Learning to Swim AND Potty Train!

Well....we still have a lot of work to do on potty training! Jacob has gone in the potty several times now (I think 6 times now!), but no bowel movement yet. We've also had a couple of accidents on the bathroom floor. He doesn't really understand that he's going, but he sure loves the praise we give him and the stickers he gets afterwards, and the little horn that goes off from his construction truck potty chair!

As for swimming, he just finished up his 3rd week of swimming lessons. He is doing swimming lessons through Infant Aquatics (similar to ISR). The lessons are survival-based, and he is learning to swim-float-swim.

He did so well the first 2 weeks, but this past week we had sort of a setback. He just got so fearful all of a sudden and his fear was hindering his learning. It was starting to affect what he's learned so far, so his teacher and I decided it might be best for me to get back in the water with him so he can rest his anxieties.

Sure enough, when I got back in the water with him yesterday he was swimming like a superstar! It's incredible to watch! His little feet are kicking up behind him as he swims underwater. He's also able to turn himself over onto his back and then again back to his belly, but we're trying to get him to float longer on his back. So far he's not really loving the floating on the back thing too much. He gets so nervous and starts crying and ends up swallowing tons of water.

Here are some pictures of him and his buddy, Malakai, who is also taking lessons at the same place as Jacob. Their lessons are one-on-one, but Malakai goes right before Jacob. They are loving their suckers they got as a reward for swimming so good!

Blessings, Blessings!

As many of you already know, Derek and I found out recently that we are going to be having another baby! I had my first sonogram a week ago from today, and the doctor confirmed baby's heartbeat and said everything looks great. My due date is December 12th, so Jacob and his little sibling will be just over 2 years apart!

This came as quite a surprise to us. We were talking about holding off on trying for a baby for when Jacob turned 2. We really weren't expecting this to happen so soon, but we are very happy.

To be completely honest, though, I feel very convicted of my response to this pregnancy. Let me explain. With Jacob, we had tried for 2 grueling years to have a baby, we had 2 miscarriages during the process, tried fertility meds, and looked strongly into adoption (to the point of getting ready to mail off the application when we found out we were pregnant). So when we did finally get pregnant with Jacob, I was absolutely elated! I loved every minute of the pregnancy. I welcomed the morning sickness and every twinge and discomfort. I was so happy to experience it and I knew that God had answered our prayers.

With this pregnancy, however, I feel like I have shown no joy over it. I feel so sick all the time, and let me tell you I am not overjoyed about it! I think about the baby and pray for him or her daily, but I feel like I don't spend even half the time thinking about it like I did with Jacob. Instead I grumble and complain about not feeling well and being so tired all the time.

I guess what has convicted me is this:

Do we only truly show gratitude to God for the prayers He answers? To the gifts He blesses us with that have been prayed for day after day, hour after hour?

Should we not be equally as thankful for the gifts He chooses to bless us with, even if we haven't put in the long hours of prayer for that specific thing?

I don't want to mislead anybody. I am overjoyed about this baby. The Lord knows I want a whole house full of children (well, not exactly. Maybe just 4)! But I do want to appreciate every single aspect of this pregnancy like I did with Jacob. I need to see it how James says it in James 1:2 - "Count it all joy when you face trials of many kinds". This isn't really a trial so to speak, but it is a trial to put on a smile when I'm not feeling well. And I need to see this as what it truly is - a blessing beyond more than we could have ever asked or imagined.

I am so thankful that we didn't have to go through the heartache of conceiving that we did before. Our Lord is so faithful, and I will make every effort to praise Him even when I'm puking! I can't wait to meet this little one.

Happy Easter!

I know this is a little late, but I couldn't not post something about Easter last weekend.

Easter is my most favorite holiday. Yes, I absolutely love Christmas, but Easter is so special because that is the day we rejoice in the death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour!

