The Big Eights of '08

As the end of the year comes to a close, everyone reminisces about the last 365.
We've had a great year, we are very thankful for God's blessings and provisions, and the journey He has taken (& is taking!) us on.

Instead of sending a paragraphed Christmas letter with our pics this year, I tried to think of a different format to share the highlights from our year with you. Hope you enjoy it 1/8th as much as I did thinking it up.

8 places we went this year, in chronological order
1. Snowshoe, West Virginia - Feb, for a young adult ski retreat. Fun, fun. Beautiful! WAY too far of a drive to do it again!

2. Nashville, TN in May for Matt's college buddies golf weekend

3. St. Simons Island, Georgia --family vacation weekend with the Hawkins

4. Melba, ID, July, with Mel's college friends and kids.

5. Republic of Dominica (island)--July, Matt, for Work and Witness trip w/church

6. Nashville, TN for Thanksgiving with the Hays family

7. South Carolina--for Christmas with the Hawkins family, with the return of the now Kenyans- Duranceaus (Matt's sister and bro-in-law who were there for 6 months)

8. Houston, TX--we just moved! JUST NOW!

The 8 newest words Noah is saying: (pretty much new THIS WEEK)

1. "Jon!" (Uncle Jonathon) --#3 favorite family member now (after mom and dad, we hope!)

2. "CAKE!" -- no explanation needed.

3. "Pleeee!" (please) SOOOO happy about this. He's only done invented sign language till now.

4. "Mooo!" (Move) I accidentally taught him this/Not a word I wish he'd learned so early!

5. "Two" --he never wants just one of something, always TWO!

6. "Cole" (cold) --he holds a capri sun to his bare belly and keeps it there until he can't handle it anymore, then says, "Cole!" Also, stands on top of the air vent.

7. "Kime" (climb) the ladder, the couch, up your body to the ceiling, etc.

8. "Preh" (present) Every present was his present this year. He totally "got" opening gifts this year.
(There are more than just 8....home, go, nana (banana), slurp-slurp=icecream, mo(re), bubbles, balloon, play, etc.)

8 NEW events in our lives this year

1. Noah learned to walk, (followed quickly by run), jump, climb, eat real food, fingerpaint, scream, do sign language, and now is speaking real words!

2. We went to a cool Polenesian Luau at Sea World for our 6th Anniversary, July

3. Matt hit the big 3-0! (Mel has another 5 celebratory months of being in her 20s).

4. Celebrated the "10 year anniversary" of our first meeting/August 14th.

5. Became a one-car family after selling the green Saturn for a whoppin $500.

6. Thursday night Girls Night/Guys night: Mel discovered the Beth Moore bible studies thu a wonderful Ladies Bible study this fall and Matt enjoyed a weekly card night with some fellas.

7. Joined the addictive world of Facebook.

8. We moved! Just now! Out West! Texans! Wow, that sounds a bit strange.

8 Blessings that can't go unmentioned
1. Noah's health concerns seem to have resolved on their own without treatment or further testing!

2. Financial--so many to mention, but resolved medical insurance/bills, part time job, and various random discounts/refunds/checks have allowed me to stay home another year with Noah.

3. Reconnecting with college friends this summer

4. Safe travels and ministry for Jessica and Jonathon Duranceau to Africa

5. Enjoyable visits with family during summer and holidays

6. A great church family at Vero who has loved and supported us through 6 1/2 great years.

7. Finding a home for our cat Moseley

8. A new opportunity and ministry on the horizon--Houston First Church of the Nazarene.

So, I'll just leave you with those 4 lists instead of coming up with 8! I'm sure that's enough to update you on our lives and this past year! Hope you will check in on us again and see what God has in store for us in 2009!

Christmas 2008

My Christmas post/pictures are just a bit late getting up. I sent my camera cord back home with Matt, so I wasn't able to upload my pics until I made it to Walgreens to burn a c.d.

I'm double blogging today and simply dated this one earlier.

We have had a great past week here in South Carolina with Matt's family. Actually week and a 2 days now for Noah and I. Matt and I took all of (week ago) Monday to pack up the house and clean and run errands and all the things we still needed to do, and then left Vero just after 10pm. It turned out to be a good decision, as Noah slept all but maybe an hour of the drive, and he didn't get carsick one single time! Of course I'm sure you're thinking it's hard to get carsick while your sleeping, but he's managed to do it before. We pulled into the house here just before 6a.m. It was very sad for me to leave Vero, but Matt was headed back to get the truck a week later, so it wasn't a big deal for him yet.

We spent the next 2 days dillydallying around the house, doing some shopping, and eating some good homecooked meals. Matt's sister Jessica and our brother-in-law Jonathon have been back in the states only 1 week from their 6 month stint to Kenya. . . and Leah is home from college on break. And Grandma Esther is in from Alabama. So it was a full house for a while. Noah took to Jonathon right away and has been saying his name ever since. Of course Jon was great to play with Noah and wrestle around with him on the floor, but that's what uncles are supposed to do, right? Jess and Leah and the rest of them didn't really have a chance. Christmas Eve we went to a Candlelight service at the big Baptist church in Aiken that was really nice. I haven't been to a Christmas Eve service in quite a while, and I love them.

