Please Pray

I would ask that you would please pray for a couple that use to go to our church. They have since moved to Ohio. Amanda & Billy are the parents. They have one little girl, Ava, who just turned 2 & a little boy on the way, Wyatt, who is due in March. They just found out that little Wyatt has a very rare genetic disorder called polycystic kidney disease that is often fatal. They were both tested & found out they were both carriers of it so they will not be having any more children. Amanda is about 22 years old and Billy is about 29. Amanda always said she wanted to have a whole housfull of children. So, as you can imagine, they are devastated. They are also going to have Ava tested to see if she has it. So, please just keep them in your prayers. Thanks.

Here is a picture of Ava & Wesley back in February.

 

For some reason this pic did not work when I tried to post it in the last post, so here it is.

 

Wesley is really getting to where he talks almost nonstop now. He memorizes all the books we read to him & loves reading them back to us. He can sing his abc's and count to about 20. My dad said when he was going on a walk with him on Christmas, he stopped at a stop sign, and said "stop," & pointed to every letter and spelled out S-T-O-P. The other day, Wesley was eating lunch & I was sitting at the table with him while I was feeding Luke his bottle. Alot of times Wesley will say, "Look baby Luke, I'm eating." Well, when he said it this time I said, "Baby Luke is eating too," to which Wesley replied, "No, he's not eating, he's drinking." He told me! He got one of those John Deere tractor's for christmas that's battery operated. Well, he was telling me how he wanted to go outside and ride it. I said, "You want to go outside & ride your tractor." He said with a confused look on his face,"no, its not a tractor, its a JOHN DEERE tractor." He told me again.

Luke slept for the longest he ever has on christmas eve night. He slept from 11 to 7 and then christmas night he slept from 11 to about 5:30. I'm going to start trying here, probably in January, to start putting him down about 7:30 or 8, to try to get him on a schedule. He's still in the room with us. I moved Wesley out at 3 months, which now, I can't believe I moved him out that early. Well, I'll probably move Luke out at about 4 or 5 months.

I just had to post this picture of Luke and his mohawk. I tried to get Wesley to look and when he did, the camera delayed, as it always does.

 

Christmas

We had a good christmas day. My mom,dad,grandma, & uncle were at our house. Wesley is starting to enjoy it more & more now & starting to understand it more too. I don't think he quite understands the fact that it is Jesus' b-day. We sang happy b-day to Jesus & Wesley looked real confused as to why we were singing happy birthday to someone who wasn't "physically" here. It will probably take a while for him to understand it completely, but I know it will be something that he always remembers.

Wesley went ice skating for the first time the week before christmas at a park we have here called "the parks at chehaw." He was very reluctant at first but once he got out there, he loved it. My dad was out there holding his hand(he didn't skate but had his tennis shoes on).I went also, & hadn't been in years, so I had to get the hang of it, but still wasn't completely as confidant as I use to be. We also went on a train ride afterwards but Wesley said he would rather skate than go on a train ride. When he said that, I knew he really loved it. Not many things can compete with a train ride.

At a christmas parade. Luke was all bundled up b/c it was very cold.

 

Wesley & my dad ice skating. It was warm outside & of course had to be cold in the area the skating was to keep the ice from melting, thus creating the fog around it.

 

This is of Wesley and his new tractor he got from pa & grandma. He was giving Tiger a ride.

 

In our backyard. It's very hard to get a family picture of both boys looking at the camera.

 

Luke's dedication

We dedicated Luke to the Lord last Sunday. Mark's mom & dad were here,my mom & dad, & my grandma. Brother Gillespie dedicated him, our associate pastor. He actually married my parents back in 1978 so we've known him for many years. My dad and Mark's dad actualy dedicated Wesley, but we thought it would be meaningful for brother Gillespie to do it. He's a special man. Here are some more pics.

This is of Wesley in Moultrie, Ga. riding the ponies.

 

Pops, Wesley, & Luke. As you can see, Wesley was not in the mood to have his picture taken.