Each night we read Jacob a Bible story out of his Children's illustrated Bible. The week leading up to Easter, we read each story that lead up to Christ's actual death and resurrection. Well, when we got to the story about His death (which wasn't graphic - only showed the bottom of the cross with Jesus' feet), Jacob got so upset. He saw the people at the bottom of the cross that were crying, and his little eyebrows got so crinkled up and he started pouting. Derek and I told him that there was good news, though, and then we read him the story where Jesus was alive. He seemed to relax after seeing all the people were happy again, but it will take some time before he can actually grasp the meaning of this.

I pray that our son will fully grasp this awesome news one day. I pray that he will see how much God loves him and that He died for him, and I pray that he will dedicate his life so early to the Lord. I pray that he will follow Him and love Him with every ounce of his little body, and I pray that he does mighty things for God's kingdom.

Here are some pictures from last weekend. On Saturday, we went and played in a field of bluebonnets. Then on Sunday we had family time with both sets of families. It was a wonderful weekend!

Dinner at Our House

So, last night I made King Ranch Casserole for dinner along with a cornbread casserole. It took me about an hour to prepare the whole thing, and then both dishes baked in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour.

For those of you don't know what King Ranch Casserole is, it is a chicken casserole with red and green bell peppers, chopped onions, crushed tortilla chips, diced tomatoes w/ green chiles, cream of chicken and cream of mushroom soup, and obviously, diced cooked chicken. It is absolutely divine! So very tasty with just the right amount of flavors mixed together. And with the cornbread casserole as a sidekick, it is taste bud heaven!

Or so I thought.

Jacob absolutely hated it! He kept saying "No!" when we tried to get him to eat. We kept trying to persuade our little man that if he tasted it he would like it (as if you can reason with a 17-month old).

We finally got him to taste a few bites, but kept trying to get him to have more. He finally took his last bite and then he started gagging.

And then he gagged some more.

And then some more, and before we knew it he was puking up his whole dinner! So gross.

I guess he really didn't like that dinner. = ) Derek and I enjoyed our's, though, so I plan on making it again. We'll just make some chicken nuggets I guess for Jacob next time.

There is a positive note to this story. We happened to put his large bib on him before dinner that has the pouch at the bottom of it. Well, when he disposed of his dinner, the bib came in very handy - if you know where I'm getting at!

Do you have any similar stories that your kids (or you) have done?

Roof Dog Trip 2009

As many of you know, I had the opportunity to travel to Arequipa, Peru with my mother-in-law and a group from her church. We traveled from February 14th-22nd, and it was an absolutely amazing experience.

I went on my first mission trip when I graduated High School and ever since then I have had such a "tugging" to go back on more mission trips. I never really had the super strong urge until recently and I found out from Toni that I was able to go with her church. After much prayer, I decided to go.

For the week while we were there, we just spent that time loving on these beautiful kids. There are a total of 28 orphans split into two orphanages. The "casa" for the older kids (13 and older) is called Sagrada Familia, and the younger "casa" is San Jose. Both of these orphanages are overseen from an amazing couple from Christ Church Plano who moved down there to be closer to the work. CCP has built the orphanage for the kids and are actually in the process of looking to build another, sturdier, orphanage. They also run fundraisers and drives to raise money for the kids.

Many of the precious children came from horrible backgrounds, but I believe the Lord is taking these terrible pasts and transforming them in to beautiful stories. When we were down there it was so awesome to hear the dreams and goals these kids have. Many of them wouldn't open up or trust anybody in past years, but this year they seemed to be more trusting of the Roof Dogs.

I guess I owe you an explanation of where the Roof Dog name came from. In that part of Peru, the dogs sleep on the roofs in order to protect the home. Their sole purpose is to watch over their house and family and protect them fiercely. Well, on the very first Roof Dog trip 5 years ago, a few of the people in the group climbed up to the roof of the hotel we stay at every year. When they were up there, they had the revelaton that they were Roof Dogs in a way, sent there to protect the kids of the Casas Hogares and show them Christ's love.

Anyways, it was such a great week. To make this post a little less long, I will just give a brief synopsis of what we did. We reiterated over and over how much God loves them and treasures them. We did a ton of crafts, making picture frames, beaded necklaces, shields, etc. One "Roof Dog" is a hair stylist, and she used her gifts to cut every single one of the children's hair while we were there. What a blessing! The kids loved it! We also took them horse back riding, took them to the park, and even got to take them to see a movie! (Never thought we'd get the chance to do that!)

