Livi Turns 2!!!!

I can't believe it! 2 YEARS! I remember being amazed when she turned 2 WEEKS, 2 MONTHS! But 2 YEARS! It's amazing how quickly it goes! All amazement aside, we had the best time celebrating with our lil' Sweet Pea. We went on a great trip to the park, ate ice cream at Cold Stone, had a reunion of sorts with Matt, Merrill and the boys in town, rode horses, held and fed animals on the farm and enjoyed a hayride! We'll never forget it! :) Here are some pics :)

Livi LOVED riding the horses!

"Is this hayride for me??" :)

All the kids waiting patiently to pet the bunnies!

Livi finally got a turn :)

Talking to the goose with silly Uncle Matt :)

Gettin' all sugared-up with cake, ice cream, and Capri Sun!

Brooks is already a ladies man with Grammy and Gigi :)

Pumpkin Carving '09

Soooooo I planned on creating a magical night...We would carve our perfect pumpkin, roast the yummy seeds, and then enjoy some hot chocolate as a family on the back porch. Yeah. Right. :) Livi wanted nothing to do with carving the pumpkin, Brooks was ready for a nap, and Matt had to talk about some urgent school issues with a colleague. I wound up carving the pumpkin while Brooks slept and Matt chased Livi around the house, all while talking on the phone. I then roasted the pumpkin seeds...they all pretty much burned. Livi was ready for bed right when Brooks was ready to wake up and eat his last meal. He ate almost a whole bowl of oatmeal and peas, so that kinda made my night :) We played with him for a while and then he, too, was ready for bed. Finally Matt and I sat outside in the "cool" weather to sip our hot chocolate, just the two of us. That was a pretty nice ending to a hectic, not-so-much-as-planned evening :) Here are a few pics!

Revelation Song

Worthy is the, Lamb who was slain
Holy, Holy, is He
Sing a new song, to him who sits on
Heaven's mercy seat

Holy, Holy, Holy Is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is, and is to come
With all creation I sing
Praise to the King of Kings
You are my everything
And I will adore You

Clothed in rainbows, of living color
Flashes of lightning, rolls of thunder
Blessing and honor, strength and glory and power be to
You the only wise King

Holy, Holy, Holy Is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is, and is to come
With all creation I sing
Praise to the King of Kings
You are my everything
And I will adore You

Filled with wonder, awestruck wonder
At the mention of your name
Jesus your name is power
Breath, and living water
Such a marvelous mystery

Yeah... Holy, Holy, Holy Is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is, and is to come
With all creation I sing
Praise to the King of Kings
You are my everything
And I will adore You

Fun Times!

Brooks - 6 Months!

I can't believe it's time to post another monthly update!!

Brooks is now 6 months old. He's sitting unsupported, loves sleeping on his belly (with his bottom in the air!), squeals constantly, and will begin eating baby food after his 6 month appt on Friday, October 16th :) He's such a joy - the most loveable little snuggler, smiley Joe. His best friend in the nursery at church is a sweet lady named Elaine. She literally gets upset when we pick him up to go home - I keep telling her she can take him home with her, but he would get REAL upset come meal-time!! She's an angel and Brooks adores her!

Livi is still going to MMO on Tuesday and Thursday. She's a big girl this year and gets to stay late for Lunch Bunch with her friends. She usually eats a pb&j, string cheese, grapes and blueberries, Goldfish, and drinks apple juice. She's still loving tumbling/cheer class (I realized that I can't really call it gymnastics since they really work on coordination, tumbling, obstacle courses, etc) She's picking up such hilarious things these days..."Oh goodness", "Sweetie pie", "Pudgy Tales" (Veggie Tales), "No ma'am" (really said "No mayam"), "Happy birthday", "Oopsy daisy", "I dropped it!", "What's wrong?", "What happened?", etc. She's a chatterbox!

Matt is working harder than ever at school. Things have been a little more demanding so far - he attributes it to the economy! Everyone seems to be on edge. Definitely praying for continued patience and persistence!

I'm just hanging out as always - making birth announcements/birthday invites! I've been doing lots of crafts with Livi and am re-learning the different/new kinds of interactions with Brooks as he grows! Staying home is such a gift, I don't thank Matt enough. I would be so sad to miss these precious moments with these kiddos - they're a blessing!

Brooks - 5 Months!

