It's Not About Me

Well, we survived The Timothy+Barnabas School! Just kidding, it was really great. For those of you who have never been to Gatlinburg, TN, I say go and visit. This true born and bred 1978 beach bum actually loves the mountains too. This was my fourth time going to this gorgeous, majestic place and Jeremy’s second time. When we weren’t “in session” we would walk the beautiful streets both in the afternoon and at night. It was great to have a “mini-vacation.” And I must admit that the reason I first decided to go was to go see the gorgeous mountains, but God and His great power really and truly worked on my heart as soon as we pulled up to the conference center as to why I was really there. To sum it up, to be students of the ministry. But as the time continued on I also realized that we were there to be a sounding board as well.

My heart really began to break for people. Many of the people who attended this “cool school” were really broken and beat up by there own congregation! And yes, this happens quite frequently. For example, Jeremy and myself met this older couple who were almost in tears because their congregation does not want to change. This older couple wants to reach out to the youth in there city, but the congregation doesn’t want teenagers in their church because they don’t like the way they dress! They don’t like the fact that kids like up-beat, modern sounding music! Ultimately the congregation doesn’t want to get out of their comfort zone to get more people to come to the Kingdom of God! Let me just stress that THIS MAKES ME SICK! No, I don’t always agree with what teenagers wear, but guess what, I am more worried about there souls than I am with the fact that they want to wear jeans to church on Sunday morning. Be thankful that they’re coming! I also pray for myself and Jeremy that this yearning in our hearts never change, and I’m not just talking about kids, but with people everywhere. My prayer is that Christians everywhere will begin to be authentic. That we will not just be the average safe and successful Christian, but instead we will be passionate about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, He’s the only reason we’re here!

I have been reading the book The Bathtub is Overflowing, but I Feel Drained by Lysa TerKeurst. This is one of the best books I have ever read and it’s for mommy’s! Well, this excerpt goes along with what I have been on my soap box about and I thought you might enjoy this....

Unfortunately, we can experience a safe and successful Christian life without being passionate about the Lord. As Christians how do we measure success? In our westernized view, success is measured in ways that are easily quantifiable: how much do you know about God, how much you serve, what public policies you embrace, what kind of Christian friends you have, your spiritual reputation, the kind of money you make, the amount of money you give to God, how few hassles you have in life, how well your kids behave, and how consistent your spiritual routine is. The problem is that all these can be enjoyed without having to passionately walk with God. But our kids, especially our most honest ones, are looking for something more authentic. When it isn’t there, it’s easy for them to be drawn to other options that work against everything we’ve tried to teach them.

This “nugget” really hit home to me. I want to be authentic, and not just for Haley, but for myself. I hope that you too, will live passionately for Christ!

Potty Time

As we have stated before we are in the very early stages of potty training. Every time Haley uses the potty it cracks us both up because she likes to eat, drink and watch T.V. or she likes to hold on to one of her beloved purses. I thought you might enjoy these pics, but just to let you know, these were taken very early in the morning before she had a bath, because I am very big on not allowing my child to look like a rag-a-muffin in public.

Man Of The Year

Jeremy Davidson has been declared man of the year! Yesterday in church I got sick and let me stress puking up vile sick! I think it must have been a 24 hour bug, but bless his soul on the way home he had to stop on the interstate to let me puke some more and then when I got home I was so sick I couldn’t even keep down a popsicle! Every time I would puke, bless his dear soul he would come and get the trash can and empty it out! Kudos, baby, kudos! Because this poor guy can hardly change a poop diaper without puking (even though he does it and does it well)! So how in the world he cleaned up my vomit, took care of Haley (who is the queen of disgusting poop) and didn’t get sick himself I will never know, but God has truly blessed me with a man who is willing to do it all, no matter the sacrifice, especially in the stench department! I Love You Jeremy Davidson!

Sleeping Beauty

Haley-bug caught the cold bug from wee school, so Jeremy and myself decided to let her sleep with me in the bed for a few nights and poor Jeremy would sleep on the couch. Well, the last night she slept in our bed she woke up at around 4:30 am and asked for “foo” (aka food). Well, myself being the loving mommy that I am could not resist my little angel’s request. So we went into the kitchen with the cell phone (to use as light, because our kitchen and living room are connected) and I proceeded to get her a snack. If only I had known what I was getting myself into because an hour later she was HYPER! I finally got her to lay down and when she did she began to rub my back as if she knew how tired I was! She was the sweetest thing even though at one point I was ready to ring her neck! But when she started to rub my back, I melted all over again. She’s by far not the best bed buddy because she likes to sleep sideways on your head (no I’m not exaggerating), but it was all worth it to see how loving she really is in the wee hours of the morning and to see what a sleeping beauty she really is when she actually does go to sleep.

P.S. For all the concerned grandparents out there she is much better now!

Mommy In The Making

Everyday Haley wants to become more and more grown up. In the mornings when she’s taking a bath she likes to bathe herself! Once she’s dressed she likes to put on “her make-up” this consists of playing with my blush brush and then puckering up for some lip gloss (so she thinks anyways). And then she likes to help around the house. She loves to dust, sweep, sort laundry, load and unload the dish washer, straighten out the rug, and even vacuum. Let me stress she loves doing these things and I don’t even ask her to help me! Along with the daily grind of house hold chores, she’s also doing a good job of taking care of her own babies. She likes to change there diapers and potty train them and especially wipe there rear ends! She also likes to feed them, give them a pacifier, and cover them up with blankets. She’s not quite 2 and she’s already got this mommy thing down great! Let’s just hope that the cleaning thing stays with her forever, or at least through her teen years, right?!

