Christmas 2007

We went to 4 houses besides ours on Christmas day! We started off at home, went to Boo and Papaw's, Dadoo's, Gumbunny's, and finally, Grandmommy and Granddaddy's! We sure were tired at the end of the day but it we had a great time. Henry did great!

YUMMY!

My dear friend Jessica brought us some chili that we ate for dinner last night. While we all loved it, Claire especially did. After a few minutes of eating, I heard, "MORE, MORE" from Claire who was pointing at her bowl. So I filled her bowl back up and placed it in front of her and she said, "YUMMY, YUMMY!" It was hilarious...she proceeded to eat that bowl as well and again asked for more. At that point, I had to cut her off. The picture above shows how much she loved it. Don't be fooled by the chili all over her face...she did eat it all and none was left but at one point the spoon wasn't fast enough for her so she started using her hands to grab the chili and eat it...then it just got all over her face.

So thanks again Jess...especially from Claire!

Conversation with Kate

Kate: Mommy, I love baby Henry!

Me: Kate, that's such a sweet girl...you're a good big sister.

Kate: Mommy, when are we going to put Henry up?

Me: What do you mean?

Kate: When are we going to take him back to the hospital?

Me: We aren't going to take him back...he's part of our family and he lives with us now.

Kate: I want to take him back to the hospital.

Claire enjoying her new coat

More on Ron Paul

This article presents an interesting side of the Ron Paul story. I must admit that I do not know everything Ron Paul believes, but it seems quite clear that we need to quit being blinded by the issues.

The Presidential campaigns in our country suffer from the same problems the church is experiencing. We want to teach application diligently because people are not being transformed by the word of God. The problem is that we are not being transformed by the renewing of our minds.

The answer is not to simplify God's word to a list of dos and donts nor is it to simplify the political process to a list of 10-20 issues. People change and my political views probably change slightly every 6-12 months as I gain more knowledge and wisdom. What we need to look for in a President is a man of integrity that will stand strong to his basic worldview or political viewpoint.

Ron Paul believes the government is too big and intrusive and even if I do not agree with him on many issues, I can rest assured that he will do everything in his power to stop the federal government from imposing laws that make my life more difficult. Government is easier on smaller on smaller scale, and Ron Paul is pushing for major shrinkage!

Vote Ron Paul 2008

A couple of months ago Peggy and I saw what looked like a painted bedsheet sign hanging off a local bridge (over highway 31 in Birmingham by the Galleria mall). It said "Vote Ron Paul". At the time we assumed this had something to do with one of the local colleges due to it's unofficial appearance.

Since that time, I have become acquainted with the Ron Paul running for President of the United States in the 2008 presidential election. If you haven't heard much about him, please read up on him at http://www.ronpaul2008.com/. After a little reading through his issues page, I am now a supporter of this man for President.

Merry Christmas!

Bells still on bob's tail!

Last Christmas we blogged about a humerous conversation that occurred in our family around the line "Bells on bobbed tails ring" (or something like that) in "Jingle Bells". We followed that post with another one noting that we had seen a rise in traffic to the site due to the original post.

Well, once again, we're seeing some traffic related to bells and bob tails. The TOP 10 searches that led people to our blog for this December were ALL related to this topic! We thought that was interesting!

Merry Christmas!

Happy 3rd Birthday Kate!

Congratulations to Rick!

Rick just finished up his first degree at seminary this semester! He now has a Master of Arts in Biblical Studies. He's still working on his Master of Divinity degree but between working full time and having me and 3 children...it'll probably be a few more years!
Congrats Rick!

Claire - 20 months

My dear Claire,

You are now 20 months old! You are such a joy to your family. I can't believe you will be 2 in just 4 months...the time has gone by so quickly. I chose this picture to save with your letter this month because every picture we have of you recently looks just like this. I think it's such a funny smile and wanted you to see it.

You have now been a big sister for 2 weeks. You are so sweet to Henry and love to hold him and cover him up (although you always cover up his head)! I have to watch you though because you'll ask to hold him and will hold him for about 2 minutes and then as soon as you are finished, you just push him off your lap. There's no warning...just a push. But you sure love him and kiss and hug him all the time. He's blessed to have such sweet sisters.

