Kill the pride now and you won't have as much to deal with then. Or be single and never have to think about another human-being other than yourself for the rest of your life.

I hope that last bit didn't sound too harsh. But I think that the married people who read this would agree with me that they wish they were less selfish toward their spouse. There's always room for improvement. Pride is the root to so many sins. And love is the antidote.

Must Mean Yes

2010-11-25T23:43:00.001-06:00

This is a funny comic I made about Caleb from some of his photos I took:

Alternatively, you can click this link: http://i.imgur.com/iJKno.jpg

Last Weekend was Fun and Today I used a Groupon

2010-11-25T11:16:00.007-06:00

Last weekend Nina came into town. That was fun. She put up the Christmas tree. I helped her, but I was very distracted with the baby and with making the baby's stocking! The stocking still is not quite finished, but here's a photo of what it looks like currently.

We had a really nice time!

Later Josh came over for dinner and a fire pit. That was great fun too.

I love you guys! Josh was the namesake for our son (Caleb Joshua after Joshua Caleb), btw.

And in other news, I subscribe to Groupon. They sent me a $10 gift certificate that expired TODAY! But recently I haven't really enjoyed the products being offered...until TODAY! Today's Groupon is for Kodak photobooks...which I love! And guess how much it cost? It was $10 for $20 worth of books...so I got it for free!!! Perfect. And you can do it too if you read this in time. And as an extra bonus to me you could use this code (http://www.groupon.com/r/uu7368739) to give me referral points :)

Caleb is Learning to Stand

2010-11-22T22:07:00.006-06:00

We play a fun game with Caleb. One-Two-Three and we let him stand on his own for however long he can balance. He always lands on his butt with a giggle. This weekend he made some very good strides both figuratively and literally! And now I only have to say, "one, two, three" and he will let go of whatever he's holding onto, sometimes though, he'll just skip the balancing part and sit down real quick with a giggle.

Another fun game we play is the I'm-Going-to-Get-You game. We take turns with who is "getting" whom. I'll help Caleb get Daddy and then Daddy gets Caleb and then we rinse and repeat with Mommy. He loves the game and is catching on to the rules very quickly. Sometimes he'll start playing before Felipe or I even thought of it. It's always cutest when Caleb goes after Grannie Clare or Grandpa John and gets them. The giggles are just too cute.

Here's a pic of Caleb's sleeping position after he was screaming at us for making him sleep in his own bed:

(I moved him to better position right after I took the photo.)

Caleb is doing much better now with his new sleeping arrangements. And we've started giving him more solid food. One observation I made today is that he fully understands what he's allowed to do and what he is not allowed to do. Before today I was never sure if he understood. But there he was moving purposely blockading cushions out of the way so he could go gnaw on the coffee table. I watch for a few seconds and then said in a not-too-serious voice, "What do you think you're doing, Mister?!" Caleb spun around and tried to crawl away from the table and giggled as I went over and put the cushions back. He didn't try again.

Caleb with some solid food:

Caleb has always laughed in his sleep. Since the day he was born, once he fell asleep we would eventually hear the cutest little sleep-giggles. Once he started moving more (and becoming more frustrated) he would sometimes cry too. Now he'll sometimes cry if he's had a bad day. My goal recently has been to be the best mommy ever. I gage how successful I've been at that by how much Caleb giggles in his sleep. Today he had two very full naps and lots of play time! We ran over to the Christmas tree and back to his play area several times (I'm sore), he had air-tossings, alone play times, and many episodes of aforementioned games. And he giggled in his sleep today!

I feel like I have won. Yesterday was no good. And that made today even better!

Here's a fun video of Caleb-cuteness. He's crawling around the kitchen chasing after his shadow:

He's a Big Boy!

2010-11-18T21:25:00.011-06:00

I find that my only time to blog recently is when Caleb is asleep...so here I go!

This week hasn't been the best week. It started out with Caleb's 6 month wellness check and vaccinations. It was terrible! First, we got to the office early but weren't seen until 30 minutes after our appointment time. Then the new nurse who is still training on the computer system didn't take any of the measurements correctly. This is our pediatrician's third new nurse since Caleb was born...why can't he keep nurses around? Then when our doctor came in to see us he was rather rude. We weren't too offended by this because I figured all these issues were probably related to the new nurse taking time to learn pediatrics.

