Some Random Shots

Random

Jeff and I went to his company's end-of-year dinner on Friday night. It was great to leave Jack with Aunt GiGi and slip away for an evening with adults. It was a nice dinner, that I was actually able to eat after getting some wonderful Papaya Enzyme pills from the health food store. It was my first real meal since Sunday!

The other pictures are of Jack on Sunday. I think daddy took them--I'm not sure where I was--so that is all the description I can give.

And, the aforementioned orange tongue.......my goodness.

Short-lived

Thank goodness, Jeff's version of the "bug" was short-lived! After a day of rest and so much Gatorade that he turned his tongue orange (maybe he'll post the picture), Jeff is feeling back to his old self! He was sad to have missed church, since that is our favorite place to be together, but grateful for the rest and recup.

In the meantime, I am feeling much better myself. Today Jack and I are grocery shopping! That means that we had Bible Study this morning, went to the chiropractor, ate lunch at Chik-fil-A, and now we are at Grandma's house while Jack takes a nap. So no actual shopping has taken place yet, but while Jack naps I get my list together and decide what we're going to have for dinner this week! When he gets up we'll get the deed done and hopefully be back home with dinner made for daddy when he comes home from work! And that is pretty much our typical Monday! Hope you're all having a great day!

By the way, daddy, we know that you will read this from work and we just want to say that we love you, and we think that you are the best daddy in the whole world! Thank you so much for going to work so early every day and working so hard so that Jack and I can have days like today! We love you!

Oh Boy

I was in Lafayette tonight with Jack and Grandma when I got the call from Jeff that he was on his way home after puking on a construction job. He's now running a fever over 100 degrees and we are well into the "yuck" stage. Evidently there is a 7 day incubation period. Sorry to anyone we've come into contact with in the last week!

Lapse

It may have come to your attention that there was a lapse of sort in posts from the time that we went to the park until the time when I posted the park pictures. That is because Jack and Mommy have been horribly, terribly, nauseatingly SICK for the last five days. Every fear that I ever had of getting Jack and Jeff's "flu bugs" became a nightmarish reality this last week. It must be the my body was in a weakened state from the last couple of weeks, because when I fell, I fell hard. The puking began Sunday night at bedtime and lasted until morning. By the time 5:00 a.m. rolled around, Jeff had to practically carry me back to bed. He called in Monday morning and stayed home all day to take care of Jack. I honestly cannot remember the last time I was that sick. I was on the phone talking to the doctor by the time their doors opened and got some medication to help me stop puking. Uggh. Blech. Convulsive shiver.

Here it is, Thursday night, and I am only just now starting to feel my "humanness" again. In the meantime, Jack continues to have little bouts of tummy troubles because of his teeth. I think that not only the eye teeth are coming, but a couple of molars as well. It's hard to tell, since there are no visible teeth yet, just extremely swollen gums.

On the brighter side, Jack has begun to say some new words! He now uses two vowels! Such as: uh-oh and hi da da! He also says ball, done, drink, bath, and something that frequently sounds like "ga-ma", we think. He can also now climb up on top of the table, and he got a new wagon that I can wheel him around in up and down the lane.

That's all for now! I hope that you're all staying healthy and WELL!

A Day In The Park

Day At The Park

The Dreaded Eye Teeth

Lately we been having some behavior issues with Jack. I know, it's hard to believe something so CUTE could be such a TURKEY.... At any rate, this morning he was so whiny and clingy that I knew something had to be up. I laid him down on his back and looked in his mouth (a difficult and perilous task to be sure), and sure enough, it would seem that the gum where his eye teeth are supposed to be is very swollen. I've heard that the eye teeth can be the most difficult ones to cut. What is scary is that the gum is just swollen--I don't actually see any tooth under the gum. I'm a little worried that this may take a while. Well, I did what any good mommy would do, I drugged him up with some Ibuprofen and put him to bed! Hopefully when he wakes up he will feel a little better, not just for my sake, but for his too. I'm sure it's no fun cutting teeth.

Today daddy is coming home early and we're going to Columbia Park! Jack has never been, and I am really hoping that they have some animals out, especially the monkeys since that is Jack's favorite stuffed toy. He goes to bed with his monkey every night. He can also point out the monkey in his animal picture book (and the kitty too). I hope that you are able to get out and enjoy this wonderful weather! We'll share some pics later!

For You Are Near

--by Laurie Dutton

I will say of the Lord, He is my strength He is my song.
I will exalt Him all day long.
He is my hiding place; I’ll rest in His unchanging grace.
I cannot help but sing His praise.

I will say to the Lord, You are my refuge, my fortress.
You alone are the One in Whom I trust.
You have sheltered my soul for You are faithful
And I won’t fear.
I will dwell in the shadow of Your wings
For You are near.

O bless the Lord my soul and all that is within me bless His name.
He daily benefits my soul.
He heals and He redeems;
He satisfies my longings with good things
I will remember all His deeds.

How could I ever run from You?
You have the very words of truth.
And so my heart cries out
To You, my living God!

I will say to the Lord, You are my refuge, my fortress.
You alone are the One in Whom I trust.
You have sheltered my soul for You are faithful
And I won’t fear.
I will dwell in the shadow of Your wings
For You are near.

My heart, my flesh may fail,
But You O God are strong forever.
You are my portion and my strength.
Your word, your deeds, your sweet benevolence to me is all I need.
I find my true delight in You.

Fun, Fun, Fun

Fun, Fun, Fun

New Day

Just wanted to let you all know that we are doing good. We have had some rough spots in the last few days, both of us at different times, but we are still hanging in there, and trusting God. It was so good to be at church today. Jeff and I both had trouble at the beginning of the service as Titus called us to worship with scripture and praise spoken aloud to God. It was good to be able to sing with a full heart and tears streaming that "I will give You all my worship, I will give You all my praise. You alone I long to worship, You alone are worthy of my praise." I sat out of choir for one last time so that Jeff and I could worship together, and I am glad I did, but I will be ready to jump back in next week.

