stop and think

for Christmas, my mom got us the book by francis chan 'crazy love'

i started reading it today while everyone is down for their naps (john and leila included)...and i am already humbled by this book

not enough, but it has already gotten me

in the first chapter he has you go to his website www.crazylovebook.com and watch the video 'just stop and think' (it's 15 min and awesome)...so i did

wow! the part that really got me is where he talks about God sending His One and Only Son to die for me...i never fully understood this until i had sophia

i started thinking about it a few months ago when my friend tirza brought up the topic of giving our kids up to God

to be fully honest, i don't know if i could give sophia up...i don't think i could be abraham with isaac

john and i didn't even wait long before we had sophia, it wasn't hard for us to get pregnant...God blessed us there too

but to be asked to give sophia up for the worst of the worst, i couldn't do it, i couldn't

and to realize that God did exactly that...WOW! He sent Jesus to die for me! who slaps Him in the face daily and turns my back on Him

He still did it though; God knew that He would get slapped and rejected and made fun of, but He still sent Jesus to die for me

how humbling...thank you God for loving me that much

Christmas time

you know how you tell your parents something and in their love and excitement they don't listen? well that was my parents this Christmas :)

we told them that since we have a small house (with little to no storage space) and sophia could care less about presents right now, we don't need much for her (if anything)

i mean, to be honest john and i didn't get her anything...i know, we're horrible parents

but sophia got lots of things...clothes (which are so cute!), shoes, hats, a stuffed puppy that plays music, etc., a pelican that tells her numbers, shapes, and colors in french/spanish/english (this i did ask for), ornaments...and the list goes on and on and on

at least we know our little girl is loved-a LOT :)

so thank you to nanna myra, poppy, nanna cate, papa mark, papa lee, all the aunts and uncles, great-aunts/uncles, and great-grandparents...sophia now has more things than she could possibly think to do with (in fact, we call her exersaucer her 'harem of toys' right now)

travelin man

these last few weeks have been LONG-in both good and bad ways

we traveled from the 18th to the 24th to south carolina to see my family and friends...it was great to see people! seeing old friends and their kids/families was awesome!

we got to see all my dad's brothers and grandpa t...that was fun and seemed to encourage my grandpa (his alzheimer's is getting worse :( )

then we went over to florence, south carolina to see my mom's family

we got to see everyone on that side except uncle mike and his kids :( but it was great to see everyone else!!!

then we made it home in a one day LONG stretch...sophia was fine until we hit indianapolis (about 2 1/2 - 3 hours from home) then she really lost it about 15 min from home and NOTHING would pacify her :( poor little one! but a 12 hour stretch was impressive for her

the bad part was sophia started teething while on our trip...which has gotten more intense over the past few days resulting in crankiness, diarrhea, and harder nap times

but good news, i think she is back to sleeping through the nite! oh i missed that!

sophia-1, mommy-0

you know those times you really work hard at getting your kid all cute and adorable? because you know that tons and tons of people are going to be seeing them??? well, today was one of those days...we are in aiken, south carolina to see all my family and friends

first time for sophia and first time since our wedding for john

anyway, i got a really cute dress for sophia and had her all dressed up

i even waited until the very LAST minute to dress her in case she spit up

so we walk into church as it's getting ready to start, say hi to a very few people, take out seats, and during the second song, sophia poops out her diaper all down john's hands!!!

of course this would happen this way! then i had to change her into the back-up outift that was just cute pants and onesie (still cute because it's sophia but still, not the dress)

anyway, i'm not sure if it was sophia telling me she didn't like her outfit or God telling me it doesn't matter what my kid wears, or what...but score one sophia!

and everyone did still love her...and it was great to see everyone here in aiken!

and the 50 degree weather didn't hurt either :)

5 months!!!

so my little girl is 5 months old...well, in about 7 hours she will be

man, these past 5 months have flown by! i never believed people, but now i do!

she is growing too...about 16 pounds and 25 inches (rough measurements since she was not happy when nanna myra was trying to do this to her)

she loves her exersaucer (or as tirza calls it 'the big plastic thing'...which is so true)

she can see people now and definitely recognizes john and i as special :)

she may be teething soon...anything that comes close to her mouth, or within reach to shove into her mouth, goes into her mouth; she's drooling, and a little clingy/fussy...we'll see

she can almost sit up by herself but not quite there

she loves to talk and talk and talk, and be naked too

still battling the not pooping more than every 5 days...i'm content b/c she seems to be content but others are not...so we'll see what happens

this morning i found sophia not in the middle of the crib where i put her the night before but over against one of the sides

thankfully there is nothing in the crib with her and the bumpers are breathable...but she's moving

in fact, sunday night we were at a small group gathering and sophia was in her carseat, on top or a blanket, while we were eating

all of a sudden, i hear someone laughing and look over...sophia has been planting her feet and arching her back to the point that the only thing left in the carseat (which was now tilted in the air) was her head and shoulders...which she thought was awesome!

guess she can't be unsupervised at all anymore! but i love it!

