Blessings from Above

I love how God is interested in the details of our lives. He's always there for the big things, but He also notices the little things. I'm sure there are many times that He works in my life, and I'm too busy to recognize it. But this week I saw two things happen, and I want to share them with you all. They aren't huge miracles or anything, but they are still great nonetheless.

We bought Matthew an exersaucer last week for $50. A couple days later my uncle sent us a $50 check for a baby gift. How awesome is that :)

Last night we put the humidifier in our room because the air is so dry. It's small, so we set it on the dresser. As we were trying to sleep, I couldn't for some reason. I kept tossing and turning, and eventually I heard this drip noise. At first I thought it was a watch ticking, and I asked Josh, and he said, "Oh, that's just the humidifier." Then he must have woken up more, cause he said next, "But the question is, why is the humidifier making that noise?" We turned on the light and discovered that the noise I heard was a drippping noise. The humidifier had leaked and we heard the dripping on the carpet. Who knows what kind of damage would have happened if it had done that all night.

And now I have a sweet story about me and Matthew. This morning I prepared Matthew for his morning nap. I put him up on my shoulder and rocked him in the rocking chair, and usually he squirms and pushes away until I hold him baby style. Which then starts some crying cause he likes to fights his naps. Today was different. He stayed on my shoulder. I was singing to him, and he moved his head back and forth to settle in, and he was asleep in about 5 minutes. I wanted to freeze that moment in time and stay like that forever. Those special cuddle times are fleeting, but I'm so glad I got one today :)

Getting Better

Matthew is on the mend. His cough still sounds loaded and phlegmy, but he's in good spirits and he keeps us laughing as usual. These last few days he's had no interest in eating his solid food. And I guess it was because he was sick. He had no problem nursing--I guess he enjoyed the comfort that came with it. Anyway, he seems to be getting back to liking his highchair and the baby food that comes with it, so it's all good. Ok, get ready for some pics and vids...

This is what he thinks of green beans.


Having fun in his crib

Playing with his musical aquarium

Trying out his new exersaucer

Lookin' sweet with his Daddy

Posing for the camera

String of drool!

We went to a wedding this weekend, and we weren't sure how Matthew would be, but he was totally fine during the ceremony. Plus is helped that it was a short ceremony, so he didn't have time to get upset or annoyed or whatever it is that babies do. He did well at the reception too. It was in the church's gymnasium, and he enjoyed looking at all the lights and all the people. I fed him a bottle while we were there, which essentially took a whole hour for him to eat. Yeah, you could say he was distracted.

What a pretty cake.


And I loved the cake topper.


Matthew having fun with Grammy.


And today was Sunday, Old-Fashioned Sunday at our church. We dressed up old-fashioned (or casual--I was in a jean skirt and plaid shirt, adorned with pigtails for the whole effect), and we had food and fellowship after the morning service, with no evening service. Matthew was totally wiped out from being there so long and not having a morning nap. He also got stepped on in the nursery by one of the toddlers. Needless to say he was not a happy camper at that moment. I made truffles for the fellowship, and they turned out pretty good. People liked them, but they were very messy to make, so I don't think I'll be making them again.

It's really boring to be at home on Sunday nights. We're so used to being at church that we took a trip to Wal-mart just so we had something to do. We looked at the Christmas stuff (we love to do that), but we did go with a purpose too. We got Matthew some more socks (hopefully these won't fall off his feet every 5 minutes) and we also bought him a couple pairs of shoes (to keep those feet warm when we take him outside)


Aren't they cute? The sneakers have Thomas the Tank Engine on the sides (Josh's favs) and I loved the brown ones, so we sprung for both. Oh, and guess what size they are...4! He probably doesn't need 2 pair, cause I'm sure he doesn't care if his shoes match his outfit, but this way if we lose a shoe, we've got a back-up pair and don't need to run out and get new ones right away.

