Lucy Kate- month 7

*I have 3 posts all waiting in drafts that I never finished to publish from the past month... I need to get back on the blogging bandwagon...*

Dear Lulu-

Wow!  Seven months that you've been a part of our sweet family... that number doesn't seem possible.  On the one hand, it feels like just yesterday you were a teeny baby that cried all day and on the other hand, I barely remember life without you in it.

The past month was chock full of firsts.On June 7th, Daddy texted me that you finally had a tooth that had broken through.  A couple days later, the second bottom tooth popped right on through.  Let me just tell you, those things are sharp!  You've got both of us on the fingers a couple of times and it hurts!  You also got to meet several new family members at a family reunion we had in Central High at the beginning of the month.  You survived moving houses (mommy almost didn't, but you were quite the trooper!) and you moved into your new bedroom with no problems.  Our friends from Houston visited for a week, so you and Crosby got to go on lots of baby dates. :)

You are such a good sleeper.  On an ideal night, you go to bed around 7:30-8:00.  The past month has seen quite a few less than ideal nights and you've been so good to just go with the flow.  Being out of town and out at Thunder game watch parties hasn't phased you too much.  Regardless of when you go to bed, you wake up between 6:00-7:00.  Recently you've begun to take two really long naps- around 2 hours- one in the morning around 9 and another one in the late afternoon around 3.  There's usually a 45 minute cap nap in between there, because that's our usual errand running time.

Eating is one of your new favorite things to do.  I've fed you almost every baby food out there, and so far you like it all.  I've also started to give you small pieces of food and let you start working on that pincer grasp.  Your favorite foods (pureed) to be fed are: bananas, sweet potatoes and mac & cheese.  The food you love to feed yourself: blueberries (quartered), cheerios, puffs, mac & cheese and baby mum-mum crackers.  My plan is to let you keep working at feeding yourself and hopefully phase out the purees eventually.

You sit by yourself now and are working so hard to crawl.  If I lay you down, you immediately flop over to your tummy and start scooting.  I've even caught you up on all fours a couple of times.  The best is when I put a toy just out of your reach and you stretch and scoot until you reach it.  I'm not ready for a crawler!  Your favorite toys are the stacking rings, a mirror and linking rings.  Another "physical" milestone you're loving is slinging your arms up and down as hard as you can.  You love to bang things- especially your sippy cup on the high chair tray.

You're wearing size 3 diapers and mostly 9 month or 6-12 month size clothes.  At the doctor last week you weighed in at 16 pounds, 6 ounces.  You've got the best chubby little thighs and tummy!

You love: big brother, playing peek-a-boo, growling, saying "babababa" and blowing raspberries, eating, naps, having your neck tickled, being outside.  You dislike: mommy leaving the room, bath time, waiting for things, diaper changes, clothing changes, and peas.

This has been a long monthly rundown, but I feel like you are growing and changing so much these days.  I don't want to forget any of this.  I love you, my sweet baby goose.

Forever,
Mommy

Lucy Kate- month 6

Dear Lucy-

What in the world?  How is it possible you are SIX months old?  That's half a year!  I can't believe that you have been in our lives for so long, and at the same time I can't believe you weren't always here.

You are such a happy girl.  I've joked to a few people that if someone had told me in your first 8 weeks of life that you were going to be such a happy, relaxed baby, I would never have believed them!  Ha!  You really only get grumpy when you're hungry or sleepy.  But when you are grumpy... oh my!  You've still got powerful lungs and QUITE the angry cry.  Sometimes it makes me laugh to see just how worked up you can be.

You are so close to sitting up and are still all over the place rolling if I leave you on the floor.  You still love your thumb, although you have now discovered your right thumb too.  We like to say that your right thumb is your party thumb- you only suck it when you're playing and happy.  Left thumb is serious, bedtime stuff. 

You are sleeping from 7:30-7:00 most nights.  You take 3 or 4 naps a day, depending on your level of grumpiness.  You're preferred way to fall asleep is to be laid down in your bed so you can sing yourself to sleep, although you do let me rock you after you finish nursing at night.

After a couple months of not really caring too much about eating cereal or anything else (besides fingers, cups, etc.) you have finally started to gobble up your food.  You love oatmeal, sweet potato and pears.  I'm trying to ease you into new foods slowly, because your tummy is still a little sensitive.  You still nurse 5 or 6 times a day, but you're fast!  You still take your Zantac, but we are finally turning a corner on your spitting up.  Of course, I write that and today you'll puke everywhere all day!

Your newest trick is when we say "where's bubba?" you look around the room until you make eye contact with him and get the biggest grin on your face.  To say you love your brother is an understatement.  And he feels the same way about you.  This summer is going to be so fun with the two of you!  You also have started to recognize your name.  I love to say "Lucy!" and watch you turn around to smile at me.