For now, we are setting small goals for ourselves, and planning things to look forward to. April 27 is the "end of year" banquet at Jeff's work, and we are looking forward to a night out together in Indy (and the bonus that usually comes from work). Next month the kids come to stay for seven whole weeks. I tell you what, that alone is enough to bring a smile to my face. In the past, I have loved other people's children as my own (and still do love those blonde southern boys), and having Anne and Bryan in my life just couldn't be more perfect--unless of course they lived with us all the time! At any rate I am looking forward to a fun-filled summer with the kids and can't wait for them to see Jack again and get reaquainted.

God has been and continues to be immensely good to us. Titus says in one of his songs, "Grace makes no sense at all" and it is so true. We don't deserve it, but he daily loads us with benefits. There's another song that I want to introduce to you, but I have to ask the author if she will let me "sneek peek" it on my blog (Laurie, this means YOU). If nothing else I hope she lets me post the words. She gave me a CD the other day and I've not ceased to play it every spare moment I get.

Thank you to all of you for praying, calling, sending flowers and cards, and especially commenting. I've learned that I am not alone and that I have a wonderful resource of Godly women who have dealt with the same pain that I have and are beautiful testaments of God's grace in their lives. Thank you, all.

Baby Blessing

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

A week ago this Monday I started experiencing some complications with my pregnancy. I went a whole week trying to believe the best and trust in the Lord for my strength and the life of my child. Although I was very concerned about the welfare of my baby, God gave me the grace to lift my hands in church on Sunday and sing praise to Him who had risen from the dead! What an awesome privilege to place the cares of this world in a God who has conquered death and the grave!

Sunday evening I had severe pain and bleeding, so on Monday I went to the doctor for an ultrasound. It was then that we learned that the baby had no heartbeat. We also learned that the baby was too small, much too small to be 10 weeks. It was difficult to determine if there wasn't a heartbeat because the baby was no longer alive, or if I was actually much earlier in my pregnancy--too early to detect a heartbeat. So we had to wait. But not long. On Tuesday evening, at home with my husband beside me, I miscarried. As we cried together over our loss, Jeff reminded me that this was simply the earthly shell of our child, and that it's soul was already in heaven with the Lord. Even in great sadness, it was easy to praise God for taking our child before it experienced pain, loss, hurts, evil and sin. Our child will never know the sorrows of this world because God is good, kind and merciful. And to us, He gives us grace to live without the little life that had just begun to make its presence known in our lives. We have named the baby "Blessing" because that is just what it was. Blessing has two brothers, Bryan and Jack, and a sister, Anne-marie. In the time we knew of the baby's coming, it brought smiles to all of their faces, and joy to Jeff and I. Blessing has brought Jeff and I closer together, and given us a greater love for God. It has also made heaven much sweeter. Our baby is surrounded by a great grandfather, a great grandmother, and a grandfather so recently passed. Blessing is also surrounded by so many other precious babies of friends, whose parents never saw their faces or held them in their arms. They are there together, our precious little ones, and heaven never looked so good.

Thank you, God, for your Blessing. Thank you that you give, and take away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Just this Sunday, we sang the words to this song, knowing that in all probability, our little Blessing was already with Jesus.

Alive Forever Amen

Let the children sing
A song of liberation
The God of our salvation
Set us free
Death where is thy sting
The curse of sin is broken
The empty tomb stands open
Come and see

He's alive, alive, alive Hallelujah!
Alive praise and glory to the Lamb
Alive, alive, alive hallelujah
Alive forever amen

Let my heart sing out
For Christ the One and only
So powerful and holy
Rescued me
Death won't hurt me now
Because He has redeemed me
No grave will ever keep me
From my King

I'm alive, alive, alive Hallelujah!
Alive praise and glory to the Lamb
Alive, alive, alive hallelujah
Alive forever amen

Worthy is the Lamb
Worthy of our praise
Worthy is the One
Who has overcome the grave
Let the people dance
Let the people sing
Worthy is the mighty King

Something New Every Day

Jack has finally discovered books. After months of forcing him on our laps to read any book that he would tolerate, he has finally developed a love for his books. He likes this book because it has all kinds of babies in it, all smiling and making happy faces. I walked in to the living room to "catch" him sitting in this chair, book in hand. It was so cute, and I was afraid that I wouldn't get the picture, but I got it!

Another thing that has happened recently is that Jack is climbing EVERYTHING. Tonight I put him in the bathtub with his toys and then came and sat down at my computer (the computer is right outside the bathroom door, so I wasn't very far away). I could hear him in there splashing around, talking, laughing at himself. Then I heard a thump, and yelled out in my best distracted mom voice, "You better not be standing up in there! Sit down!" I heard nothing else for a few moments, and then out of the corner of my eye I see a little naked boy rounding the corner on tiptoe. He took one look at me and let out a squeal and tried to run! I was shocked! So much for using bathtime as "me" time. My mother-in-law was quick to point out (when I called her hysterically) that soon he will be climbing out of his crib. Nooooooooo!

And in typical little boy fashion, the more weirded out I am by my son, the more he seems to take pride in his accomplishments. Maybe this baby will be a girl?

onetruemedia.com is GREAT!

Thanks, Danna!


Jack Outside

Better

Feeling a little better today....thanks to those who I know have been praying.

My post that I plan to write is about this topic: As a Christian, do I portray to non-Christians that I am better than they?

Blech....

I have this unusual, deep (high unusual for me) blog just dying to be posted, but I can't. I just can't. I feel terrible.....this is only my 8th week.....blech.