Christmas...

Life has been crazy since getting home so I haven't had a chance to post anything about Christmas. We spent Christmas with Andy's parents which means fun but stressful. All of Andy's extended family lives in Birmingham so we spend all day driving around visiting. See everyone is lots of fun but the boys are done by about 7. lol Christmas morning started with me waking up to find Andy and I bookended by the boys. Caleb had joined us at a point I don't remember making the queen bed very cosy, but they were both cuddly which made it fun. Presents time with family then breakfast with Andy's Mom's family. Thankfully the boys got full naps over lunch because then it was on to the Wald side where they got passed from uncle to aunt to cousin who all adore them. For dinner we went to Andy's aunt's house. Everything was lots of fun just a little more than I have always been used to since we don't live close to any family. Below are a few pictures from Christmas morning.

Caleb loved handing out the presents then opening his :)

One of his favorite presents: A Wiggles book

Stephen wanted to play with Calebs stuff

Opening his own presents... yes, we always stick bows on the baby's head :)

Just before family showed up for breakfast

Our family Christmas morning :D

Learning...

It's amazing how just a week will totally change a young child's maturity level. Just this week Caleb started really singing along with all of his favorite Wiggles songs and doing the motions. It was just precious. Stephen would stand at the side table, just watch him and giggle. My favorite though was last night. He was sitting in middle of the floor reading a book and started singing... dee an umm, dee an umm... and doing hand motions. It took me a second and I realized he was singing Deep and Wide. They had been singing it in Sunday School that morning and he remembered it. It was so cute and just makes me so grateful that our children grow up unable to remember when they didn't know about God's love for us. :D

I love pictures

These pictures have been sitting around just waiting for me to uphold them. lol

I love snuggling with a sleeping baby. :)

Caleb was trying to get Andy's attention.

He was a bear for our church Reformation Day party, see the tail?

This is the same costume Andy wore at his age.

My cutie pies!!

I have more pictures posted here.

Grandparents

Caleb does not speak English, that is to say he talks all the time, but in his own very expressive language. To the point that when Andy imitates him and doesn't get a sound just right, Caleb will sometimes look at him as if to say, Dad that was terribly inappropriate, how could you say that? lol There have been distingishable words like Mama, Dada, ball, tar (car) food, wa-er (water) etc.m, but it's been a very basic vocabulary. The last few months he's been gaining more of an English vocabulary. This was very obvious at Thanksgiving when he finally called all of my brothers and sisters by name. The funniest part was that my Mom's poodle also got a name and Caleb was fascinated by him. Pip-pi (Pippin) the dog is always tied to Pop-pop (my Dad).

It's really funny that the grandparents spent awhile picking out what they wanted to be called when Caleb was first born and now have completely different names. My Mom was Grandma, my Dad-Grandpa, Andy's Mom- Grammy and Andy's Dad-Pops. My parents really didn't care what they were called and just went standard to begin with. Mom changed first, we could tell that the way Caleb said things she was going to become Mam-ma and she couldn't stand that so she is now Nana and loves it. Dad became Pop-pop, which when you think about it is reasonable from Grandpa. Andy's Dad is currently E, from Deke which is what family was jokingly calling him last time we were there, it stuck so he's Deke. Andy's Mom is now Mimi, neither Andy and I could really get out Grammy, kept saying Granny or Gammy and Caleb finally just went with Mimi. She doesn't know it yet, because Caleb has only said it while pointing at pictures. I think she will be thrilled just to have a name. :D

Where has the time gone?

I can't believe that today is the last day of November. This year has been crazy, but through it all we can see God's hand on our lives. I was thinking about everything I have to be thankful for since last Thanksgiving and the list is too numerous to count, but I'll list the ones that really stick out to me.

1. My wonderful husband who has stretched himself thin to provide for our family and stay on top of his school so that he finishes next year. He is my rock and I'm thankful the Lord brought us together.
2. The opportunity to try a VBAC even if it didn't work, and with that for a doctor who know there was something wrong, saving Stephen's life and probably mine.
3. Our church, they have loved and helped us. Ladies came and took Caleb to mothers day out so I could rest and many other things.
4. Parks! Caleb loves slides and can spend a long time on them. Such a great place to meet friends for the afternoon too.
5. Hot Chocolate. Andy makes me a cup in the evenings when my hands are cold and it tastes wonderful.