You've got a ton of nicknames, but these are the ones that are used on a daily basis- Lu, Lulu, Goosey, baby goose, baby sista, Luc...  Your doctor's appointment is next week, so I won't know your exact stats until then.  I weighed you on our scale the other day and you seem to be hovering around 16 pounds.  You're outgrowing all your 3-6 month, 6 month clothes, so I'm excited to get out all your cute summer clothes we bought last year.

You are my girl, my sunshine and a big ol' piece of my heart.  I love you more than words.

Mommy

Isn't it funny...

"Isn't it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different..." C.S. Lewis

Life is funny.   I find myself so easily consumed with the seemingly mundane aspects of our day.  Laundry...  Dishes... Feed the baby... Change diapers...  Laundry... Breakfast... Naps... Laundry...  Lunch... Change diapers... School drop off and pick up... Clean toilets... Supper... Laundry... Days go by in a blur of routine and (sometimes) overwhelming monotony. 

Then one day, you look back and realize- how did we get here?  Nothing is the way it used to be.  The baby is sleeping through the night... the big boy is getting ready to start 1st grade... I'm not 24 years old anymore, I'm almost 31 with two kids and a mini-van.  Our lives have moved forward in such constant motion that the beauty of the day-to-day has been lost.

I'm not even sure where I'm going with these thoughts.  I just want to know that I'm living the days of my life with purpose.  I don't want to get so overwhelmed with making moments count that I miss the little things.  When I look back on my days, I want to know that I made the best of the days I've been given.

"I was made...
To build my life on the things unseen.
Out from the ordinary.
Into extraordinary."
-Into the Glorious, Christy Nockels

A Ministry Crisis, of sorts

When we moved to a new church a year ago, I was pregnant and in the middle of one of the biggest years of change in my entire life.  The thought of finding a place to serve, a new ministry to love, seemed impossible.

As life has settled down, and I'm feeling a little more like myself, I have found myself wondering what to do.  How can I use the talents and gifts that I have to help this church?  Where is my best fit to serve?  These questions and hundreds like them have been rolling around in my mind and heart for a while now.  I've found this to be the subject of many prayers and sleepless nights.

It's amazing how the Lord brings the right things, at just the right time to steady my heart.  First of all, I went to breakfast with a dear friend who was so encouraging.  She reminded me that my biggest ministry right now is within my home, the two lives I influence daily.  Hearing that was such an encouragement, a beautiful reminder that the Lord has entrusted me with two little lives to teach about Him.  She also encouraged me to continue seeking His face, and praying for opportunities.  The opportunities will present themselves as I am being faithful to seek Him.

The next thing that rocked my world was a podcast I listened to by Christine Caine.  In it, she was discussing ambition in the Christian ministry world.  It was so good, I listened to it through twice, the second time with a notebook beside me so I could write down some of the things she said. One thing she said struck a deep chord in my heart- "God is more interested in what is being developed IN you than what He can do THROUGH you." 

1 Peter 3:15 says "...you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it."  And so my new "plan" is to stop having a plan and to stop stressing that I'm not doing enough.  I'm going to focus on my relationship with the Father and teaching His truth to my own kiddos.  By refocusing my heart on Christ, my prayer is that I will be so filled with him it becomes a natural outpouring to those around me.

Lucy Kate- month 5

*has it really been a whole month since I posted?  I've had a hundred thoughts for posts in my head but never got around to posting them... maybe I'll make those happen.  They're good thoughts. :)

Dear Lucy Lou-

How has another year passed?  It seems like just yesterday you were my tiny little love, who just cried, pooped, and slept.  And now you're a great big 5 month old!

You've been up to so much in this past month.  Right after posting your 4 month post, you mastered rolling from your back to your tummy.  About a week later, you flipped from your tummy to your back.  And now?  Well, you're just a little roly-poly! If I set you down on the blanket in the floor, it doesn't take you long to be bumped up into something, mad you can't go further. 

I'm pretty sure you are teething, considering the ridiculous amount of drool and the chewing.  Your hair is starting to really grow, and even the bald spot in the back is beginning to grow some whiskers.  You've been eating cereal (and making huge messes in the process).  You've also started to talk all the time, and you have the most hilarious growl.  Daddy taught you to blow raspberries too!

You LOVE: thumbkin, toys, chewing on EVERYTHING you can get your hands on, John Mark (he has started cracking you up all the time and I love it), the exersaucer, rolling and laughing.

You don't so much love: 6:30-7:30 PM, being alone (unless you're sleeping), startling noises and getting teeth.

This might be my favorite month so far.  You are getting more fun everyday.

