My thoughts

I have been wanting to blog about a book I read about a month that has had a huge impact on me, but have been so overwhelmed about what to say that I have failed to say anything at all. I have reread bits and pieces of the book multiple times and am still often brought to tears. The book is called "The Hole in Our Gospel" by Richard Stearns (theholeinourgospel.com also has several videos about some of the places he's been). It is an inspiring book about a man’s passion for bringing God’s whole gospel to the world.

The Bible talks a lot about how much God loves his creation and especially his children, and you know God’s heart has to be breaking when he sees what so many of his children are going through. The book mentions that 40% of the world’s people make less than $2 a day and that 26,575 children die each day due to mostly preventable causes related to poverty. At first I thought how can God allow his precious people to suffer, but I’ve realized that God is waiting for me to be his hands & feet to these impoverished people. I am reminded of the passage at the end of Matt 25 where it talks about feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, etc... “whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” The book mentions a mother in Haiti who was trying to give her children away because they were literally starving to death. As a mother myself I can’t imagine what an awful feeling that must be. It literally breaks my heart!

I am so thankful to have been blessed to likely never have to experience that, but the question is what am I going to do about those that aren’t so fortunate. I can look around my house right now and see so many objects that we don’t really need that could have potentially saved multiple lives across the globe. Over the past month I’ve been thinking how am I going to let this book as well as God’s Word truly change my life. When Jesus walked the earth he spent most of his time healing the sick, broken hearted, oppressed as well proclaiming the heavenly kingdom. 1 John 2:6 says “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” I can sadly say that I have not given enough thought, money, prayer, and the good news to those who are truly in need physically and spiritually. I pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to open my eyes to what needs to be done. One thing is for sure, we need to redo our budget and give more of it away. “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him” (1 John 3:17). I have lots of possessions in comparison to much of the world and if God is in me and his heart is breaking for the poor, sick, and oppressed it’s time my heart breaks for them in a way that calls me to action.

I STRONGLY encourage all of you to read the book as well as look at website worldvision.org to find ways to help. There are endless options available besides sponsoring a child from providing livestock, education, water well, etc. While some parts are sad overall it is a very inspiring book! I’m hoping to get The Gospel Quest for Christmas that is a study guide & DVD for those who have read this book and are still trying to figure out “What now”.

"Christ has no body on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ’s compassion for the world is to look out; yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good; and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now." Saint Teresa of Avila

Cousin Time

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with the Bray side of the family! We got there Wednesday night and stayed till Sunday which was nice to not feel so rushed like we do most weekends. God had blessed me with low level nausea the day of and surrounding Thanksgiving so I was able to enjoy the family get togethers. I did throw up two nights at the beginning of the week and two nights at the end of the week so I’m definitely not over the sickness, but it was nice to have a few good days with all the family around.
Zac and I went to the doctor last Tuesday, and the doctor is 99% sure that I’m not having twins based on the size of my uterus. I can stop worrying about that now! J When we were listening to the heartbeat the baby was moving around like crazy. I couldn’t feel it at the time, but you could definitely hear it. It looks like we’re gonna have another active one. Right now I’m 15 weeks and the baby is about the size of a navel orange. Within the past couple days I’ve started feeling fluttering feelings when I’m laying down real still. Hopefully it won’t be long till I can actually feel him/her poking around. BTW we find out the sex December 19th!

Here are some pictures from the past week. I got very few pictures of the adults and none of the awesome spades tournament hosted at the Matthews house (Zac’s aunt).

Saturday Britt, Kayla, and her clam came by for a few hours on their way home from my parents. Mason had a lot of fun with Zane. Zane had him laughing hysterically, and later on Mason wouldn’t stop kissing him.

Of course it wasn’t until Sunday that Mason really started playing with Curryn. I guess he finally decided to forgive her for always taking his toys. The video shows him trying to kind of wrestle with her.

On Monday night we started putting up our Christmas decorations. Of course Mason tried to help. He’s actually done pretty good about not pulling the ornaments off (knock on wood). He has touched them, but not yanked them. It’s taking a lot longer to get everything decorated this year because I can only handle a little bit at a time, but it’s worth it because it just makes the house seem all warm and cozy!

He loves talking on the phone so much that he'll use just about anything!

We're alive!

So it's been a LONG time since I've posted last! Since I've been pregnant I've had an aversion to my laptop...yes it's weird I know. I've probably turned it on less than 10 times in the past 2 months. I think it's because I was scared to see anything remotely related to food. Luckily I am able to scan email and facebook on my iphone pretty regularly, but that's about the extent of my internet usage the past 2 months. I have lots of blogging to catch up on.

I am still nauseous, but I am getting so much better. I was hoping that I wouldn't be sick this go around, but I've actually been even more sick. I tried not to feel sorry for myself when I've been blessed with a baby especially when so many people are dealing with horrible things, but I still found myself really depressed. After a few bad weeks I decided to spend some time reading the Bible and praying during Mason's nap instead of watching TV, and my spirits were definitely lifted! I still have bad points everyday and I still can't handle dealing with food, but at least there are now times in the day that I don't feel too bad. So on to pictures....

