Back to the Grindstone

Today was Brian's first day back at school after being so sick. He had a great day. He was out for MLK Day yesterday and was feeling better so he decided he wanted to skate inside since the doc told us to keep him in for 10 more days.

I have to say he looked pretty cute in his skating gear. Although he does take after his mama- meaning no amount of safety gear can protect him from his own clumsiness :)

Update on Brian

Thank you everyone who has been praying for Brian. We have had a rough couple of days but he is doing better today. We went back to the doctor this morning and she said while he is definitely doing better, his left lung is still sounding pretty bad. We have to continue the breathing treatments every 4 hours and are also starting a steroid in his breathing machine in addition to his Albuterol and antibiotic. He had a good night's rest last night and is getting an appetite back. Again, thank you so much for all of your prayers.

Please Pray for Brian

Since I am not on Facebook currently and would usually post something like this on there, I am asking for prayers for my little guy. He went to the doctor today and is being treated for pneumonia. They sent us home with antibiotics and a breathing machine and we are going back in on Friday morning if not sooner. I have never seen him this sick and your prayers are greatly appreciated.

How Can I Be the Mom God Wants Me to Be?

I love reading anything Max Lucado writes.  He has such a simple, yet powerful way of bringing scripture to life for me.  I am reading his book "Max on Life" which is just a compilation of common questions that people often write to him about. He answers them based on scripture and his unique Max Lucado style.

One particular question that I read in the book that I ask myself all the time is:

"More than anything in the world I want to be a good mom to my kids.  How can I be the mom God wants me to be?"

How he responds was exactly how I needed to hear it:

The virgin birth is more, much more, than a Christmas story.  It is a picture of how close Christ will come to you, a mom, as you also bring a child into the world. 

Imagine yourself in that story found in Luke 1.

God comes to you and says, "I have a special tasks for you.  A child.  A special child that I want to entrust to you.  Are you willing to raise this one?'

You stammer, take a breath.  "This sounds scary."

"Don't worry. I'll be there with you.  This child is special to me.  He will be a great child."

You shake your head. "Such an awesome responsibility.  I don't know if I can do it."

"Nothing is impossible with Me."

You smile.  "I am your servant.  I'll do it."

Do we think only one child received God's special attention? Sure, only one was his Son, and an angel sent out those special birth announcements, accompanied by an angelic choir singing "Happy Birthday."  Of course God pulled out all the stops for Jesus' birth.

But children aren't randomly born to parents.  God orchestrates the right children to be born to the right parents.

Being the mom God wants you to be starts with the understanding of how important your job is in God's eyes.  He entrusts you with one of his own children.  He chose you out of all the moms in the world for this one child.

Remember, you, too, are highly favored by God himself to receive such a special gift.

Beautiful Unidentified Baby :)

Our beautiful baby!!!

Baby Powell Is A...

Big question mark.

Yep. That's right. He/she sat on it's legs the entire time.

Even with belly shaking and prodding.

So we will wait another month.

But the baby is measuring perfectly and is healthy which is all we can really ask for so we are very blessed!

And the baby is either stubborn or shy.

Like Daddy or Mommy ;)

One Last Hurrah

Yesterday marked the last official day of Brian's Winter Break at school.  Bless his heart (sarcasm intended) he didn't really want to go back to school, he was having so much fun hanging out with his Mommy and his Ninny on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  You know, pre-k can be rough on a boy!

So I decided to make yesterday as fun as possible given that I had -5 on the energy scale.  I just bucked up and decided to plow through the day.

The first thing we did was go to the library.  Brian had been wanting to go so bad and Wes and I tried to take him on 2 occasions but it was closed for the new year's holiday.  So as we were pulling up in to the parking lot, poor little guy kept saying, "ooohhh nooo,  the doors are locked.  It's closed."  I finally convinced him that it was open and so he gave me and my mom a lecture on how we had to use our "quidet" library voice inside (even though we were the ones fearful that HE would forget!)  He was GREAT though!  He noticed that the kiddie computers had a Thomas the Train game on them the last time we were there, so I promised him that next time we went he could play.  I wasn't sure how this was going to work, given we don't have a computer at home and he isn't really familiar with them.  But my smart little baby knew exactly what to do and was a pro at the mouse.  He even plopped right down and put the earphones on his head :)

One happy 4 year old! (and might I add extremely handsome- I mean look at that face!?)

When we got home from the library, I decided to whip out an old teaching idea- the whole shaving-cream-on-a-cookie-sheet thing.  It is messy, but it's shaving cream so it smells good and is clean.  I thought this would be a great way for him to practice writing letters although he agreed for all of 2 minutes and then wanted to just "drawl".  

I think he really enjoys doing this because he thinks he is getting away with making a big mess.  AND he already knows how OCD his mom is with messes.

But it's okay. Because secretly, I LOVE the way it smells after the shaving cream :)