cutie in a high chair

I know I have some explaining to do... or at least some explaining I want to do, but not tonight. Tonight, I'm tired. 

I'll just leave you with this cutie patootie (who happens to be lookin' a little cross-eyed in this pic)...

He has croup again or at least a rough cold. We're watching him close, but trying not to do the steroids if we can help it (seeing as how they made him Grouchy McFussy Pants the last time). He felt warm to me tonight but wouldn't allow me to take his temperature so I just don't know. He's so mucusy and gaggy and coughing so much that he's puked his lunch and dinner. Pedialyte in the pump tonight. Poor buddy. It's hard when they feel extra crummy and you can't do anything about it. 


He's still really cute though.

being intentional

I'm feeling God asking me to blog less and make time with Him a priority. For Him. For myself. For my marriage. So I'll be blogging some, but it will probably be even less than it is now... for a while anyway. Please bear with me and keep checking back.


I have to be intentional and MAKE time or it won't happen. And I really need/want it to happen. I want God and Matt to stop getting my leftovers. I know you understand.

our weekend and also, i still hate computers

We've had a good weekend. On Friday, my best good friend from college, Katie, and her two sweet girls came for a spontaneous visit. (I called Katie on Thursday, told her how much I missed her, asked her what she was doing the next day, and she rescheduled an appointment and came! Good friend. :) ) We had a great day, and in the afternoon, after the kids' naps and Jonah's lunch tube feed, we went to an adorable bakery in our cute downtown for cupcakes, then to a gift shop (mistake: that was breakables central... luckily our kids didn't break, but it was stressful), and then to the public library. It was Jonah's first trip to the library (and my first one to the library in our town - three years... shameful), and he had a great time. He played with one of those big wooden cube toys that has a different activity on each side and then sat in a big boy chair and worked on puzzles. He was so cute and had a blast! He really was a joy the whole time. And I can't tell you how much I love Katie and how great it is to spend time with her. She's one of those friends you just pick up right where you left off with, tell each other exactly how you feel or what you're thinking, and it's completely okay.


Then, on Saturday, Matt hung with Jonah for about four hours while I went shopping... for me! I had a great time, and it was so nice to get to browse and actually try things on. I met Kathryn at Marshall's and we had a good time getting to hang out for a little bit. They were remodeling though, so Kathryn and I had to share a TINY dressing room, and there was only one mirror for all of the three dressing rooms, so that part was a little inconvenient. When I went back a second time to try on pants, I just went to a back corner and tried my stuff on. I don't know about you other moms out there, but since I've pushed two kids out of my hoo-ha, I don't have the same view of modesty I used to have. My how life changes.


Saturday night, Matt and I went with our neighbor friends, Eric and Barbara, to a local church that is offering marriage talks combined with dance lessons. We had a great time and learned to T-A-N-G-O. We have three weeks left, and we'll learn more Tango and then have two weeks of Salsa. We had a great time, and I think it was really good for our marriage. Learning to let Matt lead is a good lesson for me. I'm sort of a control freak... in case you didn't know.


This morning, we made it to church and then just kind of hung around here this afternoon. It was the first day cool enough for Jonah to be outside, but it was pouring down rain, so we were still trapped inside. It's okay though because this week is supposed to be MUCH cooler and I think the rain is supposed to be gone by Tuesday! HOORAY FOR FALL!


I took some photos today. I downloaded the trial version of Lightroom but after importing the photos, even though I can see them right there in front of me, it says the photos are "offline or missing." I can see them but it won't let me edit them. Very frustrating. It has been a really crappy technology week for me. So I'm going to post unedited photos. And I don't like doing it, but I won't withhold the Jonah cuteness from you any longer... so here he is... in all his unedited glory. :)


UPDATE: I figured out Lightroom and edited them. I couldn't help it. It's a sickness really.

fall questions

Katherine tagged me to do these Fall Questions, and since I don't have anything else to blog about, and certainly not any photos to post (grrrr...), I'm happy to oblige.


