Taming a Liger...Unexpected Spiritual Lessons from Napoleon Dynamite

My sweet friend Brandy, gave me this book for my birthday. I will admit right here, right now, that I am a fan of Napolean Dynamite. I believe it is one of those of movies that you either like it or you don't. So when I first read the title I thought, this is so cool! I was interested, however, to find out these "unexpected spiritual lessons."
I started reading this past Sunday when we got back from the mountains. There are 24 short chapters that cover these spiritual lessons. I am now on Chapter 4 and have really enjoyed everything so far. The title of Chapter 4 is called, "Worst day of my life, what do you think?" (anyone that has seen the movie can picture how Napoleon sounds right about now) The authors briefly mention how we tend to shorthand different sayings for stuff like using the word "best" for stuff. I know I tend to use that word a lot for EVERYTHING. Do I really mean that EVERYTHING is better than all the rest? No, it just means that I really like it a lot. In the movie, on Napoleans first day of school, it was the "worst day of his life". I definitely tend to think that about some days but I know that it isn't REALLY the "worst day of my life". Again, it is just a shorthand way to say, "i had a bad day". Next the authors mention how we are conditioned to understand this shorthand and take it for what it really means.
They go on to discuss Job in the Old Testament. It was interesting because Job really had a reason to say "worst day of my life". In one day, Job incurred the following losses:

• All of his oxen and donkeys were stolen by the Sabeans who killed the servants Job had hired to tend the flocks
• All of his sheep and the servants tending them were struck by lightening and killed
• All of his camels were stolen by the Chaldeans, who also killed the servants in charge of them
• All of his sons and daughters were killed when a tornado caused their house to collapse on them

The bible says that Job responded like this, Job 1:21-"He said, I came naked from my mother's womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!"

When I read that, I am always so amazed at how he can just say something like after all of those horrible things happened to him. It is also a great reminder of how we need to hand all of our worries and fears over to God. Peter says it in 1 Peter 5:7-"Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you." Can you imagine if we tried to carry all of our worries and concerns ourselves? We would buckle under the burden!

I thought I would share this today because it really spoke to me. So often, we praise God and enjoy our relationship with him when we are having "the best day ever". It is not so often that we praise Him we are having "the worst day ever". This is definitely something I need to work on. God longs for us ALL the time and He deserves our undivided attention.

18 months old today!

Happy 18 Month Birthday Savannah!
My sweet little baby is growing up so fast, right before my eyes and I just can't believe it. She is doing so much and keeping me very busy. Here is a list of things she can do and words she can say.
Things Savannah can do:

• Walks very well on her own now (almost running!)
• stack blocks
• puts stuff in her "purse" and carries it around (such a girl!)
• feed herself (she knows how to use a fork, it just can get very messy very quickly)
• takes one 2-3 hour nap a day
• can throw a ball (I'm using the word 'throw' loosely.)
• can point at my belly and clearly say "baby!"
• sings some of "Twinkle Twinkle little star" with me
• will walk to the bathroom and stand in front of the bath when I say it is bathtime
• she LOVES to be outside. (she will grab my hand and walk me to the back door when she wants to go outside)
• point to certain body parts as you name them
• if you ask her what a lion says, she will "roar" (it is really cute)
• she will help when I get her dressed (pull up her pants or try to put on her shoes)

Things Savannah can say:

• bye and bye-bye (very enthusiastically these days)
• nye-nye (night-night)
• hello
• hey (also very enthusiastically)
• dog
• book
• wa-wa (water)
• ju (juice
• mil (milk)
• by (bite)
• i luh ooh (i love you)
• mama and mommy
• dada and daddy
• ball
• owhide (outside)
• pree-e (pretty)
• peas (please)
• danku (thank you)
• bath
• baw (bear, at least that is what we think. She always points to her bear when she says this)
• bow (like hair bow)
• eye
• nose
• tee (teeth)
• air (hair)
• No (and she can use it in the right context, scary!)
• Elmo (her grammy got her a tickle me Elmo for Christmas and she loves it)
• choo-choo (for a train)
• tactor (tractor)
• diaper (and it actually sounds like how your supposed to say it!)
• chee (cheese! she says that alot when playing with her toy camera)
• baby
• a ga (all gone)

As for other things that are happening with my sweet 18 month old, she is quite the picky eater. I may have mentioned this before and not much has changed. The only veggies she seems to like are green beans and she LOVES chicken fingers. She doesn't have a problem with fruit and really likes milk. `

Her stubbornness has really begun to show. She likes to test us by resisting when we tell her no and then throwing little tantrums. Savannah's tantrums consist of her poking out her lip and laying her self ever so gently on the floor face down. (she won't scream or kick or throw herself down..........yet.) I am waiting for the days when she will throw, what I like to call, a REAL tantrum. Besides her little moments, she is still a very happy baby. She is just as curious as ever and loves to explore.

