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

Livi's Debut (5/28/09)

Livi performed with her Mom's Morning Out class at the Providence Lutheran 4 Year-Old graduation program :) She did such a an awesome job for her 1st time on a stage! She got a little upset when she saw us, but then she pulled it together big time! She waved, smiled, stuck her chest out like she was big stuff, looked around in a confused manner, did a few hand motions to the songs they sang - it was great to watch :) Here are some pics from that night!

Brooks was REALLY excited for Livi's performance! :)

Livi got a sweet gift (a class picture in a frame) from her teachers, Ashley and Betsy!

Aunt Hannah knows what Livi likes...cookies! :)

Quick family picture! The kids were tired = should have taken this BEFORE the program and dinner! :)

This looks cute, but Livi was actually on the run after refusing to get into the car!

Sweetest Smile

So Brooks actually started smiling (not gas:) at about 3 weeks, but it took til about 5 weeks to get him to smile more consistently! And of course, he started doing that the day AFTER his "newborn" pics were taken! Here are a few of the precious faces he makes every day - he's so cute, even if I do say so myself!

Just for My Memory's Sake!

Livi spent her 1st night in her big girl bed on Saturday, May 2nd :) When she woke up, she was 18 months old AND she was surprisingly still in the bed! I could not believe she didn't get out to play! She always amazes me!

Brooks enjoyed his 1st Sunday at Northside Baptist on May 3rd :) He was such a trooper and listened so well!

Welcome Brooks!

We are so proud to announce the birth of our 2nd child, Brooks Matthew Warren! He was born April 14, 2009 at 5:07 pm weighing 7 lbs 7 oz and measuring 20 1/4 inches. The following story will attempt to describe the events of that day and our joy in knowing God's arms were wrapped around us through it all! :)

I started having contractions around 10 pm on Monday night. I went to sleep, hoping to "sleep it off" (haha) since I only had to wait til Thursday for Brooks' induction. I just knew this little peanut would wait it out and let me have my planned out delivery with my own doctor and medication this time!...or so I thought :)

The contractions grew throughout the night, though they were erratic and I was in denial that they could be the real thing. Matt was so sweet and stayed home with me the next morning to help me get Livi ready for her 1st day at Mom's Morning Out. We dropped her off together - at this time I could not even pick her up I was in so much pain!

I convinced Matt to go on to work as my mom was driving from Atlanta and would be here around 10 am. She arrived on time and we went to run a few errands (again, haha). After some gentle nudging on her part and the advice of some friends, I called my doctor, who told me to come to his office. Sure enough, I was in active labor! I called Matt and he met me and mom at the hospital! To add to my stress level, Livi was still at her 1st day of Mom's Morning Out and I wasn't even going to get to picke her up - and neither was anyone in my family!

MUCH to my surprise, I had a temp of 102 when I got to the hospital! I was so scared when they told me that Brooks' heart rate was in the low 200's. (It had always been in the 150's) We decided to monitor the heart rate and temp as I waited on an epidural (I WAS GETTING AN EPIDURAL THIS TIME IF I HAD TO INJECT IT MYSELF!) :) We had to wait about 3 hours for the epidural since the doctors were debating whether or not it was safe to give one to someone with this high of a temp. FINALLY, I got the epidural and started enjoying myself. I had a few frozen Popsicles...and then Dr. Reynolds came in for another visit. This time he did not look as jovial. He was really worried about my temp since it was still going up and Brooks' heart rate as it was staying so high. He told Matt and I that he had only seen this 1 other time in his entire career, about 15 years ago, and that they had allowed the mom to wait it out and delivery naturally as she wished. He wouldn't go much further, but he said they had a very sick baby. He was leaning towards a c-section. I could have burst into tears right away. I had never even considered having a c-section! It was not even a thought in the back of my mind! After praying about it and considering the options, Matt and I agreed with Dr. Reynolds. I was immediately prepped and wheeled into the OR. 15 minutes later Brooks was here! Perfectly healthy! Sweet cries! Looked JUST LIKE Livi :) Amazing - Thank you Lord!

Dr. Reynolds at first apologized for having possibly done an unnecessary c-section, but mentioned that he had done a few cultures to see where the infection had been in my body (as clearly there had been one somewhere for my temp to be so high!) He said he would let me know once he found out. Having heard that, at first I was a little sad that we may have done this for no reason. Oh, Holly of little faith!!!! I was wheeled into recovery where my temp immediately broke and Matt brought me the good news that Brooks' heart rate was perfectly fine, back down to the 150's :)

After a successful nursing session with my lil' champ, Dr. Reynolds came to visit. He said that he had received a positive Group B Strep culture from my placenta (sorry if that word makes you squeamish! I'm with you!) He said my situation was a mirror image of the other event that took place 15 years ago and admitted that in that instance, the baby died. I was overwhelmed with God's provision - He allowed me to have this man as my doctor, someone whom I had never even seen or heard of, yet he had the previous experience that may have very well saved Brooks' life. My own doctor may have been slower to push for the c-section, allowing the infection to reach Brooks during labor/delivery.

While all of this was going on, my other little Sweet Pea was in the good hands of friends, and I cannot thank them enough!!!! Jennifer E for picking up Livi from Mom's Morning Out, and for feeding her, bathing her, keeping her amused by letting her play with her own 2 sweet girls, etc etc etc! And Laura P for bringing her to me that night so I could get some hugs and kisses and so she could meet her little brother! These 2 girls are amazingly selfless - the calm I felt knowing Livi was with them enabled me to deal with things at the hospital! :)

Matt and I have been so blessed, shown so much grace. The Lord has shown us His hand of guidance and provision more in the past few months than in our 2 lives combined! Now more than ever, we feel His presence in our lives and we are truly grateful! It makes us long to be better parents, spouses, witnesses for Him! From all of this, all I can plead is that you walk with Him daily and allow Him to guide your steps! He will never lead you astray!

Burnin' Down the House/Quick Update

Haha - kidding - we didn't burn anything down! BUT we did burn up the past few nights! Something is sersiously wrong with our heating/AC system, as the repair guy has now been here for almost 2 hours and still there is no relief. You know there is something wrong when you turn the thermostat to 68 degrees and it slowly rises to 86 degrees. Could it be that the thermostat is suffering from dyslexia?!
Livi has been sick the past few days. She's such a trooper, enduring 2 oral meds and a 3 times/day breathing treatment. It's touch and go with the breathing treatments, sometimes she'll sit still like a champ and other times she'll thrash around like a lil' baby shark :) Either way, she's me hero for even trying to deal with this thing!
I went for my 37 week appointment today and was happy to hear that I'm making some progress! In fact, my doc thinks the day we've chosen to possibly induce (4/16) may be pretty close to the time Brooks would come naturally anyways! We'll see :)