Christmas Surprise!

Matt read me this poem as I opened the gift below:

"I had trouble this Christmas trying to decide,
what to get for my beautiful bride.

Of course clothes or shoes came to mind,
but in Killeen those are hard to find.

I wanted to make sure and get you something big and nice,
so I called our folks and asked for their advice.

They came to the rescue,
because together we could afford what I really wanted to get you.

Now this isn't really the gift,
that one you'll have to go out and pick.

It's not that I'm a slouch,
you're getting a brand new couch!"

His mom made this tiny version of a couch so I would have something to open and I was so surprised I got a little misty! What a thoughtful and generous man I married!
More pictures and Christmas stories to come soon, I promise!

Picture Posting

It's been a while since I uploaded a bunch of recent pictures, so here is my first born (and only born at this point) doing what he does best: being an active little boy!

I can't imagine why I lose things all the time!

"Mom, I thought the detergent goes in with the laundry. And the dog food, well it just needs to go where I go."

I guess we just needed a change of scenery this week.

Connor was given a John Deer ATV by a sweet couple in our church and he LOVES it.
It talks to him, plays a song and even the blinkers click and light up.

He had to take some time out to get a frisbee lesson from dad though.

Smart and Naughty - What a combo!

Connor is one quick cookie! This is a video of him stacking his rings over and over again. He has been doing it for months so for his birthday he got this set of stacking rings which have a much smaller hole and require a lot more accuracy. He has had no trouble. He stacks them up and then dumps them over so he can start again. He does the same thing with his nesting/stacking cups. He used to just put them inside one another but now he has begun to turn them over and make towers like Mommy & Daddy do. The greatest part is when he claps with joy after he is finished!





As for being too smart for his own good, the boy has a few tricks up his sleeve. He loves the Christmas tree. And who wouldn't? There are lots of shiny pretty things to play with! But I have worked diligently to teach him not to touch it. He is learning. He knows he is not supposed to touch it but sometimes temptation is just to hard to withstand and he caves. His little fingers get thumped and then there are tears. It's a painful process. Anyhow, the point is that he knows what he is not supposed to do. He will stand at arms length from the tree and turn and look at me as if to challenge me. "Are you going to do anything if I touch it this time, Mom?" But lately instead of grabbing something, he takes a toy (or this morning it was a hanger) and throws it at the tree. He has figured out that he is technically not touching the tree but things still shake and sparkle if he throws something at it. Just thinking about it makes me laugh. Who taught him to think that way? Now I just have to grow eyes in the back of my head so I don't miss it when he is preparing to launch a wooden block or something.

Just one more thing to report...After getting his diaper changed, Connor's new favorite thing is to throw the diaper away. We can hardly get a dry diaper on him before he's flipped himself over and is crawling off the changing table trying to get to the balled up diaper on the floor. He picks it up with delight, follows us to the pantry trash can, opens the lid and throws the diaper in. The problem for a while though was that he then wanted to reach back in and get it out to do it over and over again. That can get pretty nasty, so we have since trained him to get a milk-bone treat for Avery out of the box and go give it to her, which gives us time to close the pantry door. He is so thrilled to have her eat out of his hand and she is thrilled to get a treat. It seems to work nicely for everyone!

Pictures!

I know it's been a while since I've posted pictures of the Bitty Boy but we have battery issues with our camera. Sorry!

So most of the time Connor has very cute pj's...

"Good morning!"

But sometimes, it's just whatever is clean...

"Why do I look like a hobo cancer patient, Mom?"

And this is when I was 17 1/2 weeks along (2 weeks ago.)

Neighborhood Husband

I dubbed Matt the neighborhood husband today. He is so great and I am so proud to be married to him. Since so many of our friends have husbands in Iraq, Matt has more than once volunteered or been asked to hang a heavy shelf, put up a permanent baby gate, tear out a flower bed and today, hang Christmas lights. Every time, he is happy to do what has been asked of him. He really enjoys getting to serve these women in areas that they have needs. I know he would rather be at home with his family but he gets it. He sees the bigger picture and that drives him. He knows that in digging out grass to plant flowers & mulch or whatever the task may be, gives him more 'relationship collateral' (his term, not mine). What I mean is that by serving them he gets to spend time outside of Sunday morning with them in a way which is completely appropriate and allows them to build trust with him. It actually even builds trust and respect from their husbands who are thousands of miles away. So when a situation arises where he wants to speak truth to one of them, he has the collateral to do so. He has laid a foundation that will allow him to be used by the Holy Spirit in their lives. His only agenda is to be used by God in the lives of the people He places around us. Many of those people are situationally single women and there are not a lot of opportunities for a married man to appropriately build relationships like those. For that reason, I am so glad that I get to live with the Neighborhood Husband. I am willing to share him for a few hours here and there, but he's mine!

Such a Helper

We like to train 'em young!

What Do You Want for Christmas?

It's that time of year. The temperature is dropping and the decorations are coming out. We're trying to not to get too caught up in the madness of the season, and yet if we're honest, part of us loves the frantic pace, the super sales, and the excitement of it all. We try hard to not let those things overshadow the joys of the Christmas season - time spent with family, the opportunity to reflect on our blessings, etc. The problem is that even if the madness doesn't overshadow the joys it certainly competes with them. We become distracted and preoccupied.

Every year there are those who speak out against the commercialization of Christmas. They demonize the American marketing machine. The implied argument is that Christmas has lost it's significance because money-hungry retailers prey on helpless consumers. But that couldn't be further from the truth. The real problem with Christmas is not that it's been commercialized, the real problem is us.

Let me explain. The most basic rule of economics tells us that retailers are only supplying the demand that our self-gratifying hearts have created. We have taken a holiday that was designed to celebrate the birth of our Savior and used it spoil ourselves. Our self-indulgence has become the enemy of Christmas.

This is no more evident than in my own life. Each year I spend hours thinking about what I want, what I might get, "is too much to ask for?", or "does that come with a gift receipt?". When I take the time to examine my own heart and consider what Christmas means to me I see a selfish man with greedy motives. My conviction leads to thoughts like: What about getting presents helps me to love God more? As we celebrate the birth of our Savior, what have I done to deserve a gift?

C.S. Lewis once said,
"God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing."

For Christmas this year I want more of God. My prayer is that God would give me more of Himself and that I would learn to be satisfied in Him alone.

~Matt