The racing girls!

I know, I know; this picture is a little outdated, but I'm finally showing it. We had such a fun "race" day. Thanks, Erin, for joining us! (this was taken AFTER the race, as you can tell:)

Terrific quote

"All self esteem and self preservation comes at a very high cost.

It cuts us off from others. It turns us into self-centered, self-pitying introverts.

It makes us hard, haughty, callous, quick to find fault,

yet so very sensitive to our own hurts."

~F.B. Meyer

It is of the Lord's mercies...

We were able to see our baby's heartbeat today, and we praise the Lord for it!!! What a complete joy it was to see our baby dancing around as if he/she knew we were watching. :) My due date is Groundhog Day!! And for those of you who are NOT familiar with the holiday, it's February 2nd.

Dear Christy so kindly watched Mikayla at our home while Jody and I went to the appt. She even cleaned up for me. AND, she and Mikayla met us outside when we drove up. It's been a VERY special day and a very emotionally exhausting one. The Lord has truly shown great kindness to us. Good night!!

CHERRIES

Have I ever mentioned that I love cherries?? I do! My sweet mommy just delivered some to my house this evening. We had a bbq to celebrate the 4th. Jody did a great job cooking out. The menu included chicken, poppers, cornbread salad, beans, and squash with onions. For dessert we had apple pie. (No, not homemade. I have lots of trouble making apple pie. It always turns out runny and it frustrates me. So, I buy the frozen kind and it always turns out yummy. Yummy, not runny- perfect. :) We had my parents over and Mikayla's favorite Aunt Christy. A very enjoyable evening for me, although Christy seems to think I'm a bit crazy/sensitive in this pregnancy. Who knows. Maybe I am.

My first appt is MONDAY!! I'm excited for the day to come. I do know that whatever happens and whatever we see that God will give us great grace. In that I am confident. I saw this verse the other day and it was special to me:

"The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve..."
~Psalm 29:9a

Isn't that great?? It doesn't just "happen." The Lord is in control of it all. I love it.

THANK YOU SO MUCH, dear ladies for your encouraging comments on my previous post. We've decided to rock her/love her to sleep until she gets older. It's going quite smoothly (of course).

How about that hot dog eating contest?? CRAZY x a million. 66 hot dogs in 12 minutes. Unreal. Talk about indigestion. At least they're Nathan's (the best hot dog you can find).

Happy 4th!

ME time- ha!

Well, did I ever have plans for tonight! I was going to take a bath, shave, pluck, polish, eat, blog, sweep and mop. Those WERE my plans. It was going to be all about, who else?- me! Yeah right.

Right now, my daughter's door is open and she's talking to me. yes, it's after 10, and her bedtime is 8. "mamadaddy" and the likes is what I'm hearing. And the chirping of birds (her noise machine). I NEED HELP. Our daughter HATES bedtime. and I do mean HATES. It's about to drive us crazy. Discipline during the day is very beneficial and rewarding. However, night time is different. It (discipline)means NOTHING to her. I told Jody that she'd rather have negative attention from us than be by herself. She screams as if there is somebody in bed with her pulling off each toe of hers. We are extremely frustrated.

and I'm hungry b/c dinner tonight was taquitos, rice, beans, and guacamole, and I did NOT feel in the mood for it. So, I've been waiting to eat a bowl of cereal (which sounds SO much better), but I'm stuck here in this chair giving reassuring waves and smiles to my daughter while she is wide awake in her crib.

If I had not had a child like this, I'd think the mom (me) was crazy or lazy or not a disciplinarian, or something of the sort. But, I do have a daughter like this. And having watched other babies (ABBY!), I know this is not a normal thing.

So, does anyone have some encouraging advice?? I hope I'm not opening myself up to get hammered. I pray for wisdom DAILY in this matter. I so need it. I feel like we've tried it all, but I'd welcome suggestions.

Ok, that's it for now. Oh yeah. 9 week along tomorrow. Baby's about an inch long. Wheee!!! Hope to see the heartbeat soon. Good night.

Good reminder

As I was reading this morning, I came across this wonderful verse that is a good reminder (subject!) for us (me):



"For who maketh thee to differ from another?

and what hast thou that thou didst not receive?

now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory,

as if thou hadst not received it?"

~1 Corinthians 4:7



It's so esasy for our nature to be prideful, and God hates pride. Sometimes I wish I were a writer. I feel like I've got so much to say, but I can never get the point across on "paper." I am no better than ANYbody!! But, do I live my life accordingly? All that I have really has been GIVEN to me. No race is better or worse than mine. I thank the Lord that he has made me who I am. I want to live my life without pride, prejudices and the likes. For His honor and glory.