We also brought clothes, shoes, and backpacks for the kids. That was a lot of fun. It was awesome because we had to guess on the sizes. We were off only on 1 kiddo - all the others fit great! How's that for a God-thing?

Last but not least, another Roof Dog and I had the privilege to share our testimonies with the older kids. I really felt I needed to share mine, but at the same time it felt so insignificant to her's. It's awesome how God works, though, doesn't it? I know that He used both of our words to connect to the kids, on different levels, but on very crucial areas.

I can't wait to go back next year, God willing! Daniella and me - she captured my heart right from the start!

Julio Cesar with the new shoes he picked out.

Me and the Roof Dogs teaching the kids "Pharaoh, Pharaoh" - this was part of the VBS we did.

Daniel, Angela, and Areleis - beautiful, beautiful girls

Oh my goodness, sweet Juan Diego! Love him so much!

I know, I know. It's been over 4 months since I last wrote on our blog. What can I say other than I have been swept away in a whirlwind of activity since Jacob turned 1! The last time I blogged, I showed pictures from his first birthday. Now he is a full-of-energy, steals-my-heart, goofball of a 16-month old! I am incredibly in love with our little son. He makes his daddy and I laugh so hard at times.

His latest kick now is shouting out "COW" as soon as we get on 380 in eager anticipation of seeing cows on the sides of the road. I'm sure if he wasn't bucked in to his carseat his face would probably be plastered up against the window looking for those huge black and/or white animals he loves so dearly.

On another note, I have a confession. Some of you know I took child development classes in college and I swore up and down that I would not let my child watch TV until he was 3. Well.......first it started with only 15 minutes of Sesame Street here and there. Now, I definitely let him watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I can't help myself. It keeps him distracted so I can prepare dinner or clean the dishes. I now say fervently I will never judge another mom ever again. It's funny how our pre-conceived notions before children turn out after we do have children. I don't think it makes any of us "bad" parents - we just learn through experience what works and what doesn't. And getting to see the look of glee on Jacob's face as he's doing the "Hot Dog Dance" is worth more than words can say! He bops his little heiny up and down and says "hot-da" "hot-da" over and over and over again - it is the cutest thing I've ever seen!

Okay, I have to run to wake him up now. I will post more later - there's tons to catch you up on!!

Happy Birthday, Punkin'!

Jacob just turned 1 on Sunday, October 26th! Can you believe a year has gone by already? It feels like yesterday that he was just in my belly trying to kick his way out.

As I reflect on this past year, I keep thinking of just one word to describe how we feel: utterly and totally blessed. What more can we ask for? God has blessed us beyond anything we could have asked or imagined! Many of you know how we yearned for a child, but what we got from our Jacob is more than we could have ever thought it could be. I may sound a wee bit corny, but he is absolutely the sunshine of my day! He is such a happy and fun baby, and Derek and I just love to laugh at (I mean with, of course) him. He is such a ham and truly captivates us. And he really is such a lover - he loves to cuddle and hug and sometimes kiss, although he plays it cool with me. He only kisses me occasionally, but he freely doles kisses out to everybody else!

What amazes me the most after having Jacob is the revelation of how much our God really loves us. I mean, if Derek and I love Jacob so incredibly much, this tells me how much our Father in Heaven loves us. He loves us so much, even those of us who want nothing to do with Him. That breaks my heart to think about . I couldn't imagine Jacob not wanting anything to do with us one day. How does that make our Lord feel when His children turn away from Him?

I just pray every day that Jacob will love God and obey Him and follow His Word. I pray that He is molding the perfect, Godly wife for him one day, and that together they will do mighty things for the kingdom.

I love this sweet baby boy, and I am so excited for this next year to come! Here are just a couple of photos from his birthday party. We had a costume party since his birthday is so close to Halloween. I wish I could post more, but there are too many to choose from!