You are talking a lot now. It's fun because you and Kate have conversations all the time. You still call her "T". You can say Kate but prefer T so we'll see how long that will stick. If you both wake up at the same time in the morning, you and T will talk for a little while and then as soon as Kate leaves the room, you start screaming "NO T, NO T" because you don't want her to leave the room without you (you're still in a crib so you can't leave by yourself.) It's sweet.

Your favorite songs right now are "Jesus love me", "The B-I-B-L-E", and "Go tell it on the mountain" and you know all the motions we made up for that song.

You can feed yourself now which is a big help to me!! You love to run around and spin around in circles until you get dizzy...that's pretty funny to watch. You LOVE baby dolls and are attached to your doll "Mary" and to your blanket. We never leave you anywhere without your blanket!

I love you my baby and can't believe how big you are getting! You are a blessing to me.

Love always,

Mommy

Common Sayings

While I haven't read through all of the items on this page, the ones I have read are interesting.

Enjoy!

http://blueletterbible.org/faq/sayings.html

Our Nativity Giraffe

The church we are attending had their Children's Choir Program tonight. There was one scene in the play that was at the manager. They invited the little children to be the animals at the manger. They got to pick which animal they wanted to be and Kate decided she wanted to be a giraffe and Claire, a cow. The funny thing about Claire being the cow is that she pooped right before she went onstage so she smelled her part too. She also had to take her blanket with her. I don't have the best picture of the cow because I was holding Henry but I have some good ones of the giraffe!

Fun at home

I put Henry on the sofa after feeding him yesterday afternoon and turned around to go do something. I came back a minute or 2 later and found this...

The day before I put Henry under his little play gym and went to clean the kitchen...I came back and saw this....




Those girls can't get enough of their brother. And yes...we've been in our pajamas almost all week...but please let that slide...at least for another few days!

Day 8

Well....I've been "TeeTeeed" on 3 times today, but Henry only woke up once last night between 10:00 pm and 7:30 am so I think that's a fair trade.

Henry 1 week old

The proudest big sister ever!

Claire trying to decide if she likes Henry

It's official...she does!!!

Henry Scott

Times are changing (or have already changed!)

A few mornings ago Kate woke up with an earache. I quickly grabbed the tylenol and hair dryer. My dad used to always take care of my earaches with the hair dryer and it works wonders. A few minutes later everything was fine and she snuggled up to me on the big chair in the den.

Fast forward to today and I found out that the hair dryer may not be the best solution for helping the aching ear. My grandmother and I were talking tonight, and I mentioned the story above. She told me how my grandad used to fix earaches in their household by blowing cigarette smoke into the children's ears.

I found that rather humerous, and then realized how times have definately changed because he would probably be arrested for child abuse for doing that in today's society!

Kate's Bday Party

Kate's 3rd birthday isn't until December 22 but since we have a new baby due any day now, we had her birthday party last week. We were thankful that our families could come!
Here are some pictures from the big event!




This is Kate and her cousin Will (4). I'm sure he'll love this picture in a few years!





Yes, I was 38 weeks pregnant in this picture...not just full of cake (although I probably was)




Here's Kate slowly opening a fun present

A Picture is Worth a thousand words...

and of course I didn't have my camera.
We ate Thanksgiving lunch at my parents house yesterday and I think Claire (19 months) ate more than anyone. We were eating dessert (a chocolate roulage) and I looked over at Claire and her head was resting over on her own shoulder and she was slowly bringing hand fulls of roulage into her mouth. She was exhausted and stuffed but still had room for dessert....that's my girl.

Vengeance is Mine...

...says Peggy????

Our "regular readers" will remember our little fiasco from a few weeks ago where I accidently kicked Peggy in the face during the night. Today I'd like to report that Peggy retaliated a few nights ago by punching me in the face while I slept. She claims it also was an accident, but I must wonder if this is getting out of hand!


Marriage counseling anyone?



Yes, I have reminded Peggy that scripture says "Vengeance is mine says the Lord. (Romans 12:19)

She was supposed to be Cinderella....

But I think she looked more like Sleeping Beauty

Here's Kate resting up for the big night too!

Countdown to Baby #3!

Only 47 days to go!
I better go do something!

