Catching Up...

I think this may be the most I have blogged in a single month! This post will be a recap of cute things my kids have done or said recently... I want to write them down before I forget! I recently uploaded blogger onto my phone, so I'm hoping to update cute stories as they happen! :)

HAVANA:

Havana is certainly getting to that age where she is mimicking everything...

• about a month ago she was putting her stuffed animals in Selah's baby swing and then taking my camera and she pretended to take their photos saying things like, "look here" "say cheese" "so cute" -- haha.
• She really enjoys wearing my nursing shawl and putting Pluto under it and she informs that she is feeding Pluto.
• The other day she started this game with Jonah where she would grab his hands and exclaim, "a baby! a baby! a baby!" - I had no idea where it came from and the next day Jason finally asked her where she learned that. She said, "Dora and Boots" - she was mimicking a scene from a show - this made me glad we limit what she can watch, but it also made me smile because it was the first time she could answer a question like that.
• She comes home from church and plays "nursery" with her animals. Once she lined up all her stuffed animals, taught them a lesson about not lying, and then gave them all a cracker and a drink (her snack at church). 
• One night at dinner she turned to Jason and said, "God Loves You" - while doing the signs. Jason looked at me with a big smile and said, "did mommy teach you that?" - I said, "no, I think she picked that up from the nursery" - well that became her new phrase and she continually let us all know that God loves us. So sweet.
• Any noise (sound effect, bodily function, etc.) she will mimic and she sometimes describes something by the noises she hears. She'll ask to "do it again" and then she'll make a noise like her spray in conditioner - she is asking to comb through her hair. 

She is also saying some funny things:

• Once she was trying to hold Jonah's hand and he was trying to pull it away. I told her that she wasn't allowed to hold his hand and she responded with, "well, I'll hold his elbow."
• I walked into her room after nap time and found she had taken the letters of her name down off of her wall. I corrected her and told her she wasn't allowed to get them down. She looked at me very seriously and said, "The animals (she sleeps with about 50 stuffed animals) said, 'I go get them.'" - as she was saying this she took her Pluto and showed me how he went from the bed to the letters. Apparently, it was Pluto who go the letters down - not her. :) 
• I was in Selah's room feeding her and letting the older two romp around upstairs. They were playing in my room and I hear Havana run into the nursery saying, "uh-oh, uh-oh, oh no!" I asked her what was wrong and she said, "my heartbeat! Oh no, my heartbeat!" I said, "what is wrong with your heartbeat." She very urgently said, "My heartbeat is stuck!" I busted out laughing. She was not amused. I later found out she was talking about my necklace that has a heart on it - it was stuck - she referred to it as her heartbeat. 
• We've been memorizing Scripture. She knows Genesis 1:1, 1 Thessalonians 2:13,  Psalm 34:13, and John 14:15. Each week we learn a new verse and then I review the old ones with her. When we were going over the John verse I asked her, "do you remember what Psalm 34:13 says?" Her response was a quick, "No, and I don't want to talk about that."
• She asked to go to the mall for several days and finally one night I told her we could go. She was so excited and began to run towards the car. She stopped dead in her tracks and said, "Wait! I have to put on my make up before I go to the mall." (no idea where she came up with that!).
• She loves being outside, but HATES the wind messing up her hair. She'll run for cover holding her hair back anytime there is the slightest wind. While she is running for cover she'll yell, "Oh no, the wind! I don't like it." What a girl! :) 

