every captive thought

If you aren't from Amarillo let me explain a little yearly tradition our city has. Once a year the Kiwanis Club has a Bible Reading Marathon on TV. This was Brad's second year to participate. I was so proud of him. He looked so cute on TV and he did really well. His father also read. I don't know how many people watch the marathon but I am sure that it honors the Lord for His word to be read cover to cover once a year on public television. After the marathon my in-laws (aka Grandma and Grandpa) took us to dinner for my birthday. We went to one of my very favorite restaurants. It was so yummy and we had a great time getting to relax and catch up with each other. James was trying to crawl out of the picture though. Another great Friday and a fun weekend ahead!

Well...the little booty is showing great improvement and along with it so is James' mood. He is back to his cheerful, charming, delightful little self. And I am thankful for that. Nearly 3 weeks of a cranky James made for 3 weeks of a frazzled Mommy. I've told you before on many occasions that both Brad and I are very anal, type-a personalities. My Mom says that I am "finely wired" which I much prefer to "high strung" or any other of the less complimentary terms used to describe me. But along with this personality trait comes great frustration with not being able to fix something and see immediate results. So James being out of sorts and so uncomfortable for the better part of 3 weeks was terribly upsetting to Brad and I. Anyhow...along with that "finely wired" stuff...Brad and I absolutely cannot stand it if our clothes, or James', get dirty. For instance, if we were out to eat and I got a spot of something on my clothes, we would ...

I read this post today from my lovely friend, Carol's blog. Ouch. It's convicting as well as thought-provoking.

Wednesday's are CBS days. And since James tends to get sick after CBS days, our nurse delicately and lovingly suggested that I not take him to CBS anymore...although it is a treasured morning of adult time...time for me...time when someone else is watching James...time to grow spiritually...time to regain a small measure of sanity...and she wants me to give it up?!?!?!?!?! Well, my sweet Mommy graciously offered to watch him so I could go. THANK YOU!!!!! It was a true gift and blessing. I enjoyed the time with my group and the lecture...and not having to feel antsy and squirmy about James being in the nursery. His little bo bo is still not doing so great. He is still going commando for the better part of the day in an ardent effort to help it heal faster. Poor little guy. The waking up is the worst...waking up in the morning and from naps. It rattles me to my very core. He screams bloody dadgum murder and cries and throws a fit. It is awful. It takes both Brad and I to...

My 32nd birthday has come and gone. It was a great day...except for that my little Jamesie isn't feeling so great...but we'll get to that in a minute. It is our birthday tradition for my Mom to fix me whatever I want for my birthday meal and whatever cake I want. Then we open presents. I wanted chicken and dumplings and almond joy cake. It was delish! Mom even set the table with her beautiful china and crystal and my favorite roses. It was lovely. If you've never had almond joy cake you should really ask my Mom for the recipe because it is fabulous! Then came present time! I got a lot of fun kitchen stuff...my very favorite kind of stuff to get. You can tell my the look on my face that I was super-pumped to get this big bowl that matches my dishes! Oddly enough...I was with my Mom when she bought this and I totally forgot about it. It is easy to surprise a forgetful person. Now for the bad news. My poor precious little Jamesie has just not been himself lately. It sta...

Today was day 2 of my birthday celebrations. And although today isn't technically my actual birthday, it IS my birthday weekend. So Brad snuck out early to go get donuts. My very favorite breakfast in all the world. He even got me a chocolate donut with birthday sprinkles on it! He brought James' highchair in so we could have "breakfast in bed". If James had (heavenforbid) turned the camera on me...I probably would have looked a lot like this too.... ...right before I grounded him for 3000 years for taking a picture of me while eating. That's stricly forbidden around here. Mmmmmmmm....we love us some donut. After we (and by "we" I mean Brad) cleaned up the donut fiasco...we snuggled with James in bed. My very favorite of all weekend activities. It started when he was iddy biddy. But back then he would just lay there with us like a blob while we watched tv. Now he wants to wrestle and play and squirm. I like it just the same. What a PERFECT morning! ...

Today Jenniffer took me to lunch at Crush for my birthday. It was delish. And she got me one of my beautiful wine glasses. Bradley got home from work early and we took Jamesie for his second haircut. The first one was super-traumatic...for us and for James. This one was no better...trauma-wise. This was before the hair-cut...a little shaggy and long. Brad was designated baby-wrangler last hair-cut so I got the pleasure this time. So far so good...no big deal. He gets a cool little cape and a new friend to flirt with. She even gave him a hairbrush to play with. Super fun! And that's when the clippers came on and all hell broke loose. I've never been one to mind attention...but this attracted some very unwanted attention. The kind of attention you get when people think you are ruthlessly torturing your child. I held on for as long as I could but I had to call in the muscles. What can I do to make this a less traumatic event? I mean...I get it...I can understand how freak...