I didn't know I was pregnant

That is the title of a new TV series coming on TLC. (I know I got some of you with that title, ha ha, not about me sorry!) I was over at my parents house mowing the grass for them and saw this on their TV. We don't have cable, so I may be a little out of the loop but I just had to exclaim, "WHAT?!!!" when I saw that. Come on people, HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW YOU WERE PREGNANT?! The series is apparently about women who gave birth and didn't know they were pregnant. Now I know anything is possible, but really??? I want to get cable just to watch this program. I mean besides the obvious weight gain, kicks from baby, loss of your period for 9 months and many many other symptoms, I just can't even fathom how someone would not know they were pregnant until they gave birth. Interesting. Very interesting.

Poo poo!!!!

I am happy to report that Ethan just went poo poo in the potty for the first time! He has been peeing in the potty since around 18 months, but pooping has been a different story. He actually ran up to me with eyes as wide as a deer in the headlights and said, "mommy, poo poo"! I quickly rushed him to the potty where after a few minutes he went! We were so excited. We danced and laughed and rewarded him with some M&M's. I mean we have put him on the potty and made him sit for like 15 minutes when we knew he was about to go and the little stinker wouldn't go. So this was HUGE that he went and also that he came to tell us that he had to go! Yee haw! This is the only case where I guess I can say that we are looking forward to more poo poo!

Pure genius

Most moms think their child is the smartest, cutest, and best at everything. It is in our nature to fall head over heels with our children the moment they enter the world screaming and crying and pink all over. While I do not think my son is a true genius, I do know that he is ahead of some children his age. I have thought this about his speech for a while. But it hasn't been until lately that others have affirmed this to me. I mean before he turned 2 he was saying, "Happy Valentines day" as well as "Happy birthday" and saying it clearly. Well last night my husband calls me in the middle of my bible study to tell me about our son's vocabulary. He said he handed Ethan his paci because he was getting ready to put him to bed for the night. He said Ethan pulled the pacifier out of his mouth, looked at it and said... "hmmm, paci is white...just like papa's truck... and mammy's car!" GENIUS!!!! Ha ha!! Just now I was making what we are having for dinner and he said, "mommy, I want some of dat noodles." He has always loved letters and numbers. He asks me to sing the alphabet (along with other songs) before every nap and bedtime. Praise the Lord he is taking after his daddy in the academics regard. And please don't think we push him to know this stuff. I have made a promise to myself that I would never become one of those pushy moms forcing their kids to learn things way before it's time. He has developed this love all on his own. I truly need to start a notebook to write down all the things he has said. He is quite the character.
Oh and there is no hiding that he is ahead in his growth as well. I mean come on... he just turned 2 and weighs 36 pounds. What a beast.

"You give and take away...still i'm going to say BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD!"

Matt and I have been learning amazing things about blessings, being good stewards and being faithful. I've written before about such things. Sometimes I feel defeated. That although we are living by a strict budget, trying to tithe faithfully and cheerfully, that things keep happening. Matt's computer dies. Mine dies. Then I find out that I have to have my tonsils taken out. I have a hard time understanding, where are we going wrong? Why do these things keep happening to us when we are trying to pay off our debt, save money, and all these "honorable" things.
See we as Christians and non-Christians have this view in life that we are entitled things. That somehow we have read into a promise that isn't there. That life will be good and no trials will come our way. No where in the bible are these things promised. However, (this is what excites me and what I have been learning) that God promises that He will be our shelter, our ever present help in times of trouble, that He grants us His peace, love and understanding. That He knows the plans He has for us, plans to prosper us and not to harm us. That although we see this limited view of our life plan, God has a much larger and more grand picture. I just feel so blessed. I wouldn't trade all the money in the world for the growth in my faith that I am experiencing. God is using people and circumstances to draw us closer to him. Our "problems" big and small all matter to God. If a broken laptop and money woes are all Matt and I are facing, then we have it really good. I know there are worse things in life. I find comfort knowing that the Lord cares about our "big" things. I just want to give him so much praise and glory and honor. I am writing from a laptop that was given to me from one family. Another family in our church willingly paid for a brand new laptop for Matt. So we both have new computers. I can see peoples live being changed and their view of God just growing larger. He does love us. He does care. If you do not know or understand how big the love of God is, then please seek Him and talk to someone. There is nothing more important in life. No money, no success that can ever replace knowing Jesus as your Savior. Knowing that God who loves us so much sent Jesus to be a sacrifice for us. All we need to do is just believe and accept. That is it. No gimmicks. There is nothing more you have to do. There is no way to earn it, He freely gives it. Amazing.

With excitement I post these pictures.

