Our Little Big Man

Yesterday, Hayden went for his 4-month checkup and shots, and I was shocked to see how big he was. He weighed 18 pounds, 1 ounce! Wow, now that is a chunk! He is in the 95th percentile for weight and 90th percentile for height, so it's good that his height and weight are proportional. The doctor came in, and one of the first questions she asked me was if he was eating alright. I laughed and asked her if he looked like he skipped too many meals.

Anyway, he didn't do as well with these shots and screamed alot longer than he did with his last shots, but he felt remarkably well all day yesterday. I think he already had his feelings hurt at the office, because I had scratched his face up earlier when I was taking off his outfit...that 18 pounds is a lot of body to pull those outfits over. :o)

Along with turning 4 months old comes the exciting adventure of starting cereals and baby food. Hayden had his first experience with eating rice cereal and with eating out of a spoon last night. It was truly hilarious, but he did really well with it.

This is me feeding Hayden his first bites of rice cereal. The camera man wasn't doing too well. I got better with feeding him by the end of the bowl, but you'll see here that I definitely didn't have expert technique. I did do better than the first time I ever fed my niece baby food...my mom can vouch for how terribly I did feeding Lindsey when she was a baby. Hehehe.....



This is Chris feeding Hayden later. The canmera woman has a little better skills, and Dad sure did do great feeding Hayden. Oh, and you'll hear us talking about how he would never finish that much and me saying that I mixed too much. Well, he finished the whole bowl, and it didn't take him too long to do it. By the time Chris fed him, you can see he was really enjoying himself and was really excited and happy about getting some real food!



And, here are some pictures.

You can tell he enjoyed the experience a lot. :o) I just can't wait for carrots and peas and bananas and other things to come. I'll be sure and get a bib next time, though. :o)

A Fishin' Trip

This past Sunday, we left for our yearly trout fishing trip to the Little Red River in Heber Springs, Arkansas. My mom has been going yearly (sometimes several times a year) since 2001, and I have been going yearly since 2002 or 2003...I can't remember. Chris went for his first time last year and loved it, so he went back with my mom and I. Chris' mom also went to watch Hayden for us. Thanks, MaMaw for doing that for us!

Anyway, we had a great fishing trip! Usually, if we go about this time, we hit the trout spawn, and there are trout everywhere. However, due to some issues with dissolved oxygen levels and details I won't go into, the spawn is running a little late this year, so the fish weren't quite as willing to bite or willing to come out from their trout hiding places. All in all, after two days of fishing, the three of us (Chris, my mom, and I) caught 5 fish total...usually, that number would be much higher. I will say this, though....we definitely caught the biggest fish that we saw there. Chris caught one that was about 25.5 inches, and my mom caught one that was about 24 inches.

The great thing about going trout fishing is the place where we fish. We always stay at a place called Lindsey's Rainbow Resort and go out with one of their guides, Jared Lindsey. I would definitely recommend Lindsey's to anyone who has ever wanted to go fishing in Arkansas. The people there are great, and they have really quaint little cabins. I would also definitely recommend Jared as a guide if you go....that is, if you can take a little ridicule and joking from your guide. Hahaha.... We always fish at a place called Beech Island, a tiny little island just a little ways down from the resort. As you will be able to tell from the pictures, it is truly beautiful. There are many times I just sit down on the side of the bank (after my fishing arm is tired from catching all those fish), and I just relax and think about how amazing it is that God could create such a beautiful place. I almost said probably, but I will take the word probably out of there....It is my favorite place to be. I can go and not catch any fish and not really care.

Now that being said, I do still love to catch fish, but you will see from the pictures that noone was too worried about taking any pictures of me fishing or catching a fish...I did catch ONE fish. :o) There's one little video of me catching a fish that ended up getting loose from the hook later. Well, I'll tell you why noone took a picture of me catching a fish. That's because they are jealous of all the big fish I've caught in the past years of fishing. I've taken the past two years off from catching big fish, but after all the ridicule I got this year, I'm ready to show them all what I can do next year. Hahaha.... Just kidding, of course.

I'm especially glad Chris caught a nice-sized fish this year, since he didn't catch a big one last year. My mom caught her first really big one last year (a 30-inch brown trout). Anyway, I'll show them next year and catch a big one. My two years of not catching a big fish are over!