The poor baby though - four shots! It made me sad. One rather funny part though was when we took Caleb over to the scale. We had to take his diaper off for an accurate reading. And he decided to empty his bladder while he was at it! Daddy went to go get a clean diaper. So Caleb and I walked back to the room...and Caleb completely naked! He was giggling and baby-skipping. It was so cute and he had everyone in the office laughing!

This is Caleb enjoying his singing Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street:

The next night we started moving him to his own bed to sleep. We had been sleeping with him in our bed. (And for all you nay-sayers, we were very careful about making sure he had adequate room and he's always been capable of moving his head away from suffocating.) So, Caleb didn't like it very well at all. We had to go in several times to reassure him that he was safe. And when we finally went to bed he was still whimpering in his sleep. This also made me sad.

But on the plus side, tonight when I put him to bed I put his little stuffed puppy near him. And I saw him take the puppy under his arm on the baby monitor. It was very cute! So I think he'll be able to sleep through the night with his new best buddy.

This is Caleb wearing his pjs from Grandma Bertha:

Though this week wasn't the best, my husband just got home early and told me he doesn't need to work tomorrow! My sister is coming home tomorrow and we're having a friend over for dinner on Saturday. Things always eventually turn around...especially when you remember that Christ died on the cross to take the punishment for our sins and we are now free to live for his glory - this always puts things into perspective.

Caleb got some DVDs in the mail. This is a pic of him watching them:

I put him in the bed because he starts banging on the computer whenever I don't put him in the bed.

Thanks for reading :)

Recently, I've Been Busy.

2010-11-07T23:22:00.001-06:00

I talked to my sister, Nina, on the phone today. We had a nice introduction to a conversation that we coined awhile ago:

Nina: Hi, Lulu

Me: Hi, Nina, how are you?

Nina: I'm good. How are you?

Me: I'm doing good. How are you?

Nina: Oh, you know. Doing good. How 'bout you?

Me: Yea, I'm ok. How are you doing?

And we go back and forth giving variations of the same question and answer for quite some time. We can be quite goofy.

She eventually noted how I'm not on facebook any more and she can't see pics of her nephew as often as she'd like. She also mentioned that I have not updated my blog in awhile...welllll, she's right. But I responded that it was a purposeful decision to either spend time with my son or blog about spending time with my son.

Right now he's asleep in my lap!

Recently we discovered that Caleb loves dogs. Big dogs! Felipe took me out for a special morning date to a very nice bakery in historic downtown Grapevine. We then took a walk with Caleb and wandered into a bookstore where a dog was lounging on the floor. While Felipe and I were looking at various items the owner said her dog would be nice to Caleb. So we placed Caleb next to the dog (and since I don't trust big dogs I stopped what I was doing to pay full attention to this dog with my baby boy.). Caleb loved her! He got so excited and tried to climb her. And when I put him back in the stroller he climbed out to go play with her some more. Unfortunately, Caleb didn't know how to get down other than by gravity. Luckily, I caught him before he hit the floor. No damage done. But then today he climbed up into a standing position with the help of a chair. Our son is a little climber.

Oh, and we bought him a cool hat.

Caleb Giggles and Crawls

2010-10-21T22:27:00.007-05:00

Caleb has been making progress in crawling and sitting. And he's always giggling!

I think here he's impersonating a lion! "Roar!"

And this is his very second sitting on his own!

He gets very excited whenever he does it.

Caleb giggles over having fun with Daddy and Aunt Kirsten with Grannie Clare in the background. Caleb giggles over any word that has the "EE" sound in it.

Here Caleb "crawls" toward us filming him.

Having Caleb has greatly increased the joy we have in our marriage. I had great fun making shepherds pie and yeast rolls and cookies with Caleb for Daddy. I put Caleb in my baby sling and explained what each step was and Caleb paid surprisingly close attention until he fell asleep! Then when he woke up we drove to get Daddy at work and I had so much fun telling Caleb how lucky we are in having a man who is the head of our household who loves God and takes care of his family. I believe it is very important to sing Felipe's praises in front of Caleb. Too often we've seen in sitcoms and in real life where the wife does not respect her husband. This is sad and does not bring glory to God. I hope to always love and respect my husband so my children can see what a wonderful man he is! This brings glory to God and sets a good example. I love you, Felipe!

