Christmas

These are some random Christmas pics from yesterday and this morning. We had lunch yesterday with some of the staff at Lyndel and Cheryl's house...don't you just love Michelle's cheesy smile! :) But my favorite is the picture of Cate & Andrew...too cute! I really wanted to get all of the staff kids together to get a picture, but in the mix there is a 3 year old, two 2 year olds and a set of 1 1/2 year old twins so you can see why that would be difficult!
Andrew now has more toys than he'll ever need!! Hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas!!

Family Christmas (Day 5)

Yesterday my Dad came to town and we had our family Christmas together last night. My sister, Mindi, was recovering from hopefully food poisoning and not a stomach bug that we all will get later.
Anyway, it was a great time with family. Earlier in the afternoon, I got the chance to go to the movies by myself. I often like doing that as a way of just zoning out. Anyway, pretty cool movie.



Ok, and now some pictures of the festivities...or basically Andrew.



Gee Pops, thanks for decking Andrew out in all this rock and roll gear. That noise won't be maddening at all!



I think that Andrew got a bit overwhelmed with everything...



Andrew with Pops before bed time. I think they like each other.

Ok, this is Wednesday and we are now going to leave tomorrow. Andrew is ready to get home. So, next blog will be from the Volunteer state (I'm sure all you TN people are proud I know that...)

New beginnings and Old Friends (Day 4)

Well, Monday provided several unique opportunities. First of all, it was Andrew's first professional haircut! Nana treated him to Cool Cuts for Kids...



One of the most challenging parts was getting him out of this waiting room!



This was his barber chair with Jay-Jay the Jetplane on the TV.



Our wonderful hair-cutting professional, Julie, fast at work! She did an amazing job moving with Andrew's head thrashings!

Later that night we got a chance to have dinner with old friends, kids who graduated from our last ministry and some very significant others that we had to approve! Of course, they all passed with flying colors. It was a great time at Chili's.



Amazingly Andrew did great even at 10 at night! Thanks to Matt's hat for being a readily accessible distraction. Seems that every time I take a pic with these guys now Andrew is on my shoulders. Hmmmm...

The Lord's Day Without Church (Day 3)

First of all, not going to church on a Sunday was totally weird. That's probably the first time in, oh, 8 years or so. Seriously.

Ok, today was my family's Christmas. I'm fighting through a head cold which means I probably seem loopy all the time. Not fun. Survivor's season finale is on right now. I don't care at all. Am I the only one? Here's the day in some pictures...


Keep in mind that Andrew is this tired the whole time...


A majority of Drew's day was chasing these dogs while people were watching football...
Trust me, there're dogs there.


Is it proper to greet your cousin with a booty bump? (And on a quick note, if my cousin has a baby, what is the relation to Andrew? 2nd cousin or first cousin twice removed?)


This was Andrew's present at the gift exchange. He loves him some tractors!!
(I scored my own gift [best buy giftcard] in our family chinese christmas gift exchange. Is that wrong?)


I think this sums it up. So tired, but still the energy to play with the truck. Got to love him.

Ok, time to take some medicine and zone out. For some reason my mom and sister are pulling for this Ozzie guy. Don't know him. Don't care. Hope someone literally wets their pants on the show. Now that would be reality worth watching...

A Day at Mamaw's (Day 2)

Well, we spent the day at Mamaw's (Christi's grandmother). There were lots of her family there. We had to wait around for awhile for her 2 sisters, but it was worth it. Andrew did great even though he had cold symptoms. I even got him to nap in a strange place!

Anyway, the pictures here are Drew running like crazy with some of his cousins, a kiss between Drew and Alyson (which she did not like at all; too messy), and then the park we went and played at for a bit. I've stupidly come down with Christi's cold. Great. Hopefully it will disappear soon. Today is my family's Christmas lunch. Should be good times. Love you guys!

Just getting started (Day 1)

Well, today didn't offer too much excitement. Andrew did not sleep well on his first night. We tried this sleeping bag thing with an inflatable bottom. It failed. Tonight is a concoction of other things that seem to be working. We'll let you know.
Andrew is obsessed with On-Demand kids shows, mainly Teletubbies and Boobah. If you've ever seen either one of these shows, you'll know that it's driving us insane. Here's Drew and momma watching the TV...



Well, here's hoping we have some good rest. Tomorrow is another 3 hours round trip to have Christmas with Christi's family. Should be some good times.

Blessings to our readers!

Made it!

We made it to Texas, just so you know. We'll keep you posted on what goes on. I know you can't wait!

HOG and OCC

So, wow, life has been crazy these last couple of weeks. Last week we went to Atlanta for a couple of days to help out in an Operation Christmas Child (OCC) center and it was really amazing.
To see all of those thousands and thousands of boxes (and that's not even all they are getting and it is only one of 6 locations!) and realize that there is a child represented by each one! It was really neat to get to sort through them and see all of the care that (most) people put into making their box. I cried a couple of times thinking of the children who will be receiving those boxes and how grateful they are for things that are so ordinary and commonplace to us. I did go through one box that was filled with screws, nails, a hammer and a screwdriver! All of those things were "acceptable" according to OCC regulations, but please don't ever do that to a child! Luckily OCC has toys and candy available to put in boxes such as these!
In case you're wondering what HOG stands for, it's Hanging of the Green. When we returned from Atlanta on Saturday we had practice for HOG and then the actual service was Sunday night. It's always a neat service and our church people really like to get dressed up for it.