Christmas gift-giving is always big around the Hawkins house, and this year was no exception. We had a nice morning, sleeping in till 9ish and then opening ALL the presents. Noah did great, he really understood how to open his own presents this year, as well as everyone elses. It was a little difficult at first to explain to him that they weren't all for him, but after he'd see what was in someone else's box or bag, he realized he didn't want it anyway. As far as his own gifts, after he'd open one toy, he'd want to play with it instead of keep opening more. So we had to space it out for him. (He also asked for CAKE constantly during present time.) When we finally sat down to Christmas breakfast, it was closer to noon than it was 11a.m. I love that.

After playing with aaaaaalllllll of Noah's cool new toys, we headed out to partake in the Hawkins family tradition--a movie with the fam on Christmas night. The girls decided to all wear our new sweaters, since Matt's mom somehow managed to buy all 3 of us the same shirt, but at different times. That's what you get when you keep going back to the Target clearance racks, apparently she bought 5 total of the same shirt. Here's the pic. I thought somebody would comment to us about it, but I didn't hear any. I guess we don't stick out as much as the gypsies with big pageant hair and full face of makeup (seriously, seriously). We decided to take shifts this year so that we could all go, so the girls went first and watched Seven Pounds--REALLY quite good--and then the boys left when we got back and watched Yes Man--eh, okay, they said. They might have gone to see the same movie as us, but we warned them they might feel uncomfortable watching it without US, in case they got a bit emotional. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner when the boys got back.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday went by quite quickly. Friday was Matt's moms 54th birthday, and I went boot shopping with her and Jessica, and then we went and enjoyed a MUCH needed mani-pedi. Then Family Game Night topped off the evening. Saturday the boys went and played golf, and Sunday we all enjoyed attending church together and a great roast lunch before we parted our ways: Jess, Jon, and Grandma back to Alabama and Matt and his dad headed back to FL to get ready for a big week of moving. Noah and I were able to stay here for the past 3 days with Sherrie and Leah and relax (a bit, not much) while Matt and Tommy drove the moving truck out to Texas.

After a few set backs, the boys left Vero on Monday evening about 5 p.m. with a U-Haul truck jam packed full of our belongings. He said somewhere between 25 and 30 adults and teens came to help pack up and see him off. Matt, his dad, and the dog and the truck and Vue all made it to Houston this morning and checked in at the apartment office. Then about 20 people from our new church met Matt at the apartment and helped for several hours, taking ALL our stuff up the the 2nd floor of our new "home". We are VERY thankful and appreciate for that, since we didn't know what to expect! We appreciate and are thankful for the help on both ends of the move. I feel like I have gotten off pretty easy by not having to spend 3 1/2 days driving/going with the truck. Of course, I do feel like I did my part by packing up nearly the entire house in the last month or so. Noah and I fly out tomorrow afternoon and for the first time, I realized today I am feeling anxious to be there. To get settled. To get this new experience started. There's been quite the in-between time and although I'm very glad for it, I'm also ready. I don't think I was a week ago, but I am now. Not ready for EVERYTHING that will change, but at least ready to be there with my husband and our new place!

The Race is On

A late night post, but still a Sunday one...
So I didn't get to post during the weekly Daddy/son Sunday nap time, because the Daddy half of that duo was at the teen's flag football game (rescheduled from Thanksgiving due to rain) and the Mommy replacement was also exhausted and gladly took the Daddy's place in the naptime.

Four weeks down, and only one week left of our time here in FL. It is rapidly coming to a close. We enjoyed the week of vacation with my family during Thanksgiving, and then I have spent 3 organized weeks packing the house and systematically looking for housing online. There were days where I got a lot done and days where I allowed the overwhelming task to paralyze me momentarily, but for the most part, we're in good shape house-wise. This last week was a hard one, as all 3 of us experienced the dreaded flu in varying degrees. But the good news is by week's end, we are all feeling healthy again and I was actually able to attend church this morning! Yippee!
Thurs. was a great catchup day and Matt helped me tackle the more dificult and daunting parts of the house: the laundry room and the attic. Now the biggest obstacle to conquer is our closet! We were also able to throw a yard sale together yesterday and make just enough money to make it worth our time.
This next week will most likely be characterized by a flurry of dumping the remaining unpacked clothes and toys into boxes and scrubbing my walls, floors, windows, ceiling fans, and refrigerator. We have one and sometimes two dinners/parties to be at each night, and so-far, at least 3 lunch dates on the schedule. One dinner party got cancelled, but then another one very quickly filled its place. And due to other's schedules, we somehow managed to fill up our one remaining evening time slot. So strange and almost comical all we have to do this week. Here's just a few things on my mind, BESIDES the finishing of the house packing and cleaning:
1) Take family picture, have photo cards made, and address envelopes for family friends.
2) Cards for church people
3) Order new checks for our current account, since it appears the last 5 I have left won't cut it afterall
4) Find a new bank and see how to transfer money
5) Finalize our housing situation and pay our deposits/begin electric company
6) Change of address w/ PO and aaaaall our accounts
7) Put cancel date on all utilities and cable, internet, phone, etc.
8) FIND A HOME FOR MY CAT
9) Christmas shop for entire Hawkins fam, church fam, Matt, and a few Hays---put in mail
10) Oh yeah, turn in an itsy bitsy application for another NEW HEALTH INSURANCE plan. Ugggg...
So I could go on with more church business, future planning and holiday needs, but that's what makes the top ten apparently.