Almost 8 weeks pregnant. YAY. I praise the Lord for the time he's given me with this tiny one. A few more days, and we'll have a little pinto bean. :) NAUSEA is hitting me pretty hard this time around. Wow. I did get some crackers and they seem to help. Just thinking of that sweet syrupy stuff that's supposed to help with nausea makes me sick. gak.



Our Mikayla is doing quite well. I'm just in awe of motherhood. I LOVE WHEN MIKAYLA GIVES ME HUGS. Did I get my point across? :) She never had been too affectionate, but now she is starting to be more so. WHEE!! ( I think it just might to have to do with that fact that she knows I like it so much and will give her almost anything afterwards:) But, hey, I'll take it!



I'm thinking about getting some white shelves from IKEA to go in Mikayla's and the new baby's room. Yes, we have a two bedroom house, so they'll be (LORD WILLING) sharing a room. I think it will save a lot of space and we wouldn't have to add another dresser. Our plan is to take the big bed, the book shelves and computer out, and put in a twin size bed. And the shelves, but I haven't asked Jody about that yet. I'm sure he'll like the idea. And since we have a certain family member I love so much who lives so close to IKEA, I'm sure it'll work out.

I'm off to have lunch with my parents. Chinese food. I'm not sure if that sounds good nor not, but we'll see:)

SA is simply a stronger team, right?

Poor Cleveland. Not that I care a bit about basketball, but everytime they get ahead, they get behind again. How sad. I'm proud of the Spurs, though. How does that work anyway? Do you just root for the team who lives the closest to you? Who knows.

I'm tired (not in a bad way, mom) of waiting my sweet mommy to send me pictures of our big RACE. Those will come soon. But, I figure that I don't have to have pics in order to post. It just seems like it. I had the privilege of doing the race with my dad, Grace, and Erin (what a NEAT gal!!). Grace and my dad took off and left me and Erin in the dust b/c they had a competition going. So, we enjoyed talking and getting to know each other. I VERY much enjoyed it. We mostly walked, but we did have a few jogging moments. And in the end (actually it was the begining) we got a t-shirt, dr pepper jelly beans, pencils, pens, Jones soda stickers/magnet, a TX flag, dr pepper chapstick, and much more. Good stuff.

7 weeks pregnant, and feeling it!! I'm terribly grateful. Thinking back to pregnancy #2, I did not feel this way. It's interesting that I didn't even know to be alarmed or think something was wrong. (Yay for the Spurs!- See, dad, it's NOT rigged) The baby is about the size of a bb (did I spell that right?). That's pretty tiny, isn't it? If he/she keeps growing, in about a week baby will be the size of a pea. Now THAT will be growth. hee hee!

I had more to write, but I'm gonna call it quits. TIME FOR BED! More to share later. night!

It's from Elmo

I'm glad Jamie likes the new word "yahooey" or however you spell it. A friend of ours gave Mikayla an Elmo on a surf board and he says, "Elmo loves to surf (took us forever to figure out that word) with YOU! Yahooey! This is fun!" So, that's where we picked it up. And we like it:)

Oh, ladies, you are all so sweet with your comments. Thank you for your encouragement, love, friendship, and prayers. I'm humbled. I (we) would LOVE to be able to meet this little one. And, Lord willing, we will. It's lots of fun to be pregnant. It changes a lot of things in life, somehow. It's such a JOY.

This pizza place on Nightline is accepting pesos for payment. It has everyone up in arms. Interesting figure of speech, eh? Any thoughts?

Tomorrow I'm going to a cattle auction- WHEEE! Christy, Mikayla and I are going for a walk beforehand (yay!). I'm thinking about bidding on a cow. Just kidding, of course.

Off to bed SOON. I must get my rest!

My last week of running

Hi, Ladies! I'm back:) It's about time, right?? We had a wonderful vacation to Louisiana to see Jody's parents. Most of you know that my poor dad got sick a few days before we planned to leave for MN, and since we had the car all packed up, we decided to go to Louisiana instead. Wonderful/relaxing trip!! On the way home, we visited Grace and family for a few days and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. ps. my dad's feeling better, thank the Lord!



So, I've decided this is my last week of running because.... I'm pregnant! Yahooey! :) Jody and I (and Mikayla, of course) are thrilled. I'm not even sure if I want to run anymore at all (during this pregnancy) because I get SO exhausted when I'm running, and I'm not sure if that will put baby Dodson #3 in distress or not. :) I want to be careful, as you can imagine. I've got a race planned for this Saturday (a 2.5 mile run) in Dublin, TX. We'll see; maybe I'll just slow jog/walk it. I know "they" say if you're already running when you get pregnant that it's ok to continue. I've been running for about 2 months now, but I'm still not in good running condition, so after this week, it's walking for me.