Interviewing

It's always interesting to interview people for a job. It's a difficult responsibility. The interview process requires us to judge several aspects of a person in a very short period of time. At DAXKO, the interview process can be grueling at times, but over time, I've found this to be good for several reasons. The first reason is the type of people we are looking for, and I understand that type to include people with the following:

1. Self-motivated
   
2. Intelligent
   
3. Fit into the DAXKO team and frame of mind
   
4. Driven to succeed at any task
   
5. Willing and able to complete multiple types of tasks requiring a multitude of skills
   
6. Willing and able to learn new skills quickly and adapt to changing environments
   

How do we determine if people meet these criteria? This is a question I continually ask myself! Part of the answer is to have a "grueling" interview process. Individuals must:

1. Interview with everyone on the team
   
2. Interview with the Director of the team
   
3. Interview with the Vice President of the team
   
4. Interview with the COO and/or CEO
   
5. Do a presentation of some sort for the entire team.
   

At times, this can be a lengthy process depending on the schedule of the interviewee or the team members. We're currently seeking to shorten the amount of time it requires to complete this process, but we have yet to compromise on the number of encounters with DAXKO team member that are required. This has proven extremely beneficial in determining if people meet the 6 criteria listed above. We are not looking for good people. We seek the best people, and so far, we've been able to find them, and this is a large part of what makes it enjoyable to work on the DAXKO team.

Claire's Catechism

Now that Claire is "talking" a little more, I've started working on the first catechism question with her. I laughed the first time she gave her "answer" so now she thinks it's funny and I'm thinking this is going to be her answer for a little while!

Me: Claire, who made you?
Claire: DADA!

She'll probably think that answer is gross when she's 15

Restless (Peg) Leg Part II

If you didn't read the first post by Rick on this subject...click here.

Now for part 2. I was the ultimate skeptic on the Restless Leg Syndrome. I honestly thought it wasn't true and would laugh at the commercials whenever I saw them. Well, the first time I had RLS was when I was pregnant with Claire. I got it in the last trimester but this time I've had it the entire pregnancy and it's getting worse. To top it off, you just can't sleep during your last trimester even though you are very tired. This is what has led to Rick's Restless Peg Syndrome.
He's extra tired too because he's not getting any rest. So, I was determined to try and fix this situation. I tried everything "they" tell you do try to get rid of RLS and nothing worked...then I remembered one thing that actually did work when I had it with Claire....sleeping backwards in the bed! So the other night, I put my pillow where my feet should go and my feet where my head should go and sure enough...I was asleep within minutes! (I know this makes no sense but it's true.) Anyway, I was sleeping peacefully and happily I'm sure, when all of the sudden, WHAM!!! Rick kicks me in the face.
So now I'm back to the drawing board in trying to fix our problem...

There are too many lessons to list

Before we begin, here are 3 facts to keep in mind.

1-Kate has had maybe 2 accidents in the 10 months she's been potty trained
2-My parents live across the street from Jason's Deli
3-We are still living in the 90's. :) We have 1 cell phone that we never use

It started Sunday morning. Kate woke up with a fever of around 100 degrees. Rick took Claire to the 8:30 worship service and then came home so I could go to the 11:00 service. By this time, Kate's fever had gone away and she was running around playing so we decided that we'd meet at Jason's Deli after the worship service.
At Jason's Deli, Kate was acting funny again and told me she had to "poop" on 4 different occasions so off we raced each time to the bathroom. By this point I was thinking, "Oh No," because the week before, Claire ran a fever for 2 days and then had the stomach bug, so I'm assuming Kate's caught it. Each visit to the bathroom though, was was unproductive, if you know what I mean.
So we finishing eating and Rick says he'll take the girls home since we are in 2 cars. When I get home, I hear a voice message from Rick that says I have his keys and that he's at my parents house. Off I race back to my parents house (about a 10 min drive) and here's what I find out once I get there.
Rick takes the girls back to the car (we parked in 2 different lots) and realizes he's put the keys in the diaper bag which I have. He runs carring Claire and basically dragging Kate through the parking lot to try and stop me. He round the corner just in time to see the back of my car driving off....He stops and hears..."Daddy...I JUST POOPED!"

Fun Outside

Kate wants to wear this Christmas sweater all the time. It's still 90 degrees outside...

Kate pushing Claire around in the new bike trailer/stroller

Claire having fun in the stroller!

Claire wants a turn to push!

