What kind of police are you?

First of all, ladies, I want to say THANK YOU for the kind comments you left for me regarding my pregnancy. Y'all are great- and I'm thankful:) I cannot BELIEVE Laura D recommended the name Beth- we love it and had been talking about it. We'll see though...

Ok, back to the subject. What kind of police are you? You know, what do you notice about others doing/saying that you just can't help but point out? I'll give you a few examples of some that I know:)

My sister Grace is the "you-must-have-your-nails-trimmed" police.

My mom is the "you've-got-something-on-your-face" police. (at times I'm very grateful for this trait she has!)

My granny(bear) is the "mija-you-must-put-a-hat-on-that-girl" police. (before I had Mikayla, I was "that girl")

Christy is the candle police- it's hilarious. She'll come to your house and BLOW OUT YOUR CANDLES if she feels like they've bee burning long enough. very. funny.

I'm the speed police- wait, don't we already have somebody who has that official job?? I know, I can't help it.

So, I want to hear what you are. Oh yeah, another sweet friend has been called the diaper police. I think I used to be more that way until I had a baby...

I welcome your comments!
Good night:)

Showers of blessings

It is with delight and thankfulness that I share with you that we are expecting another baby! Yay times a lot. (hope that made sense:)

We found out this past week after experiencing (only me, of course- not Jody) nausea and heartburn and a soft belly (but that's from not working out regualarly for the past 2 weeks or so). Oh, we are thrilled as thrilled can be.

Now that my inlaws know, it's finally time to share with my bloggy friends. Mikayla is excited, too, but of course, she's pretty clueless about the whole matter. I think she's just a happy girl.

Today we were trying to think of baby names, going through the alphabet together. I realize it's a a bit early, but we had fun nonetheless. If it's a boy, we have that name. but, we can't agree on a girl's name. Any suggestions out there??

Hope you all have a wonderful week! We're sure planning on doing the same:)

Some pics relating to previous post

Hi, friends. Hope you enjoy the descriptive pics!

Grrr and Brrrr

I just had an almost finished post typed out and I accidentally kicked myself offline. For those of you who have had dsl forever, I realize you might not be familiar with the term "kicked offline." Anyway, rats. So, I'll try to recap, but I'm sure it won't be with as much gusto.

We woke up this morning to the ground so beautifully coverd with SNOW. Wheee! It was gorgeous. And it wasn't the normal TX snow where 1/3 is snow and the other 2/3 dead grass. So, that was a treat. Jody made snow "angels" (sorry Grace), and on his way to work, (after scraping ice and snow from the car), he threw snowballs at me and Mikayla. We WERE inside behind a glass door, but still quite unlike my dear husband. But we (I) loved it. Mikayla gave a little cry b/c she was a bit startled.

The other evening when my friend Christy was here, she distracted me while I was making bread and I forgot to add the FLOUR. I don't know how I did it, but I did. So, I had to rescue the dough from baking, empty the dough into the mixing bowl, add flour, wash pans and regrease and resugar them, THEN put them back into the oven. That was a wild time, to be sure. Come to think of it, neither she OR my mom helped me that night with the bread. They just sat back and smiled (laughed at me). I'm really glad to have such great friends:)

I was struck by this verse while reading in Exodous when the children of Israel were complaining to Moses and Aaron, and Moses answers..."for that the Lord heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord." Wow, some serious food for thought there. When we murmur/complain/gripe, etc. it's against the Lord!

I'm going to try to thoroughly enjoy my snowed-in day at home. I'd wanted to get glasses- I lost mine. I like to wear contacts during the day, but it's nice to be able to put glasses on after a long day and let my eyes rest. Anyway, it's been almost a year since I've had glasses. Hopefully, Jody and Mikayla will be able to take me tomorrow. Any good recommendations of where to get a good pair of glasses would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Bye for now.

Happy Monday!

I love Mondays. A fresh start to a week. I'm very thankful my dear hubby made it to work safely this morning. It was SOOO icy that we couldn't even get the car doors open. Well, eventually Jody did...

Here's a pic that Jody took of his girls yesterday:


Quite a bit blown-out, but the overall message rings loud and true. We love each other!

We had a lovely Sunday at home. We sang 4 songs that I can "play" on the piano. It was funny b/c when I'd mess up, Jody and I would just quit singing. Good thing I don't play for our church!- the song service would take forever! :) And Jody shared some good thoughts on the verse, Open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. Good stuff.

Ok, it's time to feed my baby girl, who I love sooo much. I hope the ice melts sometime soon. I'm kinda getting cabin fever- boy, I'm pretty spoiled! Hope everyone has a fantastic and delightful day:)

No church tomorrow

We're sad; our dear pastor called this evening and told us that they called off our meetings tomorrow due to the icy conditions that are present AND expected. We'll have a nice day at home together. I said, shotgun, piano player. And Jody said shotgun preacher:) and Mikayla's taking the offering- ha!