As I am moving right along in my pregnancy, I am finding it a bit more difficult trying to keep up with her. By the end of the day you better believe I am pooped! I realize that I have not been working out like I should, but jeez, I am WORN OUT. I know I need to start at least walking again because that will help me in getting around a little better. Another thing that will help is MDO. Savannah will start that the 2nd week of June and go 2 days a week. I am looking forward to that little relief. Speaking earlier of the pregnancy, Thomas is moving around like crazy these days! It is really cool to be able to feel this tiny miracle moving around! Ahhh.......what a blessing!

Well, we are getting ready to head to northeast Georgia to enjoy the mountains. I hope everyone has a wonderful and blessed weekend!

God Bless,

Emily

Mother's Day 2010

This year was my 2nd Mother's Day and it was wonderful. The first thing I thought when I woke up was, "Ugh, Sunday?!" (just kidding) The first thing I thought was, "what a great day it is!" Not just because it was Mother's Day but for the first time in awhile we were able to go to church. The past few weekends, Aric and I have been out of town for various reasons and we have missed church terribly!
We get to church and it was so nice to see everyone again. The sermon was appropriate for Mother's Day. The sermon was on "Heaven". You see, we are covering the end times and when we started this series it was on "The Rapture", the "The Anti-Christ", "Tribulation Period" and so on. Our pastor has been going in a paticular order which, if he would have stayed in order, the sermon on Mother's Day would have been "Hell". I think the congregation, especially the moms, were glad he switched it up a bit :)
So, church was awesome and then Aric and Savannah took me to lunch where ever I wanted to go. I chose Tokyo. I love Japanese hibachi restaurants and since we already in the preferred community, I thought it was fitting.
After lunch, we came home and let Savannah nap for a little bit. We got ready and left again to go to Aric's kickball game. Yes, kickball. Aric has joined a local kickball league. They play at Lagoon Park every Sunday for about 6 weeks. So far, I have really enjoyed going to the games. Some of those people are pretty good, you would be surprised. Of course, Savannah could care less. She just wants to roam around so I probaly spend half of my time chasing after her rather than watching game. But, it is nice to get outside and enjoy the company of friends whose husbands also signed up to play kickball.
After kickball we did some shopping. Yippee! One of my favorite things to do. I knew that I was really being treated because Aric does NOT like to go shopping. We needed a new high chair for Savannah (hers broke) so we just decided to get one of those space saver high chairs. I am really enjoying it! (and I think Savannah is too) Our next stop was to look at patio furniture. I got Aric an early Father's Day present by letting him get a grill a little while back. To complete our outdoor back yard setting I thought patio furniture would be appropriate. Not to mention, I have been wanting a table and chairs forever! (We had nothing ) We found a really good deal at Academy and bought it. It is nothing fancy but I love it! It is perfect for our little deck and our tastes.
We ended the evening eating left over hamburgers that Aric had grilled out the night before and watched Avatar. (well, we watched some of it, then fell asleep)
You know, the material things that were purchased yesterday is not what made my day. It was just spending time with my sweet husband and little girl that makes for a fun day. I love being a mom and a wife and am SO grateful for my family! I hope all other mommies out there had a wonderful day. You deserve the best!

God Bless,

Emily

Surgery day for Savannah

Today Savannah got tubes in her ears. We woke up at 4AM this morning, so we could leave by 5Am, so we could be at Children's South by 7Am. Whew! It has been a long day so far!
Once we arrived, we only waited about 10-15 minutes and then the triage nurse called us back. Took Savannah's vitals and then we had to go back out into the waiting room for a bit longer. We only waited about 10 more minutes and then we were called back to our room.
I have never been to Children's South before but have heard wonderful things about it. I must say I was pretty impressed once we got called back. The staff was wonderful, first and foremost. Very friendly and accomodating. The nurse that walked us to our room explained a couple of things to us first, since we had never been there before. First of all, they have this neat little area that is filled with toys just for the kids to play with while they are waiting for surgery. They have all kinds of toys too, not your typical doctor's office toys. They also have an area for parents to get refreshments. (sodas, coffee and snacks) Once we got back to the room it was very kid friendly and bright.
Savannah's nurse came back to go over some things with us and then the anesthesiologist (sp?) came back to introduce herself. Once again, everyone was SO friendly! Before I knew the OR nurse was ready for Savannah and I think I was more nervous than Savannah was! We handed her over and she did not shed one tear! Oh that made me feel ALOT better. The doctors and nurses kept saying how quickly the procedure would be, about 5-10 minutes and then 5-10 minutes of recovery and then she would be back in our arms. I had time to go get a coke, eat a honey bun, turn on the TV and then the doctor was back saying they were done!
Savannah was back in our arms within a few minutes and she was doing great. A little woozy but doing well. After a minute or two she lifted her head and started "talking" to us. After a few more minutes of recovery time, the nurse said we were good to go. Of course on the way home she was out like a light. She has now woken up from her nap and seems just as happy as she can be. I am very relieved that this procedure went so well! I have to admit I was a little nervous. Even though I have received positive feedback about this from friends, I couldn't help but have those nervous emotions that any mother would have.
Now, I will just have to see how the next few days go. I hear they can be a little rough.
Thanks to everyone who has offered prayers and support. It really means a lot to us. :)