• She loves belting out the songs on the radio. The SUV song on the veggie tales cd and "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" from a disney cd are two  of her favorites. 
• Her schemes to delay nap time are getting crafty - she has now started asking for drinks and snacks and anything else that might delay the process. When I ask her if she is staling she will say, "yes" without hesitation. 
• Yesterday she was yelling, "Mama, I need help! Mama I need help" shortly after I put her to bed. This isn't normal and so I walked in and I asked her what she needed help with. She looks at me and says, "I'm awake! I go downstairs and have a show and a snack?" Sneaky girl! 
• Two days ago I heard her talking in her bed in the morning. I went to go get her and the first thing she said to me was, "Mom and Dad, I broke the plate." (a line from a Veggie Tales movie). A different day the first thing she said to me was, "Daddy fixed the gate. Yay daddy" - it's funny to think about what her thought process is. 
• The way she asks questions these days is simply precious. She'll say, "Daddy, you OK?" "Mama, You have seat belt?" "Mama, You putting on make up?" - she hasn't quite grasped the "are" part of the question.
• Her frequent phrases that are cute that she says a lot are, "wait you're turn Jonah" "What's your favorite part of...?" "This way, Jonah." "It's OK Baby Selah" "I don't like that" "That's so silly" "That's so funny"

She is getting to be such a big girl:

• We were looking at our Bible and she saw the name SAUL - she said, "S-A-U-L" and then she began to sound it out "Ssssaaauuulll" - all on her own! I screamed and told her how proud of her I was. 
• She also watched her first (and only) movie back in September. We watched "Beauty and the Beast" - she has gotten into the Princesses since going to Disney World and we have a few of their books. I saw Beauty and the Beast on TV so I DVRed it and one day when she was feeling under the weather we watched it. That was her first show over 30 minutes in length and she loved it. She loved singing and dancing! In fact she asked to be Belle for Halloween... it was fun!
• She "graduated" from Speech Therapy on the 19th of October! 
• I was telling her how we were going to meet Ms. Stacey for a playdate with her daughter Cameron and Havana's eyes got all wide and she said, "I Know Her! She's from my class."
• She also has experimented with getting out of her room at nap time. She went 5 months in her "big girl" bed without coming out and she went through a phase for about two weeks where she would come out and find me and say, "I'm awake! I no sleeping" I quickly taught her that if she did that she received a spanking and I would lock her in her room... she hasn't tried getting out since, but I still warn her everyday not to come out.

JONAH:

Jonah is a talking machine! He'll attempt any word! He can clearly say:

• yay
• Selah
• There you go
• cow - moo
• dog -woof
• kitty cat - meow
• sheep - baa
• horse - neigh
• airplane
• bye bye
• zoo
• wal-mart 
• outside
• Do it again
• dance
• Bible
• Daddy
• Mommy
• night night
• little buddy
• tucker 
• sucker 
• eat
• more
• all done
• bottle
• up
• down
• car/truck - vroom vroom
• train - choo choo
• Blue's Clues
• Diego/Dora 
• Sweep 
• Broom
• Lion - Growl
• Bird- Tweet
• Basketball/Football/Baseball/Soccer Ball
• red
•  yello
• green
• blue
• pink
• phone
• hello
• where are you? 

He loves to sing and his favorite songs are:

• row, row, row your boat
• twinkle twinkle little star
• The B-I-B-L-E
• You are Holy
• Sweep that broom 
• Go Diego Go theme song
• Wheels on the Bus
• Fresh Beat Band Songs

With all his new found words he is starting to answering questions. I'll ask him what show he wants to watch and he'll say, "Blue's Clues" or "Diego" or "Dora." When it was getting close to Halloween I went to the store to look for a beast costume and he saw a cow costumn on the shelf and he said, "Cow - Moo" -- so i didn't know if he was asking to be a cow or if he simply said it because he recognized it. I hope it was the latter! :)
 
The boy loves balls. He gets so excited when we are coloring if we draw any sort of sports balls - he'll laugh and do the sign for "excited" while he says the name of the ball we are drawing. Anytime he sees a ball he wants to pick it up and play with it. He has sheets that have balls on them and in the mornings he tries to pick them up off of his sheets. When we go to the store he always wants to try to make a basket with the hoops that are up on display. The funny thing is I can't recall ever "teaching" him how to play basketball. He simply has always seen a basketball goal and tried to make a basket no matter how tall the goal might be. He'll be one of those children who I will say, "He's been playing basketball since he has been born." And he doesn't just play with child-sized balls. Nope, all of Jason's sports balls from the garage have been brought inside and he loves carrying around, kicking, rolling, and throwing the big balls.

