My Snow Angel

Yesterday it snowed again, so I dressed Joshua in this cute little snowman outfit that my Aunt Karen Doane had bought him for my shower. I remember wondering if it would still be cold by the time he would wear it. Now, it fits perfectly and we still have plenty of winter left!

I had quite the headache before the snow started, probably because of the barometric pressure dropping. My mom came over to visit and see the Bean for a little while. It's always nice to see her! Later that afternoon, Shawn and I watched Jordon for a little while so that Nonie & Poppy could go to a viewing. When they came back, Nonie felt Joshua's gums, and we could tell that one was swollen where a tooth is starting to make it's grand entrance. I can't believe Joshua's so big already! Here are some pictures with Nonie & Poppy (playing "so big!").

This morning I had to run an errand up to the Credit Union (with my new 4-wheel drive vehicle) and had the opportunity to have lunch with one of my favorite former co-workers, Jane. Joshua stayed with Nonie, Aunt Alicia & Cousin Jordon. It sounds like he had a great time. He's been such a good Bean all day!

Last night Joshua slept through the night. He woke up once at 5 a.m. but only cried for a minute or two and fell right back to sleep. I got up with Shawn early this morning then to feed him. I hope this is a trend that's starting. Last night I walked into the office after talking with my dad on the phone (he had called while we were giving Joshua a bath, so I called him back) and found Shawn and Joshua asleep in the office chair, looking very similar. Too cute! I love my boys!

Here is a picture of his little pouty face starting. I haven't been able to capture it on camera because it melts my heart so I immediately stop taking the picture and pick him up. He's been playing a lot more lately with toys and a little more active. I think he's doing really well!

A "New" (to us) Car!

Wednesday night Grandma Ginder surprised us by being in town, and we enjoyed a lovely dinner with her. While I was in class Thursday night, Grandma Ginder brought over her mom, Joshua's Great Grandma Kennel, to visit with Shawn and the baby. Unfortunately, Joshua was not feeling too well, and Shawn said he was fussy most of the evening. He felt hot to the touch when I came home, so I took his temperature. Sure enough, he had a fever. We gave him a little tylenol to take the edge off. He's been coughing just a little and a little sneezy, but the rest of his symptoms look like teething. He's knawing on anything he can get his hands on, he's drooling a little, and he's been just a little grumpy for him. I can't tell if he has a cold, some other bug, or if he's going to sprout little white teeth. I know it's early for teething, but who knows? Anyway, I feel bad that one of the only times Great Grandma Kennel has seen Joshua he wasn't feeling well and wasn't his normal chipper self. :( Please pray that Joshua feels better!!!

Friday night we had supper with Joshua's Great Grandma Good, who treated us for our anniversary. She is so sweet! Joshua slept through the entire dinner. Then yesterday, we picked up my new car. It's got plenty of room for Joshua and other things like groceries, it's four-wheel drive, and it has tons of options. We got a really good deal on it, too, and now we have one car in our family that should last awhile. It's got the remainder of the factory warranty as well. I love it!

Juicy Fruit of the Spirit #3: Peace!

I find it interesting that many times after Jesus healed someone, He told them to "Go in Peace." I looked up the definition of peace on dictionary.com and there were 12 variations, including a state of tranquility or serenity; freedom of the mind from annoyance, distraction, anxiety, obsession, etc.; freedom from strife or dissention; harmony with people; silence or stillness; maintaining order; non-war.

Dear Lord, we pray that Joshua would grow up to be a man of peace. We pray that if at all possible, as far as it depends on him, he would live at peace with everyone (Romans 12:18). Since the fruit of righteousness is peace (Isaiah 32:17), we declare today that Joshua will lead a righteous life. We ask that the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard his heart and mind in Christ Jesus (Phillipians 4:7). We thank you that we don't have to be troubled or afraid since You have left your peace with us (John 14:27). We also thank you that you have given us the Bible so that we may have peace and so that we can learn that while we will have trouble in this world, You have overcome the world (John 16:33)! We thank you that You have given us the ability to demonstrate peace in the midst of trials since You have given us the gift of peace and have shown us the perfect way.

We also ask that you would show us how to discipline Joshua to produce peace in his life since you've shown us in Hebrews 12:11 that "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." Please help us encourage Joshua to grow up peacefully. Finally, we thank you that you said "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God" (Matthew 5:9) We praise you that Joshua is Your son and that You are the one that is perfecting peace in his life. We ask that you show us how to best help him, and we leave the rest to Your faithful and capable hands. We thank you for his life, his health, his safety, his intelligence, his skills & abilities, and his character! In Jesus' powerful name, AMEN!

