Home sweet home

Isn't it good to be home? We always enjoy visiting friends/family, but the best part is coming home. Everything seems fresh and new. sigh.

Our Mikayla is still not feeling well. My heart hurts for her. We bought her a new thermometer today; it's called a temporal scan thermometer. A bit pricey, but get this: you simply run it across her forehead and into her hairline. SO cool. But Mikayla's not. She had a temp of 102.6 today:( I checked online and they said for her age, (and she's now 9 months old!) if it reaches 103 to take her in. So, we're keeping our eye on that. I'm not sure if we'll be bringing her to church tomorrow or not. Maybe I'll stay home with her. The neat thing about her is she doesn't act sick. Oh, I love that girl!

Christy coming over tomorrow evening (or that's the plan) for some New Year's festivities. Woo hoo! We got some yummy things to eat @ Wal-Mart. Yes, we took Mikayla out in the cold. But, we bundled her up very well in the blanket her Aunt Laura made her. A lady @ Wal-Mart said that you can tell Mikayla's loved by her smile. hmmm... how cute. Turns out she's right!

Our cat is still alive. Yay! My parents are due back on Monday evening. another yay! boy, life is good:)

What a wonderful year it's been!!! Full of so many new things. Being a mother is extremely fulfilling for me:) and I love the daddy Jody is to our Mikayla. Truly the Lord is good to His own.
"O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him."
~Psalm 34:8

My very own Beethoven

Another good day here @ the LA Dodsons. So tonight we go over to the church for a hymn sing, which I suggested because I thought it'd be an enjoyable time. Well, it was. I had NO idea my mom-in-law played the piano, but she sat right down and beautifully played while we belted out some old hymns. I didn't think much of it except for the fact that Jean did quite well, and I was enjoying myself. So, Jody, yes Jody, goes up to the piano for his turn. I'm thinking ha ha ha ha, that boy can't play. And he sits down and tells me he's going to play Farther Along (which is not my favorite song; sorry, but to me it sounds kinda whiny). I chuckle to myself and he starts playing and Jean comes to sit by me and starts singing along.

I WAS IN SHOCK. seriously.

I'm just sitting on the pew, holding Mikayla and in awe of what my husband's doing. My mind is racing with all sorts of thoughts. The main one being, I've got to see this up close and personal. So, I numbly walked up to the piano, only to find out that Jody is playing on an electric piano with music that the pianist recorded so the church can have music the times she can't be there. The mystery was solved. And, of course, there was lots of laughter. They sure pulled a funny one on me, eh? :) I'll probably laugh about that for many years to come!

In other news. My Mikayla is still not feeling so well. Poor baby. I'd sure take her pain for her if I could. I remember sometimes (I think it was during my pregnancy)I'd be hurting and Grace would say, I wish I could take half of the pain for you. Now isn't that the sweetest!? How reasonable.

Other fun things I did today:

$- played many rounds of boggle (with Jean)
$- played a Scrabble game
$- sang
$- kissed Jody
$- ate some delicious food prepared with love by sweet Jean
$- played dominoes (and WON, but I really didn't want to put that)
$- had a nice visit with Renee and her sister 'Tina
$- got some phone calls from friends (Grace and Christy- the friend who went to my house, played with our cat, cleaned out his litter, and loved on him. AWWW!) Can't beat that in a friendship, am I right? I might thank her with some lemon grass rice noodles. that'll be sure to make her feel appreciated.

Do I have MONEY on the mind? Nope. Just couldn't find a bullet button. hee hee

Feels like a bath night. Get some rest, ladies. CC, enjoy your new Eeyore! Good night; sleep well.

Good times in LA

We arrived in Louisiana safely, thank the Lord, on Saturday afternoon. And, as usual, we brought the rain with us. It ALWAYS (well, as much as I can remember anyways) rains when we come. They like that about us:)

For the first time we're staying in the Dodson's new home built mostly by my father-in-law. It's BEAUTIFUL and big and so much fun to be in. Mikayla has her own room (the southwestern theme room) and we have our own down the hall from her. We're staying in the pink room. It's pink, but not so pink that Jody feels like his manhood is being compromised. (was that a weird sentence or what!??)

They have lots of treats here. I told Jerry that, and he said, yeah, but they produce too many leaves. ha ha ha! I'm still laughing about that one. :)

My mom rescued my amish friendship bread mix. She said if any more time passed, it would've exploded. Thanks, ma! And she's even going to feed it and bake it for me. Man, what a special mommy I have.

I've only eaten between 10 and 15 tootsie (MINI) rolls today. I don't know what the effects of that will be...

