Remember when....

I said that I wanted another child ASAP? I would like to retract that previous statement. Ha. I'm only half joking. Today was the 4 month check up for Knoxie and it equaled NO fun! I have heard the boy cry before, but he hit decibels today that were unheard of. Even Dr. Morrison said that he was impressed. He was not at all happy with his shots (but then again who is?) and he screamed so much that I could not get him to stop. I couldn't even get his clothes on afterwards. It was a struggle and he definitely won. After 10 minutes of wrestling with him I had to just toss him in the car seat -diaper only- and wrap his blanket around him. I even had to run to walmart - in the rain- with him like that. Please don't call DHR...

Here is a pic of the little guy today before he knew what was about to happen to him (yes, he's naked):

He was laughing and giggling on his changing table and I just kept thinking, "Oh...this is all about to change...better get a quick snap in while I can." Needless to say, there aren't any pics taken while we were actually at the pediatrician. He weighs 16.3 pounds- 80th percentile. His length is 25 3/4- 80th percentile, and his head is 16 3/4- 55th percentile. Dr. Morrison gave us the green light in introducing baby food, so we came home after the appointment and ate some carrots!! OK. I have to add that while I am typing this I feel so ridiculous. I never thought I would see the day when I cared about sharing what my child is eating. I remember my sister talking about it and I was like, "Cool. I don't understand the big deal??" I think it's just fun to be able to watch them grow and experience new things. I am sure that this excites no one expect myself, so I will just post a standard "first solid food" pic, and move on...

first few bites (undecided face):

final verdict face:

Surprise surprise, he likes it. I had no doubt that he would! This baby loves food!

While I am here I might as well blog about some other things so that I can just keep it a 1 post day. We made the decision to go to Bass Pro to see Santa. OH my goodness. It sounds crazy, I know, but a bunch of friends from church took their kids last year and said it was awesome, so we decided to "peep the scene". An hour and a half later we were at the front of the line! Holy pajamas! If you needed to know where everyone from the Montgomery/Prattville area was Sunday afternoon, they were at Bass Pro. And I must say that I have never seen so much camo in all of my life! Unfortunately, Knox was too small to really enjoy everything. They had TONS of stuff for kids to do and play with while waiting. They also had arts and crafts as well. It was overwhelming to say the least. Here is Knoxie waiting patiently for his turn to sit in the big guy's lap and tell him what he wanted for Christmas (and of course he scratched the fire out of his nose on the way there :( )

getting sleepy in line...

Some of the entertainment...

Lee trying to introduce him to Rudolph, unsuccessfully...

I'd rather be playing with that reindeer...

And I guess I will finally look at you because I am so ridiculously tired and want to leave this place and take a nap...

All in all, it was a successful trip to see Santa. We "backed" Knox into Santa's lap just to make sure he wouldn't get freaked out. By the time it was our turn, Knox's eyes were so red and watery because he was exhausted. Poor guy. Next year we will have to time it better...

And lastly, here is Knox admiring the Christmas tree. The other day I walked to the back to put some clothes up, and when I came back he was practically under the tree, PULLING OFF ORNAMENTS! Notice the baldness of the tree in the lower area :)

When I saw the ornaments on the floor I looked at him like, "No sir!" and he just smiled at me like, "What's the problem??"

I would love to say that he looks AND acts like his daddy, but I think that he's looking like daddy and acting like mommy! Trouble.

4 month old Drool Monster...

This little turkey turned 4 months on Thanksgiving Day.

Due to traveling a good bit, I am a little late on taking his monthly crib photo. I will say that it is getting harder and harder to get him to cooperate and take a picture, unlike when he was a newborn and just laid there.

Instead of easy shots, I am now getting this:

and this:

as well as this:

and this:

Anywho, the first one was the best that I could do. We go to the doc on Tuesday, so I do not have any stats to report right now. However, if I had to guess I would say that he is 100 pounds and 100 inches long. He has been such a happy baby with no terrible signs of acid reflux! Yay! He is drooling quite a bit and has been chewing on everything in sight, so I am assuming that he is teething??? Don't really know...this is my first child. Speaking of first child, lately I have been really sad at how big he is getting and I have been trying to "gently" approach the topic of having another one with Lee. Haha. If you know me, then you know that when I say "gently", I mean opposite day. I talk about it all the time. Lee keeps telling me that we should "table the conversation for now." I just think that means we can talk about it again very soon :). I know that I am crazy, so no need to tell me. I am sure that hubs won't be on board for a while, but I am having a blast with Knox and feel like I want 50 more!

I hope everyone is having a great holiday season so far. I love December. It is my favorite month. If Lee would let me, I would keep the tree up 12 months out of the year!

I came across this verse today, and it was so refreshing to me, and also convicting...

"Jesus is the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." John 6:35

Sometimes (O.K, a lot of times) I get distracted and try to fill myself with meaningless things of the world...especially during this time of year. But reading this verse just reminded me that He is the only one that can satisfy me, and that I will fail when I look elsewhere. It seems so simple, but sometimes it can be so hard for me, and I hate that. Anyways, I hope this verse blesses you today like it did me and reminds you that it really is all about Him...