We had a MOST enjoyable time with Grandpa and Emmie this evening. Grace and family were expected to be there, but due to the weather, they cancelled:( So, we figured- the fun must go on! (as I'm typing, Jody and I are watching Mikayla's birth video. sigh. WHAT GOOD MEMORIES! My dear husband is SOOO gentle with her and loving. It thrills my heart to see/hear him in action. As time goes on, he's all the more kind and good to our Mikayla and ME!)Anyway, my dad made some tasty beans, my mom made some yummy rice, and I contributed the guacamole. Delicious meal. And for dessert my dad made some sticky buns and we watched Moby Dick (family tradition). AND enjoyed a lovely and warm fireplace:) Wish those Ledbetters could've been there, but I'm glad they stayed safely at home.

Has anybody ever noticed that when you run out of bottled water, suddenly you feel so parched?? Our tap water is really not horrible at all, but we're so used to the other. And you almost feel like a hero when you actually turn the faucet on and fill your cup up. it's kinda funny to me.

Good night, ladies!

It's OVER, officially

How does that saying go.. "quit while you're ahead?" Well, that's what I'm doing. I quit. I don't like having this competition with my dear sister Grace. What exactly did I prove, you know? That I (ONCE) could get more comments? Ok... We all know who's more popular and rightly so. :) Love you, Grace face.

Ever get in the mood for the munchies and have NOTHING in your house to help the ol' craving?? I did- tonight. And, I'll just say tomorrow's payday. So I chomped on some raisins. Didn't quite do it. We do have some triscuits. I've been wanting to post about the new triscuits. Am I the only one who's a huge fan? You know, the kind with Rachel Ray on the front. I like the cracked pepper and olive oil. They are delicious! I had them first @ my in-laws house and fell in like. Another plus is that they're quite fibrous. That makes points in our house, for sure! We're definitely fiber fans.

Tomorrow I have to take our car in to get the wheel cylinder/s (sp?) replaced. Jody talked to the guy who runs TTTire, and he said if I didn't have a ride home, he'd take me home b/c he didn't want me to be waiting there all day with a baby. Wow, isn't that going above and beyond the call of duty?? I thought so. And the other day we needed to get our emergency break fixed (before we could pass inspection) and he offered for us to drop off the vehicle, then they fix it AND get it inspected for us, and afterwards we could pick it up. I'm seroius; those guys are GREAT.

I'm stoked about seeing my dear friend Christy tomorrow. She's so fun. She really brings back memories of my salad days. Aww, such a friendship is priceless.

Does anybody know whatever happened to PrimeTime Thursday?? I used to look forward to it, simply b/c there are not many decent shows out there. Now, I think they replaced it with Earl. Gak. They obviously didn't get MY vote on the matter...

I hope everyone has a good evening/day/whatever.

Please help me deflate an ego!

Ok, my sister Grace
(needless to say) gets WAY more comments than I ever do. And, yes, she brags about it constantly and rubs it in my face, etc. We know the same amount of people (maybe I know even more) and yet, she racks up the comments like there's not tomorrow. And there might not be, I realize. So, in an effort to deflate (just a little) sweet Grace's ego, I'm imploring you to help me get at least ONE more comment than her. JUST THIS ONCE. And hey, if it doesn't work, everyone will at least know that I feel a tad slighted about the whole thing. She needs to be put in her place. I decided that this is going to work even if I have to leave ALL the comments. whoo hoo!

On a more serious note: My mom and I are participating in a challenge to read through the Bible in 90 days. Today was our second day of reading, and it's been a tremendous blessing - how could it not be?? Since the Lord saved me in '96, I've read through the Bible once. I'm looking forward to learning more of my Great God!

So, if you have a favorite verse, quote, color of nail polish, time of day, person, pair of shoes, chore, collection, book, movie, country, drink @ Starbucks, perfume -
ANYTHING!
please comment and share, ok? Off to the real world where laundry and dishes await me.
ps. I forgot to mention that there remains no bitterness in my heart toward my sissy. in fact, she's a great writer and a really fun person indeed.

A day at Emmie's house

What would a week be without a trip to Emmie's house? Right? Oh, it's so much fun over here:) My mom so kindly cooked me some fish sticks, Annie's mac 'n' cheese, and prepared for me a lovely salad. And before our walk, Emmie took this pic of Mikayla with her lambchop (acc. to Mikayla, the very best stuffed animal a little girl could have) from her Aunt Laura. Note the very soiled ear on the little lamb, and Mikayla's teeth- two new ones coming in on the top!

And, here's a "new" verse I came across and LOVED:

O continue thy lovingkindness unto them that know thee;
and thy righteousness to the upright in heart.
~Psalm 36:10

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.