Ok, what a (semi) blah post. Sorry, guys. More later, maybe. Good night, ladies:)

Nursing Strike

That's what "they" call it, anyway. Mikayla hasn't wanted to nurse since around noon yesterday:( What a heart-breaking time it's been for me. I realize I've had 8 WONDERFUL months of nursing and I thank the Lord for that! So, maybe this is just a stage. She'd rather bite than nurse. Hmmm.... My sweet friends Pwe, CC, Grace and Misty have been extremely comforting to me at this time. Maybe it's time to wean our precious daughter. Through prayer, that's something that Jody and I will decide together. sigh. The thought of it just saddens my heart, but as the hours pass, the thought gets more realistic.

On to a brighter subject. Hasn't the moon just been gorgeous the past few nights?? What an awesome God we serve who is in total control of all things. I love it.

We had a fun LNO the other night @ Cc's house. We even tried some "dance" (more like aerobics for me) moves. I've got ZERO talent in that department. Ask anybody. I'm not overly concerned aobut it though. Ha! Jody likes me just the way I am. So there, Christy.

I need some help with this next question. If a person is eating "raw", would Jambalaya and Taco Bueno be on the menu? Just curious...

Well, I'll be signing off for now. But, don't worry- there's more to come. yawn. Good night, sweet friends. You know who you are:)

Happy (late) Thanksgiving!

Hello, dear friends out there! Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving time- we sure did:) We had lots of family down and spent lots of good times together. We even had the Risses come all the way from Georgia; what a blessing that family is. AND, I got to meet my sweet new niece Naomi Joy, who is a tremendous JOY!

I don't know how many of you read Spurgeon's Morning and Evening devotionals, but I wanted to share some of what I read the other day. In the November 29th morning devotional, it starts out with this verse:

"Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people...Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him. -Leviticus 19:16, 17

And here are some of the quotes from it that I really liked: (it's worth reading, believe me)

"Tale-bearing emits a threefold poison; for it injures the teller, the hearer, and the person concerning whom the tale is told.

The reputations of the Lord's people should be very precious in our sight, and we should count it shame to help the devil to dishonour the Church and the name of the Lord.

We may ourselves one of these dark days need forbearance and silence from our brethren, let us render is cheerfully to those who require it now.

Be this our family rule, and our personal bond--
SPEAK EVIL OF NO MAN."

I thought that was good and it was convicting for me. How EASY for our flesh to want to speak evil of others, instead of confronting the person, rebuking them and loving them the way that the Word of God exhorts us to.

I pray the Lord would help us all to be extra cautious with the words we speak. We don't want to be those who bring others down and speak idle words.

In other news, I don't think that our dear Mikayla is feeling too well today:( She's been coughing and sneezing and she covered my sweatshirt today with throw-up (sp?). And I do mean covered. I'm so thankful for her good health, though. This may be something that's not too serious; we'll see.

Hope you all have a wonderful day. I'm off to read some blogs, make myself a grilled cheese (IMHO, the simplest yummiest sandwich), and put my sweatshirt in the dryer:)

PICS!

PS Emmie's the photographer. :)

Happy Wednesday!

Here's a very recent pic of Mikayla taken just minutes ago. Oh, I love my baby girl!

Charity never faileth

3 words with such meaning. I think those words sum up 1 Corinthians 13. Any input or thoughts on what it actually means?? Does it seems sometimes that charity DOES fail? I know it doesn't because the Word of God is true. Hmmm.. I need some input here.

Yes, my dear parents spent the evening with me. Does it get any better than THAT?? I want to make a list of this evening's happenings, so here goes:

1- we talked, talked and talked some more
2- we had rotisserie chicken salad
3- my mom and I made fudge with walnuts (big mistake!)
4- we played Scrabble
5- we played with Baby Girl
6- did I mention that I won 2 of 3 games of Scrabble? (sorry, mom:)
7- and we almost played boggle, but my dad chickened out

Good times to be sure. You know, as I mentioned to my parents and CC, this world is so big, and so many people have hurts. It's easy for me to get caught up in my own little world and just focus on my own personal affairs. I want to get away from that and be a blessing to others, and reach out and be open for however the Lord would choose to use me in another's life.

I'm going to be on the lookout for a ladies' bible study here in Brownwood prob @ Coggin Ave Baptist Church. I REALLY miss those times and the study I did there, I learned SO much. It was extremely exciting to see such beautiful truths from the Bible explained like never before. I've gotten the "ok" from my dear husband, so Lord willing, I'll be attending one soon. Yay. :) I love learning new things.