Well, here's the running schedule anyway:

Week 9 and 10: Working It Out

You've finished two months of training and you are really closing in on your goal. These two weeks will be about speed and effort: You've got the distance down, so now you can work on covering that distance faster and more easily.

Week 9

Monday: rest
Tuesday: 1.5 mi a little faster than your normal speed
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: 3 mi
Friday: rest
Weekend: one day rest; one day 1.5 mi a little faster than your normal speed

(I'll leave the link to where I'm getting the schedule soon since I'm getting out of running for the time being.)

According to the computer calculation, my due date is around February 1st. yay! I don't want to be scared/anxious/nervous or anything like that. I (we) just want to enjoy every single day the Lord gives us with this new baby growing inside of me. I pray for His will in the life of this baby. My precious nephew talked to me on the phone today and said "congratulations." Then he asked me, "is this baby gonna die, too?" I told him maybe. By then I couldn't get many words out and really teared up. He's such a sweet boy. He was looking forward to meeting our last baby and he never got to. Lord willing, we'll get to meet this one!

Please be in prayer for Rebekah. Her precious newborn son is having a heart procedure done on Wednesday. I do hope and pray all goes well with Brandon. I can't imagine what a parent's heart feels like to go through that. I pray the Lord would give healing and great strength and recovery to little Brandon.

For the LORD God is a sun and shield:

the LORD will give grace and glory:

no good thing will he withhold

from them that walk uprightly.

~Psalm 84:11

The Lord is so good to us!!

Good night!

Week #8 (a bit early)

Well, in just a few more hours, we'll be heading to MN!! So, I've decided to post the 8th week schedule since I won't be posting for another week. I've got plenty to do, so I'll make this speedy.

Week 8

Monday- 2.5 miles
Tuesday- rest
Wednesday- 2 miles
Thursday- rest
Friday- 3 miles
REST THE WEEKEND:)

Hope you all have a wonderful week!
ps. I'm sure liking running. seriously. :)

Week #8 (a bit early)

YAY for GRACE!

Well, Grace (without stopping) ran her 2.5. I guess all that slacking really paid off. Maybe I'll try that sometime. If I did that, I'd end up in a .25 mile run with extreme exhaustion. That girl. And the scale.... that's a whole other story. I AM proud of her though:)

Our Mikayla's not feeling too well:( I think she has (yet another) ear ache. (Don't you love how Blogger now automatically saves your drafts??) I called the dr this morning and we're due to be there @ 11am. So, I'd better go get ready for that. I'm thankful that she'll be able to be seen today.

Ps. Thanks, Laura, for my hubby's birthday wishes!
pps. Lord willing, we'll head out Friday afternoon (after my dad and hubby get off work)
pps. Thank, Jamie!

Sonic ice is so nice

Well, isn't it? The other night I had quite a yummy treat- tons of Sonic ice with lots of orange juice. So good. It's soft ice (if there could be such a thing). You oughtta try it sometime. It really works well for me b/c I use just use one ice tray that produces ice about the size of a brick. NOT fun to chew on...

In other news, my goal today was to run 2.5 miles. Phew. I (almost) made it.

Lap 1: walk
Laps 2-9: run
Lap 10: walk/run
Lap 11: run
Lap 12: walk

I'm sure that made NO SENSE AT ALL, but to me it does. :) And maybe to Grace or Jamie. The verdict is still out on whether or not Grace will be running tonight. Goo... GRACE! You can do it!

Tomorrow my lovebug's going to be 34!! Yep, it'll be his birthday. I'm totally in love with him. sigh. He's ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL. I praise the Lord for allowing me to be his wife. I wouldn't rather be anywhere else on earth than right here being a homemaker and a mommy. I don't feel like I'm "wasting" any "skill" (ha!) or not fulfilling my potential. Jody says he loves coming home to me and Mikayla. Totally priceless.

And, Reva, I can't run with you on Tuesday, sorry, we're going (Lord willing, of course) to Minnesota!! Yay! I'm looking forward to spending some time with my grandparents, and I'm thrilled that they get to meet a great -grandchild. And, we'll be staying @ Barney's on the Bowstring (?) (a cabin on a lake). So, we've got lots going on very soon in our lives. What fun though:) Reva, when we get back, we'll race! Ok? :)

'til next time!

