Miss Blue Eyes

I can't tell you how many times we've been stopped to have someone comment on how blue Georgia's eyes are and how pretty she is. It does this mama's heart good to hear people say that kind of thing! They always say she has my eyes, though the color is definitely from her daddy. I just smile proudly and say thanks, soaking it all in.

Sick Lil Punkin

Georgia and I didn't make it to church this morning. (Insert sad sigh.) I always look forward to Sunday mornings at church. But Georgie-girl is sick, and I didn't want any mad mommies after me for infecting their kids. She has a nasty cough and a runny nose. I don't know how she could have gotten sick. I keep things pretty clean around here (I think) and though I know babies just get sick, I have this mom-paranoia that I am somehow to blame. And I am second guessing myself about not going to the doctor. I didn't want to run to the office for a cold that I thought would pass, but it's been pretty persistent and the guilt is starting to set in.

Last night I woke up to her coughing. I went to check on her even though she wasn't crying. She was just laying there holding her blankie, wide awake. So sad! I knew she would breathe better upright, so we rocked in the chair until she fell asleep. We did this a couple of times throughout the night.

Georgia isn't much of a fusser, but during the day she has turned it on full throttle. I think she's whined more in the last two days than she did the whole first year of her life! But she's still a pretty easy patient. With lots of cuddles and a few toys, she'll flash you the sweetest smile through her red-rimmed eyes and snot-dripping nose. If she's not noticeably improved by tomorrow, we will make an appointment.

Proofing

Because I don't have enough to do around here (sarcasm noted?), I took on another job, working for my sister. She is a court reporter and needed someone to proof or correct her transcripts from depositions and examinations under oath. After she asked my other two sisters and they declined (Ivy, what's up with that anyway?) she asked me and I started at the end of 2009. It's convenient, I can do it at home and at my own pace, and I really do enjoy it. I look for things like grammar and punctuation errors, misspelled words, words that are left out or repeated, hyphen issues and some other things that are mandatory for documents like this. Here are a few of the funny things I've read so far:

1) Attorney: Obviously, she is not a wheelchair.
(I had to add the crucial word 'in'.)

2) Witness: After I left the hospital I wept back to my job.
(Only one little letter off! 'Wept' became 'went'.)

3) Attorney: Did that job offer fridge benefits?
(Again, one letter makes all the difference!)

4) Attorney: Did you go to marriage counseling?
Witness: Yes.
Attorney: What was the name of your doctor?
Witness: I remember because it was Dr. Romance.
(No corrections here - just funny!)

Needless to say, this job can be quite amusing!

Hello Quad Cities!

Tuesdays are Andy's day off. I love them.

We always try to do at least one fun thing together as a family. This week we decided to head to the Village of East Davenport to one of our favorite places, Lagomarcino's. Lago's is a Quad-Cities treat; a 100 year old (or something like that) soda fountain and confectionery. They have the most amazing homemade hot fudge and beautiful, delicious chocolates. Our little tradition is to always get a couple of sundaes and two truffles.

As we were walking to the car after our treat, I noticed a young man walking toward us with a large camera. He looked to me like one of our students so I kept staring at him. When he got within speaking distance he called out, "Hey, would you guys mind saying, Hello Quad-Cities!" We knew exactly what he was talking about and said, "Of course!" So Andy pulled Georgia out of the car and we got our 3 seconds of fame.

For those of you who are not Quad-Cities residents, there is a particular news station, Channel 6, that always ends its 6:00 evening broadcast with several people in the area saying, Hello Quad Cities! It's something unique to the area and that channel. We were so excited to do it!

Andy held the video camera up to the TV so that everyone who missed it would have the opportunity to see it. Here it is:



Didn't we do a great job?

A Few of Her Favorite Things

This little clip was taken the same day Georgia received her new dress from her aunt Ivy. It was just too sweet and I had to share it.



