Thursday, December 27, 2012

Christmas in Hickory

This year was especially exciting for Christmas because in Hickory all the rest of David's family was going to be there as well! I was especially excited to meet +Mary Cousins for the first time, which was a long time coming! 

What was also super fun was the chaos that ensued once all the little kids started opening their presents!! heehee!

Carson and Hayley playing together at Nana and Pappy's

Mary likes getting her picture taken :)

Lacey

Uncle Jim scowls, and you can see how tall he is compared to me by the angle of the camera! :)


Hayley with the singing Christmas Tree that had to be hidden eventually...

Fun

Fun - we had to hold Carson a lot because he broke or knocked down a couple of GranAnn's things...

Mary and Lacey

Look at all these great-grandkids!

The whole Lookado Clan - Jim, Kim, Don, Ann, Charles, Judy, Glenn, Brian, Jenny, Kersten, Bethany, Mary, Annie, Asa, Holly, Lacey, Noah, John, David, Carson, Hayley and Brenna!
 I didn't get the picture of the great-grandkids and Paw and Ann.

Carson's Birthday (#2)

Carson had a birthday party a few days after his birthday on the 17th. Some friends from church and seminary came, but I was too busy feeding Carson to get a picture of them :) Our friend Debbie made a great cake for him that was Star Wars themed, and I was able to use some Stars Wars decorations I already had. (We love Star Wars)


The banner says "Happy Birthday" ;)

I froze a portion to save for my parents!

The tablecloth... awesome!
Carson got a TON of gifts too... one of which was this handsome flannel shirt!

Grandpa in the background...


 

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Weaning

I promise I won't get graphic in this entry. I just wanted to type some thoughts on the subject of weaning.

I determined ahead of time that I would wean Carson as he was turning one. I was also determined to flout the idea of "Being Mom Enough" to breastfeed until they start Kindergarten, acting in defiance of the idea that motherhood is defined by what goes into a person rather than what comes out of the heart...

... which I still stand by with great zeal. But I am no where close to weaning Carson, for many various reasons...

I've read all the views on everything I wrote above, and I've made up my mind, and I know what kind of criticism my views can draw, and I don't really care... I don't have any other moms hovering around me telling me how to parent, though I get the impression that some ladies would love to do just that, and it scares me. [BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU]

The bigger issue here is not the debate over when to wean, but just the fact that whether I like it or not, my little guy is quickly becoming a toddler. I have to establish boundaries for his safety (and mine) and enforce them. He eats solid food and will learn how to walk soon! He just recently learned to be content in the church nursery without me there.

And that's what weaning is all about, growing up! that's the goal of parenting, to raise an adult! Kinda scary...

In college about 6 or 7 years ago I was struggling to understand issues and who God is, and in a state of turmoil I stumbled upon this psalm which pacified my soul completely...

Psalm 131 - a psalm of ascents. Of David.

1 My hear is not proud, Lord, my eyes are not haughty; / I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me.
2 But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content.
3 Israel, put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore.

The psalm is so loaded with history and imagery and culture that I can't explain here, but verse 2 is absolutely amazing. The image of a weaned child with its mother has taken on new meaning in this stage of life, but it so perfectly expresses the kind of contentment that comes from humility and a sober view that He is God and I am not. 

Thus the mystery of growing up fast remains and it remains in God's hand.

 

 

Monday, December 17, 2012

Carson's Birthday (#1)

On Carson's actual first birthday we had David's mom and my paternal grandparents stop by for a visit! 


 But that's actually how the day ended. At lunchtime that day Carson was pretty silly and I got a lot of good pictures of him! 

He laughs when I laugh, and I laugh when he laughs.

Birthday card!

The secret to veggies - bacon.

Laughing!

  
I MELTED!
 So after a fun lunch, me and David's mom made some cupcakes for Carson!


 And later that night he ate it... it was hilarious!



Mmmmm... frosting!

Sucking and sucking that frosting!
 I also wrestled Carson down to get a picture of him in some goodies that grandma brought. 
 


So that's about it for Carson's birthday day. It was actually not the greatest day for us (or for Newtown, CT). Please pray for David's employment situation. I won't go into details here and now... Today Carson has a party with friends from church and seminary, but my throat is scratchy and David has a cold too!

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Carson's birthday celebrations!

This year for Carson's first birthday he'll be having pretty much three celebrations... 

1) David's mom Judy, and my grandma and grandpa Dees (Judy and Dan) are coming on and around Carson's actual birthday.

2) On the 17th Carson has a birthday party for his friends at church.