SO Brooks hit the 5 month mark on September 14th ;) It's going by so quickly! He's doing so many new things - rolling both ways, looking when we call his name, sitting with less support, standing with little support (holding a finger), turning the pages in his board books, almost getting up on his knees (already up on his elbows)...the list could go on. :) He's such a sweetheart, the ladies at church never want to hand him over when it's time for us to pick him up on Sunday afternoons! He's a charmer ;) Here are a few recent pics!

Heaven's New Choir Director

It was a sad day for me - August 29, 2009. My sweet Papa went to be with the Lord. Once I had my sobbing under control, and only through the grace of God did I utter, "Praise the Lord"! He's no longer in pain, no longer wondering how long he'd be in that hospital bed, no longer hungry, tired, and muted. He's in heaven, having been welcomed by God Almighty, and is most likely leading a choir in a joyful rendetion of "How Great Thou Art!". Papa is no doubt reaping the rewards of his selfless and never-ending mission to win others to Christ. While his life here on earth may have seemed lack-luster to the world, in Heaven, he's enjoying riches beyond what we can imagine.

Though I'll miss him terribly in these months and years ahead, I can joyfully say that I know without a shadow of a doubt that I'll see him again. And that reunion will be even sweeter since he is the very man who led me to the Lord.

So friends, if you don't have that peace of knowing where you're going when it's all said and done, I urge you to contact someone you know who can help you in that decision. Contact me. Contact someone. Tomorrow is never promised - do you know where you'll spend eternity?

Presented below is the plan of salvation. Take a moment to read over it, and if you make the decision to become a Christ-follower, please contact me so I can be in prayer for you as you begin a personal relationship with the Maker of heaven and earth!

1. Admit you're a sinner
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)

2. Be willing to turn from sin (repent)
Jesus said, "Unless you repent, you all will likewise perish." (Luke 13:5)

3. Believe that Jesus Christ died for you, was buried, and rose from the dead
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16)
"God showed His great for us, in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)
"If you confess the Lord with your mouth, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved." (Romans 10:9)

4. Through prayer, invite Jesus into your life to be your personal Savior
"For whosoever will call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:13)

Here's an example of what you can pray:
Dear God, I am a sinner and need forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ shed His precious blood and died for my sin. I am willing to turn from sin. I now invite Christ to come into my heart and life as my personal Savior, following Him daily.
"Therefor, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away; all things have become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17)

If you choose eternal life with the Lord, here are some things you should do:
1. Read your Bible every day to get to know Christ better.
2. Talk to God in prayer every day. He cares about even the little things!
3. Be baptized, worship, and serve with other Christians in a church where Christ is preached.
4. Tell others about Christ - share the Good News!!!!

Brooks - 4 Months

It's so hard to believe Brooks is already 4 months old! He's doing so many new things, it's hard to keep track in his baby book! With Livi, I had time to write out descriptions of all the new tricks she was performing; but with Brooks, it's like, "rolled from front to back 8-24-09". How sad! I guess it's just gonna have to do! He'll have that whole "2nd born" complex that I had growing up!

Besides rolling from front to back and back to front, Brooks is also sqealing/screaming and gurgling a ton, sitting unsupported in his Exersaucer, grabbing at anything that moves, and turning pages as we read to him. Needless to say, he's changing every day!

So as not to forget his sweet sister, Livi is having a ball at gymnastics (rolling, learning to lean/reach backwards for future back-walkovers and handsprings, stretching, etc). She'll continue MMO in the Fall; something she LOVES and looks forward to on Tues and Thurs! She's learning new words and phrases every day! Some of her favorites include, "I drop it", "Come on Mommy", "I'm comin'", "I got you!", "I watch DDD?"

Here are links to my recent Facebook albums!

Summer Album

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=92344&id=503682431&l=fa79f89dcc

Livi at Monkey Joe's

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=94642&id=503682431&l=d5135a4887

August '09

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=94642&id=503682431&l=d5135a4887

The Mission of Motherhood

So I've been doing a Bible study on a book called "The Mission of Motherhood" by Sally Clarkson. My friend, Jenn, gave me the book when Brooks was born and it has been the most convicting, wonderfully eye-opening (man-written) book I've read in years! It's mainly about how being a mother IS the greatest mission you can have! She explains how to be a missionary to your children - how to grow them up with a deep love for Christ - in doing so, we'll reach their hearts in a way that will secure them in the roots of God's love and purpose for their lives! Here are just a few of the "take-away" points from the 1st 6 chapters:

