Super Baby Take 2

There are many words you could use to describe our youngest child Ellis. Big, free, funny, passionate, emotional, smart, sweet, wild...and the list goes on. He has done some funny/incredible things lately I'd like to remember. Therefore I'm writing a second post entitled Super Baby. We'll go in order of Events.

Event one...Ellis is approximately 14 months old at the time. Tony and I and some friends are sitting around talking, laughing, etc. Someone says, "Hallelujah!" Then what do we hear? The word Hallelujah come clearly out of a 14 month olds mouth. He went from ball, cookie, hi, Mommy, to Hallelujah. The word has yet to be repeated as clearly as it was.

Event two... I had heard a family tradition from a friend and decided I would like for it to be one of our family traditions. The tradition goes that on Christmas morning the first thing you do is take baby Jesus out of the manger and hide him in the house. Why hide baby Jesus you ask? Isn't it all about Him. Well... you hide baby Jesus but the first thing you do in the morning is look for him. When you find him you place him back in the manger singing Joy to the World! And Jesus and his birthday is restored and the day starts all about Him! This was something we wanted to start right away and was probably one of the things I was most excited about on Christmas morning!

When we came out in the morning I showed Abram baby Jesus and explained to him what we were going to do. I told him to close his eyes and then I would hide baby Jesus. Little did I know sweet baby Ellis was paying close attention. At this time...15 months. So Abram is closing his eyes and I hide baby Jesus. When he opens his eyes he begins to look. He looks under blankets, pillows, couches, and doesn't see baby Jesus sitting with all the presents. To humor myself and involve Ellis I asked Ellis, "Where's baby Jesus." Ellis smiles and then walks over to the tree to pick up baby Jesus! We laughed hysterically as we sang Joy to the World and placed baby Jesus back in the Nativity.

Event three...Ellis often hangs out with me while I'm doing laundry. Our washer and dryer our in one of our bathrooms. While I'm transferring and folding he'll sit and play in the clothes, play in and out of the shower, and do whatever to entertain himself. One day while I'm folding he walks over to the toilet and says, "Caca." Caca is the word we use for poop around our home in case anyone didn't catch that. I just looked at him and laughed thinking that was cute. Then he proceeds, "Caca, Please!" I realized that he was insisting on pooping on the toilet. I thought I'd try it out so I grab the potty seat and place him on it. He sits there for a while and then it happens!!! I was shocked! I immediately errupted with joy and praised him for what he had just done! He smiled with his huge grin and began clapping for himself! And then he just kept pooping and peeing on the potty and all was right with the world. I wish. :) I won't tell you what happened after that but he is still not potty trained but will every once in a while do his thing like a big boy.

Lastly for now... I've been trying to teach him to say I love you. We're doing the point to your eye, cross your heart, and point to who you love. He won't do the eye part or the point to who you love part but he crosses his heart, says love, and smiles. It warms my heart every time. Especially when you don't tell him to do it. It's a funny thing though because Abram always did the eye and the point part but forgot the love. Our love for them is continuing to grow deeper and deeper and it's exciting when we get a glimpse of their love for us as well.

That's all for now for the Super Baby! I'm sure more posts will come!

The Terrell Family

Please pray for some of our friends who are currently in Ethiopia visiting their little boy Xander!!! They are on their first trip to Court. We are praying they are passed and will get to go back to get their little man soon. The Terrell Family. This is a picture of Abram and their daugher Hadley as the Ringbearer and Flower girl in a wedding this past December!

Preschool...what a gift.

One thing I love about Abram's preschool on top of the teachers, the kids, the location, and the curriculum. I love teacher gifts. I love to make crafts and give gifts and I'm thankful that there are many holidays to be able to come up with teacher gifts for his teachers. Thus far we've been able to give thankful spiced tea jars, Christmas frames and Candy, and Rolo Cookies for Valentine's Day. I'm excited to come up with aka "google" more ideas for future gifts. And I love watching Abram hand his teacher a gift and give them a big hug.

On top of teacher gifts Abram's preschool has been a huge blessing to him and us. It has helped him verbally, socially, and gives him something to look forward to. Every time I pick him up from school he gets in the car saying, "more school, more school!" And then we count down the days until he gets to go again.