 

My grandma,ma,holding Luke. This was the first time she had seen him.

 

Luke getting dedicated by brother Gillespie.

 

Adventures in pottytraining

Last week, we got home one night from somewhere, & Wesley told me he had to go pee pee. So, I asked him if he wanted to go sit on his potty and he said yes. He was very enthusiastic about it. So, he went to sit down and immediately peed. We were so excited and made a real big deal out of it. We gave him candy, stickers, he even got to push a button that plays music as a reward. Well, he seemed happy and I keep telling him if he starts going, he can wear big boy underwear with CARS, Thomas, or Go Diego on them. We even looked at them at Target one day. Well, now he gets real upset if I ask him if he needs to go sit on his potty. He says, "don't go potty anymore." He doesn't like having a wet diaper and can't stand having a dirty one. I guess he's just going to have to go when he's ready. Either that or he'll still wearing diapers when he's 18. Here's Wesley giving a thumbs up right after he went.

 

We had a good Thanksgiving. Mark's mom & dad came Wednesday night and stayed through Sunday afternoon. While they were here, Mark & his dad worked on a swingset for Wesley,& Luke, in the backyard. (I always tell Wesley its not just his but also Luke's in hopes that it will prevent future fights). Actually, it was a used one from someone at our church and just needed to be fixed up a little. That night, we went to Moultrie, Ga. for their christmas celebration in the downtown area. They have it every thanksgiving night. They have pony rides, santa, santa's reindeer, and a bunch of light displays. The line to sit on santa's lap was ridiculously long so we didn't even attempt it. Wesley said he didn't want to sit on his lap anyway. We'll try the mall later:) He also said that he didn't want to ride the ponies but as we were about to leave, he decided he wanted to. Here's Wesley ringing the bell on his new swingset.

 

Thursday night, after I had read Wesley his books and tucked him in for bed, I heard him saying "mommy,mommy," over and over again. So, I went in his room and he said "made a big mess." I turned on the light and he had thrown up all over his bed, his stuffed animals, everything. He has never done that before. He has had a few upset stomach's since he's been born but not this much. He hadn't wanted to eat hardly anything that day. So, Mark and I cleaned up everything and he woke up at 4:00 with a REALLY BAD diaper. He never threw up again but had diarrhea and a bad diaper rash from it. It's getting better now. It's never fun when their sick.

Here's Luke laying on our palm tree pillow.

 

Mark, his mom, & Luke in Moultrie.

 

Flu shots

We all got our flu shots on Tuesday, except Luke, who is still too young. You have to be at least 6 months. Wesley did real good and cried just a little until he got stickers and a sucker, then he was fine. Every once in a while during the day he would whine and say it hurt. Then he wanted me to kiss it and he would be fine. Kissing his boo boos always seems to work.

Well, its starting to get really cold now. Even though I don't particularly like cold weather, it makes me get more in the "holiday spirit and mood." Pops and Nana(mark's parents), are coming down for thanksgiving this year. Then, that Sunday we are going to have Luke dedicated. I'm sure I'll have some pictures to post of that. We're having a thanksgiving dinner at our church this sunday, which we do every year. This time of year always seems to be so hectic, crazy, and busy(I couldn't think of just one good word for it)! I think we have something going on every week in december. I ask myself, is all of this in celebration of Jesus's birth or something else? I always tell Wesley that all the christmas decorations are for Jesus's birthday. Now, whether that's true or not for some people, I think its very important for us to instill in him, at such a young age,& Luke too, the true meaning of Christmas.

Wesley before church one Sunday morning.

 

I posted in an earlier post of Wesley in the washer. He has always been hesitant to get in the dryer for some reason. He finally was brave enough to risk it :)

 

I could not belive that Wesley put his arm around Luke for me to take a picture. I was so happy.

 

I thought this was so funny how Wesley is looking at Luke. He is like "that's enough."

