God's Handwriting

I'm going to start a new project on here, but first a story. John and I were fortunate enough to get up at 4am today! Lucky us. Funny I should post about relief after Harvey's third tooth, because it appears that now numbers 4, 5, and 6 are going to give us a run for our money. Harvey cried at 4, so I gave him some teething tablets, tried to rock him (he's waaaay too cool for that baby stuff), and put him back to bed. At 4:30 he was up crying again, so John went and gave him a couple of ounces from a bottle hoping that would help him calm down. That worked until around 5 when he started up again. I tried to be all tough, turning off the monitor and mumbling something about toughing it out. But I'm not that hardcore. So I got up and got some Tylenol and the teething tablets, pulling out all the stops. This time he was curled up in a ball in his bed sobbing----very pitiful. He took all his medicine and let me rock him----that's how bad off he was. After a few minutes of rocking, I put him back to bed and he was out. Just in time for John and I to get our day started. Nice. I can see 3 more teeth trying to come in, but it doesn't look like they're really close at all.

On to my new project. As you know, I'm working on my photography, learning more about shooting, using my camera, editing, etc etc. Well, my friend Jessica who also wants to be a photographer when she grows up, is joining up with http://www.onehundredphotos.blogspot.com/ . You take one hundred photos on a subject and post them on your blog. I love this idea! So I am also joining up with them and I will be posting my one hundred photos on here over the next few months. My theme comes from a quote that I absolutely love: "Never lose an opportuniy of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God's handwriting" Ralph Waldo Emerson. I love to see something that I find particularly beautiful and know that God created that to captivate my heart, to pursue me, to reveal something about Himself to me. So I want to try to capture "the handwriting of God" in my 100 photos. Should be an interesting journey.

For my first photo, of course I would be driving and have no camera but the one on my phone. I was so completely captivated by the clouds yesterday, I couldn't help but take a quick photo.


I'm sure I could have taken some better photos, but apparently a photo shoot while driving is a tad more dangerous than texting while driving. Especially when merging into traffic. Should be illegal. So there you have it: 1 of 100.

Finally a Third

Lots going on right now. The one update I can think of right now: Harvey finally cut his third tooth. This teething thing just does not sit well with him. Some children are more sensitive to teething than others, and I would say he's in the sensitive crowd for sure. We'll have a couple days of crying, night waking, just overall grouchiness. Then it will stop for a couple days and then start up for a couple days. Back and forth until it finally pops through. He really makes sure that John and I are fully aware of the situation at all times! We're still waiting on those two top teeth to come on through. He looks so funny with three teeth on the bottom.

Here are some recent photos from the other day.

Whatcha fink you're doin wif dat, mom?

And here are a couple of sweet Mary Helen. She hasn't made an appearance on here in awhile. Such a sweetie!

Catching Up

We have some serious catching up to do! I think I'm so overwhelmed with editing photos, then they pile up, then I'm even more overwhelmed, so I never do anything with them. So, I've decided for blogging purpose, I do not need to photoshop/edit my photos. I know most of you are not concerned with how over/under exposed some of the images are, or how the white balance is not quite right. Dang, I just need to get over it and get on with the show! :)

First, I want to share a project that I'm proud of. We had some curtains in our living room that I wasn't super excited about. Just cream (faux) silk, and they didn't touch the floor. We have 9 foot ceilings, so we "need" the 95" curtains. Those are more expensive and sometimes hard to find in stores, so I settled for the shorter ones. Well, not anymore! My friend Brooke is a fun crafter who keeps up with other crafting blogs. She often cites a blog that performs window "mistreatments". Simply tearing/gluing/tacking fabric to make curtains. Her motto is "It doesn't have to be perfect to beautiful". Amen, that's my kind of crafting! So I bought some fabric and some finishing ribbon, and with some hot glue and a few first degree burns, viola! I fancied up our boring old short curtains.

Not to shabby for less than hour of work. I like this whole not sewing thing. Perhaps I can make a dress using hot glue. And maybe not.

On to the main event. Bring on the photos of Harvey!

This past weekend we went to Illinois to see John's family. Now, before you see these photos, yes they are from this weekend. And, yes, that is in fact a Christmas tree with all the trimmings. They were waiting for us to come and have Christmas before taking it all down. Likely story. :)

You still back der??

He was SUPER intrigued by her whistling.

And the fan.

So snugly.

My birthday is coming up, so we had birthday dinner on Sunday.

Harvey was napping until he heard there was cake. Then he rushed down to get some.

Yeah, keep her distwacted so I can chew her neckwace.

So much more to say and more photos to post, but alas, nap time is over, and cranky pants is demanding a bottle. He's wasting away!!

