Refresher Course

The past two weeks our pastor has been doing a sermon series on Faith Mountains. How do we respond to where we are on the mountain? I could go on and on about it, and not sound near as eloquent as he puts it all, but suffice it to say that its good stuff. So good for me, in fact, that at one point during this week's sermon I turned to Ben and said "Please tell me the truth- did you call him and talk about me?".

You know how you feel like you know that you know stuff, and then eventually it gets pushed back there in your head somewhere, and it gets dusty and hidden, and then you forget. Then when someone brings a certain question or point of view to your attention, its kind of like a refreshing dose of Pledge and a good scrubbing? That's what I feel like.

Talk about being cleansed in the Word.

Huh. I just realized I tied all that together in some random crazy way. Weird. Anyway......

Without going into much online-journal detail, I will say that I have apparently been in a cave of sorts on one of those mountains. Why in the world I chose to just hide in my cave, but I did.

I have faced a lot of challenging perspectives lately, a few situations that I unfortunately made the choice to not handle as best I could. I chose instead to be somewhat of a grouch about it, instead of rejoicing in the season.

That's what struck one of my cords this week... when it was put before me what options I had to respond to certain situations, and which ones I was making. I didn't like the answer I had to give myself.

And then sitting in church I hear, " You know, the season your are in in your life right now, it isn't most likely the one God has planned for you forever." Why is it I get stuck in the here and now, and long for different when what I have right now may be exactly what I need?

He continued.. "But if you have blessings A,B, or C (of which I had all three) don't you think your best option is to be rejoicing in those blessings? Rejoicing that you have those blessings right now, and for what else God actually does have in store for you later?" "Don't you agree that sometimes it isn't the easy circumstances in life when you feel you lean the hardest on your relationship with Christ; its the ones where you feel torn, unsatisfied, confused, frustrated, or helpless?" Yes.. when I am weary and discouraged, I turn to You.

Its the oldies but goodies: God isn't surprised, God has a plan, God knows what is best for me, God just wants me to trust in him. Not rocket science, but obviously I needed to hear that lesson again, tweaked a little.

So like I said, none of that was as thorough or as eloquent as the way it was presented to me, but that's what's been going on in this brain lately. I needed the refresher...

So what else has been going on?
Oh, just the usual... you know, having friends over, enjoying this awesome weather, relaxing on the couch and watching movies with my hub (for the first time in months~!), cooking, laundry, scrubbing floors, but best of all....

Watching this one and all her new discoveries. This week it was all about her feet.

Now that is one scrumptious, sweet-cheeked blessing I will never take for granted.

xoxo!

dae

Fun Filled

Here's a summary of what we were up to last weekend.

I cherish these mild summer, no work, beautiful laid back weekends... aren't they the greatest?



We took in (and fed) our backyard wildlife...

...we hung out with friends...

...did a little shopping... (she's such a natural)

...we were introduced to Bell Buckle, TN, and will be going back...

...had a crazy good dinner at the local cafe (c'mon, you guys know I don't hold back when it comes to good country cookin'=) - chicken fried steak, fried okra, mac'n'cheese, and when I asked about dessert my eyes I think rolled back into my head.. two words; chocolate cobbler)

We also had our first run in with a not-so-great feeling baby :( who did a lot of this...



..and eventually beat the fever and after spending an extra day home with Mom to recover, was back to her usual giggly preciousness....

And last but not least, we (and I say we because Ben was actually a livesaver in helping me narrow down and focus my choices. I was a little overwhelmed .. it was like picking baby bedding all over again) purchased the elusive perfect fabric for our old new dining room chairs! (Which are still in the garage in the middle of the refinishing process. I know..I know...molasses.)

Cheers to summer weekends!

xoxo dae

The 4 month mark

Today our child is 4 months old.





4 months.


I have a hard time comprehending how time flies so fast.

When it comes to parenting, MTV's show Diary got it right... oh, you know the slogan :) ... you may think you know, but you have no idea.

Children just make your heart grow. I had no idea I had room to love someone this much.


I had no idea how much I would smile, how much I would pray, or how much I would do for my child. I had no idea how much it would increase the bond in our marriage.
I had no idea how much she would change my relationship with Christ.

