Siblings

Ahh. {sigh} Well, at least one of the kids was (half) dressed for this photo shoot~:-)

The Daily Grind

At first they were both happy with a water bottle, Haven sitting up, Elijah sharing. Then we worked on a puzzle, Haven having fallen over, Elijah again sharing. Haven was really working the puzzle...with her tongue. (And, yes, it is a big long tongue. Yes, she does use it all the time. No, she does not have a problem. Yes, I asked the pediatrician. He laughed at me. But thanks for bringing it up - again.) Elijah needed to jump (a $0.50 consignment store find!).
Sweet baby girl and I snuggle before bed. Perhaps people keep having babies so they will always have someone with whom to snuggle.

Review: When Moms Pray Together

When Moms Pray Together by Fern Nichols

Put out by: Tyndale
Price: $13.99
Book Info (as taken from the Tyndale site): Moms in Touch International is an organization that brings moms together to pray for their children and their children's schools. As MITI prepares to celebrate its 25th anniversary, Fern Nichols, the founder and president, has collected some of the most inspiring and encouraging stories of God's work in answer to those prayers. When Moms Pray Together will inspire and equip mothers to pray more consistently and hopefully for their children while encouraging them through the stories from moms everywhere.
Disclosure: Mama Buzz- and reviewers -received a complimentary copy of this book for blog tour purposes.

Well, I've never officially reviewed anything, but criticism of either kind is not usually difficult for me; we'll see how this goes.

When Moms Pray Together is a gathering of 3-4 page stories of God's work in answering specific prayers. The tellers of these tales are all moms who are involved in Moms in Touch International, an organization assisting and encouraging mothers to pray together for their children. When reading this book I was my struck with:

- My own arrogance. Some of the children spoken of in these stories are really messed up - drugs, alcohol, cutting - the kinds of things you never imagine your own children even touching. As these mothers told their stories I often found myself thinking, "Well, no wonder! They should have totally done....... Of course their kid is screwed up!" How prideful I am! How stupidly prideful I am! My child is often the "bad one." So why exactly is it I feel at liberty to critique others so harshly? God please strip away these blinders of pride and replace them with lenses of compassion!

- The importance of praying with others. Over and over again the testimony in these stories would contain words echoing "My prayer group was the only thing that got me through those tough years!" or "I was encouraged to persevere because I knew my friends were praying for me." If you are not convinced of the importance of praying with others in the body of Christ, this book will push you in the right direction.

- The unquestioning embrace of public schools by Christian parents. These mothers spent a lot of time praying for their children's school system - a system they repeatedly referenced as anti-Christian as exemplified in curriculum, leadership, rules, or teachers.

- My need to pray. Oh what peace we often forfeit! Oh, what needless pain we bear!

- My need to pray Scripture. Someday I will lose my ability to memorize. Thankfully, now I can still soak it in. My desire to pray Scripture has reinvigorated me to learn Scripture.

I'm not really sure what I'll do with all these new thoughts. When Moms Pray Together has made me want to pray - really pray - with another Mom (or two!), but I have no idea how the logistics of that would work. If you live nearby - oh, but where will that be in another month! - and you have this same desire, let me know. Perhaps God will be pleased to do great things in and through our children simply because we have prayed.

On another prayer note:

E: "Dear God,... I sinned. I put my finger in Haven's mouth. Will you please forgive me? Please help me be kind. Help me love you. Amen."

Out of the mouth of babes...

E: "I'll be right back Momma." {runs out of room}

E: {returning with shiny silver baby monitor in hand} "I had to get my cell phone...ring, ring, hello!....."

Yes. He said cell phone.

Entertainment

Did you know that Haven likes to read?Or that Elijah is really enjoying puzzles?Just wanted to show you some of our newest amusements.

I'm constantly begging Jenelle to come visit, I feel. We were so happy to have her stay for a few extra days. As always, Elijah especially loved it. We picked crabapples together.



Jenelle helped Elijah make cookies (or maybe Elijah taught Jenelle, I'm not really sure).
My favorite part was staying up late talking, eating popcorn, and drinking wine. I so rarely get to have late-night talks with dear friends. This was a super fun treat!
Come back soon Jenelle! (like...this weekend!)

Girl's Weekend

Most of very best friendships were formed at some point during college. Recently we all got together for a weekend which flew by way to fast. Geneva ("Drew-Eva"), Lauren's little one, and Haven joined us along with two yet-to-born babies. Since getting together, Larissa's little Anna Reid has made her appearance, and we found out that our suspicions were correct - Merilee & Faris will have a little boy!