Love-
Mommy

Lucy Kate- month 4

Dear Lucy-

You are 4 months old today (or, a week ago...) and you are becoming so much fun!  You're starting to get a sweet little personality and those smiles are coming more frequently. 

 You LOVE to be standing or sitting up.  If I leave you on your back too long, you start to get really upset.  But the second I pull you to standing, it's all smiles!  You have also started to pick up toys when they're in front of you.  Everything goes straight to your mouth, which is full of drool these days.  Sometimes I wonder if you're teething already!

You haven't made it all the way over yet, but you're trying to hard to roll over.  You hang out on your side and get so upset! You also have a new best friend- your thumb.  Forget the pacifier... it's all thumb, all the time!  I'm sure that I will regret letting you suck your thumb later in life, but for right now, it's probably one of the cutest things I've ever seen!

You go to bed between 7:30 and 8:00 most nights, and wake up around 3 or 4 to eat.  After that you go back to sleep for another few hours.  You eat every 3 hours (2.5 if you're growing!) for about 15 minutes.  The medicine seems to be helping you eat, and the spitting up is slowly getting better.  We're hoping that starting cereal will help you sleep longer and keep some of that food down!

You wear a size 2 diaper and mostly 3-6 month clothes.  The weather has been so nice lately and it's been fun to get out some of your cute summery outfits.  Of course, you look precious in absolutely everything.  Oh, and your hair is finally starting to come in more on top!

We went to the doctor last week and here are your latest stats:
-Weight: 14 lbs, 13 oz- 75%
-Length: 26 inches- 96%
Looks like we've got another tall, skinny kiddo on our hands!

You are my precious sunshine, the happy spot in my day. 

I love you forever-
Mommy

apathy

"Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse... Live in harmony with one another... Do not repay anyone evil for evil.  If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone..." Romans 12:14-18

Our pastor has been preaching out of Romans 12 for quite some time.  I have to be honest, I've never given much thought to the powerful words spoken in this chapter after the more well-known first two verses.  But these sermons have been rocking my world, particularly in the area of loving my enemies.

There are some things in my life that have wounded me deeply... some "enemies" that I felt I was doing a pretty good job of loving.  I didn't feel any intense hatred or anger towards them.  I thought I was in a pretty good place in regards to the circumstances surrounding these hurts.  That's all the Lord really expects from me, right?  And then these words stopped me in my tracks.

"Apathy is another, highly dangerous, form of bitterness..."

You see, the command the Lord gives us is to LOVE our enemies.  It's not enough to simply not hate them.  The bible tells us to do good to the ones who have hurt us.  To treat them the way we ourselves desire to be treated.  And that, my friends, is so much harder than just ignoring them and letting that be enough.

So as I've prayed through these verses and mulled over these words, the command I have felt most compelled to obey is one that, at first glance seems simple... pray for my enemies.  But let me tell you- these are hands down some of the hardest prayers I have ever prayed.  As I have spent time praying for these individuals by name, asking the Lord to bring good to their families and their lives... to BLESS them, my heart has begun to change.

Am I there yet?  Not even close.  But as the days have gone by, I find myself praying those prayers a little less grudgingly, with a little more sincerity.  I've found that as I pray for them, layers of hurt (most of which I didn't even realize were there) have begun to peel away.  I'm feeling freer these days, like a weight is being lifted from weary shoulders.

my two children

Before Lucy, any time I thought of having a second baby, my biggest fear was how could my heart possibly feel the same about another child.  I looked at John Mark and my heart felt like it would burst from the love I felt for him.  I couldn't imagine that I would ever look at another baby the same way.

And then I took the test that changed it all.  Suddenly, another baby was in the picture, and I felt my heart growing.  Turns out there was, in fact, room in my heart to love a second person with that same intense, heart bursting love. 

For a long time, I worried about John Mark and how his heart would handle having a baby sister.  Watching him love her has opened up this whole new level in my heart.  He loves his baby sister so much... so, so, so much.  It's one of my favorite things to watch him love her.

And now that miss Lucy has waltzed in and stolen our hearts completely, I can't imagine life without her.  Our family never felt incomplete without her, but it's a whole new kind of completeness now that she's here.  Having two kids is one of my life's greatest blessing.

Lucy Kate- month 3

Sweet Lucy girl-

Today you are THREE months old.  Where oh where have the months gone?  I was holding your sweet cousin last night and thinking to myself- how is it possible that just three short months ago this was YOU.

You weigh approximately 14 pounds (this is per the oh so accurate bathroom scale method!).  We've moved you up to a size 2 diaper and packed away those sweet tiny clothes.  You're in mostly 3-6 month clothes.

