Sitting and Playing

I realized today that this is the 4th year in a row, that I've had a baby in the house to entertain, and specific to this post a 6-9month old. Three years ago it was Michael, then it was Casey, a little girl I babysat for a couple days a week, and last year it was Shane, a little boy I sat for. And now, or course, there is Jonathan. My recollection of this age with the other three was that this was an age of frustration, both for them and me. They were no longer content to just sit and stare at things, but not mobile enough to keep themselves entertained, so they would sit on the floor and constantly cry for more toys to be brought to them.

Jonathan, though, has so far been very content to just sit and play with thing on the floor. Don't get me wrong, he wants to be mobile and really tries, but he is also content to just be sometimes, especially when he is sitting and can see other people. Now, I don't know if this is just because Jon is so much more laid back than the others or if it is because I have gotten "better." For example, I have found that I can fill a bucket with toys and set it next to the child. Then there is a supply of toys for him to pull out and play with and when the toys run out there is always the never failing entertaining bucket! On the Jonathan side, he seems to love people more than things, so if he can sit where he can see me or Michael he is very happy. And his two fav things to play with are his paci and his socks which is easy entertainment. :) He works so hard to get his sock (his left one) off his foot. This can take a good 5-10 minutes. Then another 10 minutes of entertainment is chewing on it and seeing all the fun noises he can make while holding the sock in his mouth.

All in all, Jon has been the easiest 6-9 month baby for me. I'm so glad too, because I was dreading this age a bit. Hope it stays so fun!

Awesome Humbling Future

In Philippians 1: 23-24, Paul says, "I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body." I use to read that and think, how could he truly wish for such a thing. I felt like there was so much of life I still wanted to experience and so many things I could do with God's help for the kingdom here on earth. Why would I long to die and leave it all behind? I began pray that I would understand this and that I would develop such a longing for Christ that this could honestly be my prayer too. I have since forgotten about that prayer.
Today I was reading in Numbers for our church's devotional plan and read the passage where Aaron is called up on the mountain and there he dies. My thought was, "Wow, how cool that must have been for him to finally meet the Lord face to face." Aaron served the Lord in His tabernacle, interceded for the people of Israel, and spoke the Lord's words to friend and foe. But God was always veiled in his interactions. How refreshing it must have been for Aaron to meet the Lord, worship Him in glory, and rest in His grace and love.
I was reminded of my old prayer and see know that God answered it. I too, long for the day when I can meet Him face to face. I long to leave the struggles and sadness of this world and bask in the Son! Now please don't think that I'm going to end my life or think morbid thoughts about death. It's not that at all! I'm happy and content to remain on earth and serve the Lord however He desires, but I look forward to my awesome and humbling future resting at His feet and singing His praises for eternity! Praise God!

New scrapbook pages

I've had some fun times scrapping lately! Here are a few pages:


credits: Chocolate Parfait and Star Quality by Jennifer Barrette, alphas by Traci Reed and Amanda Rockwell, font is Teckton Pro






credits: Tender Hearts by Lisa West; 2 stamp by Traci Reed; fonts are Dolphin, Eras Light ITC, and Forte






In this layout, I was challenged to describe my life or my mission in 7 words!

Credits: Grungy graph background by Gretchen Tripp, Foxy Lady, Party Pants, Lilac Garden by Miss Mint, an alpha by Sherri Tierney and another by Diannalynn Claridge, fonts are Bradley Hand, Dolphin, Elephant, Footlight MT Light, and Poor Nut, All That Pops photo effect by Holly McCaig






Credits: Winter Wonderland by Creations by Rachel






Credits: Honey Bunch by Kristin Cronin Barrow, scribbled alpha by Miss Mint, glitter dots/hearts by Brenda Smith, All That Pops photo effect by Holly McCaig, font is teckton pro, scraplift of SeattleSheri

100 Million Dollars

Tim tells me today that there is a football player who just signed for $100,000,000. I can't even imagine that kind of money?! Actually, I can barely comprehend $100,000. What a different life that must be. But then, I looked back at my life, and I realized that while I certainly won't turn it away if the Lord wants to give us 100 million bucks, I'm glad right now that we don't have the weight of that. What an amazing responsibility it would be to have to make decisions about that type of money and to be open to all of the temptations that come with it. Just my random thought for the day. :)

Michael's Heart

So last Thursday was Michael's valentine party at preschool. He got to write his name on 16 valentine cards and pass out treats. I guess they also made hearts out of some type of clay material and let them dry over the weekend. Yesterday, Michael came home with his:















Now before you all tell me that he's a bit slow because this really looks nothing like a heart, I think he's just well advanced for his age. It does look remarkably like the heart muscle in the body!


ETA: Michael calls it his "fancy heart." While we were on vacation in Jan we ate at Friendly's which has a cursive capital F in their logo. Michael wanted to know what letter Friendly's started with and when I told him "F" he looked at me with the "you're crazy" look, explaining that it didn't look like an F. So I was trying to explain cursive to him and we ended up settling on calling it a "Fancy F." So now, whenever he writes a letter or does anything and it doesn't end up looking right, Michael refers to it as "fancy."

Jon's got a cold

Poor little guy. He is just miserable. His eyes are watery, his nose is running, and he is drooling up a storm. He was up at 6am this morning unable to fall back asleep b/c his nose was so stuffed. I feel so bad because there really isn't anything we can do. I give him Tylenol a couple of times a day because he has a low grade fever with it all too, and we nurse, play, fuss, nurse on about an hour rotation all day long. Please pray that he is better soon!

Jonathan and eating

Jonathan now has a food repertoire of 5 thing: breastmilk, rice cereal, sweet potato, applesauce, and today, oatmeal. He of course loves the milk the best! But is also enjoying the solids. Unlike his brother, though, he does not seem fascinated by new flavors. Every time we introduced Michael to something new to eat he made a "disgusted - what was that face" and then fell in love and begged for more. Each new flavor was better than the last.
Jon on the other hand, seems to enjoy new foods, but really only wants a couple of bites of them. His favorite solid so far is the very bland and blander rice cereal. When we give him anything else he eats a couple bites and then just looses interest. With the rice cereal, he eats and eats and begs for more making happy screeches and squeals all the while. I'm not really sure what that means for him, that he prefers the boring to the fun new tastes but.... maybe he's just loyal to his first love! :)