"Train up a child in the way he should go:

and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

~Proverbs 22:6

Week 7

Well, Jamie (and grace) are you ready??? This seems quite scary, but I think we can do it, right?? Here's the ever so helpful quote:

Your body has had some rest now and should be ready to move on. This week we are stepping up the training a bit. Don't be suprised if you find yourself struggling; it is meant to be tough, but you can do it!

Week 7

Monday: rest
Tuesday: 2.5 mi
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: 2.5 mi
Friday: rest
Weekend: one day rest; one day 3 mi

No excuses here, but I pulled (slightly) something in my calf muscle while playing tennis with my dad, my husband and my parents' new pastor last night. I ran my 1.5 this morning and REALLY noticed it. So, hopefully, the rest of today and resting tomorrow and most of Tuesday will put me back in "running" order. I really am enjoying running. It's great alone time, and it's so fulfilling (in a physical way).

AND, my mom bought me a running magazine!! That was fun to read. It had an article about the Comrade Marathon in Africa. 55 miles! It's a mega-marathon. and the time limit is 12 hours. Can you imagine that?? Running for 12 hours?? Right now I'm good for about 20-25 minutes of jogging. ANYway, THANKS, mom!! What a sweetie she is.

Did I mention that I love my family?? I do! Thanks for your music comments. Good night!

M(ore) O(n) M(usic)

How's THAT for a subject?

I think there are 2 things to ask ourselves when listening to music (right now I'm talking about "Christian" music:

1) Does it glorify God?
2) Does it grieve God?

"God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship
him in spirit and in truth." ~John 4:24

If the song doesn't reflect truth, then how can we worship God through it? To find out if a song is truthful, compare it to the Word of God. If it goes against that, it can't bring glory to God. Right? I do try to be very careful of the music I allow myself to listen to.

As far as secular music, I also think we need to be very careful. I like plenty of songs that aren't "Christian." I make it a point, though, to listen carefully to the lyrics, and if it's offensive (vulgarity/blasphemous/etc.) I turn it off. Just like objectional movies, it's simply not worth it to have my spirit grieved and to know that I've grieved my Lord.

Anyway, any thoughts on these things? I want to hear.

I've been thinking about what Laura asked in a comment earlier -

"Is there any thing that is morally neutral? Or is everything we do categorized into the sin-section or the non-sin section?"

I'm not sure. I guess I DO think there are things that are "neutral." Let's look at the definition of sin. In 1 John 3:4, it tells us that "sin is the transgression of the law." Aren't there so many things we do that do not fall into that category? Boy, what a topic. Sure gets you thinking.

In other news, Jamie posted about prioritizing (sp??). It was so good that I VACUUMED my house (something I've been putting off for several uhmm... weeks? now). It looks much better, I must say. Thanks, Jamie!

One last thing. What would YOU do without your makeup bag?? Well,, Grace and family came and stayed for a night and for some reason, they took my makeup bag with them. With my face lotion, pluckers!, contacts, not to mention the makeup I wear sometimes. I'm not a big makeup fan, but I certainly do miss the option:( I've been having to put regular lotion on my face- yuck!- it's so greasy and feels like I'm putting sunscreen on. I'm hoping to get it back very soon.

That's all for now. I think my dad's coming over for lunch. yay! :)

A VERY selfish post

I DID IT! I RAN TWO MILES TODAY. WITHOUT STOPPING. YAY!! I just HAD to share that. Sorry for all that yelling... It'd been about 8 years or so since I'd run 2 miles. Phew. My dad encouraged me to just take it slow and to breathe using my stomach. I guess I was doing it wrong all along. So, that really helped, I think.

I had a LOVELY day with Ali and family and even got to see Mary! What a treat indeed. My mom and I took some pictures and ate a lot of Ali's food. :) Very yummy. we had avocado egg rolls. How could you go wrong with that?? Very delicious. Oh yeah, I got to meet quite a delightful PRECIOUS new baby. sigh. I think my heart melted. (Ok, Grace, not literally (she's VERY picky about people using the word "literally" b/c it's often used incorrectly)). (I'm pretty sure I didn't do all those parentheses right, but that's ok, I'm sure)

So, thanks for the encouragement Reva, Jamie and Grace. Y'all are great. Yeah, you, too, Christy:)

Music and Running (schedule)

What's the criteria for music you listen to- to be "appropriate" or "acceptable?" My Joseph and I were discussing this today, and to me, it's an interesting topic. Any thoughts? Opinions? Convictions? Please share.