 

Alot has happened since my last post. We went trick or treating on halloween and had a great time. I don't know who had more fun, Mark and I or Wesley. Luke came along too but slept the whole time. Our church had a fall festival and had a bunch of games and stuff like that. I went on the hay ride with Wesley, which he really enjoyed. His favorite things were the bouncy thing with a slide, and the putt-putt game. We also went to our local fair here Thursday night and had a great time. My dad watched Luke and then our friend from church came and watched him the rest of the time, so my dad wouldn't have to travel home late. This is the first year where he could really ride all the kiddie rides.

Luke had his 2 month check up today and got his first shots, which I hate. He is not a big crier, and when he does cry, its just a little cry here and a little cry there. Well, today was the most I had ever heard him cry. I felt so sorry for him. I hope he doesn't have any major side effects from it. Well, anyway, we were shocked to see that Luke weighed 15lb. 4oz and was 24 1/2 inches! Wesley, at 2 months weighed 13lbs. 8oz. and was 24 inches. So, Luke is heavier than Wesley was at this age and just a half an inch taller. He's a big boy. Here are some recent pics.

Luke in a hat that use to be Wesley's.

 

Wesley on a ride at the fair.

 

I'm making a sound here that always makes his eyes get big & he looks all around, wondering where its coming from.

 

Thumbs up on the ferris wheel.

 

Halloween Costumes

I just had to write about this. I've seen several news stories this year about halloween costumes for little girls and teen girls becoming "too sexy." I'm dumbfounded at the absolute stupidity, yes stupidity of people who make costumes for this age group. Now, I don't agree with grown women wearing these costumes out in public either but right now, I'll just talk about young girls. There is so much wrong with this that I don't know where to begin. People wonder why we have so many sex offenders, child predators, rape, & child pornography. Duh! Because this kind of mess continues to go on. No wonder some grown men are attracted to little girls b/c they are not even allowed anymore to be "little girls." Women now are suppose to look like girls and girls are suppose to look like women which means there's a hard distinction between what is a child and what is a grown-up. It's also going to put in young girls minds that they are always trying to impress men and that if they wear a certain thing, no matter the age of the man, he will think she's cute thus resulting in the possibility of dire consequences, i.e.,rape.

I know that this is an issue that I'm sure God is very, very sad about. God did not create women to be mere sex objects, but women are created in the image of God. Is this what the image of God looks like? Women are called to a higher calling than this and I wish that all women, & men for that matter, everywhere could take a stand against mess like this. In the meantime, I guess the only thing we can do is to pray. It's as simple as that, pray.

More Pics

This is Luke after his bath.

 

Wesley carving his first pumpkin. We didn't do it last year. Note how his face looks after touching the gooey pumpkin for the first time.

 

A very rare picture of them together.

 

Luke.

 

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the Pumpkin Patch when my mom & dad were here on the 21st, which happened to be their 30 yr. anniversary. We had a fun time but Wesley just will not take any still pictures whenever they are here. I always have to get him in action. I was hoping to get some pictures of the family and him and Luke, but that didn't happen. Anyway, here are some of the ones I got.

Me & Luke

 

Luke in the pumpkins.

 

Mark & I.

 

Wesley sliding down the slide at the playground they had there.

 

Day Out with Thomas & birthday

Well, today is my 29th birthday and I had a really good day. Mark has been very sweet. He took today off just to be home for my birthday. He would have fixed me a cake and supper, but I'm on a diet & trying to lose the rest of what I gained with Luke. I don't feel 29 and still feel like I'm in my early 20's. Only one more year to be in my 20's. I use to think that people in their 30's were not old, but not young anymore. Now, I think being in your 30's is still young, don't you?