Happy Birthday to Joshua's Great Grandma Good! We're looking forward to seeing you Friday night for dinner!

I turned 5 (months) yesterday!

This is me on my five month birthday! I enjoyed some time playing with mommy in the office/playroom, our favorite hangout.

I love my mommy.

I also love Daddy a whole lot!

Aunt Erica was here this weekend. She and I spent quality time together while Mommy & Daddy went car shopping. We also saw Aunt Missy Saturday night, but Mommy forgot to grab the camera.

Aunt Erica made us dinner and had angel food cupcakes for dessert. They put five candles for five months for me. They wouldn't let me touch that pretty fire, though! As soon as Daddy's around, I'm drawn to looking at him. Check out my face in the picture below...I'm crazy about Daddy!

And, I know that Daddy's crazy about me. Look at his face in this picture!
I didn't get to enjoy any of the cupcakes, but Aunt Erica did bring me a lovely bottle of NeoSure, my favorite. She also had nice presents for Daddy (snickers eggs & the yummy pretzels from Grandma Ginder) and Mommy (beautiful Easter egg candles & a bunny candle holder).

Yesterday in church (only Mommy got to go since I need to stay home until April) the sermon was on intercession. Pastor Mark likened a well-appointed prayer to be like the stone that David used to hit Goliath between the eyes. In saying that, I know so many people have prayed for me to make this five month birthday possible. Thank you! Happy Birthday to Me!

Thank you for this warm outfit, Grandma!Thank you, everyone, for my Valentine's Day cards. I got one from Grandma & Grandpa Ginder, Aunt Erica, Great Grandma Kennel, and Grandma! When Grandma & Grandpa Ginder were up in the beginning of this month to celebrate Grandma's 50th birthday, they also brought me some very cute outfits, which I look forward to wearing. Aunt Erica did, too! Thank you very much for a fantastic February!

Juicy Fruit of the Spirit #2: JOY!

Did you know that there are 242 references to joy in the NIV Bible? Please join with me in praying for Joshua today that he would be full of joy! I've come to realize that joy is not happiness that we feel because of our circumstances. True joy is only known through an inward relationship with God, His Son and the Holy Spirit. Pray that Joshua would ask Jesus into his heart and experience a life filled with awesome joy!

My favorite scripture passage is this one: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Be joyful always; pray continously; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

I also found these to be good reminders when thinking about joy...

• Nehemiah 8:10 ...the joy of the Lord is your strength.
• Psalm 68:3 But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful.
• Romans 12:12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
• Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit...
• Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
• James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds...

A cute story to end this post: Yesterday, we had paused the TV and unpaused it last night to watch the special Presidential news conference. Now, both Shawn and I like President Bush and voted for him in both elections, but we had to laugh yesterday as he was getting heated at the one reporter and then called on the next one by saying "Yes, Ma'm" ... then sighed and said "You're not a ma'm." Ha ha ha! Poor guy! Shawn and I were laughing so hard that Joshua joined in with the giggling, which made us laugh even harder.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! First, I must say that I am so thankful for my sweet husband, Shawn. I love you with all my heart! I praise God for bringing you into my life! I am so blessed! And Joshua loves you, too!Second, we'd like to wish mom & Jamie a happy anniversary! We love you very much!
Next, we want to tell the rest of our family how much we love them. Each one of you is special to us!

We can't forget to tell our friends - we love you and are thankful you are part of our lives!!!

Joshua, I love you so much. You are truly a wonderful little boy! Daddy thinks you're special, too!

We praise you, Jesus, and love you with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Thank you for showing us how much you love us by saving us on the cross!

Shawn had went into work this morning even in the horrendously icy conditions from what the newscasters called the "Sweetheart Storm," but he was able to come home early. Here is a picture of him shoveling, even with his extremely sore ankle.

We watched the movie "Lady in the Water." (The first movie we saw together was Scream 3 on Valentines Day, so it's sort of a tradition to see a horror movie on this romantic holiday). In the middle of the movie, we were surprised by a knock on the door... Royer's was delivering this beautiful bouquet of flowers for me from my church. I was shocked! I don't know if it was because of the accident or if it was just for Valentine's Day...but I truly felt loved.

