Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! Having a baby changes the whole dynamic of Christmas and the activities that surround your time as a family. On Christmas Eve we went to Jimmy and MawMaw's (Austin's grandparents) and spent time with all of his extended family, exchanged gifts and of course ate. Lane got his first "Little People" set which was the the barn life with animals and sounds (so cute). On Christmas morning, we got to hang around the house, and Lane got to open his gifts from Santa. Santa brought him his first Tonka truck (one of many, I am sure) and so far he has seemed to enjoy it! He also got the normal array of gifts (clothes, books, and lots of surprises!). I was really excited about what I got for Austin and he seemed to be excited about it as well. I got him "The Game Saver" from Alabama/LSU's game this year. His other gift has not arrived yet so I can not reveal it. He got me a camera (which I was in desperate need of). After Lane's super long nap, we went to Ken and Crystals. There he got his first CAT loader/dump truck. I also got one of my favorite gifts from the in-laws. It is a picture from Jesslyn's wedding that was put together by Courtney Browning. It is absolutely beautiful!

After all the celebrating at the Delano's and we get home, Lane starts vomiting...3 times in a row:(. He was absolutely pitiful. We battled with what we thought was a virus until Monday morning. He was vomiting off and on from Thursday until Monday. He would show signs of improvement, then throw up again. I took Lane to the Doctor on Monday and he thinks that Lane has acid reflux :( I have no idea why all of sudden he starts having acid reflux (he thinks reflux because he had no diaherra, had no other signs of a virus, and was not dehydrated)! Doc put him on prescription Prilosec and is giving it until Friday to show improvement. He had a pretty good day today, but threw up right before I was about to give him his dose for today. I just hope this all gets worked out of his system...very soon!

The Appreciation Room

Lane is now 8 months old (yesterday)! He is so much fun and is such a joy in our lives! He is crawling, plays patty-cake (when he wants to), and is just absolutely into everything! God has truly blessed us with a wonderful, healthy baby boy that brings soooo much joy in our lives!

Well, I have slacked with the Love Dare a little bit. Austin has been super busy with hunters and was out of town earlier this week, but we are reading it when we can. Some of the dares (so far) we already do anyway, so I felt pretty good about our relationship (not that I was questioning it before the book). But I know that I have ALOT of room for improvement, not only in our marriage, but in other relationships as well. Day 6 "Love is not Irritable" is a huge reminder that I need to be more patient, and not so quick to jump to conclusions. I need to listen more and judge less! And I LOVE the analogies and metaphors in Day 7. It reminds me to say more positive things to the people that I love knowing that it is stored in their hearts (Appreciation Room) forever. It is the place that we revisit when we need a little pick me up. So in my mind, it is important to say the positive things that I think to the people that mean so much in my life. Ch. 7 also reminds me that "my spouse is a living, breathing, endless book to be read. Dreams and hopes have yet to be realized." I LOVE THAT! I learn something new about Austin everyday. Who would have thought that the guy that ABSOLUTELY hated Literature and English in college now writes articles for a Hunting magazine and is constantly in search for something new to read! Austin is a very talented man and I enjoy learning about his new endeavors every day! So here is my challenge to any one that reads this...find something new out about your spouse, or about someone special that you love. What you find out, may surprise you and it will give you an opportunity to say something wonderful that will lay on their hearts forever!

8 Months Old

Today is Lane's 8 Month birthday...how time has flown!! He is such a sweet baby boy! He absolutely loves giving hugs and big sloppy kisses! He has gone from the "soldier" crawl to a real crawl and is going after EVERYTHING! Lane is also beginning to play "patty cake". He absolutely loves to be with his Daddy and just laughs at everything Austin does. God has truly blessed us with such a wonderful surprise and I thank my GOd everyday for His gift! Here are a few of his latest pictures...these were taken about a week and a half ago.

Kindness and Clapping

Today was the second day of the "Dare". Our dare was to continue with not being negative toward one another and showing an act of kindness. Austin helped me with supper and he also did part of the cleaning up without me asking him too! I think my act of kindness was actually cooking! Overall we had a great evening together.

After dinner and cleaning up we were playing in the floor with Lane. He was laying on his belly playing, sat up and started clapping! It was the sweetest thing I have seen! Then he caught on that we were making a big deal out of it and would lay on his stomach, sit up, clap and start laughing! He did this over and over for about 10 minutes straight! He brings so much joy into our house! I will try to get his clapping on camera and get some pics posted soon!

I am still trying to figure everything out in the blogging world...

The Love Dare

Everyone knows that I have all the time in the world to spend at the computer...Ha! I've heard about blogging, I have just never taken the time to get into it...so here goes. Last night Austin and I went to Osaka, then Books-A-Million and then to Toys-R-Us (I have a feeling I will be spending alot of time there over the next few years). Dinner was great, Toys-R-Us was fun and at Books-A-Million I challenged Austin to "The Love Dare". We read the first chapter today and were challenged to show patience by not being negative. I think we both succeeded (however we were confused if that included no sarcasm :) There were a couple of times that I did bite my tongue while in the car (a little bit of a back seat driver). I think this book will be interesting and challenging to stay focused on it for the entire 40 days. We are both VERY competitive and enjoy a challenge so hopefully we will stay focused and will enjoy the time reading this book, drawing closer to one another, while keeping God in the center. I will try to keep you updated on how it is going.

I cannot leave without saying something about Lane. He is getting too big, too fast. He will be 8 months old in two weeks! He is moving around like crazy! He is sitting up, can sit up from a lying position, and is doing the "wounded soldier crawl". He is starting to pull up but is still pretty wobbly when doing so. He is such a joy and is so much fun!