Georgia loves her pink blankie and Mr. Cow, as I call him. She always sleeps with the blankie, though we've discovered she can't sleep with the cow. We heard some coughing through the monitor and when we checked on her, we found a large black and white fur-ball hanging from her little teeth. Nice. So, for now, she just cuddles him before bed and in-between nap times.

Fur or no fur, she's still pretty darn cute.

Whatta Man, Whatta Man, Whatta Man, Whatta Mighty Good Man

I went to a bridal shower this morning. I love bridal showers. I love weddings. They are cause for much celebration...and presents! But mostly, I love these things because they allow me to remember back to my wedding day and even the days before Andy and I were married. Those were great days, but our days are even better now. This post is about my hubby, whom I love dearly.

Currently Andy is the youth pastor at Grandview Church. This brings about a lot of responsibility and here are just a few of them:
*preparing messages for youth group and all the other details that go along with our Sunday night program
*being with and/or counseling students
*Leading the youth band practices
*Giving guitar lessons
*Fundraising
*Planning year round events - Breakaway, Winter Retreat, Spring Outreach, Easter Breakfast, Summer Mission trip
*Ministry Team Meetings

As a pastor at Grandview he has some mandatory responsibilities that don't necessarily apply to the youth:
*General Board meetings
*Deacon meetings
*Staff meetings

At Grandview, we are in the middle (hopefully close to the end) of a senior pastor search. We've been without a senior pastor for over two years. This has brought on other responsibilities:
*Transition Team
*Christian Education Team (current and dreams for the future)
*Preaching on some Sunday mornings

I'm sure I couldn't even list all the things he does at church!

To add to the list of seemingly endless responsibilities, Andy is getting a master's degree! He is one motivated man! He is getting a Master's in Ministry from Moody. He takes one class at a time so that he can continue his work at church and at home. If he takes three classes each year, he will be finished in 7 1/2 years. That's dedication for you. This is what he does for his current class, Old Testament Literature and Themes:
*Read Genesis - Deuteronomy and Psalms 1-20 by Jan. 29th - REPORT
*Read Joshua - 2 Kings and Psalms 21-40 by Feb. 12th - REPORT
*Read 1 Chronicles - Job and Psalms 41-60 by Feb. 26th - REPORT
*Read Psalms 61-119 and Proverbs - REPORT
This continues throughout the rest of the Old Testament, so that by the time this class is over, he will have read the whole thing. Are you noticing that he has to do these in two week increments? In addition to the Bible reading, he has to read the corresponding chapters in a book called, A Survey of the Old Testament; a book that is almost 600 pages long.

Ok, you think that is a lot? He just found out about his project that will be due at the end of the class. He has to do an in-depth study in the book of Song of Solomon. It has to be about the "lessons of love and marriage from the Song of Solomon." His requirements are to:

*Read Song of Solomon in four different versions of the Bible and write out observations from the version comparison.
*Read 150 pages from approved commentaries or articles on Song of Solomon.
*Re-read Song of Solomon and put a practical project together entitled "Lessons of Love and Marriage from the Song of Solomon." It will be written to disciple those either contemplating marriage or those who are already married; it must be relevant and accurate for the intended audience.
*Include an appendix on how these lessons fit in the big picture of the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Basically he has to write a book!!!

And now for the best part - what Andy does at home. We've never given ourselves job descriptions as husband and wife - though Lord knows I love to boss him around - but here is a list of the things he takes care of:
*Budget/all bill-paying - I know, I know - you gals out there are super jealous of me...yes, I'm eating it up, too.
*Garbage - ok, this really is a man thing.
*All mowing (another man thing!), raking, yard-work and pruning.
*Handy-man.
*Cooking - I'm a bad wife!!! He does a great majority of the cooking....but in my own defense, well, I guess I don't have any.
*Playing with Georgia - he loves time with his daughter.
*Pursuing me. (Oh my gosh! The longer this list gets the more I start to wonder what it is I really do around here!)