We went on a day out with Thomas on the 17th. We all had fun. Wesley loved riding the tram ride I think more than he did riding the actual Thomas train. I think his favorite thing was playing with the train tables they had there of thomas. He could have played there all day. When we were on the train, he was actually saying he wants to get off and play with the trains. I'm like, great, we just payed almost $20 a ticket and you want to get off. That shows that just the simplest of things are most of the time better than things that cost money. While we were there, Wesley played putt-putt, went through a maze made of bails of hay, and jumped on a jumping house thingy. I jumped in it too with him. It was fun. He also enjoyed some cotton candy as we were leaving. Another thing that happend when we were there is that I had to change Luke's dirty diaper. When we are out like that I usually wait as long as I can to change it unless its dirty. So, I went in a porter potty station that they had turned into a baby changing station. It was clearly not very clean in there. So, some of you other moms out there may know how hard it is to get the wipes out of the wipe holder if you have your hands full and with boys, you have to cover them up so they won't pee everywhere. Well, as I was covering him up with one hand and trying to get a wipe out, he somehow managed to pee all over himself and me. When I showed Mark my big huge wet spot on my shirt, he just laughed.

This is our new stroller. It converts to either have 2 full seats or a sit n stand, like it is in the picture where Wesley can sit on a little platform on the back or stand up and hold on. He loves it.

 

This is Wesley in front of Thomas pulling up his shirt for the camera. I think he was acting a little shy when the man was taking his picture and this was his reaction to it.

 

Luke enjoying the train ride.

 

Wesley in a thomas train made entirely of leggos. I think he was waving to the little girl.

 

Perry Fair

We went to the Perry fair last Thursday. We have been talking about it with Wesley for a very, very, long time. We were reminding him of how he rode the rides last year, saw all the animals, and saw fireworks at the end. He was real excited and talked about it for a while. Well, the forecast was calling for "isolated" thunderstorms. On the radar, it had already gone over. So, we decided to go on. We met my mom, dad, Megan, and Violet there. We got there and Wesley was able to see the tractors, ride the sky buckets, with my mom and dad, and ride the paddle boats, with me and my dad(which he really didn't like that much). We ate and soon after it started raining. I don't mean raining a little, I mean really pouring to the point of flooding. Wesley also got to play golf with my dad at a little Home Depot display they had there,which he really enjoyed. He wanted to ride the ferris wheel so bad and also the "care bear" ride. I felt so bad but it really didn't seem to bother him that much. He was just glad that he was with Pa & grandma. So, we all hung out in one of the buildings for a few hours, along with everyone else who was at the fair. We kept waiting for a good time to leave, but it didn't happen. Well, at about 9:30, when we would have left anyway, the rain stopped. It had rained so much that it was flooded at one part of the fairground and we had to walk around it. Water was up to the door of a car that had parked close to ours. We later found out that there was a cloud right over Perry just going round and round. We are going to go to the fair here in Albany in November. I told Mark I won't go if there is even a chance of rain this time. One positive thing about the rain, my dad pointed out, was that maybe that was God's way of protecting someone there. Maybe one of the rides would have injured or killed someone. B/c of the rain, they stopped all of the rides.

Luke is doing good and is growing like a weed. Every once in a while for a feeding, he'll drink 6 ounces. I weighed myself on the scale then held him to see the difference, and he already weighed 12 lbs, which is probably not as accurate as the doctor's office, but still. He is staying awake more during the day, and likes to be held alot and would rather sleep in someone's arms than anywhere else. Thankfully, at night, he's not like that and will sleep in his bassinet. With Wesley, I was very picky about not holding him while he sleeps, so he wouldn't get use to it, but with Luke, I'm more laid back and figure I need to enjoy those moments, even though they might backfire later. We'll break him of it, if we need to, after his first birthday.

We are going to see "A day out with Thomas" tomorrow. Wesley is very excited about it, and so are we. I will post pictures of it later.
Wesley in the washing machine. He likes to help wash clothes and put the clothes in the dryer too.

 

Me, Wesley, and my dad on the paddle boats. They guy that helped us in fell in the water while he was getting our boat. I felt sorry for him.

 

My mom, dad, and Wesley getting off the sky buckts.

 

Wesley on one of the many tractors they had there.