So many things get put into perspective.


I had absolutely no idea how amazing my child would be. Now I understand why all parents think their kids are awesome. Because they are, and that's the way it is suppose to be. That's how we are suppose to feel about our kids.

In 4 months Kaelyn has made me a more patient, more determined, more motivated, more relaxed, and more understanding person. All of this from someone who can't even say 'Hi' yet.

But enough about me...
Because really, its all about her=)

A few highlights to celebrate the 4 month mark:

She gifted us with her first real laugh this week! Honestly, can words really describe how precious a baby laugh is?!? I don't think so. She got so tickled while I was playing with her that she giggled and then did a full on belly laugh, ( I, ofcourse, froze. Wait - was that a laugh??)she did it again when I called Ben in, and then squealed so loud he heard it when he had walked into the kitchen. Then she just got so excited she didn't quite know how to handle herself, and started flailing her arms and legs like a wild banshee. It was a hysterical moment!

Of course, she hasn't done it again since. Stinker.

She is loving the discovery that she can grab things, and especially that she can put them into her mouth.

The mouth that is usually leaking drool or spit bubbles. Apparently her favorite sound to make at the moment is a slobbery 'bbbbbbbbbpppfff" and spit and foam at the mouth. When we do it back to her she looks at us like "Wait. You know how to do that too?!"(And yes, she is still a thumb-baby all the way. Ambidextrous thumb sucking at that!)

She rolls onto her side now...still absolutely despises tummy time...and loves laying on her back, but no real interest in rolling over yet.

And in typical daddy's girl fashion, she loves being outside. Its just all a beautiful wonderland to look at, and you can see it all over her face. If she is fussy, we walk outside with her and she immediately goes back to happy-baby mode. We found her on-off switch! =)

But speaking of fussy, we really don't get that very often. Usually only if she is hungry and Ben has her, and they are waiting on me to get home. (Oh yeah. And that tummy time.)

How many times have I sent up thank you's for my child's happy disposition?!?! MANY.

She sleeps somewhere around 11 hours thru the night.

She lays down for naps without a peep, but if she wakes up she just starts looking around and talking to herself until you go get her. No "get me out of here" screaming. (Yet anyways, I'm praying she keeps up this habit). When I wake her up in the mornings to get ready to go, I swear, I get greeting with a long stretch and then a huge ear-to-ear grin every time. Makes me just turn into a huge sappy mess. I mean really... I don't ever wake up like that. (Ben probably thinks I should take lessons)

Her daycare ladies say they have never seen a happier baby. It warms my heart how much they love on her and are so good at what they do when I have to drop her off every day. It makes my days so much easier knowing that she is getting the best care possible when I am not with her.

She's starting to take notice of the Stormster too, we have a hunch they will be thoroughly entertaining one another soon. I hope Stormy knows what she's in for... bless her heart.

Til next time!

xox

dae

Hello Craig, remember me?

It may not be with a loud weapon, but lemme just tell ya'll, I've decided I am a really good hunter. Predator. Fearless stalker if you will.

I mean, it takes a lot of patience, focus, and a steady hand to find something on Craigslist when you really want it. And then when you find it you may or may not be in the waters with other predators. It can get pretty intense out there.

Newest hunt? A new table.

As the story always goes, I could see what I wanted in my head.... Antique. Pretty chairs. Small but not too small. Not round. Has character (disclaimer: be careful what you wish for).

So finally, I find a listing and see a picture, make a call, and go to pick up our new table/redesign project.


Apparently I love a challenge.



The table is now in our garage, with step 1 of the multi-phase makeover complete.

Step 1 was removing the old upholstery on the chairs. Why, you ask?


Well, I mean, I guess I could have left on this beautiful print-

But the colors just didn't go with our decor. So sad.

Oh, but wait! They gave me a second option, because under fabric #1 (which was secured by nails, thumb tacks, AND a staple gun, and took every arm muscle I had to pry off) was fabric #2!!

PASS.

And I got loads of characters creeping out of it as well... when we picked it up it had been sitting outside, and had become home to many friends.

Creepy, crawly, 8-legged friends.

Sorry PETA, but I killed every single spider as fast as I could so that I would stop screaming and scaring my neighbors.