Here is my cutie pie sporting a new Carolina outfit that I got at the consignment sale. I practiced great restraint and discipline at the sale. I am proud to say I only spent $60.85 at the sale and bought no toys. His Spring and Summer wardrobe is complete. It was very hard not to buy everything just because it was cheaper than being new. I know Matt was praying over me and our bank account. HA!
Ethan giving Houdini a kiss. Sadly my dog that i've had for the past 10 years is being put to sleep. He is such a big sweet baby. I've enjoyed having him as a pet. I know it will be hard for my parents and the grandkids who love "woof woof". So please think of them during this time.

My boy playing with play-doh for the first time. He didn't know quite what to do with it. But I was glad that he didn't try to eat it. This was taken before his little haircut. (The picture above sports his new-do!)

Recent happenings

Today we headed to Wilson, NC for Matt's grandmothers' funeral. She was 97 and lived a long happy life. Although no one really wants to go to a funeral, this one wasn't too bad. I actually learned a lot more about her via the pastor's message. I do have a quick embarrassing story to tell. Matt was a pall bearer. So at the end of the service he carried the casket out and family followed behind. We were all getting in our vehicles. All the family was parked behind the funeral home in 2 lines behind the hearse. Well we were all silently getting in our cars. I decided to drive and was getting in the drivers seat and accidentally leaned on the horn! So this loud honk happened. Matt and I just laughed and laughed and couldn't believe that happened. It was quite funny.
Anyhow, because we were heading to the funeral today, on Wednesday we decided to get our hair cut. So we had a family hair cut. Matt, Ethan and I all got a trim. This was Ethan's first real hair cut. We buzzed his head. It isn't real short (2.5 guard, for those of you who care!) but definitely shorter than it was. It looks so cute and he looks grown up. I didn't think he had much hair until it all started falling off. He screamed throughout the whole process. I can't wait for him to get used to them.
This weekend is full of events. Tomorrow night I volunteer at my consignment sale again. Saturday morning I get to shop! Saturday evening is a fun night with our women's ministry from church. We have planned a bunco night. I have never played, so I look forward to going. Sunday morning I am taking a sweet lady to the airport at 4:30 a.m. She has been attending our church and is moving back to Brazil with her husband. I teach the 3-5 year olds this Sunday in church. I am planning on taking a long nap on Sunday to catch up from the weekend events.
The biggest news is that I am writing from my husbands new laptop. An amazing family from our church graciously offered to buy Matt a new laptop seeing how his died and mine is on it's death bed too. We feel so blessed to have such giving people in our church who look out and provide for each other's needs. Amazing. I hope to get pictures uploaded soon!
p.s. Matt and I are throwing around some plans. We are talking about training for a half marathon together that is in November. We have been toying with incentives. I would love to run again but I really need some accountability. (I miss my Brooks!) So I would love to run this race to lose some weight. Then my side of the bargain that we are still negotiating is that if we did this race together, then after we run it in November then we will start trying to have another baby. So who knows. There could be some fun times going on in our family these next few months!! This is not an official plan, but we are doing some discussing. The most difficult part in all this is finding childcare so that Matt and I could train together.

The mind of a 2 year old

Ethan has been cracking me up lately. As well as testing my patience. But that is for a whole other post. The biggest thing i've noticed in the past few months is Ethan's ability to think and speak for himself. He has been talking for a while, but a lot of it is mimicry as well as saying what he sees. Now he is able to think for himself, request certain things, and talk about his day. Here are a few short stories from the past week.

• The other night Granddaddy and Grandee took us to dinner. When they were leaving our apartment, Ethan (unprompted) said, "Thank you dinner Granddaddy and Grandee!" It's nice to know that the manners we are trying to instill in him are being reciprocated.
• Today when my mom took Ethan and I to lunch, she was getting out of the car and coughed. Ethan said, "Bless you mammy!"
• Last night when I got home from volunteering at the consignment sale, Ethan wanted me to hold him, then he proceeded to tell me, "Time out, no to daddy". (He said no to Matt and had to go to time out) "Share toys...play basketball with daddy...eat peanut jelly...share chips with daddy." In between every thought was a few moments of silence and you could see on his face that he was thinking and recalling what he had done for the night. I usually ask him how his day is when we go to his "school" 3 mornings a week. So he is getting used to recalling memories and telling me about his day. I know in the future he won't want to tell me when he misbehaves, but for now that is the first thing out of his mouth.
  
• Every day I ask him what he wants for lunch. (Not that I will make what he requests all the time, but it's nice to hear what he says) The first thing out of his mouth every day is "Chips!" He wants chips. Although his most favorite thing right now is "peanut jelly", which is peanut butter and jelly sandwich, just in case you couldn't figure it out ;) .
  
