sunday evening post

I've had a few people ask recently about Matthew's age...he will turn 2 this month. He is a tall drink of water, and I'll be interested to see where he is on the growth chart at his next dr.'s appt.

Here is a video of M counting:

I think it is so amazing how much babies absorb before they begin speaking. Just out of the blue, M will say words like "pineapple" or "sit down", and I'll be like "When did you learn that word???"

I asked what he wanted to have at his birthday party. He said, "hot tea."

He has come to the toddler stage where sharing is a dirty word. It's so bad that he doesn't even want Scott or me to share our stuff with anyone (except him, of course!). Since we read about Zaccheus in his Bible (but we say that Z didn't share because the whole tax collector thing is too hard to explain right now), I asked M if he was like Zaccheus, and he nodded yes!

We've been groovin' to Cory Asbury this weekend. M likes "So good to me."
We love checking out new bands, so feel free to recommend your favorites!

OK, I'm going to post this next part only because I have posted really odd things before only to have people say, "Me too!"...so here goes. Lately (as in months and months), my thoughts have been consumed with people who are in great need. Now I've had feelings of sympathy for others before...cried over suffering in the world...but, somehow, this seems different. It doesn't feel like normal sadness coming from a normal train of thought about the need of others. Out of the blue, these intense images invade my mind...and break my heart.

As I watch M "washing" the dishes at the kitchen sink, I'm broken over how much clean, fresh water we are pouring down the drain while others drink filthy, contaminated water.

As I type "Happy New Year" to a friend, I'm broken over those for who the new year means nothing...no hope, no future, no joy.

As I water my plants, I'm broken over the fact that they are housed in pots that cost more than some people in the world make in a day.

Everywhere I look, I am bombarded by the reality of living in extreme wealth as compared to most of the world. My heart weighs heavy in my chest. This isn't simply an "oh-I-need-to-consume-less" thing. It's almost as if I have come to a point where I cannot turn back. But I am not even sure what I mean by that statement.

Scott is like, "OK...this is a recurring thing...what are you going to do about it?" but I honestly don't know. I'm not sure if God is preparing me for something...or just stripping me of worldly things...or filling me with His love for others. Just not sure.

So...anyone else got this goin' on?

let's face it!

The many faces of Matthew...please excuse the runny nose!

Hope everyone is doing well! I'll be catching up on your blogs soon...I've missed you! We've been busy lately with hosting a baby shower, enjoying an overnight guest, going on a date (WOOOHOO)...and being bitten on the lip by M (he and I were wrestling and he got a little excited, bit my lip, and left me a bloody, swollen, bruised mess...but it healed quickly!)

Scott is enjoying M's recent verbal explosion and has taught him to call me "mamacita!" M is speaking very well and now will say things like (when I get out his blue hat), "no, red hat" and if you ask where to put something, he'll tell you "right there."

post-o-rama!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Monday, everyone! Hope you are feeling thankful as we head into this week of turkey-licious indulgence. One of the things I really wanted to learn from my mom before she passed was how to make dressing. No one makes it like my mom. The opportunity did not present itself, so I'm going to have to try it on my own. I have never (as in EVER) cooked a Thanksgiving meal before. Not even parts of the meal....well, at least not any important parts. In fact, Scott's side of the family asks yearly that I just bring salad...I think they figure I can't really mess up chopped vegetables.

M and I went to the store the other day and, as we were walking down the main aisle, he spotted the lingerie section. Now M has only seen my bras a handful of times...and they are not a topic of regular discussion...but boy did he know how to shout "BRA, BRA, MOM, BRA, MOM, BRA, BRA!" at the top of his lungs while leaning almost completely out of the cart to point at the displays. Good, good times these are.

Onto a completely different subject...you know those balance scales? The ones that have the two weighing trays? Here's my thought...at the end of the day, if you put your sins from the day on one side and your confessions of those sins on the other, would they balance? I don't mean this in a legalistic sense but in the idea that confession of our sins to God is good for our relationship with Him.