1. Do you like Starbucks? And are you a fan of their seasonal coffees?
I like Starbucks for hot chocolate and sweet treats (I've decided I'm going to say "sweet treat" now instead of "dessert." Somehow it lessens the guilt factor.) I would like to be a grown up and say that I enjoy a cup of coffee (or a glass of wine) now and again. But it would be a lie. I have the beverage maturity of a four year old.

2. How do you decorate and prepare for Fall?
I bought a fall type wreath last year and put out some pumpkins and mums. I also noticed that the produce market near my house has some kind of  large corn stalks/husk thingies, and I thought they looked pretty neat. Maybe they are for sale? Maybe I will buy them. I'm so excited about Fall and The Holidays, I may be out of control. I never got excited about the holiday season as an adult, but then Jonah was born, and everything changed. I just want to make it wonderful for him. Did I mention I'm excited?

3. Will you participate in your college's homecoming activities? 
No, but we really miss Greenville and East Carolina, and I've already thought how fun it would be to go to an ECU game. We do hope to make it to Greenville sometime soon, but no football or collegey activities for us. Maybe next year. 

4. What is your favorite Fall clothing item or accessory?
In my head, I'm definitely a fashion and accessories sort of person (all of a sudden), but in my reality, I hate everything in my closet. I have a dark green blouse/shirt I really like that I wear with a long necklace. I love how people layer shirts and dresses and coats and scarves with leggings and boots etc. I, unfortunately, have no vision, no style talent, and no money to shop. It's a great combination.

5. What was your favorite Halloween costume as a kid?
This is going to sound really lame, but I have a TERRIBLE memory. I don't remember 90% of my Halloween costumes. I think I was Rainbow Brite one year. And Little Red Riding Hood another year. Mostly I just remember that I usually had homemade costumes instead of store bought, and I'm so thankful for that. My mom did such a good job of coming up with great costumes. If Jonah has a costume at all, it will most likely be store bought. I'm a Halloween failure. 


6. Do you like Halloween/Horror movies? Do you have a favorite?
No way, man. I HATE feeling scared. I have had more than enough sadness and fear in my life to last a lifetime. I have no desire to feel terrified. I actually don't really get why people like that. 

7. What is your favorite Fall activity?
Probably just getting to (FINALLY) be outside. Last Fall, we went to the fair and to a pumpkin patch, and we had a great time. I hope to do those two again this year, and I also want to get to the zoo and/or a petting zoo. Jonah is getting into his animal sounds, and although he knows what they say, he has no idea what a cow, monkey, or duck actually is. 


8. What is your favorite Fall recipe?
Probably stuff that OTHER people make. I'm not so much of a baker, although I'd like to be. I like everything about eating and especially Thanksgiving eating, so it's all good to me. When it comes to food, I'm not hard to please. 

And then she added eight more quickie questions, and here they are:

1. What movie coming out soon are you looking forward to seeing? 
Secretariat

2. What will you miss most about Summer?
Nothing. It was miserable. I'm glad it's over.


3. When do you start your holiday shopping? 
Rarely ever before December 1st. I want to be one of those people who looks for good deals throughout the year and comes up with the perfect gift for everyone on my list, but that never happens. It always turns out okay though, so I don't stress about it too much.


4. Favorite exercise/activity?
Anything but the Elliptical. I hate the Elliptical. Evil Machine. Evil, evil machine.

5. Best book you've read lately?
I finished The Help and loved it. Right now I'm reading The Wednesday Sisters and I'm loving it too. 

6. Do you make your bed every day?
Yes. For now. After Gabe died, I couldn't leave the house, sometimes the bedroom, without making the bed. I had never been a regular bed maker before then. It was really strange.  Then, when Jonah was born, I rarely made the bed. I rarely put on real clothes before 4 pm. Now, I'm a little more stable and making the bed again. Who knows how long it will last? You didn't realize this was such a deep question, did you? 

7. If you could choose a personal chef or a personal shopper, which would you choose?
Personal chef. I want to do my shopping myself. Can I have a personal chef and a shopping fund? Yes, I choose that.

8. Which TV show are you most excited for this Fall?
I'm most excited about Glee, but we've started watching Modern Family and Parenthood this season, and I really like those too. 

