Shag Nasty

We got Mr. Shag Nasty a haircut yesterday since his hair was getting long (at least according to me and Patrick who thank the Lord loves super short hair on boys like I do). It was his 2nd haircut ever and he did excellent. Like the first time he sat perfectly still and had a crowd of stylists form around him because never had they seen a baby sit so still to get a hair cut. We have such a well behaved child. Before he was born a huge fear of mine was that I would do something wrong and raise a brat like Sarabeth's kid. However, we were at an advantage, Patrick and I, because we love each other and we never ever fight. We respect each other and talk to each other with respect. We are both very laid back people for the most part  and I now see how that is reflected in our child. I am just such a proud mama. Now here's hoping he stays this way forever.

Bored

I am so bored I can hardly stand it anymore! The only thing keeping me going is knowing I only have 2 more weeks here until I get to my car and my dogs. This morning Patrick had a dr appointment so we were stuck here all morning. I took Ty out and took some cool pictures in the woods. I really like how some of them turned out. With all my free time I'm getting pretty good at taking pictures.

Baby J's

Ty got new shoes. He got some baby Nike Jordan sneakers also known as Baby J's to the ghetto crowd (Patrick called them that and it made me laugh at the ghettoness) I mean don't get me wrong they're cute and I do like them but they're not really my style. I much prefer the Toms boat shoes I got him and the driving loafers I just ordered from Gap. However, Patrick has been excited about buying the baby Jordans since I found out I was pregnant with a boy so I broke down and let him pick some out. When we first put them on Ty he did not like them at all. It was a lot more shoe then he was sued to plus I think he inherited my severe hatred for socks. They look a little Frankenstein-ish but cute never-the-less. And of course my smartie pants can already almost run in them. My only issue is finding outfits to go with them. Ty's style is so preppy so a lot of his outfits don't match with them. Patrick would have you believe that Jordan's go with everything but this is not the case for mama. All I can think to put with them are sports related attire and outfits that may be perceived as ghetto. (a little picture overload but I just liked so many I couldn't discriminate)

This pictures cracks me up a little and makes me cry a little. He looks like such a big boy here! A kid not a baby.

He loves sticks!

Look at the attitude in this shot! I think he looks so much like me. 

Great Timing

So after the bad day I had yesterday I was reading some my daily blogs and I came across this article that someone had posted which could not have come at a better time. I guess the woman who posted it had had a rough day too with her 2 year old and liked the premise behind this article. I like it and I've read it several times now and it made me feel better. Just when I think I've had enough God comes through and makes me feel better. I'm reposting it so I can pull it up again in the future when I know I will need it again.

MOTHERHOOD AS A MISSION FIELD
by: Rachel Jankovic

As someone once said, “Everyone wants to save the world, but no one wants to help Mom with the dishes.” When you are a mother at home with your children, the church is not clamoring for monthly ministry updates. When you talk to other believers, there is not any kind of awe about what you are sacrificing for the gospel. People are not pressing you for needs you might have, how they can pray for you. It does not feel intriguing, or glamorous. Your work is normal, because it is as close to home as you can possibly be. You have actually gone so far as to become home.

If you are a Christian woman who loves the Lord, the gospel is important to you. It is easy to become discouraged, thinking that the work you are doing does not matter much. If you were really doing something for Christ you would be out there, somewhere else, doing it. Even if you have a great perspective on your role in the kingdom, it is easy to lose sight of it in the mismatched socks, in the morning sickness, in the dirty dishes. It is easy to confuse intrigue with value, and begin viewing yourself as the least valuable part of the Church.

There are a number of ways in which mothers need to study their own roles, and begin to see them, not as boring and inconsequential, but as home, the headwaters of missions.

At the very heart of the gospel is sacrifice, and there is perhaps no occupation in the world so intrinsically sacrificial as motherhood. Motherhood is a wonderful opportunity to live the gospel. Jim Elliot famously said, “He is no fool who gives up that which he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” Motherhood provides you with an opportunity to lay down the things that you cannot keep on behalf of the people that you cannot lose. They are eternal souls, they are your children, they are your mission field.

If you are like me, then you may be thinking “What did I ever give up for them? A desk job? Time at the gym? Extra spending money? My twenty- year- old figure? Some sleep?” Doesn’t seem like much when you put it next to the work of some of the great missionaries, people who gave their lives for the gospel.