Alright, I think I'm done babbling. Thanx for listening! (or reading, whatever) :)

Baby's First Cough

Well, I like to watch Matthew achieve milestones and all, but when it comes to sickness, I wish he didn't have to go through those. Last night around midnight we heard him cough in his sleep and it almost sounded like gagging. We rushed in there in less than a second it seemed, and he was alright. Stirring in his crib, but not in the life-threatening situation that we thought. And this morning he's congested and has this little raspy cough :( His temperment hasn't changed--he's still acting energetic and happy (though I expect him to be a little more fussy than usual), but I just feel so bad for him when he coughs. I mean, even though he's a big boy, he's still a baby, and when he coughs his whole body is involved, you know what I mean? It looks like it takes so much effort to get that cough out. I might call the doctor today, just to see what he says to do for him. I just hope this passes quickly. You know what's gonna be so much fun today? Using that nasal aspirator, or the booger sucker, as my sister-in-law calls it. He's much more resistant to it now that he's older and stronger, and I won't have an extra set of hands until Josh gets home from work. Just one of the perks of being a mommy I guess :)

Yesterday Josh had the day off work for Veteran's Day, so it was nice to spend time together as a family. He slept in (much needed), and then he made eggs for us for breakfast. Matthew took a 2-hour nap before lunchtime, and then we drove up to Josh's parent's house for the afternoon. Matthew had lots of fun with his Grampa, his Grammy, and his two aunts. We even took him out in the leaves for some pictures, but he didn't enjoy them as much as we thought he would. Maybe because it was cold? Anyway, here are some pictures of the event.

It's funny, they almost have the same expression on their face.


Yuck! What is this stuff?! Take me out, take me out!!


Huh? What do you call these? Leaves? What kind of a name is that?

I don't know about these, they feel kinda weird. (don't you love his little hat?)

Mom, it's cold, and you stuck me in some crunchy junk, and now you want me to smile?

Ok Mom, I'll touch a leaf one more time. Then will you guys take me in?

I've got some videos of us feeding him the other day, but I'll post those later. I need to tend to my sick son, and do some laundry. I had him in the crib while I was in the shower, and when I went to change his diaper, I found that some of his messiness was on the sheet. Yuck!

Baby's First Fever

After seven months of health and wellness, I guess Matthew was overdue for a sick day. Last night he was acting pretty normal. Kinda whiny, cause he was tired and ready for bed. I did our routine, which is changing him into his PJs and then I nurse him before bed so he's got a full tummy all night. As I was feeding him, I noticed he wasn't really into it cause he was on the verge of falling asleep. He looked so sweet with eyelids drooping and yawning every minute. I was tempted to rock him to sleep, since he was so willing and not interested in putting up a fight, but I laid him in his crib anyway. And he went to sleep like a good little boy. This was around 9:15pm. Josh and I were in bed by 10pm.

We heard him wake up three times before midnight, which is very unusual. I was gonna go in and feed him, since he didn't eat like he normally does before bed, but I waited to see if he'd put himself to sleep. And he did, which was great, but then he kept waking up, so I knew something was different. On the third time I heard him, I decided to go in and feed him so we could all get some sleep. I put my hand on his chest to let him know I was there before I flipped a light on, and he felt really warm through his clothes. Then I put my hand on his forehead, and this kid was so hot. I'd never felt him this warm before, so I got Josh out of bed to help me. Poor Josh, he was almost in dreamland, and I interrupted.

Josh took his temperature, and it read 100.3. I mentally froze for a moment. I knew that I'd read what to do when your baby has a temperature, but I couldn't for the life of me bring it to mind. I guess I was in mini-panic mode, since he's never even had a slight fever from shots or anything. It's a good thing Josh was there, cause he said, "Well, give him some Tylenol." Oh yeah, duh! I thought to myself. So I gave him the medicine while Josh went online to see when a temperature deserves a call to the doctor. Fortunately, Matthew's wasn't high enough for that, so we knew a little nursing would relax him back to sleep. Josh went to bed, and I stayed with Matthew for a while after. He wasn't very interested in eating. He just squirmed and whined. I could tell he was uncomfortable and tired, and my body heat probably didn't help him feel cool at all. But eventually he gave in and went to sleep. I think we heard him one more time a couple hours later, but he fell back asleep on his own.