Okay, that's it. Feel free to tag yo' self.

sometimes computers bite!

So...

My hard drive is toast. They were not able to recover anything. I've had myself a couple good cries over it today, but I'm trying to look on the bright side - I do have the best of my photos on the blog, so if nothing else, I can save the blog versions. They probably won't be great quality, but at least they're there.

Y'all, if you do not somehow back up your stuff, or at least your photos, please don't be stupid like I was. A few of my albums are on Shutterfly (my brother says I can get the high res versions back), Facebook (low res), and the blog (not really sure what quality I can recover). But I lost TONS of my photos. We don't have the disks for Microsoft Office 2007, Photoshop, and I lost all of my actions I bought in Jonah's Auction for Photoshop... not to mention all the documents and spreadsheets and videos (oh, the videos!!!) I lost. Most of Jonah's last ten months are gone, as far as having the original versions of things. It will take me hours (days, weeks!) to get back what I've lost, and even then, it will only be partial recovery. I am heartbroken. :(

Anyway, starting right now, I'm backing everything up. My brother (my go-to on all things computer) says he uses Dropbox. It's free for a basic account (2 GB), but you can earn more space by referring others or you can pay to upgrade (a monthly fee). Basically, you sign up for a free account, download it, and it puts a little blue folder icon on your taskbar. Then, I think it's as easy as drag and drop to back up your stuff. I don't want this to ever happen again. It's horrible.

Anyway, click HERE if you are interested in Dropbox. It's my referral code and I will earn some extra space if you go through me. Or you can just go to http://dropbox.com to sign up. Don't be an idiot! (You know, like some people I know... ahem.)

computer troubles

This will be short because I'm typing on the Dell, and we're still having the text jumping issues and sporadic functionality of the letter "x."

I didn't think about it when my computer messed up, but Matt reminded me that I had dropped it in an attempt to plug it in the day before. We don't know what's wrong with it, but it's possible I've lost everything. Some of my photos are backed up on Shutterfly and Facebook, but not close to all of them. The person we got the computer from had loaded Photoshop CS3 on it, so it's possible we've lost that (and all of my Totally Rad Actions that I won at Jonah's EB Auction) too. I'm not panicking yet. I'll just wait and see what they say. 

Okay, I can't take this anymore. The cursor has jumped about twenty times since I started typing these three paragraphs. I feel like I've been a very uninteresting and mediocre blogger lately, so maybe you can consider this break a gift from me to you. Maybe I'll get inspired during my time off. And hopefully I'll have a computer to actually blog on here in a few days. Please be patient with me.

Jonah's doing well overall. His face, though, is banged up, and he took some skin off his chin in a 2 inch fall today. His lips  are our main issue. Between a couple of random blisters he got there last week and the spill he took over the weekend, they are both scabbed, constantly reopening and bleeding, and not able to heal. I LOVE that he's learning to cruise and take some (majorly) assisted steps, but it is a very scary time. I gasp about fifty times a day. And you can baby proof till you're blue in the face, but even rubbing, in a fall, against soft things is still rubbing. But I'm just so thankful for this milestone because I had no idea if he'd ever make it. I just pray for him, protection, resilience, and perseverance. I don't want him to get discouraged.

Okay, really can't take the jumpy cursor anymore. I'll catch you guys on the flip side.

and the winner is...

I was going to announce the winner of the Target Card giveaway, along with cheesy photos of my old-school (folded up pieces of paper in a bowl) way of choosing a winner, BUT...

My computer seems to be toast. I have gotten both the black and blue screens of death. I may be out of commission for a while.

In the meantime, as boring as this is to JUST say...

The winner of the gift card is Pamela at trooppetrie. Congrats! Email me so I know where to send it.