• Whenever we pass construction sites, which is on almost every road here these days, he can point out excavators. He knows exactly what they are what they look like from all his truck books. The boy is obsessed with trucks. He sits in his Granddaddy's truck every Sunday while they unload the trailer for church. (We meet in a daycare, so we bring a lot of our own equipment- chairs, staging, etc.)
• The past 2 nights Ethan has been up for several hours in the middle of the night. I can't figure out why. The night before last he was pointing to the ceiling and saying, "hippo....alligator"... maybe he's having bad dreams or something, but he clearly thought he was seeing these animals.
  

Anyhow, I am sure there are more I am missing. Matt's laptop completely died the other day and it is just over a year old. A good friend is looking at it for us and is hoping to fix it. So until we get it back I won't be posting pictures. My laptop is archaic and takes FOREVER to load pictures and it frequently stalls. So unless I get the desire to sit and work with it, you won't be seeing any pictures until Matt's laptop is fixed. Please pray that it is fixable. We do not have the money to replace it and he uses it for work and seminary, as well as personal use.

Disturbing parenting

Today I was reminded of a story that happened when Matt and I were first married. We went out to dinner at CiCi's pizza. We noticed a girl who was about middle school age sitting in a booth all by herself. She was hysterically crying. Soon her family members joined her and she had to stand up to move her seat. It was then that we noticed a huge poster on the front of her shirt. We managed to get a glimpse of what it said. "I am a thief, I steal from my friends and family." Clearly we gathered that she must have stolen something and this was her parents way of punishing her. However, she was mortified. Although this approach may work. I do not believe in public humiliation of my children. We felt so sorry for her. She was begging and pleading to her parents to take it off and saying she was sorry. At that age so many things are changing in their life socially and physically... I just can't even imagine how those parents felt good about their method of punishing their child. It's scarring is what it is.

More fun in the sun

Monday was a gorgeous day! Ethan and I met some friends at the park and enjoyed this beautiful weather. He wanted to play soccer the whole morning. Well, soccer and trying to go on the big kids playground. Poor guy thinks he's 5 years old, and wants to hang with the big kids. Monday night we went over to Papa & Grammy's house for dinner. Ethan had a blast. He blew bubbles and helped with some yard work. When Papa got home from work Ethan of course wanted to climb and play in Papa's truck. He loves trucks. He wanted to "drive" and push every single button. (Side note: The next morning my dad about had a heart attack when he turned his truck on because apparently Ethan had turned the radio volume up on loud!) He also has a tendency to move the electric seats. I mean there is no button untouched. After all his truck fun Ethan wanted to go play in Papa's boat. He had fun climbing in it and sitting in the seats. We ended the day with a dinner out on their porch and then we headed home. I love sunny beautiful days!

On Papa's boat
Ethan found the horn button!
P.s. The boat is for sale if anyone is interested.

Papa's truck!

Kicking the soccer ball at the park- I am truly impressed with his ball handling abilities!

Fun in the Sun

Today was another absolutely gorgeous day. We took advantage of the sunshine and headed over to Granddaddy and Granddee's house for a cookout. Matt's sister and her family came over as well as a sweet lady from our church who is moving back to Brazil. We had a blast. Ethan will definitely sleep good. Well he'll sleep good for two reasons. 1) He played hard out in the fresh air and 2) he barely had a nap today. He was so excited because we told him we were going to Granddaddy's house that he woke up after about 30 minutes of a nap and said, "Granddaddy's house, Granddaddy's house!" He was ready to go and never went back to sleep! We grilled out and had hamburgers & hot dogs and played outside. Ethan played basketball, rode a tricycle, rode on a 4-wheeler, road in a wheel barrel, swung in a swing, sat on a lawn mower and ran! I love to see my boy outside enjoying life! Here are some pictures from our afternoon!

SPRING

SPRING is in the air! For some reason I feel like the blasts of cold are not over, but I do hope they are. I LOVE Spring. Even though pollen gets bad here in NC and everything is covered in yellow dust for a few weeks, it is well worth it in my opinion. I love seeing everything so green and full of life. Animals and people seem to flock outside and bask in the warm sunshine. Parks are full of families and friends and you will never drive down our street without seeing at least 1 person walking or running. Matt and I took Ethan on a stroll this morning it was so great to be out in the sunshine with a little breeze. We walked through this ritzy neighborhood that is across the street from our apartments. We saw a home for sale and decided to humor ourselves and see how much it cost. I couldn't believe it when I saw the total. And this was not the biggest or prettiest in the neighborhood. It was $885,000! I mean really. What do these people do? Clearly they aren't teachers or pastors or work for the YMCA. My goodness. We felt like impostors walking through their neighborhood with the lush grass and golf course. We were wondering with every car that drove by did we look like we lived there. It was fun. I love going for walks on beautiful days. I am so thankful for my hubby who is willing to be dragged along with me. We enjoy talking and getting out and being active. Ethan still loves to sit contently in a stroller. He did not make a peep the whole time. He was taking it all in like we are, I assume. I hope you go and take advantage of this gorgeous weather with your family!!
p.s. Matt received a call from the camp we met at. They asked him to speak again this summer! :) We are thrilled and can't wait to go!!
p.s.s. Don't forget to set your clocks this evening... we SPRING forward an hour!