Favorite Memory - Gaby

2010-10-07T17:05:00.004-05:00

Gaby! It's your turn!

This was a long time ago. Gaby was visiting the states and was still learning how to count. She was living in England at the time and wasn't quite sure about the difference betweens pounds and dollars.

My mother was talking with Gaby about how many dollars Gaby had. "One dollar plus one dollar plus one dollar is how many dollars?" My mother asked. And Gaby said that she didn't know because in England they use pounds. So my mom explained that it didn't matter what you were adding together, it could be blocks, one plus one plus one is always three. Gaby now understood and added, "Except for cheetahs." My mother, perplexed, asked why. "Well because they are just so fast that you can't count them."

Too cute.

I've had lots of fun with Gaby over the years despite her living on another continent most of the time. She's beautiful and fun, and I think she looks like my aunt Kathy.

This is her diva shot:

She could be a super model if she wanted to be. Love you, Gaby!

Favorite Memory - Miyoung

2010-10-03T23:00:00.002-05:00

I love my cousin, Miyoung. Not only is she absolutely beautiful, she's also absolutely fun.

When we were both about 7 years old, she came to visit me and my family in Florida. She came packed with the normal pjs, shorts, shirts, seaweed...wait, that's right. Seaweed. It was dehydrated and laid flat like bread and to serve it she put it in the toaster. It was a bit too salty for me. Also, instead of pouring her cereal she picked it up with her hands from the box and dropped it her bowl. That was weirder than seaweed to 7-year-old-me. But she still remained super cool.

Along the years, she and her mom introduced me to sushi and other Asian cuisine. And one day I hope to go on a cousins tour with her where my little family and her soon-to-be little family go to Korea (where she's done a lot of living, and where her fiance is from).

With the birth of my super-cool, half-Japanese cousin, so was born my love for all things Asian. I just love Korea, Japan, India, Viet Nam, Cambodia, all those wonderful places. And I think it is because of her.

A couple of years ago we were in Virginia Beach and had a lot of fun together again. And then for my wedding she gave me a pair of beautiful earrings that make me think of here every time I wear them! She's the best. I wish you had a super-cool cousin like Miyoung too!

The End.

Favorite Memory - Mike

2010-09-26T10:30:00.002-05:00

Today is my favorite memory of Mike, the man who married my aunt Betty, thus making him my uncle.

Mike and Betty formerly lived very close to my family when I was little. Whenever my family would go visit them we'd always go to Red Lobster. I loved that place! And strangely at such a young age I did not like seafood though...they have amazing biscuits.

Well for some reason, probably just because we thought it'd be fun, I went to go stay the weekend with them once all by myself. And it was tons of fun...for me at least.

Mike let me sit on his lap and showed me cool things on his computer. This was back when MS Paint was REALLY COOL. He showed me all kinds of cool designs. And I continually accidentally called him "dad" and I would quickly correct myself, "oops, I mean Mike." Until finally, I decided that it was just not going to stick in

my head that this cool older man was not my dad but my uncle. So I told him in my sweet little 9 year old voice, "I'm just going to call you 'dad' for this weekend so I don't have to keep remembering. ok?" and he said ok and I called him dad several more times. Although sometimes I'd remember who I was talking to.

Anyway, I think it was good that he heard someone calling him "dad" a lot because shortly after that they had their own child, Andrew.

Mike, a self-portrait

And here's a photo of Caleb with Mr. Octopus Prime - a gift from Great Uncle Mike:

Favorite Memory - Kathleen

2010-09-25T09:13:00.000-05:00

Today's Favorite Memory is about Kathy, or Kathleen, if you please.

Kathleen has always been really neat and fun. She's extra cool to me because she always likes to dance. Once when I lived in Arizona she came out for a visit. I knew of a modern dance group that had classes open to the public. It was really cool.

The whole setting was just perfect for a Favorite Memory. We went downtown and had to move a gate to enter a bar, that was closed for business but open to enter. We went up the side stair case to where there was a tiny room with one wall covere

d in a mirror. Some big black guy came in with dreadlocks and a drum. Our dance teacher was a tiny lady. Maybe there was ten people there to take class. We had so much fun!

