Christmas Review

We had another relaxing Christmas this year in Billings with just the three of us. It has been fun to make some of our own family traditions and enjoy seeing Isaac wake up for Christmas morning at home. Each of us gets a new ornament for the tree on Christmas eve that somehow represents that year. We also make cinnamon rolls for breakfast. This year, when Isaac finally realized it was Christmas morning, he exclaimed "cinnamon rolls!!!" It took him about 10 minutes to realize there were presents under the tree, but from that point on he was focused on opening them all. It was also a lot of fun this year because Isaac is old enough to begin understanding the real meaning of Christmas. He helped me make "Happy Birthday Jesus" cupcakes for the kids at church to decorate and enjoyed hearing stories about baby Jesus.

Isaac's new camping ornament

The excitement of Christmas morning:

Presents!!!

(Isaac got to open baby Johnny's present too)

Counting Down...

Only seven more weeks until we have our baby girl!! We have a c-section scheduled for February 17, so unless she decides to come early you can put that date on your calendar...

I am currently in get-things-done-we're-running-out-of-time mode. So far we have traded rooms with Isaac. For now he gets the bigger room all to himself, but come February he'll have to share. The crib is moved in with him and the dresser is on its way. I've organized his closet with lots of plastic storage bins (life just feels better when things are put into clear plastic bins, doesn't it?) and cleared out some toys he no longer plays with. I also cleared out one of the bathroom cabinets to make way for baby stuff (babies require way too much STUFF).

Now for what's still to be done...bring in the cradle from the garage (get mattress/sheets for it), wash all the cloth diapers LOTS of times so they're ready (yes, we are cloth diapering this one. I am sure I will put up a post about our experiences once we get there. But we would still welcome your loving donations of disposable diapers :)  Also need to go through all of Isaac's baby STUFF, sort and put away. What else?..... I am also trying to finish getting our house the way I want it as far as decorating, so I need to buy/put up/put things on some new wall shelves. Make some wall decorations to go above the crib. Put up some pictures in our bedroom. Buy/paint an old window to put pictures in. Go through two boxes of house 'decor' and get them off our front porch. If all of this gets done before she's here I will call it a miracle.

AND we have a new stroller arriving soon in the mail (coming from New York--so at the moment it is delayed by snow). It's the ultimate single convert to a double and also use as a snap-n-go for your car seat wonder. Just don't ask Steve how much of his Christmas money he donated toward the purchase....

And I'll get some christmas pictures up as soon as I get them off the camera!

A visit to Memphis

We just got back from a 12 day circuit of St. Louis, Memphis and Columbia. So I think I'll write a few posts over the next few days highlighting our experiences (and I still need to collect some pictures to add). 

We spent the first weekend of our trip back in Memphis. "Uncle" Larry was gracious enough to share his whole upstairs with us, so we took over with our tornado of suitcases and toys. It was refreshing to catch up with old friends, spend a couple lazy afternoons not doing much, and revisit some of our favorite places (including multiple trips to sonic and chick fil a). We've yet to find suitable mexican food here in Billings so we made sure to enjoy some Los Compadres while we were there.

One of the greatest highlights was visiting our old church for their celebration service. There were lots of new faces, but many old ones to catch up with. As always, the best part was being able to listen to and join in the worship of the many Burundi refugee families. It is such a picture to me of all the nations worshiping together before the Lord, and encouragement that people from such different histories and walks of life can join in worship and service together.

We spent the last evening in Memphis having dinner and hanging out with our Memphis 'family.' It was a great reminder of how the Lord gives us people who will always be like family to us, even if we move all the way across the country.

The Family

These 2 definitely get Entertainers of the Year Award. Isaac woke up every morning and from every nap asking for Doug and Colby. They introduced him to a new game: living room frisbee golf. It was a hit (although I can't say I want to have it in my own living room).

These People Are Crazy

I was excited today because mom picked me up from school early (right before I was supposed to take a nap!). She told me we were going to the doctor, which was fine with me.

When we got there, the nice nurse drew some numbers on my arm. I thought that was pretty cool. Then she put some drops of stuff on them. I still didn't mind.

THEN...she poked me with a sharp thing! Four times!!

It started to itch right away. I was mad at the nurse, but she made up for it. She let me watch a Thomas movie and gave me a blue sucker!

