The Dentist

Nate went to the dentist for the first time on Tuesday. It was an okay experience - he could have been better, but he also could have been worse. I had hoped to get a picture, but I held him the entire time that they cleaned his teeth and examined him. Everything looked great. Nate still has a paci at nap time and bed time and I was expecting to hear that we needed to get rid of it ASAP. The doctor actually said that it wasn't that big of a deal as long as we get rid of it by age 3. That's only a few months away and I dread that battle.

The Hens are Laying!!!

Today Darren discovered three eggs in the hen house. These are the first of many to come, hopefully.
You'll have to forgive me for all of the pictures. We got a Nikon D3000 several weeks ago. I am taking three classes next month to hopefully help me understand all of its great features. Right now I am just using the automatic setting, which is still a vast improvement over our point and shoot camera.

Confession Time

God has been teaching me so much the past several months. It is very exciting but also very challenging. One of the biggest things I have learned is how truly self-centered I have been... my entire life. I have ignored the lost and the poor, while I have focused on myself, my family, my friends and my stuff. It is obviously important for me to focus on my family and be a Godly wife, mother and friend; but it is not okay for me to get so wrapped up in my richly blessed life that I forget that there are millions of people in the world that are lost and living in extreme poverty. The Bible is filled with scriptures concerning this issue. A couple of my favorites are James 1:27 (Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.) and Isaiah 1:17 (Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow).
Darren and I are currently praying about how we can live out these scriptures. We want to be wise in our decision making, but we also want to act urgently since thousands of children die each day from hunger and preventable disease.

If you feel compelled to give, here are a few suggestions (these are all Christ centered organizations that are extremely reputable)...

http://www.compassion.com/ - Compassion International

http://theglobalorphanproject.org/- The Global Orphan Project

http://www.lifelineadoption.org/templates/cuslifeline/default.asp?id=26708 - Lifeline Children's Services

Hooray for Warm Weather!

Darren was off yesterday and it was a beautiful day. We were so excited to spend some time outside. Nate had a great time and had plenty to keep him busy.

Helping Daddy put out hay for the cows



Chasing the chickens




My favorite picture from the afternoon





Just a swingin'

Playing in the leaves

Then, it was back inside for a breathing treatment...yes, we're doing those again

Haiti Relief

Haiti, one of the poorest nations in the western hemisphere, has been devastated by one of the strongest earthquakes to hit the Caribbean in decades. Please pray for the people of Haiti. If you would like to do more than pray, click on the following link.

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/articles/responding_to_haiti_earthquake/

Yay Nate!

Nate will be 2 1/2 on the 10th of this month, so a couple of weeks ago I decided that after the holidays we would start getting acquainted with the potty. We started today and before his nap he tee teed in the potty! I was shocked since today is his first time ever to sit on the potty. Darren and I gave him lots of praise and high fives. I DO NOT expect this to be a regular thing at this point and I am still planning to take things super slow, but I had to document this super duper achievement. :)

Bah Humbug!

I must confess that I had a bad attitude this Christmas. It didn't start that way. I was very excited about all of the fun festivities and, of course, all of the fun that Nate would have. Then three weeks ago Nate started running a fever. I wasn't concerned the first day because he was acting pretty normal and his fever was staying pretty low. The next day I became concerned when his fever increased and he begin to act sick. We actually had to start "religiously" alternating Tylenol and Motrin every three hours to keep his fever down. By the third day, he was really pitiful. I was really worried about him as we headed to the doctor's office. I had never seen him that sick and he's had some pretty nasty bugs. Thankfully he didn't have the flu, but Dr. Johnson did hear a "crackle" in his left lung. She couldn't determine exactly if he had pneumonia or bronchitis, but she did start him on antibiotics and breathing treatments. Thankfully that day was his worst day and he was almost back to normal the next day and has been feeling great since then. We are still having to do breathing treatments, but we should finish those up in a couple of days.

Just about the time that Nate started getting better, Darren and I started getting sick. It just seemed like a cold and I thought we would feel bad for a three or four days and be feeling fine by Christmas. Well, that's exactly what happened...for Darren. I began to feel worse and developed a pretty bad sinus infection. My face and my head have never hurt so bad. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day actually ended up being the days I felt the worst. I finally started getting better on Saturday and then Sunday I woke up with an ear infection. This is actually my third ear infection since September. I think I now qualify for tubes. :) I was finally able to go to the doctor on Monday and get some antibiotics and ear drops. Thankfully I think I am almost completely well, but it has been a rough three weeks. I am looking forward to a healthy and uneventful start to the new year!

Darren did a great job of helping to take care of me and Nate while we were sick. He did some research about sinus infections and made me put my face over hot steamy water several times a day. It actually helped a lot, but Darren got a big kick out of me hunkered down over a coffee cup with a towel over my head. He took this picture without me knowing it. Doesn't it look like fun?