I am so very thankful that we are all feeling healthy again and hope that this will be the most productive, exhilarating week of my life. My heartbeat/blood pressure is raising just thinking about this race -against-the-clock that is before me. I think it is probably God's design and plan that I will be sooooo busy because if I wasn't, this move could possibly be so very sad for me. Saying goodbyes are very hard for me...for us all, I'm sure. But this will be a big one for us. The lump in my throat is already forming, so I've said enough. On to my bed for a good night's rest: I have a feeling I'm gonna need it.

A Cardboard Christmas

Greetings, friends and family--
Another Sunday afternoon. . . aaahhh, how I love them. Matt and Noah on the couch, sleeping once again. I am even more greatful that they are taking their nap and that I have this break today because Noah some how managed to come down with the (violent) vomiting-flu thing in the last 24 hours. I won't linger long on this, but THE POOR KID! He has been sick the ENTIRE month of Nov., first with "just a cold", then a trip to Urgent Care on a Sund. with his first ear infection, then another strong case of "just a cold" (aka coughing like the croup) during Thanksgiving, which led to finally a diagnosis last wed. of "possibly a sinus infection... ...let's do an antibiotic for this one"....at last, some real drugs(the 4th dr. apptment in as many weeks) ...and then only 3 days into his antibiotic, he seemed to get the flu/diarrrrrrr...bug. This is the first time he's EVER thrown up outside of his carseat, and WOW, it is crazy. He can't even keep a sip of water down at the moment. So we're thrilled that he's sleeping. What a month this has been!

Needless to say, after staying at home for the 3RD SUNDAY in 4 weeks with a sick kiddo, I am enjoying a few moments of rest. Matt has the 2nd night of our church Christmas program tonight, which it looks like I will also be missing this year, so he'll be heading over in an hour or so to get miked up. I wanted to throw a few things online while I have the chance.

First, one of those dr. apptments Noah had, last week, was with the pediatric blood specialist we started seeing this fall for his all-over-the-charts blood counts. We have been tracking his low white blood cell count (neutrophils) for the past year with our reg. pediatrician and were recently referred to the clinic in Orlando. Well, we reviewed the genetic tests results we had been waiting on for 8 WEEKS, which came back NEGATIVE (the good result) so it doesn't appear to be a genetic disposition at this point...and then we took further blood work to see where his levels are at now...and then the following day we got the word that he has NORMAL or above normal levels for the 2nd time in a row, and that we don't need to go any further with testing at this point.
Let me say that again: WE DON'T need to do any FURTHER TESTING AT THIS POINT! Which is AMAZING, because we were getting ourselves prepared to go and do a bone marrow test next. Which would be a pretty big deal and could possibly render serious results. We don't know what has changed in his neutrophil levels--we don't know if he's been completely healed or if God is just choosing to heal him for the time being until we are more settled in TX and can deal with it better, but for whatever reason, the anxiety concerning his unknown health concerns has been greatly lifted from us! And there's a strong chance he-we-may be completely over this...So Praise the Lord!

Second, things are in full gear on this move thang. It has been an interesting 3 weeks but the next TWO weeks will be CRAZY. I have a fairly good START on packing, but the more I do of course the more I realize I have to do, and it's rather easy to feel overwhelemed by it all. But of course I have my checklist, and MATT's checklist (he doesn't know I have this yet, but he will, very soon!) and so starting tomorrow we are getting CRACKING. I have spent a HUGE amount of time looking into housing lately, and so we will (hopefully) get that nailed down this week, as well as flights for Noah and I, (&Matt's dad), rental truck secured, yard sale in the paper, etc...health insurance and change of address forms begun...anybody want a cat?....etc. etc. there is a lot to do. A.L.O.T. And THEN, there are all the holiday parties/families who want to take us out or have us over for dinner stuff. Which is all well and wonderful and things we WANT to do, but it's just TOO much at this point in time. So WE'LL SEE what happens and what doesn't!

Then, there's CHRISTMAS to be celebrated! One of my biggest frustrations over this move is the time of year it is! I know God knows exactly what he is doing with this, and we already see several positives because of it.....but....during the Christmas season?!?!? Exactly WHEN am I supposed to shop for gifts??? (And celebrate the Savior's birth) And we have NOAH! He has loved looking at the lights and trees in other's houses....so...I decided to go ahead and decorate just a bit because I just couldn't enjoy the season with my house all covered in cardboard. As I pulled down boxes and tubs from the attic last Sunday, I opened one up, took out the Christmas decor, and then filled the same box with flower vases and a waffle maker. That's why packing has literally been 2 boxes forward, 1 box back. I'm hoping this week will be easier, because only reeeally important things get left unpacked from this point on.
So wish me luck as I embark on the seemingly never ending job of packing/explaining to people "why" we're moving.
Here's a bit of what my living room looks like!

Update: actually I'll post that pic in a few days because it's not loading right now.

November News

So it is Sunday afternoon---one of my MOST favorite times of the whole week. And this Sunday afternoon is thankfully no exception. We enjoyed lunch at Fatboys with friends after church, and now Matt and Noah are taking their weekly afternoon daddy-son nap on the couch ... which means I have 2+ hours to myself! So of course I have been catching up on some blogs I like to follow...and making a few phone calls/texts...and just B.R.E.A.T.H.I.N.G. I have been looking forward to THIS particular Sunday afternoon for several weeks now!

So I guess it is finally time that I can add my family news to the blogworld. Only a few of you out there are waiting to hear it, but for those of you who are, this is the official press release:

No, we're not pregnant. (Is that what you thought?)