The delivery man also noted that there was another delivery of flowers that we somehow missed. He handed me a second package...this time from my romantic husband. We had promised not to get each other anything, but he is too thoughtful to let the holiday go unnoticed.

This morning while he was at work, I got Joshua dressed and then got ready myself, including doing my hair and makeup and putting in earrings. Since I don't often leave the house, I don't always think about sprucing up, but I thought I would for this special occasion. Since I don't have a car to go out and surprise Shawn with anything, I sent him an e-card and made a card puzzle.

I also wrote him a note and baked him muffins. While chocolate chip cookies are his favorite, muffins are what we had available. I think he enjoyed it. I also made a candlelight dinner (baked chicken, au gratin potatoes, peas, fruit cocktail, bread, and wine glasses filled with orange juice)...here is a picture with the table set as it's just about done in the oven. I'm hoping to treat him to a night out this weekend when the weather is nicer and we have a Bean sitter.
From our family to yours, have a blessed Valentine's Day, full of love and romance! If you would like to leave a note for Joshua about love, how much you care about him, or how you've prayed for him on the blog, I will print it out and put it in his baby book. We love you all!

There's No Day Like a SNOW Day!

It snowed most of the day here today, and now it's freezing rain. This is the first larger snow where it stayed on the ground, and it seems like fresh white powdery snow brings out a child-like excitement in everyone. I can't wait until Joshua is old enough to make snow angels of his own!

My sister Becky came over yesterday, and we had lunch together here, played Scrabble (she, of course, won by a landslide), and enjoyed chatting. She commented that Joshua talks a lot, and that he gets that from his mommy. Ha! Becky also brought with her the last season of West Wing, which Shawn and I are looking forward to watching some day. Right now the only two shows we see on a fairly regular basis are 24 and Survivor.

This morning Joshua almost knocked me out. He's getting to be so strong! He butted his head against my jaw so hard, it felt like I had gotten punched (well, I've never been punched, but I assume that's what it feels like). He didn't seem phased, but I think I've got a decent size bruise there.

I did quite a few copy jobs today while Joshua napped. It was nice to have some uninterrupted time to work, even though I don't mind when he's awake and we just spend time together. He's been playing a little more lately. We're seeing some slow progress. Like, he loves his little blue elephant, and he grabs its ears to put it in his mouth (which the baby book said that babies learn by all five senses, so taste is a great way for them to experience the world!). He does the same thing with the "soft" cat that Julie bought him as a baby gift.

He reached out to touch the squeeky football (he LOVES things that squeek) but he's terrified by the tiny soccer ball. When it bounces, it makes a loud "booingg" noise that scares him to tears. On the exersaucer, he started playing with the steering wheel (of all things!) and turning it around. But, most toys he can't be bothered with. We could dangle a hundred things in front of him, and he'll just look at us. But, when he takes a little action on just one, we're jumping for joy!

The other day Grandpa Georgia called and I put the phone up to Joshua's ear so he could say hi. Joshua grinned from ear to ear. The baby loves to talk to anyone who will listen! I hear him in the monitor throughout the night, and I think to myself, "who are you talking to and what are you saying?" By his facial expressions, you think he would be saying whole sentences, but we can't understand it yet. Someday, he'll surprise us and just start talking in real words. For those of you who don't know this, in my baby book, my mom recorded my first four word sentence as "I got it! Yahtzee!" Ha ha ha! I've loved playing games since I was little. Can't wait to see what the Bean's first words will be.

Juicy Fruit of the Spirit #1 LOVE

When asked which commandment was most important, Jesus said (in Mark 12:28-32) love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength, and secondly to love your neighbor as yourself. We learn in II Corinthians 13:3-5 that love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. We can do great things, but if we do it without love in our hearts, the acts are worthless.

Please pray for Joshua today that he would demonstrate pure love for God and for others. Pray that he would know the true meaning of love, and that he would be known as a loving child and adult. With Valentine's Day just two days away, praying that Joshua would have LOVE shining forth from his life should be easy to remember. Thank you for joining us in praying for our son's character!

Joshua's Favorite Song

I'm always listening to music during the day, mostly my favorite worship songs from my computer. I went to www.rosskingmusic.com to hear the song "Whatever You Ask" (at the bottom of the homepage, click over about six songs until it shows that this song is playing, if you want to hear it) and Joshua perked right up to listen. He goes completely silent and has fallen asleep by the end of the song. He seems to love it! Shawn witnessed the phenomenon yesterday when Joshua was particularly cranky. I put this song on and sang to the Bean, and he calmed right down and took a nap. He also fell asleep to it last night before his bedtime. Music always seems to soothe him, but this song in particular seems to be his favorite.

