"Hey Knox..."

"Would it by O.K. if Mommy and Daddy got the bumbo out and tried to squeeze your chunky thighs in it so that we can restrain you and take a picture in front of the Christmas tree?"

After a 3rd attempt of squeezing and Lee dancing around like a fool behind me...

And this is after us singing some Veggie Tales to him. Gets him every time...for about a second.

And then we finally gave in and took him out and just let Daddy hold him for a picture.

And because my precious husband can't find half of my Christmas decorations, including the wreath I made our first year of marriage and LOVE (I'm still REALLY confused about how boxes and boxes are missing??), I decided to make a pink wreath this year. Kind of fitting for the season of life we are in right now :). Anyone proud of me for using PINK? Lee was shocked!

Looks like decorating is going to be a work in progress for a while since we are missing quite a few Christmas items :(. Hopefully it will be completed before the big guy comes down the chimney!

Oh, Christmas Tree!!

OK, it will be a little while before I post about our trip. There is SO much to talk about and so many pictures, that I would rather not deal with that right now :). Instead, I would like to post about another favorite tradition...CHRISTMAS TREE HUNTING! I come from a family of serious tree hunters...and if you are picturing Clark Griswold right now, then you are about right. I love it. I look forward to it every year, and this year was a treat because it was soooo cold outside. We got to sip on hot chocolate, wear warm clothes, and listen to Christmas music on the way! Major plus for me because last year we were not with my family (which was a total downer for me) and it was HOT outside.

Anywho-we woke up early and met my sister, Dane, and the girls. Unfortunately, mom couldn't make it due to her anniversary trip. It's a valid reason to miss, so we will excuse her :). Knox went crazy being out there in the middle of all the trees! He was running wild, and of course was thrilled to be around the girls. They attack him every single time they are around him. His nickname is "token" because wherever he is or whatever he is doing...the girls want in and they will do ANYTHING to be with him. It's adorable. I wonder if Greer will get the same treatment??

I posted quite a few pics on facebook, so I am only going to post a few here. Btw...I am seeing how some people can publish a blog post on their facebook profile and it links you to their blog? That is simply fabulous because I am not really loving the double post and upload on blog and facebook, so if any of you are feeling generous and want to give me a tutorial, feel free to do so!

Foxie and Mama Bear:

Love this picture, but I hate that Carley wasn't in it :(.

Running wild ...

The "Chosen One"

Mountain Man choppin' it down!

Quite proud of himself:

Foxie wanted to see how tall he was:

Cutie pie snowmen:

Getting in to trouble:

Loving this small tree :)

Choo-Choo ride:

First candy-cane:

"YUM!"

I think he liked it. It was ALL over his face!

One last pic with the baby trees before we leave!

Had a busy afternoon and evening, so the tree is only half-way trimmed. Stay tuned for the final product. Foxie has been working REAL hard on it! :)

Shutterfly

It's that time of year again...Christmas card time! Quite possibly one of my favorite holiday traditions. Not only do I love sending cards, but I absolutely love love love to receive them! Every year I make a goal of having cards in the mail by December 1st. However, this year ain't looking so good seeing as how we have been out of town, not to mention trying to take a decent picture of a 16 month old! I can't begin to imagine what it will be like next year with 2 children on my hands. I have been doing a lot of "interneting" I am really like the collection from Shutterfly this year. There are so many to chose from, and they are all so fun and bright! Take a peek for yourself :)

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards

Also, I think it's pretty cool that they are giving out 50 free cards for getting the word out about Shutterfly's awesome products. It's definitely worth a gander or two :).

Looking forward to seeing all of your sweet faces in my mailbox!!

Repeat

I posted this article when Knox was like 2 months old, and I just came across it again. He is only 15.5 months old now, but this still rings SO true to me and it brings tears to my eyes even when I read it now. It is my prayer for all of my children seeing as how we live in a world that is so competitive, comparative, and just plain flat-out ridiculous when it comes to our children. Don't get me wrong, it's so easy for me to get caught up in all of it and worry about my children not being just like everyone else, so this article really speaks to me and I love how it brings me back to the truth-the most important thing that matters is that my children know the Lord and know Him intimately. Of course I want them to do well in school, have friends, heck...even be athletic (something I really struggle with), but those are just extra blessings that flow from the Lord, not things that should consume me as a parent. Oh, how I pray that I can portray that to them with my own life and not worry about all that goes on outside of my home. My prayer is to focus UPward and INward. If you want an encouragement for the day, read below...

