I See My Husband, and He Sees Me

Shane and I took these pictures of Hudson just the other day, and we were laughing because I kept saying, "Oh, my gosh! It's you all over," and Shane kept saying, "I just see you and Julia when she was little." Well, everyone knows that all three of my older children look just like me and my baby pictures and then all the pictures after down the line. However, Hudson has a blend of a baby Paige, Chase, and Julia and fits right in BUT I totally see Shane. Especially in that second picture of Hudson where he's saying, "You want me to take out the trash and then what?" just like his dad :)

Love

John 12:25 "Those who love their life will lose it, while those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life."

Wow!

When I think about how much I love my life and my children, I always think of the verse that Jesus demands we love Him more than this life, more than our own. How powerful must that love be that we feel toward the One Above?!

Matthew 10:37 "Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves a son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me."

"Talking" and Trying to Wriggle-Crawl!

Hudson is 12 weeks this week and officially 3 months on the 20th!
When Hudson isn't taking a nap that looks as if he's an angel fallen from a cloud and landed in our house, he is "talking" up a storm or trying to inch up his legs and feet and "crawl" or at least move around and wiggle to get somewhere. I've never seen anything like it.

The "talking" blows me away. He started it around 6 weeks. My girlfriend Mia and I would be on the phone, and she would say, "Is that him TALKING?!" I would say, "I KNOW!" He just started very early looking at you and saying "Ahhh-goo..ah-goo...mmmahhhhoooahhhwwwaaahhh." And then he waits for you to respond. You say some things back like you do in a give-take conversation at 6 months usually, and then off he goes again after you've had your turn talking explaining something else. Hudson also loves to razz and blow bubbles and pffftppfffft at you and then smile when you do it back. What's entertaining is we have all started trying to intrepret what we think he's saying to all of us. It varies from day to day. Some days we say Hudson's saying, "Why am I riding around with this crazy family in this van?" or "Why is everyone clapping and saying "weeee" to me on the baby swing? What's the big deal?" And my favorite, "Lady, quit smiling at me and give me the goods. Can't you tell I'm hungry? Smiling is for later." The more we laugh at what we think he's saying, the more he talks and the giggling session continues.

I read a funny quote the other day. "I know what's wrong with teenagers. You spend the first two years of their lives teaching them to walk and talk and the rest of the years telling them to sit down and be quiet." :)

Julia Christine is 5!

A week ago this past Sunday, Julia turned 5. My baby girl! She was so excited this year because we have always had a party with family or taken her and just a friend to Chuck E. Cheese or something like that, but this year she invited her whole preschool class to the same place where Chase had had his party this year! It's so neat to have a big place where there are all the indoor swingsets, etc. Julia had such a good time and was completely grown up! Poof. It happens right before your eyes for sure.

I felt like for the first time in a long time I slipped! With all the organizing and running around, I forgot my camera! I thought I was going to hyperventilate. A scrapbooker losing a scrapbooking moment forever due to a lack of photos?!? The world was ending. Blessedly, a few friends took some phone pix snaps and sent them to my phone, so then I had them printed off. Whew. Yes, Julia, there really was a party for you and you really did turn 5. See the pictures?!

Julia had picked her theme out months in advanced as a "puppy party." This surprised all of us because she is an avid kitty lover. We got puppy plates and puppy napkins and puppy cups and had "Little Pet Shop" puppy cupcakes with puppy footprints on it. She was thrilled to celebrate with all her new "big girl" school friends and loved ones alike!!

He's Dead in Our House! Is He in Yours?

Well, I realized today while shopping with the children for groceries, running errands, that Christmas is upon the retail world already. I always approach the season with mixed emotions. I am thrilled to have the upcoming celebration of Jesus' birth! It makes me so excited and full of joy, I cannot even explain it. On the other hand, my compassion for the unsaved runs deep and it saddens me greatly that this will be just another holiday to celebrate materialism for most.

My children know that there once was a man named St. Nicholas, and they know the accompanying story behind all of it and how the celebration of Santa Claus came to light. We do not, however, participate in the whole "Santa" lie. Call me calloused. Call me no fun. I call it reality and keeping the focus on Jesus. Do they have stockings? Yes. Do we pretend that it's "Santa"? I guess, but they know it's mommy and daddy that do the filling. We tell them that we practice the "keeping the Santa spirit alive" which is the spirit of giving from the heart, a man long time ago that gave from his heart with love. The real day though is Jesus Christ's birthday! We make a birthday cake on Christmas Eve and celebrate the best birthday of all! The only birthday that will bring us to Heaven!

We try to constantly talk about the spirit of giving because on this important upcoming Christmas day God gave His only son to us to save us. I fight the urge to LOATHE going to the grocery from November 1 through January 1 because it's just full of people piling in STUFF in their carts seeking to fill some worldly void to their children when the best gift they could ever give their child this season is the gift of salvation.

Do my children get a lot of gifts for Christmas? Yes. Are they spoiled? Yes. Are they spoiled brats? No. :) They also have to choose a gift to bring unwrapped to give to donation. I do this for every holiday and also birthday. If we are to tithe 10 percent of our income and blessings the Lord pours out to us, then the least I can do is ask my children to give one gift away out of the 30 they will receive from us and relatives. It's interesting to always watch what gift they pick to give and how in actuality they are EXCITED to bring the gift to Goodwill or another donation dropoff we choose.

Compassion is not something we are born with. I think a heart of compassion is taught and nurtured. Let's please remember the season of giving, not the season of getting! God is so good. He is so gracious to give us such a beautiful gift, the birth of Jesus.