A weekend of firsts!!!

So this weekend was a very BUSY weekend full of firsts in our family! It was SO exhausting but SO fun :) First of all, it was Nick's FIRST full weekend off in a looooooooong time. He almost always works on Saturdays, but not this weekend! Tommy stayed the night at my mom's on Friday night, so we got to sleep the whole night and even slept in a little bit the next morning. It was SO nice! My mom brought Tommy home around 9am and we all loaded up to go watch my CRAZY sister and her equally crazy boyfriend go skydiving for the first (and hopefully last) time!

Before the jump--nervous but excited!

Their shady plane that somehow fit FOUR people!

I gotta say, when I was younger, I had a zest for crazy, scary thing. But the older I get, the more I have to lose and the less I want to do things that could potentially kill me. Roller coasters make me nauseous (as do big hills we drive over) and just WATCHING her and Michael flying up to jump made my heart beat accelerate. How lame am I? It was so scary to watch them jump! They were so small it was almost impossible to see them.    

Brooke

Michael

I had to use my SUPER zoom lens to be able to even make out where they were. It was kind of cloudy anyways, but I truly thought that they were just specs of lint on my lens until they started falling fast enough that I realized that was them. Those pictures are when they FINALLY got a little closer to the ground. I thought when they landed they would be SUPER pumped and energetic, but I think they were both in so much shock that their reaction was actually really funny!

When Michael landed, he just let out a little laugh and kept looking around.

When Brooke landed, she looked like a scared little kitten. She didn't say a WORD for like 5 minutes and looked breathless for a long time :)

Happy to be alive!

Certified jumpers!

After their skydiving adventure, me, Nick, Tommy, Whitney and my mom went car shopping for my mom. Her car just broke down and she's been desperately trying to find a new one with no luck :( Me, Whit and Tommy stayed in the car the whole time while mom and Nick went in and tried to play hardball. I hate car shopping and was SO glad we weren't looking for one for us!

After car shopping, we went to Rusty and Becky's house for Easter. It was bittersweet because I LOVE getting together with our family and our Easter tradition, but it was hard to be at Becky's house and her not be there. I think the day turned out well overall, but there was definitely a hint of sadness in the air. Easter was her big shindig and she always had so much fun planning and reminding us of the Easter egg hunt rules. She is sorely missed, that's for sure, but on Easter especially, we were reminded that while we miss her down here, she is praising her Savior on the streets of Heaven!!

Tommy participated in his vey first "Junior Division" of the egg hunt! Let me tell you, he was just SOOO excited........yeah. 

He was more interested in putting his legs IN his Easter basket rather than finding the eggs. Imagine that at only 3 months old :)

We left their house around 7pm and headed home. Mom got to go to bed early and daddy put Tommy to sleep. That was such a nice treat! I think I got a full 7 hours of sleep! It was awesome!!

The next morning, we woke up and tried to get ready for church on time---yeah right. At least we tried :) I got distracted and spent a lot of time with Tommy because he did another first. He rolled over!!! From his back to his tummy. It was SO awesome. I knew I was a proud momma, but I truly almost cried when he did it. A little extreme? Maybe. But it was SO exciting!! I got Tommy the CUTEST little suit, but we had some baby drama because Nick thought it was stupid and that Tommy didn't like it and my thought was that Tommy has no idea what he's wearing and doesn't care. But whatever--really a trivial thing on Easter Sunday. He looked like a little stud muffin!

It might just be me, but I see a future movie star here

Do you think he's getting really tired of pictures?!?

He was SO good during church. He sat on Nana's lap most of the time and just watched everything going on around him. Towards the end of the service, he did the usual and fell asleep :) I love cuddling my sweet boy and listening to the word of God being preached. Nothing better.

After church, we ran to Nana's really fast and opened his Easter baskets. He got a playmat from Nana and about 4 outfits from Aunt Brooke. Mommy LOVED his presents.....and so did he, I'm sure :) And whenever you're at Nana's, you have to fit in a family portrait of course.