What else is new? Oh yes, the Georgian Risses are coming for a visit this week. I, Lord willing, get to meet my new niece Naomi Joy. What a beautiful name. No doubt tears will be present, as was the case in the meeting of sweet baby Abby Rose. I'm really looking forward to this visit.

I've got a dentist appt on Thursday morning.

I REALLY wish I could find my glasses. I lost them a couple of months ago, and so often I find myself wanting to take off my contacts and put on glasses to give my eyes a break, but alas, they're nowhere to be found. So, my contacts get a lot of use from me. If I don't find them before January, I'll get some new ones. Has anyone priced glasses lately?? IT'S RIDICULOUS! but, it might be one of those things where once you know more about it, it makes more sense. try me.

8- many moths entered my house tonight. what ARE moths anyhow?? to me, they're just sandy butterflies without the beautiful colors. I imagine they have SOMEthing going for them...

good night! I've babbled more than seems right.
ps. I'm IN LOVE with my precious husband and my baby girl. sigh.

You guessed it!... not.

Well, everyone gather 'round. Have I got some great news for you. I won a gray throw from BRMC. Whoo hoo! Just in time to keep our family warm. Jody so kindly took this pic just a few minutes ago. Hope y'all have a great day. I've got LOTS to do and I'd better get busy. Toodles.

Everyone, please guess

Ok, last week 3M had its annual health fare. While there, I took the grip strength test and scored (I think) a 98. I didn't think much more of it.. until tonight. Jody called (can you believe I had the ringer off??) and left a message telling me that I won some kind of prize from doing the grip strength test. And that he's bringing it home tonight. WHoo hoo! I don't know if the prize is b/c I got the highest score or if they drew names to determine who to give the prize to. Hmmm.

so, what's your best guess? Humor me and guess, please. I will try to post the results tomorrow.

My guess? a cup. You can't take my guess.

And, Misty, I work out at home. A few birthdays ago, Jody bought me an eliptical (or cross) trainer. So, I either do that or walk outside. And Grace has a treadmill. Talk about SPOILED!

You ladies are special, even if you don't guess. I promise. bye for now.

Grrrr... Grace!

I'm so mad @ my sissy Grace. I just enjoyed a lovely evening with my parents where they treated me and Mikayla to Prima Pasta (shrimp scampi!) and afterwards went to Wal-Mart. I called Grace when I got home and you know what she told me?? She said, "I'm fixing to exercise." Rats. I guess that means I need to also. So, I guess in a way she "motivated" me, but I could just wring her neck. Not really, of course. If she WAS here, I'd just give her a hug instead:)

Mikayla is doing better at bedtime- whee! I'm thrilled.

Our cat Mingus is getting FAT. Maybe he can hop on the cross trainer with me.:)

Oh, I got a new (for me) digital camera. thanks, ma! The one that CC gave me went capoot (sp?). So, I just gave it to Mikayla for a toy, and she really thinks she's technical or something. She loves that and our old remote control. go figure.

Speaking of figures, I'd better go and work on mine. The good news? Jody loves me just the way I am. yay:))) I love that guy!

Grace, I'll get you later.

A healthy baby boy

Jody, Mikayla and I had a great time in Abilene today where we were able to see Baby Easton on his birth day. What an absolute miracle the birth of a baby is. I'm so in awe of how the Lord so perfectly does what He does. sigh. He weighed in @ 8 lbs. 9.5 oz. Good size! About 1 pound more than Mikayla weighed. It was a blessing to be a part of it all. Tina is a PRECIOUS mommy and had such a sweet attitude, considering all she'd been through.

Afterwards we headed to the mall, where we ate lunch @ El Chico; it was pretty good, but Jody's chimichanga, we determined, more or less resembled an egg roll. I guess Abuelos, which is closed on Mondays (rats!), has us a bit spoiled. Then we headed over to Steve and Barry's where we got a $10 pair of jeans for me. whoo hoo! (Thanks, CC, for the idea) Somehow I go through jeans very quickly. go figure.

My computer is sounding like it has the hiccups, so I guess it's trying to tell me something. I'd better log off before it logs me off. Good night, everyone. Everyone's doing so well blogging. Keep up the good work!

It's official

Yep, you guessed it. I got my certificate for taking the continuing education photography course @ Howard Payne. And boy, does it ever look snazzy. It even has that gold star thingy in the bottom right hand corner. Wheee! And those of you coming to the LNO at my house tomorrow evening MAYBE you can get a look at it. maybe. My mom has one, too:)

Speaking of LNO, which I hope you all can come (6pm till who knows when), Mary's birthday begins in less than 2 hours. Yay for Mary. Happy Birthday. And, to Christy, but hers is officially on Sunday, the 22nd. Grace, wanna come? :( maybe next time, eh? I finally decided on the menu. phew. nothing like a little last minute planning.