Mom and I watched Thomas for awhile, then the nurse came back in and made some more marks on my itchy spots. Then she made some more numbers on my other arm. This time, she didn't just poke me, she stuck that sharp thing in my skin! I didn't like it, but she wrapped it up to make it feel better and keep me from scratching. Then I got another blue sucker.

Well, I guess since I didn't have any more room on my arms they decided to move onto my legs. The nurse came back and gave me a shot in one leg. It HURT! I kicked and screamed so they let me watch some more Thomas. Then the nurse said since I didn't get any bad spots from the shot that I would need one more. Mom was excited (she knew if I got a bad spot then I would get four more) but I didn't like it. They gave me ANOTHER shot in my other leg! But then I got two band aids and that made it all better.

Finally I got to go home with a whole page of Handy Manny stickers and mom let me drink some of her Coke. I put on my Thomas jammies, snuggled with mommy and went right to sleep!

They all said this would keep me from getting something called the flu, but I think they are all CRAZY!!

Pride and Humility

I am the.worst.apologizer.ever. Really. Ask my husband. Ask my mom. When I was a kid and she would tell me to apologize, I would say "Why should I say sorry if I'm not sorry?" (Have I ever mentioned that I pray my children will not be like me?)  


I just hate the way it feels. If I say I'm sorry, then I'm saying I did something wrong (me?!?). It feels weak. It's me telling you I'm not perfect. 


It has been a sloooow process, but God is faithful in redeeming and sanctifying all of our crap, even mine. And he gave me the best apologizer there ever was for a husband. He's teaching me what it means to get over my pride, pick up some much deserved humility, and admit that I am not perfect. He's teaching me not just to say "I'm sorry I made you feel that way" but to say "I'm sorry that I did that"


Relationships are hard. Admitting to yourself that you screwed up is hard. Admitting it to someone else is even harder. But there can't be forgiveness and redemption for a relationship in which no one is sorry. If I'm never sorry, then I'm always right. And if I'm always right, then you're always wrong. That sure doesn't sound like the loving and cherishing we promised each other way back when. 


One of our favorite songs by Randall Goodgame goes:


And when I want my way the way I want I'm hopeless
Everyday I have to die so I can live

Sometimes I get angry I just scream and yell
I think I'd rather just go to Hell
But when I finally shed my pride
And let the Holy Spirit reach me from the inside

I rise up like Lazarus in John 11
Throw out my grave clothes
Put on the armor of the Lord
I rise up like Lazarus
Dry all the tears Mary cried
When I fall on my knees I rise


Humility allows God to change us. Shedding our pride and falling to our knees lifts us up. He redeems our relationships. He redeems us.

Adventures in Allergy

Our poor little goose has allergy problems. LOTS of allergy problems. Last year he tested allergic to: corn, milk, peanuts, eggs, cats and mold. It was a major life adjustment for us to figure out how to deal with it, especially when we had our cat. For a long time we gave up eating almost all processed or boxed foods (like rice-a-roni or hamburger helper) particularly because of the corn syrup. We've gradually been able to re-introduce things, especially things with corn syrup in moderation. I have now realized how much food in the grocery store contains corn syrup! I never would have guessed.

We're now in the process of another round of testing, this time to figure out what specific ingredients in creams, lotions and soaps he may be allergic to (including oatmeal). Instead of one 3 hour skin-scratch appointment, we have 4 appointments. Today was the first, when they put 4 large strips of tape across his back, each with samples of the ingredients. Then they wrapped him up in bandage to keep them on. 

Now we just have to keep them on, clean and dry until Wednesday (easy with a two year old, right?). Then we go back in, they take them off and examine the spots. Then we go back for them to re-look Thursday. And Friday. Hopefully by the end of the week we will know what else this kid is allergic to!

First Days...

Today was my first day of working in the Dean's office and Isaac's first day of preschool/daycare. All around I would say it was a success. The Dean's assistant was sick today, which meant there was no one to train me, which meant I did more of nothing than something. I did manage to read the whole student worker manual and the campus directory while I was unable to connect to the internet. The day ended with a phone call from the daycare regarding accident #2 of the day for Isaac, but at least he made it until 3:30. On the way home he said "Mommy, I want to go back to school." I'm already looking forward to our day off tomorrow!!