I know some are funny and I could continue for a while with random things, but these are the ones that come to mind at the moment. :D

Eating Solids

About a month ago I started trying to feed Stephen solids and it has been a chore. He is picky, but in a good way. Yes I know, doesn't seem possible. With Caleb I made the natural progression, starting with bananas and rice cereal then slowing moving up to table food. I never did the baby food in a jar because it was too expensive and I think it tastes nasty. Instead I have the baby food grinder pictured here and would just put whatever we were eating in it. Pork, chicken, spaghetti etc. Caleb would eat a lot at a time, but was happy with the blander foods to begin with and slowly moving up to real people food. He was about 10 months before I stopped grinding everything.
Stephen on the other hand acted like I was trying to kill him when we tried the baby cereal and would sit there and gag himself until he had spit everything out. He does not like applesauce and doesn't want his bananas mushy. At 7 months he already wants flavor and texture to his food. He loves vegetables and will eat any of them, but sweet potatoes and peas are his favorite. Last night I took someone's advice and handed him a pork chop that wasn't sharp and he happily sat there and gnawed the little bits of meat off it.
The most trouble I'm having is trying to keep some foods out of his diet until he is 1. My Dad is allergic to wheat, milk and peanut butter to name a few and I really don't want my kids to have those for awhile so there is a better chance they won't get the allergy. Stephen though will crawl around and eat Caleb's crumbs before I can get to them so I'm kind of stuck.
I just think this goes to show how different every kid is, even if it is in small ways.

Thanksgiving

I wanted to post these on Thanksgiving, but my family's internet was messed up and John and I could not get the pictures to work properly. We spent the weekend with my folks and Mom and I woke up really early Friday morning to go shopping. It's our time together to buy the last presents on Mom's list and have time together. I don't go anywhere without Stephen yet and he was a dream even with getting up that early.

Saturday we went to Olan Mills and did family portraits. Mom and I realized that we hadn't taken any family pictures since my wedding and with David graduating in May then moving to UNC for dental school we figured we should get some in before we scattered to the four winds. With all that said, below are some pictures from Thanksgiving day. I made the boys outfits, smocking and all. :D

Stephen smiling at Uncle David.

Caleb was curious about the camera. lol

Hey Uncle David.

Me and my boys with my Mam-ma, she is meeting Stephen for the first time.

Us with Pap-pa, I think he has trouble believing his baby girl is married with kids of her own now. :)

This Past Week

We found a really neat little park while waiting for Andy to finish something for school. Caleb loved the play area.

Stephen has started crusing this week. He is so proud of himself.

Thank You!!

Thank you everyone for your prayers for Kristin's family. My friend Stephanie went down to try to aid Jessica as she planned the funeral. Jessica is an amazingly strong young woman and we knew that she would be carrying her family through this. Please continue to pray for them as they go through the holidays and what would have been Kristin's wedding day over the next few weeks. Stephanie and I are trying to set up a friend chain to contact Jessica frequently so that she knows we love her and are there for her if she needs us.

So Sudden

I just found out a couple of hours ago that my dear friend Jessica Webber's sister Kristen was in a bad equestrian accident. She was in the accident either Monday night or yesterday morning and died yesterday morning. I don't have the details of exactly what happened.

Kristen was going to be married in three weeks. Her family is in absolute shock. PLEASE lift this family up in prayer!! I cannot even fathom what they are feeling right now. Please pray that God gives them peace that passeth all understanding as they make plans and try to deal with the coming days. My heart and mind are stunned right now just trying to realize that this beautiful, vivacious girl is gone. Please pray also for her husband to be.

Nighttime Training Pants

I had been looking into Training Pants because Caleb is outgrowing diapers. :( Since Rachel asked about them, I thought I'd do ahead and post what I had found. There are many different options, but a lot of them don't think they will had night time wetting. These 3 are my favorite ideas and I'll probably try them all.

This is the aristocrat diaper cover I listed for nighttime below in the diapers, but it is suggested that you put normal underwear on the child, then put this cover over it. The cover will keep them from leaking all over the bed, but they will be damp enough they will normally get up to change themselves. Claims are that since they feel wet, kids will start waking up to go to the bathroom. www.greenmoutaindiapers.com

These are just called pull-up or side snap trainers. They are pretty heavy duty, and claim they can hold night time wetting. I think they look like they will work well, but wouldn't know for sure. www.hyenacart.com/thecoveredcaboose

These are called bedwetter pants. They will feel wet to the child's skin to encourage them to go to the bathroom instead of wetting the bed, but will not leak. They are under "other products" on www.mother-ease.com

One other interesting site that has several suggestions is www.pottytrainingconcepts.com it also has some waterproof night time pants.