Then we headed home to do a quick costume change (AKA--get comfortable) so we could head to the raft for the Wilhelm Easter party. It was kind of chilly, so we bundled up. Once we got there, we had ANOTHER huge meal (I feel like we ate all weekend and only came up for short breaths in between bites). Tommy pretty much chilled in his stroller the whole time and then once again..........fell asleep.

cute baby

After a few hours of visiting, we went home. I was in the kitchen cutting up some strawberries and he was once again talking up a storm. So I went over there and was tickling his chubby little legs and he let out his FIRST full blown baby laugh!!! It was the CUTEST thing I have ever heard!! It brought tears to my eyes. Talk about making a joyful noise unto the Lord!! I could only get him to do it a few times and he quit as soon as I hollered for Nick to come and bring the camera (of course).  But it was SO awesome to hear his sweet little grunty laugh!

So this weekend was one of the busiest of my life, but so awesome and so rewarding. Thanks be to God for his blessings of family, food and friends!! Happy late Easter!

3 months old



Today, my sweet little baby boy is THREE MONTHS OLD!!! Holy smokes! Can it really be that he's been in our family for 3 months already? It seems like just yesterday he was born, but at the same time, it seems like he's been a part of my life forever! What did I do before I had a kid?!?!

Tommy, at 3 months old, you are doing SO much!!

*I weighed and measured you about a week ago and you were 15 1/2 lbs and 23 1/2 inches long!! Oh my, you're getting to be a big boy!

*You are in size 2 diapers. We have a few size ones that we are trying to squeeze you into just so they're not wasted, but it's not working too well!

*At night, right before bed, you eat one bottle that is almost always 6 oz and then when you wake up, you eat another 6 oz bottle. During the day, you eat 4-6 oz of formula every 3-4 hours.

*You are sleeping about 6 hours at night. You go to sleep between 9 and 10pm and wake up once usually between 3 and 4am. You eat and then immediately go back to sleep until about 7am. I am LOVING it!! Mommy is so much nicer when she gets sleep!

*You are wearing 3-6 month clothes. You still have some 0-3 that fit, but they're getting a little too short. The tummy part fits, but your body is long and I can barely get your 0-3 month onesies to snap!

*You have big ole monkey feet that you have recently discovered!! Your legs are constantly kicking. You have a bouncy chair you lay in that has toys that dangle over it and you're found that you can use your toes to hook one of the toys and pull the string!! Then it plays music and you love it!

*You have started letting us know how you REALLY feel :) Before this month, you only cried when you were hungry, needed a diaper change or were really tired. Now, you let us know when you're mad because we're not moving fast enough, you're hot, you want to sit up, etc. You had your very first MELT DOWN on April 9th at Kylie's birthday party. You were furious about something, but nothing Mom did helped! It was sad and frustrating because I felt helpless and you were HY-STER-I-CAL!!! You finally calmed down after about 20 minutes and I had taken you outside. I think maybe you were tired, hot and riled up by all the noise. Hope that NEVER happens again (although I'm sure it will!).

*You are smiling like crazy and it's the CUTEST thing!! You especially smile at your daddy a lot. It drives mom crazy because I'll work so hard for a smile and then dad come over and says, "Hi buddy!!" and BAM!! Instant smile. You're definitely going to be your daddy's boy. You watch him all the time and spend minutes at a time just looking at him and following him with your eyes every where he goes. But I LOVE those gummy grins you're giving out!

*You hold your head up really well! You still don't LOVE tummy time, but you tolerate it okay. You're getting stronger!!

*You have discovered your hands and are CONSTANTLY putting them in your mouth. Whenever there is a blanket or burp rag in your reach, you grab hold of it and it immediately goes to your mouth. I see future days of digging bugs, dirt, small toys and millions of other things out of your mouth.

*You love staying with your auntie Brooke!! I came home the other day and found you guys on the couch :) I have a feeling you do a lot of this, which is good since you're a growing boy! I'm glad you have such a good baby-sitter to stay with!

*You still have your little wrinkle in your ear. We thought it might smooth out, but it's still there! Mom's kind of glad because I think it's really cute :) Love those little ears!

*Your little mouth is SO cute!! Your lips seem to get bigger and bigger!! Especially when you fall asleep, they get all puckered up and are really cute :) I'm so glad that you're still little enough to fall asleep on mommy!

