Who Comes Up With These??

So, have you ever driven by a church, read their little sign message, and promptly wanted to scream???? I have a huge dislike for church sign messages - especially those that make Christians look like judgmental, hypocritical people.

Here are a few of the worst I have seen...

Don't let 6 strong men carry you to church for the first time.

Where will you spend eternity? Smoking or non-smoking?

We are not Dairy Queen but we have great Sundays.

Anybody else out there hate these as much as I do?? What are some of the best ones you've seen???

5 Months

Dear Drew,

5 months old today! You are getting to be such a big boy! It has been such a fun month. You are changing and growing in so many ways. I love to see your personality forming - you are quite the entertainer!

This month you have started all kinds of new things.... Solid foods being the biggest! You started with avacado and you have loved it from the beginning. It didn't take you too long to figure out the whole eating thing - you love it. And you come by that honestly! You weren't a huge fan of the rice cereal, but you are liking the oatmeal better. That is all we have tried so far, and you seem to be happy with that. We'll stick with it for a little longer before we add more to your little diet!

You are talking up a storm! If you are awake, chances are you are making some kind of noise! You get that from me. You are also now rolling all over the place. Once you figured out how to go from your back to your stomach, there was no stopping you! It is fun to watch you discover the world around you and figure out how your body works. Your hands amaze you, and you have found your feet this month as well. I love to watch you grab your little toes and squeal with delight!

You had your first Valentine's Day. We celebrated your cousin's birthday for the first part of the day, and then we took you to church so that we could go to the Valentine's banquet. You hung out in the nursery with your friends. Daddy came and got you toward the end of the evening so you could come and dance with us. Those were sweet moments dancing with you and your daddy.

Every day you do something else that just amazes and astounds me. You are more than I could have ever dreamed. And even though I didn't think it was possible, my love for you just keeps growing stronger and stronger. While there are times that I miss you being a tiny baby, I love seeing you grow and learn and discover. What a joy it is to be your mommy!

You are on the verge of sitting up without help. You are about to start eating all kinds of new things. Before I know it you will be crawling. I can't wait to see what this month holds.

I love you monkey,
Mommy

4 Months

Dear Drew,

Happy 4 Month Birthday! I cannot believe that so much time has passed. I know I say that every month, but every month I mean it even more. The time seems to go faster and faster. Some days I just want to make it stop - to slow everything down so I can hold onto these moments for just a little bit longer. But some days I just can't wait to see what you are going to do next. You continue to amaze me at all the things you do.

It has been a busy month for you! All of a sudden you are no longer this tiny baby - you are a little person who DOES all kinds of things! For the longest time, you HATED being on your belly. But one day this month, it suddenly clicked. You lifted your head up, looked around for a minute, and promptly rolled over. It seemed to freak you out a little bit, but you did it again. That same day, you laughed for the first time - a real, true to life LAUGH out loud. I loved it! From that day on, I have tried and tried to get laughs out of you, but they are few and far between. But, you smile all the time, and it still thrills me just as much as it did the very first time you broke into the wide-mouth, gummy smile.

You are 26 and 3/4 inches long. You are almost off the charts. And you weigh about 15 and a half pounds. You've had some eating issues this month, but we are figuring it out. You are very patient with your mommy, but you certainly let me know when you are hungry. You have gotten quite opinionated - a trait that you come by honestly!

You are now really playing with your toys. You grab things and examine them. And then put them straight in your mouth! This month you discovered your Bumbo seat and your exersaucer. You seem to be fairly impressed with them both.

You and I started Kindermusik this month. Your friends Owen and Carter are in there with you, and your mommies have more fun than you do, I think. But you do seem to enjoy it and you appease mommy with smiles and giggles when I attempt to "bring home" what we did in class. You also love playgroup and seeing all of your friends a couple of times a month. I am so glad we met all these great little boys and their mommies. It is always a great time!!