And this morning I took his temp again and he's back to normal, 97.7. He's always been below 98.6. I'll still check him throughout the day to see if it comes back, but I'm sure it won't.

Almost Gross Friday

Ok, so when we were in college, Josh and I and a specific group of friends would always eat lunch together on Fridays. We'd usually get pizza or chicken strips and dip them in Ranch dressing. Everything tasted better with Ranch dressing. So the group consisted of mostly guys, with the exception of me and another girl (both girlfriends of someone at the table, which explains why we were there and continued to eat there after I tell you more). And the special thing about Friday was that it was called Gross Friday. Why? Cause the guys would always end up telling stories and talking about gross things. And if it was too inappropriate in front of mixed company, they would always ask me and this girl to fill up their iced tea drinks. But despite the refills, we heard some pretty nasty stories. And I say all that to say this: I know it's Thursday, but I've got two gross stories for you. You've been warned...

Last night Josh was changing Matthew's diaper before bed, and I was in the room getting his PJs ready (Matthew's PJs, not Josh's). And it was a dirty diaper, nothing huge, but still needed to be thoroughly cleaned. I turned on the overhead light so he could make sure he cleaned everything, and I hear him say this:

"Wait a minute, what's this?"

I turned to see what he was talking about, and he was in the process of pulling out a long dark hair from Matthew's butt! It didn't get caught in his diaper from the last time I changed him--it was literally coming out of him. So as much as I vacuum and try to keep the floor clean, apparently I missed a hair that Matthew swallowed.

Story number 2 surprisingly deals with number two ;). I just changed Matthew's diaper, and his solid food is finally taking affect. It was thick and dark and smelled like bananas. How nasty is it to smell something sweet that you'd normally want to eat, yet it still smells disgusting cause it came from a dirty diaper?

If you've been totally grossed out, I have no pity on you. It's your fault for reading.

Election Results

Well, we all now know that Senator Barack Obama is the president-elect, or elect-president, however they word it. Not my first choice, and certainly not even my second choice, but I keep reminding myself that the Lord is in control, and we have nothing to fear for that very reason. It just means we need to pray even more for our country and the leaders in charge of it. My husband called me today with some good news. Three states had a same-sex marriage ban issues/propositions proposed, and they all passed! Whoo-hoo!

And life is good in our little apartment. Yesterday Matthew took a 2-hour nap, and today he took a 2 1/2 hour nap :). Now I will admit that he didn't fall asleep on his own, but the good thing is that I didn't nurse him to sleep. He used to demand that of me, but I didn't like it, cause he would only nurse a little while and fall asleep before getting a full feeding in, and then if he woke up after 45 minutes he wouldn't stop crying until I fed him again. So nursing to sleep throws him off a schedule of sorts. And besides, he has his days where nursing to sleep doesn't work, so then the day is shot. I managed to get him to sleep just by rocking him in the rocking chair. And it wasn't a huge, drawn-out battle either. Both times he's been asleep within 15 minutes with little protest. Now I don't know if this trend will catch on with him, but I really hope we can stick to this. Cause the whole "teaching him to fall asleep on his own by crying it out" hasn't worked for nap time, so I'm happy if he gets a nap in, even if it means I have to rock him to sleep. Yes, he's still dependent on me to settle down and sleep, but he knows he's not going to nurse, so I'm happy about that. And he's a complete angel for bedtime too. That hasn't been an issue in a while.

It's been a great day. A sleeping child, the shining sun, the 70-degree weather (yes, I said 70, and I'm not lying either)--I think we'll go on a walk and enjoy the spring-in-November air before it disappears for good.