Andrew wasn't really cooperating for pictures, but this one turned out ok. Sometime before next Thursday we have to finish our Christmas shopping and get everything wrapped because we are leaving for Texas then. We are really looking forward to spending time with our family. In January we will be flying to Florida to spend some time with my dad, so things won't slow down for awhile.
I pray that in all of the busy-ness of this time of year we dont' forget that Jesus is the reason we celebrate. If you're like me, you have to make yourself slow down and take a breather and think about His sacrifice in coming to the earth. There is no greater gift!

Long Time No Blog

Well I suppose I should blog again since it's been awhile. Unfortunately Jay has the camera at church so I can't post a cute picture of Drew. I promise one soon though. He just got several cute new outfits from Nana so I'll post a picture of him in one of those!
Not a whole lot new to report. Andrew had a mild ear infection last week. He's ok now. He was so cute last night at family prayer time. He usually folds his hands together as we pray but last night he did that AND he bowed his head!! It was so precious....one of those moments you'll never forget as a parent.
Next week we're having Thanksgiving with a couple of other staff families and they're catering Cracker Barrell!! I'm really excited about that.
Tuesday night we went to Bethany Christian Services new friends dinner. Bethany is an adoption agency and it was really amazing to hear the testimonies of both sides of the adoption process. It really gave me a new perspective on the birth mothers and it also made me want to adopt a baby. We had once talked about it, but now Jay really has a heart for older children or their families. Hopefully one day God will get us on the same page. :)
So really that's about all. Jay's about to leave to go to a Predators game so I need to go spend some time with him. Our time together this week has been very scarce because he's been helping move the church offices. I'm going Monday to help him organize his office...should be fun!

Fall Festival

Here are a few quick pictures of our Fall Festival tonight. As you see Andrew was Superman and he LOVED everything about tonight. There were bounce houses inside and trunk or treat outside. He was so excited just to walk around everywhere. He of course threw a few two year old tantrums, but overall it was a good night.

Andrew Slide Show

As with most of our posts, this is all Andrew. Christi made a slide show for a family DVD so I thought I'd go ahead and share her hard work with everyone. Enjoy!

Friday Fun

We went to Rivergate last night for some dinner and shopping. I just love being out and about when a) the seasons are changing and it's cool weather and b) when it's that bustle of activity time. There's just something festive in the air...almost like something fresh. I am one of those weird people who love to go to the mall at Christmas time. I just love the excitement that you feel. Anyway, we decided to go to Chik-fil-A for dinner because they have a pretty good play area for kids and Andrew was in desperate need of some playtime. He actually went up in the play equipment...he really likes things like that now. I even had to go get him down when it was time to go. And I immediately doused us with antibacterial hand sanitizer because those things are really nasty! From there we went to Target where we got Andrew a potty. For some reason blogger won't let me put the picture of it on here....very frustrating!
We aren't exactly ready to start this whole potty training process. But Andrew is terrified of actually sitting on the big potty...he LOVES to play in the water however! So we thought he might like one his own size. It's pretty plain compared to some they have now. There were several that sang tunes when you sit down or do your business. They had one that you could actually flush! But I think simple is the way to go with Andrew. He thinks it's just a chair right now, but introduction is the first step! Anyway, after Target Jay dropped me off at Babies 'R Us. Now don't get excited, there is no new baby on the way. I do however LOVE that store! I had one mission in going in there and it was to find Andrew some new bedding. I had seen some I really liked and was having trouble finding it, but Babies 'R Us came through. What do you think?
I like it because it's simple and it matches his baby stuff. I think Andrew likes it too because he slept until 7:30 this morning! So that was our Friday evening. Today is starting off slow, like Saturdays should. I made breakfast (bacon, eggs and biscuits), and now Jay is playing XBox and Andrew is right there with him! He has become particularly clingy to his daddy lately. I'm sure Jay's trip last week has something to do with it, but I also think the older he gets, the more he's going to want to hang out with his daddy. I'll adjust. Just one more thing I wanted to add. Jay had made a DVD of Andrew right after he turned one and I watched it with Andrew the other day. Now he is obsessed! He wants to watch it ALL the time! He only like the part where he's scooting around...which is adorable. Jay and I were talking about how we really don't remember him being that small. Where does the time go? I have this feeling I'm going to turn around tomorrow and he'll be a teenager and I won't be able to remember this time. I do hope I make the most of the time I have with him. I'm not going to want to let him go...should I go ahead and get that MOM tattoo put on him?

"Drew, I am your father..."

