favorite toys

the toys that will loves the most surprises me. they are toys that i would have never picked out for him. i'm glad that other people did, because he absolutely loves his toys. i wanted to post a few examples.




lee's sister picked this dragonfly up at a yard sale. i guess ever since he's been about five months old, this toy will entertain him for at least 20 minutes and sometimes longer. he'll touch it and chew on it. i guess it's easy for him to hold onto and it tastes good. ha.

to the left, you'll see will with his precious moments doll. a good friend gave me a diaper cake as a baby present and this was the topper. it says a bedtime prayer when you push it's belly. he's starting to be less fascinated with this one, but a few months ago whenever he would hear that doll praying it would totally make his day. he would turn to it and wait until the prayer was over and then he would talk to it and touch it's face. he's so polite! haha. now, he kind of smiles and grabs it by its stocking cap, bangs it on the floor and tries to bite it. this means he still really likes it.

another one of his absolute favorites is his teether keys. which i cannot locate as of last week!!! they're probably on the floor in kroger or lying in a parking lot somewhere. i am seriously going to look for some more at the store. they can't be that expensive.

will's new pjs

i bought will these pajamas last week. when i got home, i noticed that little green message on the hanger.

Glow in the Dark!

he hasn't worn them yet, but it will be pretty interesting and probably very comical to see his reaction. he's always been fascinated with light and is constantly touching any kind of image whether it be on a picture book we're reading or a pattern on his blanket or the printed cars on his boppy or whatever. can't wait until he wears them for the first time, and i can't believe i bought those! hahaha

life means so much

"the value of any object is determined by the price someone is willing to pay for it. the highest price has been paid for your soul and mine, which makes us the most valuable things in the universe. life means something. everyday is a gift. gratefulness should define our moments."

chris rice

i've been going through all of our cds this week. trying to organize and begin the baby-proofing project. which means i have to move the cd tower.

will and i enjoyed jewel's "pieces of you" on tuesday. (isn't painters and morning song great???) he was okay until i started singing "amen" and tried to hit the really high notes at the end. in high school i would practice my vocals and warm up with that song before i had to sing a solo at church. anyway, sometimes will is not really into shreaky high pitched sounds - and also blenders and mixers going full speed.

i ran across my chris rice cd - i bought it a few years ago - it's his short term memories album. my spirit drank it up! i've forgotten about so many things the past few months. thankfully, God is shining through the darkness. He's good at that. and i'm feeling more normal these days.

david and will talk

will and i had fun visiting marcia and david last friday! marcia, don't kill me for posting this - i think it's too cute.

i'll give you something to worry about

upon driving back from a wonderful celebratory lunch date with my hubby on his birthday, i express my concern for our son.
"i'm worried about will - i hope he's doing okay." he woke up and had to eat in the middle of the night last night which is rare now, and he woke up much earlier this morning than normal.
we get on the exit ramp from I85 to get onto 285.
"i know i need to stop worrying because it's not helping anything. i'm really trying to work on it."
we're on spaghetti junction and lee speeds up and swerves a little on that ramp that curves real sharp. this kind of freaks me out.
lee says joking, "if you don't stop worrying, i'll give you something to worry about!"
i crack up and we laugh and in a weird way this makes me feel better.
we get home and will has actually taken a full nap, so therefore he has been an angel the whole time. and again, worrying has accomplished nothing.
*i had to edit this post, because i was making lee look a lot more cruel than he is. just wanted to make that clear!

flu season and church

i miss going to church. well, i guess i should say i miss experiencing worship with other believers. because i've been to church, but will is with me now instead of in the nursery because i don't want him to get too sick being so young and all. (although he still got his first cold last week, and i'm pretty sure i picked that up at church or we both did). so i'm incredibly distracted while sitting in church because i don't want will to disturb other people while they are worshipping, therefore it's hard for me to worship. i have trouble concentrating on anything anymore anyway (wow, three any words). i look forward to march when flu season has passed. for now, i will stop being an idiot and get in the word on my own - the Holy Spirit is not confined to a church building - that's fo' sho' do' and thank you, God!

contract job

I have some work for sale in a nearby furniture consignment shop. I haven't sold any paintings there yet, but one day a lady walked in and saw my red chair painting and was then interested in having me paint something for her office.
I think this is the best contract job I've ever had. I tried to learn from my mistakes in the past and I'm pleased with the result. I wasn't stressed about a deadline and I didn't get ripped off.
So, now this painting is hanging in a HR office for a transportation engineering company. She has a leopard print rug, two purple velvet covered shell tufted chairs and green nesting tables in front of it. She likes bright colors, hats, textures, etc. I just realized this painting doesn't have a name.
The trees are bright purple feathers - I repeated that element in the lamp as well.

on route to church tonight.