3) Just before New Year my parents are flying in for a Christmas celebration, and my Aunt Sue is also driving in for a day. I think we might also celebrate Carson's birthday. Maybe not.

I'll try to post pictures of these things here. It would be so fun to write them down and remember them here! 

Having a baby: One year later

One year ago today I was anxious and getting ready to go to the hospital to have our firstborn son! I'd already been having braxton hicks contractions for several weeks but was not even close to going into labor. Now Carson's birth story is nothing near "perfect" so I will skip some of the "hows" and all of the "whys" and just cut to the chase. But I'll start from the beginning! 

On April 14, 2011 we got the two lines! This was a surprise because I had been told that I have PCOS (Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome) and that it would be hard to get pregnant. Now we weren't trying to have a baby at this time, though for at least 2 years my desire to have children had been very strong. David's desire was much less strong for most of that time. 




I had just started a new job with the mindset that I would stay at that job for the duration of David's seminary career. After seminary we could deal with my apparent fertility issues. God had a different plan, and we were sure excited about it! Here I am on mother's day, a few weeks later, 9 weeks along (not showing, obviously):


Here I am 14 weeks, just beginning to get a bump.


At 20 weeks, 7/25, we found out it was a boy!


Below I am at 34 weeks on my last day of work at that job I was supposed to be at until David finished seminary.


Below is December 13th, 2011, getting ready to have Carson! Boy did I get huge! It was NOT comfortable, but totally and completely worth it. Aside from finding Christ and marrying David, this had to be one of the best days of my life! Being a mom has been the absolute best and most rewarding job I have ever had.


 I'll post more here about Carson's birthday celebrations! Yes, that is plural...

Monday, December 10, 2012

When will we be done with seminary?

Above you will see a picture I drew tonight in paint (due to my ineptitude in uploading a pie chart from Excel) of how much of an M.Div. my hardworking husband has earned! I had so much fun drawing this I may add more to this blog in the future. 

Going to Southern Seminary is why we moved to Louisville in the first place. What happened after that is not my fault! Just kidding. Anyhoo, in four years of classes this is how much he has been able to finish so far. That's 65 out of 94 credits! 

So when will David be done with seminary? We don't know. If he is able to keep up his current pace, just 2 more years.


Thursday, December 6, 2012

Just an update

Well, the 'this week's highlights' posts have already dwindled. It honestly did feel a little stalker-ish to be writing everything I did on here, and plus most days are pretty monotonous (though wonderful) as a stay-at-home-mom. I don't get to go shopping all the time, which is okay with me, so I don't get to post picture after picture of myself in a mall making kissy faces to the camera. But if you know me at all you know I am all about the kissy-faces!
 
Anyhoo, look what I found in meijer the other day!
 
 
Can you believe that thing? It's called a "Buddha Hand". First of all, Buddha is apparently fat and wouldn't have that kind of hand... but being a pagan god and demon maybe he would have nasty twisted fingers like that. I hope to never find out. I wonder what it tastes like!!!

 
I pushed our couch against the banister while Carson still doesn't know how to climb up on it, and set up our tree. Notice the tree is blocked by things because, even though the tree is on a table, Carson would have no problem pulling it on top of himself. It is really nice to sit on the couch and enjoy the sunlight that comes in our big front window!

 
And as usual, the holiday season finds homemakers like myself (and Carson) busy in the kitchen as ever. Here Carson is getting out the rolling pin, but had already been sweeping under the carpet, using the colander and taking out some pyrex dishes to make dinner!
 
Let's see... what else is new with the Guthries? Well David is plugging away at classes at the seminary! I'm excited to say that though we questioned it, I think we are back in our motivation for him to get the MDiv instead of stopping with the MATS. (Master of Divinity is a more marketable degree than Master of Arts in Theological Studies, which is apparently a "lay" degree though it is a lot of work) Of course the only way we really can do this is through God's provision with UPS's Earn and Learn program where they reimburse tuition payments.
 
We still go to State Street Baptist where we love serving in various capacities such as AWANA, youth sunday school, occasional nursery and piano for me. But most sundays are hard on me because Carson has separation anxiety pretty bad. I praise God for forbearing nursery workers. I love small group and love seeing the ladies in the group throughout the week. Also we live closer to a couple families from church, the Prestons and the Wilsons, and get to see them often!
 
