Spicy Magnolia

Truth That Will Stick

At thirty years of age, there are still moments when I need peace to replace my anxiousness.  Courage to replace fear.  Joy to replace sorrow.  Truth to replace lies.  There always will be until I see Jesus face to face.  Until then, there is something that comes to my mind in those moments that brings me the peace, the courage, the joy, and Truth I need:  a song.  It’s a melody that my Momma has sung to me since I was a baby.    Here are the words to Alleluia, Alleluia Give Thanks to the Risen Lord:

Alleluia, Alleluia
Give thanks to the risen Lord
Alleluia, alleluia, give praise to His name

Jesus is Lord of all the earth
He is the King of creation

Spread the good news o'er all the earth
Jesus has died and has risen

We have been crucified with Christ
Now we shall live forever
God has proclaimed the just reward
Life for all men, alleluia!

Come let us praise the living God
Joyfully sing to our Savior

It has been one of the most impressionable songs in my life.  I sing it to myself.  Sometimes I need my hubby to sing it to me when I’m having trouble falling asleep.  And now, I sing it to Brennan.  When he seems inconsolable, when he falls asleep, when he’s getting his shots, or when we made his first trip to the hospital.  It brings peace to not only his spirit, but mine as well.  It has stuck with me through all sorts of occasions, to help me turn my eyes toward Jesus.  The main point being:  it is Truth that has stuck.

As my little boy grows, what will stick with him?  What will come to his mind when he needs peace, courage, joy and Truth?  It may or may not be Alleluia, Alleluia, Give Thanks to the Risen Lord.  Or, knowing how active he’s becoming, maybe it’ll be something more upbeat like David Crowder’s “Here is Our King”.  What melody will he carry throughout the seasons of his life to help him remember that he has a Maker who carries all of his burdens and shares in his joys?  Will there be a song that tells the tale of his journey with God?  I’ll admit, how special it would be if it’s a song that I sang consistently to him throughout his childhood; that would be totally cool!  But whatever it is, may it be something that helps him set his mind on heavenly things, such as peace, courage, joy, and Truth.

Two Characters

Who wouldn’t have fun with these two characters?  Guy, who will be one year old next week, and Brennan had the best time playing with each other last week in El Paso!  Oh, how I loved finally getting my hands on that precious love bug!  I’ve only seen Guy through our video camera on Skype, and so to actually see him in person; feel his chunky thighs; hear his giggle without the muffle of the computer speaker; and gaze into his blue eyes was such a gift to me.  And yes, I treasured each moment I had with his momma, too.  <grin>

Brennan was a super traveler on the plane rides, which I was most grateful for since I was traveling with him by myself.  But somethin’ happened to that kid’s naps; they were all topsy turvy.  Have you ever tried falling asleep with the sounds of your child’s screams and crying echoing repeatedly in your mind?  It’s like how after riding a roller coaster you fall asleep feeling like you’re still riding the roller coaster, but this time it’s just the constant sound of screaming.  The little boy would not stop screaming for nap time, and even during the middle of the night he kept tossing and turning.  We both ran on adrenaline last week since we were so excited to be with our buddies, but we came home pretty tired.

I think we’re slowly getting the nap thing worked out as my hunch is that Brennan is dropping one of his naps.  So we’ve been reworking our schedule the last few days and so far, just taking two naps is doing the trick.  Although he’s a space cadet during dinner, ready to doze at any moment.  What has your all’s experience been dropping a nap?  It makes me wonder how future traveling is going to be with a kiddo who is getting used to his sleeping environment/crib.  I’m already apprehensive about traveling at Thanksgiving and entering a two-hour time zone difference.  Any suggestions?

