Well Kate came to me this morning (Friday) and said "Mommy here's my diaper I need to go potty." Her diaper was totally dry, she went peepee in the potty and then asked to wear big girl panties!!! She's been wearing them all day and had one accident. We are going to take this and run with it and hopefully soon we will have a successfully potty trained child! She wanted to wear her princess panties at naptime but I don't think we're there yet! I think we can thank her mothers day out program for helping with this. They talk about pottying a lot and many of her friends don't wear diapers.



This was a sad day. Kate was playing in the back and stepped in ants! I did the same thing when I was little and I remember Mom putting me in a sink with cold water (thanks mom!) so that's what we did and she LOVED it. Shortly thereafter she touched the burner on the stove, totally on purpose after I TOLD her it was hot. :( Luckily it was a cheap lesson and she stays far away from fire and stoves now or anything else that I say is hot.



In case you didn't know... We are pregnant with Baby Morris #2! So that makes 4 members total in our family not children (hence the 4), I'm NOT having triplets as some have inquired!! I would not live through that! I'm 15 weeks, very tired all the time, already showing and feeling the little gummy bear move and at 20 weeks we will have an ultrasound to find out the sex. (For the record, I'm convinced it's a boy, Jason thinks he's destined (doomed) to have all girls). :)


Kate has discover that she can point the iPhone camera at herself and see herself on the screen AND capture it!! I have hundreds of random pictures of Kate's face on my phone now! (I'm loving her very natural swoopy bangs).



This picture was taken in early January!! Shes wearing a dress and no shoes! I can't believe how nice it's been. Praise God too because I have needed the sunshine!

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Picture Post

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These are just some pictures I took during our snow days. Snow days aren't much different for us than any other day, but we played hooky anyway. Jason was home for a lot of it so it was hard for any of us to get anything done. She loved to play dress up in Jason's snow gear. It was really funny. She also had a blast playing in the tent that Great Aunt Cheryl got for her for Christmas. She likes to fill it up with her menagerie of stuffed animals and blankets that she sleeps with. She's been pretending a lot with such stuffed animals too. When she was feeding her bear she would say "More?" "Kank you!" It was so cute. We have really been enjoying our new camera so keep checking for new pictures! Lastly, our latest somewhat big news is that Kate will be going to Mother's Day Out on Mondays starting on March 7th. She loves playing with other children and has a blast at church and bible study. Since she does so well with other kids I decided to check out some programs. That Church that does her MDO program is right next door to Jason's office. It's really convenient and I'll be able to volunteer at the office while she's there. I'll take some pictures of her on her first day so I can share them with everyone.

Happy Winter!

Last Sunday at Church was a very eye-opening hour and a half for Jason and I. We are studying the Proverbs right now and the message was about the sluggard who lets his vineyard get overgrown...

"I went past the field of a sluggard, past the vineyard of someone who has no sense; the thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds and the stone wall was in ruins. I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man." Prov 24:30-34

The point was not to say that resting is ALL bad, but there are times for work and times for rest. The challenge was that we would look at the "vineyard (or vineyards)" that God has given us and examine them to see where they are overgrown. He also challenged us to look at where we are giving our time. Are we being sluggards but acting like busy bodies, constantly living in a false sense of crisis? Or are our priorities in line with God and we work when we should and rest when we should. It has been an introspective week as I examine my vineyards (our house, Kate and her development, and not hardly the least of all, my marriage). It has been grueling, but rewarding to hash through these things and ask God to come in and give me the strength to straighten things up. I have a BAD habit of burying (sp?) my messes and trying to forget they exist so what a blessing to be challenged to do the hard thing.

On a lighter note..! Kate LOVES the snow. She walked out in it and said "ICE?!" The child loves to eat ice so she ate to her hearts content; actually she at until her fingers went numb and she started screaming. She has been saying so many words lately. She loves to look at books and point out the things she knows. If she doesn't know something she'll point anyway and say "Apple!" because that's her most prolific one. Most fruits are apples and some animals as well. She is a very picky eater, but this week I made lasagna and lets just say, it's a good thing I made a double! She loved it.

Jason is busy with the e3 Staff Conference this weekend. All of the international staff members join together here in Dallas every other year to celebrate what God has so graciously been doing in their respective countries. The theme of the conference is 3G which signifies e3's goal to plant churches that multiply for 3 generations (they want to plant churches, that plant churches, that plant churches). It's a genius model, and the best part? IT WORKS. The national staff in each country are equipped to establish their own churches and multiply them and they do it WAY faster than we could ever send an American to plant one church at a time. Hence the name Equip. Evangelize. Establish. We are so passionate about what e3 does and for the foreseeable future, can't imagine doing anything else.

Fall has Fallen!

Hey everyone! So, Jason is a world traveler again! He left last Sunday for London and Paris (jealous) and is coming home Saturday. We are so excited about what God is doing through e3 and I Am Second. This weekend is the second annual Sudan Footrace fundraiser. It's a really fun family event. It's a 5k run, and there is lots of food, games, and bounce houses for the kiddos. The registration for the race goes completely to e3 Sudan to help with the Bible school, the Church in Kajo Keji (the village I went to in August), and Seed Effect (Micro-Finance ministry). Jason is working on starting I Am Second in Europe and we might have the opportunity to go next summer and facilitate some of the I Am Second trips. He has been meeting with college campus pastors in London and he is experiencing resistance. Please pray that the campus leaders would understand what we are trying to accomplish by getting Europeans back in love with Jesus and the body of Christ. We will keep you updated!