"do i have any boogers?" Laura says as she frantically pulls down the car visor with the tiny mirror in the middle. Lee is trying to pay attention to the road and can't help her out.

"worse!" she says, horrified. "Nose Hairs!"

so, anyway, tonight I taught my first low beginner english class. i had three students. one from mexico, one from colombia, and one from el salvador. they were all very sweet. one was particularly terrified. he's only been here four months. i taught the consonants bcdf. i can't imagine being in his shoes. body language is a very strong communicative tool. maybe i made that word up - since being out of school, and not reading as much, i have lost so much of my vocabulary.

i finished my painting! i deliver it tomorrow and should receive a nice sum of money for it. many more paintings to do.

did you know that supposedly the Bible says "do not fear" 365 times or something? wow, i'd like to look into that. even if it's half that, that's still a lot of times to say a certain thing. and even if God says it once, well, that should be enough. but i guess he knows i need repetition.

just like my english students. bbbbccccddddffff. buh buh buh buh cuh cuh cuh cuh duh duh duh duh fuh fuh fuh fuh. cab cab cab cab cab cab bed bed bed bed bed dad dad dad dad dad cob cob cob cob food food food food food

i'm pretty sure will is teething, and although last night was a very good night, i'm fearful about tonight - there it is again - fear. he bites and chews on everything especially his poor little hands.

let's see any other random thoughts to unload - my husband likes to spin in the kitchen - like a ballerina. i find this very odd, but funny - he's a big guy and our kitchen isn't huge.

if you are reading this, please pray that lee would find a job, and not only that, but a job that he loves very soon. hopefully in the atlanta area, but the carolinas are okay too.

Willy C.

six months old

my baby is six months old today!
Happy Birthday Will!

Some of my names for Will.

will wills, monkey, chunkers, Cheeks, lovebug, love dove, sweet pea, froggie, lovey, bear cub, cute boot - gosh, i think i must be forgetting several

i have a contract job for a lady's office here in town. it's a pretty big painting - 30 x 40. i'm about 80% done with it. this morning i was ready to burn it. but, now i'm excited about it again. i have these love/hate relationships with almost all of my paintings and drawings. i'll have to post a picture of it when i'm done.

time to go enjoy some ugly betty before bed. :0)

i realized last night that i never slept on my stomach in 2008.

i was so looking forward to sleeping on my stomach after i had will. but i breastfed, therefore no comfortable sleeping. this was a surprise to me.

do babies have bad dreams?

i am obsessed with sleep right now because i'm having sleep problems which is probably making my sleep problems worse.

will got the tip of one of his big toes in his mouth today. he's been working on that for a week or two now.

diaper rash ramblings

i get easily frustrated.

hormones.

i made chicken and rice soup tonight. i had all of the ingredients right in my kitchen - didn't even have to go to the store. it's funny, you think there's no food in the house and then you have six servings of homemade chicken and rice soup.

lee got a call tonight from a former coworker of mine about a possible job lead.

will has a nasty diaper rash. well, it was really nasty, but now is on the path to healing. i was looking at my journal/calendar that i keep for him and it all started after he had eaten carrots for a few days. i started him on peas - that seemed to go well. he liked them. he didn't like carrots as much. i started sweet potatoes after carrots and followed with squash and green beans. we're on our fourth day of green beans. i think he eats the carrots and green beans just because they're food and he likes to eat. he seems to adore sweet potatoes and squash. and peas are okay. but, the rash is stubborn. at first i loaded on the desitin - then it got worse so, i thought it was just dry, chapped skin from winter time and started putting lotion on him down there. then it would get better and flair up again. and then it got worse, so i've started changing him a little more often, trying A&D ointment which smells like old people and he's significantly better, but not totally normal yet. okay, i'm done talking about a diaper rash. i just feel really bad for him, although he doesn't seem to mind too bad you know that can't feel good.

i hope will and i can make it to church in the morning. i'm keeping him out of the nursery until flu season is over - speaking of, i need to look that up. going to bed now.

a blog resurrection

so, now it's a new year. 2009. my brothers encouraged me to start blogging again. so, here i am resurrecting the blog.