You've got quite the personality.  You are very expressive (read: LOUD) when you're upset about things.  In fact, you are even known to look the person holding you in the eye and yell louder when things aren't going your way.  Hopefully you'll just get all this out now as a baby... ha!

 Today you gave me your first great big belly laugh!  You've given us little giggles here and there, but this was the first true laugh.  It was so sweet and unexpected that my eyes welled up with tears.  My new goal is to catch it on video, which basically guarantees that you won't do it again for at least another week. :)

 This month we made several visits to the doctor and have finally put you on Zantac for acid reflux.  After a solid two weeks of screaming, crying and puking, I think we've finally turned a corner.  Your spitting up is in much smaller quantities, and you're happily eating the full amount of time.  Mommy is most relieved.

 I love you precious one, and I can't wait to see what the next month holds.

Love-
Mommy

the first tooth

A week ago, when JM got in the car from school he was so excited to show me his very first loose tooth.  That moment made me want to cry.  Losing teeth seems like such a big kid thing to do... I mean, shouldn't he still be my baby waiting to GET these teeth?  Time goes entirely too fast, I tell you!

 Today he got in the car with plastic tooth around his neck.  He jumped in and yelled "MOM!  My tooth fell out today during brain break!"

Part of me is sad that I didn't actually get to be there when the tooth came out.  Part of me is relieved... the thought of pulling a tooth kind of grosses me out... in fact, taking the tooth out of the necklace was enough contact with a tooth for me.

I think we'll leave the tooth pulling for daddy... I was never a fan of getting my own teeth pulled anyway!

be the center

"Oh, Christ be the center of our lives
Be the place we fix our eyes...

Four years ago this weekend we sang that song after accepting the call work with Middle School students at Henderson Hills Baptist Church.

Four years later, we sang this song in our new church home.  Last night my eyes filled with tears as I sang these words that have meant so much to me.

"You hold everything together...
You hold everything together..."

Those simple words have held such a profound truth for me throughout the journey of the past four years.  There have been amazing highs, greater joy than I could ever have hoped to experience.  There have been days that were exceedingly difficult and hurts that I couldn't on my own bear.

Through every step of the way, there was one constant... the One Who never changed or let me down.  My Jesus was there in the sunlight and in the shadows.  He is the One who goes before and goes behind.  He is the God who sees me.  He is the voice calling to me in the desert, beckoning me to follow hard after Him.  He is the One who holds everything together.

"And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together." Colossians 1:17

Valentine's Day 2012

I love Valentine's Day. Call me cheesy, or silly... but I love a day dedicated to telling those you love how much you love them.

Micah and I went out on Friday night to celebrate.  We went to dinner at Caffe Pronzo, then got dessert at Cuppies and Joe.  It was our first time to go out alone since Lucy was born.  We had a fabulous evening, talking and laughing.  It's always nice to spend an evening as a couple, not just mommy and daddy!

We started our Valentine's day with a pan-a-cake puff breakfast. It was yummy and fun to eat breakfast all together.  Mornings are usually rushed around our house, so it was nice to sit down together and start the morning with the ones I love.

After school, the kids and I went to Papa Murphy's to pick up a heart-shaped pizza and to Eileen's to pick up sugar cookies for dessert. When Micah got home from work, we ate our picnic in the living room and watched JM's valentine present- Star Wars the Clone Wars.

After the kids were in bed, Micah and I stayed up talking about Valentine's days past.  It's amazing how much we've grown and changed in the 9 Valentines we've had together.

It was the perfect kind of valentine's day- celebrating the ones I love most, doing the things we love.  I'm so blessed by these most precious gifts God has given to me.

family days

We've had some wonderful family filled weekends the past two weeks.  I had hopes and dreams of posting these a long time ago, but you know, life happens.  So here is a combined post with lots of pictures of our past two weekends with family.

A couple weekends ago, we visited my parents.  I always love going to my hometown and I especially love taking my kiddos.  Nothing makes me happier than to see how excited John Mark gets when we go to visit "Bebe and Poppy."  Even if he does get disappointed when Micah and I HAVE to go with him.

One of the reasons this is so important to me is that my grandparents were such a part of my life.  I love that my grandparents are getting to be a part of their little lives too.  I know they would go to the ends of the earth for all of us, and that is such a blessing.

This past weekend, my sister came to visit from Tulsa.  Her little boy, Wyatt, is 3 weeks older than Lucy.

Tiffany came over with Tanzi, and we had such a fun time playing together with all our babies.  I have such vivid memories of spending summers playing (and fighting, HA!) with Kim and Tiffany.  I hope our kids grow up as close as we were.

We are so blessed with our family.  And we get to see them all again this weekend, because Lucy's baby dedication is this weekend at church!