He also loves trains and airplanes. If he hears them or sees them he'll name them and watch them intently. He loves looking at the pictures and reading books about them. He's truly all boy and I love it.

He is wanting to do EVERYTHING that Havana is doing. It is fun and sad to watch all at the same time. Sad because sometimes he truly can't do it (so he becomes frustrated) but fun because they are starting to actually play together. He is romping around on the same playground equipment that Havana is - he climbs up the ladder, plays in the clubhouse, and goes down the slides all by himself. He also taught himself how to go up and down the stairs at our house. He's unstoppable. :) 

SELAH:

Not nearly as much to update for this little one! She is almost 4 months old: she can hold on to rattles, play with a few "baby" toys, and she's found her feet (she can kind of do a tuck and roll maneuver :). I experienced her first laugh in October and it was beautiful. She has these huge dimples that make my heart melt.

Her hair is crazy as seen in my previous post. She is still quite the screamer, but (for the most part) she is a great sleeper. She enjoys getting out of the house and is very similar in personality (and appearance) to Havana (and her mommy!). It is fun to watch her discover new things and even though her colic is trying at times I love, love, love being mommy to my sweet Selah.

We had the privilege of dedicating her on October 29th. It means so much to us to be able to promise the Lord that we'll raise her in godly home and teach her to love the Lord. It also means the world to us to be a part of such an amazing church that I know will invest in our children and in us! Just tonight Jason and I were talking about how excited we are to watch our children grow up in Southeast. A funny story about the dedication is that before we went onstage she was SCREAMING!! WAILING!! We were getting sympathy looks from everyone standing near us. We we clearly going to be "that family" with a balling baby on stage. However, as soon as we walked out on stage she stopped crying and looked perfectly content. We laughed so hard about it and still tease that she clearly likes being the spotlight. Guess it runs in the family. :)

In the lobby after the church service where we dedicated Selah.

Big Boy

Dear Jonah,

You're a big boy these days! Seriously, you have overcome two big battles lately and I'm so proud of you. The first comes with your shoes. You've never been a big fan of wearing shoes or socks, but the only kind of shoes you are comfortable wearing are the Robeez kind. We tried to buy you tennis shoes, but you would cry and tear them off of your feet so fast that I wasn't sure how we would ever transition you. However, you did it. We bought you special "big boy" shoes that have balls on them and light up when you walk. You enjoyed playing with them, but would not allow us to put them on your feet. One day when you were eating breakfast your daddy put them on you without you noticing and that was all it took. You never seemed to noticed and you walked flawlessly from the moment we put  you down. You now love showing off your ball shoes and I am so proud with how you just "grew up" to wearing tennis shoes.

The other battle was the bottle. Ever since you were 12 months old I have been trying to get you to give up the bottle. You wouldn't. You learned to drink water or juice out of a sippy cup, but milk HAD to come out of a bottle. If you tasted milk in a sippy cup you would grunt and throw the cup across the room. Bottles were also a necessity for bedtime. It was almost overwhelming to think of how I was going to break the addiction. Yet, you rose to the challenge.

Your daddy and I went on a date on your half birthday (November 3rd)... our goal was to have you off the bottle at 18 months and that's the day you quit. It wasn't intentional, but the babysitter forgot to give you a bottle and she told me you cried for 10 minutes before falling asleep. I was sure you sat in your crib and screamed "Ba-ba" but the point was... you did it! We went with it. From that moment on we only gave you sippy cups and you drank out of them. You didn't throw them or protest anymore. The only times it was noticeable was when you went to bed. You would cry pretty hard for a while.

For three days this went on and then you stumbled across one of Havana's dolls where you feed the doll a bottle. You were mesmerized. You fed that baby it's bottle for at least 20 minutes if not longer. Your daddy and I were joking that it was like therapy for you - well, I guess it was because after that play time you never cried for your bottle again.