Thanks to those of you who donated, even if you didn't leave a comment about it (very sneaky). You're the best!

today

Thanks to those of you who voted for Chris's Dare to raise money for USeb. I know several of you donated but didn't include your name in the comments. Thank you to you too. From those who did leave a comment, I'll pick a winner tomorrow.
_____________

We haven't done much today. Jonah took a pretty good spill this afternoon and hit his gums, lips, and one cheek on the bottom corner of our TV stand. I was right there, saw it happening, and just couldn't get my hands around him in time. He cried. I cried. He bled. His cheek, upper gums and inner and outer upper lip are very swollen and blistered. He won't let me look at it. He acts okay though, so we'll just see how it's doing in the morning. This learning to stand/walk is such a scary stage. I don't think this fall would have hurt a non-EB child very much at all. He's so brave though. I took him out on the deck to get him calmed down and he was attempting to blow bubbles and mooing again within ten minutes. He's my hero.

I've been distracted this week from my book and Bible reading and worship, so I'm headed to do that now. I am constantly amazed at how I put everything else first, even when I KNOW what I should/want to do and what God desires from me. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate, I do... For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. Satan knows when you are on the brink of coming Home. But I won't be stopped. Tonight, we regroup. :)

I have a little speaking part up on stage (in front of two to three hundred people) tomorrow. Nervous would be an understatement. But I'm confident that God will give me the words (that I've supposedly memorized) and give me the peace to get through it. I'm excited about the new series coming up, which is something along the lines of honestly talking to God. I gotta say, it may hit a little too close to home. Bring it on.

last couple days

We've had a pretty good last couple of days. Jonah has been in a great mood, today especially. I'm so thankful to have had a better week this week than last week.

Jonah playin' some tunes.

Jonah and Emma, the girl next door (or two doors down, but who's counting?).

Yesterday we went with Emma and her Mommy to the new produce market down the street and to Target. Then they were able to stay and hang out with us for dinner. Today, we went and visited some friends who are in town from Michigan. No big plans for tomorrow except for steaming and blending baby food. Good times.

_____________

I've recently been sent several emails about two little boys who have EB and need some help.

Click HERE to read about Carson (you have to scroll down about half way). He is up for adoption, living in an orphanage in Eastern Europe (I believe). He has EB and is not getting the care he needs.

Click HERE to read about Robert. He is a one month old in Uganda. His parents brought him to a 21 year old missionary's door for help. After a quick google search, they took him to the hospital. It has been confirmed that he has EB.

I can't imagine having an EB child in a place without the proper supplies and support. It's heartbreaking.

fun fundraising opportunity

Hi Friends,

I need your help. An EB/Internet friend of mine is doing an incredible fundraiser for United Survivors with Epidermolysis Bullosa. United Survivors with EB is a nonprofit organization, run mostly by folks with EB, whose mission is to "provide services that will assist people with EB in becoming more self-reliant through social, cultural, recreational, rehabilitative, educational and occupational opportunities. We value self-reliance because it inspires individual productivity, builds self-esteem, stimulates human happiness, and heals the dignity of the soul. These benefits particularly enable people with EB to not merely cope, but to rise to a position where they can succeed independently, help others to do the same, and contribute to society in worthwhile ways."

So Chris is this friend of mine who is doing the fundraiser. Chris does not have EB. But he was at the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. When the buildings started to fall, Chris hid under a car for protection. When he came out, all the cars around him were flattened. Why had he been spared? He knew his life would never be the same.

Fast forward two years, he found out about Epidermolysis Bullosa through a little girl named Grace (http://ourgrace.org), and decided that he would dedicate as much of his life as he could "to all the Butterflies of the world. Their 9/11 is every day." Since then, Chris has done so much to raise EB funds and awareness. He was integral in creating a social networking site, that I am proudly a member of, just for EB sufferers, their friends, and family. It is an amazing place of discussion, support, and understanding for all those fighting this nightmare that is EB.

Well now, he's at it again. For EB Awareness Week, which is the last week of October, Chris has agreed to do any dare (that is "legal and tasteful, yet embarrassing") to raise money for USeb. You can go to his fundraising site HERE to come up with a dare for him or to vote on one or more of the dares that are already there. Whichever dare gets the most money is the one he will carry out. You have to donate to submit a dare or to vote.

Will you consider voting for one of the dares or coming up with your own? He's specifically trying to help USeb reach their goal of "setting up a house where adults and older teens with EB can live and learn how to become independent and self reliant. The house will be staffed by adults with EB who have already achieved this level of living." Sounds pretty incredible, huh?