About 2 months ago Patty, Stephanie, and Curryn (Zac's mom, sister, and her baby) came to visit us. It was fun to watch Mason and Curryn play. There is a funny video of them at the end of the blog. Mason has discovered he can carry more objects if he tucked them under his neck.

The stomach bug visited our place which was not pleasant, but Mason sure was cute and cuddly .

I've been to crash at my parents' place a couple times the past month or two. It gives Zac a break from cooking for us, and it gives me some help entertaining my little man. He is missing the regular outings we used to take before I got sick. Below is a picture of the treehouse/fort the guys have been working on at my parents' a lot this past yea,r. I think all that's left is the observation deck up top.

It took Mason awhile to figure out the whole trick-or-treating, but it didn't take him long to figure out that candy is awesome! He wanted to eat everything given to him immediately. Below he is with one of his best buddies from church at our trunk-or-treat. They are both enjoying a sucker.

We only took him to a few houses just down our street because the last thing we need is a bunch of candy in this house especially with Zac around! :)

We decided to get Mason a little potty because he has been telling us when he "poo-poo". He likes to sit on it, and I've even got him to pee in it twice - I put him on the pot as soon as he got up and gave him a drink while he was sitting on it - I suppose that's cheating, but we made a big deal about it. Unfortunately I haven't been consistent with it since I haven't felt well. If he seems interested I might really give it a try come January. He looks so big on the potty!

My sweet, handsome little man is starting to get more mischievous.

The video shows Mason upset with Curryn because she keeps taking his bear. He's a little bit wimpy in his attempts to cover it, but I like to think that it's because he doesn't want to hurt her. :)

Particular fella

I think our little Mason is going to be even more particular than his momma! When we walks by the china cabinet he often flips the handles up. This particular day he was really going after it and ended up flippling up almost all of them. Anytime you're at our house you can guarantee seeing at least one up fthem flipped up.

Another thing that I think is kind of funny is how he likes to take the edge of his afghans and rub them back and forth under his nose. I don't remember when he started, but I know he's been doing it for several months. He normally doesn't have a blanket and paci out in the living room (like the picture below) and so we usually catch him doing it in bed or if we are rocking him right before bed.

The Projects

This spring/summer we have been busy with projects...which is no surprise to most of you. We put in some raised beds for vegetables. The right side has basil, parsley, mint, cucumbers, peppers, and zinnias for looks. The left side looks bare because I've started cleaning it out to plant another round of produce for the fall. On the left I had climbing green beans, summer squash, cherry tomatoes, and zinnias. I'm about to plant winter squash and another batch of green beans as well as more lettuce, squash, and sugar snap peas in my pots on the porch/deck. It is so nice to have fresh produce straight from your own yard! We used some of the left over scraps from our fence to make an open compost. By next year hopefully we will have some rich soil to add to our gardens.

We are back porch people. We spend several evenings a week sitting on the back porch so we decided to extend it out to make more room. Zac made the deck and corner bench...he's so talented! :) We plan on staining it in October.
He used some of the deck scraps to build us a little foot stool under the covered patio part.
Another project was to build a big shed. We needed to clean out the garage so we could both park inside again. We have it on the side house so we don't have to look at it. Our compost is right behind it.
The most recent project was to build a rain barrel which was Zac's idea, and I LOVE it! I'm all about doing what I can to be resourceful. Today's rainfall already filled it to the top!

Besides keeping up with the gardening and staining the deck, we are done with projects for quite awhile!

I saw the sign...

Kayla (my sister) did sign language with her kids, and it was really successful so we wanted to do it with Mason. It has been amazing! If he starts to fuss a little bit, we can say "What do you want?" and he can often sign to us what he wants. Sometimes he'll throw his hands up like he knows he should have a sign but doesn't know what it is. Or if he doesn't say what it is we will give him some choices, and he'll sign what he wants based on that. Right now he knows eat, more, drink, all done, outside, movie, sign, book, help, and please. He doesn't have the form down perfect in all of them, but enough to where we know what he's saying. When we ask what he wants he usually signs a movie. He LOVES his Baby Einstein movies! If I say he gets to watch a movie, he squeals with glee and waves his arms.
I'm so thankful our kid loves to go to bed. If we say it's time to go "night night" he will repeat it back and start walking towards his room. Friday night he was fussing a couple hours before his bedtime so I asked him the question. Surprisingly he responded that he wanted "night night." Then he proceeded to lay down on the living room rug (he didn't sleep well that day). I couldnt believe it! Unfortunately we couldn't give him what he wanted because we didn't want him up early the next morning. The video is of him saying and signing "night night" before his afternoon nap. He's been able to say it for the past month, but we just showed him the sign for fun (hands together on the side of your face)...as you can see in the video he hasn't got it down yet.

He looks like....

Both of us! There are times when I think that Mason looks like me and other times that I think he looks like Zac. Today we got out some baby pictures and decided that he looks like both of us. I think he has my shape head and nose, and Zac's lips and chin. Then his eyes and brows look like both of ours depending on his expression.