These girls are all so dear to me! They all know me - really know me - and yet love me. My prayer during my entire first semester at Belhaven College was "God, help me to love people!" It was a prayer of desperation, because I was acutely aware of my inability to love others. God continues to answer that prayer in surprising ways, but His gracious tutelage is certainly displayed in my love for these dear friends. Anna Reid and Haven had some early bonding time (in which Anna Reid was being smashed, come to think of it) to set the stage for their friendship. A close-up of young Faris, Jr. ~:-)
Thank you God for abundantly blessing me with good friends!

Spend-the-Night

If we really like you, we'll probably invite ourselves over. If we really, really like you we'll invite ourselves over for a spend-the-night. Then we'll haul all our stuff in, don some kickin' pajamas, and have an all-around fabulous time hanging out with you. (Since we like you to start with, it won't be hard at all.)

Aunt Laura reading Are You My Mother; Elijah seriously contemplating the ridiculous theory of macro-evolution:Haven was a little out of control in Luke's super-fancy exersaucer: Don't they look like wonderful friends? {I love this picture Laura!}Uncle Matt was totally breakin' it down to Elijah's music.Daddy and Elijah put on a show for all of us, complete with trumpet playing.They also played drums during the show.Haven received some much-needed loving from her sweet Aunt.The next morning we hit up Chick-Fil-A wearing our sports jerseys. I contemplated wearing my Belhaven Academics shirt, but decided to go with a Vandi shirt. Since I not only got 3 free sandwiches, but also got the rest of our meal free by using coupons, I didn't want to cause more of a scene by explaining what Belhaven was. (I do try to tone down the annoying factor as much as possible when using coupons.)While the men went golfing, we shoved all the kids onto the playmat.I had time to stare at and play with all three of these beautiful children. Luke's laugh was so entertaining; he has this great, almost-internal, old-man chuckle that makes me laugh so hard. I love it! A pantry full of wonderful snacks, new toys, books!books!books!, our very own Rock Band, a sweet laughing nephew, and good talks all made for a wonderful spend-the-night. Thanks Matt and Laura! Maybe we'll invite ourselves over again soon~;-)

Camping

Oh my, Elijah could not wait for Daddy to get home so they could go camping. We talked about it for days beforehand. By talk about it, I mean that every few sentences would be about Daddy, Daddy coming home, the tent, the marshmallows, the special crackers, or the fire. Elijah had his bag packed and was all ready to go long before Daddy got home. They headed outside to get things ready. Doesn't Elijah look so cute with his little backpack? His backpack which, by the way, has a special handsewn Glock patch on it.
One of the most important toys of the evening was this great flashlight.
Daddy and Elijah hauled a bunch of huge rocks up from the creek. Daddy was so sweaty after building this fire pit that he had to shower before actually camping. Good work Eric!

The food was all a big hit, although Elijah couldn't really eat much given all the excitement that a fire and camping bring.
Elijah led us in a few rounds of campfire songs. The guys in the band next door seriously want to recruit him, I'm sure.
Daddy and Elijah read books in the tent by flashlight and the light from a little lamp. Elijah and Mr. Moose snuggled in the sleeping bag. They had so much fun. Someday, he'll be doing this on his own; but, for now, nothing could be more fun than camping with Daddy.

Pajama Mornings

This is my favorite time of the day. Often, when I have to be somewhere in the morning, I feel like I have been cheated out of the best part of the day. This is the time when Haven and I snuggle in bed, when Elijah and I read the Bible and "All done Momma? Pray? Pray now?", when the dishwasher and washing machine start humming, when a plan for the day is developed. This is a good time.

Elijah wanted to "take a break" in Haven's crib. I let him, but had to come back in because "Need my pillow Momma."

Notice how I finally have two(!) Beatrix Potter mobiles. I looked everywhere for these when I was pregnant with Elijah. I could never find any I liked so I finally gave up. Recently, within a month of each other, Mom and Ab both found Beatrix Potter mobiles secondhand. They were made in the 80s, and cost a pretty sum then. [I know because the receipts were still in them.] Why I never found any like them on Ebay will continue to confuse. Needless to say, I was the happy recipient of these two gifts. I'm continuing to slowly collect the nursery apparel I like; perhaps by baby number five I'll have my nursery theme down.

Shortly after situating the pillow, I realized that resting in the crib was NOT going to work. Miss Haven is no longer content to stay on a blanket. She will roll anywhere.
She is just beautiful, even in her gender-neutral pajamas. Hope you all are enjoying wonderful pajama mornings at your home as well!