I did manage to do something I had never done before. I netted (is that a word?) one of the fish my mom caught while Jared and Chris were on the other side of the island. I can only imagine how funny it must have looked to see me holding the net with two hands chasing that fish around in the water, but I managed to get it in the net. My mom said it was quite hilarious!

Also, while we were down there, I celebrated turning 28-years older (November 18). It was a beautiful place to turn a year older. My mom, Chris' mom, Chris, Hayden, and I went to eat at a place called Michael's with our guide, Jared; his wife, Ashley; and their daughter, Ella Grace. Ella is only 6 weeks older than Hayden, and she is just too cute! I think my mom arranged a marriage between Hayden and Ella Grace. Her big plan is to have Hayden marry Ella so that Hayden can become a trout fishing guide and so that she and I can go fishing every year for free. Sounds like a plan to me! Hayden and Ella really enjoyed meeting each other...Ella is an agressive girl and really took a liking to Hayden...she grabbed on to him quickly. It was too cute!

Oh, the other eventful thing that happened was that my mom ended up in the emergency room. She managed to get a hook in her finger all the way through to the barb, so she had to go get it cut out of her finger. She's fine, though....and even somehow managed to drive herself to the hospital in Heber Springs with a barbed hook through her finger. Owww!!! She said they have a tackle box at the hospital dedicated to cutting off rings and getting fish hooks out of fingers...they must see a lot of hooks through fingers.

Here's a video of Chris' big fish.



Here's the only proof that I actually fished.



A few pictures from a great fishing trip!

A Need for a Little Transparency

If y'all will allow me, I feel the need to be a little transparent and share something with you. I can't really explain why I'm sharing all of this other than that I'm supposed to. I admit that I can be wordy at times, but I'll do my best to keep it simple. So, here goes. I have two confessions to make before I really get into the "meat" of what I want to say.

First of all, I enjoy blog surfing. That's right! During occasional free moments or during those times when I just feel like escaping to someone else's world, I will get on fellow friends' blogs and look at the blogs of people they know and then the blogs of people those people know and so on. I find it so interesting and definitely recommend it. Some would call it blog stalking...I just like to think I'm getting to know a variety of people. Hehehe.... Anyway, when I am getting to know these new "friends," I often find some very interesting posts, and recently, I have found a very interesting post that I want to share with all of you. At least, I will share it with you after I share my next confession.

What is that next confession, you might ask? Well, I am a control freak. One of my greatest struggles is to let go of control that I so often want to grasp onto. I won't belabor much about this or go into very much detail, but during several times in my life, it has seemed to me that my life was slowly beginning to spin out of control, so in response, I grasped onto anything and everything that I could control. I think so many of us do it without really realizing it, because as a matter of fact, we don't control our lives. Someone with far more omniscience and omnipotence controls it, and so often, we forget that God is in control, and we think we are. Anyway, I am slowly making progress with my issues of control and am learning to recognize when I am trying to control things.

I came across this post I am sharing with you during some of my blog stalking...I mean, surfing....and wanted to share it with you. I am removing some of the personal stories from it, but I just had to leave the first story about the hand gel. I was laughing so hard that I was crying when I was reading it, so I just had to leave that personal story in there. I'm not sharing the author of the story, because I just really want you to concentrate on reading the story. Y'all can feel free to do the same with me if I ever write anything as eloquent or beautiful as this....my writings are not copyrighted, and you don't have to share me as the author. Hehehe.... The person who wrote this has an amazing personal story that goes along with this, but I feel it's more important to make your own story when reading this. Because, I think all of us have control/fear issues to some degree. Hope you enjoy this post as much as I did, and I hope you can identify some of your "hand gels." :o)

My in-laws are wonderful people. Not long ago, the family went out to this local Mexican spot to grab some dinner. The whole group was there: my husband, his parents, his sister, and her 2 little girls. As is routine in restaurants, we got seated, the waiter took our drink order, and then made his way back to take the meal order. Then, as is routine with my in-laws, my mother-in-law pulls her purse into her lap and begins to search for it. My father-in-law is looking, in anxious anticipation of it. It is of vital importance to their dining experience, and I have never seen them eat without it. Then, she finds it and sets it as a centerpiece on the table. The travel size bottle of anti-bacterial hand gel, claiming to kill up to 99.9% of germs. She coats herself with it, then he coats himself with it, and they attempt to get everyone at the table to coat themselves with it. There truly is nothing like the aromas of alcohol and sizzling fajitas colliding together. I politely decline.