If you have accepted the forgiveness of Jesus for your sins, then your sins are forgiven.

FOR.GIV.EN. Period. Finished. The end.

However, sanctification is a process...and, as frustrating as it is, we do still sin. You may recall in John 13 when Jesus washed His disciples' feet. Peter said "wash my hands and head, too" but Jesus declined by stating, "He who is bathed needs only to wash [his] feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean..."

Through our faith in Christ, we are clean in the sense that we are forgiven and reconciled to God...and yet living in this world our feet do get dirty. One of M's Bibles shows a guy stepping in chicken poop in illustration for this story. Yep, there are days that my feet get pretty covered with the chicken poop of gossip, pride, selfishness, and idolatry (including BLOGGING!). And they need...I need...to be washed clean.

Think about when you have been wronged by someone you love and how genuine repentance and remorse by that person brings healing and growth to the relationship. Without repentance and remorse, the relationship will suffer. Perhaps, in shame, that person will begin to avoid you, possibly even cutting all ties with you. The same can happen with God and us. Whether or not we realize it, our sins can begin to weigh heavy upon our shoulders and the guilt causes us to stop seeking after God. Intimacy is broken. Additionally, our confessions basically say that we stand in agreement with what God says in sinful and, therefore, harmful to us. We line up our thinking with His. We submit to His truth.

Can't think of any sins to confess? Ask God to show you! Job inquired, "How many [are] my iniquities and sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin." Then you can pray Psalm 51 as a prayer requesting forgiveness.

Psalm 66:18 says, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear." I do believe this is true and that we need to be mindful of this verse. But if today you are holding onto the guilt and shame of sin and it's keeping you from sweet fellowship with God, allow these verses to hug your heart:

Psalm 86:5 For You, Lord, [are] good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.


I edited this w/out sound (my computer is on strike) so I have no clue if I cut off anything cute...


edited2add: Rebecca's Mark is home from Iraq and has shared a wonderfully encouraging post HERE!

all matthew

My baby does not say words like ball or baby or byebye. He says hot tea.





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cheetos, zoo, & tortillas

While M is still not a chatterbox, he does choose to speak about the important issues in life, such as "CHEETOS, MOM." Cheetos are dear to my heart because they were in the picnic lunch packed by Scott on our very first date...and again on the day he proposed. I hadn't eaten any in a very long time, but I bought some yesterday...WOW, I had forgotten how cheesy-crunchalicious they are! So now when M says, "CHEETOS, MOM," I'm inclined to oblige!

M and I went to the zoo. Had the place to ourselves. We took his zoo book, and he enjoyed looking up the animals we encountered!

This morning we attempted to make homemade tortillas. If I am going to grow old in the desert, I need to learn the staples of southwest living. I think our breakdown occured at the kneading stage when M decided to roll out our dough balls into snakes. Needless to say, we ended up with some pretty tough tortillas.

is it already sunday night????

well, as you see, i still haven't posted my book reviews yet. but they are coming. soon. to a theater near you. or a blog near you.

this weekend...we planted trees, picked berries, and some other stuff that i can't remember right now. my heart is heavy for my mom, and it is difficult to be so far away. as soon as we get M's next doctor's appt out of the way, we are headed back to see her! she begins more radiation soon, so please pray for her.

M put two words together today. when i forgot to put the straw in his sippy cup he told scott, "uh-oh dada." oh, and scott and M watched this old sesame street video on youtube where grover sings about around, over, under, through, far, and near. not anything i would have thought to teach M right now, but he totally got it and loves to practice it!

oh...speaking of scott...last night i walked into the kitchen after scott did the dinner dishes, and the garbage can was OVERFLOWING. i told him that i was going to take a picture of it so that when M gets big and shoves garbage in like that, i can remind scott that he did it, too. scott looked at it and laughed and then started to move toward the can. i said "no, let me take a photo first!" scott replied, "i wasn't going to take it out!" and he DIDN'T!!! dirty rotten! and to top it off, today (yes, today as in the garbage was still in a huge heap on top of the can TODAY) i found my candy bar wrapper dangling in the debris. double dirty rotten! he deserved my candy though...he hauled a gazillion bags of lawnscape junk, 2 heavy trees, and some pampas grass...AND he stayed with M in kids' ministry so i could attend service. yes, M still SOBS the ENTIRE time at church, so we are slowly weaning him off us so the volunteers don't all quit.