Well, I had one of those proud papa nights last night. I thought I would experiment and see at even 2 years old how much my son is really MY son. And let me tell you, he is.



This is us watching Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. It's the most cartoonish of all the movies and colorful, etc. (except for Darth Maul, but he's really cool). Anyway, he watched the whole thing with me! His favorite part was definintely the pod races. So, just confirming that Andrew is indeed my son.

Feeling Better

If some of you don't know, Andrew still has this junk (mainly cough) and has been kind enough to pass it along to his mommy. However, I think the worst is over. We both felt better today. Jay had some stuff to do at church tonight, so we went and had dinner with him. We went to Steak & Shake. After that we decided to be brave and take Andrew to Toys 'R Us. We were really scared that he would throw a fit to have everything, but he did really well. We went looking for this:

Andrew loves to hide in/under things, so we thought this would be great entertainment for him. As it turns out, he likes the pillows better:

He stayed in the bus all of two minutes and then wanted on the bed to play in the pillows. I was a mean mommy and didn't let him on the bed since we had just purchased this new toy for him. (This picture is from yesterday). Anyway, I guess we're learning the hard way that no matter how many toys you buy kids, they'd rather play with the box it came in. Well we better go and get ready for bed. I'll leave you with this family pic:

Cuddly Andrew

Some may wonder why I'm home at 9:30 on a Sunday morning. The answer is simple: my Andrew is sick. He's been snotty for about a week now and it turned into a cough Friday. Then yesterday he started running fever. No fever so far today, but his cough is awful! The one upside to him being sick is that he likes to cuddle when he's not feeling well. It's quite sad and sweet at the same time. I love holding him and I wish so bad that I could just take his pain away. I'm sure God must feel the same way about us. There are painful times we must go through, but I know that God loves to hold us in those times. And while I know it hurts Him to see us in pain, He doesn't take it away because He knows the strength and wisdom we'll gain by enduring it. His lap is always there for us to curl up on.
Having a child is giving me such wonderful insights into God's love for us. I will never know the fullness of it of course, but I have a new perspective on it.

The Son of a Preacher Man

Just thought you'd like to see exactly how much Andrew is indeed my (Jay's) son. Is there a stage in his future? Maybe so...

Playtime with Andrew

Well, I believe I have officially become a "cool" mom. Tuesday Andrew was on our bed burying himself underneath the pillows so I thought, "I bet he would love a tent". So I made him one out of a bed sheet! So far I have not done well with the boy playing. I don't get dirty and my son LOVES the dirt and I'm not too good at wrestling or making car noises. So making a tent is pretty good for me. I know it's not great, but Andrew loved it.

He also loved this indoor playground we went to today. Several people have told me about this local church who had this amazing indoor playground and let me tell you, it was amazing. It's like five levels...the picture just doesn't do it justice. Andrew never climbs up into playground equipment like this, so I didn't think he would go up, but he surprised us. He went almost all the way up!

He got sleepy, so we only stayed for about an hour then headed home to eat lunch. Well, Jay and I ate lunch. Andrew fell asleep on the way home and didn't wake up when we took him out of the van, so we just laid him down. Yesterday was the first day of Mother's Day Out for the fall and he didn't eat lunch then either. He ate pretty well at dinner both last night and tonight so maybe we're onto something. Anyway, that was our week in a nutshell.

A little fun, A little misery...

I guess almost every day has some of both. Anyway, we'll do the fun first...
We spent the morning at the pool. Fun times. Here's some of that...



While we were there, Christi I guess felt like a professional photographer. Here's a piece of her work...

After nap time, Drew woke up to a present from Nana. It may not seem like much, but let me tell you, that's Drew. He loved it! Unfortunately it also squeeks alot.



Well, that about wrapped up the fun part of the day. The misery portion of our night/morning started at about 11:30 when Drew woke up snotty, even though we had given him medicine right before bed. He slept off and on until about 2 (mostly off) and then was up until about 5:30. We tried some more medicines and he slept for about an hour and half and then we've pretty much been up since. All you kid people know the nights I'm talking about.
So, there you go. If Drew really is sick, we may leave today. We'll see.
Ok, have fun out there!

A time to remember...

Well, today was quite a swing emotionally. Didn't do too much this morning. Lot's of reading for us and Andrew went on the porch to work on the flowers with Nana. He gets distracted easily...



Then Chrsiti and I got to go out to eat with a good friend of ours, Brandi. She's a real estate agent in Dallas if anyone is interested! She was a senior in our first year at Eastland and was a gift from God. Anyway, we went to Bennigan's and then brought her by to see Andrew.

Lastly, Christi and I went to see World Trade Center. You know, I could probalby go on and on here but it just amazes me how our society moves on so quickly with life. It was only 5 years ago but we forget so easily. So there was the great reminder. And then some of the movie showed parts of the whole ordeal that you never even really get to settle your thoughts on. But at no time was it over the top. We definitely recommend that you see it.


So, that was our Tuesday, ending with remembering a Tuesday that really wasn't too long ago...