Cloth Diapers

I have been using cloth diaperssince the very beginning and LOVE it. I have people ask me all the time if I'll go to disposables when we have more money and I know I never will because I hate them. :) I have in fact fallen in love with wool covers. My boys have very sensitive skin and if they get a diaper rash it hangs around for a while. I have also had problems with both boys leaking a lot especially at night. I was getting really tired of changing Stephen a couple of times a day. A friend lent me some of her wool covers to see if they worked better and in one day Stephen's rash has cleared up completely. You would think that they would leak, but they don't leak at all. In the last month, Stephen has wet the bed every single night, but in the wool cover last night, his pj's weren't even damp. You use them the same why you use any other cover with a prefold under it and either diaper pins or snappis (my personal favorite). I'm madly in love, they are just a little more expensive. lol Anyways, below are 3 of my favorites.

These are firefly's They have a lot of snaps along the sides so they are really easy to adjust.
www.fireflydiapers.com

The 2 pictures above are of covered caboose wraps, they are a little heavier than fireflies so they hold a little more.

www.greenmountaindiapers.com

This last one is called an aristocrat and is for nighttime primarily. They are a dream and you don't need pj bottoms over them. They also come with long legs so that you don't need winter pj's either. These are also on green mountain diapers.

I absolutely love these covers and even if we can't afford them for these two, I know what I'm getting for the next one.

Microwaves

If you have a microwave, have you ever thought about how much you use it while cooking? Our 30 year old microwave bit the dust last week and I hadn't realized how much time was saved by having it. I can still cook anything I want, everything just takes more time. lol Isn't it amazing how much we take for granted in our "have to have it 5 minutes ago" society? :)

Life

It's amazing how much is contained in the word life. If someone asks "how's life" we have so many different things we can assume they are asking. How's school? How's the family? How are you doing? All of which can have many different answers and it's interesting to see what people decide the answer is going to be.

For me life right now consists of trying to keep my head above water with school and taking care of my family. It's amazing how little can get done in a day when you have two cranky children who both want all of your attention. By the time I get the both to bed at night and look at our house I can just get depressed. :P Other times, my boys are little angels and I can have the house sparkling clean and dinner ready when Andy gets home from school. I love having my boys so close together, but it can be really frustrating at times. With my family all 2 1/2 to 3 years apart my Mom was able to train us in proper behavior outside the home before the next one came along. I run through stores trying to keep Caleb from falling out of the buggy, hitting Stephen in the head with something or pitching a fit. All of this is made more difficult by the fact that we can't spank in public without fear that we will have social services knocking on our door.
Life is good in all aspects for me, just long at times. :D

Our home and other random pics

I'm still trying to settle into our new home, but here is a picture of our family in front of our beautiful duplex. Also, some random pics of Caleb's 2nd birthday and of our boys. :)

Our side is the one you can see the most of :D

They love taking baths together and soak me with the splashing.

Watching the Wiggles after their bath.

Blowing candles out with Daddy.

Nana, Becky and Ruth came down for his birthday... his presents

Stephen was chasing the apple juice bottle in circles. lol

Blessings

God is so good!!! I was going through old bills today and filing them. I was actually looking at what they were charging for and noticed that we had been charged $400 for a circumcision we did not have done. I called the doctor's office and am in the process of getting that removed. It's pretty easy to prove that it wasn't done and I told the lady I'd be happy to bring Stephen in if they need proof that he wasn't circumcised. She laughed and said that it wouldn't be necessary. :) Isn't it wonderful how the Lord gives us gifts we didn't even know we needed? I can't believe I missed that when I first got the bill.

Pure Outrage

I was watching Bill O'Reilly last night and he was talking about the gay parade in San Francisco and how hateful they are getting towards Christians. They are now openly attacking Christianity in ways worse than the stories we have seen on Moslem prejudice. In the past I feel that I have been opposed to homosexuality because it is immoral and goes competely against the Bible, but I have not been out-spoken about how wrong it is. After seeing the hatred many are exhibiting and the direct attacks on our Christian foundations, I believe that Christians can not sit back and hope that a small group can protest and win this debate. We must all stop hanging back and instead express our horror that the state is trying to force us into "tolerence" of every other religious or personal beliefs and refuse to allow these things to happen. Between this news that is not being covered and the things that Ms. Clinton has been spewing, I am going to have to get back into politics in some way in this next year. If we all sit by jaded, than our country is ruined and Christians will have no where to go. The rest of the world is even more liberal and accepting of everything but Christians. It is our responsibility to give our children a safe place to grow up in. If this is allowed to continue what is next, people thinking that pedophiles are a normal part of society and looking the other way.