ok...here are photos. the ones w/ red bridge are from last week when i was practicing in manual. the berry picking is from today but in auto because i didn't want to miss good shots. OH, and i stuck in a photo of M from LAST YEAR'S berry picking so you can see how much he has grown!

saturday stuff

We started the day with a trip to the university campus to feed the ducks. For M, it was some serious biz-ness! At times he would completely forget that the stale bread and bagels were for the birds, and then he'd stuff some in his mouth. Other times I'd see him start to take a bite, stop, shake his head NO, and then toss the piece to the ducks.

Scott & M hung out today when I went mattress shopping (if anyone has a recommendation for a twin mattress please share because looking at mattresses is almost as utterly unbearable as flying with a baby.....NOT!). They were out on a walk and M started saying "oval, oval"...Scott wasn't sure what M was talking about til he saw a train station sign in the shape of an oval. Funny little guy!

Tonight we walked over to nearby restaurant for dinner and were happy to see they had a band! Matthew was dancing, squealing, and clapping...very funny since he is usually Mr. StraightFace. Our town's annual wine fest is going on, and I was tempted to think M snuck out of the house for a little wine tasting...he was THAT loopy!

Here are some photos from last night at the farmer's market and today at the duck pond.

Mom, if you are reading this....I LOVE YOU!!!!!

UPdate

A little late on a 19 month update! M is up to SIX teeth and FOUR words!

His words are
- help
- Dada
- uh-oh
- oval

He also tries to make some animal sounds...and I think we got a "mom" out of him while we were in IL. He also for the first time did a good raspberry/blowing bubbles thing with his mouth on the plane ride home.

I can now write short words on cards, put them on the floor in front of the fridge, and he will find the magnetic letters to place on top of the written letters on the card.

I continue to be amazed at his
- receptive language - you don't really have to change the way you talk to him (i.e., slow down, repeat a bunch of times, etc) - he just gets what you are saying and follows through on what you ask him to do

- memory - when we get together with people, you only have to tell him their names once and he remembers who they are and things about them. Even on the plane ride home I would say a name of someone he may have seen only once or twice, and he would do the action of what he remembered that person doing.

- observation skills - I never realize how much he is paying attention to all that is going on...even if he doesn't seem like he is...until he mimics an action or seems to remember something I had no clue he knew about.

- understanding of "issues of the heart" - for ex, you will see from the photos that my sweet Mom has cancer. M and I have read in his kids' Bible the story of Jesus healing Jairus' daughter. I mentioned Jairus, and M remembered that story. As he and I were praying for my Mom one night before bed, M pointed upstairs where she was and started saying "help, help." I asked if Jesus could help her, and he nodded.

Here are photos from the trip, courtesy of Smooch. I tried to take a break from the camera and just enjoy the moments! Sorry some are a little fuzzy; I think it's a MP issue.

Forgot to tell you...

that Matthew has been with us almost a year, and I was finally called "mama"!!!!...but it was by another little boy! It happened at the museum when a little guy needed my help getting a toy unstuck.

Matthew still only says "help"...although he will show you how to yawn. Precious.

17 MONTHS OLD!!!!

Again, sorry for the blurry photos.........ugh. Double ugh. Ugh. Ugh.

Here M is sporting his new man bag:

A joy of motherhood...fresh flowers hand-picked especially for you:
M writing a thank-you card to the Marbury family for the fun hat:

Matthew at 17 months:

- now when we are out&about and he sees letters on signs, he starts pointing and making his "alphabet sounds."

- he is doing well with using a spoon, following complex directions, and recognizing colors/letters/numbers/shapes. On his number puzzle, I can ask him questions like "Which number is on our mailbox?" and he points to the correct number.