I am going to try and get some chores done now. We are having the in-laws over for a Mothers Day cookout tomorrow! (fun times!)

God bless and have a wonderful afternoon everyone!! :)

Love,
Emily

My Husband...

I wanted to leave a comment about my husband's post but couldn't find myself to do just that. He deserves his own blog post. :)
Let me just say that I could not be the person I am or do the things that I do, if it were not for Aric. He encourages me in so many ways, he supports me all the time and he loves me unconditionally. He makes it easy to be his wife! :)
Being "newlyweds" (technically) and having a little one has definitely been trying but, I have to give Aric A LOT of credit. (and God of course)
God makes no mistakes and always has us on His mind. God brought Aric and I together and for that I am forever grateful.
I love you Aric and thank you for your sweet words!
XOXO

I LOVE MY WIFE!!!!

Emily always does such a fantastic job of keeping up with our blog and posting updates about our family...  I just wanted to go ahead and make a post of my own.  And what better subject is there than to describe just how wonderful your wife is???

I am utterly and completely blessed to have Emily as my wife.  She is always caring for me and putting my wants and needs ahead of her own.  She has a remarkable and amazing love of the Lord and that always helps to return my focus to Christ on bad days or during stressful circumstances.  I have her full support, which allows me to focus on being a good provider for the needs of our family.

My children (present and future) are unbelievably fortunate to have Emily as a mother.  She willingly and eagerly stays home to spend time with them and raise them up knowing and loving God and sets a brilliant example of Christian living for them to follow.  I cannot wait to see how our children will grow and develop and to continue to grow and develop in our relationships with them and with each other.

Emily, thank you SO MUCH for your love, for your companionship, for your sacrifice, and for your spirit.  I will never be able to put into words just how much I love you and how thankful to God I am that He created you for me. 

I LOVE YOU!
-Aric

ENT appointment

Today we drove to Birmingham to Children's South for Savannah's ENT appointment. Her appointment was at 8:15 but we had to be there 30 minutes early so we needed to be there at 7:45. We left the house at 6 and got there right at 8:00. Birmingham traffic is NO joke! Everything went smoothly once we got there. Check in, wait, fill out some paper work, Savannah had to be weighed, then she did a hearing test, then we waited some more, then finally back to see the doctor.
The nurse practitioner was the one who saw her first. After looking at her ears she immediately said, "she will need tubes." The good thing is, her ears really aren't that bad but she still had some built up fluid in both of them. When the doctor came and saw how many ear infections she has had in the past 6 months, he said, "usually, children need to tubes after they have 6 in one year." Well, Savannah has had 8 in the past six months! I felt horrible! But, I refuse to play the would've, should've, could've game. The doctor did say the sooner we could get the tubes done the better. The next available opening was not until May 19th at Children's South in Birmingham, so that is when we will do it. It will be a quick outpatient procedure and I feel very comfortable that this will benefit her tremendously.
I am going to back up to what I mentioned earlier about her hearing test. She does not appear to have any hearing loss, which is great! She responded to all of the sounds at a normal level. (Aric and I weren't too weary about her hearing because she has been able to say words well and she does a good job a repeating what we say.)
Ok, Seriously, JUST GOT A CALL from Children's South and we are going to reschedule her surgery for this Friday! EEK!! I know it better that we get it over with but wow, what a busy week we have ahead!
Friends and family that follow our blog, please pray for save travels this Friday and a smooth procedure for Savannah. Also, pray for Aric and I as this is all new for us and any time our (your) child is having something done, it always put you on edge a little.
Thanks to all who have offered support and advice. God bless you!

Love,
Emily