You are now officially my big boy and I love you with all of my heart!

Doctor's Visit

On November 8th Havana had her three year appointment and Jonah had his 18 month visit. In preparation for this visit we read books, role played, and talked a great deal about how it was going to go. Jonah did great - he weighed 27 pounds, 12 ounces and was 33 inches long. He paraded happily around the room, didn't squirm or fight the doctor at all, and was a big boy when getting his shots - he barely cried. What a big boy.

 Havana weighed 33 pounds and was 39 inches tall. She impressed me with a lot of things - especially when standing on the scale and when the doctor was listening to her heartbeat. She sat still and took deep breaths. The doctor was asking her questions to see if she knew her colors and shapes and then she asked Havana what she likes to eat. She started with veggies and then went to fruits. Havana named "Apples and Strawberries" and then Jason said, "What fruit did you eat this morning for breakfast?" (the correct answer was a banana) and without hesitation Havana said, "a pop tart." Ha. Guess she gave away the non-fruit food we had for breakfast. :)

They had to prick her finger in order to draw blood and she didn't like that at all. It is funny, they pricked her finger with a spring loaded needle and she has held onto the sound it makes when the spring releases and she mimics that sound and says, "all done (noise)" or talks about her "boo boo from (noise)" -- she's a funny girl.

Havana, as expected, didn't do well at all with the shots. I felt so sorry for Jason who had to hold her down.  Here's a photo of her poor face after it:

But don't feel too bad for her, in the parking lot here is a video of her recounting her favorite part:

In case you missed that, she said her favorite part was getting a shot! Clearly it wasn't that traumatic. ha. After the doctors office they were rewarded with suckers and a trip to the park! :)

October in Photos...

Getting Booed - a neighborhood game! 

Sisters!!

Siblings!!!

Park Playing! 

Taking snuggles when I can get them!

Growing up... 

Playing together!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pumpkin Picking!

 

 

tennis lessons!

Jonah in the belly of a whale! 

Trick-or-treat at the zoo!

Havana's 3rd Birthday Party!

All Smiles!

Ha!

Selah's little friend, Will

Lots O'Babies!

H's 3rd Birthday!

Family Party!

Still in love!

Dedicating Selah at church!

Halloween with Beauty and the Beast!

Trick-or-Treat!

 

 

 

Selah's First Halloween as a cat!

Author moment...

Today I had a humbling and neat "author moment." I took the kids to the doctors office (I'll write more about that in another post) and when I walked into the room this is what I saw on the billboard of the room:

Facebook Free

About two weeks ago, in a moment of desperation, I deleted my facebook account. It seemed like a rash decision to others, but for me, it was a long time coming. The Lord had been after my heart for a long time and kept asking me to give Him facebook. I couldn't. I wouldn't. It sounds silly... we're talking about facebook here.. but I had allowed it to become and idol in my life.

Something I've always struggled with is being a "people pleaser" -- other's opinions of me is something I'm constantly battling. Over the summer I did a Bible Study called "No Other Gods" where the author called us to truly put to death in idols in our lives... along with the study I read an incredible book called "When People are Big and God is Small" in which it talks about how we often fear man, but not God. To say I was called to the carpet while reading that book would be an understatement. I have so often worried if something I did or said made someone like me more or less. It's sad really the hold this idol has in my life. I am currently taking actions to put it to death, but it honestly requires me putting it to death over and over again each day.

So, anyway, facebook falls into that category. I have had facebook since 2005 and had been a huge promoter of it. Quickly after meeting someone I will become their "facebook friend" and my total number of friends was well over 1,000. I hardly turned down a friend request even if I didn't really know how I knew the person. That kind of makes me giggle now to think about it, but it was the truth. I enjoyed being "friends" with everyone. To be fair, for the four years we lived in Indy I kept in great contact with my Louisville friends because of Facebook which made our move back down here seemless... so for things like that, I am extremely grateful for facebook.