- he understands general things, for example, to put on his sock, he can't just lay it on his foot, but he needs to put his fingers in the hole and stretch it out first.

- the other day he brought me a book with a page that talks about baking cookies....and he started pointing at them. I asked if he wanted a snack (dumb question) and, when we went into the kitchen, he led me directly to the muffins we had baked earlier in the week.

- in another book is a picture of a bear hugging some kids. M picked up a magnet that looks like a boy, opened the book to that page, and made the magnet hug the picture.

- while he hasn't exploded verbally, he does seem to say the word bed...and he says it as "gung" or "gung gung."

- he still eats quite a lot, but he is definitely becoming a pickier eater. I think that before now he was shoveling the food in so fast that he never actually tasted it. Now that the food is staying in his mouth a little longer, he is quick to let me know what he does not like.

- he loves to "dip!" Give him any kind of sauce and something to dip in it, and he goes to town.

- he continues to have a wonderful sharing heart, to help clean the house when asked (and sometimes on his own...as he finds little items on the floor, he takes them straight to the garbage can), and to be a sweet, sweet baby.

- his sleeping is improved...nights seem much less restless, and his naps are worthy of being called a nap rather than a blink.

- his atopic dermatitis flares and then subsides in cycles. It's pretty good right now, which may account for his improved sleep.

- no more teeth yet, but he is starting to stick his whole fist in his mouth again for chewing, so I suspect more are on the way.

And that's our big 17 month old boy!!!!

Saturday stuff

Not sure what is up with my camera...maybe it's on strike...but my pics have been a little out of whack lately. Anyway, thought I'd share some.

Keeping with M's love of hats, he found this infant hat in a box of stuff and decided he needed to wear it. As soon as it was perched on his little head he let me know it was time to look in the mirror. Upon seeing himself in the hat, he was all smiles!

Here I asked M to show Elmo how to smile. This was the look he gave. This Elmo was a gift from the Social Security Office when we went to get him a SS#.
Today we went to Wendy's for their Rockin' Frosty Father's Day Weekend. For every Frosty purchased, they donate 50 cents to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. (at participating locations) My boys in orange hats.
Some UPdates:
- The shoes I bought M for summer are already getting too small!!!!!!!!!

- We think M has a southern drawl. When he says "help" (still his only word and he uses it for everything), he says it very drawn out and in two syllables.

- M seems to have an underbite. I mentioned it to his doc and she said that although boys' lower jaws grow at a faster rate than their upper, we'll keep an eye on it because it is probably here to stay!

- M had a circ this week, which I won't post about here, but if anyone is adopting a boy and has questions concerning this procedure...feel free to email me at 1sttimemama1@gmail.com

Friday Fun

Thought I better post some photos before my mom begins to riot! We went to feed some nearby horses today (although we made sure to leave some carrots for our beloved Xena). Then we hit a roadside drink stand for refreshment...and a lei for Matthew! Despite the fact that he is not smiling in any of the photos, I think he had a good time!

OOOPs...this first pic is out of order....

M is 16 months old now and continues to amaze me with his observant nature and memory. He seems to know his basic shapes...when he is interested in that topic, of course! He received a car that goes up and down....yeah, like a low rider...and the first time he saw it move, he picked it up and turned it over to see where the batteries were. He makes connections easily...like we were playing with his block shapes and I asked "what shape do you see?" which is a line from one of his books, and he immediately went to find that book.

He is still not saying any words and while I am not worried, I feel bad because I can see him becoming more easily frustrated due to not communicating...which I know is common. We started out teaching signs when he was really little, but he hasn't seemed too interested in them. For example, he knows the sign for "more" and will sign it if we bring it up, but is arely proactive in using it.

He seems to be keeping up his growing and still towers over other kids. This morning at the train station we met a 2 year old who was pretty much the same size as M. We don't have his next check-up till June or July, so I will be interested in seeing where he is on the height chart.

He continues to passionately dislike having his diaper changed and waiting for his food.