No, but actually, it is a biggie: in the coming days, Matthew and Noah and I will be moving from our home of 6.5 yrs in Florida to none other than Houston, Texas . Matt has accepted the call to be Youth Pastor at Houston First Church of the Nazarene beginning the first week of January.

Yep, you heard (read) me right. TEXAS. Who would have EVER thought that! So the very short story of it is this: we were asked to come interview about 6 weeks ago, and then even after we interviewed, we have been waiting for several weeks to receive the invitation and accept the call. It has only become finalized this last week. God has been working in the whole situation and ON US the whole time, and we are only doing this because we feel like this is clearly God's leading. We LOVE our current ministry and church folk here in FL and we are broken up about having to say goodbye to people and on this chapter of our lives. This church has been wonderful to us, as well as being the only church Noah has ever known and the only church we'be been at together since we got married. So it is and may always be our HOME church. We are internally excited about the opportunity that is before us and the challenges and blessings it will bring, but more immediately, we are overwhelmed and exhausted from this past week and responsibilities here.

It has been a long, drawn-out week as we've been sharing the news 1st with family, then family-friends, and then friends at church today. Some people who are away for the weekend or had to miss church today still don't know, and news will trickle down to the rest during the next few weeks. We ourselves actually leave tomorrow for Thanksgiving with my family so the timing works out nicely as we feel the need of a brief vacation from the reality of the next month of our lives! When we return, we will be here for 3 full weeks, then spend a week of Christmas with Matt's family, and then the better part of the next week (last week of Dec) will be spent moving. I'm sure it will be a WHIRLWIND soon enough!

We have never questioned whether or not we would "follow God's will" for our lives when we sensed he was revealing a piece of the picture to us, but that doesn't make the realities of a life-relocation much easier to maneuver. For us or for those who will be affected by it. We covet your prayers for our family and for Matt's ministry--current and future--during this time of transition. Pray for us to make wise decisions concerning our future and wisdom and words for conversations that are still taking place on this end. Please pray for friends and church folk here who are taking the news hard.

And in the middle of all this, we are still waiting word on Noah's test results. It has now been 6 weeks. It was supposed to be 4-6 weeks. So my anxiety is trying to creep back in. Good thing I don't have much time for that these days!

Hope every one of you have a wondeful, blessed, GRATITUDE-filled Thanksgiving with family and friends. We are so greatful to our God during this time for His presence and peace in our lives.

Waiting

This has been a looooonng week for me. Not as long as poor Sherrie from www.franklinavenueco.blogspot.com, as she's been thru her 39th week of pregnancy with BB#3: still to be named. Goodness no, nothing quite like that. But for me, a seemingly unending week.

First, Noah has been sick--and getting sicker--as the days go by. I took him to the Dr. on Tues. after a long night of his little hacking cough, but after a long WAIT in the waiting room, the dr. said everything still "looks fine on the insides...just a cold." Hmmph.. . now 3 days later and I'm about ready to take him in again...The dr. said to bring him back Monday or Tues if he hasn't kicked it yet, so I've tried to stick it out and let it run its course, as they say. But I'm afraid we will now have an ER visit during the weekend since it is still getting worse, and not better. His little friend from church "A"apparently has pneumonia, they were together when they started getting sick--she is a bit smaller than him, but his cough is so constant and deep now, I am worried. Sometimes he sleeps okay, but usually he wakes himself up every hour because he can't breathe. And then Matt and I are up. On a positive note, he has been sleeping in (on) his own bed, in his own room, since we moved him from the nursery (closet of a room) to his big boy room (old office/spare bedrm). I say on his bed, not in his bed, because the mattress has been on the floor, with extra pillows around it. He's what I'd call a "thrasher" sleeper. He literally rolls and rolls and at times, thrashes around in bed at night. Heck, I'm just glad he's staying in his own room now. Our earlier night time routine with book reading and no more bottle is working good, so far. He even insists on having the lamp on and the door completely shut. Last night he stayed in his room while I went to get him a warm bottle of water. He peeked out the door at the end, but he stayed in his room! Yeah for progress. Please keep him in your prayers though. This sick thing is no fun, we're all short on sleep and patience, and N's just all around miserable (grouchy, whiny) during the days. We had to take turns on Sun. so we could both go to church a bit, and it looks like I may be staying home completely with him this Sun a.m.

Second, Matt and I have been patiently waiting for 2 bits of news this whole month (that I will post about sometime in the near future.) As hard as it is to wait on things in my life, I have been around long enough to know that it's thru the waiting periods that God does some of his best work in us. When I opened up my Beth Moore Bible study for the week I saw the focus is on Joseph and the WAIT he had to endure while he went from coat-of-many-colors to day-in-the-pit to being In Charge of Potiphar's house to being in prison. That would have been hopeless enough, but after he interpreted the Cupbearers dream and asked him to remember him, it must have been an even LOOOOONGer two years while he waited, with anticipation, for his release from the dungeon. Any day now! Any day now...Wonder if it will ever even come. This really spoke to me this week: "Sometimes we can be so busy looking for what is missing in our lives that we miss Who is busily present in our lives. We're looking for God to do us future favors when He's trying to open our eyes to present ones. Remember, God purposes to use every second of a divinely-ordained wait to build us into the individuals our future demands we be."--BM. YES. I found some growth in my own faith-life through Joseph's wait this week. How bout you?

So I keep checking Sherries' blog, hoping for news...I'd at least like to be able to rejoice with HER waiting time being over!