He's got moves!

Not sure if they will be good moves or not, but he sure is cute! Hopefully he takes after his daddy in that department. :)

Toddling

Mason has been taking a few steps here and there the past couple weeks, but this weekend he was really gaining confidence. Today he walked almost all the way across the living room. Zac got the last half of it on video. Our little guy is becoming such a big boy!





It's funny how the first day I dropped Mason off at daycare, I cried for 40 minutes straight. I felt so guilty leaving him to be raised by someone else. On his last day of daycare 10 months later, I cried when taking him out of it. This time I felt guilty taking him away from the teachers that love him dearly. Poor kid didn't know what was going on...3 teachers and myself were all crying when they were giving their last goodbyes. They gave him gifts and such sweet cards. It's a good thing I didn't read the cards till I got home because I cried all over again when I read them.

His teacher on the left - they would say his favorite - wrote the following...

"Mason, I am going to miss you so much! You are the cutest, sweetest, most precious little boy I have ever known. I have enjoyed teaching you and playing with you every day. I can't imagine the kind of wonderful man you will grow into. I am not saying goodbye but "farewell" because you will be in my heart forever! I love you!"

Twelve other teachers wrote kind little notes...some from the Ducks class (he was there till he was 6 months) and others that either came in during breaks or were in the surrounding classrooms and couldn't help but fall for his sweet smile and friendly waves. It warmed my heart to know he was so loved by those who helped raise him during his first year of life.

On top of a gift and cards, they also sent him home with a cookie monster cupcake...which he loved!

Cheap Entertainment

Mason would take the clean clothes out of the hamper one by one, put them back in the hamper, and then take them out again. He did this several times...it was great!

He got some blocks for his birthday, and he loves stacking them. He has been able to stack them 5 high on two occasions. It's funny what makes us proud these days!

Life is good....

because the breast pump is officially in the closet!! I have spent MANY hours with this pump the last year, and I am SOOO glad to be done! It feels so good to sleep an extra 30 minutes every morning and to be able to go to bed whenever I feel like it without having to pump. There were many times I almost quit, but thanks to my stubbornness and encouragement from Jill I made it a year.

Life is also good because I have a wonderful healthy son! He loves to feed Sammy, push his walk-n-ride toy, and make funny noises and faces. He has also started saying more words. He also says ball, dada, doggie, bye, and hey. He will stay balanced standing for quite awhile, but he still isn't taking any steps.

Mason has had 6 or 7 ear infections since November so we were so excited to get his tubes put in. I feel bad that he had to get it done on his birthday, but I can already tell he's feeling much better. I thought the infant gowns were adorable!
I cant believe our little Mason is one! It was nice to celebrate his big day with much of our family in OK. He got lots of great toys and money for his college fund. It's a good thing we bought a wooden toy chest on craigslist to house all the new toys!

Life is great!

Bluhble

Mason started making this sound about 2 weeks ago...I think it's pretty cute! I wanted to get him to do some of his other tricks, but he wasn't up for it.

Its almost here!

I can't believe Mason will be a year in a couple weeks! Time has gone by so fast, and I've been terrible about taking pictures the last two months. Only 7 more weeks of work, and then I will have more time to do the things I want to do. It's hard to know where to begin on what he is doing and enjoying these days since I haven't given a true update in a couple months. I've been writing it in my baby journal, but I just can't seem to type it on the computer afterwards. I won't bore you with everything, but I'll share some of his favorite things. Such as....Feeding Sammy, I for see our dog gaining a few pounds in the next year. He thinks its great when Sammy comes and licks it out of his hands. He loves to look up at what's above...especially ceiling fans and lights. When we took him to Lowes a few weeks ago he leaned way back and just stared at the ceiling for several minutes...it was hilarious. He has started doing the bashful/playful game where he will bury his head. He LOVES to wave. He was a late waver, but now that he knows he never stops. He will wave at anyone. He also likes to growl, steal other children's paci's, and give open mouth kisses. His babbling is becoming more recognizable to us anyway. The main ones we notice him using are bite and bottle...of course it actually sounds like bi and baw. This picture was actually when he turned 10 months. I still need to take the 11 month picture. When I bounce him on my legs he always has his mouth wide open with his tongue sticking out. He hasn't quite figured out how to "blow" the kiss...it just stays on his mouth.

Mason is fascinated with putting his finger in holes. Reaching for the outside ceiling fan.

Last weekend we went with some friends from church to watch the Zac Brown Band concert and go camping. We had such a blast! We were excited to get home and see our cutie, but it was so nice to just be a couple for an evening. We needed the time away....even if we only ended up getting 4 hours of sleep. I can't remember the last time I stayed up past 3am on purpose!

Thank you Jimmy and Ashley for saving us spots so we could get awesome seats! We were right behind the pit area.

Here is a mini-video of him jamming. You can see how close he got to us. The sounds not real great because the camera didn't know what to do with all the bass. Awesome concert and company!