That same visit Kathleen heard that a famous ballroom instructor was at home near-by. So she scheduled an appointment and my mom and I went with her to her class. That was really cool to watch, but I got an allergic reaction to something and the lady gave me some benadryl. It was still a good memory.

I've given up dancing, but I would revisit a modern class if Kathleen went with me. Hopefully, we'll be moving back that direction soon!

Much love to you, Kathy!

seen here with my rockstar cousins Jody and Colleen

Favorite Memory - Joe(y)

2010-09-24T09:22:00.000-05:00

Today I'm sharing my Favorite Memory of my uncle Joey...who now goes by just Joe.

I have a lot of favorite memories of Joe. Once he gave all his nieces necklaces for Christmas. I kept mine for years until it finally broke in Fall of 2008!

He decided to start taking ballroom lessons and later married his partner, Shelly. We love her too. His coolness factor definitely jumped when she entered the picture.

Joe is always saying the funniest things. And once when I was visiting him at his house, he went out back to water his plants. And me, being incredibly goofy, decided to spy on him with some binoculars that were (suspiciously) right next to his window.

I've received a wedding gift as well as a baby gift from "Joe" and Shelly. It's always so fun to thank them and have Joe respond that he didn't even know he had gotten me anything! I think he must have a brainstorming session once a week where he writes down all his greatest random quotes so that when an opportunity arises he can appear spontaneously hilarious.

I'm just teasing, Joe, I know you're genuinely spontaneous. and very funny. and just plain fun.

Shelly and Joey, I mean, Joe

Favorite Memory - Jody

2010-09-23T09:42:00.000-05:00

So for my third memory, we're back in Virginia. I think this was about ten years ago.

My cousin, Jody, my uncle, Kevin, my sister, Kirsten, an

d I all went out to dinner. Kevin's treat! On the way back to meet up with everyone else, we were going to rent a movie to watch. We couldn't decide and each of us took a turn describing what type of movie he or she was in the mood for. But then out of nowhere, Jody says, "I don't care what movie we get as long as it has a lot of sex, drugs, and violence." It must have taken me five whole minutes to stop laughing! She was joking and we eventually decided on something.

This has been a Favorite Memory of mine, starring Jody. Thank you and tune in again when it might be about YOU!

Colleen (Jody's younger sister), Jody - I love you!

Favorite Memory - Emily

2010-09-22T14:26:00.004-05:00

As promised, here's another favorite memory! This one is more recent, summer of '08.

Here's to you, Emily!

My entire family had gathered at Virginia Beach for a family reunion. We all rented a beach house and spent a week going to the beach and baseball games and watching fireworks on July 4th.

The week was extra special for us because our long lost cousins from Italy were able to fly to the states to see us too! I hadn't seen those girls in forever! I barely recognized them except for some pictures I had seen earlier.

This particular memory takes place on the patio of the house. All of the cousins were sitting around playing a game of Taboo. Fun game. I forget what the word was, but the guessing was hysterical. Gaby was describing something that they did not have in Italy. Emily, her younger sister, went on a tirade of "OREOS! MACARONI AND CHEESE! DECENT FOOD!" Unbeknownst to us Americans, apparently there is no macaroni in Italy! And while many of us older people would not include Oreos and Kraft on our list of finer foods, that was all this little Italian wanted! It made for great fun.

Later when I got back to Texas, I sent them a care package to Italy full of Oreos, Kraft, Twizzlers, and other goodies they don't have in Italy. That was fun.

How often do you get it on camera? how lucky!

Favorite Memory - Bridget

2010-09-21T17:24:00.004-05:00

I've decided to try to make each of my family members feel a little special by including them in my blog. and also by writing a note on facebook. The first family member up on my chopping block is BRIDGET!!!! I once had a dream where she made me cookies...I was hoping it was a prophecy, but it wasn't. so sad.

Without further ado:

This is my favorite memory of LITTLE Bridget, back when she was teeny tiny 4 feet tall.

My family and I were at her parents' house in Virginia. She must have been about 9 years old (or maybe she was 13, I don't really know). And she was VERY feisty! For some reason she wanted everyone to call her "Crab"...I thought that was unusual. Well, ins

tead of being a cool older cousin, I decided that I would tease her. relentlessly. I started calling her "crabby" instead. Drove her crazy. It was very fun at the time.