Kate 2 years, 9 months

My dear Kate,

You are now 2 years and 9 months old! I can’t believe you will be 3 soon. That sounds so much older to me than 2. You are a beautiful girl and have grown so much these past few months. You love to play pretend now which takes up a good part of our day. Yesterday we played that you were the Mommy and I was Kate and you just loved that. You wanted me to take a nap so that was easy for me to do!
You’ve started thinking and asking a lot of questions about God. Yesterday you asked where God is, where Heaven is, etc. Then you asked, “How do we get to Heaven?” I told you that the Lord will take us there when He is ready. You quickly said, “Well…I’m going to Heaven because I love Jesus but I’m taking an airplane.”
I thought that was so funny and I’m so happy to have you ask me questions like that.
You and Claire are so sweet together and you love to play with her. You always make sure she has something to play with and will “interpret” for her if you don’t think I understand what she wants.
You are very excited about your new baby brother but INSIST on calling him Harris. We keep explaining to you that that is not his name but you don’t care. You just tell us you are going to call him Harris. So…we’ll see what happens once he’s born.
You are a great helper to me and love to dust, sweep, vacuum, and put toys/clothes away. It takes longer to get my chores done with all of the help but I love that you are eager to help me so I don’t mind letting you.
I love you baby girl and I am so thankful for you. I prayed that the Lord would give you to me long before you were born.

Love always and forever,

Mommy

Claire 17 months

My dear Claire,

You are now 17 months old. You are my prize and my treasure. You are such a wonderful little girl and I love you. You have such a fun personality and it is really starting to come out. You are talking a lot more now and interacting with us more and more each month. I took this picture of you because I thought it was so funny. I came to check on you before I went to sleep one night and this is what I found. I put your shirt back on but it was off again by morning. You LOVE your blanket and your doll, Mary, and carry them everywhere.
The only places I ever drop you off are in the nursery at church and at the YMCA. The very few times I have forgotten your blanket, the workers have called me to come get you because you wouldn’t stop crying. When you have that blanket though, you’ll run right in and start playing.
You have a strong stubborn streak and at times, you can really test us. If we ask you to do something and you don’t want to do it, you’ll stop whatever you are doing and just give us this funny stare. You won’t respond at all but you will stare. Eventually, you know you have to obey and you will, but it is hard at times. Kate is on your side because she will try and get you to obey us. But you just keep on staring.
My prayer for you is first for your salvation and that your stubbornness will become faithfulness unto the Lord. May you be a peacemaker in our family and love unconditionally and faithfully.
I love you my baby girl and you will be a blessing to me my entire life.
Love always,Mommy

Baby Powder

Don't ask me why I'm just now figuring this out but I LOVE baby powder!
Claire had diaper rash and I was out of diaper rash cream so I just used baby powder and it cleared it up over night!
I won't use that expensive cream anymore....plus....it made her smell so good!

Restless Leg Syndrome During Pregnancy

Peggy has been suffering from "Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS)" during this pregnancy. This will leave her in due time (Lord willing of course), but while she has it, I've contracted a similar minor issue.

With RLS, each night when she lays down, her leg has the pins and needles feeling, and it is extremely bothersome as it causes her to not easily find comfort; therefore, she tosses and turns a good bit.

My issue is closely related to Peggy's RLS, and it is probably safe to say that it directly correlates and will leave me as soon as Henry is born, but time will tell.

What is my issue, you ask? "Restless Peg Syndrome (RPS)". The name should speak for itself....

Words of Wisdom

Tonight I heard some wise words from a lady much wiser than me, and I wanted to pass these words on to you. It is paraphrased because I can't remember the exact quote.

Our world is full of noise, clutter and loud voices...

The Holy Spirit's voice is a whisper...

As such, His voice is easily drowned out and lost...

I pray urgently that God will help me hear his voice through all the
clutter and noise....

This woman then noted that we ask God for many things through prayer, and then turn and go about our daily tasks without listening. How often we must miss the voice of God as He seeks to direct us in His path. If we're honest with ourselves, we must admit that we usually seek the noise rather than seeking God.

Mother's "Little Helper"

All Kate wants to do now is help clean. Thanks goodness for little girls!!!

Claire and Sweet "T"

Claire calls Kate, "T" in her attempt to say Kate. She'll see her and say "Hi T" or "TEEEEEE!!!!!"
So I started calling Kate "Sweet T." Kate does not like either of these names and we've had the following conversation numerous times:

Claire: TEEEEEEE!!!!!
Kate: My name is not T, it's KATE HUTCHINSON!

