Sleepless nights, rainbows, guns, and more!

So much for weekly posting to the blog. It's been nearly two since my last post, and I'm not sure where the last two weeks have gone. I'd like to say that none of that time was spent at the doctor's office, seeing that we have been 1-2 times a week for the past month. But since I can't say that, I've decided instead to move to Gainesville so we can be closer to our pediatrician. Farewell!

Weeks before our fun at the hospital with Avery, I had made Elizabeth an appointment for a well visit. This was on Tuesday after taking Avery back for a hospital follow up visit the previous Friday. Babies are supposed to go at 2, 4, 6, 9, and 12 months...so this was her 8 month check up. That's what happens when you miss the 6 month one and realize you need to get back on track. (The up side to it is that we were told to skip 9 and show up for 12...a saved co-pay, yay!) She weighed in at 19.4 and was 27 1/2 inches long. She's now in the 75th percentile for both weight and height, so she's becoming more proportional. (At four months she was 95th for weight, 50th for length.)

Yesterday Avery started saying his ear hurt. So like any good mom, I gave him some Tylenol and ignored it. I was hoping we wouldn't have to make another trip to the doctor. Last night he thanked me for my diligence by not getting to sleep until nearly 11:00, then waking me up at 1:00, then 4:00, at which point I gave in and put him in the bed with us. He spent the next two hours rolling around and kicking us. Did I mention Elizabeth woke up wailing at 5:00? (I got up for 30 minutes with her, thinking if I went ahead and fed her Avery wouldn't stay awake because she was crying in the next room. Ha!) At 6:00 I took him upstairs to spare James more bruises and tried to get him to rest next to me on the couch. At 6:30 I left him still chattering about something in a loud whisper and still rolling around, and went back to my own bed to try to salvage at least a little sleep. At 7:00 he was intermittently playing in the floor in our room and tapping me on the shoulder. At 8:00 I called to make an appointment!! We had playgroup here this morning, so after farming Amelia out to the Davidsons and Shannon out to the Hicks we trucked back to the doctor's office this afternoon. During naptime. The poor guy walked down the hall to the exam room with his head tilted over on his left shoulder. A double ear infection, much worse in the left than the right. Yippee!!

He was feeling pretty good today in spite of his ailment. God did a good thing when He invented Ibuprofen.

Let's see if I can recap some more of the excitement that makes up our life. Oh, here's a great one!! Last Wednesday night after church on the ride home, Amelia says nonchalantly, "Did you know I accepted Jesus into my heart?" So asked the details, and she told me she sang a song. She had just finished choir, so I figured that's what she meant, and I asked her to sing it for me. (She sings everywhere she goes around here, making up songs all the time.) "I can't sing that one exactly," she said, "But I've got another Godly sorry song I can sing." She sang a made up tune telling God she was sorry for the things she had done wrong, she wanted to do things Jesus' way, and she was sorry for her sins, "Like Jaelyn. I want to say I'm sorry like Jaelyn. Leah's sister." Leah is in her class, and Jaelyn went forward the previous Sunday to tell the church about her decision to follow Jesus. I wish I had the song recorded, it was precious, sincere, and funny! I know God loved it. I do think she has a grasp on what following Jesus is about, we're going to keep talking with her about it. I don't want to stand in the way of any of our kids accepting Christ, of course, it just seems like she's so young. We're not even at a point with her yet where we can discuss even a quarter of the sins listed in the Bible. She does have a heart to hear and be interested in the things of God, and I know He's working in her young life.

Here she is on a walk last Sunday with James and Shannon. They hiked up in the woods and were gone nearly two hours.

Here are a few pictures of another cool thing God did this week. Last Wednesday we were getting ready to head out to church and a nasty storm blew through. Here's what was left when it was over.



The kids thought it was great. So did I. Here's one of those times I wish I really knew how to use my camera. I'm sure there's a way to get a clearer/brighter/better shot. I'm forever doomed to the automatic setting!

Thursday we did the usual school/housecleaning/laundry (yes, laundry, the bane of my existence)/playdough/coloring/etc. thing, until dinner Thursday night, which was here. In honor of Valentine's day I made a cake I was wanting to try out. The recipe bears repeating, it was pretty good.

I went all out for James' Valetines Day. This is it.