Below is the best description I have found of what happened in San Francisco it is on conservativethoughts.us


I wonder if the media will cover this like it did the Mohammed cartoons! I doubt it, unless you think Christians will hit the streets in riots burning everything in site.Organizers of San Francisco’s Folsom Street Fair — sponsored by Miller Brewing Co. — have portrayed Christ and his disciples as half-naked homosexual sadomasochists in the event’s promotional advertisement, and the conservative group Concerned Women for America is complaining about the hypocrisy of it.“The bread and wine representing Christ’s broken body and lifegiving blood are replaced with sadomasochistic sex toys in this twisted version of Da Vinci’s The Last Supper,” CWA said on its Web site.
“‘Gay’ activists disingenuously call Christians ‘haters’ and ‘homophobes’ for honoring the Bible, but then lash out in this hateful manner toward the very people they accuse,” said said Matt Barber, CWA’s policy director for cultural issues.
“In their version of The Last Supper, Christ, Who gave His life for our sins, is despicably replaced by sin itself as the object of worship.”
CWA is calling on California politicians — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sens. Feinstein and Boxer among them — to “publicly condemn this unprovoked attack against Christ and His followers.
“We further challenge the media to cover this affront to Christianity with the same vigor as recent stories about cartoon depictions of Mohammed and other items offensive to the Muslim community,” CWA said.
I think the only thing shocking is that groups keep thinking it is soooo artsy to mock Christ, yet culturally insensitive to mock Islam.
Oh, and San Fran can host this, but ROTC causes traffic problems???? And now they attack the Blue Angels? How long before Sodom sinks into the Pacific?
I won’t say, “This is an attack on Christianity, and a double standard, as this would have never happenned to the Muslims,” because that is obvious.
People like to call Christians intolerant, but I see something entirely different. My friend Brujo stated this in an article earlier:
I read a Liberty Counsel Alert dated August 24, 2007 regarding an incident that is central to my point. There is a church in New Jersey, Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, which is a ministry of the Methodist Church that happens to own some prime beach side real estate that is used for church services, gospel concerts, Bible studies and weddings. It seems there was a lesbian couple that wanted to get ‘married.’ They attempted to rent this facility and were turned down because of the religious beliefs and practices of this church. Their doctrine (religious belief) prohibits civil unions of same sex individuals. The women complained to the state that the church was violating state anti-discrimination laws and the state initiated an investigation.
I find it interesting that the state would even consider such an investigation. This church, like many Bible believing Christian organizations, live their religion. The do no commit crimes such as murder because of a religious belief and not out of concern for man’s law. They will not violate the tenants of their religion. The U.S. Constitution as primary law of the land is supposed to protect religious practice. Can you imagine the results of a church being ordered to lend its facilities to support an act they consider a religious abomination? (This is the USA. We can believe in abomination at least until the ACLU criminalizes it.)
It has become apparent that the state of New Jersey is going to take a stab at regulating this church and its activities. The claim is that because they allow anyone to enter they have become a public institution and therefore subject to the anti discrimination laws. I submit that if this was a Hasidic Jewish facility or a Mosque there would be no question regarding the homosexual agenda. Christian churches are traditionally open to the all for worship services. Because they do not lock the doors to only allow their membership access does not give government license to regulate.
Now some of the Gay and Lesbian groups are petitioning local and state government in New Jersey to review the tax exempt status of this church. This is a very strong weapon. Many churches and other religious groups cannot afford to pay property taxes and if required to do so they would have to dispose of the property.
I do not really give two damns would people do in the bedroom as long as it is consentual and the participants are over the legal age. But I also see a gay-rights movement more and more hostile to Christianity, and more willing to chip away to freedom of speech and religion to get to it as these new hate crime laws do. All of us should be threatened by these actions. And this, far more then anything else.