I Don't Want to Raise Successful Children
19 Nov 2009
Lysa TerKeurst
"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:6 (NIV)

I don't want to raise successful children. That's a shocking thing to read, and a shocking thing for a mother to type. So, let me clarify.

I used to define success according to my child's report card. Good grades and academic achievement would surely equal a good child with great potential in this world. But then several of my children wound up being average students with average grades. Though we carted them off to tutors and spent many a late night at the kitchen table helping them, they remained average. And I remained concerned and frustrated.

One report card day I found myself facedown in the fibers of my carpet crying and wonderi ng, "Where have I gone wrong as a mom?"

I dug into Scriptures. I begged God for wisdom and discernment. I prayed for God's perspective with each of my kids. Finally, one day it dawned on me - what if I simply chose to embrace the natural bent of each of my kids as God's way to protect them and keep them on the path toward His best plans for their lives?

What if my A student needs academic success to prepare her for God's plans while my average to below-average student needs to be steered away from a more academic future? What if my sports star kid needs that athletic excellence for his future assignments by God, but my benchwarmer kid is being protected from getting off course by her lack in this area?

And that's when it finally dawned on me. My job isn't to push success for my kids. My job as a parent is to recognize the unique way God created each child and point them to Jesus at every turn along their journey toward adulthood. Yes, I wan t my kids to learn and thrive and grow up educated, but it's not a flaw in me or them if they don't have straight A report cards and trophy cases full of sports medals.

Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it" (NIV).

I am challenged to ponder these words, "… in the way he should go." Are we training our kids that the "way he should go" is to chase worldly achievement or to chase God? Whatever they learn to chase as a child, they will chase as adults. Therefore, we must be challenged to honestly assess the way we are pointing them to go.

My daughter, Hope, is one of my average students. She has also warmed many a bench in the sports she's tried, and can always be found hiding on the back row of the stage during school concerts. Using the world's benchmarks for achievement, Hope wouldn't be seen as a child positioned for success. But God…

This past January, my 15 year old Hope, shocked me when she announced she wanted to go to Ethiopia with some missionary friends of ours and live in the remote African bush for the summer. Yes, she may not have trophies and straight A report cards but she does have a heart of gold. And because she's not entrenched in sports and academic pursuits that could have created obligations for her summer, she was free to go to Africa. Free to chase God in a really big way.

One of the first e-mails she sent me from Ethiopia read, "Mom, I've fallen in love with the AIDS orphanage children. They rushed at me when I held my arms out and I tried with all my might to hold all 30 of them at once. I love it here."

Now, don't get me wrong. I do expect Hope to return to her studies this fall, give 100% effort, and finish her high school career having done her very best. She will most likely then go to college. But she probably won't be delivering the valedictorian address or wearing the honors cords and medals. She'll be the on e with a vision of a dying AIDS orphan pressing against her heart ready to chase God's plans to the ends of the earth.

So back to my original statement, I don't want to raise successful children. It's true, I don't. Though Hope's sister coming behind her is an A student and can always be found on the front row of school performances - we don't chase after success for her either. I trust God that she needs those things in her life for the plans He's unfolding in her life. We train with that bent in mind. But, we don't chase it. Just like Hope, we point her in the direction of God at every turn and pray like crazy.

I stand by what I said and I'll say it again, I don't want to raise successful children. Because--- raising God-honoring adults who will set the world on fire for Christ is just so much more rewarding.

We Surprised Daddy...

at the airport tonight :). I won't get in to details on how I had to entertain a baby for almost 2 hours due to a flight delay. Every second of the wait was well worth it. He didn't see us when he first came out of his gate, but when he did...his eyes got red and watery. I, of course, cried like a baby. Oh, how I have missed this man! Someone else has really missed him, too :)

All is REALLY well in my world tonight...

Day 9, and I'm DONE-ZO With Daily Bloggin', Baby!