There are a couple memories I don't want to forget about his preschool. One was the first time he actually said something at Show and Tell. I had been putting random toys in his backpack to take to school for participation but the thought hadn't dawned on me to put something in his bag he could actually say. That was until he was given a stuffed cat. At first I wasn't sure what we'd be doing with that stuffed cat but I did notice every time Abram picked it up he said cat. So one day I decided to put the cat in his backpack to take to school for the day.

When I picked him up from school that day I could tell there was an excitement in the air. One of his teachers came up to me to tell me what had happened at Show and Tell that day. Abram stood up as usual, took his item out of his back pack and then he spoke! Cat!!! His teacher said all the kids cheered with excitement when Abram was able to say what was in his bag!!! It was a great victory for Abram that day and all the kids were happy to share the experience with him. Since then his vocabularly has widely expanded and now we can put more than just a cat in his backpack. Even though it might just be a car Abram is still able to fully participate in Show and Tell!

Another special moment was when I took Abram late to school one day. I will admit we are late everyday but this day was a little later than normal. When we walked in some boys saw that Abram was late and immediately ran over and hugged his neck! They were surrounding him and hugging him so much he wasn't even able to take off his jacket. They were telling him they missed him and were glad he was there today. And then asked him to come with them to play trucks. It warmed my heart. It's hard sometimes when I pick him up from school because I want to know everything he did and what he thinks about things. But our conversations are still very limited. When I saw those boys hug him and talk to him the way they did it gave me a comfort and ease that he was loved and loved those boys in return.

At first I wasn't sure if preschool was for us or the way to go but for now it is a wonderful blessing to the Wells family and I'm excited for more memories to share!

Happy Birthday Ellis!

Ellis' birthday was August 26, 2011. As scheduled I'm writing a blog post about it almost 2 months later. That's when I get around to things these days. I hadn't thought much about children's birthday parties until someone told me I needed to have a party for him. I knew that I wanted to but for some reason it hadn't dawned on me that his birthday was coming up soon when they had mentioned the thought of a party.  Within a day I had decided when, where, and what type of party we were having. Even though we were keeping it small I became extremely excited when I realized I now had a new reason to craft, decorate, and plan an event which are all three things I thoroughly enjoy. After much researched I settled on a cheerio theme for Ellis' party.

Some things to remember about the party were:
 1.) Many invitations came back in the mail due to lack of postage.
2.) When they came back I decided to open one and realized the cheerios that were apart of the invitation were now dust that exploded in your face when you opened the invite.
3.) Due to Ellis' potential of not quite being of age he didn't know what to do with or really enjoy his cake. In fact he became so overwhelmed with everyone starring at him he threw a fit in his seat. The only way I got him to smile for the picture was to tickle his feet.
4.) We sang Happy Birthday to him in the bathtub because it is a place he is always happy!
5.) Somewhat ironic but he never has and still doesn't like Cheerios. :)

It was so much fun thinking and decorating for this party and now I'm excited to start planning for Abram's 4th birthday coming up in November! The party planning will probably happen sporadically a week or maybe two before the party. Anyway, enjoy some pictures from the party in August!

Hallelujah! What a Savior.

This past weekend Tony and I had the privilege to spend in Gatlinburg with many college students from the ministry he works for. It was a refreshing getaway to go to the mountains, be with friends, and meet with the Lord. Throughout the weekend were several sessions that included games, a talk, and worship. This weekend I was reminded of what happened in my life several years ago when God called me out of the darkness (enslaved to sin) and brought me into his light (freedom in Christ). The talks were good, and the fellowship as well but I was mostly reminded through a song.

It seems with the busyness of mothering lately that I am mostly reminded of the gospel through songs. I heard a new or possibly old hymn for the first time this weekend and cannot stop thinking about the lyrics. If my heart could cry out a song this is what it would be. I can't listen to it without tears coming to my eyes and without wanting to shout in thankfulness and gratitude to the God who saved me from my sin and calls me righteous through his son. I cannot even fathom the undeserved love and mercy He has poured onto my life. How I wish everyone could understand this song in the way God has graciously allowed me to understand it. You can either read the lyrics below or listen to Hallelujah, What a Savior. Hallelujah is used to express praise or joy.

