Happy to be Here

Today is Halloween, Fall Festival, or whatever you want to call it. People seem to freak out about all the things people do to celebrate, and I agree that some of it is valid. But tonight we experienced Trick or Treating in our neighborhood, and it was such a sweet and fun time! We tried this out last year, but went too early and not many people were home. This year we decided to avoid all the crowds at pumpkin patches and festivals and just walk up and down the street together. There were kids everywhere with their parents, looking for porch lights to be on, ringing doorbells, and hollering, "Trick-or-Treat!" I felt for a moment like it was 20 something years ago, when it was safe to run all over your neighborhood ringing every doorbell and being scared silly. Then I realized that some things can just simply be the same as "in the old days" if you let them. We have an annual block party each summer, so we know most of our neighbors, but it was great to meet more. Some of the older people just looooved seeing all the little kids come to their door. They were sitting there waiting for the next ones to come. It was so sweet. I could see that regardless of what we believe about celebrating some holiday, THIS is what it means to "love thy neighbor as thyself." We were out having fun, getting to know each other, meeting some new people, catching up with some old friends, and loving on the kids that we passed on the sidewalk and who came to our door. We were being "neighborly," and building relationships. I know this is how Jesus wants me to love...unconditionally...just giving what we have away to the ones around us that want and need it, even if tonight it was in the form of a Nestle Crunch bar. I feel secure with my kids on these streets, knowing most would watch out for mine as I would for theirs. Don't you all remember not being able to wait any longer to go wear your costume, to be someone else for a night, to ring a doorbell, to have so much fun?? I remember a Halloween that I was dressed as a clown. I had my face completely painted and a purple clown wig on. We were done in our neighborhood and went to see my Nanny so she could see our costumes. When we rang the doorbell she was so excited to have some cute little people to give candy to. She gave us our candy and said to have fun and started to shut the door. She didn't know who it was!! I asked her if she was going to let us come in, and she got a confused look on her face. I told her, "It's me, Nanny! It's Melissa!" She just laughed until she cried, hugged us and let us in. What a great memory. I am so happy to be in a place that we can go and trick-or-treat with friends and have a wonderful time making memories. Here are some pictures of our night!

Spiderman gone bad


Hannah Montana


Hannah, Little Lamb, Good Spiderman


Trick-or-Treat!


Ky singing the Mailey Baby song


Mim and Pop prizes!


Too cute for words...

And Another One Gone...

Makenna on Tuesday...just had to get a pic of buck-toothed lady! Her other dead top tooth finally decided to give up the fight. Instead of the classic wiggle-loose, it just went downward about half a centimeter and still would not budge all the way out.



When I picked her up from school she was soooo proud because she was wiggling it and that silly dead since age 13 months old thing came right out! Here is her new smile! I cannot get over the fact that she has no teeth in the front. The last one on the right is loose, too. How will she eat when that one falls out? She is already having some issues with the "f" sound. Hilarious!



This is the adorable note I found on her nightstand that she wrote to the tooth fairy(click to read.) We had a conversation about how big a tooth fairy could be, what she does with the teeth...we decided she just might chomp them...and if a fairy could ever be a boy. Why she is just now wanting to know all these things is beyond me. When she was 3 and that first tooth was knocked out, she completely freaked about some lady coming into her room and reaching under her pillow. We told her that we would email the tooth fairy and tell her not to come, please. That was the only way she went to sleep that night. Things have definitely changed!

A Verse a Week: Week 9

This week we are working on a small, but important verse that we have been needing some work on.

1 Corinthians 13:4a
Love is patient, love is kind.

I'm not sure if it is the weather or the fact that everyone has been sick in the last two weeks, but we are needing some patience in this house! We will talk about and model how to be patient...for a toy...for a child to get their shoes on...for your turn to swing...for mommy to get your dinner...for a child to get buckled in the car...for daddy to read you a book or rub your back or get you a drink....I think I should stop because obviously I could go on and on.

The second part of the verse is just as important. If we are trying to be patient but using unkind words or thinking unkind things, it really negates the effort. I want the kids to realize that being kind can make everyone feel better about themselves and can keep a situation from becoming a yell-a-thon. I am a yeller...I always got voted the loudest teacher of my grade level...and the coolest...heehee. I don't mind hollering in a good way, but when the words go from kind to unkind to downright mean, that is when it has got to stop.

Both of these attributes, or fruits of the spirit, can only be accomplished through love. The love of Jesus that He puts in our hearts will come out of our hearts (and mouths) if we will let it.

compare/contrast

Hiney Whiney Swiney Flu

Swiney:
Well, of course, regardless of my psychotic disinfecting, cloroxing, hand washing, and magic soaping, Makenna still got the swine flu. Mailey had a cold the weekend before, I got some weird virus on my throat, Tracen had a stomach virus, and then the school calls to come and get Mak! It was crazy! She has done really well, just one or two bad days, but the boredom at home and the keeping her away from all other breathing individuals has been the hardest part. We are still hoping no one else gets it, especially baby Mailey.

We are also re-doing I Peter 4:8 this week. Didn't do much on that last week...

