Journal - 6-29-09

I got to hold my wonderful baby, Hunter, today for a long while. Addison is growing up so fast and it makes me treasure the moments I get to hold Hunter. Because of Addison, I realize that Hunter will not be a baby for very long. Not nearly as long as I would like him to be. Addison only lets me hold her for short periods of time, in between her running around and playing. She no longer lets me hold her like a baby and stare into her beautiful eyes. So every moment I get, to hold Hunter and stare into his beautiful eyes, I want to fully enjoy and treasure. The age Addison is at also has incredibly precious moments. Like when she says something so funny, Daniel and I laugh so hard we are almost crying. Or when she says “I love you” how is melts my heart. But there is just something so enjoyable about holding your baby and I now understand that this time, for holding Hunter, will be gone before I know it.

Hunter is almost 3 months old now. He is almost to the point of having full control of his head and neck movements. He is FINALLY, sleeping through most of the night, about 6.5 to 7.5 hours. He is staying awake longer during the day and loves looking around at all the commotion that is going on in our house.

Addison is getting ready to be 2 years old in August. I can't believe how fast these two years have gone. She is such an incredible child. She loves to sing. She loves bath time. She loves chasing Bailey around the house. But more than anything, she loves for someone to read to her. I am so grateful that she loves books so much. Not only do I think this will help her with learning, but I look forward to the day when Addison and I can sip coffee (or tea) and talk about the wonderful books we are reading.

Thank you God for blessing me with the most wonderful children I could ever imagine. And thank you for blessing me with their wonderful father, who is the best husband I could ever have asked for.

Romans Chapters 1 - 7

I have started a study of Romans, via John Piper's website (this is a great website, check it out). Today I learned the difference between justification and sanctification, according to Romans, chapters 1 - 7. To justify is to pronnouce free from guilt or blame. To become sanctified is to become holy.

In Romans it discusses that Christains are justified from their sin as soon as they believe in Jesus Christ. This justification is an instantaneous, free gift from God. There is nothing we do (besides believing in Jesus Christ) to receive this free gift. "This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that comes by Christ Jesus." Romans 3:22-24, NIV

Sanctification on the other hand is a process of transforming ourselves from the sin centered person we were to the Christ centered person we are working to become. Sanctification is something that we work at each day (by building a relationship with God) and it is a transformation that we will continue to work on for our whole lives.

My Wonderful Husband!

I have the most wonderful husband.

The past few days have been really hard for me. The two and a half months of very little sleep has really started to effect me. I feel horrible. I am having trouble making decisions, even simple decisions. It is taking me much longer to get simple tasks done. I am extremely emotional.

As I was looking back over Addison's baby book today, I realized that at 8 to 9 weeks old, Addison was sleeping about 10 hours at night. Hunter is 10 and a half weeks old and still the longest he will sleep at night is about 5 hours. AHHHHHH!

By the time Daniel gets home in the evenings, I am extremely tired and irritable and of course he gets the brunt of my emotional state.

One of the problems is that Addison and Hunter don't seem to always take naps at the same time. So it is very difficult for me to get a nap during the day.

Daniel came home today at lunchtime and brought Addison and I lunch home. Then after lunch he told me to go take a nap. He stayed home (even though he is extremely busy at work) and took care of the kids until I had to get up and feed Hunter again. Also, while Addison was napping Daniel cleaned both our bathroom (which hadn't been cleaned in a long time) and the downstairs bathroom. It was so nice to be able to take a 2 hour nap during the day and it was wonderful to wake up and walk into a clean bathroom.

I have the most wonderful husband.

Strange Kids

Okay, so my kids may be a little strange.

Today I played fetch with Addison. I threw the ball (and it actually was Bailey's, our dog's, ball) and she ran after it and brought it back to me. She is actually better at fetch then Bailey is. The funny thing is she LOVED it and probably would have played fetch all afternoon, if mommy hadn't gotten tired of throwing the ball.

