My Sick Baby...

So back to my last blog about my sweet baby girl who was throwing fits. On Friday she woke up with 101 fever and I took her to the Doc who said that she has an upper respiratory infection. He gave her some anti-biotics and she is still fighting it pretty hard. We saw all hours of the night last night, except for 3am, and I sort of feel like I've been hit by a bus. I just worry over her so much when she's sick...I guess that is another part of being a mom that I have learned a lot about. All that to say, that maybe she wasn't feeling well on Thurs. and that's why she was being so difficult. I know I get pretty grumpy when I'm sick. Hopefully my precious baby girl will be feeling better soon. I just hate it when she's sick!

Is this just a phase?

So my sweet little angel has started throwing these fits when she doesn't get her way. For example, yesterday when we were leaving the park she walked over to another car (that looks nothing like our car) and wanted to get in it. When I told her we couldn't do that and picked her up to go to our car she busted out crying and screaming like I had just ruined her for life! Is she trying to tell me that she doesn't like my car? Was she just tired? Is this normal for an 18 month old? I'm not sure what it all means!

While we were playing at the park she wanted to put a piece of mulch in her mouth and I wouldn't let her do that either. She threw one of those fits, and I looked at another mom (who was sort of starring at us) and told her in a friendly way, "We're in that phase where were cry if we don't get our way," and she said, "I hate to tell you, but it's not phase...that's a girl for ya!" Is this true? I know teenage girls do that sort of thing, but I guess I didn't think she would start that until she was 12!

I do the regular "mom thing" and justify it with ideas like, "she's teething" or "she's tired" or "she's hungry," but is it possible that she's just 18 months old (almost) and they just do this! I know parenting is all about learning as you go and I am a student with this child right now.

Any parenting advice from those of you who have gone thru this? I'm a little nervious that people will say..."nope! Kate's just got an attitude!" but I'm willing to throw it out there and see if this is normal.

Kate's Pretty Piggy's

Check out Kate's first Pedicure here!!!

Easter!

This was the first official Easter that Kate could really get into. She had 2 egg hunts and in both she called the eggs "ball" and she wanted to sit and take a breather after about 4 eggs. We will have to do some egg hunt endurance training before next year!

We went to visit my grandmother, her great grandmother on Friday and had a little hunt there with her cousin Cohen. On Saturday we opened her Easter basket and went to Church. She loved going through all of her easter goodies and especially loved her new bubble blowing machine. She loves "BOBBULLS!" She wore a white linen capri pants outfit that acutally remained spot free ALL day. We went to a friends birthday party before church, but she did great to not get anything on herself.

On Sunday we had 13 of Kate's friends come over and had a hunt in our back yard. We back up to a park and it was a great place for the kids to play and then hunt eggs! Afterwards we endulged in cupcakes and cookies and played with everyone. Kate was worn out! She walked up to me in the grass where I was sitting, climbed in my lap, put her head on my chest and said "night, night!" Her daddy went and laid her down and her friends kept right on playing! It was great Easter and as part of a new tradition, we asked all of her friends to bring new toys for the kids at Children's Medical Center of Dallas. They always need toys to give to children in the hospital who are scared or have a birthday but no family. We wanted to start a tradition of giving since Easter is really about the ultimate gift, Christ's life for our sins. I hope that we will grow in the tradition and keep the true meaning of the celebration in the spotlight. Kate and I plan to deliver the toys on Thursday!

The Longest Night EVER!