If you go and donate, whatever amount you can, come back here and comment. I'll give away a $20 Target gift card to one random donor, but make sure you comment here so I'll know. Please don't comment on this post unless you donate. (And I'm sorry it's not more than $20, but $20 to the Greatest Store on Earth is pretty much as good as $100 to anywhere else, right?)

So go HERE to vote and then come back here to leave a comment when you're finished. I will close comments this Saturday night (the 18th) at 9:00 pm, Eastern.

Happy voting (and giving)!

Comments are now closed.

a few of jonah's tricks

Jonah actually cooperated and allowed me to get a few of his latest tricks on camera today. He's got a few others he'll do now and then, but these are his go-to crowd (Mommy and Daddy) pleasers. The waving and saying "bye-bye" is very new.

In other news, his OT started coming again yesterday. She's going to start coming hopefully weekly to help with some of Jonah's feeding/aversion issues. While we had him in the high chair she did some playing/evaluation with him and she says that he's... wait for it... wait for it...

ABOVE AVERAGE in his fine motor skills. "He's operating at a solid 19 or 20 months."

WHAT???!!!

He's never been above average in anything. I was so giddy. Now, if we can just get this kid walkin', we'll be on our way. I'm just so proud of him for everything he's accomplishing - crawling, pulling up, cruising, talking, and having the most rockin' fine motor skills of any 18 month old on the block. I'm pretty sure there's no way he could possibly know how much we love him. He continues to be our hero.

chapter one

Jonah's doing well. I'm still trying to figure out what's going on with me. I was fine all day and my back has felt MUCH better, only on ibuprofen, but from about 3:30 to 6:30, I was cold, achy and mostly on the couch feeling crappy. Then, all of a sudden, I was feeling better and having hot flashes. Now I feel fine. (I am NOT pregnant.) I have no idea. I have a doctor's appointment scheduled for next Monday.
_______________________

I wanted to write a little tonight about the book I'm reading for my Monday night Bible study. We didn't meet tonight because several of the girls had to be out of town, but I wanted to write some of my thoughts down and reflect a little tonight. This may be not at all interesting to you, but I want to share in hopes that some of what I'm reading/sharing might speak to those of you who are dried up like I am.

I read the first two chapters of the book, Satisfy my Thirsty Soul, and then went back and reread chapter one and looked up most of the scripture references and read them in context. I have an NIV/Message parallel Bible and when I actually read it, I like it a lot.

Some quotes that really jumped out at me.
Talking about living a life of service instead of living a life of worship: Too often, my emphasis was on making him known rather than knowing Him.

Talking about John choosing an intimate relationship with Christ: Any of the disciples could have experienced this intimate relationship with Jesus, but only John CHOSE it. Intimacy is a choice. We either do the work required to keep the fire alive, or we don't.

At one point she says she prayed, "God, I want to intimately know you, wherever it takes me, whatever the cost." I find that an admirable (and very scary) thing to pray.

God wants to give us a joy that infinitely transcends all other joys combined in the power and potential to satisfy, thrill, fill, and fulfill us. I don't know about you, but I have major contentment issues. I need to stop looking at my circumstances or my relationship with Matt or my friends or my church to find contentment and joy. The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in HIM.

Worship is not just a specific act. It is also a lifestyle. Worship is a specific act of bowing my knees and declaring, "Holy, Holy, Holy." Worship is also a lifestyle of bowing my life and living, "Holy, Holy, Holy." Con.vic.ting.

At the end of each chapter, there are some suggestions for personal worship time with God. I had a hard time getting started and made excuses for about a week. Satan used my back and feeling bad to make me focus on the physical rather than the Spiritual. I hate the control I let him have on my life. He regularly uses busyness, physical circumstances, guilt, and dissatisfaction as tools to keep me from having an intimate relationship with my Abba.