On top of that, during Hunter's tummy time today, he gave himself a hickey on his arm. Apparently he was sucking on his arm the whole time he was on his stomach.

Crazy kids, but I love them.

Trip to Marion - pictures

Wedding Tradition

It is wedding season and Daniel and I have been going to lots of different weddings. I love going to weddings and it has been fun talking with other people (who are already married) about what we did or did not do at our respective weddings.

Something that always seems to shock people about my wedding was the fact that Daniel and I took our wedding pictures before the wedding. When I tell people this, their eyes widen and they say, "You mean you two saw each other before the ceremony on your wedding day?!" YES, we saw each other on our wedding day before the ceremony. It is so funny to me that so many people think this is a BIG NO NO! No where in the Bible (as far as I know and I must admit I haven't exactly looked for this specific statement) does it say it is a sin for the bride and groom to see each other on their wedding day, before the ceremony. This is a superstition. Though I don't see anything wrong with keeping this superstitious tradition, I also don't think there is anything wrong with NOT keeping it. People have said to me that it is bad luck to see each other before the ceremony. Well, Daniel and I don't believe in luck. We just celebrated our 7 year wedding anniversary and they have been the best 7 years of my life. God is what keeps our marriage strong, not luck.

Some people say that by seeing each other before the ceremony you miss the special moment when your groom sees you for the first time. I disagree. We had it set up were Daniel was in the church standing at the alter (where he would be for the ceremony) and he had his eyes closed. Then I came in and walked half way down the aisle. Then the photographer told Daniel to open his eyes. It was an incredible moment. The smile on Daniel's face was priceless. It was just me, Daniel and the photographer. No people starring at me, making me self conscious. Daniel was able to say that I looked beautiful without interrupting the wedding ceremony. It was perfect and I would not have wanted to do anything different.

Like I said, I don't think there is anything wrong with keeping this superstitious wedding tradition, but here are my top 3 reasons for taking pictures before the wedding:

#3 - It calms your nerves before the big event. Most people are very nervous before their wedding ceremony. Getting a chance to see and talk to the person who was the best at calming my nerves was perfect for me. Seeing Daniel and talking to him before our ceremony made me feel so good, and completely calmed me.

#2 - Everyone looks fresh and perfect for pictures. No one has been crying from the emotions that a wedding ceremony can produce. Such as in the mothers or in the bride herself. No one has been sweating from having to stand in a tuxedo for an hour. And your wedding dress hasn't gotten dirty or messed up from walking around the church.

And the #1 reason - Your guest don't have to wait an hour for you to show up at the reception.

Disclaimer:
These are my reasons, why it was good that Daniel and I took pictures before the wedding. These reasons are specific to me and Daniel and this does not mean that I think it would be better for others to do the same. I think everyone needs to think about what would be best for them and do it that way. It is your wedding. I would point out not to let superstitions or even traditions prevent you from making your day perfect for YOU!

Addison used the Potty!!!

Today Addison told Miggy (my mother) that she had a poopy diaper. Miggy went to go change her diaper, but there was not any poopy in it. So Miggy decided to sit Addison on the toilet and see if she would poop. Miggy and I were both in the bathroom coaching Addison to poop in the toilet. We had been in there a few minutes and were getting ready to give up, when we hear "plop." She pooped in the toilet!!!!!!! We were so excited. We were clapping and singing to her. She thought it was great. And then as she flushed she said, "bye, bye poopy."

Hopefully this will be the beginning of using the potty and the end of diapers (at least for Addison).

Our Morning at the Mall

For our anniversary my wonderful husband got me a new watch. I had to take it to the mall today to get it sized. And then Addison got to play in the play area of the mall. She had a great time. Here are pictures.

My new watch:

Addison playing in the play area:

BUGS!

Yesterday we found the first cockroach we have ever seen in our house. We have lived in this house for five years and never seen one, until yesterday. Not fun.

On top of that, I found this (see pictures below) this morning in our dinning room. Again, not fun!

I HATE bugs!!!!