Thursday's "Day off":

We decided to FINALLY move Noah over from his "nursery" room into the spare bedroom/office room. He's really outgrown his crib a while ago, but we couldn't decide what step was next...get a big boy bed for him? Make the crib into a twin bed? Plus it seemed like such a big job---relocated all my office and craft stuff. But after just a few short hours, we LOVE the outcome. And wonder WHY IN THE WOLRD didn't we do this a LONG time ago?!?! The little bedroom Noah has had since his birth makes a great, little office. That small space doesn't really take pix well, but here's the bigger of the two rooms, Noah's...

BEFORE...as Noah HELPS Dad put the crib back together as a daybed. . .Noah LOVES to use a screwdriver and hammer! I think he's gonna be a little carpenter or builder or something...

and AFTER...

We still have a few things to put up on the walls, but we like it. And so does Little Man. He jumps up and down on his bed just like he always has, but now he can launch himself out onto the floor. Great. It's also nice to get a few of his toys out of the family room, and give him a space of his own to actually play in. We tried to have N sleep in his new bed last night....and he did, until he woke up with a soaked diaper/bed. And then it was back to the futon/couch for a little while...

Trick or Treat Times Two

Noah really enjoyed the Halloween festivities this year.....a.k.a. the candy part of it;-D
Last year at this time he was only (almost) 8 months old and had to be carried the whole night...this year he was a jumpin and runnin little man. We went with a pretty simple--and cheap--costume that we already had---he was a little "baller" with an old school kind of basketball jersey on...but without the basketball, he kinda looked like an American Gladiator. Whatever. Like he could care.
Here's a few pix from first, our church's Trunk N Treat night,

which we held on WEDNESDAY---great idea by the way---gives kids more than one day to dress up and being BEFORE Halloween you still get all the excitement---we had 250 people show up, which we were not expecting, since we had just done our big block party 3 weeks ago. I ended up helping throw it together the 2 days before the event, and somehow, it turned out great still.

Then, a few pix from last night. (I couldn't get a good pix of the kids together. Then my batteries died...again. Uggg...)

We were invited along with most of the couples from our small group to the Wilgeroth's. It was a fun night of chili/soup, trick-or-treating with 4 little ones, and then gal talk inside/guy talk on the porch. There was a nice cool crispness to the air. I have to admit that trick-or-treating WORE ME OUT---I don't remember the last time I actually went door to door for candy. 4 kiddos is not easy even for the 8 adults who walked with them! It took a while for Noah to get the hang of it----he wanted to eat the candy at every single house, not put it in his bucket. It was really nice to have Alex and Avary to go with. Maybe one day we'll have cousins to go with. We got back after only being gone an hour and I thought for sure it was like 10:30. Nope, only 8:45.
Oh goodness.
Hope you all had a safe and fun Trickertreating experience also. Post pix!

A Day in the Life of Noah Thomas

Just another October day for me and Matt...but Noah had a fun day today...here's a smattering of pics to tell the tale.

11:30 a.m. Visit to Daddy's office...to see the kitty...

11:55 a.m. Tickling the Ivories for Grandma Hays...

5:05 p.m....after a looonnng nap, 3 softballs to play with...

5:15 pm..our first cool day this fall!

8:40 pm. Noah's first pumpkin and first finger paint experience....LOVED IT!

And these were from a few days ago, but I knew you'd love them too!
Happy October Day to you!

As of this week...

Hey there family, & the few friends who check my blog:-) --

It is now the 3rd week of October, and finally, the first full week of cool weather. And by cool, of course I mean in the low 80s. Wonderful. I bought pumpkins tonight at Walmart. (No, we do not have any pumpkin farms around where we could go on a little hayride and drink hot cocoa/coffee/cider.) I'm a little behind the season with decorating, I guess. In fact I don't know where I've put my box of Fall decor...kinda bummed I can't find it. Noah pulls down or climbs up to anything I put out that looks new or interesting to him, so I've sorta been putting it off anyway. I saw the pumpkins tonight and felt guilty. Hopefully we can paint and/or carve them soon. I bought a small one for N to paint, (that should be fun, we've never done painting yet!) and a big one for him to watch Daddy carve. Carving pumpkins has always fallen into the husband's job category in our fam. I don't think I've carved a pumpkin in 5 years. Is that incredibly terrible to admit--especially to those of you reading who LIVE for FALL? And the thing is, I REALLY like the whole fall colors decor and warmth of this season, too...I LOVE everyone ELSE's decorations...I just...don't really "do" decorations myself well. Probably due to my personally-unwelcomed frugality, thank you mother. I always say I'm going to hit the clearance racks after the holidays so I'll be ready for next year, and yet there never seems to be extra money just floating around then either.
Noah seems to like the pumpkins though. He has carried them around the house several times and sat down on the bigger of the two to watch cartoons. He also helped carry in the groceries to the kitchen tonight. He's a strong little helper! He's been feeding the cat by himself all week. Without my prompting! He does it EVERY day. L.O.V.E. I.T. Here's Noah with his neighborhood buddy Brandon.