I've got a little pep in my step tonight seeing as how this is the last daily blog entry for moi. I feel like I just finished a college course or something. Maybe I'll go out and celebrate?? OR...maybe I will stay in with a sleeping baby and clean, do some laundry, take the trash out, iron clothes, and pack Knox's lunch for tomorrow...

Today was a good day. It POURED most of the day, but we put on our rain gear and got out in it a little. After a quick trip to Target, we went by to see Brady and the twins, and then we went to Kangaroos! Kangaroos is a jump-y place, and Knox had an absolute blast. He busted it about 1,000 times in the jumpy things-face first-and never stopped once to feel the pain. I felt it for him. It looked like it hurt when he would nose dive, but he would just roll over and laugh SO hard! His face had red marks all over it by the time it was all said and done. I love that I got to let him run wild and not worry about anything. It was pretty much empty, minus 2 sisters that followed Knox everywhere he went. I almost got their number for babysitting, but their ages were 4 and 1. Maybe next year.

For the most part he played in the toddler section, but he did break free a few times to check out the big kid stuff. Yours truly here hoisted her pregnant body up on some massive slides so that Knox could ride down with me. I am sure it was quite a sight. I won't lie. There were a few times that I just let my body roll down the side of something because it was just too much. I hope they don't have cameras in that place.

I took quite a few pictures from my phone. I have to input something here. I love the camera that Lee and I recently got, but it seems so inconvenient to tote that big boy around in it's case everywhere I go...at least for me it seems that way. That's why I have a lot of phone pics. Sorry that they aren't very clear. The good news is that you won't have to see many more of them after tonight!!!!!!!

Here we are talking over breakfast, and I just asked him if he wanted to go to Kangaroos this morning. I LOVE his morning face with puffy eyes :)

Don't know what kind of animal stance he is doing:

This is after he just went down a slide and crashed into the side net. He sat up and had this facial expression:

This little weird apparatus blew air out of the middle, and he tried to eat the air most of the time:

"Hey girl. What's your number?"

And as I was sitting and watching him pay, he bounced up to the net and LICKED it! Yes, that's my child. I am so proud...

"This looks interesting..."

I HEART this little curl (look closely)...

"Weeeee!"

"Mom, I can totally climb this steep slide. Stop worrying."

"Maybe not :)"

"Please stop taking pictures and help me up this slide.I'm strugglin', here..."

The dance section of the gym, equipped with strobe lights and loud music. He loved the kangaroos on the wall. He also loved dancing and spinning until he got dizzy!

And here's the older girl that game him a smooch. He didn't even get her name!

This guy was SO tired after we left that he fell asleep in the car while chewing a fruit loop at the same time. I couldn't stop watching him in the rear view mirror and laughing. He also slept right through the diaper change I gave him before I put him in his crib. Thank you, Kangaroos, for wearing my child out. I have a feeling that we will be seeing you quite often in the days to come...especially once little Greer gets here.

In other news, MY HUSBAND IS ON A PLANE HOME BACK TO ME!! He has many hours to fly and many connections to make, but he will be home soon, none-the-less. He is actually going to see the sun rise 2 times in 1 day. So strange! Foxie and I have a little surprise in store for him, so stay tuned for a picture post (there will probably be no words since I am worded-out!). Thank you for hanging in there with me and reading about my daily activities. Not fun for you guys, but very important to Lee - so thank you for bearing with!

Day 8, and I'm going to bed EARLY!

I am definitely going to be in bed by 9 tonight. Definitely. So this will be a quick one. I will say that I might stop blogging for a while after this little commitment is over. I have learned my lesson on blog commitments!