My Moby Wrap

Hey guys! My Moby Wrap get here today and I am so excited. Andy's parents got it for me as an early Christmas present. Stephen and I both love it and I can't wait to try it in all different situations. :) This isn't the best picture, but it will do for now.

Andy tried it with Caleb on his back, but wouldn't let me take a picture.

Baby Boys and Girls

I've been thinking about which of my friends have had boys and girls this year and Stephen is one of only three boys in my circle of friends. lol Stephen, Luke and Rebecca's yet to be known little boy are the only one's I can think of. 5 other ladies in my church and 2 other friends have had babies or are due in the next couple of weeks, all girls, and Jen, Kelley, Katie and Kristy have girls. Even the year Caleb was born was a girl year for our church, 3 little girls were born in the same month and then Caleb and his friend William with girls after them. It is starting to appear that my little boys are going to be in the middle of a gang of girls like my brothers were. That's ok though, they will have some beautiful, sweet girls to pick from if Andy and I bring them up right. A couple of my friends have already claimed Caleb. :D

On another note, I had my boys measured and weighed yesterday.
Caleb is 38 inches and 40 lbs at 2. Children generally double their height from 2 to adulthood so you do the math. lol
Stephen is 28 inches and 22 lbs at exactly 6 months. Yes, I know, my children are quite large. :)

Grief

With less extreme reactions, the answer often lies in our culture's inability to deal with grief. People in our society have a difficult time dealing with another person's pain and grief, whatever the source, and tend to avoid or minimize it rather than acknowledge it. We are trained to avoid other people's grief, to look away from pain, to deny illness and death, and leave people to deal with these things in private. Sharing another person's pain is simply not a skill many of us have developed or are comfortable with, and grief is still taboo in our society. Grieving death is hard enough; grieving anything less than a death is often seen as indulgent, self-involved, and neurotic.

Giant Turtle

Here at Auburn University they have some pretty little ponds/fountains scattered about the campus. Lots of turtles live in them and Andy has been telling me about this gigantic turtle he keeps seeing and I finally made him take a picture so I could see what he was talking about. That is Andy's shadow on the water and the turtles are sitting on a board that is about a foot wide he says. This is not a snapping turtle it is a regular box turtle and you can see him sitting on a normal sized box turtle on the board. I have never seen a turtle this big that wasn't either a snapping turtle or a sea turtle. Just thought it was amusing and would share with everyone. We are going to take Caleb to see it on Sunday when we take our afternoon walk. Maybe I can get a picture of it near Caleb for more size comparison. ;D

Computer personalities

It has been really interesting this year to see how people act differently when they are hidden behind a computer screen and a pretend character. Andy and I play a game called Warcraft together with people from all over the world. In this game we can join a group of people we call a guild to do different things. We can chat with each other through both an IM chat and a voice service and it's a lot of fun to meet different people and get to know them.

What I find fascinating is how a lot of these people either claim or would claim to be good people, but how when they get behind a computer screen things don't matter since we are in a "different" world. They become very crude and call people things they would never say to their face. These "good people" call girls ho's and talk about sexual things they would be embarrassed by at any other time. Young men talk about raping other characters in game and some of them have never thought about what that really means and how horrible and degrading it is until I've pointed it out. Why do people react like this? We recently left one guild because we could no longer handle the disrespect that people were exhibiting regularly and have joined a guild where people really do seem to follow the rules of normal life. There I am treated like the lady I am and the language is kept to a minimum. In our new guild this game is treated like the game it is and all the normal societal rules are upheld instead of real life taking a back seat to a computer game.

I know this is random, but I have been trying to figure out why people think that all societal norms can be thrown out the window when they are hiding behind an assumed character.

More Pictures

Here are some more pictures of my sweet boys. I had to control myself and not post more. :)

They love to sit in the box and laugh, I'm not sure why...

He feels like part of the family at dinner and is so happy to be on the same level we are

Caleb was watching for Andy to get home from class. :)

He loves his swing and was making a funny face. lol He's teething so he chews on his lip.

Caleb tah-turing (coloring)

Caleb will not let Stephen play in the floor gym without shoving his way in and playing with him.