Helping Haiti

Haiti is breaking my heart. Everytime I think about those sweet little babies, and the mamas that are just helpless over there----gosh, just breaks my heart. I am thankful our eyes have been opened to the terrible living conditions over there. Things are bad there on a normal, everyday basis. I read a story this morning abour how mothers would make mud pies and bake them just to help fill their crying children's stomachs. And this was what they were doing when things were "fine" before the earthqueake. Makes me sick to think of all we have here, things we don't always appreciate. And, I'm really bothered by how millions of people are suffering, they have lost children, family memebers, what little they did have, and our lives here go on as normal. Nothing is different here. We're still checking out sales, thinking about the next thing we're going to buy, facebooking, throwing away leftovers. Not that I wish to be in their shoes by any means. It's just so weird how life works sometimes. Those who have so much continue to get more, and those who have almost nothing lose everything. Very sad.

Ok, let's get down to what we can be doing. Personally, I'm looking for action points, what can I be doing? There is a blog that I read everyday Money Saving Mom . She posted today that for everyone who blogs about what they have done to help Haiti and links up to her blog, she and her husband will donate $10 to Comapssion Inernational. So I'll share what John and I have done, what we're planning to do, and something you can do to help if you're here in Nashville.

Yesterday we donated to United Nations World Food Programme for Haiti https://www.wfp.org/donate/haiti. We also donated to the Red Cross by texting "Haiti" to 90999. They will charge $10 to your next cell phone bill, all of which goes to the Red Cross.

I know we don't all have tons of money to give. I'm sure we all have some things in our pantry, just laying around the house, or something at a store nearby that we could easily purchase to give. For those of you in Nashville, here's what you can do. There is a ministry here that works directly with Haiti, and they are collecting supplies. Here's what they need:

MAJOR NEEDS: WATER,FOOD,BABY FORMULA,MEDICAL SUPPLIES,BLANKETS

We need the following items:
Tylenol, Children’s Tylenol, Advil, bandages, antibiotic creams, non-perishable foods, flashlights and batteries, personal hygiene products, antibiotics, peroxide, antifungal ointment, canned meats, canned food goods, cold packs, ace bandages, thin blankets, pastas, canned milk, baby cereal, wash cloths, baby wipes, anti-bacterial gel.

I'm going after work/this weekend to gather as much of this as possible. Go to Costco, Target, go to your pantry and find some food. Target has baby blankets on sale. Do whatever you can. It really doesn't take much to help out these people that have absolutely nothing.

Once you have all you supplies, you can take them on over to: Brent Gambrell Ministries 501 Metroplex Drive, Suite 112 Nashville, Tennessee 37211. Here is their website http://www.brentgambrell.com/ . Or, you can bring them to me or John and we'll take them over there. I'm not leaving you with many excuses now. :)

If you have a blog, write about what you're doing to help, challenege others to help, and then head on over to Money Saving Mom and link your post by January 21 for another $10 donation. Pretty simple stuff!


If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered. Proverbs 21:13

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' ... 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Why I Can't Leave the Room

Wild Man

So, I'm trying to let go a little. Harvey feeds himself solid foods really well, and now I'm trying to let go and let him do his own bottle. It's just so hard when bottle time usually goes a little something like this:

Just swinging his legs, no big deal.

Then he really cuts loose.

Shakin it up.

Scooting all around in his chair.

Moooooommmm............I fink I scooted too far.

So then I buckle him in, and it looks like he may just take the dang bottle.

Then, there's more shaking, more flipping, more spilling it everywhere.

Then you gotta take some time to check out your nails..........

Blow some spit bubbles and drool..........

Suck your thumb...........

Make out with the dog...........

And suck your thumb some more.

After all this, I just put the bottle away. Seriously, if I leave it up to him, he only takes maybe 2 ounces. But if I hold him (and hold his hands down, like any sweet, supportive, non controlling mom would), he'll take all 8 ounces. So hard to let go of control. He won't drink from a sippy cup at all----not in his high chair, not when I'm holding him, no matter what I put in it. We've tried 4 different kinds. Not gonna happen right now. It's really not a big issue right now. Just makes me a little crazy!

In other news, Harvey had his first meal tonight with no baby food. He ate real peas, goldfish, and some of what John and I ate. Which by the way had onions, garlic, chili powder-----this kid doesn't mind a little flavor! I gave him a taste of my Sweet Vidalia Onion salad dressing, and he LOVED it! I thought for sure he would turn his nose up to that, but instead he wanted more. Glad he's not a picky eater so far. There's plenty of toddler years left for that. :)