Have you ever read the story about Gideon in the book of Judges?? What an awesome story!! He started out with 3200 men to fight the Midianites, and the Lord whittled that number down to 300. Lots of lessons there. I thoroughly enjoyed the bible study on it today. You oughtta read it sometime.

Oh, and I was reading in Matthew where it speaks of Christ being born. And one of His names is Emmanuel, meaning God with us. That's SO wonderful!! the Lord Jesus Christ was God in flesh. I'm aware that sounds pretty basic, but it's surprising to me that people don't believe it. How I love that truth. What a most humbling thing for God to be made flesh and dwell among us. sigh. What a Saviour!! How I love him!

Good night. I've got some straightening up to do before my lovebug's face I see. :)

I've been inspired by 2

Well, well, well- it's been awhile, eh? I've been inspired by 2 dear ladies to finally get back into blogging. The first is my sister Grace, who just moved to TX(!), has 3 children and has several new posts complete with pictures. And Mary, who commented to me this evening that it'd been awhile since I had last posted. Ok, I get the hint:)

My precious daughter is crying right now, but she should be sleeping. That's been the scene for about a month now. I'm pretty frustrated with it. How I love that girl. My brother-in-law Dean suggested changing up her nighttime routine, but we don't have much of one to change. Just getting into pj's and putting her in her crib. Any suggestions out there?? I need help. I pray the Lord will give me wisdom/patience/and love dealing with her. She's fine when we pick her up (usually). It's hard for me to believe that she wouldn't want to just GO TO SLEEP! I sure do.

Mikayla and I had a most lovely evening with Grandpa and Emmie. My dad cooked some beans and my mom made some delish rice (although Rebekah's taught me to make rice, I still can't- it's unreal!), and I made some guacamole. What a yummy dinner! AND, Mary and Christy joined us in a game of Imaginif.

And we had moo-llenium crunch ice cream for dessert. -Mary.

I'd better go tend to my daughter. Her crying absolutely breaks my heart. I need prayer, but I guess, don't we all? :)

Sweet Aunt Laura

So, the other day Mikayla gets a package in the mail from Seguin, TX. Come to find the cutest little stuffed dollie from her Aunt Laura. She loves it, as you can tell from the picture:) What a most pleasant surprise it was!

This past Monday marks 10 years since the Lord saved me. Wow! I'm just so in awe of His goodness and faithfulness to me. At the age of 16, He reached down and so mercifully redeemed my soul. I thought I had no need of God, but I couldn't have been further from the truth. Praise be to God for his salvation!

AND, our dear Mikayla started officially crawling on Saturday. It's so precious to watch her. And she sits up by herself. And last night when I was changing her diaper before bedtime, she cried (whined, really) mamamama. That'll sure melt a mommy's heart:) She hasn't actually said the word, but I'll take it in a cry:)

My dear mother's coming over today for a visit. Love that lady. I've been watching Bleak House; it's pretty good. Anyone else ever heard of it?

Bye for now!

Then I saw her face

Guess What. I got to meet my dear sissy's latest addtion to their family- Baby Abigail Rose Ledbetter. She's so tiny compared to our Mikayla. I felt like she was a toddler compared to Abby. Talk about taking your breath away. I intentionally did not wear mascara that day knowing that I'd cry when I met her. And I did. She's absolutely lovely and yes, I'm in love. Then again, I knew I'd be. And now, I've got one more new niece to meet, and Lord willing, I'll meet her in November when Mike, Misty and family come for a visit. I'm really looking forward to that:)

So, what are YOUR plans for the weekend? Mine include the Bwd Reunion celebration, the 2nd half of the Early football game (the best half AND it's free), maybe a trip to Starbucks or something fairly similar, IOW, lots of fun planned:)My husband is now mowing and just found out that he's working the weekend. So, we weren't counting on that. Mikayla and I will be off to visit Grannybear with Emmie (aka Pwe or Vivian or Mom). I see dominoes in our near future. Granny's always up for the challenge.

My mom and I are taking a really cool photography class with Mark Dumas as the teacher. We've only be once and we're already learning so much! He's making it such a neat class and even sharing his "secrets." We like secrets, don't we, mom?

I'd better post this before it's time for Jody's next water break. I FINALLY have a pic of my new niece (so sweetly attacking my daughter).

The mystery is solved...