each day brings something new, and causes me to love her that much more!

laughter

you always hear 'laughter is the best medicine' and so many studies have been done to prove this theory...or at least how laughing daily helps to decrease your stress, which in turn helps your blood pressure, heart rate, etc

and it's true; laughing is so much fun and does make you feel happier all around

we had our small group party today/tonight

john, sophia, and i are so blessed to have this small group

we have learned, grown, cried, worked, and laughed with these people for the past 2 years

it has been an awesome journey!

this year, we decided as a small group to adopt a family through our local combined community services (which helps coordinate services to the community by local churches instead of each church trying to do its own thing all the time...awesome concept!)

so we collected money, got wish lists from our family, split up at wal-mart, shopped, bugged the poor cashier lady who had to swipe every bill we gave her to make sure it wasn't fake (yes, we paid all cash :) ), wrapped the presents, ate GOOD food, then had a white elephant/yankee swap game

it's always fun to see what people will bring to white elephant gift exchanges

this year included some tacky decorating signs, a drew carey bobble head, a laser pointer, leopard print cappuchino cups, elephant skin, and a home made mouse catcher...we laughed the entire time!

and what's even cooler is to look back on a year ago when we did this same thing...we had 10 couples, one baby, and three babies on the way

this year we have 8 couples, 3 babies, and 2 babies on the way

it is so much fun to experience life with these couples (i should probably say families now :) )...and it's even more fun to laugh with them!

oh ye of little faith

so lately i have been worrying more than usual

i guess i've told myself it's ok because i'm a new mom, i've cut back on work substantially (which means cut back on pay), i have new responsibilities at work and home, etc

well, i have no excuses

i know i worry and it's not right

i need to trust God more

and He's been proving that to me over and over again lately

a few quick examples:

-our van

first off, God blessed us by practically giving us this van; see my grandpa taylor has alzheimer's and had been saying last Christmas 'sometimes i just want to take my keys and go driving'

not a good idea when he has forgotten most things already; so his sons (including my dad) decided the van should probably be taken away...so we bought it...huge blessing from God because it was in great shape and cheap

well, it started acting up recently...we took it in and what we thought was a few hundred dollars problem at the most turned out to be over a grand and it needed more fixes if we were going to drive it far...like driving it to South Carolina this Christmas

unfortunately my grandpa's alzheimer's has gotten worse and he's been very upset lately about whoever took his van from him...so we can't drive it and risk him seeing it...thank you God for this blessing in disguise

-our dishwasher

about two months ago our dishwasher took a poop

we have been fixing up our house and most of our appliances are black...except for the dishwasher and fridge, but both work fine so why replace them?

when the dishwasher broke, i told myself we didn't need one, and we didn't

but God knew i wanted one...and my parents went above and beyond and surprised me for Christmas and my birthday and bought me a black one...one john and i had looked at :)

thanks God!

-our stove

then about a week after the new dishwasher was installed, i tried to bake a pumpkin roll (for work) and banana bread (for fun)

after the oven had been at 375 degrees for an hour, i noticed it didn't seem very hot...in fact, i could touch the oven racks...not a good sign

we called a place that said if we brought it to them it would be, at the cheapest, $100...if they came here, well over that

well, i kind of need an oven...so we asked dad to take a peek at it...he didn't have any ideas either

except that idea that someone in their church fixes ovens for a living

he came over today, after being at his real job all day, looked at the oven, told us that what the store on the phone had thought it would be wasn't the actual problem...looks like instead of a few hundred dollars, it's about a $12 part! amazing!

God, You are awesome! thank You for providing every step of the way!

these are moments i need to see more often...because i know they happen more than i realize!

just when you think...

just when you think you know what you're doing, your child decides to show you you're not

i have been trying to get sophia on a routine--eat, wake for a bit, sleep for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, wake, eat, and so on and so forth

she has fought the length of the naps sometimes...but nothing like today

her first nap, she slept for 2 hours without making a peep...tricked me here

then the second nap, she was up within an hour and SCREAMING...she continued to do so for about 25 min before i finally picked her up and changed her diaper

back to bed only to cry for another 15 min before i just finally picked her up and went on with the day

then after her 4 pm feeding, she did the same exact thing...of course this time while i am in the middle of baking and my oven decided to take a poop

so i rushed to mom's, baked my goods, let them play with sophia for a bit, then came home

she ate like usual and went to bed...only to scream and scream and scream

so i tried to change her outift, her diaper...which i even moved up a notch to help her fat little thighs have some extra breathing room...burped her more, tried to feed her again

and then the same exact thing when i put her down again...angry screaming

so i tried feeding her for a third time...which she did for almost an hour and then FINALLY fell asleep

maybe she was just suckling for comfort, i'm not sure, but she finally fell asleep after that

i am scared she may be teething...anything that comes near her little hands goes straight into her mouth...and she gnaws on it like there's no tomorrow

who knows...but everytime i think i have this child figured out and a routine down, she has to show me who's boss...or at least that i'm not

guess she's just God's built in humility lesson for me