Jason bought me a camera application for my iPhone and I have SO enjoyed taking pictures and then editing them. I had no idea I had that passion, but I spend a lot of time with my phone these days and taking pictures of silly things like Fall Leaves. This is also meaningful because Kate has been walking around the backyard picking up the colorful leaves that have fallen. It's SO cute. If it's still green, she leaves it(no pun intended), but if it's red or yellow she picks it up. There is a pile of beautiful fall leaves by our back door. =) She's a child after my own heart. I LOVE fall.

We played in the backyard a LOT today. We were having some obedience issues with Kate and the dog. Daddy being gone is wearing on all of us a little. We will be very busy though tomorrow, Friday and Saturday so that should help.

These pictures of Kate I edited on my computer and they aren't NEARLY as good as the ones on my phone. She refused to look at the camera.

We love you guys and thank you for all your prayers and support. Please pray that Jason has a safe trip home and has a smooth adjustment back to US time.

We had Kate's 15 month check up yesterday. I can't believe she's getting so big! She loves going out to the store and Church, and anywhere else where there is people that will tell her how cute she is. She was the same way at the Doctor's office. She was just having a ball walking around the waiting room and waving at everyone and greeting them. The folks in the waiting room weren't so warm and welcoming as she. One lady actually picked up her infant seat holding an infant and stood up so that Kate was nowhere near the baby. That's when I realized I no longer have a baby....I have a kid. A kid that makes grocery store check out people go "Oh my goodness, please don't pick my line." Gone are the days of people coming up to the cart with googly eyes wanting to see my precious bundle. Don't get me wrong, I think she's precious as ever, but I am terribly biased. She is in the 87th percentile on height, 55th on weight, and 20th on head circumference. She is tall, skinny, and has a teeny tiny head! The doctor laughs every time. (Not maliciously of course).

Lately we have so enjoyed playing outside. It's been a little hot, but sometimes sweating is refreshing and it makes the house feel so cool and the water taste so good. We are still having some constipation issues (Kate, no one else), so we are giving her Mira Lax every morning. The doctor said sometimes it takes up to a year to get their system regulated. And it doesn't help that she won't eat a single vegetable. Not even the sweet ones! She loves grapes, bananas, blueberries and strawberries and chicken sausage. The sausage smells really bad (to me) but she eats it up and her burps stink the next day. Haha.

This is a frequent activity right now while it's so hot. We just turn the sprinkler on low and she sits underneath it. She LOVES water. We can only take showers while she's napping because she climbs in the bath tub with you...fully clothed.

We've also been playing in the backyard a lot. She doesn't like to walk in the grass but she will sit there and explore and pull up grass one blade at a time. Soon she will have a friend to play with in the backyard when we go out there...Jason got me a collar for a puppy for my birthday!! We are in the process of finding a Wheaten Terrier to adopt.

This is how I found her one day. Sooo, I have to be VERY diligent about closing the dryer door.

This is one of many pictures I took on my trip to South Sudan. The man that we stayed with is named David Kaya. He is on staff with e3 and he is from South Sudan. He is the pastor of First Baptist Kajo Keji(the name of the village we were in). The church is on a plot of land that also has huts nearby and these are some of the children from that little area. Most of the people that live around there are involved somehow with the vocational training school, the church, Seed Effect or the Seminary(all of which are on the property). It's a very close-knit little community, they all know each other and they all greeted us with warm welcomes and hugs. A few of the children, like the one in the red and white stripes had never seen a white person before just because of how young they are, and this little one in particular was VERY afraid of me. She kept looking away but the little on in pink was very congenial. =) We shared some candy and gum with the two older ones. Thanks for all of your prayers and support while I was on my trip. I talk about the experience more in our newsletter, but it was an incredible experience. I miss the people of the village and I'd go back in a heartbeat. Hopefully, next time Jason and I can travel there together. Blessings!!

Kate Elizabeth Morris is 10 months old!!

Hello everyone! It has been a crazy few months in the life of this Morris family. I am having so much fun being at home and Jason is adjusting nicely to his role at e3. Ministry has been a hard lifestyle thus far, but more rewarding than anything I could imagine. God's faithfulness is mind boggling and never ending. It has also been an amazing few months in our marriage. We are taking a class at our Church called Sacred Marriage. We are going through the book "Sacred Marriage" (by Gary Thomas, I highly recommend it). There are about 6 other couples in our group and just in 4 weeks we have grown to love them. Jason and I are learning so much about communicating and where we were going wrong. I am learning how to respect him better and more each day as the leader of our house and he's learning how important it is to me to be loved unconditionally. We love that the book is not "7 steps to happier marriage." It is practical and useful in our daily lives to be able to love each other better. OK I'll stop preaching. Kate is such a beautiful little girl I cannot even begin to describe her. I will let the pictures speak for themselves. We got to see some of our friends from college this weekend and spend some much needed face time with them. It was so refreshing to see them and to hear about what's going on their lives. Enjoy the pics

Her hair is getting so pretty. I love the way it flips out after bath time. =)

Sorry this one is sideways. Turn your computer over. =) She has learned to pull herself to standing! It's very exciting AND frustrating. She gets stuck like this in her bed during naptime because she's afraid to sit down. I told Jason it's because she's so tall!! She's scared of heights!

These are her little swimming bees that Meemaw and Pawpaw got for her for the bath. She LOVES them and laughs so hard when they swim around. I can't them away from her though until I can distract her with something else, like the lotion bottle. She loves lotion.

Today we were playing outside and I was..on my phone (go figure) and I looked down and she was eating a mouthful of dirt! I called my mom immediately because I had no idea what to do and she simply said, "Wash her face and give her some water." Haha, I love these pictures!

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