Well, I know you are all on the edge of your seats waiting to see what my husband brought home for me. It was none other than a miniature, pureheart, seedless, watermelon! :) (he also brought me home a wonderfully written LOVE note- my favorite)

At work a lady was eating one and sharing the other half with everyone else. She even offered Jody a bite, which he politely declined. This gave Jody the idea to get one for his wife, after hearing such raves from his fellow employees.

So, now I have a chilled, very cute watermelon to eat. Whoo hoo. I really like watermelon.

On his way home last night, he stopped by Kroger and bought it. And, no, it wasn't $2.50, it was $3.49! Guess he forgot his Kroger savings card:)

And to top it off, he said, if I would have had money, it could've been a complete surprise. Yeah, that's what I was thinking- what a dear!

Two dollars and fifty cents

That's how much money my husband wanted from me today to get me something. Interesting, I must say. He NEVER wants to have spending money. I used to ask him, Honey, don't you want like five dollars in case you ever want to get something?? Nope- very unlike me, I might add.

So, before he left for work, I asked him if he needed a little extra for tax. He looked at me strangely and said, I don't know- just give me a 5 and I'll bring home the change.

And now I'm curious. Wouldn't YOU be??

I WILL keep you posted.

Maybe I'll find out around 11:30 tonight when he gets home. Wheee!

Ps. Grace got her new cell phone in the mail. Whoopee! Back to good talks about lots of things, all day long. :)

Pps. A wonderful! bit of news. The Lord has saved our nephew Joshua. What a mercy.
"I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations." ~Psalm 89:1

Evening shift

My dear husband alternates between working evenings and days from week to week. Although ideally we'd like for him to have a straight day job, we really enjoy the different times in the day that we get to spend with each other. He's on evenings this week, so that means we get to sleep in together and have lunch together. This morning we all (Jody, Mikayla and I) headed to the park for nice walk. The weather was gorgeous and we walked for about an hour. So nice.

I can't believe I haven't posted the news that my sweet, sweet sister is moving back to TX. I'm thrilled, to say the least.

While I'm typing, the Sonic commercial came on about the real fruit smoothie. Does anybody know what I'm talking about? For some odd reason, I like them.

Well, tomorrow's plans entail shopping for a birthday gift, playing dominoes with Grannybear and attending church in Coleman in the evening- not to mention a few other things.

I had a great evening at my parents' house. CC was there. My mom made yummy cabbage rolls, Mikayla spit up sweet potatoes on my parents' carpet (which they were very understanding about), we made birthday cards, my mom made us a frapucchino (sp?), and I hid CC's chapstick. And for those of you who know CC, hiding her chapstick was a HUGE deal. Of course I laughed while she was quite frantically looking around for it, so it made it pretty obvious that I was the "guilty one." I think she still likes me. She only had to have dry lips for about 10 seconds- she's a HOOT!

Did I mention that I love my husband?? He's had a cold the past few days, so I've been trying to be kind to him (well, extra kind- right?). Lord willing, he'll be feeling better soon. Good night, sleep tight!

ps. I DO NOT KNOW how so many women blog every single day. somehow it doesn't work out for me.

Fearfully and wonderfully made

Sigh. Don't you just LOVE rain??? It's been rainy and cooler here for about the last week. I absolutely love it. I feel like it's here just for me. I know that sounds crazy, but that's really how I feel. And my mom; she loves it, too:)

I was thinking about our daughter. And, of course I think she's beautiful. And not the kind of beautiful that I think she could win all sorts of contests or anything like that. I know that she's fearfully and wonderfully made. Wow. Babies are such an awesome work of God- it's mind-boggling (sp?). I watch her grow and move around and smile and kick and nurse, and I'm so in love with the family God's blessed me with. There are so many things that I understand more clearly now that I'm a mother.

So, when I post pictures of my girl so often, it's not done haughtily because I feel like I want to show her off, but because I'm just so in awe of the precious gift she is to us. And I like for others to see how she's growing. And boy, is she ever growing. In no time at all, she'll be crawling around everywhere. I love to watch her play contently, I love to change her diapers, give her baths and wake her up in the morning to feed her. She's blessed my life in many ways, and I'll always be grateful for the extreme privilege of being a mommy.

And I know that the kind of beauty that really matters is that of the heart. Proverbs 31 tells us "favor is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised." I pray that she'll come to know and love our great God.

I'm the happiest woman in the world. honestly. And I certainly feel so loved. I'd like to post my testimony of the Lord saving me. So, keep your eyes open for it. This month it will be 10 years!! Have a super evening, dear ladies. ( I assume no man reads my posts)