T&T

It's hard coming up with creative post title names. I named this one "t&t" because it has a little bit of This and a little bit of That. So there's my creativity.
Yesterday we got a few inches of snow. Matt was off for Spring Break so we got the pleasure of being home together. We slept in a little, I made M&M pancakes and bacon. Ethan LOVES this breakfast almost as much as we do. He downed a lot of food. We spent the whole day indoors. It was delightful. Yeah it would have been fun to go out in the snow but Ethan was in one of the best moods ever and we just enjoyed being home and spending quality time together as a family. Ethan's love for sports is growing stronger and stronger each day and this is making Matt a very happy daddy. Ethan got a t-ball set for his birthday. So yesterday we had the video camera out and Ethan had his first t-ball lesson in the living room. I know he is only 2 but he is very good at a lot of sports. He can throw balls really well and has great hand/eye coordination. He shoots basketball and loves kicking balls and running. He batted very well for his first time and Matt was in heaven. It was so neat to see my husband and my son together having a blast doing something they both love. I know we will be outside almost every day this spring and summer because of sports. We hope to instill an active lifestyle into our son. Which shouldn't be difficult because he loves being outdoors and he loves running.
So anyhow, other updates. Ethan cut a molar and is working on his others. He can now sing the whole alphabet. He LOVES singing songs, we sing several songs before nap and bedtime together. I am applying as a substitute teacher for our county hoping to make some extra money. We are following a financial program to help us manage our finances better. God has been teaching us some great things about tithing and being good stewards of our money. This has all been spurred on by our sermon series at our church as well as other life events. We are actually excited about managing our finances. Ha ha! Matt is leading our small group on marriage. It has been great and we've only been in it 2 weeks. We watched the movie Fireproof and we are doing a study that has come off of it. I recommend seeing that movie and make sure you bring some tissues. I love seeing my husband lead this group as well as the discussions we've had because of it.
I have also realized more and more lately how much we are blessed as a country. I know that may be a hard pill to swallow in this economic time but we truly have so much to be thankful for. I know that I have had an ungrateful and complaining heart when it comes to possessions and money. I have acted like a spoiled selfish brat demanding things from God when I haven't even stopped to thank Him and be appreciative of all that we do have. Of the job opportunities we have and the community that we live in. Yes we share 1 car as a family, but at least we have one that is paid off. Yes money is very tight, but we pay our bills each month and never go without food. Yes we have student loan debt, but at least we got to go to college and earn a great education. Yes I would love to own a house, but we have a great apartment in a great location and we have shelter. I am able to stay home with my son and watch him grow and learn and be a part of his life and that is amazing. If we have another baby, so what... they share a room. Look at what we as a culture have come to value. That each family member gets their own room. That each adult NEEDS a car to drive around. That if you don't own a home then you aren't a successful person. When I know not even half way around the world there are people literally starving. No roof over their head. Sickness over taking people and sadly...genocide. I just don't even think that is real in my life or others. Anyhow, I feel like I am starting to ramble but I hope you see where I am coming from. I am glad my eyes are beginning to open and that we are starting to be thankful instead of ungrateful. And please don't get me wrong. I do not believe that having things are evil or that you are a bad person for owning a home or making good money. But when we value those things more than we should or become ungrateful or demanding of more. That's when we have an issue. When we become prideful or in my case envious and greedy, that's when we need to take a step back and realize our priorities. That when we die, NONE of this stuff goes with us. It's what we did with Jesus Christ that matters. When we stand before God we can't say look at my house I bought, my car I drove, the money I earned. We need to be able to answer the question: "What did you do with my son Jesus? Who I GAVE you as a sacrifice for your sins so that you could have a relationship with me?!" All we have to do is accept. That is better than anything money could buy.

Birthday Party

This past Saturday we finally celebrated Ethan's 2nd birthday! It was great to have our family there to enjoy some cake and fellowship! A lady from my dad's work made the cake and it turned out great! Ethan got a lot of nice gifts for his birthday. He was so funny because every single one he opened he wanted to play with immediately. Which I completely understand. It's hard opening a gift but then told, no let's not play with that right now, let's open more! I am looking forward to getting his room cleaned out and setting up his big bed. I have a tough job ahead of me. Sorting through all his clothes that he's outgrown and sorting through ones he's been given. My beloved consignment sale is coming up at the end of the month and I need to know what I need to buy for him. If any of you moms are interested in coming to the sale, let me know and I can get you a pass to shop before it opens to the public. Anyhow, here are a few pictures from Saturday.

Opening gifts
Eating cake!

ELMO cake!