I can only speculate on how the restaurant gel routine came about. Maybe my father-in-law saw a very convicing commercial, or possibly, my mother-in-law had a friend tell her of the preventative powers of the gel. Regardless of how they got there, they have their gel. I guess we all have our gel - something that makes us feel better about the inevitable "germs" that are out there in the world. I would venture to say that for most, the deep-rooted issue of the "gel" is one of fear intermingled with control. We fear something, something we don't like or would be unpleasant for us, and that fear leads us to think we just have to control the situation to make it right or clean or safe or healthy or better. It's sort of like when we learned about "if-then" clauses in grade school. If I put on this hand gel, then I will not eat germs. If I have a net on a trampoline, then I can bounce and not get hurt. If we pass laws against abortion and homosexuality, then the country will be morally "safe." If I eat right and exercise, then I will not get cancer. If I study and search enough, then I have it all figured out.

I have no problem with any of those things. They are wonderful things: safety nets, hand gels, healthy lifestyle, and knowledge. Laws speak of responsibility and stewardship, both of which I am a huge fan of and both of which honor God. My issue is not with the "if's" but with the "then's." We have this tendency in our western, comfortable culture to hang our hat on those "then's." Everyone feels above them: the harm, hurt, accidents, pain, sickness, death, and all the things that are a part of our mortal lives and the fallen world in which we live. We feel about it all, because when the feear of those things creep in, we go into super control mode. More hand gel! Taller nets! A newer vitamin! Harder helmets! I can control this fear! I can make my world safe!

The truth is that the Creator of us, of the universe, of all that we are and see and experience is the only One in control. He is the only One that redeemed what went wrong in the garden on the cross. He, not us, is the only One that sees past the momentary "unsafety" and hurt to the character being built in us in adversity. We can not make all things right or safe and believe a lie when we think we can. Only One can...and does.

I am no expert on the matter, and in fact, more times than I'd prefer, I give into that sneakly lie. Thinking we can do enough to be safe and do enough for our kids to keep them safe is simply a myth. Only One holds our days in His hands. "For YOU have delivered my soul from death, indeed my feet from stumbling, so that I may walk before God in the light of the living." Psalm 56:13

Wow! I hope that spoke to you as much as it did to me.

A New Leader

Wow, can you believe it's finally over and that we've elected a new leader? You may be leaping with joy, or you may be weeping and discouraged. Regardless of how you feel about America's choice, it is important to put the election into an appropriate perspective.

First, we must realize that, as Christians, our temporary citizenship is here on earth, but our eternal citizenship is found in heaven. Now, that doesn't mean that we should ignore the difficulties facing humanity on earth. God clearly does not. Instead, the longevity and value of our dual citizenships should serve as guides to how invested we become in them. Simply put, eternal issues matter more than temporal ones. We should not allow politics and social issues to overtake our commitment to eternal issues. To do so is to risk idolatry.

Next, we must remember that God is bigger than elections. No matter how strongly you felt about one candidate or another, and no matter how disappointed you may or may not feel about the candidate who won, God is bigger than all of that.

Finally, there are certain things that will never change - no matter who is the American leader, no matter how good or bad our economy is, no matter what people define marriage to be, and no matter how people view the value of human life. I found this on someone else's blog, and I think it's quite appropriate. The Bible still has all the answers. Prayer still works. God still pours out his blessings upon all of His people. There is still room at the cross for those who seek it. Jesus still loves you unconditionally. Jesus still saves the lost. Jesus is still King. Our responsibilities as Christians have not changed. The greatest agent for social change in America is not legislation but is winning people through the gospel. The cross, not the government, is still our salvation. My neighbor is still my neighbor, and loving them is the second greatest commandment. The fact that "Jesus is Lord" is still the greatest truth in the Universe.

God is sovereign. God is in control. Now, let's trust God with the results and join together in prayer and support for our new leader, Barack Obama.