But, as I was trying to overcome this overwhelming desire to be cherished by everyone... I let facebook take over. If I posted a status that got a lot of "likes" I was on cloud nine. If I got one that received no likes - I would go back and delete it. If something I said made someone else disagree I shuttered. I don't mind sharing my opinion or standing up for the truth, but I dreaded facebook fights... and we all know they exist. Crazyness.

Then there were those unhealthy boundaries. I was friends with men and women I didn't "need" to be friends with. People who I hoped would see how great my life turned out or who I would compare my life to which is never healthy.

The Lord kept asking me to give up facebook. I kept telling Him I couldn't for whatever reason: I wanted to sell books, I was ministering to people, and I was using it to bring HIM Glory. Ha. To be fair, in some ways I was. I would get emails from non-Christians when things in their lives were challenging, I did sell lots of books, and I do hope that my statuses were glorifying of Christ. But those good things were not the reasons I wouldn't give facebook up. I felt secure in those 1,000+ friends. Idol.

I told God I would take a break... a fast... because you know, that way I am giving God what He wants but it doesn't cost me as much as actually deleting my facebook account. Well, that lasted a day. Then I signed back and found it to be empty... so on a whim, I deleted it. And in that moment I was filled with instant peace. Instant. I was finally walking in obedience.

In the first few days following I felt like I was going through a break up. I didn't know what to do in my spare time and I felt lonely. I pushed through that for a few days and then it was as if scales had fallen off of my eyes and I began to see how destructive it had become in my life. That sounds strange, I know, but I thought about how intentional I have to be with my relationships now. I have to actually call/text/email friends instead of simply "liking" their status. I have to ask friends to text me photos of their children instead of looking on facebook. I have to be intentional... and I like that. I like how that protects Jason's and my marriage. My mind. My comparative thoughts.

Being without facebook has helped me plug into my family more. Instead of taking picture of my children and thinking "oh that is a cute one, I'll need to post that for sure" I take the picture and get to treasure it for the sake of my children. My mind is in the moment with them and not on my news feed or wondering who had commented on my most recent post. And I treasure that. In the days following my deleting the account I was often shocked at how often I thought something and then my next thought, "that should be my status." Really? My thinking had become that.

That's when it hit me. I had been living for an audience of more than One. Instead of sharing my thoughts with the Creator... I was sharing them with facebook. I mean does anyone really care if I "checked into" the zoo? Seriously? Why did I think they would care? Why would I care? What a distraction from My Lord - all the thoughts about what to write, where to check in, what photo to post and most of the time I didn't even realize I was thinking about it that much, but being without for two weeks now I'm realizing just how much energy I did spend thinking about all that. I tried to justify it for a while saying it was like an "online" journal for my children, but that's what I want this blog to be... that is what this blog was set up to be... while facebook was created for me and made my life all about.. me.

I created a page for my book about a year ago and I try to update that page often with a Bible verse for us to pray for our husbands. I kept that page up and deleted my personal facebook page, but I'm realizing I don't even have a desire to update that page anymore. I'm praying about where to go from here with that web page.

Last week I got a card in the mail from someone saying she loved staying caught up on my life through facebook... then today at church someone stopped me and told me she missed me on facebook because my posts were always so positive... "are you still off?" she asked.  I told her I was. I won't lie - when people say they miss me on there it makes me miss it. Makes me want to jump right back on, but as I sit before the Lord knowing that facebook free is where He wants me... I realize that walking in obedience to Him is better than any temporary high that facebook could give me.

40 Days of Life... Where does "pro-life" begin?

The other day was the last day of the 40 Days for Life Campaign and I participated again. If you're pro-life then I highly encourage you to participate in the campaign because it is always so moving. It seems like the more children I have the more I am moved by the whole experience. My heart truly breaks for all the lives lost to abortion every day.