This last weekend I got to go to a middle school retreat with 6 Jr. High girls from our church. Matt was planning on going until Thursday, the day before, when we realized NO boys were interested/able, so it was kinda obvious that it wouldn't really be appropriate for him to go. I'm not quite sure how he would have insinuated that I should go instead, because I sorta volunteered to take them before I let him attempt to persuade me. I should have let it go a while longer, I could have really milked that. Even though I kiddingly said that it would be "pure torture" because of who it was that was going--I don't think any of them reads this!--it actually turned out to be a lot of fun. It was an event called Stuck In The Middle, and not just a girls retreat, although that would have been nice. We have been to a girls-only conference before called The Revolve Tour, which is an incredibly good weekend. This turned out really good too, though. It was less than 2 hours away, and 28 hours total with the girls--not bad. There was a good band, a (1 out of 2)good speaker, a science Wizardy guy from the Mythbusters show, and some silly youth group games. We stayed the night at a local church, where the girls stayed up past 2am playing "waitress" in the youth room kitchen, complete with aprons (pillowcases) and trays and an "easybake oven" type of toaster that DINGED everytime you opened the door. I layed in bed, on a couch in the corner room with the door shut, pillow over my head, iPod on shuffle, and I could still here the DING every 3 minutes or so...for like an hour. Every time I got up to go tell them they needed to go to sleep because they would be exhausted in the morning and would want to sleep through the seminars, I would see them dancing around the breakfast bar, talking in all sorts of funny accents and I had to laugh. I did not realize these girls were so "young". At least they weren't up doing hair and putting on makeup. There wasn't a single comment about a cute boy allll weekend.

Noah got a tiny bit of a haircut today--Matt doesn't claim to notice a difference, but I appreciate that my hair stylist/friend Adreana refused to cut off his "curls". His hair is really only curly after he lays on it for a nap, but it just looks so much better long. She mostly cleaned up the thickness in the back.

Still really loving the Bible Study I'm in on Thurs. Kinda bummed I'm gonna miss it this week. So strange how what I learn each week matches so closely with what's going on in my life. I've been doing it for 5 weeks now and every week it's like DEAD ON with situations I'm facing. I looked ahead to the last topics/verses of the study and thought---so THAT'S what's going to happen to me in a month!?! It's almost uncanny how God has spoken through his Word, through this author, through the people at the church who chose and planned the timing of this study....and then that I would be reading it at this exact time in my life...the Hand of Providence continues to amaze me.

Well, gotta get back to help my husband put the kiddo to bed. Have a good week, and enjoy the fall weather if you get it where you live!!!

The Ups and Downs

So I think we've talked to just about all our family, but to anyone else out there who hasn't heard...a few items that have filled our past week... 2 "good", 2 "bad", actually.
Do you want the good or the bad first? We'll start with the difficulties....

1) Noah got his first stitches last week. I say first, because sadly I am trying to be realistic and accept that this will most likely not be the last time we head to the ER with a head wound. Hopefully, future visits will be as quick and minor as this one turned out to be. He fell into the edge of our long fireplace platform and cut his head, near his hairline above his left eye...quite a bit of blood at first, but then slowed down considerably. Alot of screaming, 3 stitches, and 2 and 1/2 hours later and we were on our way home. He did GREAT, all things considered. I was so glad both Matt and I could go with him to the ER, because it took both of us, 2 toy cars, PB M & Ms, and a bouncy ball to keep him busy during the waiting period. Also, I could not have held him down by myself! That was sooo hard to watch!

2) We also took Noah to a specialist in Orlando on Monday for something that we've been watching for about 6 months now. He has a condition with his blood called neutropenia that is still somewhat undiagnosed, but basically one type of the white blood cells (neutrophils) are consistently measuring quite low, yet not following an obvious pattern or cycle. (Of course the white blood cells are the ones that fight off bacteria infections in the body, so having a significantly low count CAN be extremely serious.) We've exhausted all testing that can be done locally, and still don't have an answer to why and what this might mean, so now we are working with a ped. hematologist from the NeMours Children's Clinic. Noah had blood drawn and will be sent off to Minnesota for a genetic test, so we have to wait 4-6 weeks to hear the results. We feel good about the dr. and the visit was "good", except for... they had to stick him 4 times before they got a good blood flow, so he got poked in both hands and both elbow pits (what else are they called?) and after the first 2, the Dora bandaids and stickers and cookies didn't even come close to helping. He fell asleep on the way home from Orlando, but then woke up and THREW UP the 2 grape capri suns they had given him while they were trying to get the blood. It just hasn't been his week! Or any fun for Matt and I... but we are thankful that both situations weren't any worse, and we are trusting God's promise that he won't give us more than we can handle!

And now the good stuff:
1.) Carrie came to visit! We always love having family come, but especially our Aunt Carrie. She came bringing gifts, for N, of course: a new Big coloring book and (washable) markers, bubbles, punch balloons, and slinkies. He LOVED them all. I asked her what her favorite new "Noah things" are, and she said: how he says "more-please" in sign language, grabs your finger to pull you into the other room, and he's a big cuddle bug. I have to agree. We didn't do a WHOLE lot, but we went to Rita's Italian Ice and the beach, which are Carrie's few requests. We were very thankful to have her come THIS weekend, because we had an especially busy week with church....and on that note...

2.) Our church's block party went extremely well. Saturday we hosted a "birthday party-themed block party for our community in honor of the 100th Anniv. of the Naz church. There was so much work put into it from all parties involved, but especially Matt with teens and me with Children's stuff. There's really no way to have an exact count, but we are all very sure we had close to our goal, of 1000 people, on our property during the 4-8 p.m. event. (quite a big goal for our church of 220). I registered right at 200 kids, which was my goal, and the parts I was in charge of went very well. The music concert at the end was awesome, too. Carrie was able to watch Noah for us most of the night, and he seemed to like it all pretty well. He got thoroughly worn out by the end, and maybe a bit overwhelmed. His favorite thing was probably the BIG bounce house, which he got to get in with dad and then again after it was "closed" to all the other kids-the perks of having a mom who's in charge. He even climbed up the stairs inside the bounce house and tumbled-and I mean tumbled-all the way down the [steep] slide (of the bounce house).