Man of Sorrows what a Name

For the Son of God who came

Ruined sinners, to reclaim

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Buried shame and scoffing rude

In my place, condemned he stood

He sealed my pardon with his blood

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Guilty, vile, helpless me

Spotless lamb of God was he

Full atonement can it be

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Lifted up was he to die

It is finished, was his cry

Now in heaven exalted high

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

When He comes a glorious King

Oh his ransom home to bring

Then a new this song we'll sing

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Super Baby

Most parents probably think they're child is extra special, really smart, and does crazy things that other babies don't do. Well, let me join the club. I honestly think Ellis is a baby genius. It could be because in a matter of 4 months he has gone from not being able to roll over to almost walking. He went from making little coo sounds to repeating words. The poor babe only had formula his whole life and is now eating veggie soup out of a spoon. And this not so little one has almost doubled his height, weight, and head size. Now this might happen with all babies in a matter of 4 months but that's a big shocker to me. I can't believe that when I brought my baby home he was wearing 3-6 month clothing and is now 12-18 months. Sometime's I'm self conscience about the rapid growth rate of my child and wonder...am I feeding him to much. But, he's a cutie, and he's solid, and tough, and fun, and he just needed a little jump start on life.

I started to notice his genius at his 12 month appointment. There were several animals on the walls at the Dr's office and I was trying to get Abram to repeat the animal sounds after me. I then noticed Ellis was saying them. His first word was Night, Night. His second word...Cat. Later came Mama and Dada. His vocabulary has now also expanded to ball, Nana, and choo choo. It's been fun to see this little man grow but Ellis! could you slow down just a little. I'm really enjoying this little baby stage or small child stage of life and would like to keep it that way at least for a couple of weeks. I'm not ready to change out your clothes again or to begin chasing you around the house. But whatever happens, we love this little boy and are so thankful for his life! Here's to our Super Baby!!!

After writing this today I forgot to mention he can give hugs, kisses, and wave and say hi to strangers. :) Loving this crazy baby.

Our Son is a Warrior

I've decided not to give up on the blogging world even though I haven't written in almost 3 months. We have been busy to say the least. A good busy and I'm going to try to get back to blogging...although no one may longer read this. Anyway, here is a blog I started in July that I decided to finish 2 months later. ENJOY!

This past week at church was Vacation Bible School. We were excited to get to spend the week with our church family and were also hoping it would get Abram a little more used to being in the nursery at church. As of now he doesn't necessarily like when we leave him anywhere but he's getting used to the idea and now knows we're coming back. I would vote this past week at VBS a success. I think he made a few friends and really enjoyed his time. One thing we learned from this past week is that he has no reservations and will do anything. We've also learned that he is very protective of his family and we've deemed him a warrior.

Tony, another man John, and I were put in charge of the story time for the 2-6 year olds for the week. Due to Tony and John's humorous and creative personalities it was a fun, wild, and crazy week. I don't think they looked at the actual script at all but they made the stories very real and interactive for the kids. One night in particular was the story of the Good Samaritan. Tony was the man beat up on the side of the road and John played all of the characters that passed him by. The scene started with Tony moaning and groaning and dressed as if he'd been beaten. This may have been slightly intense for the young children and we know it was for the few that were crying but most of the kids just seemed intrigued. As the scene goes on the priest passes him by, then the Levite. The children were all yelling stop, stop but as the story goes the men just passed up poor, beaten Tony. Next comes the Good Samaritan. Dressed as a super hero he makes his grand entrance and then heads over to help Tony.

As he reaches Tony and begins to perform CPR, give him a shot, and do all of these things to make him better we hear a loud scream come from the audience. The scream was followed by a small child who jumped out of his seat, shoved all others aside, and ran to the good Samaratian. He then proceeded to push the good Samaritan until he no longer lay hold of Tony. It was our son Abram, the warrior. He had come to save his Dad. With a big hug and smile on his face his father was saved and all was right with the world.

What I love most about this story is how Abram had nothing holding him back. He saw his Daddy needed help and he didn't care who was around, no one would stop him from getting to his Father. This was a fist pumping time for his Dad and I. We were so proud of our courageous little boy and were excited to see his love come out. He couldn't yet say it but we could see it without words. That is why we've deemed him our little warrior!