He is smart, good-looking, strategic, creative, sexy, comfortable to be with, approachable, teachable, willing to serve, serious, sensitive, generous and FUN! See? :)


Why he picked me, I'm not sure, but I'm keeping him. To all you ladies, your man does more than you know. Don't take him for granted.

Dedicated to the Lord

The week of Georgia's birthday brought about more than just a party. Andy and I decided to have Georgia dedicated to God during a church service. Though many parents choose to baptize their children, Andy and I believe that baptism is something that each Christian decides for himself to do; a representation that he is a Christ-follower, done out of obedience to God and as set by Christ's example. It is our hope that one day Georgia will make this decision for herself, as both Andy and I have, and that it will not be a decision that we make for her.

A dedication is really more of a commitment of the parents (also grandparents and church body) to bring up a child in the ways of the Lord and in obedience to Him. Not only that, but it makes us accountable to our families and other member's of Christ's body to do what we've committed to do. Here are some of the promises we made:

*To support and love Georgia by providing the opportunity for her to grow up in the family of faith, with the hope that she will someday place her faith in Christ as her Savior.

*To the best of our ability and with God's help provide a loving family environment and godly examples in which Georgia can grow in love, loyalty and obedience to God.

Andy and I do not take these promises lightly. Georgia truly is a gift from the Lord and has been lovingly given to us so that we can love and nurture her while she is on this earth. With help from one another and from God, we will take joy in doing this!

And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, "Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all." And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.
Mark 10:13-16

Operation Birthday 1

Aaahhh.....sitting down. Georgia is napping, I have a load of laundry in the washer and one in the dryer, a sleeve of thin mint cookies and a cup of coffee. What better time than now to blog? It's been awhile.

I thought I better get some pics up of Georgia's first birthday, which was two weeks ago! I think I have been self-consciously putting off this post. Georgia turning one was hard for me. Not in the "Oh I want her to stay a baby forever!" sappy sort of way, but in a "Wow, time really does fly" sort of way. Her birthday, of course, flooded my mind with the day she was born and all the sweet and not-so-sweet memories of being a first-time mom. It was just a gentle reminder to realize how fast time does go by and that I'm responsible for how it passes in my family; that the coming year is just as important as the passing one.

I did have a minor break-down the night before her birthday at about 9:00 that evening. When I looked at the clock, I thought, She'll only be a baby for another three hours. And then I started to bawl. Andy asked me what was wrong and I told him, asking him, "Do you think I should go get her up?" as if I was going to miss out on some sort of magical event that would change her from a baby into something I wouldn't recognize. He said, "No, honey. She'll still be a baby in the morning." He said exactly the right thing. We spent the next hour talking about how wonderful the last year had been and how much she has changed. It was good therapy. She still looked the same the next day. :)

Her first party was a lot more preparation than I expected; though I admit most of the production was for our guests. Ok, well, really it was for me. But I did have so much help from Andy and Georgia's grandmas that I think we pulled it off very well.

We had her birthday party at church with friends and family and she got LOTS of fun new toys and cute outfits. And she had a beautiful cake made especially for her by a very talented friend of ours from church. Georgia knew exactly what to do with that cake, too! Here are some pictures of her special day. Though we were all exhausted at the end of the day, I think it's safe to say she had a great time!

Visitors

Two weeks ago my cousin Chelsea and her son Jude came for a visit. It was so nice to have them here! I love having my family come to Davenport so I can show them around town, take them to our favorite places, have them visit our church and do all the fun things that come with getting together. However, it was pretty cold still when they were here, so we mostly let the kiddos play together, we snuggled up to watch some movies and we had some good conversations, too.

But why, oh, why did we wait till the last minute to take pictures? I should have this lesson learned by now! I never seem to get any good ones...but here's what I have nonetheless.


Thanks for coming, Chelsea and Jude! We had a great time with you and hope you'll come again soon!