Since it's Tuesday, Knox went to school this morning and I went to go help feed the twins, Shepherd and Sawyer. I had to run a few errands afterwards and before I knew it, 1:00 was here. Picked Knox up and came home so he could nap. After he woke this afternoon, I quite possibly made the worst decision ever. I decided to take him all the way over to Mobile and do some Christmas shopping at Toys R Us. What in the WORLD was I thinking? Mom is the Human Resources Manager over there, so she walked around with me while we picked some stuff out and made a list. Knox went ballistic. He wanted to get down and run around like crazy, throw every ball, touch every noise making toy, and climb on all the big bikes. I was mortified. I wanted to get out of that store so quickly and I am sure my neck was turning red. Because of mom, I pretty much know everyone in there and I was speechless. They all acted like it was nothing since they see children going crazy in there all the time, but I hit my limit. I kept trying to check out and leave, but mom wanted to keep going and stop and talk with everyone. Once we finally did check out, I had to entertain Knox up front with the little rides so that he would stay in one place, and mom handled everything at the check out counter. I don't know if it's me, but when it's your own child acting that way, everything seems 100 times worse. Other people's children don't bother me at all...it's when my child acts crazy that makes me a little on edge. Anyways, we packed it up and drove back across the bay. Knox cried most of the time, which was unusual. His hand stayed in his mouth which tells me that maybe he's teething? I don't know whats going on, but I am definitely praying that tomorrow is a little smoother.

I managed to get a quick snap of him riding the machine at Toys R Us. It was moving, so it isn't very clear. He isn't smiling in this picture, but I promise he enjoyed it. He was just super focused on the noise and lights.

And this here we are having a snack. He loves to sip the juice box with the straw and then take it out and drink from the tiny hole?? Strange...and messy!

We were suppose to try dinner again with the Halls tonight, but after our crazy shopping spree, I was ready to get home, get him fed, and put that little sucker to bed! He went down right at 7, and by the time I put my PJ's on and checked the monitor, he was cashed out. Goodness. I am not far behind him!

Good night to all! Only 1 more day of all this daily blogging...I PROMISE! :)

Day 7, and just plain ready to see Lee.

Ok, so I'm ready. Been ready the whole time, but I can feel myself slowing down a little and really wishing Lee were back at home with me. I will get him back for a week, but then he leaves again for Korea for another week. However, my awesome Mother-in-law has volunteered her time to take Knox for a few days out of that week, so that will be SUPER nice to have some down time. And by down time I mean that I will be finishing up the art work for Greer's room, washing all things baby, and getting everything in order while I don't have a 15 month old running around. Here is the best part. Lee gets back on a Sunday and we leave Monday FOR A WEEK IN THE MOUNTAINS!! Can you believe it??I get my husband for an ENTIRE week to myself, without work. Hallelujah! I really can't believe it. All this solo parenting will be soooo worth it once we get there. We are going for a couple of reasons. #1...we just wanted time together and to take a mini-vaca with Knox before Greer gets here. I am DYING for him to see snow...even if it is fake! #2...my 30th birthday is the 24th, which will fall on that Wednesday of our trip. Yes, I will be 30. No, I am not afraid of it or sad. My mom was trying to sweetly ask this weekend if I was upset about turning 30, and without hesitation I said no. I honestly feel so happy and blessed with the husband, child (soon to be children), and just life in general that God has given me and I am only looking forward to MORE of it :). Anyways, this will be the first time ever that we will be away from family over a holiday (Thanksgiving), so that will be a little different. Lee had a great point of view, though, and said that he would like to spend time just us with Knox and enjoy him before we expand out family even more. He even said that he wanted to cook Thanksgiving dinner for us. I am sure that meal could possibly be an entire blog-worthy post in and of itself :). Na, I have faith that he can do it. Either way, I really am beside myself about being with my family for a week straight. That thought alone is helping me persevere!

As far as today, didn't do too much. Went to Wa-Wa's and played until Knox got fussy, loaded him up and came home. He napped for 3 hours and then we went to Publix. It's sad when the people in there know you and your child. We came home and ate dinner, played a bit, and then he went nightie night. I told myself that I would be in bed by 8:30 tonight, but as you can see that ain't happenin'. I am currently blogging while waiting on the Pumpkin Spice bread that I am making for Knox's teacher to bake. It takes an hour! There really aren't enough hours in the day. I didn't take any pictures of the little man for Lee today, so I will have to post a few more pics of last night.

Words can't even describe how much these girls love Knox, and he literally adores them...

This is before we left for the church tailgate. I thought this picture was so funny because I feel like he looks more like a golfer without his hat since he has the business man part going on all the time...

And finally, mommy and Foxie...

Before I go, does anyone know how to make pictures bigger? I have had a few people ask me to make them bigger, but I have no clue how to do that. Stop laughing.

Love you, Lee. TWO MORE DAYS!!!!!!