Friday we went to the Valentine's Banquet at church, which was very nice. My folks were coming up for the weekend to hang out with some friends at their place in Dahlonega, so they kept the kids for us. Since I didn't know how to behave without children, I went ahead and knocked my glass of water over, then grabbed the plate of the man sitting next to me and cut up his steak for him. I also threw some salad on the floor, just for good measure. I think I wiped James' chin at some point (?) :) They showed the movie Fireproof, which we had seen, but this time I got to enjoy it without trying to keep Elizabeth quiet. Our other Valentine's treat was getting to enjoy a Saturday at home as a family, then going out to our new local coffee shop with the Davidsons for some good coffee and a half-hearted game of Spades. (Thanks again, Rebecca, for volunteering to keep all of our children!)

Saturday night Shannon coughed off and on during the night, then got up Sunday at 6 AM saying his throat hurt really bad, and nothing was helping. I wasn't sure whether to keep him home or to go to church, and finally decided to keep him home. By the time James was ready to leave with Amelia and Avery he said he was fine and went to get dressed. It was too late by this point, and I was pretty frustrated with him since I wanted to go myself. He really did seem fine, so whatever it was magically poofed away. I decided to enjoy the morning, so we found a Sunday School lesson online, then bundled up and went for a walk.

Looks pretty sick, doesn't he!

Elizabeth was warm in her baby Michelin Man coveralls, and enjoyed her ride in the stroller.

Check out those blue eyes!

I love playing hooky from church...especially when my preschool choir is singing in the morning service. Heh heh heh.

We walked out to my favorite place at camp, the barn.

Here's a newbie who arrived just two weeks ago. This is Penny, and she's a pony, just the right size for little kids. Isn't she cute?

I did get to ride Sunday afternoon, which I love with all my heart. I think time at the barn makes me a better mom. Definetely a happy one.

We walked back to the house by way of the fishing lake. I love this bridge. Thanks be to our creative and skilled maintenance/handyman, Rick.

Aside from another visit to the doctor, this week has been pretty normal so far. We did have fun with the Colorforms one day this week. I thought Amelia did a pretty good job on this one.

So it looks like mad Oriental people fighting with ski poles on a tightrope, but had you seen the picture she was going from to make it, you'd think it was pretty good too.

Avery has been cracking me up this week. He's just a funny little guy. Yesterday Shannon (for some unknown reason) was crawling around underneath Avery's booster seat. Avery peeked around the tray and said, "Hey under there! Hey under there! Hey underwear! You're underwear. He's underwear!" (pointing to Shannon). He's also started praying classic little kid prayers. A few days ago he wanted to ask the blessing, and said, "God is great, for the Bible, for our prayers, for food, for my tray, for my seat, for our chairs, for cups, for Mommy, for Daddy, for my friends, for trees, amen. I said amen!"

James e-mailed me some photos he took with his phone a week or so ago. Here's what Shannon does when he spends time with Dad.

He plays with toy guns! Oh, wait. No, that's a REAL gun. A Glock Model 27, subcompact, .40 caliber pistol. Don't worry, it's unloaded!

Check out the glee on his face. No Shannon, you can't have one for your birthday.

Okay, so speaking of guns, the man I married is not the man I married. When we got married he was a recreation and leisure services major who liked outdoor gear, camping, hiking; the kinder, gentler version of the outdoor guy he is now. I'm not sure what happened, except that we have lived in the sticks (first Alabama, now rural north Georgia) since about a year after our wedding. When we met he didn't hunt, he didn't own guns, he didn't work on motors, he didn't drive Jeeps over big rocks...ack, he's morphing into Redneck Man! It's a darned good thing I love him just the way he is.

Check THIS out.

Apparently we now own this beast. In addition to other stuff, he's also learning the nuances of horse trading (not horses, though) on websites. This is a Smith and Wesson XVR .460 caliber pistol, which shoots 2200 feet per second. It's a hunting pistol. Elephants, apparently, or whales, or Sasquatches.

Ridiculous, isn't it?

Here's James' theory about firearms.

So, people, we're just making the world a safer place! Or he is, anyway. I'll shoot one if he loads it, hands it to me, and tells me what to do, but I'm pretty much gun ignorant other than that. Learning more is on my list of things to do one day. Yes, he has a gun safe, and yes, it has a lock on it. I'm enough of a worrier to double, triple, quadrouple, and quintrouple (is this a word?) check on the safety of having stuff like this around the house with all the little people that live here. I truly believe that if they grow up knowing about guns they'll always be safer than if they know nothing.

Anyway, I'm over and out. I've got a big day tomorrow, and I need my rest. Wow, that sounded like fun, didn't it? Actually, it's my birthday tomorrow...and turning 35 isn't easy. Well, it is unless you dwell on it. Which I'm not. I will officially be "advanced maternal age" from hence forward, however. Google it if you don't know what that means.

Goodnight!

One more painting, courtesy of God.