Food News

So Matthew's been doing pretty good with his baby food. At 6 months old I fed him solids once a day, for dinner. Then when he turned 7 months old, I added another meal in, lunch. He doesn't always open his mouth very wide when he sees the spoon coming, and often he tries to suck the food off the spoon. He also likes to "help" us feed him. He tries to grab the spoon and put it in his mouth. Which is nice in theory, but it only adds to the mess. Cause he slides his hand down the spoon and gets the food all over his fingers. He's recently been holding our hand instead of the spoon, but he still tries to direct the spoon to his mouth, which again makes a mess. I know I know, it's supposed to be messy at the beginning, but it's still gross! Oh, and I try to hold his hands down, but I can usually only get one out of the way, which is why one ends up on the spoon or my hand.

Anyway, I wouldn't call him a hearty eater. He just eats what we give him, almost like he's doing it to appease us. He doesn't reject anything, but he's not in love with any of the foods either. But just the other day I think we hit a turning point. I got him all set up in his highchair, and I mixed prunes and rice cereal for him to eat (he'd never had prunes at this point). So I gave him a little taste, and he didn't even make a face. Then it was like I couldn't feed him fast enough. He was leaning his head forward just to get the food to his mouth sooner. I'm telling you, this kid ate at hyper-speed. I had mixed a lot by accident, thinking there would be leftovers, but he ate it all! And even after that, he still nursed his regular amount. Oh, prunes smell gross, by the way, but that didn't seem to stop him :) So, because he ate so fast and helped me feed him, there were prunes everywhere! On his forehead, on the highchair seat...so naturally I grabbed the camera before operation: clean-up. He graced me with this lovely face...




And here's come pics of him on the bed again.


As you can see from this picture, he grabbed his foot and wanted to play with it.

And lastly, a video. This is funny to me, cause he's recently discovered that this hanging puppy is fun and makes noise. So he kept pulling on it over and over and was so pleased with himself.

One more thing, if anyone has an economical way to clean up a baby, please share the info with me. I seem to go through so many wipes or paper towels, but I can't think of a better way to clean him up. Ok, I'm done now. Bye!

Don't Rock the Boat, Give Him Your Vote

I'd like to take a moment to deviate from my normal topics. This blog is usually about my little boy, but right now there's something more important to talk about. Tomorrow is election day, your chance to vote. Your opportunity to make your voice heard and to pick a candidate that will stand for the things you believe in. The man we put into office will run this country for the next 4, and maybe even 8, years. He will propose and veto bills. He will defend and oppose certain organizations. Every decision he makes while in office will affect our nation positively or negatively.

So who do you want to see moving into the White House? Do you want a president that will defend the proper and Biblical definition of marriage? Or perhaps you want a president that will work to increase government control of health care. There are so many issues at stake, and it would take so much time to discuss them. I urge you to look at the facts.

If you are planning to vote for Barack Obama, please look again at his promises and proposals. Look past his eloquence to see what he's really saying. For example, he thinks America should have a Civilian National Security Force. Folks, do you know what that is? This force can sit in the pews of our churches and let the government know when our pastors preach against homosexuality so that they can be arrested for such talk. Kinda sounds like the communist countries, don't you think?

John McCain may not be the perfect candidate, but he's got more of a moral spine than Obama. He's the better candidate, and his running mate is a strong woman who will stand up for her beliefs without apology. Together they will fight against abortion bills and the ban on offshore drilling.

There's a spiritual battle going on, and I don't think we realize how crafty Satan really is. He doesn't barge in and take over all at once. It's a slow, sneaky process to keep Christians from recognizing his influence. This election is extremely important, and the result will determine how much more damage he can inflict upon America. Our nation is blessed and protected by God, but if we keep ignoring His commandments and making allowances for sin, then we will be punished.

Lord, help us make the right decision. Put the man in office that you can use for your glory. Let us be bold in our beliefs and stand on your Word. Let us not turn our back on You.