Tommy, you are your mommy's pride and joy! I can't believe you are already 3 months old. Oh how the time is passing WAAAAAAY too fast. I'm sad that you're already so big, but excited for all the fun things to come--crawling, walking, talking, laughing, your first 4th of July, 1st Christmas!! What an adventure you're going to take your mommy and daddy on!! I wish I could keep you little forever because it's easier to keep you safe, but I know God is going to take care of you ALL the time, even when mommy can't be there. You have made me realize how much I am capable of loving somebody and I thank God for bringing you into my life!! I love you sweet boy! 

The stoner or the stoned?

So I've been teaching youth group for about 1 1/2 years now. This Sunday, we did a lesson on John 8. It reads:

"At dawn, he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" They were using this question as a trap, in order to have basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kep questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

This passage in the Bible provokes a lot of thoughts for me and led to a decent discussion among the youth group. There are several points made and several point of views that can be seen here. Whenever I am studying a certain passage, I try to picture it happening in my head to help me grasp the actuality that this is not just a story, but something that really happened. As I was reading this, I pictured this HUGE crowd gathered around Jesus, dressed in their robes and 'Jesus' sandals :) When the passage talks about the woman that got brought to stand in the front of the crowd, I instantly pictured this really beautiful, brown skinned woman with long brown hair and lots of jewelry and nice robes. After that mental picture popped in my head, I started asking myself why. WHY did I instantly think of a gorgeous woman as the woman who was committing adultery? Often times in life, it's the most common of people that do things like this--people we would least expect. What if it was your best friend's mom or your cousin or the housewife down the street? I think a lot of times, we glamourize sinners for some stupid reason--maybe to remove ourselves from ever possibly being THAT person, THAT sinner because "normal" people don't do things like that and by golly, WE ARE NORMAL!!!! Right?? :) I started thinking about this woman and how she must have felt. I think sometimes when we read scripture, it's easy to see the evil and to point out the mistakes we shouldn't make. But just imagine how she felt. She was caught IN adultery. What if she was dragged to the town squares half dressed because they caught her in a man's bed? How embarrassed, ashamed, disappointed, disgusted she must have been with herself. What if her husband was in the crowd of people that was listening to Jesus and saw her being threatened with death for adultery? Talk about putting yourself in someone else's shoes. Slip on THOSE 'Jesus' sandals and remind yourself of times you've been caught doing wrong, because as "normal" as we are, we're not perfect. It's totally humbling. We can only thank God that we weren't corrected in front of hundreds of people and we recieved our forgiveness and God's grace quietly on our knees.


After the pharisees keep taunting Jesus about whether or not to stone the woman, the passage goes on to say that Jesus knelt down to the ground and started writing in the sand. It never says in the Bible WHAT He's writing and it makes me wonder. He stoops down to write 2 different times and after the second time He writes in the sand, it says the people started to walk away until Jesus was left standing there with only the woman. What do you think He was writing? What was so powerful that people looked at His words, dropped their stones and walked away? I like to think he was writing their sins, one by one, in the sand.....John--stole from the church, Lucas--lusted after your best friend's wife, Sarah--denied me in your darkest times, Ruth--committed adultery. Why are we so quick to pick up stones? Who do we think we are that WE have the right to judge someone for the way they live? The fact that the people who were getting ready to stone this woman were sinners themselves doesn't justify what she did. But it does reiterate the fact that for as "Christian" as we can claim to be, we are more than happy to stoop down, pick up the biggest rock we can find and hurl at people who's sins are dragged out for all to see. How many people do you think were in the crowd listening to Jesus talk and then walked away from Him to join the pharisees that were accusing this woman? Would you still be at Jesus' feet, ready and willing to learn, or would you be in the mob, practicing your fast pitch so your aim will be perfect when the stoning begins? Oh to be a fly on THAT wall--to be able to see what Jesus was writing and to be able to see the looks on their faces when THEY saw what he was writing. Have you ever been convicted like that? I have been and it's a horrible feeling.