Kate and I went down to Georgetown this past weekend to visit my mom along with my sister and Cohen. It was a good trip until we were just north of Georgetown and Kate started vomiting all over herself and the backseat. We had to pull off the highway and because that area of road is scarce on gas stations we just pulled onto the shoulder of the access road to begin the clean up. My sister was able to get most of it out of her car seat using a package of baby wipes and I had a towel in the back to clean her off. I stripped her down to only her diaper on the side of the highway. I am officially that lady with the naked child on the side of the road...it was so crazy. Kate just laughed and obviously felt much better after she got all of that out. I'm still not sure why she threw up, but she's been congested and I gave her some milk so it might have been a bad combo in her little tummy. Needless to say we made it my mom's, began the baths, did a load of laundry and fabreezed the back seat of the Tahoe. Then I finally put her down at about 10:30...about 3 hours past her usual bed time. I felt like my head had just hit the pillow when Kate began crying. We share a room at my mom's so it's never good when they an see you across the room. I tried until 4:30 to get her back down with NO luck. She just cried because she wanted to play and not sleep. I finally decided to just load her up in the car and go somewhere. We ended up at the Georgetown Starbucks where we went in at 5am and had a muffin and some hot tea. We were both in our PJ's and house shoes. We got back to the house around 6am and my little angel FINALLY went back to sleep, but left her mommy feeling very exhausted. It was honestly the LONGEST night ever and I hope we never have another one like that. I think she is just at a challenging age right now (16 months) and I just try to stay creative and positive when she is being difficult. Hopefully she will out grow this stage sooner than later or I might drive her back down to grandmas house and leave her!

A thought on Marriage...

Because of my job at Lakepointe, I do a lot of marrige counseling. It is very challenging and yet very inspiring to me all at the same time. Something that the Lord has been showing me lately is how much he uses marriage to refine us in our relationship with Him. I have started a group for women who's husbands struggle with sex addiction, and this thought began there. Marriage is God's institution, He created it, and I think he did that for us to have companionship...yes, but also to draw us closer to Him. It's easy to look into those marriages and see how these women are able to draw near to God in the midst of their bitter betrayal, but I think He works this way in ALL marriges. Even losing your patience with your husband's annoying habits, or being prideful about your children or marriage need to be refined, and will be refined by God. He uses that union to get down to our core and He makes our weak areas appearant to us and our spouse. Hopefully, your marriage is a safe one and these flaws can be gently nudged toward postive change and not thrown back at you to push you down even further. All in all, I am growing in my understanding of marriage and God's purpose for it. Ultimately it is to glorify God and to draw us close to Him. We recieved a book when we got married that said "God uses marriage not to make us happier, but to make us Holier." I know we can't reach holiness on this side of heaven, but that quote is beginning to make sense as I walk with people through their marriages and also reflect on my own.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Sunday was my 28th birthday, and it just feels a whole lot like 27...pretty uneventful. The age might be boring, but my day was FAR FROM boring! Here are a few pics to show you some of my festivities:

Josh woke me up with a brand new pair of my favorite house shoes. I've blogged about these shoes in the past (that is HOW GREAT they are) and I have worn out my first pair until it's just embarrassing. They have no padding, a hole in the toe, and they sort of smell like gym shoes. Here I am bright and early with my new house shoes:

Next we got all ready and met Josh's fam at La Madeline for breakfast. Here is Kate all ready to leave (new backpack in tow) and also a pic of all of us girls hanging out!

Then we came back to the house with the Howards, Meme, Pappy, and Jess/Eli to play at the park. Josh baked me a cake and Kate helped him decorate it. She was also our official taste tester...she gave it 2 sticky thumbs up!!

Kate got a little carried away playing in the dirt and I had to get a picture...she loves to play in dirt. Maybe she will grow up to be a landscaper...she can start with my yard!

After all that dirt playin she was worn and took a good nap. Josh and I napped as well, which is a rare treat for us! When we all woke up, Josh and I took her to the park where we were suppose to meet my sister and Jerrod and Cohen to play. Needless to say they didn't show up and just said that they would meet up at our house to play instead. When we arrived home, Josh and I walked in to our house and "SURPRISE!!!!" our friends jumped out of all corners and I stood there shocked. It was my very own surprise party full of snacks, pizza, drinks, and 10 couple friends! We had SO MUCH FUN and I didn't even take ONE picture. Everyone hung out for a few hours and then they headed out and we put our very tired baby down for the night. She was worn out for our very eventful and exciting birthday day!! Josh and my sister did a GREAT job at planning my party and most importantly, keeping it a secret ALL WEEK!! It was so much fun and probably my best birthday party ever!