So...we are now recovering from the highs and lows of the first week of October and hoping the remainder of this month is a little less eventful than the beginning. There's already at least 1 big thing coming up this month. And then of course, Noah's 2nd Halloween costume! I'm already excited...

Naptime Nappiness

Ahh, Mawwwm, I just woke up. Why you gotta go and take my picture again...
Is this gonna flash in my eyes real bright again?
Yeah, I got my nuh-nuh back while Mommy was taking my picture!

FOUR Yeahs

1. YEAH! The return of INTERNET to our house! This has been a loooong summer without.
2. YEAH! Ladies' Bible Study night. I have been looking forward to this all week.
3. YEAH! Bible Study night means it's THURSDAY night! Survivor, The Office, and Grey's Anatomy. Only problem is...how do I watch them at the same time? (i know, TiVo...but remember, we just got the www. back.)
and
4. YEAH! And a Yippee Skippee: My sister will be here in a week. (so sorry about the overlook, dear...check your facebook? I was just thinking of the present hour.)

Lately

So I have a lot I could say, since I don't get on here as much as I'd like. First, I'm gonna try to upload some pictures of Noah from this past month, he's doing some hilarious stuff...like:

1. Coloring--I have a roll of butcher paper that we just unroll on the floor and let him go. He usually insists on using markers, not crayons or colored pencils, and he's real particiular about what he wants...he does want someone sitting down next to him, but he only wants you to draw a little bit. If you start drawing a whole lot, he gets all mad at you and starts scribbling all over your pictures...while he yells at you in disgust. It's like he wants your presence, but he doesn't want your artistic ability to go beyond his. HE wants to be IN CONTROL of the coloring tablet. I have no idea where he gets this control thing from...

Case in point: Here's a shot of him when he was mad because I GOT UP to take his picture. Notice all the markers he is hoarding in his hands!

2. Hiding things behind his back. This is a new favorite game in the last few weeks. Sometimes he'll run all over the house with both his hands behind his back, pretending like he's keeping something from you, even when his hands are empty. He loves to have us chase him to see what he's got. Then he giggles histerically when he shows us what he has--either something he knows he's not supposed to have, or even funnier to him, nothing at all. In this photo he actually found my sunglasses and put them on (mostly) by himself. This was also just 3 min and 30 sec. before he broke them--the sunglasses. No big deal, only the THIRD pair he's broken this summer. Good thing I found this pair for like 5$ at Aeropostale. I think I'll go get another 3 pair from there before they're gone.

And finally, for today...

3. Because sometimes one pacie is not enough. And by the way, Noah has finally given a name to his pacie: It's a "Nuh". More often a "nuh-nuh". I think this may have derived from us calling it his night-night pacie, but for what ever reason, it has STUCK. He walks around during the day looking for them, with his tongue out of his mouth, saying, "Nuh, Nuh, Nuh-Nuh, NUH-NUH!!"

In other news:

***I'm getting ready to go to a new ladies Bible Study tonight. It's with a friend of mine from a different church, but it's a Beth Moore bible study and tonight is the first of an 11-week study, so I am VERY excited. I have wanted to do this for a while now, but last season when I was asked the night didn't work out for us. I am also excited to get to spend a bit more time with my friend Katie, who invited me to join her, and for the once a week girls night out. I used to get most Tues. nights to myself, but it looks like at least for a few months that will switch to Thursdays.

***I have now been to TWO Wed. night youth group services in a row...the first I've been to in over 16 months. Our previous P/T Children's Pastor has moved back and began taking over Weds. from me this month, and will be taking back Sund. mornings beginning in Oct. I am ESTATIC about this, because it (doing the Children's Dept. at our church, mostly by myself) has been a HUGE burden on me that I have been praying about for quite some time! I have wanted to straight up and quit completely SOOOO many times, and just never felt like I could. And now, finally, the end is near. I love the kids dearly, and have enjoyed this season, but I NEED to be connected with my husband's ministry so much more.

***Only 2 1/2 months of Hurricane season left! I am eagerly waiting the end! It is so stressful living down here in FL some times. I have been glued to the Weather Channel and have watched more of CNN and FOX News this past month (including the political conventions and interviews!) than all combined in my lifetime. I watched this storm IKE from the very beginning, and felt very little relief even when we knew for sure it was going to miss us...because if not us, someone else. I could just feel it was going to be "a biggin". I guess I feel a much hightened concern about them since Noah. Having a child during one of those storms/weeks with out power would just be an experience I hope we never have to have.

Well, gotta run. Noah and I are hitting the neighbor's pool before my bible study tonight.

The Climber

I have just a few min. left on the computer. Here's a sequence of pix to make you smile....or cringe?

So a few weeks ago we bought a step stool for Noah at Target, so that I don't have to break my back holding him so much. (He ways a ton). This is what we have to deal with now instead.




Even when I move the stool away from the counter, he manages to move it somewhere where he can climb. He moves his little activity tables around and climbs up on those, too.

Flood Fay and Olympic Mania

no pictures tonight! Just a half hour alone on blogger before I head home.
Two quick things on my mind to post about tonight...