Also around that same time was when she started horse lessons. Colin always teased her of course. He's her brother. He's obligated. Our favorite joke for Bridget, I mean, Crabby, was, "What do you call a horse when he's done racing? GLUE!" It isn't really funny. But again, it drove her crazy.

SO! If you wanted to know why Bridget is currently crazy, it's my fault. and also Colin's fault.

The End.

stay tuned for more Favorite Memories...maybe YOU will be next!

Bridget, Jeremy (another cousin), ME

Friends Having Babies!

2010-09-10T11:00:00.000-05:00

I am always so excited to hear about my friends getting pregnant. I don't care if it's their first or their eighth. Babies are wonderful! And I love getting them presents.

Recently I've discovered diaper cakes. These are decorative cake-looking towers made out of diapers. They can be simple (like what I do) or very elaborate (like what I've seen online). Since I'm just starting out, I do very simple diaper cakes. Maybe once I get very good at it, I will get very elaborate and I will start a business. They are very easy to make. The first one I made took me forever and still didn't turn out so well (sorry Karah. It's the thought that counts, right?) But my second one looks great and only took me about ten minutes:

I think that in the future I will buy some more ribbon and accessories for the cake. What do you think? Give me some ideas...

And in another creative venture, I bought Caleb a Sassy Photo Book:

It holds eight photos. I printed some out but our printer didn't do a very good job. I figure Caleb doesn't care though. He loves pictures of people smiling. I think most babies do. He especially loves slideshows of...himself! These are the pics I chose:

I can't wait to see how he likes it!

First Meal!

2010-09-08T22:00:00.001-05:00

That's right, ladies and gentlemen, Caleb has had his first real food meal. It consisted of rice cereal. And he didn't eve finish half of it. But the next day he ate it all...fast! And he got it everywhere too! so cute!

Here daddy models the baby and his first meal:

And here we are feeding that meal to him!

He knew exactly what to do when that spoon got close to his mouth. We only need to work on cleanliness. He loves the cereal. We've tried the cereal with milk and with water and the baby seems to like the water version better.

His bib says "My dad is cooler than your dad" - it's probably true, just read my previous post on your goofy Mulford friends!

Sunday with Felipe

2010-09-07T22:15:00.001-05:00

We have some grassy area at church and this past Sunday was such a beautiful day. Felipe loves his son so much so he thought he'd take a walk through the grass:

GIF animations generator gifup.com

Felipe is such a cool dad. He's always having fun with the baby. I feel so lucky to have a husband who is involved with our son. I can see why women go crazy after having kids if they don't have such a supportive and wonderful husband! I'm grateful for God giving me such a great leader for our marriage. Sometimes Felipe even needs to take care of both mommy and baby! And he does!

When we go grocery shopping, we always put Caleb in the cart and then Felipe rides on the cart. Usually I'll run and push too! Such fun!

Felipe does it all. I know my friends have helpful husbands too. So if you're single, do not be dismayed...there are other men who are as wonderful. You just have to wait for him to appear.
Here Felipe demonstrates that Caleb can also be...a hat!

Did you know that your friends were so goofy?

Pad Thai

2010-09-06T21:39:00.004-05:00

Recently I felt like some good Thai cuisine. We have a few good Thai restaurants in the area. One night we finally went and took Caleb with us.

My food came out significantly faster than Felipe's food. I got Pad Thai. So good. I don't remember what Felipe got. We both got Thai tea, but we didn't know what that was...unfortunately, we did not like it. But it was very pretty to look at. So pretty to look at in fact, that little Caleb even tried to get in on the drinking fun. At one point he even grabbed a fist of Thai food which we swiftly intercepted.

Growing up we didn't do much experimenting with different cultures. We went to Chinese restaurants as long as they were Americanized. But we never ate at any other Asian places. I'm so grateful for college where I was able to meet so many people of different ancestry.

When I was going to college in Arizona, there were many Lebanese students. When I was going to college in Texas there were a lot of Indian students. I didn't get involved with campus activities in Arizona, but once I was in Texas I joined a Christian organization that did a lot with international students. We even sponsored an International Night each week where we gave away free pizza and played games. We would pick students up from the airport and have them over for dinner and go to their places for dinner! yum!

Praise God for the Asians! I love their food and their fashion! I love their different accents and having to ask them to repeat four times and giggling about still not knowing what they just said.