Prayer Request

Hey guys, could y'all please be praying for my cousin Richard? He is 20 years old and had a massive heart attack on Friday. The doctors say that he is going to be fine and his heart was not damaged, but they can't figure out why he had the attack. Hospitals have a test they can administer to determine if someone has a heart attack and a normal person who hasn't will score a 0 or 1, Richards came back as a 28. My aunt was told that normally only young people on cocaine have heart attacks like this, but Richard doesn't do drugs and when the doctors tested him he was completely clean and there was absolutely no evidence he had ever done drugs at all. His cholesterol and blood pressure were really good too. There doesn't appear to be any reason what so ever that he should have had this massive attack. I don't think he's a Christian, so please pray for him. Thanks!!

More Obsession :)

I found this video while looking at more information about babywrapping. It's a young father putting on a Moby and he has a tiny newborn. It's too cute!!! :) On another note, if you google babywrapping my blog pops up. lol

Babywrapping

Other than cloth diapering, which I love, and smocking clothes for my boys especially Caleb so he looks his age, I'm not really obsessive about baby things. Well that has all changed now. I have been getting tired of trying to hang on to Stephen, deal with Caleb and do housework etc. and Stephen was getting too heavy for my Snugli and too wiggly for my sling. I have found my dream baby item and it's called a Moby Wrap. It uses your entire back, shoulders and hips to carry the baby and there are so many different ways to wrap it. Baby can ride as shown in the picture, or facing out, as well as on your hip or back. It is also really easy to nurse in apparently. I am currently looking for one on ebay, but considering how much material must be in it, it only costs $35. One website also carries a nice selection of cloth diapers though I prefer my ebay store or Green Mountain. The Moby wrap site itself also has step-by-step picture directions for 12 different wrap positions as well as instructions on how to breastfeed in it. This is the first item I have not been firmly set on since before I got married and now I have to find a way to get it. :) Babywrapping just falls right in line with all of the naturalist tendencies I already have and I think it is so healthy for newborns especially. This is the way a lot of women in 3rd world countries carry their babies and still get all of the physical labor they need to do done. Hopefully this will enable me to get more things done because I won't have to constantly rescue Stephen from Caleb's love. :D

Friends

I got to see a friend today that I haven't really seen in several months. She had some tragedy in her life and needed some time to grieve without seeing me and my newborn. I'm really glad that she called and came over today because we are so much alike and have very similar opinions on just about any subject from pregnancy and child rearing to politics. :) I have missed her greatly. Her little girl played in our sandbox and we got to talk while Caleb and Stephen slept. Like everyone else she agrees Stephen looks like me. lol All in all it was a wonderful day and I'm glad to have her friendship and support back in my life.

To die for recipe

I tried this dessert recipe recently and it was so good and really quick. It says to use fresh fruit you freeze yourself, but I cheated and bought mine pre-frozen. Andy loves it!

Frozen Berries With Hot White Chocolate Sauce
Serves 4

Ingredients:
6 ounces/170 g fresh blackberries
6 ounces/170 g fresh blueberries
6 ounces/170 g fresh raspberries
4 fresh strawberries, halved lengthwise
8 ounces/230 ml heavy whipping cream
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
8 ounces/230 g good-quality white chocolate, finely chopped

Method: Arrange all the berries in a single layer on a baking sheet, making sure they are well spaced apart. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 2 hours or until the berries are frozen.

Meanwhile, place the cream in a heavy medium saucepan. Using a small sharp knife, scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the cream. Add the bean to the cream. Bring the cream to just below simmering over medium heat.
Place the chocolate in a bowl and pour the hot cream mixture over the chocolate. Discard the vanilla bean.Let stand for 5 minutes to allow the chocolate to melt slightly, then stir the cream mixture until the chocolate has melted completely and the sauce is smooth.
Arrange the berries on a serving platter or in individual bowls and pour the hot sauce over the frozen berries. Serve at once.

9/11

Since today is the 6th anniversary of 9/11 and the first time it's been back on a Tuesday the radio and TV stations have been going nuts. Andy and I have been talking about it and realized that our memories of that day are as clear as if the events transpired in the last week. It's amazing how we have trouble pinpointing what we did during the day six years ago, but we can remember every detail of September 11th. I remember that my Dad had gotten food poisoning the night before and he and my Mom were at the hospital and I was home with all of my siblings. There were some guys there installing new cabinets and counter tops in our kitchen and I was sewing. I had the radio on and heard the announcers saying a plane had accidentally hit the World Trade Center and turned the TV on in time to witness the second plane in real time. We all sat on the couch and watched TV the rest of the day, having trouble comprehending that terrorists had the audacity to attack us on our own soil. The workmen in our house spent as much time watching TV with us as they did installing things, and only charged my parents for half of the time they were there. Mom and Dad didn't even know anything had happened for about an hour because the hospital staff was trying to keep people calm and they didn't have a TV on in their room.