I try to keep up with friends who have moved away or who are in Louisville such as Kara, Elsbeth, Rachelle and Emily but I am really bad at remembering to call them! I love it when we do get to talk though. I also left facebook over a month ago and have enjoyed the freedom, but not so much the delay in finding out things that everyone already knows. Also, everyone posts their pictures on facebook so I'll use David's account to see them. I don't think facebook is the devil or anything, but I was spending too much time on it. I was thinking yesterday that I'll probably just go back to it, because I do miss all the positive things such as keeping up with people who are far away easier. I won't miss the drama though, or the fights over politics, or even how people judge you based on what you do or don't post on facebook! That stuff is ridiculous. I didn't leave that site because I had some divine leading to do it. I bet the real thing that drove me away was the election season... just kidding.
 
Facebook or not, being a stay-at-home mom can be lonely at times. There's only so many chores and baby snuggles and phone calls you can make before you need to see another adult, especially another female. I honestly get scared to call people for fear of rejection and I also don't get very many chances to use our car.
 
Also, I've lately been thinking that I really hope we can adopt someday. I love seeing the friends we have that are doing that, and hearing about it on Moody Radio really tugs my heart. It breaks my heart to think that so many wonderful children just like Carson are neglected by their parents and ignored by society, who is just too busy making money to care for these kids and be their parents. It really breaks my heart. I know adoption can be hard on people, and it scares me. For now I am waiting on the Lord and His timing for this.

New sippy cup

There is nothing so nice as a new, not-scratched, non-leaking and shiny sippy cup. Well Carson had been used to his old sippy cup with a handle on each side, so when I gave him this new one he didn't know how to drink out of it!

hmm... maybe it will just go into my mouth.

Come here!!
 I started to laugh out loud at him, and he thought that was funny! :)

 
 Then I helped him drink from it


He got it!

 
I'm so amazed how quickly Carson has grown up. In 8 days he'll be 1 year old!

Sunday, November 25, 2012

When I got the stomach bug (cute pics)

Thanksgiving evening Carson woke up in bed and threw up. It wasn't pretty but David and I got it cleaned up quickly. I nursed him again. Bad idea, he threw up again. The poor tired guy slept the rest of the night just fine. 

Bad idea 2: feeding him a full breakfast with eggs the next morning, which ended up on the carpet. I took him to the pediatrician and turns out he has an ear infection, which probably developed from the cold he'd been fighting the last few days. The nurse practitioner didn't think he had the stomach bug, but was gagging on phelgm, but my suspicians were different. 

Well that night I woke up with it, though it was only as bad as Carson's, it still left me pretty weak and tired. So the next day, saturday, David and Judy and Glenn took care of Carson all day and I stayed in bed. If you get nauseous and dizzy every time you stood up you would too :(

Carson was of course hard on David that day, and there were both pooped. So when the fussing and noise and jingling of Carson playing with keys (the only thing that would pacify him) in the living room stopped, I wondered what was happening. So I hobbled out there to find this :



My boys fell asleep :)


Always sucking on those same two fingers!

It looks as if Carson fell asleep while he was playing with the keys. So cute!

This is the only time Carson has ever slept on the floor, but the pictures I've seen of friends' toddlers falling asleep while playing have always been so cute! He woke up as soon as David's parents got back from shopping.

Oh but it gets better! That night Judy, David's mom started up on the stomach bug too. That's 3 out of 5 so far! They ended up leaving today (sunday) a day earlier than planned. Nothing like the stomach bug to make Thanksgiving memorable, or to ruin the taste of good food as it comes back up... hahaha. 


Snapshots of Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving was memorable to us in many ways! First of all, as always we can't travel because of David's supervisory role at UPS during 'peak season'. I missed my parents and bro, but luckily his parents came, and we invited a few orphaned family friends Thanksgiving day as well. 

Second, I went out of my cooking comfort zone! I made things from scratch that I haven't before, and the result was okay. 


I made this pie and crust from scratch

Stuffing getting ready to be dried in the oven 

veggies for stuffing

getting the table ready

My turkey with honey-herb glaze... had to get that shiny skin picture in somewhere!

No Thanksgiving dinner is complete without a begging animal, preferably a dog. He came with David's parents!


I almost went to the extra trouble of making some amazing sign from Pinterest, but then 8-year-old Maddie came with her own! Problem solved :)


Here are some of our honored guests!


Tessa being silly

The Jenkins', minus Josiah who is sleeping in the other room

Some of the Preston kids

hahaha... After I took this picture, Allison kindly asked if I warn her before I do that! Glenn is feeding Skipper, Logan is talking to Judy,  Maddie is telling it like it is

Lest you think our Thanksgiving was all peachy, stay tuned... the stomach bug made it's appearance that night!