1. The mother who reaches the heartfelt needs of her children by helping them feel loved and secure, by believing in their dreams, by noticing when they stray and gently steering them back in the right direction, and by teaching them what they need to know to live full and meaningful lives accomplishes a great work for the Lord.
2. God started families when the world was perfect and no sin had taken place. The role of "mother" was a part of God's core design of a perfect life.
3. Motherhood, according to God's design, is more than a full-time job. It's an absorbing task that demands all the resources God has given us - our physical energy, intellectual abilities, creative gifts.
4. Doesn't it make sense that a wise God, who ordered the rest of creation in an intricate and systematic way, would also have provided a person (MOM) to care for children - to take responsibility for their nurture, protection, nourishment, intellectual development, manners, recreation, personal needs, and spiritual development? Someone needs to commit time and energy into staying close to them as they grow, encouraging and correcting and teaching. (That's what we're here to do!)
5. God intended the above (#4) to be a fully committed job, not something we do on the side.
6. We need to nurture our children with our songs, words, and physical labor, treating each day as sacred in their development.
7. Loving my children, protecting them, and building them into a godly heritage is a life's work worth far more than any money or status I might find in a career.
8. It's the way I respond to my children in the everyday moments that gives me the best chance of winning their hearts. If I have integrity and patience in the small moments of like that are so important to my kids, and if I approach them with a servant's heart, then I have a far better chance of influencing them in the larger and more critical issues of life.
9. We are required to do what Jesus did for his disciples...lead our children not only be telling them what to do, but by showing them!
10. When we choose to graciously overlook our children's messes and accidents, we are teaching them to be patient and forgiving with the mistakes of others. As they benefit from our unconditional love, they learn to extend it to others. As they observe us searching scripture, spending time with the Lord, and making faith-based decisions, they learn these things as well.
11. Our children must see that our joy is not circumstantial but real because we have an endless source of strength through the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. They look to us as a barometer of how our lives are faring.
12. We shouldn't want our kids to just be moral. We shouldn't want them to just make it through our home with good grades and no drug addiction. We should want them to leave our home with a hunger to know God and to be used by Him to accomplish great things for His kingdom.
13. All that God requires from any of us is a desire to serve Him and trust that He can make up the difference for the things we lack. He will use our willingness and our effort, then fill in the gaps to prepare our children's' hearts for what He has in mind.
14. We should have the goal to love and train our children so they will be equipped to reach the world and their families and friends with the message of Christ after we are gone.
15. We will ultimately be held responsible for our children - not the daycare workers, not the VBS teachers, not the soccer coach. The real work of digging deep wells in our children's hearts with scripture, a biblical world-view, issues of prayer and faith, and Christian conviction is a job for which God will hold the parents responsible.
16. Teaching the word to our children requires that we be students of the word so that we will have something personal to share.
17. "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is older he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6 - Training is the practical application of a learned truth. It's not enough to teach our children biblical truths - they have to see them lived out in our daily lives and see the fruit of relationship with Christ. It is not enough to KNOW the truth, we must also learn to WALK in truth.
18. "He who walks with wise me will be wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm." Proverbs 13:20 - While our kids are young, we need to monitor carefully the people and ideas to which they are exposed.
19. Our children need time to grow their roots in love, innocence, kindness, truth, morality, and trust. When they are strong and tall, then they will be able to withstand the difficult seasons of life. (an illustration about young aspen trees the author planted preceded this comment)
20. One of the best gifts we can give our children as they go from our homes into young adulthood is a pure conscience and, if possible, a mind with no scars or regrets.
21. Exposing our kids to positive influences is just as important as avoiding negative ones.
    

Super Sleeper

So Brooks has blessed Matt and I with full nights of sleep for about a week now! We feel like new people! We are so grateful (truly to the Lord) for the rest we need to be the best parents, spouses, friends, co-workers, etc we can be! It sounds funny, but I'm dead serious! Sleep is one of the many things we prayed for before Brooks was born...we did so with Livi and she slept through the night at 7 weeks! Not to be outdone, Brooks did the same :) By the end of his 7th week of life, he was sleeping 7 hours a night! I know God knows our limits...and he knows my breaking point is reached MUCH quicker when I'm sleepy :) It's amazing to know that He cares about the little things!

Here are some new pics of the kiddos!

Playing with bubbles!

Livi was so excited! She had a blast!

"You say somethin'?"

Sideways grin