The gaping holes in New York, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field united our country in a way it had not seem since Pearl Harbor and the start of WWII for us. It's amazing how single-minded we were then and now the backstabbing that is being perpetrated by politicians today. How can people stand the weaseling and finger pointing and forget what was done to us? I believe our country is too soft and is rapidly sliding into the diffident, self importance exhibited by Europe. I'm so disgusted with both parties that it almost makes me want to not vote, but if we all do that the wrong people will be elected and our country will be a disaster. So, I will hold my nose, vote, and pray that we will be able to draw our country back from the brink before it's too late and God allows us to be wiped off the map because of our decadent society.

Worst Luck

One of Andy's long time friends DB has the worst luck of anyone I can think of. He has been rear ended by a rubber necker at a wreck who never slowed down and attacked by a gang of bikers to name a couple. This week he was robbed and shot. Please pray for him if you think of it and heres what he said about the robbery.

Wednesday night(9/5/07) Scott and I were playing Gears of War at my house. My door bell rang, I got up and went to open the door expecting to see the pizza man with our dinner. When I unbolted the door and turned the handle, the door was shoved in by a tall, lanky black man pointing a revolver at my head. Behind him was a short black man who was sweating and shaking. The taller one forced me back into my living room and kept shouting, "Where's the money Fred?" I tried to explain to him my name wasn't Fred, I didn't know where the money was and he could have whatever he wanted if he would just put the gun down. The short man then proceeded to yank my xbox out of the wall, grab my laptop, and steal both our cell phones. Then they tried to steal my TV, I explained that it was too big for one person to carry and they weren't going to be able to carry it out while they held the gun at me. They saw that I was right and started to back out just before they ran out of my house the tall one shot me in the leg. Scott immediately ran to the bathroom and grabbed me a towel. Meanwhile, I dropped my shorts and checked my wound. Thank God for Scott and my EMT training. One look and I knew it was non femoral and the bone was intact. Scott Helped me tie a tourniquet and apply pressure. I saw an entry and exit wound so I hoped the bullet had passed straight through. Scott ran up stairs to try and get some help from my neighbors. No one came so he came back downstairs and helped drag me to his car. He drove me to Highlands hospital which was only a few blocks away. Highland's ER doesn't get a lot of traffic and hardly any trauma, they were extremely startled to get a gun shot wound. After they stabilized me, they decided I needed to go to University because they were better equipped to deal with me. While I was being treated Scott called my family and my close friends. I was loaded up and taken by ambulance to University where they decided my wound was clean and flesh only, no bone, nerve, or severe vascular damage. They gave me a shot of Morphine and sent me home. Thank you everyone who has called or e-mailed. Thank you for your kind words and your prayers!

Potty Training

I'm so excited. I have been working on potty training Caleb for the last few days and he is doing so well. Since he's a boy, I was afraid it was going to take a lot longer before he was ready to potty train. I remember my sisters potty trained easier and sooner than my brothers; part of the genetic differences between boys and girls liberals are trying to refuse to acknowledge. :) He's only wet his underwear once in 3 days, though I still put a diaper on him for naps and errands. I'm not brave enough to try those yet. lol Caleb is loving it and has his little routine down. After he's finished he hops down and says YAY, then closes the lid and flushes the toilet before we put his underwear on and wash his hands. That's great for me because he seems to understand patterns well for other things also. This is a wonderful development because he's so big we were getting close to him outgrowing the diaper covers I've been buying. I hope this continues well and soon I can leave off diapers most of the time without worrying that he's going to wet his clothes. :)

Yakama

For those of you who have been to the Yakama Indian Reservation. I don't know if some of you knew this, but there is a full-time missionary out there now and he and his family have been there for about 4 years. His name is Chris Granberry and he was Andy's youth pastor and my team leader the first time I was there.

God is working incredible things on the reservation and Chris decided to post his quarterly updates on a new blog this summer. I thought you might like to look at it and see some of the amazing things the Lord is doing in such a dark place. I haven't been able to see the pictures he has posted so I'm going to email him and see if that can get fixed.

http://sacredroadyakama.blogspot.com

Cuddling :)

The boys and I were playing in their room this afternoon and they were being too cute. Stephen is almost sitting up on his own. He balances fine until he gets REALLY excited. :) Boys are so much fun.