Me: Baby, she's trying to say Kate, she just can't yet
Kate: Well...maybe next year she will be able to say Kate Hutchinson

WAR EAGLE!!

Like Mother, Like Daughter

I have a strange habit of eating crackers with ice cream. I'll dip the crackers in the ice cream and then eat them. This is not a pregnancy thing...just something I like to do.
We were at Jason's Deli the other day for lunch and after eating, I went and got the girls some ice cream. Well, wouldn't you know it, little Claire picked up the closest cracker, dipped it in her ice cream and then ate it. Other strange things she dips are goldfish in cupcake icing and cheese quesadilla in pudding. I love that girl!

Blessings from God

This blog post by Jason Dollar of the Apologetics Resource Center provides yet another reminder of how children are a blessing from God.

Bunny Rabbits?

Rick (to Peggy): Do you think when Adam was naming all the animals he called the bunny, "Bunny" or "Rabbit" or did he give it both names?


Peggy: Well, it probably wasn't in english, so....




I quickly realized Peggy had a good point and that the in-depth reading and studying for seminary is getting to me.

Be Fruitful and Multiply

We are currently participating in a Bible study covering the covenant of redemption. Tonight's discussion centered around man being made in God's image and God's desire for man to be fruitful and multiply. After Peggy's post yesterday, this study was timely for me.


Genesis 1

27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created
him; male and female he created them. 28And God blessed them.
And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it
and have dominion over .....

Two things were noted from the above verses:
1. Mankind was made to be "imagers" of God
2. Mankind is commanded to be fruitful and multiply



Genesis 6

1When man began to multiply on the face of the land.... 5The LORD saw
that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6And the LORD was sorry
that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.

It was then noted in Genesis 6 that God was sorry after man began to fulfill the command to multiply. Why is this? He is sorry because man's thoughts are evil continually. So, men were multiplying enemies of God.



Genesis 9

1And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

After leaving the Ark, Noah is told to be fruitful and multiply. God's desire for man to fill the earth has not ceased. His anger and wrath from previous chapters was a result of man's wickedness and in multiplying that wickedness.

God desires His imagers to be fruitful and multiply. He desires His people to teach those under our care to know Him. Remember that both believers and non-believers are being fruitful and multiplying and it is a great privilege to raise children in God's truth.

Conversations with Kate

Rick: What is this? (Pointing to a picture of rocks in the ocean)

Kate: THOSE are Lobsters!

Rick: No, they're rocks.

Kate: (Pointing at a fish) And those are Fishes

Rick: You mean Fish not fishes

Kate: No, they're fishes

Rick: You don't say Fishes. You are supposed to say Fish

Kate: No, I say Fishes


Must be a little early to teach grammar....

Pregnancy - 25 weeks

Each pregnancy seems harder.
For me, there are only 2 reasons:
I think the first reason is that with each pregnancy I am older. Ok, I'm only 28 but still older than I was the first time at 25. In "those days", I'd eat 3 cookies and a big bowl of ice cream every night and still hardly gained any weight. This time around, I work out at the gym about 45 min 3 times a week (well...I've only been doing this for the past month since Rick's work started paying for our membership...thanks Daxko) and I'll eat only ice cream and still feel like I'm gaining weight too quickly.
The second reason is that since this is my 3rd pregnancy, the majority of people think I'm crazy. Rick just finished reading a history book for seminary that stated that at times in our own country, people had 12 children and it wasn't that unusual. Today if you have 12 children you get your own TV show. I've heard countless times, "you're crazy/nuts." Granted, we will have 3 children under 3 when our son is born (but only for about 2 weeks...then Kate will turn 3!) :)
Normally I try and not let things get to me but sometimes this really bothers me.
I am thankful for all of my children and this new one not yet born. Of course it is hard and I rarely have "alone time." But I must look to eternity, not to today. The Lord has blessed us with the opportunity to effect the next generation and thereby effect enternity. I am able to live the gospel out for my young girls day in and day out. I am feeling my weakness these days so I am thankful that "he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." 2 Corinthians 12:9-10.
So, the next time you meet someone with 2 children and one on the way, just say "Congratulations" to her face...once she leaves you can say "she's nuts"....at least she won't know!

Claire - 16 months old