This year my heart has been heavy for those seeking abortions... much heavier than in the years past. One afternoon I spent nap time looking at all the web sites for abortion services... I was so sad to read the details of the "procedures" and the "testimonies" - I spent a long time praying for those couples who had written in. Then my heart became burdened for the workers. For the doctors, nurses, and receptionists at such places. That is when I had an idea...

There is a ministry here in Louisville called Scarlet's Hope. It is building relationships with people who work in the Adult Entertainment Industry. Their point: befriend these people, love them where they are, share Jesus with them over time. I Love it. What if we started a ministry like that for people who perform abortions? I mean, think about it, I'm sure they assume all Christians want to do is bomb their cars (sad)... why not show them the love of Christ? Love them. Befriend them. Over time, share Christ's love with them... allow THAT to change their hearts and overtime they will remove themselves from the industry. I kept thinking, "if no one is willing to perform abortions... perhaps overturning Roe v. Wade won't be nearly as important because there will be less doctors/nurses/etc. who are willing to work in those clinics." Just a thought and a prayer, but for the first time my prayers have gravitated toward the workers... begging for them to fall in love with Jesus and embrace His teaching on the sanctity of life.

Now, this next section of the blog post is one that will strike a cord with many. Lots will passionately disagree and possibly get upset. That happened about a year ago when a wrote a similar blog post. However, I wrote that post at three in the morning and, looking back, I don't feel like I was very clear. The intended audience was Pro-Lifers... if you're pro-choice or if you don't believe life begins at conception... well, then you'll totally disagree and that's fine. I'm not writing this trying to change you of your view, but to enlighten people who ARE Pro-Life the risks that come with medical contraception. Here me out...

I have lots of friends who are on "the pill" -- these lovely ladies go to church, are pro-life, believe begins life begins at conception, etc. That's great, but sadly, many of these women don't know HOW the Pill works. Yes, to be fair, the pill's number one way of working is to prevent ovulation... prevent ovulation thus prevent conception... however, most have a "back up" way of working which changes the lining of your uterus so that a fertilized egg (a baby if you believe life begins at conception) won't implant... thus, killing the baby. Sounds harsh I know... and believe me, most of the people I know on the pill would never want to kill a baby. Ever. So it makes me sad so many women are simply uninformed. Years ago I had a friend tell me about all of this... Jason and I did our own research and praying and came to the conclusion that if it is even the smallest, tiniest chance that a fertilized egg would fail to implant because of something we were talking... then we wouldn't take it. Simple as that. When it comes to life I would much rather err on the side of protecting it. Sure, women get pregnant on the pill... which yes, shows that it doesn't ALWAYS prevent the fertilized egg from implanting, but that also shows that it doesn't always prevent the conception in the first place. You never know how your body will respond or how the pill will change the lining of your uterus. Again, with something so sacred as life - why risk it? There are other, non-medical, ways to prevent pregnancy that don't run the risk of killing a baby.

Over the past several months I was able to have several conversations with dear friends who mentioned to me that their form of birth control was the IUD. I prayed about approaching them about this for quite a while and finally God gave me the courage and the words to say to these ladies. I'm thrilled that they all had such amazing hearts about the whole thing. IUDs are different... they don't even try to prevent the conception, but its primary function is to change the lining of the uterus in order to prevent the implantation. I did some research and found out that even Focus on the Family has spoken out against IUDs as an "acceptable" form of birth control. Here are some of my favorite articles:

Loved this one written by a doctor on the Focus on the Family medical panel. 
Also, this one by Albert Mohler. 
Love this quote from this article from Christianity Today: "being pro-life isn't only about opposing surgical abortion. It's about opening ourselves to the risk and mess and uncertainty that accompany any God-sent guest we allow into our lives. The least we can do is leave our doors unlocked. Like Rahab did for the spies. Like Mary did for Jesus."

I have so many more articles I could post. I usually do research on this topic if I ever get any spare time... and almost daily I'm begging God to start a revival in the Protestant Church that is anti-medical contraception. I promote other forms of "family planning" that don't run even the tiniest risk of stamping out a life. I think that is where true pro-life living really begins.