Aren't they precious?

C-Sections

The fact that I have to have C-Sections with all of my babies is a constant struggle for me. I know it shouldn't be, but it just tears me up sometimes. I was planning on going completely natural, use the Bradley method and no drugs. Then Caleb stayed breech and even though we tried 2 external versions (turning him from the outside) he would not move. He even kicked the doctor and flipped back one time. It just killed me to see all I wanted going out the window at the time.

With Stephen my doctor gave me the chance to have him naturally and I labored for 9 hours without drugs and all, before the doctor told me that I had stalled out, there was something wrong, and we needed to get the baby out as soon as possible. Afterwards, he told Andy that 30 minutes more and my uterus would have ruptured because it was as thin as gauze around the old scar. Stephen's head was so large that it was not coming down and he was facing the wrong way. They had to break my water to start labor, though I believe that my body tried hard to labor on it's own 2 weeks before.

All of this is to say that I'm heart-broken over this. My body can only handle at the most 6 pregnancies before it's dangerous to me and the baby, so even though I don't want more than 6, I hate that I don't have a choice in that. I have been trying so hard to get past this, and I have a little peace that there is obviously a reason God has set me on this path, but I still don't know how deal with it. I try to be relaxed and tell Andy that now we can pick our kids' birthdays, but that's not what I want and I don't know what to do. It's just hard to understand why this heart's desire of mine was not to be.

2 year olds

Why is 2 sometimes the most fun and other times the most irritating age? It must be because they are learning new things everyday and then use it so much that it drives their parents batty. Caleb is so much fun to watch as he discovers new abilities and words. He is already learning to help me put all of his toys away, though he wants to immediately pull them back out again. He also adores music and dances whenever there is something on. His favorite show is The Wiggles and we also have some of their Cd's. The Wiggles have dances that go along with all of their songs and Caleb has started copying them instead of just bouncing around the room. It's quite cute because half the time he does the moves just slightly off from them and it's hilarious to watch. If anyone gives instructions in a song he can follow along as well and that's a recent thing.

His vocabulary is growing on leaps and bounds and he is learning to speak in sentences. He loves for me to do the This Little Piggy Went to Market poem on his toes and I must do it on both of his feet and both of Stephen's before he is satisfied. He'll also run around saying wee wee all home after I'm done. lol I don't know if this is a good thing or not, but he now knows to run to me and say poop poop and hold his diaper if he needs it changed. I'm not thrilled with this, but am looking on the bright side that maybe it means he'll start potty training soon. Andy thinks it hysterical and I just tell him to wait until he tries to shush Caleb in church and he screams out that he pooped at the top of his lungs in the middle of the pastor's prayer.

Stephen is also growing fast. He can almost sit up, just still has a tendency to get excited and throw himself backward. He adores Caleb and just lies on his stomach and giggles while watching Caleb play. He is also teething already and I can see the teeth in his gums though they probably won't break through for another month. Caleb got his first tooth at 5 months so I'm not surprised that Stephen is on the same track. Stephen is desperate to be moving so I hope he starts crawling soon. He is already sliding himself backwards across the room so maybe he'll be crawling by 6 months.

I'm amazed at how much I can get down around the house with 2 such little children because sometimes I feel that all I do is play with them. I love my life. :D

Praise God!!!

My car is not actually fixed yet, but we have found a collision shop who is really working to help us out. The man who owns it came in and talked to me and found out that we had 2 young children and Andy was trying to finish school with a teaching degree. After that, he looked at the damage to my car and told me that he would give me the parts necessary in order to keep the car from being totaled. That was unbelievably generous of him and we are so thankful that God led me to his shop. He told me that he understood that we could not afford a car payment right now and that my car would be as good as new when they were finished with it. This was an answer to our prayers.

Wreck

I was pulling out of the grocery store parking lot today and hit a car I did not see, even though I looked both ways 2 or 3 times before moving. I would appreciate prayer because we have been just making it financially and really can't afford to have to repair my car. I know the Lord takes care of us, but it just feels like we finally get something taken care of and have a little bit of leeway again and things of this nature happen.

Pictures

We had a family get together this weekend while we were in Birmingham getting the rest of our things from Andy's parent's basement and one of Andy's uncles took these great pictures of my boys. :)

They had just been swimming

Caleb was fascinated by the fountain and kept running back to mess with it.