every captive thought

Tonight I was up at the church for the Candlelight Service. I am sure it was lovely. I wouldn't know...I was in the bookstore all night. Maybe we will be able to catch one of the other services tomorrow. They are at 3:00, 4:30, 6:00 & 7:30 at Hillside Christian Church . This was such a lovely and relaxing day. Brad was off today and will be until Monday! Yahoo! It is so great for James and I to have him all to ourselves. That man is one of the Lord's most precious blessings in my life. This morning he spent a lot of time playing with James after breakfast. James just soaks in every ounce of the attentions his sweet father lavishes on him. I don't blame him. I do too. They watched some cartoons.... Played with Puppy... Played with the feet...we are all a little obsessed with James' feet... Then got a little sleepy and ready for nap time... After his morning nap...more Daddy playtime... Jamesie loves his Daddy...a lot... And one more shot of t...

I finally got everything ready for Christmas and now I can just sit back and relax. All the baking is done. All the gifts are wrapped. Now for the fun! Bean came over tonight and I am sorry to say that this is the only picture I got. I hope to get some better ones on Monday night when we get to meet his lovely girlfriend Lindsay for the first time in person. We've previously met on Skype (am I even spelling that right??? I'm not even sure what it is!) but I am excited to get to see her in real life. And if she is even half as fabulous as Bean says she is than we are in for a real treat!

MAJOR SUCCESS! I applied all of my newly attained rules tonight and James finally ate a great, well-rounded, self-fed meal! With no plate flipping, food throwing, or whining! We put James in his highchair, Brad and I sat down to eat, empty plate on James' tray, and ignored him. Then it happened! He "asked" for some food. I put a few blueberries on his plate, a piece of chicken, some bread, & some carrots. Little by little he ate and asked for more! I was so thrilled I nearly cried. So I rewarded him with a heaping healthy helping of vanilla pudding. His fave. Please Lord let it go this well tomorrow! But this morning was a different story. After he ate his cereal bar I gave him some yogurt. After a few bites I put it on his tray for him to feed to himself. Yeh...not so much. He didn't love it at all. See how abandoned, pitiful and forsaken he looks? Poor baby. Growing up is hard to do. Tonight after dinner Jamesie had a great time with his D...

Today we did our normal Sunday routine...lunch at Mom and Dad's. Fun and delish as always! James played peek-a-boo with Papa. Always a winner! And Papa took some pity on him and broke the no-snack rule. He gave him some fudge, fruit cake and divinity. Papa's and Nana's are allowed to do that. But they're the only ones. Then he took a few spins in the toy basket. And by the way...that precious adoring look is aimed at his Papa. But after a day of exiguous eating on James' part, I gave him another full bottle loaded down with vitamins and instant breakfast powder before I put him to bed. I give him those enfamil vitamins that come with a little dropper. In my opinion, the dropper is faulty because it fills up with the vitamins and allows you to accidentally suck up twice as much vitamin as you are supposed to give. So after putting James to bed I read on the side of the vitamin bottle the warning that says the leading cause of death by overdose among child...

Tonight was a fabulous night! My parents kept James for the evening so Brad and I could go to church together...well, to the service. We always are at church together but we don't usually get to sit in the service with each other. Anyhow, it was a wonderful message about salvation. Tommy finished up a 5 part series of 5 Thing To Do Before You Die. If you want to hear it...check it out here . And although I've heard the salvation message more times than I can count, it is always good to hear again and to be reminded of our Savior's sacrifice for us and that even though I don't deserve His forgiveness and grace, I've got it. And let me tell you...I need a Savior. Everyday. Because of God's overwhelming kindness to me, I get to enjoy His peace, love, forgiveness and eternal life. Ephesians 2:8 You were saved by faith in God, who treats us much better than we deserve. This is God's gift to you, and not anything you have done on your own. ~~~~~ Yes...

Tonight was the Chris Tomlin concert at our church. Both Brad and I worked at it but we also got to see some of the concert and it was awesome. However, the real highlight of the concert for me was a girl named Audrey Assad who sang Winter Snow and was massively awesome and amazing. This is her... I went straight out to the lobby and bought her cd for $5. $5!!!! She needs to charge more in my professional opinion. Love love love her voice. And she said that people from Texas are always nice...which is true...so I think she is probably a very lovely person herself.

Everywhere I look people are popping out babies. First Karin had Lauren on Saturday and then our good friends, Miah and Amber , had this delicious little delight of a baby today. Sawyer Kate. How precious is that!?!? And how much do you love the little gerber baby curl on the top of her sweet head? Oh my soul! Brad, James and I went up to see them at the hospital today and Brad should really know better than to let me be around newborns so much. Until I get in bed at night and think about NOT having to get up in the middle of the night to see what all the screaming is about and about NOT stuffing cabbage leaves into my bra....but that is another story entirely. One I am almost certain you don't want to hear. Miah and Amber have been friends with Brad for forever. They are so dear. And the most gracious, hospitable, accepting people you've ever met. I was all sorts of wigging out when I had James and didn't want anyone within a million feet of him unless they had b...