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Saturday, February 28, 2009

Melodie the Pharisee

A friend and I were talking about lent and fasting. She shared with me what her fast was for the next 40 days. She hadn’t even shared it with her husband . . . or anyone!! She kept it to herself because she didn’t want to be like the Pharisees. You know boasting about a fast . . . that was kind of their nature. And yikes! I posted an entire blog on it. So then I felt guilty. I really hadn’t thought about it. The following verses never came to mind when I posted on Wednesday.
“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Matthew 6:16-18
So let me say a big OOPS to all of you. And now I have this need to explain why I boasted about my fast. Not really. I wasn’t boasting. Had I decided to go without food for the next 40 days? Humanly speaking, that might be boast-worthy. But no blog reading? Totally not boast worthy. I really just wanted you all to know that I wouldn’t be reading your blogs {or leaving fun comments}! So if you were to announce a pregnancy, a new adoption or some other incredible, amazing event – I STILL WANT TO KNOW ABOUT IT! So still reminding you - don’t let me miss out on the fun stuff. And let me just say that not reading blogs leaves things very suspenseful around here. And just for the record, on day 3, it’s KILLING ME!

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Ash Wednesday

So for the past several years our church has encouraged participation in Lent. And it has always been a meaningful time for me. I had never done this until about 5 years ago. Making the decision to sacrifice something significant in my life, in an attempt to draw myself closer to my Lord has become a special time over the past few years. I think one year I gave up TV, one year it was eating out, 2 years I sacrificed the radio. The radio was probably the most beneficial to me of these sacrifices because I drove to work in silence for 40 days. It gave me 30 minutes to pray on my drive to work and my drive home. An hour of extra prayer time a day! This year is different since I am not commuting to work and I don’t spend as much time in the car. So I have had to think . . . what would hurt if I took it away for the next 40 days? And I am a little sad to say that it is reading all of your blogs. It kind of consumes me. I love to read the newest of what’s going on in the lives of all of my friends. I enjoy it to the point that I check for updates 2-3 times a day (during nap times of course!). So no more blog reading for this girl for the next 40 days. What will I do with all the extra time?! I plan to pray.
P.S. If anything exciting happens to you before Easter – please do call me or email me. :) I don’t want to be completely out of the loop! OH! And I will be still posting updates here. Just not reading others.

Pay it forward, anyone?

So there is a fun little game going around this blogosphere. And here are the rules:

I will send a gift to the first 3 people who comment on this post. All gifts will be handmade by yours truly. And I am pretty positive you will like it! I will send the gift out sometime during this year. What you need to do in return is to pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog/website. This exchange is only open to those with active sites. So then you will send a gift to the first 3 people to comment on your post. The gift can be handmade by you or you could support a crafty friend by purchasing the gifts from her. If you are one of the first 3 to comment, then go ahead and send me your mailing address at melodie1980@gmail.com.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Where's Holden?

Caution: If you choose to click the play button, you will hear me say the above title over 10 times in the next 42 seconds. But Holden's cute little game should make it worth your while. This boy really can fill the mundane day with quite a bit of fun!
Notice how he waits as long as he possibly can before removing that cloth? You would kind of expect him to just rip it off his face. But instead he almost explodes from all his laughter and squeals and he stays covered for as long as he can stand. That's me! That's me! That's me! I love surprises and the excitement that they bring. And I am pretty sure that he does too!

His new fave!

It’s toast. Just plain old, toasted, whole wheat bread. He chooses it over anything on his tray. Forget the peaches. Forget the bananas. Just give him crunchy, brown toast! And as you can see it makes him very happy!

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Baby buddies!!

It was supposed to feel like a nice, spring day on Tuesday and so we met some friends at the park for some fun. Okay, as you can see the weatherman was a little off. It was supposed to be 70, but instead it was 60 and WINDY! But the babies enjoyed the fresh air all the same. From left to right: Lyndon, Kate, Holden and Katelyn. Don't they all look thrilled?!

Saturday, February 14, 2009

friendships take time . . .

If there is one thing that Holden has learned his past 9 months on earth, it is that friendships take time. Though he fell in love with our hairy dog Abbie, the moment he laid eyes on her, she did not reciprocate the feelings. And as he has become more mobile recently to chase her and pull on her ears and tail, her world has been turned upside down. But there are those few sweet moments, where she allows him to play with her. Not sure if Abbie really enjoys his playing, but she allows it nonetheless. Enjoying the nice sunshine together.
Abbie learns to share her toys.
Here Holden moves in for a friendly kiss. :)

Anybody want a middle-aged dog?