Last night I was going to take a shower, so we decided instead of getting the bath tub full of water, I might as well bathe him quickly while I was in there and hand him out to daddy. So, while I got his washclothe, hooded towel, soap, and water temperature just right, Shawn worked on getting him undressed. He handed Joshua to me completely naked...except for bright white socks on his feet. The three of us giggled at daddy forgetting the socks...picture a little butterball Bean in nothing but socks coming into the shower. I laughed and laughed.

This weekend we said farewell for the last time to the Focus. We cleaned everything of mine out of it and signed over the title to the junkyard. It was a little sad for me, but such is life. Shawn said the church prayed for me on Sunday, which was so sweet. I'm still incredibly sore, which is somewhat surprising to me, but not really when you see the shape the car was in. I'm sincerely lucky to be alive. My dad said he prays for us girls everyday, and I think sometimes we don't realize how the smallest prayer can have the biggest impact on our lives and safety.

Sometimes I wish my dad lived closer. Shawn's parents are talking about moving to Florida, which we're hoping does not happen. We want Joshua to have a great relationship with all his grandparents!

Juicy Fruit

What comes out when life squeezes you?

My mom lent me some CDs of a sermon series from her church awhile ago since I don't get to go to church as often as I'd like. The pastor titled the series "Juicy Fruit" and said that when life's circumstances squeeze you, what comes out? Is it the "juice" from the fruit of the Spirit, or is it something you'd rather others not see? I know there have been several times that I have been feeling the squeeze of life's turns, such as my recent car accident. I pray that what is revealed from these circumstances is godly character, even though I know that I fall so short of this goal over and over again.

Will you pray for Joshua's character?

Joshua's angels have been protecting him from the moment he was conceived. We have truly felt your prayers over his safety, his health, and his life! Will you join us now in praying for his character? One of my favorite books to read to Joshua was given to me by Jodi Frank, a very sweet woman from my church. The introduction says:

"There is not a home, church, school, or company in the world that is not in need of men who model godly behavior. Where are these men to be found? They are found in every home where little boys are growing up. Tomorrow's leaders for our churches, our communities, and our world must be trained in our homes today."

Please pray that Shawn and I will be positive role models for Joshua and train him to be a man after God's own heart. We are new to the parenting experience and long to do what's right for Joshua!

The Fruit of the Spirit

Galations 5:22-23 says "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control..." In subsequent posts, I will write about each one of these fruit and ask you to pray for Joshua that day regarding that attribute. I believe in the power of prayer, and I'm so thankful that you are praying for our little boy! Please pray that when he has to experience a set-back in life, he will be a demonstration of JUICY FRUIT!

Play the Day Away

Yesterday, I went out to lunch with my friend Kristen and her son Elliott while Bonnie watched Joshua. Then last night, I had class. I felt like I didn't have all that much time with Joshua, so today I decided that I'm going to clear my schedule and play with him the entire day. No grading papers or writing the exam for this coming Thursday, no copy jobs, nothing but fun with my son!

I dug out all the toys that said 3+ months because he should have been 3 months on Tuesday. He's still not too interested in toys, though, and is more interested in what you are saying or doing with him, such as bicycling his feet or playing with his hands. He played on his belly while I showed him different things and laid on my belly (he still didn't really enjoy the belly time), he played in the exersaucer my sister lent us while I showed him how the different things worked, he played in the nursery on the floor, but unfortunately, there isn't much playing involved on his part yet. :( Some day! Right now I'm posting this as he's taking a nap.

Joshua is DEFINITELY a morning person. When you walk into his room in the morning, he has the biggest smile waiting for you. He talks to you the entire time you change his diaper and clothing, and even smiles during his breakfast, which can lead to a messy little chin. He's such a happy guy first thing in the a.m. His joyful spirit has led daddy to get up just a little earlier each day to go into his room and play a few minutes before work. I think it's great father-son bonding time since Shawn is NOT a morning person, but Joshua has completely won him over. There is truly no better way to start your day than to see his smile.

This morning I read the following passage to him from the Bible:

Galations 5:16-23

16-18 My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God's Spirit. Then you won't feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don't you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?

19-21 It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on. This isn't the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God's kingdom.

22-23 But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.

We are continually in awe of God's awesomeness, wisdom and love for us...