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...

 

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.

 

 

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!

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...

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.