Whiney:
This is becoming a gigantic problem at nap and bedtime. Don't let her content face fool you...when this woman rolls to her tummy, she is NOT happy! Naps are getting better and she will mostly stay on her back. But around 3 or 4 every morning she decides she needs to do this screaming/grunting/growling/rolling thing. You would think that hating to be on your tummy and getting your eye smashed by a pacifier and having an arm wedged up under you would learn ya, huh? Ohhhh no, m'am! This continues until about 6:30 when I feed her. Over and over and over again. Sleep five minutes, try and roll over, roll over and get super ticked off, mom rolls you back over, fall back asleep, and then let's start the fun all over again! I have tried to keep her swaddled as usual with summer pjs underneath, unswaddled with warmer pjs, swaddled with sleep positioner, unswaddled with sleep positioner, head facing each way, body facing each way, and nothing works. I'm completely beyond frightened of SIDS, and it makes it even harder when she doesn't even want to sleep on her tummy but keeps ending up there anyway. I've decided it was easier getting up every 3 hours like a few months ago than staying in and out of sleep constantly for hours. I have no idea how to fix this. She is so huge and super strong, too. It's not like I can just use my hand to flip her back. I pretty much have to get out of bed or sit up to get her repositioned. Any suggestions, people??


Hiney:
Here is just a random cute bath pic...she is already so long she takes up the entire tub! Sorry about the goose view...tried to cover it up:)

4 Months Old

Mailey turned 4 months old yesterday! The stats say it all...

Height:25.2" 95%
Weight:14.12 lbs 80% (she had her clothes on, though)
Head:16.3 80% (why do they do head??)

So she is a big girl! Reference...Makenna was 16.9 lbs at age one. wow.

Here are some things she has been doing lately:
-takes forever to fall asleep at naptime because she constantly flips onto her stomach and gets very frustrated.
-squeezes her stomach muscles when we are holding her so she can sit up in our laps.
-has had fever for the first time with a cold...and man, she was not happy about that! No easy-going when sick Tracen baby here.
-takes her pacifier out all the time and stares at it.
-pulls her bows out of her bow band.
-grabs the bugs on her bug chair and rips them off their velcro.
-has decided to sleep from 10-5 instead of 10-7.
-loves to squish her face into my arm while she sleeps.
-smiles alllll the time and squeals to get our attention.
-notices when I hand her off to someone else or when I leave the room.
-sucks her thumb a lot, even around the pacifier.
-likes to watch Baby Einstein videos...and football.
-plays with her feet.

-loves to stand up.
-tries to launch herself out of the bathtub by pushing her bottom up in the air.
-ate cereal for the first time and did great!
-has decided to eat for only 5 minutes and then it is play time. then she's hungry in an hour. thus the trying cereal for the first time thing.
-freaks out if it is windy outside.
-spits up if you burp her or move her at all after a feeding, or if you sit her in the Bumbo.
-sleeps with her hand covering her eyes.
Here are some pictures of her first time with cereal.




Did I mention how much I love this little girl??

Stuck on You

This is what I found when I went to get Mailey up from her nap the other day. I was laughing so hard and just had to get the camera. That thing stayed on there until she yanked it off. I have no idea how it was stuck to her face?! Sooo funny!

A Verse A Week: Week 8

This week's verse is...

I Peter 4:8
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
I Peter 4:8

We are going to talk about loving unconditionally, above anything that anyone can do to you, because that is how God loves us. His love is what ultimately covers over all of our sins, and the love we show others can also cover any wrongs they have done to us. Mainly our focus will be on forgiveness and what that means as Christ forgives us and as we forgive others. A great place to learn more about forgiveness is here. You could also use an umbrella in the rain to show a visual example of "covering over." Sins and yuck are all around us, but we are covered by the umbrella of Christ's love. At least rain has been readily available to most of us lately! Perfect example.

Another One Bites the Dust

Well, another tooth has been lost. Did you know only ONE tooth in this child's head has actually come out the "old fashioned" way? So how did we end up with such an empty and shiny mouth?
-Top two front-fell down while pushing a wheelbarrow, killed both teeth, age 13 months.(right one is stuck in there still because the gums have "glued" themselves to it.)
-Bottom left-hit while jumping and holding on to the back of the recliner, knocked into a very odd angle, had to call dentist at home and meet for an emergency extraction, age 3.
-All five $2500 silver (ghetto) teeth-failure to thrive, or eat, for the first 4.5 years of life led us to this situation of no nutrition equalling no teeth, age 5.
-Top left-flaked off because it was killed at 13 months,came out in 2 pieces a month apart, age 6.
-Bottom right-ONLY TOOTH TO BECOME LOOSE ON ITS OWN, pulled by mom, age 7.
-Top left of front, as seen in above pics, knocked loose last month by hitting a playscape at a cookout, pulled from dangling by mom, age 8.
Moral of the story...pray your kids eat, never go to the fanciest dentist in town, accept the truth that your husband doesn't do teeth aka touch or pull them, and create great support stories for your daughter so she believes more silver=more bling.

Mumbo Jumbo Bumbo

A Verse a Week: Week 7

This week Tyson went through Chapter 2 and 3 in Crazy Love. Francis Chan wrote the book, and he talked about how we can continually be praying throughout our day. So this week's verse is

I Thessalonians 5:17
Never stop praying.
I Thessalonians 5:17

We will definitely discuss what it means to never stop praying. Does that mean to just talk out loud to God all day and ignore what is going on around you? Does that mean to keep thinking about all the things that happen to you in your day and to look for what God wants you to do next....how you treat your friends, the attitude you have when you wake up, how you spend your time?

Printing them out and putting them up for the kids has really held us accountable as well. We can't avoid seeing them when we put them to bed, and that makes us practice as we go.

Woohoo for prayers...they have changed allll of our lives.