Christmas was more fun than I ever imagined. I just kept telling your daddy that Christmas is so much cooler with a kid - and it really is! We made cookies for Santa, and you even played Baby Jesus at the Christmas Eve Service. Your daddy and I were Mary and Joseph. It was a really special evening for us. After church, we went out to dinner and came home and made cookies for Santa. I tucked you in tight, and Santa visited you and brought you your cool exersaucer. I'm not sure how impressed you were with all of it, but your daddy and I sure did have fun! We went to Gigi and Pop's for the rest of Christmas day and you got more toys than any 3 month old could ever need! But you had a great time, and you are loving all your new stuff. We celebrated Christmas with Doodle and Grandaddy when they got home from Virginia and it was another fun celebration.

You continue to amaze us, and we continue to thank God for the gift you are in our lives. It is hard to remember what life was like without you. We are so glad that God thought we were special enough to be your mommy and daddy. We feel very blessed!

I am excited to see what you do in the next month of your life.... Every day is a new adventure, and I love every minute of the journey.

You are the light of my life, sweet baby boy...

I love you!
Mommy

A Hit to the Ole Self Esteem

So, we have a Wii Fit. We have had it for awhile. But I just got on it for the first time tonight. CAL warned me that it would be irritating....humiliating, even. But I didn't really believe him.

Turns out he was right.

I stepped on the Wii Fit board and it groaned. Yeah, you read right - it groaned at me. And then it weighs you and calculates your BMI (How a board like that can do that, I have no idea.....). After it did that, my Mii expanded. Yep. My Mii is now fat - apparently to reflect my current status.

But wait - it gets better......

Then it tells me my Wii Fit age....... 43. I kid you not......40 freaking three. 12 years older than I really am.

I hate that thing.

But I'll be darned if it is going to win....I'll prove it to that stupid machine.

Yes, I am insulted by a machine and have decided that I must have revenge. Pretty sad, huh?? Not nearly as sad as watching an expanding Mii and being told you are 43.

It's on.

2009

Happy New Year!

So, I'm normally totally into the whole New Year's Resolutions thing. I make a list of all these lofty goals that, for some strange reason, I really think I can attain. And they normally revolve around "self" thing - weight, organization, etc. etc. etc.

This year, though, I didn't even THINK about New Year's Resolutions. I'm not sure why. 2009 just kind of "arrived" without me giving much thought to it. And when I got around to thinking about it, I decided that it wasn't worth my time and energy to come up with resolutions to only be disappointed in the end. Instead, I am just going to LIVE. If I make some goals along the way, great. If I accomplish them, fantastic. But this year, for me, loving my boys is all that really matters. Watching Drew grow and change and just being "mommy" is enough for me.

So, Happy New Year, everyone...and here's to LIFE!

Merry Christmas!

We just got home from church, and our annual Christmas Eve trip to Chili's. Christmas Eve has always been my favorite day of the year, and this year was more than I could have ever imagined. Christmas just takes on a completely new meaning when you have a child of your own. As we sang Silent Night in church tonight, I could barely get the words out for the tears of joy streaming down my face.

We had the awesome opportunity to be Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus at the family service tonight and it was such a sweet moment.

And now the cookies for Santa are in the oven baking and we are getting ready to give Drew a bath and then decorate the cookies and put them out (and take a few pictures, of course!) before we put the little man to bed.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful, wonderful Christmas, and that we can all finally STOP and take in the true miracle of the day. And may we all remember that the most perfect gift ever given arrived in a lowly stable - the Savior of the world.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Poor Baby Boy.....

Well, the inevitable has happened....my baby is sick for the first time. And it is breaking this momma's heart. Poor little thing has a terrible cough, and everytime he tries to cry, nothing comes out. It's like baby laryngitis. We're hoping he will be better by Wednesday since we are supposed to be Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus at the Christmas Eve Service. I guess if he has to be sick at Christmas, it is better this year than next year since he doesn't even know it's Christmas this year. But it is just sad for a boy to be sick at Christmas, regardless of his age!!!

As for me, well, I'm busy trying to finish up everything for Christmas while tending to the boy. It's challenging when he is well to keep up....much more so when he is sick! But if it doesn't get done, then it doesn't get done. The world won't end.

I will post some Christmas pictures soon...Now that I have my cards out, I can show the pictures I've been keeping a secret! Plus I have all kinds of Christmas=y shots to share!

If you think of it, lift up some prayers for sweet Drew-bear for a speedy recovery!! Hope everyone is doing well!!!