Later this week Felipe is going to buy me my first salwar kameez! I'll be sure to post picks of the one I choose...this will be very difficult! They are so pretty!

Sitting Around the Baby Pool

2010-08-27T22:40:00.000-05:00

At Felipe and my house we have an in-ground pool in the backyard. Caleb has become accustomed to swimming at least once a day. He usually goes once in the morning with me and again in the evening with grandpa. But the other day we were visiting my parents and they don't have a pool. So I brought along a little baby pool.

It's the kind you have to blow up. And I didn't have a pump. My cheeks were so sore when I finished! ha!

It was a lot of fun to just sit around the pool and chat with everyone. Caleb didn't get his regular swimming routine, but he did get an acceptable substitute! He was happy. Life is good.

Surgery

2010-08-26T22:52:00.006-05:00

You may recall my original injury to my ACL. I remember being in rehearsal and landing on my butt. I wasn't in pain, except for my ego. My only thought was, "There goes my career." And there it went...to God be the glory! Why do I say that? Because for me, ballet was the bane of my existence, it was the idol keeping me from intimacy with Christ. Being a ballerina made me overly critical of fellow dancers and prideful of my own achievements. Ballet robbed me of affection for Christ whether I was dancing or watching others dance. This may seem ridiculous, and to some extent I'd agree...it is quite ridiculous. But know that just as some people don't drink alcohol because of alcoholism, I don't go anywhere near dancing because it is my Achilles heal. [By the way, don't ask to see any videos or pictures because I threw them away or burned them ALL. It was a constant source of consternation.]

I have a beautiful scar from the original surgery. Felipe sometimes strokes it and says how much he loves it because it represents me leaving the ballet company and coming to Texas to meet him. And we lived happily ever after.

So what happened this time? I got pregnant and I think the extra strain on my knee overstretched the ligament.

Not as exciting.

The first surgery was rather invasive and had a long recovery time. The therapists back then were amazed at how quickly I recovered but it was still awhile. This time, the surgery was not as invasive and shouldn't be as long of a recovery. We waited awhile to have the surgery because of how expensive it was going to be. But then, for some reason, I received a couple of calls from the doctors and facility saying that they either dropped the $500 charge completely (as in the case of the facility) or they were only going to only charge $56 (as in the case of my surgeon). I don't know how much the anesthesiologist is going to charge. I already have a knee brace and it looks like I won't need any physical therapy! As of September 1 I will not have any insurance. Hopefully, Felipe will get a better job that has benefits by the time I get pregnant again.

Oh! And one more big difference is that last surgery I just took the drugs the doctor ordered for me. Well, that led to nausea and hallucinations and unpleasant sleep. So this time we didn't go get the rx (short for prescription) . This time all I've taken is acetaminophen (that's Tylenol). And I feel great. It kinda feels like I went for a long jog. As long as I keep it elevated and with ice on it, acetaminophen is fine.

So that's what it's all about. Here's a pic of Caleb giving me a flower from his grandmother's flower pot:

To God be the glory in all things whether "good" or "bad". I've been really sleepy all day. I went into the surgery center at 6:30am. I was scheduled for surgery at 7:30 but at 7:50 I still hadn't been taken back and decided to take a little nap before hand. Well, the next thing I remember is them waking me after they were completely finished! The nurses told me that I just didn't remember waking up in between. After the surgery I was talking incessantly. I was so happy to have had the surgery and I told the nurses that I was going to get the a cookie cake from Great American Cookie Company. And one of the nurses was the same size as me so I'm going to give her my old scrubs. I had been planning on becoming a midwife but then Felipe turned all my plans topsy-turvy. So now I have a perfectly good set of scrubs that was only used once. I'm so happy that I have someone to give them to now. All the nurses were so good to me despite my non-stop chatter...I even told them, "Don't mind me. You do whatever you need to do and I'll just keep talking even if you're not listening." At which, they laughed. It was the medication. Once I saw Felipe he even noted how weird I was acting.

Last piece of good news for this post - all the drugs I took were completely fine for a breastfeeding mom. We tried to get the baby to take the bottle, which he has successfully done hundreds of times, but he just would not do it today. Felipe said the baby kept looking for me the entire time I was in surgery. aw! Isn't that cute?

I'm doing great, but please be praying that I continue to be doing great! I'd really appreciate it :)