I digress.  Our time in El Paso was so special!  After watching Guy for the week, Brennan sure did come back wanting to try all sorts of new things which I wrote about here and has since been caught standing up in his crib…which has now been lowered.  It made me so sad!  Corrie’s sweet parents were very generous to watch the boys for two nights while Corrie and I lived up the night life.  Not really.  We’re tired mommas.  After staying up until 11 p.m. the first night, it did us in for the rest of the week.  We paid for that extravagant use of time.  We also had an unexpected treat of visiting with Aimee Feuille, her parents, and baby Egan!  He’s the spitting image of his daddy.  By the way, Matt and I want to know where the phrase “spitting image” came from.  It’s a peculiar saying.  I know I could Google it, but who better to ask first than my Internet peeps?

I am so excited it’s September and Fall and that our fun activities are starting!  We start MOPS this Friday and our music class next Wednesday.  And here is a kind forewarning that I am going to be on hiatus for awhile.  I am prepping for eleven house guests over two consecutive weekends coming up the end of September/beginning of October.  We have family coming for Brennan’s dedication weekend, bless their hearts.  And then the five girls I lived with my senior year in college are Austin bound for a reunion!  I can’t wait!  But my to-do list for cooking and cleaning while keeping up with an insatiable explorer is keeping my nose to the grindstone.  I’ll be sure to come up for a breather every now and then and check in with ya’ll.  Happy 09-09-09…at nearly 9 p.m. <grin>

Go Get ‘Em and Gig ‘Em

Keep your eyes wide open and locked on the little blonde-haired, blue eyed babe.  If you don’t, you’re going to miss out on something!

For the past few days, we’ve had so many firsts that I can’t keep up with the tyke.  He’s definitely tummy crawling with grunting noises ‘cause it’s such hard work, I suppose.  I haven’t exercised that hard in what?  A year?  More than?  I’d probably grunt too if I worked my body that hard.  He rolled from his back to his tummy for the first time.  Had his first barrel roll.  First consecutive movements of sitting up to tummy crawling to sitting back up again after retrieving the item he was fixated on:  his paci.  He’s standing for longer periods of time holding onto a table or an ottoman.  He transferred himself standing up from the ottoman to the leather chair and back to the ottoman with no help.  And he pulled himself up this morning on a basket without any help for the first time!  Seriously, it’s been one thing after the other!  I think he’ll be crawling by the end of next week or least within the next two.  That is if he stops rolling onto his back after a few tummy crawls.

In addition, aside from some family birthday celebrations, Brennan attended his first birthday party for his friend Evan, who turned three.  Evan had his awesome party at Arrowhead Ranch, a petting zoo.  Unfortunately, Matt wasn’t able to go because he was working.  He was really bummed!  Brennan was introduced for the first time to bunnies, goats, a donkey, miniature horses (which he got to ride on), and roosters.

A big thanks to Abe the donkey and Cheyenne the mini horse for being super nice!  Oh, and yes, Brennan takes after Molly in that the first thing he went for on the ground was a rock—the biggest rock there was next to him. 

(You can click on the album to view larger pictures).

 

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As you can tell, Brennan was decked out in a Texas A&M jersey gifted by his Uncle Mac and Aunt Julie.  I saved it just for today in honor of college football starting (and in honor of Uncle Mac who is an Aggie alum)!  I am ecstatic about it being September and football season…and so is Brennan!  I had to come home from the party and put him in his first pair of blue jeans which made it feel like fall all the more.

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Next weekend, Mac and Julie are participating in their first half triathlon in Williamsburg, VA.  We’re so proud of them!  They’ve been training their little tooshies off for months now.  We wish we could be there to cheer them on in person.  As a substitute though, we put together the following video for them to replay throughout the week to spur them on and encourage them as they swim, bike and run.  It’s an Aggieland/Triathlon celebratory combo!

Gig 'Em and Go Get 'Em from Meg @ Spicy Magnolia on Vimeo.

Mac and Julie, we’ll be cheering you on all week as you finish training and as you strut your stuff next weekend!  Go get ‘em!

Ya’ll enjoy game day.  Gig ‘em!