Joy to the World

I haven't been able to keep up with my blog for many reasons, but I felt compelled to write this post. Below are several of my favorite pictures from this Christmas. I felt so blessed to be surrounded by my parents, in-laws, sisters, & sister's fiance (Shannon), this Christmas. One of my favorite memories about this Christmas was singing Silent Night by candlelight at our church's, Christmas Eve service, with our whole immediate family standing with us.



Mike got stone crab claws for our appetizer for our special Christmas Eve meal.



Chef, Jean Michel (said with a French accent, AKA, my very talented, aspiring chef husband), made AH-MAZING Carolina crab cakes with tomato gravy, roasted garlic smashed red potatoes, and sauteed asparagus for our special dinner. DELISH!!!




My sister, Laura's (and Mike's sister Carol - although she couldn't be with us this year)birthday is on Christmas day, so we had a cake (my prize winning chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting and peanut butter and chocolate glaze)for her. We sang Happy Birthday to Jesus, and then to Laura. This is the first time we have sung Happy Birthday to Jesus, but I wanted to do it because Daniel totally understands birthdays, and we have been talking about Christmas day being Jesus' birthday.




My sister's Ashley, and Laura, being silly on Christmas Eve. Ashley gave Laura and me matching pajama pants! Love having my sister's here!! They are so much fun to be around! And they are hilarious!!



Here is Daniel trying out his new scooter from Mimi and Papa.



This year, more than any other year before, I think I grasped a little of the true meaning of Christmas. 2010 has been hard in many ways, emotionally draining, faith stretching and building, and good all at the same time. I will try to give a highlight of some of the good and the hard things I've experienced this past year, probably unintentionally leaving some things out:

Good
Multiple friends had healthy babies
A husband who loves his job
Being able to stay home most of the time with Daniel, working less at the hospital
Celebrating Grandmother's 90th birthday (mom's mom)
Celebrating Grandfather's 80th birthday (dad's dad)
Making new friends
Sister's engagement
Serving at church this Christmas season
Watching our small group generously love a financially hurting family
Baby Jacob coming home from the hospital to spend Christmas at home with his family!

Hard
Friend's baby died, 1st Christmas without him
Friend's divorce
Multiple friends going through financially difficult times
Friend's MIL sudden death from stroke, then FIL hit by a car, remains in critical condition out of town
Watched in-laws close friend's lose their spouses
Our unsuccessful attempt at IVF
(I was going to add that one of our best friend's sister's unborn baby is suspected to have a probable genetic abnormality, possibly incompatible with life, but just received and email right before Christmas, that prenatal labwork and genetic studies point to hopefully good news,either cysts that will resolve on their own, or a rare genetic disorder).

This year I have seen people I love go through incredibly painful circumstances, and I have also gone through a more emotionally draining and disappointing circumstance myself. How can people who have so much hurt have joy at Christmas? It's a celebratory holiday, yet SO many people have SO much pain and hurt in their lives. (I am realizing this more and more the older I get and the more I allow myself to love others).

Our pastor preached a sermon on December 19th that was eye opening to me from Luke 1: 26-33. I will try my best to tell you what I got out of it.

The angel said to Mary, "do not be afraid, there is plenty of joy."
Your life may have much fear and little joy,
the angel brought a "good message"
The angel told Mary her son would be great- greatness is produced by humility, dependence, and service. Phil. 2, He made himself nothing, the road to glory came from laying down his rights.
Out of a place of deep sacrificial love, he poured himself into others, through denial, humility, and sacrifice for others (Phil. 2:5-9, Mark 10:45)
The angel proclaimed: we are hopelessly unable to save ourselves
He instructed Mary to call her baby Jesus...why?
His name signifies his work, He will make a complete purchase of your life, you can't reconcile yourself, he will save his people from their sins. (salvation is not based on good works or merit, it is by Grace)
Much of our anxiety and sadness is because we fail to understand how totally loved and accepted we are by Jesus.
Our pain is proof that we still live in a broken world, not that God has turned his back on me, this is not our eternal home. The world I want is still coming.
His blessing is going to be as extensive as far as the curse is found. (Joy to the world, He comes to make his blessings known as far as the curse if found!).