Tree hunting and Anniversary!

Lee and I went and hunted down our 4th family Christmas tree on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I was a little sad this year since this was the very first time that I have not been with my family for the big event, but since I had my 2 favorite boys with me...I made it through :). It is always a treat watching my hubby chop down the tree. As I stated in a previous blog, he does not know how to "dress down", so he is always the best dressed person on the Christmas tree farm. I snagged a few pics of him sawing the tree down, and don't doubt that he commented on the fact that his clothes were getting dirty! God love him!

Knox found the tree he wanted!

A pic of tough guy stretching it out for the chop down:

In action...

And...I don't have any pics of the final product up and decorated. We started to decorate Sunday night, and then we left Monday morning for the Grand Hotel to celebrate our anniversary. I can't believe we have been married for 3 years. I won't start on how blessed I feel for the Lord bringing Lee into my life or how much I love him... because I am not sure that I would be able to stop, so I will spare you :). I will say that Christ has chosen an amazing partner for me to share my life with, be stretched in ways that I could have never imagined, and experience the most unconditional love that I don't deserve! I love this man, and I am so honored to be his wife!

In front of the Christmas tree in the lobby of the Grand Hotel:

Here we are at Jesse's...our favorite restaurant. It was the perfect night to go since we were practically the only ones in the place! We ate delicious food and talked for hours about the first 3 years of our marriage, as well as hopes and dreams for the next 60!

Someone's ready....

to meet this "San-T Clause" he's been hearing so much about :)

I Don't want to Raise Successful Children

I found the following post on my friend Amy's blog. The title really stuck out to me, so I read it. I don't have any school-aged children quite yet, but I loved the message. If you have a few minutes you should read it. This is definitely something that I think every mother might struggle with along their parenting career. How awesome it is to be encouraged by this and reminded of truth...

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.

The Ladies' Man

Well, for those of you who were praying for us today, thank you so much! Your prayers were greatly appreciated and definitely heard! Let me give you a little run down of today's events:

We woke up this morning and had our last feeding at 7 a.m. We played for a while, Knox took a little bath, and then he watched mommy finish getting ready for the day. We loaded up the car and drove around for a bit to waste time and assure that he would be asleep since he would be a rather hungry baby if he were awake. He did awesome! Napped the entire time! When we got to the Imaging Center, I started to get really nervous and sad. We checked in waited for what felt like 2 seconds before they called his name. Here's the funny part. Lee and I told the lady that he was probably going to scream as soon as he woke up and that they needed to be prepared. She just smiled at us and told us it would be fine, and she let us go to the back area and into the imaging room to take his clothes off and sit with him for a minute. When we got to the back, out came 3 of the CUTEST young nurses I have ever seen!!!!! We woke Knox up and as soon as he laid eyes on them he smiled the BIGGEST smile! I was so shocked. We totally thought he would freak out and scream due to starvation. Nope, not Knoxie. We got him down to his diaper and since it was cold they let us wrap him in his blanket. The girls were loving him and he was FOR SURE loving them. When I had to hand him over and leave, I teared up and reluctantly gave him to the nurse. He just looked at me like, "bye mom." I was certain that he would freak out at any moment...especially when they had to give him the barium. The girls were so sweet and they assured me everything would be fine and that it would not take long at all. We sat in the hallway outside the door waiting for the horrific "I want my mommy" screams. Nothing. 5 minutes passed, nothing. Then 10 minutes rolled around, and out came the 3 nurses taking turns holding Knox while he was cooing, smiling, and blowing bubbles at them! Lee and I died laughing! They were eating him up and he loved it! They said he did great, drank all that he was suppose to, and didn't make a peep. Stinker! Apparently, I had absolutely to worry about. The procedure was wayyyy harder on me than it was for him. I think he would do it again tomorrow if I let him :).

We head to the specialist on Monday morning to get the results. Thanks again for your prayers and encouragement!

It will all be over within 24 hours...

Well, it looks like Knox's appointment is scheduled for tomorrow at 11:30. He won't be able to eat 4 hours beforehand. I'm thinking that I will just feed him pretty much all morning and then give him a bath right after, which he loves. After that we will play for a little while and then I will just hop in the car and drive around for a good bit before we head to the appt. He usually really likes the car and seems to fall asleep while I'm driving most of the time, so I am really praying he sleeps the majority of the time. I spoke to the nurse today and she told me that we are not allowed to go back with him due to radiation precautions. That was unexpected and hard to hear. I freaked out a little this morning, but then my mother-in-law reminded me of some much needed truth: Knox belongs to the Lord...not to us...and He will be with Knox throughout the entire procedure. That was very refreshing to hear and has given me peace this afternoon.

I had a little chat with Knoxie and told him about what was going to go down tomorrow. Here is how he reacted after I told him:

I am having WHAT done tomorrow???

I can't eat for HOW long?

O.K., fine, but I better be rewarded some ice cream for my troubles!