Peek-a-boo

This is the newest game that Holden now loves to play. He is even trying to play with strangers; while waiting in line at the grocery store or sitting in the waiting room at the doctors office. Whoever will give him a smile or glance his way is free game to play.

HELP!

I left the room for about 60 seconds to put something away in my closet. I heard a sort of cry for help from Holden. And I came to his rescue to find him here:

He has figured out that he has to duck his head to crawl under the table. But sometimes can't manage to find his way out of there. And so before I assisted him out, I snapped a few pics!

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

To Texas . . . again.

Oh how we travel ALOT! With almost all of our family in Texas, it keeps us going back there often. Not to mention that we love the place! But we love the people more and we miss them!
This past Saturday my grandmother (affectionately called meme) turned 90! So Holden and I went to her birthday party in Tyler, Texas. Here is the birthday girl with my uncle, aunt and my parents.
Jeremy had a commitment at home and wasn’t able to come along. Which really just meant that Holden and I were able to stay longer than the typical weekend. So we left for my parent’s house on Thursday morning and didn’t come home until Monday evening. Needless to say, Jeremy missed us. In fact, the two of us returned home to a bouquet of flowers and a nice little card. Holden doesn’t realize yet how sweet his daddy is.
My dad is quite the early riser. So most mornings he would get Holden out of bed when he awoke which mean that I was able to sleep in. So nice! So he would get him out of bed, change his diaper, and give him his bottle. All the while, I was sleeping soundly. I considered staying an extra day with all the pampering I received. :)
Here are a few pictures from the fun and relaxing weekend. Dad was singing in this picture. Long story that I won't go into, but his song makes Holden smile. And so, now dad has to sing during picture time.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Weighing in at 9 months

Holden is now 9 months. (officially yesterday!) Today we went to the doctor. He weighed in at 21lbs and 10oz which was in the 50-75th percentile. On our home scale, he had been weighing between 22 and 23 pounds, depending on who was holding him and what time of the day it was. So the good news for me is that I might weigh a couple of pounds less than what I thought. The bad news for Jeremy is that he might weigh a couple of pounds less than what he thought. :) Holden’s height is 30 inches which is in the 90-97th%. He is definitely a tall boy! The nurse said he looked older than 9 months because he was so long. During this last month I have had to retire many of his clothes that I thought he would wear much longer. After a toe broke through the seam of some one piece footie pajamas – I knew he had finally outgrown them. So just about the only 12 month clothes he is able to wear right now is the Carters brand, as they seem to run a bit larger. His other little 12 month pants are looking like high-waters, which is not cool at all. So they have gone in the box for hopefully, a bubba to wear one day.
What has happened this month? Well, he learned to crawl just a week after turning 8 months. And that changed everything. It has been so fun to watch him explore on his little hands and knees. Let’s talk about food. Holden decided just one week ago that he loves yogurt. He loves it like it’s desert for him. He also decided a few days ago that he doesn’t like green beans. He has eaten them just fine for me over the past several months. But now he gags and occasionally cries when a spoonful goes into his mouth. We might have to return to green beans at a later date and give it another go. He has been successfully feeding himself fruit puffs for sometime now. This month we have tried some new table foods like bits of banana, bread, chicken and cheerios. With 8 teeth now, I think he is ready for some steak! A funny thing about this boy: he still refuses to hold his bottle. This is funny since he DOES want to hold onto something. In the past, he would grab hold of his bib as he drank his milk. Now that he no longer really needs a bib for his bottle, he grabs hold of a burp cloth, his shirt or whatever material is close by. But he WILL NOT hold his bottle.
He is quite the talker. I say “ball” and he says “bah”. I say “mama” and he says “baba”. I say “bottle” and he again says “baba”. I say “dog” or “duck” and he sticks his tongue out and blows. It’s quite entertaining. His eyes light up during these conversations. It seems he is learning so much of our language, though he isn’t ready to speak it yet. He isn’t quite ready to sign it for me either. We have been working on our baby sign language. The main 2 that I am beginning with are more and all done. So far he hasn’t participated, other than smiling at me when I sign and speak. But I am sticking with it. I know he’ll catch on soon.
Some of Holden’s favorite things to do right now are: sit on daddy’s shoulders, see his own cute face in a mirror, splash in the bathtub, jump up and down and up and down on a lap and pet the dog.
So that is our update for this month. In case, you can’t tell from my posts, life has been full! We are so thankful for the gift of Holden. Here he is sitting on his daddy's shoulders. Look at that face! See, he loves it!