So even though we celebrate Christmas, Christmas is the sufferers holiday. Christmas guarantees that God has, does, and will continue to address what I'm going through (and everyone who has pain and suffering and hard stuff happen to them). He came to end death. And even though happiness feels good, it is fleeting, but joy can last forever.

All that being said, to be completely honest, I still don't understand/am confused at why hard, terrible, painful stuff happens to people I love, and even to wonderful people I don't even know. I mean I know we live in a broken world, and these things should make me long for my eternal home, but they are still hard, and I think that Jesus understands why I am sad about these things.

So to all of us who are hurting, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13 (This is one of my life verses!)

We have had a wonderful, exhausting Christmas with lots of family and traveling, tons of good food and thoughtful gifts, but I can truly say, I am most thankful for the gift of my salvation, that came from Jesus' life, his death on the cross to pay for my sins, and his Resurrection.

Happy 2nd Birthday Daniel!

Dear Daniel, I can't believe you are 2 years old today!?! It seems like just yesterday we were holding you for the first time.
A year ago we were celebrating your 1st birthday, cowboy style. You have grown so much since then, physically and developmentally.

This weekend we celebrated your second birthday with your favorite characters, Buzz Lightyear and Woody from Toy Story. You are much more into opening presents this year than last and I think you understand that today is your birthday, you say, "I two."

Some memories I love about you that have happened or you've done recently are:

Climbed into your rocking chair to read Bible stories all by yourself (I was doing my homework for my Bible study and I think you were imitating me)

Your daddy picked you up out of your crib when he got home from work & you were already asleep and he rocked you because he didn't get to see you much that day.

You said, "Good job Mommy" when I helped you build a train track for your choo choo trains. You love to play choo choo trains, one night you and Daddy played with them and built a track before bed, it just melts my heart to see you two play together.

You get a wildly excited look on your face and come running into my arms when I pick you up from the nursery.

You are starting to say, "I do it!" alot now, and exerting your desire for independence.

You know how to get a chair from your little table and push it to where ever it is you want to go to reach something or see what I'm cooking.

Your modes are run, run, run, or sleep. You also like to jump and climb.

You love Buzz Lightyear, tractors, lawn mowers, bicycles, & trucks!

Your favorite food is Macaroni & cheese, you also like apples, grapes, & bananas, cheese sticks, goldfish, and cookies. :)

You weigh a little over 25 pounds.

You are still sleeping in a crib, but you climbed INTO your crib about a month ago so we will be transitioning you into a big boy bed soon.

You still love your pacifier, you call it a "pappi" - Daddy would prefer you only have it at bedtime and naptime, but sometimes Mommy isn't as strong as Daddy and gives in, mommy is working on this.

You are a very friendly, happy, energetic, little boy and we are so in love with you! You bring us so much joy and you also make us see our weaknesses. We are at times humbled by you and also get a glimpse of what God must think of us when we disobey and also a smidge of the love he feels for us too. We couldn't imagine life without you Daniel and are SO thankful God blessed us with you! We LOVE you SO MUCH, to infinity and beyond! Happy 2nd birthday little buddy!

Please pray

Hi anyone who reads. I am writing tonight to ask you all to pray for our friend, Amy and her unborn baby, Jacob. Amy went to school with Mike, kindergarten through 12th grade. I met Amy and her husband Tyson at their 10 year highschool reunion. Our family actually stayed with them on our vacation last summer and they were extremely hospitable to us and showed us all around their city. Amy is 24 weeks + 5 days pregnant with their 3rd child and has been bleeding off and on since she was 11 weeks. She was diagnosed with a marginal placental abruption and placed on bedrest at 18 weeks. She checked herself into the hospital at 24 weeks (the point of viability) to hopefully give her baby the best chance of survival when something happenens. She has started a blog and really tries to have a positive/cheerful attitude. Today she shared that the placenta is in bad shape and not only tearing away from the bottom but now also the top, and that the doctors are talking about delivery in days, not weeks or months, like she originally thought. She has received steriod injections to help speed Jacob's lung developement along. Please pray for Amy and baby Jacob. You can read Amy's story here.