The last thing I thought about this verse was about the very end where Jesus says, "Then neither do I condemn you." For a minute, I kind of thought, "Man, this woman got off scott free! Here she was, standing face to face with Jesus and being called out on her sin and she just gets to leave!" But then there's the second part of the verse that says, "Go now and leave your life of sin." Yes, Jesus does let her leave, but not before warning her to leave her sin behind her. Thank you God for your redeeming grace. He DOES forgive us and sometimes it seems like His forgiveness is like the 'Get out of jail FREE!!!' card in Monopoly. We're excused and pardoned from what we've done but then we turn around and do it again with the next roll of the dice. I have to admit, one day I was driving with my son in the car and singing Jesus Love Me and then I flipped someone during the 2nd round (hey, we're being honest, right?). How hypocrital of me. I was being a 'do as I say, not as I do' parent and that, my friends, is NOT how I WANT to be. So Jesus will forgive you, but when you're running like crazy to get away from Him before he changes His mind, He will throw a reminder at your back to leave your sin.

So today I challenge you to think long and hard. Are you the stoner or the stoned? Which would you RATHER be? I think I'd rather be stoned because yes, I may have sinned and been called out on it in front of people, but in the end, I am saved and redeemed. It seems the stoners in this story still have a lot of thinking and learning to do. I don't know if you've ever heard of the saying that you have to take up your cross daily. But know this friends, if you're taking up your cross daily, you have no hands left to hold onto your stones.

Tommy-boy



"Mooo-ooom!"

You KNOW I'm just like dad and I HATE having my picture taken!

This is getting reeeeeaaaalllly old.

I am going to pray for patience.........

because you're embarrassing me in front of my friends!

Please tell me you're almost done!!!

And now that I've smiled and been a good boy while you bug me to death.....

I'll tell you how I REALLY feel!!!

I saw Satan..........

• I saw Satan last weekend. I saw him and I stared him down in his digusting face. He reared his ugly head and attacked my mind until it felt like the rug had been swept out from underneath my feet. I have always heard that verse in the Bible, John 10:10-"The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy".......and man, is that true. Satan's goal in life is to kick us when we're down; to hurt is beyond what we ever thought possible.

• My aunt Becky has suffered from cancer for what seems like forever now. And when I use the term 'suffer,' I don't use it lightly. In my opinion, not a lot of people in the world TRULY suffer. People throw that word around without really thinking about the meaning. If we all suffered as much as we thought we did, then we would be much worse off than we truly are. Anyhow, I went to see my aunt at the hospital last Saturday. She had been admitted because her lungs were filling up with fluid. They drained off at least 2 liters and while it helped with her breathing a little bit, things just got progressively worse. I was mentally prepared for what I was going to see because my cousins had told us she was in a lot of pain. So when I got to the hospital with Tommy, Nick and my other cousin Whitney, I tried to turn my emotional switch off and focus on the fact that she's still alive. This is hard for me because I cry at the drop of a hat (especially ever since I've been pregnant--I'm sure some of you know how that goes), but nobody laying in a hospital bed for the 5th day in a row wants to see their family come in blubbering when I'm sure they're thinking, "What the hell are YOU crying about?!? You're not the one with cancer, losing their hair, depending on everybody to do everything, getting poked and prodded every 30 minutes, only being able to breathe with the assistance of oxygen, you selfish moron." That's what I would be thinking anyways :) Note to readers--if I ever get cancer, don't cry in my hospital room!

• When we finally got to her room, I wasn't shocked by what I saw. I had visited her a little earlier in the week and she looked about the same. Of course, it was nothing compared to what she usually looks like, but it hadn't changed much in the last few days. She had her feet sticking out of the end of the sheets and I remember commenting on her perfectly manicured bright pink nail polish :) That's my aunt Becky! She's the one always trying to pull things together in the middle of a catastrophe. We settled in for a few hours of visiting. It was just Becky, her two daughters and the three of us. We talked for awhile and she drifted in and out, throwing in her two cents every now and then. We somehow got on the subject of coupons and what was the best way to organize them. My cousin Darci was making fun of my cousin Cara because when they went Christmas shopping, Cara showed up with envelopes for each store they were going to with coupons inside. Written on the envelopes were the names of each item she was going to buy, how much it cost and if she had a coupon for it. I, personally, thought this was genius. Darci, however, thought it was insane (keep in mind, this is the cousin who thinks Cara is in competition with the Duggars because she already has 3 kids!). We thought Becky was sleeping during this conversation, but when the girls' discussion got a little louder, she perked up with a bit of coupon advice. She said, "Now girls, everyone has to do it their way and do whatever works best for them." Not a huge, eloquent speech and she fell back asleep immediately after saying it, but man did I feel like I had been sucker punched in the gut. When she said that, I started thinking about Becky and who she REALLY is. I don't know as much about her as I wish I did, but I do know some things that I will never forget. She really does do it her own way. Becky had Becky's way of walking, talking, organizing, motivating, decorating, loving, sharing, planning, cooking.........EVERYTHING about her was uniquely Becky! I always think of her sitting in a chair at the head of their table and twirling a piece of her hair around her finger while she's giving one of her speeches about SOMETHING she feels passionate about. She LOVED to get on her soap box, and I must say that I usually thoroughly enjoyed lending her a hand to step up on it. She could be quite entertaining when she was talking about something she loved, whether I agreed with it or not!