Josh's cake was the most delicious thing ever. It was strawberry (my favorite) with homemade butter cream icing. All of our friends were as impressed as I was at his mad cake baking skills and thought it was delicious. I am still eating on it today, but it's almost all gone and then I will have to wait until next year for another one. He made my birthday super special and I feel so blessed to have such a thoughtful and caring hubby...that's the best birthday gift of them all!

Hold your baby...

We have some friends of friends who lost their baby this week to SIDS. Her name is Lilly and she was just over 3 months old. I am blogging on this becaues I am just so sad for the family as I can not even begin to imagine losing a baby. They just got her and now they are having to give her back to the Lord so suddenly. It really just breaks my heart. Here is Baby Lilly's Blog if you would like to see how beautiful she was and how proud her mom and dad were of her. It seems like Kate was just that age.
Since finding out about her death it has just reminded me how precious our children are and how we can take the time we have with them for granted. Kate was sick last week so got a little spoiled with being rocked to sleep, and we are having a difficult time transitioning her back into just going down without being rocked. This has all made it even more difficult because I just want to rock her. I hold her so close and just rock until she's sleeping soundly. Then I just pray over her and just enjoying being in that sweet moment with my little angel in my arms. They are just such a precious gift from heaven and in the hecticness of our schedules it is very east to forget to enjoy each little moment. This has all been a big reminder to hold them a little bit longer and soak up that moment whether it's a long snuggle, a short hug, or those sweet little slobbery kisses, they are all so special.

I just emailed OPRAH

My sister and I have been planning an Easter Egg hunt for Easter Sunday this year. We thought this would be a fun tradition to start with Kate and Cohen and their friends. I have really been looking forward to all the planning of this event, but I just got even more excited about it after watching Oprah's BIG GIVE from Sunday night. If you didn't get to see it, it comes on every Sunday and is SO GOOD! I had to send her an email!

Email that I just sent to Oprah:
"I am super inspiried to GIVE BIG! My sister and I have been planning an easter egg hunt for Sunday, March 23, 2008. After watching Oprah's BIG GIVE I am now determined to turn this into more than just an easter egg hunt. I am contacting local organizations that work with children in poverty to findout what needs we can meet. My plan is to have families who attend our easter egg hunt bring childrens shoes, clothes, books, ect. to donate to local shelters or hospitals. My vision for this hunt is for it to grow and grow into an event that is used to bless others and give back. This is our first year and with over 25 families planning to attend I am excited to see where it goes. We are going to have lots of children and over 500 eggs, but my true hope is that we are able to give back in a way that we can not even measure! I just wanted to say Thank You for inspiring me to GIVE BIG!!"

Also, (one of our pastors at Lakepointe) Wes Hamilton was challenging everyone to start an easter tradition and I think this could be a great one! Easter is about giving because it is the celebration of the ultimate gift ever given...Christ life. I want Kate and Cohen and their friends to have a fun tradition that is centered around giving when it comes to easter. I think this is a neat place to start! I'm so excited!

Feed the Birds...

Josh and I took Kate to feed the ducks last weekend with his parents in Belton. We have had lots of visits with Meme and Pappy here lately...honestly, we're getting a little spoiled with it! Here are some pictures of our outing. At one point a goose came right up to me and Kate! She enjoyed watching the ducks and luckily didn't realize that we got to witness a baby duck being made...right in front of us and God and everyone! That poor girl duck was under water FORVER and the male kept poking her head back under when she would come up for air...what a jerk! Josh threw rocks at him to try to get him to leave her alone, but it didn't seem to distract him. It was quite an adventure!