Unintentional Blogging Hiatus

So I have gotten questions and comments very recently like this..."I'm really sad you quit your blog" and "you've given up your most recent hobby already?!" Well, it wasn't intentional that I stopped blogging for ummm, well ALL summer! It just happened! I feel like we had one of the busiest summers ever this past summer and we only have one child who is one, how could it have possibly been so busy you ask? Here is a run down:
May
Grammom's 90th birthday party in West Florida
Memorial Day weekend Gulf coast beach trip with friends
June
pool days with friends
yoga on Wednesdays for 8 weeks
Tuesday morning Bible study for 6 weeks by Priscilla Shirer called He Speaks to Me
Helped with registration and crafts during VBS
Team taught Kindergarten Sunday school with another couple for 8 weeks
Surprise curb appeal for my Dad, who returned from 3 week Ugandan mission trip
Mike to Omaha to watch the Seminoles play in the College World Series
July
Vacation to Atlanta for the 4th & then to the N.C. Mountains the following week
swimming lessons 1 hour/day 4 days/week x 2 weeks
My birthday weekend trip to my hometown, shopping trip with friends, and beach
My mom, Grandmother, and Aunt came to visit for a week to take care of Daniel while I worked but I ended up getting called off both days I was scheduled
August
Baby shower for Julie
Family reunion in Blue Ridge, Georgia
Baby shower for Marie
Baby shower for Suzanne
Birthday parties
Trip to hometown to visit with overseas relatives
Mike out of town for Republican Primary party for Steve Southerland for Congress

By no means am I listing all this stuff to proclaim, "Look at me, Look at what all I've done!" I hope you don't get that impression of me, it's more for my memory because I view this blog as kind of my journal or scrapbook, so it's to help me remember, because I have a terrible memory! I'm so thankful the Lord has blessed us with so many fun opportunities, a wonderful family, and wonderful friends, all which made up our wonderful, crazy busy summer! I have pictures from a lot of the trips mentioned above but I will just leave you with one picture because I appreciate a post with at least one picture. I will try to post more pictures soon.

Strawberry Pickin'

I have fond memories of picking strawberries as a little girl with my mom. My preschool teacher mom usually takes her class to a great strawberry farm each year and I have been wanting to go for awhile. After reading my friends, Emily and Kristie's blog post about their picking experience, I was dying to go this year, I could almost taste those juicy strawberries! Well last month, on the way to visit my parents (while Mike was out of town), Daniel and I stopped at the farm my mom has told me about for years. My expectations were met exceedingly! It was one of the best afternoons I've had this year so far! I think I'll try to make it a tradition.


This strawberry lady greets you as you arrive at the farm.


Even though it was the middle of May (typically late for strawberry season), the bushes were still laden with the juicy goodness.



As soon as we got to our assigned row, Daniel knew instinctively what to do, almost before I could get my camera out, he had picked two strawberries, and you can tell by the picture, they were SO juicy. (He has crazy hair because of sunscreen:), and this is a camera phone picture, I snapped it to send to Mike so he could see what we were doing).


We were given this flag to mark where we stopped so the next people who came behind us, would know where to start. Daniel of course thought the flag was for his pleasure. Haha!




They were SO sweet and juicy! Mmmmmmm, Mmmmmmmm!



So irresistible! And just so you know, we were allowed to pick and eat, I guess they figure that into the price. :)


Taking a quick rest until he spotted.......



this! A "tractor" (or a Gator Utility Vehicle-I know this because I am quickly being educated about all the different types of "tractors", we have a couple books about them. If you're around Daniel long, you'll learn in no time tractors are one of his favorite things!)



He wasn't that far from me, so I just let him play on the GUV while I finished picking. He was SO happy to sit on and pretend to drive it!



SOOOOOo I don't really know what I was thinking or why I thought I had to fill up my basket COMPLETELY and almost overflowing??? I picked 2 pints (that is approximately 32 cups). It did come out to be less expensive than buying strawberries in the store. I had 2 days to do something with all these strawberries before we traveled again and I didn't really want to freeze them. I much prefer fresh strawberries to frozen.