So here are the naked chairs, waiting to be striped, sanded, repainted, and clothed with new upholstery.

Here's to DIY projects everywhere.

Happy hunting.

dae

Who, me?

Sometimes you just have to release your inner rock star.

Especially when you have a new instrument to play with!

He never saw it coming...

A little background, in case I haven't told you; I love birthdays. I make a pretty big deal out of them. I love celebrating them, I love planning them, and this year, I loved plotting to blindside my husband for one.

Ben turned the big 3-0 this year, and I thought it was a pretty big deal. So I thought a surprise party was in order. Me and my grand ideas.

It took a long time to pull this off, and there were several (as in the rest of the family and his good friends) other liars involved, but it was totally worth every stressed-out, catch my tongue, look into my husbands eyes and flat out lie, minute of it.

I knew I wanted to do something for Ben, and when we decided to do a guy's golf weekend and have it be a surprise, I thought "PERFECT." First we had to find a weekend that worked for everyone. Nightmare #1.

Then we had to find a location. Nightmare #2

Then I had to get Ben to this location without suspecting anything. Nightmares #3 thru 10.

We finally realized Savannah would be perfect (and we all had a place to stay, thanks to Lu, the ever-generous and gracious host. But really, she just likes a big party.) So I thought I would just tell Ben I wanted to go to Savannah for the weekend, and both of us take Friday off work, and then when we got there everyone would surprise him by being there. Simple. Right?

Au contraire.

My devoted workaholic above-and-beyond husband wouldn't just take a day off work.

Got to be kidding me.

So I had to figure out how to make him take a day off work to get his little boo-tay over to Georgia.

We somehow concocted a story about how there was going to be a Family Day one weekend for his dad's company, and his dad's boss had called his mom to tell her that his dad would be getting some distinguished service award, and wouldn't it be great if we could all be there? (Because we knew Ben would take a day off if it was for someone else other than himself. ) Oh, but his dad didn't know he was getting the award, so we couldn't say anything to him about it (we threw in that kink for some reason, but I can't remember why. Something about how if Ben and his dad didn't talk about it, there would be less of a chance of accidentally spilling the beans. Good grief that only complicated things so much worse.)

So Ben's mom tells him this story, and he takes that blessed day off work.

It just escalated into an all out Lie Fest from there.

I wish I could remember how many times his mom and I fumbled and almost got all of our stories confused. I was a stress ball. I mean, I couldn't even keep who-knew-what and all of our stories straight. I will never be a secret service agent. If I ever have to take on a secret identity, I'm screwed.

We drove down to Savannah last Thursday night, and Ben's brothers, aunt, uncle, cousin, and mom shuffled him (not that he was kicking and screaming) out of the house to go play golf Friday morning.

While they were gone Dave helped me with Kaelyn (by helped I only mean he held her and spoiled her rotten for 5 hours :) and I got the cakes, put up the decorations, and welcomed his surprise friends.

So they get in from golf Friday afternoon, and Ben walks in, notices the decorations, and smiles. I know he was thinking "Aw. Sweet." But he had no idea.

So then Brian and Betsy come walking around the corner, and he flips. It was hilarious.

Then later Greg shows up, flip #2, and we're all standing around, and my favorite part was when Ben said "Wait. You mean there's no Family Day for dad's work tomorrow??"

"No, dude. We're all playing golf."

"OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Oh, I wish I couldv'e gotten that on tape.


Here's a few of the party:


(Interesting White fact: Ben and his brother Mike have the same birthday, 2 years apart. Wild huh??)

Here are the bday boys:

Family shot:Tay and K!Kaelyn in her party dress!

All the Liars (sans the Gaskins...) and the birthday boy:

The next day we hit the town, and enjoyed another trip to The Crab Shack..

Who tackled 25 lbs of shellfish and low country boil?? We did.

Kaelyn tried to tell him what was up...

We also played some vicious games of horse shoes, and ladder ball.

I will have you know that Betsy and I whipped some tail against the boys in ladder ball. Want some? Bring it.

It was an awesome surprise and an awesome weekend. Thanks to Ben's parents for helping me lie to their son, to Ben's brother's for lying to him with me, to his other family members for extending the lie, and to Ben's friends to lying to him even more... and to Ben, who never doubted me for a second.