2008 was quite a year for me. took quite a toll on this 26 year old body. i worked until i had my baby boy in july- then i really worked for the remainder of the year - being a mom. yes, i quit my "job" to be a mother. and it has been a lesson in flexibility and consistency and trust in God Almighty. a lesson that i fear i will never really get the hang of, but the truth is, i keep forgetting it's a daily thing and that the Word of God is my sword. that's the kicker - that last part.

God took some things away from me the last half of the year. i no longer could just do whatever i wanted whenever i wanted. this was Very hard for me to get used to. and then, God took away my family's financial security when my husband was laid off in October.

remember that story about the little girl and the fake pearls and her dad wants to give her the real strand of pearls if she'll only first give up her fake ones? i've been thinking about that a lot.

it's getting late and i need to retire soon, so i'll try to wrap up quickly. words describing 2008 - fatigue, joy, amazement, sorrow, anger, extreme fatigue, anxiety, fear, Unconditional Love. in 2009 i'm gonna try to get further away from perfectionism and enjoy my family more. because while God took away, he gave. He gave me an awesome baby, a stronger relationship with my husband - and he gave me opportunities to be an Artist again. oh, and we can't forget babywise. and you know what - i'm a heck of a cook now.

whatever crap happens, God is still all about goodness.

Easter

Lee and I spent Easter weekend in SC with my folks. This was taken at their house. Trying to take advantage of the moments when both of us are dressed up and we have someone else around to take our picture. Thanks, mom! This is me nearing the end of 23 weeks - a little over five months pregnant.

My birthday surprise (a month later)

I came home from shopping with Mom and my future sister-in-law to my dad playing happy birthday, reading the music off of Paul's Mac and Ben, Paul and Lee in chorus. The piano has been sitting in our church for a few years unused and the owners graciously gave it to us. What a wonderful surprise!!! This is me at my piano at 23 weeks (approximately 17 to go).

birthday weekend

Hey friends, this is me and my parents on February 24. They came to visit for my birthday. Paul, Ben, and his now fiance - Laura - were there too! So, it was a full house. I got the biggest birthday surprise of my life - a pic will be coming soon. Oh yeah, this pic was taken at 20 weeks.

It's a .....

BOY

Went to the doc yesterday and got the big ultrasound - so cool! God is amazing.
We're calling him Will, short for William - haven't decided on the middle name yet.
He's the size of a coke can. Got to see his brain, his heart, his stomach, legs, and his little boy part - hehe. Got two great shots of the feet. We could see where he had the hiccups.
I'll be 20 weeks on Sunday so we're about halfway there. Still can't believe there's a little human in there. But, he's started to move a little, so he reminds me of his presence occasionally. Feels like a little butterfly is in there.
Can't wait to meet my little Wills.

barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen

Well - almost! After all, I do have socks on. This is me at 17 weeks - even in maternity clothes, it's still not real to me yet.

Merry Christmas!

It's a cold, bleak, wintry day here in Duluth, Georgia. I thank the Lord for a warm house, good food, an awesome husband, a great job, every breath that He gives me, and for the moments in life that really suck - The Lord is good - the world is not. Thank you God, for the blessings that you do give, thank you most of all for the hope that you give in Jesus Christ because He has overcome the world and offers everyone a chance to be clean before You so that we can have abundant life eternally, so that we can talk to You, God Almighty, the Everlasting God - and You hear us and answer according to your perfect will. I praise you because you are a big God - loving, patient, and just at the same time. Your ways are higher than our ways - your thoughts higher than our thoughts. Thank you for the peace that you give, that transcends all understanding, when I allow your Spirit to be in control and I seek you and trust you. Praise the Lord - the King who is coming again!

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder. For as in the day of Midian's defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. Every warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this. isaiah 9:2-7

"In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken." isaiah 40:3-5

For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Matthew 24:27

Savannah!

Maybe one day we'll be rich enough to take a private carriage tour.

Lee poses by the river.

The church at the beginning of Forrest Gump! Remember the feather?

I thought this house was cool.