#1) Trop. Storm Fay, also known as FLOOD FAY around these parts. So I guess we should comment on this, since several are wondering ...We are all okay from this crazy storm. We have had more rain this week than ever seen in our area, so we hear, but the wind was only bad the beg. of the week. School was cancelled for 2 days in our county, not that that affects me this year :-) Noah and I have been riding low this week, staying inside ALL day and keeping dry. It has been VERY HARD to not go outside and play in the puddles...er....ocean in our front yard. If you have been praying for me this week, you now know why. But we have made it through, he and I. Matt has been the lonely one at the office this week, and for once I don't blame him for driving to work each day. (we live just a hop and a skip, not even a jump, from the church.) The towns just north and just south of us had major drainage problems, so they are totally flooded. Our town probably averaged 15 inches, and only the neighborhoods are badly flooded. We went to Walmart last night and only the first 5 spots in every row were usable because the rest of the lot had 1-2 feet of water in it. So, that's that. Today was sunny and the water has finally begun to recede a bit. We are lucky we had no damage, just inconvenience. With the rest of hurricane season ahead...

#2.) The Olympics. It's a darn good thing that the Olympic Games are nearing an end, because I haven't been able to do ANYTHING else the last 2 weeks but watch the various events. Am I alone in this? I think our satellite t.v. gets like 4 channels that covered it. I have watched just about everything. (Where does one sign up for handball, by the way? I could have done that!) And because we are on East coast, that usually means staying up till 1 or 2 a.m. to catch the main events. This has totally messed up my sleeping schedule, and every morning I'm DRAGGING, literally begging Noah to take his nap early. And yet, the next night, I'm back on the couch. It is A.D.D.I.C.T.I.V.E. Matt finally got hit with the bug last night--he stayed up to watch the men's volleyball semis ag. Russia. Till nearly 3 a.m.! I thought for sure when he told me, they had taken gold... but then when I heard it was just the SEMIs, I laughed.

My favorites happened mostly the first week: gymnastics and beach volleyball. And of course, the Michael Phelps swimming saga. Which I am actually guilty of texting my husband about while he was away at a Cubs game. I watched the near-miss Fly race Live and couldn't wait for him to get home to tell him about the 1/100th of a second, come-from-behind Miracle. But this week is synchronized diving, which I think is the coolest by far. One of the only sports I can watch non USA people perform. And I have to admit that not only do I feel glued to the tube with these events, but I tear up at just about every game point/wall touch/dismount. It is RIDICULOUS. I do not know where the emotion comes from. I guess from the sheer passion and drive it takes atheletes to compete at this level. So, with that being said, here I come, London 2012 Handball Tournament!

Just Say No

Noah has learned how to SHAKE his head no. Sorry for the bad videotaping on my part. Still pretty funny though.

Attention, Blog readers...

HI! Check out the last several (5 or so) posts....I added pictures to some that I previously posted. I also put a new video of Noah on Youtube that's pretty funny. It's the first one on the right in the video bar section of this blog... or go to youtube.com and search mayjayhay for the latest.

Noah update

Ohhhhh....I feel like I haven't had time to blog lately. I have several posts I want to add...our anniversary, Matt's birthday, family vacation photos...I am really missing that internet at the house this month.
But first, what everyone cares about the most anyway.
Here are some new, yet somewhat random photos of Noah.


This is Noah looking through our new cat door (to keep the dog out of the laundry room)...only problem is that Noah likes it more than that darn cat. We've had to TAPE it open to get the cat to go through it.
(Noah got these out of the laundry room/pantry and stacked them, nearly completely on his own. i had to turn some of them upside down so they would stack. He got VERY frustrated that some of them would "work" and some of them wouldn't.)
I wish I had more time to talk about him. He is really cracking me up lately. This last month we had a lot of fun traveling and seeing friends, but now we're back at home and enjoying some regular routine. N.I.C.E. What to say in a paragraph? He is still all over the place--he can climb on every single piece of furniture and toilet (see photo) in our house. He can't quite climb on the counters yet, although I'm sure if he thougth about it, he could figure out how to pull open the bottom drawers and climb on that. He is still doing the really cheesy face grin when you pull the camera out. This past week we bought him his first car ramp/track and he LOVES it now. He had really shown interest in our neighbor boys' car tracks, so we thought maybe it was time. Apparently it WAS TIME. He also is playing with his first little train track that my friend Emily gave him for his (belated) birthday. Don't try to take these things away from him, or tell him it's time to go, (eat, change a diaper, etc.) while he's playing with his cars/trains. Because WW3 will follow. ALL BOY. He has also discovered umbrellas with all the rain we've been having and pitches a fit to hold it.
We started this week with making the paci become a NIGHT NIGHT and nap time paci, and well, it's not going GREAT but I expected a worse time with it. So I think it's going well. Next step: take away the bottle at night completely, to be followed by sleeping all night in your own bed! We are debating whether he's ready for taking the sides off the crib. Give us a few weeks on that one.

Stay tuned for posts on the other things in our life....yes, there have been other things occasionally!

Matt's Mission Trip to Dominica

(pronounced Dom-in-EE-ka). So here's the photos that MATT actually took while in Dominca, before the camera batteries ran out! We got a c.d. from someone else who went, but these show enough. First, the group, then a few shots of the worksight--the cabin they built.

The next two are FROM the worksight, which overlooks the ocean. Yeah, gorgeous!

And then a few I pulled from the kids' facebook pages. Pretty gorgeous, huh! I'm way jealous.