Happy 30th babe. Hope it was a good one :)

xoxox

dae

Nothing better to do

I somehow misplaced (don't ask) the pics I downloaded of Ben's bday weekend that I wanted to post, so until I get those loaded again, why not divulge to the free world a little more of my crazy self, right? Right.

FOOD-OLOGY
What is your salad dressing of choice? Ranch on everything but salad (fries, pizza, you know. everything.) Homemade Italian on salad.
What is your favorite sit-down restaurant? Really- anywhere I can actually sit down and eat at the same time. That doesn't happen too often at the moment!
What food could you eat for 2 weeks straight and not get sick of it? That's impossible. I need diversity.
What are your pizza toppings of choice? Margherita pizza, please.
What do you like to put on your toast? Butter, cinnamon, and sugar. Or strawberry peach jam if I'm in a fruity mood.

TECHNOLOGY
How many televisions are in your house? 2. One the size of an elephant, and one the size of a mouse. We go to extremes in our home.
What color cell phone do you have? A silver scratched up one.
What does the first text message in your inbox say and who sent it? sweet note from the hub
Who was the last person to call you? Some irate man who wanted to file a complaint but wanted to remain anonymous, then got pissy because I had to explain to him that wasn't possible.

BIOLOGY
Are you right-handed or left-handed? Left
Have you ever had anything removed from your body? Where did this question come from?? um, my wisdom teeth? Oh, wait. There was a child in there too. She decided to come out. Is that considered 'removed'??
What is the last heavy item you lifted? My head. Off of the pillow.

DUMB-OLOGY
If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die? Creepy. No.
If you could change your name, what would you change it to? Assuming you get everything that comes with the name, Eva Mendes.
Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000? I'm game. Bring it.
How many pairs of flip flops do you own? pleading the 5th
Last time you had a run-in with the cops? Hmm.. college? Just a speeding ticket, don't get excited.
Last person you talked to in person ? Emily
Favorite Month? April

CURRENT-OLOGY
Missing someone? Some little chubby-cheeked, 15lb. someone!
Mood? Hurried
What are you listening to? Brooke Fraser
Watching? my inbox for a very some very needed info before I can complete my to-do list
Worrying about? Getting that dining room table off of Craigslist.

RANDOM-OLOGY
What’s the last movie you watched? Absolutely no idea.
Do you smile often? sure. but not as often as Benny. he takes the smile cake :)
Do you always answer your phone? no, and believe me, people let me know all the time. mostly because i never know where the stupid thing is.
It’s four in the morning and you get a text message, who is it? Someone who has a death wish.
If you could change your eye color what would it be? Chocolate brown.
What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic? Cherry
Do you own a digital camera? 2.
Have you ever had a pet fish? Several, the last being Oscar. He was such a grouch.
Favorite Christmas song? Impossible to choose. Mary Did You Know is awesome.
What’s on your wish list for your birthday? No house work?
Can you do push-ups? I'm assuming we're talking exercise here, not something from Victoria's Secret.... no.
Can you do a chin up? Funny. No. I should work on that.
Does the future make you more nervous or excited? Excited. Why be nervous about something you don't even know?
Do you have any saved texts? Yes.
Ever been in a car wreck? Only 3 or 4. Wow. Oops.
Do you have an accent? I don't think so.
What is the last song to make you cry? It won't be like this for long- Darius Rucker (postpartum hormones!!)
Plans tonight? SYTYCD and ignoring laundry.
Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom? Yup.
Name 2 things you bought yesterday. A sausage burrito and pics from Snapfish.
You ever been given roses? Yes. boring question.
Current hate right now? My chipped nail polish.
Met someone who changed your life? Several!
What song represents you? 9 to 5, Dolly Parton. Awesome.
What were you doing 12 AM last night? wondering if those nasal strip things would work on dogs to make them stop snoring..
First thing you thought of when you woke up this morning? It cannot possibly be 5:30am already... and did I change K's diaper before she fell asleep last night?!?! Crap.

A Toy Story

We were walking around The Avenue this evening, and someone made a discovery...

 

 

 

...the fascination of playing with her toys!