Oh, I can't believe it's Week 6 already. Grace and Jamie, are you ready??
Here it is.....

Week 6

Monday- 2 miles (uh-oh)
Tuesday- rest
Wednesday- 1.5 miles
Thursday- rest
Friday- 1 mile
Saturday/Sunday- rest one day/ 1.5 miles the other

I hope that I can make the two miles tomorrow without stopping. Last time I couldn't do it- only lasted about 1.5 miles. So, we'll see. I'm a wee bit nervous, but I know I shouldn't be. and the other day I asked myself, why didn't I start this running BEFORE I had my Mikayla; it's not like I didn't have the time:) Oh well, here I am.

I have the privilege of taking some photos of a newborn tomorrow!! How fun:) Maybe I can post a picture or two of the outcome. I'm excited!

I hope to have a week that brings honor and glory to my great God! Good night.

Way overdue

Hello, people out there. What's everyone been up to?? It's definitely time for a new post, eh? It's almost Mother's Day. I like this holiday. We don't "do" many holidays, but we do like this one:) yay.

Tomorrow morning is the Birdwell's family photo session. I just get a tiny bit nervous- ha!- about the whole thing. We were going to shoot some photos @ a little gazebo in town, but I went there this morning and we would've had to swim to get there. Not worth it, so I moved to plan B. We're starting out at the park, then going downtown to to an old building. We decided this morning on black and white film. Yes, I still have a film (anyone remember those?) camera where you have to decide BEFOREhand what kind fo film to use. There are definite perks to having a digital camera, but I'm very thankful for my camera, and I mean to use it until they quit making film (which seems like it'll be in the next few months or so). SO, hopefully the whole shoot will go well and we'll get some good shots. WONDERFUL family:)

Running is going well for me. Yesterday my dad and I went together to the track and jogged around; afterwards we went to play tennis for a while. It was really a nice time and the weather was BEAUTIFUL. Hopefully my Joseph will want to play some tennis with me sometime. I'm pretty bad at it, but I do have fun.

AND, Grace is helping me with the photos this time. Usually it's my sweet mommy (and hubby) helping me, but my mom has to work the election (some excuse that is!). So, while I'll miss my sweet mommy, I'll enjoy Grace's assistance, while my hubby gets to sleep in.

Ok, I'm off to hard boil some eggs for tomorrow. Grace told me that once they start boiling it's 8 minutes. Does that sound right? Hope so!

It's week 5!

Ok, Jamie and Grace, here we go:

Week 5 and 6: Recovery

Your body is probably pretty tired from the last month of running. These next two weeks are about allowing your body to recover, so that it can continue to build. In our house analogy, I suppose we are letting the cement dry. These two weeks should be about staying hydrated (lots of water), trying to eat the right foods and letting your achy muscles have some rest (but not too much). You may also want to take some time to read more about running.

Monday- rest
Tuesday- 1 mile
Wednesday- rest
Thursday- 1.5 miles
Friday- rest
Satruday/Sunday- rest one day/1 mile the next

Sounds very doable, eh?

Jamie, I really enjoyed reading your running story about your "cheerleaders." How cute! Hope you all have a great week!

Psalm 130

Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD.

Lord, here my voice: let thine ear be attentive

to the voice of my supplications.

If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities,

O Lord, who shall stand?

But there is forgiveness with thee,

that thou mayest be feared.

I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait,

and in his word do I hope.

My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that

watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch

for the morning.

Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD

there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.

And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

Ps. Grannybear's birthday is tomorrow! :)

Psalm 93:4

While I had my Bible opened, I looked down and saw this verse and it just seemed to jump out of the page.

"The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters,
yea, than the mighty waves of the sea."

It's been a good day, but an exhausting one. Heather, thank the Lord!, came out of her surgery not too long ago. She has function in her arms and legs, but they are unsure if her speech will be affected from the surgery. I've spent lots of good time in prayer today. What a truly mighty and merciful God we serve.

We had my parents over for dinner which included: chicken strips, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, and steamed broccoli. I also had a bit of Emily's bread before we ate- very yummy:) (Thank, Emily!)

Off to bed "early" tonight. I praise the Lord for his goodness and his steadfastness. For his Word, for keeping his promises, and for giving strength. I love my Savior!

Good night!

ps. I was watching Jeremy Camp's dvd and found out that he was married before. I had no idea. He said he and his wife had been married about 4 months, and the Lord took her home; she had cancer. He was angry and asked the Lord "why?"; he said the Lord showed him that if her knew, then it wouldn't be walking by faith. Interesting. Any other JC fans?? I like most of his music.