Today's suggestions were to listen to worship music (thank you, Pandora) and be still for 10 minutes, kneel and read Psalm 63:1-8 aloud and to declare the truths you find about God there. I also journaled my thoughts on what I read. Y'all, I was skeptical. I have never been so great at just being still. When I pray, I'm either thanking God for what He's done or asking Him to do something. Rarely ever do I just sit still, listen, and bask in WHO HE IS. I'll cheat and include a quote from Chapter 2 here (author quoting A.P. Gibbs): "In prayer we are occupied with our needs, in thanksgiving we are occupied with our blessings, but in worship we are totally occupied with God Himself." That makes so much sense but how do you JUST sit and think and feel God and proclaim who He is?

But during Jonah's nap time today, I went out on my deck. I made a Chris Tomlin station on my Pandora, I got down on my knees and read the Psalm (fairly certain my neighbors think I'm a nut... I'm okay with it), journaled and had quiet time. And I kid you not, God moved me to tears. I asked Him to speak to me. I begged Him to let me feel Him there with me, and He answered me so clearly. Every song that came on the station was exactly what I was reading and writing about at that exact moment. I kind of rewrote Psalm 63 to say exactly what I was feeling. And as soon as I wrote the words (my paraphrase of verse 2), "I long to praise You just for what You are...", the radio played "to be still and know that You're in this place, to stay and rest in Your Holiness. Word of God, speak." And it happened like that over and over again. And I praised and cried. And it was amazing. And I knew in that moment, that I could do this. This is what God longs for... for us to take the time and intentional effort to worship Him (more than just in church on Sunday mornings) so that He can make his very real, very alive, very right-here-beside-me presence known. What has taken me so long? Verse eight says, "My soul clings to you; Your right hand upholds me." My paraphrase was, "As I desperately scramble to hold on for dear life," (I'm not quite as confident as David. :) ) "You firmly grip me by the waist. Why am I flailing? You have me. You're not letting go."

Anyway, I'll end this novel now. I'm not sharing any of this to be all, "Look at me. I'm doing a Bible Study. I'm so holy." Please know that I'm just sharing what God is showing me, with often embarrassing honesty, just hoping that maybe it will speak to you too. I'm happy, if you're still reading this, that you indulge my need to share and write. It's part of the process. :) Thank you so much. I hope you give God the chance to surprise you. He's been waiting.

our weekend

On Friday night, we went over to our friends, Shawn and Jen's house for dinner. It was the first time that their oldest, Jude, and Jonah really interacted and played together. Jude is four months older than Jonah and I have high hopes that they will be best buds.

Jonah liked this Cars book. It was one of those with the buttons that make sound effects.

Any time Jonah has a play date with kids near his age, there is lots of yelling, squealing, and growling on his part. He just gets so excited he can't help himself. (See Exhibit A)

All the boys (minus Jonah... who was probably still growling on the other side of the room).

We love Shawn and Jen so much, and Jonah, Jude, and Cohen will all be so close in age. I'm glad Jonah will have some cool dudes (with some cool, and you know, Godly, parents) to hang with (with whom to hang?).

Today we took Jonah over to our neighbor's yard to swing again.

I think he could swing all day. He gets so relaxed and starts closing his eyes. It's so funny. I'm glad he loves it. Fall is on its way. It's still going to be a little warm for most of this week, but hopefully we are just one or two weeks from consistently cool temps.