• When she said that and all those thoughts started flying, my emotional switch flipped back on. We left shortly after and I had driven seperately from everyone, so I had time to think on my drive back home. I have to admit that I got mad. I mean, REALLY mad. That verse about Satan coming to kill, steal and destroy just kept going through my mind, repeating over and over like a bad record. He comes to steal--steal her hair, her smile, her energy. He comes to kill--kill her joy, her happiness, her earthly body. He comes to destroy--destroy each member of her family, her health, her very life. WHY does God let that happen?!? I saw a women who had been a vibrant part of my life for all 26 of my years, a daughter for 55 years, a mother and a wife for over 30 years, an aunt for 29 years, a friend to many for 20+ years, a woman who was strong and healthy--slowly wasting away in one of the most painful ways possible. Why does God let suffering happen? WHY???? My drive home was a long one and it made me sad and scared and tired. I kept thinking about my uncle and cousins. What do you do with your life when your wife just can't.........just can't BE anymore? How do you exist when your mother isn't around to give you advice or soothe your nerves or hold your hand? It just doesn't seem fair.

• I thought on this a lot and just recently went to look up the John 10:10 scripture since I kept thinking about it. I know now that God was calling me to do that because what I found was a part of the verse that I DIDN'T remember--a part that I'm sure Satan wanted me to forget because it tells of God's love and gives us a reason to hope. It's so perfect now that I have hindsight.

• This is the verse in full: John 10:10--"The thief comes only to steal, kill and destory; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." Oh how that second part of the verse soothed my aching heart. Becky passed away on Tuesday, March 29th, 2011 but God has come that she may have life and have it to the full. And what a life she's going to have in Heaven! God promises in Heaven that there is NO PAIN and that is something people have been praying for Becky for a long time. We may be hurting on earth and for awhile, it's going to be next to impossible for her parents, husband, daughters, grandkids and friends to function but her life from March 30th on is going to be like nothing we will ever know until we get to Heaven ourselves. She'll be dancing PAIN FREE, singing God's praise for eternity, walking the streets of gold in a world we can only dream about.

• Becky, I love you and miss you and it hasn't really sunk into my head that you're not going to be at the next Easter party or your next grandson's birth or Kylie's first day of kindergarten. But I can rest assured knowing that you're watching out for all of us in Heaven and that some day.............even if it feels like an eternity away..........we will see you again.

Dear God........

If this is a dream.........

please don't wake me up.

Let me keep living this life........ ......this little piece of Heaven on Earth.

My little Tiny Tom :)

I was looking through my camera last night and realized I have a LOT of pictures to share of Tommy in his first month, so this is basically just a camera unloading post with nothing substantial to say :) Except that I personally think I have the absolute cutest, most loveable baby EVER (it's okay if you don't agree, but humor me because I'm the mom and I can say that!:) The two best things in my life!

Worn out from playing with dad

Dressed in the very first piece of clothing I bought him! I remember buying it and wondering what he was going to look like in it. Now I know :) Dressed up for a special occassion....and not enjoying it much! Just like daddy!

I LOVE this picture. Granted, it's a little funny looking, but when he was tiny, his mouth was ALWAYS open like this.

My sweet boy :) He looks so tiny in this picture and so perfect and untouched by anything bad or the evil of this world yet

No words........just love

Tanning with dad--he had jaundice, so Nick was faithful to put him in the sun as much as possible in the middle of January.

My own piece of Heaven

Such BIG feet!!

His face cracks me up in this picture. I love this boy!