Think about the feeding of the five thousand when the disciples went out and rounded up the food that was available. It wasn’t much. Some loaves. Some fish. Think of some woman pulling her fish out and handing it to one of the disciples. That had to have felt like a small offering. But the important thing about those loaves and those fishes was not how big they were when they were given, it was about whose hands they were given into. In the hands of the Lord, that offering was sufficient. It was more than sufficient. There were leftovers. Given in faith, even a small offering becomes great.

Look at your children in faith, and see how many people will be ministered to by your ministering to them. How many people will your children know in their lives? How many grandchildren are represented in the faces around your table now?

So, if mothers are strategically situated to impact missions so greatly, why do we see so little coming from it? I think the answer to this is quite simple: sin. Discontent, pettiness, selfishness, resentment. Christians often feel like the right thing to do is to be ashamed about what we have. We hear that quote of Jim Elliot’s and think that we ought to sell our homes and move to some place where they need the gospel.

But I’d like to challenge you to look at it differently. Giving up what you cannot keep does not mean giving up your home, or your job so you can go serve somewhere else. It is giving up yourself. Lay yourself down. Sacrifice yourself here, now. Cheerfully wipe the nose for the fiftieth time today. Make dinner again for the people who don’t like the green beans. Laugh when your plans are thwarted by a vomiting child. Lay yourself down for the people here with you, the people who annoy you, the people who get in your way, the people who take up so much of your time that you can’t read anymore. Rejoice in them. Sacrifice for them. Gain that which you cannot lose in them.

It is easy to think you have a heart for orphans on the other side of the world, but if you spend your time at home resenting the imposition your children are on you, you do not. You cannot have a heart for the gospel and a fussiness about your life at the same time. You will never make any difference there if you cannot be at peacehere. You cannot have a heart for missions, but not for the people around you. A true love of the gospel overflows and overpowers. It will be in everything you do, however drab, however simple, however repetitive.

God loves the little offerings. Given in faith, that plate of PB&J’s will feed thousands. Given in faith, those presents on Christmas morning will bring delight to more children than you can count. Offered with thankfulness, your work at home is only the beginning. Your laundry pile, selflessly tackled daily, will be used in the hands of God to clothe many. Do not think that your work does not matter. In God’s hands, it will be broken, and broken, and broken again, until all who have need of it have eaten and are satisfied. And even then, there will be leftovers.

Another Day, Another Park

Here is Ty at another park. At this one he met a little girl who he played with the whole time. She was 7 and she kept saying how cute he was. Ty and his older women. It was hot and humid but we stayed and played for quite sometime. Then we came home, took a nap and then went to the pool. I like it here but yesterday was hard, I just had a bad day. I miss my car and I miss having breaks from taking care of Ty. I mean I get that Patrick works hard and is tired and he lets me stay at home with Ty and I'm thankful for that. However since we've been here I haven't had a single minute break from Ty. Patrick NEVER plays with him, ever and add to that I have no car to take us somewhere sometimes it just gets hard. He doesn't even bathe him or walk him in his stroller, nothing.  I was so close to buying our plane ticket back to Austin yesterday but then we would miss Patrick;s parents visit, again and I'm fairly certain that wouldn't go over very well.
Oh well its almost over, if I can survive 2 months with no help with Ty and no car I can survive anything.
Anyway here are some pictures of Ty at the park. He thought he could climb the rock wall like the little girl. He got surprisingly close to doing so.

Summer

Not too much going on lately. Its hot but thankfully not as hot as it is in Texas. We go to the park almost everyday now to get Ty to burn off some energy. It appears to be working as his afternoon naps are now almost 3 hours!! Today we went to our park off Main Street. We walked to get coffee and Ty got a blueberry muffin. Then we played for almost 2 hours before it started to get too hot.

Ty discovered the railing on the steps today. He realized he could hold onto it and be able to climb up and down the steps like a big person. He did so well and I'm pretty sure he did it at least 30 times.

Something funny that he does now is he likes to drag things behind him. Last night it was my shoe by its lace and this morning it was a pair of Patrick's jogging pants that had a drawstring. I'm not sure why he does it but he just makes laps around the apartment dragging it behind him. I'm hoping it translates to walking the dogs and he can take them out to potty now when they need to go.

Oh and one more funny story I forgot about from the beach. Ty is getting pretty tan. We live outside. Well if you will refer back to earlier photos of him from say when we were spending the winter in Kentucky you will see that I gave birth to one of the whitest irish babies ever. When we were on the elevator at our hotel going down to the beach a woman riding with us said “oh look at him, he’s got that pretty olive skin. Just beautiful” Hahaha I’ve seen few people with whiter skin then my child so for someone to say he had olive skin just made me giggle. At least he tans well (he can thank me and not his irish, freckly dad for that)