This strawberry farm also had livestock. We took a look at the long horned steer, I enjoyed feeding him a clump of clover, a treat for him according to the guy working there. Daniel didn't want to feed him.



More tractors!



There were goats, turkeys, a pig, some calves, a peacock and several other caged birds.




Daniel was in tractor heaven!! Haha!!





Can you just about hear Daniel saying, "MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooo?" He was very excited to see all these cows, and they were very curious about him, a lot of them came over to him. Momma wasn't too sure about the close proximety to all those cows and it was time to head to Mimi and Papa's house so we loaded up and said goodbye to the best strawberry farm I've ever been to. (I really haven't been to that many but I think it is wonderful and would highly reccomend it!)



I had planned to make strawberry jelly with all the strawberries. My grandmother makes the best strawberry jelly every year and I really wanted to try it. I have never attempted to make jelly or can anything before. I asked my grandmother for her recipe and she told me she just uses the recipe for "freezer jam" on the box of Sure-gel. I needed to triple the recipe for the amount of strawberries I had. This is basically the recipe that I used. If you want to try this, I would follow the instructions that come inside the box of Sure-gel, and remember, do not put glass jars in the freezer, they will break. I don't really know why you would want to freeze this because it is so good you will just want to gobble it up as fast as you can!



It is VERY tasty on homemade biscuits (Bisquick version) as evidenced by the next three pictures.







Next year, I will plan to make this with some of my freezer jam.

A Wonderful Mother's Day

I had a wonderful Mother's Day this year! I got to spend it with my two favorite people!! (Last year I worked on my first mother's day.) Mike made me waffles for breakfast, before we headed to church. I can remember not too many years ago that going to church on Mother's Day and Father's Day was very painful for both me and Mike because we so longed to be parents. It was nearly impossible to get through the services without crying. I choke back happy tears now, that God so faithfully answered our prayers! After church we had a picnic lunch at a local garden overlooking a beautiful lake. The weather was perfect and I couldn't have been happier!


To GOD be the glory for this little man who calls me mommy!


This picture totally cracks me up because it is SO Daniel! He's got a stick and he must have thought it would be funny to mess up my hair with it! Haha!! Love that boy! You can almost hear him saying, "aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh"



So typical of this little dude to play with his stick in the "wa", as he calls it.



I love you buddy!




Playing on the playground after our picnic.



Daniel was being so sweet to Mike, he started kissing him on the lips many times.




Thank you God for this man and this young man whom I love SO much!!!





We missed being with our own mothers on this special day. I love you mom and am so thankful that God gave me to you to be my mom, you set such a wonderful, godly example of what being a mother is all about. I'm also thankful for my mother-in-law who raised an amazing son and who loves me like I'm her own daughter. All my aunts, grandmothers, sister's-in-laws, and friends are also such wonderful mothers and each one has taught me more about this incredible role I am now honored to have. And to any of you who read who desire to be mothers, I pray for God's peace and comfort during your trial, that you would trust our heavenly Father and place your hope in Him! And I pray that God would answer your prayers and give you the desire of your heart.

After Daniel was born, these verses meant a lot to me and I have them written and posted inside my medicine cabinet in my bathroom:

"Great is our Lord and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite. The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for He commanded and they were created." Ps 147:5; 145:9; 148:5

"He gives children to the childless wife, so that she becomes a happy mother! Hallelujah!"
Ps. 113:9

