Adventure

It is 1 degree Fahrenheit in Fairbanks, Alaska today which is quite warm compared to the -37 that it was two days ago. Why is that important? Well, we will need to be prepared for the temperature change when we step off the plane next friday (we don't want an Avery popsicle). They say -20 is really like 10 degrees here so I don't think our skin will freeze in the first minute (which is the mental picture I get in my head when I hear -37). A couple weeks ago at church Zac was praying and worshiping and our pastor came up and laid hands on him and said "the word of the Lord for you is adventure". The last 7 months of our life have been quite an adventure, but I think what is in store for us will definitely top that. Who knows what God has planned but we are ready and willing for the "Adventure".

I don't know if you have looked up the definition of adventure lately but it kinda gets my heart pumping a little fast: an undertaking usually involving danger and unkown risks; the encountering of risks; an exciting or remarkable experience.

Adventure can be exciting but it has an element of fear to it too if you let your mind go in that direction. It's not easy stepping out in the unknown especially when you are not exactly sure if that next step is to the left, straight ahead, or to the right. I am thankful we have Someone leading us who says "you will hear a voice behind you saying this is the way, walk ye in it."(Isaiah 30:21)

This is only the tip of the iceberg...to be continued.

Knowing Him

"the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him" Ephesians 1:17

Who doesn't want wisdom and revelation? But, could it be that the Spirit of wisdom and revelation is not given to those who are only seeking wisdom and revelation but to those who are seeking the Father? The Message says "to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so you can see exactly what it is He is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life.."(Eph 1:17) Oh that we would know Him personally and intimately, and that knowing Him would become the chief desire of our hearts. I don't know about you, but I know there are times when my eyes are not focused or clear because they are fixed on my problems, or just everyday life, instead of fixed on knowing Him. What I get from this scripture is that if I would just redirect my engery to knowing Him instead of "trying to figure it all out", then as I get to know Him wisdom and revelation about Him brings everything else into focus and I would more easily discern what it is He is calling this family to do.

Getting Big

Just a few updates on "little man"

At 6 1/2 months

• He is sitting up by himself
• Starting to crawl
• Thinks he's big and wants to walk but he is not ready yet
• Eating real (if you can call it that) food
• LOVES his daddy
• No longer "hates" the car
• Has mastered falling asleep at naptime and bedtime without crying for an hour
• Still wakes up in the middle of the night
• Has less hair then when he was born
• No teeth but sure does drool alot
• Still the CUTEST, SWEETEST boy I ever did know :) (course I'm partial)
  

Sleepover with the cousins

Levi and Cora came over this weekend for a fun sleepover. Avery loved being the center of attention and Cora had a real live baby doll to play with (just what she wants for Christmas). I forgot to take the camera but on saturday I took them to the Build and Grow Science Lab at Lowe's so they could make their own Science Lab kit complete with test tube, bowls and instructions on how to blow up your mothers kitchen ;) (just kidding on that part). We had a blast and can't wait to do it again!

Family Photo Sesh

Photos by

DPhotography

Avery was super tired at the time of these pictures (he didn't take a nap that day) but she was still able to get some great shots!

Sleepless nights

Exhausted!?! Yes...we are. We decided to go on a small trip this weekend to Cleveland, TN. Some friends of ours invited us to come down for a conference and so off we went. We left Franklin around 4pm on Friday afternoon, grabbed a quick bit to eat at Applebee's and headed to the Conference which started at 7pm. We didn't really think the whole thing through, we were just excited to be in God's presence. Avery was a champ. He normally goes to bed between 7:30-8:30 (remember he's inconsistent so its never the exact same time) so I wasn't sure how he would be at the service. He loved the music and much to my suprise did not get cranky at all. He finally feel asleep around 9pm in the moby (which did not fare well for us the remainder of the night) and slept until we left around 9:45 and headed to the hotel. I have to confess I did something I should NEVER do and have fussed at my husband for even suggesting. The hotel was only like 1 mile away so I left him in the moby instead of putting him in his carseat...shame on me...I didn't want to wake him up but that is no excuse. Don't worry I have already reprimanded myself and will not do it again (mainly because he woke up right when we pulled in anyway).

Ok so then he was up...and I mean up. He was laughing and talking and I guess thinking it was the start of his day. So we played with him a little while hoping he would start gettin tired. Finally a little after 11 I nursed him and laid him down, crossing my fingers that he wouldn't pick tonight to cry for 2 hours (since we were in a hotel). No such luck...so I did the unthinkable...put him in the bed with us ( I did a lot of no no's this weekend). Which usually works and he goes right to sleep but NOoooo not this night...not the night we are in a hotel and the whole world can hear him. I think he maybe feel asleep for an hour and then we were up with him until 4:30 when I finally made Zac get out of bed and we put Avery in the car and started driving. Normally Avery hates the car but we had no other choice and thankfully for us he was so tired he fell asleep in about 5 mins (5 mins of all out screaming which I hadn't let him do in the hotel so as not to wake up everyone). So back to the hotel we go praying that he will stay asleep....nope. But lucky for us he was to tired to put up much of a fight and we layed him in the bed with us until we had to get up around 8:45.

The next day he was a jewl though. We went to two more sessions at the conference and he wasn't cranky or fussy. Silly boy just didn't want to sleep, afraid he might miss something. I will add other than the sleepless night we had a great time and really enjoyed the conference.

Oh and the whole reason I wrote this was because Avery was still asleep at 6pm tonight from his nap and I went in to wake him up and he was so out of it I just couldn't bring myself to wake him up. So I just snapped some sweet sleeping pictures instead and let him be (hope we are not up for a late evening).

Sleep for everyone? Not according to Avery!

Some days my son just does NOT want to sleep. Take for instance monday...he would not take a nap all day (and we were having pictures taken that evening of all days!). Then when putting him to bed that night I thought for sure he would go right to sleep. But NO, he cried for at least an hour and a half before finally falling asleep. He wasn't really fussy during the day, he just WOULD NOT take a nap. The next day however he napped just fine but still had trouble falling asleep at night, and woke up twice. He is just inconsistent and hard to figure out :) We usually try to shoot for 3 naps about 45mins-1hr long each day, but every day is differnt. We have tried the whole schedule thing and he just refuses to adhere to it (or is that mommy who sometimes loses track of the schedule...hmmm). I will say though that when Zac keeps him on Fridays while I go to work he usually sleeps like a jewl...wonder what his trick is!?!