I've had a really rough weekend. I started having severe lower back pain on Thursday. I have Scoliosis and wore a brace in middle and early high school, so I sometimes have some minor back pain. But I guess between daily lugging around a 26 pound 18 month old who can't walk, getting a bee in my bonnet and moving a heavy TV by myself last Thursday, and my painting job this past Tuesday, I overdid it. All of that to say that I've been in really bad shape. Finally, on Friday, to make it through the day and be able to care for Jonah, I took some prescription strength muscle relaxers. They helped my back pain but by the time we got home from Shawn and Jen's, I was completely flu-like achy from my legs to the back of my head. So I took more relaxers. They helped. But then, once several hours had passed, I would get the back pain back and would be aching severely. I was getting nervous wondering what horrible disease I had that would make my back hurt like that AND make my whole body ache and give me headaches. All day Saturday I was fine the couple hours after I took the muscle relaxers and then I'd start feeling HORRIBLE again. Today, we didn't go to church because, basically, I've been an invalid, and I went to Urgent Care. They couldn't make heads or tails of why my back pain would/could be causing the flu like symptoms and said it was possible I had a virus on top of my messed up back. Well today, I finally figured it out. This morning, I only took two ibuprofen because I didn't want to be doped up when I went for my appointment. The only issue I had this morning was the back pain. I felt better than I have in three days. Then, when I came home, I took the muscle relaxers again. I was okay for an hour or so and then got achey with chills again. I was on the couch most of the afternoon, feeling horrible. And then it hit me: I'M APPARENTLY ALLERGIC TO THE MUSCLE RELAXERS. So that's good news. grrr... At least I figured it out. I'd rather tolerate the back pain, which I hope will go away with time, than suffer through HOURS of flu-like achiness. I have been in bad shape. My back only really hurts if I'm having to bend over or if I'm transitioning from one position to another. I'm okay if I'm just sitting or just standing. So anyway, I know that was long and rambling, but I'm just so happy I figured it out. Geez. I'm a little slow sometimes.

My sister came for a visit this weekend, and we had a good time diagnosing me on the Internet. We were fairly certain I had Meningitis, Brucellosis, or a Pterodactyl bite. Seriously though, it was scaring me, so I'm glad I figured it out. And that it's not a Pterodactyl bite after all. That would have sucked.

jonah photos

Jonah, King (err... Viking?) of Target,

And Computer Messer Upper Extraordinaire

jonah on DebRA

Debra.org just launched their new website. Guess who is the top story on their Family Page?

Click here to read Baby Jonut's story, but make sure you read the other stories on the Family Page too.

Happy Saturday!

our day

Today was a good day. Jonah behaved well during dressing change, which is becoming less frequent these days. And he is SO strong, when he's not cooperating, it is very hard to get him bandaged, and even harder to not tear his skin in the process. He's WAY OVER dressing change these days.

Barbara (my neighbor/friend) and her girls came over for lunch, and then after I fed Jonah and they went home for nap time, Jonah and I went and spent some time out on the deck. It was probably too hot to be out there, but we both needed it. I thought it felt good, but I didn't have three layers of bandages on. Our deck is completely covered, with two ceiling fans (my favorite part of the house), so it's significantly cooler there than in the yard.

He promptly took off crawling... "Hey, what's that?" ...

JACKPOT!

Eco Rangers Moose and Zee would be so proud.

True, I let him chew it and lick it, but he loved every minute.

Jonah attempted blowing bubbles for the first time today...

It was pretty much the cutest thing in all of history, amen.

This is not the greatest photo in the world, but check out those dirty bandages... eewww.

It was so great to be outside for both of us though. I got some time to start this...

I love this book already. I'm reading it with a group of nine or ten other ladies and we're meeting once a week to discuss it and how God is working on us. I am going to have LOTS to say about it, so just prepare yourself now. It's revealing a lot of ugly truths about me (and I'd dare say, all of us), and I'm only in chapter two! I can't wait. The title says it all. I am desperately thirsty. I am so low. I'm tired, beat down, worn out, discontent, lifeless. I'm in "just survival" mode, and I hate it. I can't wait to read this, dig back into my Bible (which is collecting dust on my bedside table), and really learn to worship with MY LIFE. I want to be challenged, pushed, made uncomfortable. I don't want to be okay with how things are. I am so ready.

So back to Jonah... he got DIRTY. It took me 20 minutes when we got back in to carefully wet wipe his hands and change all six pieces of Tubifast, his shorts, and his shirt. It was completely worth it though. We both had fun. And it also makes me know that my deck seriously needs to be power washed. (Says sweetly in pathetic girly voice while batting eye lashes)  "Daaaaaaaady...". (Ahem.)

Tonight Matt and I went to a local produce market that just opened up down the street, ran by Target, and then picked up some dinner to bring home. It's been a good day.

If you are in the habit of praying for me along with Jonah, please pray for me as I start this book and Bible study. I feel like I'm on the brink of something amazing. God, I hope so. I can't wait!

wordless wednesday