Daniel's First Visit to Disney World

In my previous post I blogged about our first night of our weekend getaway. Our second day was Daniel's first visit to Disney World! This trip to DW was different than any other time I've ever been, this time it wasn't about me, it was all about Daniel! I love watching him experience so many new things for the first time. He is usually a very happy little guy but I'm learning he can be very timid when experiencing something new for the first time. You will see in the pictures that comes across and then he warms up by the end of the day. A few things I learned on this trip:
1.Staying at a close Disney resort with Monorail access is a luxurious bonus which I greatly appreciated! (Not a necessity but a wonderful treat none the less!)
2.We didn't need to rent a $15 stroller once we got there. (We rented and used one of theirs in the morning, and then used our umbrella one in the afternoon and it wasn't a pain to me at all to take our own)
3.The baby station was awesome! It was a air conditioned respite! A place with multiple changing tables, high chairs, bathroom, and kitchen. I highly recommend you take advantage of it if you go to Disney with a little child (especially one still in diapers). I never knew about this little room before having a baby.
4. Next time we'll check ahead of time about the hours of operation of the park. So happened Grad Night was the day we went and the park closed at 7pm.
5. One short day is enough for our 18 month old son.



Taking in the sites of the castle for the first time...Not too sure about all of this yet.



I love this picture and Daniel's little arm and hand clutching to Mike's arm, he had quite a firm grip on daddy. This was taken in line to our first ride, It's a Small World. I think we got to the park around 11 and walked right up and onto this ride. Daniel's button on the back of his shirt says, "1st Visit", the staff at the Polynesian Resort gave it to him when we checked in.




SOOOOOOOOooooo much to take in! He started out sitting in between Mike and me and very quickly moved over into my lap where he remained the rest of the ride. I don't think he really cared for this ride so much, there is a lot going on inside, maybe a tad bit of over stimulation for this guy.




Finally a smile after riding Dumbo, the three of us squeezed into our Dumbo cart (we didn't want to split up because the fun for us was watching Daniel's face!) He did like this ride.



On our way to find something to eat, we ran into a fun parade.



After we ate lunch, we took the ferry boat back to our hotel and we all took naps, which was great for all of us! I would have never done this before having kids. I've always had the mentality, you have to pack as much as you possibly can into your day at Disney. My sisters can vouch for me that on one family trip, I chastised them for wanting to stop and eat! Saying something like, "here's a granola bar, gobble it up and lets keep going!!!" LOL! So I rode rides I've never ridden before (that I remember?) like Peter Pan and The Pooh ride, and we rode the train, which I had ridden before. Mike got to go in The Haunted Mansion while Daniel and I waited outside and watched some birds. This picture was taken towards the end of the day, we discovered that if Mike got Daniel to do "high five" it was a great way to get him to smile!



Here is our token family picture in front of the castle with 1000 other people all doing the same thing at the same time. :)



When it was time to exit the park at 7pm because of Grad Night, we decided that instead of being herded like thousands of cattle down Main Street to then go wait in another long line to board either the Monorail or the ferry, we would stop and watch the ducks until most everyone else had left. Great idea! Daniel LOVED running around the tables on a patio overlooking the water with a great view of the castle. It was the perfect way to end our day at Disney.





And then we let him run down Main Street, what is really what he wanted to do!



We made our way back to the hotel, fed Daniel a quick dinner and then took turns eating at the bar of a sushi place while the other one chased Daniel around the hotel lobby. Again, a completely different Disney experience than ever before, but in a good way! I can't wait to go back and do it all again at the most magical place on earth!

Weekend Getaway

I should have warned y'all that I was going on a blogathon! :)haha!! Back in April, Mike, Daniel and I took an opportunity to get away for the weekend and we were SO glad we did! We started our trip off spending the night with longtime friends of Mike, Blair and Hannah. After arriving on a beautiful, warm Friday afternoon, we loaded back up and headed through gorgeous neighborhoods with large, mature trees, brick streets, perfectly manicured lawns, through a swanky little down town with outdoor cafe's, boutiques, bookstores, restuarants, wine and cigar bars, to a fun little water park. It was the perfect thing for all three of the kids to cool down and burn off some energy!






Just imagine shreaks of laughter and squills!!!










I think Sam is saying, "You're not supposed to drink the water Daniel!!!"






After our fun time at the water park, we enjoyed a yummy dinner out on Blair and Hannah's back deck. Mae and Sam were so cute playing with Daniel. I loved watching the three of them interact, sharing their toys with Daniel and helping him go down their slide. Thanks for your hospitality guys, we enjoyed spending time with your family! Saturday morning we packed up and headed over to Disney, that post is coming next!! ;)