Little Shop-Aholic

As me and Jeremy have said before, our Haley-bug is a little shop-aholic! She loves to go to the mall (this includes Macy’s, Belk, Dillards, JC Penny, The Children’s Place, The Gap and Old Navy). She also likes ta-gi (aka Target), Ross, TJ Maxx, and anywhere that sells clothes, shoes and purses! The other day my great friend Wendy, my self and Haley went school/winter clothes shopping for my little angel thanks to the funds of Grandma Jodi! As we would go through the racks of clothes Haley would sift through them as well, making known what she really liked. We then took her into the dressing room to try on the assortment of clothes and that was when the show with her really began! She danced and pranced around admiring herself and our new finds in the mirror, but along with that, making sure that everyone else trying on clothes was looking at her as well! On the way home, Haley passed out with her new purse clutched to her as if it has $1,000,000.00!

As I began to hang up all of her pretty new clothes, it dawned on me how right Jeremy was about my “fascination with polka-dots!” I began to count Haley’s clothes, she has 34 outfits that have polka-dots (this includes clothes she wears now and clothes that will fit her in the winter) and 3 bathing suits with polka-dots! The sad thing is that’s not half of her clothes and she has 2 other bathing suits as well. I feel even worse, because I have not bought her hardly any of these outfits, and only one of the bathing suits! Talk about us being two very spoiled girls!

First Day Of School

Today was Haley’s first day of wee school! Last week Jeremy and myself took her to open house to meet her two teachers Mrs. Glenda and Miss Brittany. At open house she didn’t seemed to overwhelmed, more like “hey, I’m at church, my home away from home, so what else is new?” She did however fall in love with her new bag that wee school provides, and is required to take every time she goes (Tuesday and Thursday mornings). What can I say, she is a girly girl.

Well, this morning we got up and I told her that she was going to school, and it didn’t seem to phase her one bit of course. We got ready and off to school we went. Well, I took her to her classroom (they’re called the ladybugs-too bad for the boys in her class) and she went right in like it was no big deal. Surprisingly, I didn’t even cry, I have been praying about that since I decided to let her go to school. At noon I went to pick her back up and she was still OK. Her poor teachers though, I felt sorry for them, because one of Haley’s classmates cried the entire time, talk about needing some medication, I would have charged some BC Powders to my work account if I were them. I asked her if she had fun and of course she said yes, they even have music class at wee school! And the hilarious thing was she has been trying to sing and do hand movements all day long!

I do wish that her best friend Pearson was in her class, but unfortunately he goes on Monday and Wednesdays instead. For everyone who’s never seen him. He’s cute, blonde, but the by far the biggest kid in the class, where our Haley is definitely the runt of the bunch (she’s just now into 12 month clothes)! Let’s just say that everyone tells us we’re going to have our hands full when she’s a teenager with boys, but we already do, her five best friends are all boys! Pearson (her hugging buddy), Hudson (her ball playing buddy), Mack (she loves to rub his head and call his name), Toby (she makes goo-goo eyes at and calls him Bo-Bee) and Landon (she likes to hold his hand on the bye-bye buggy), Lord Please Help Us! We know that pretty girls turn heads, but our little girl is already breaking necks! Well, hopefully Thursday will go as well as today and she won’t flirt with anyone! That would sure make her Daddy happy!

Ribbons & Bows

Haley has been her usual self and has continued to crack us up daily, but unfortunately Jeremy has had the computer out of town so I couldn’t write to keep a smile on everyone’s face. In the last few weeks Haley has become obsessed with hair bows, but she just calls them bows. She knows exactly where they are in her dresser drawer, and even though she cannot see them, she can get her tiny hands to open the drawer and pull them out. The funny thing is, as soon as she gets out of the bathtub each morning she immediately asks for her bow. The funny thing comes a few minutes later though, because she doesn’t just want one bow in her hair, she wants all 20 of them in her hair. I will sometimes give in and allow her to wear all of them around the house, but I refuse to let her be a pickaninnie out in public.

She has also become so obsessed with bows, that the other night before she went to bed she insisted on sleeping with one in her hair. I picked out a soft headband so that it would be a little more comfortable. With that she also fell asleep with another one in her hand. Well, at around 3:00 am I heard Moooooooooooooomeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! I immediately got up and went into her room. The first thing she said as I entered into her room was “bow!” My prissy little girl realized that her bows were MIA. I informed her that I wasn’t going to fix her hair in the middle of the night. She then found both of them, took them and held on to them with one in each hand and went back to sleep. 

I have learned to be careful for what you pray for, because I didn’t admit this for a long time until after Haley was born, but everyday that I was pregnant, I prayed for a prissy little girl, who had my dimples and Jeremy’s eyelashes, and God went beyond the call of duty and answered all three prayers, especially the prissy part. God please help us when she becomes a teenager!