Spicy Magnolia

Double the Trouble, Double the Fun

Who watched Lost last night? Wasn’t it AWESOME!? As my sis-in-law, Julie, wrote on her blog, it’s the show we’re never gonna want to end! As a side note to Julie’s blog, you should hop on over there to read this article by a Washington Post staffer on Tim Tebow’s Super Bowl ad. It’s a great article.  It’s a thoughtful and fitting response to some of the negative hype. Oh, and take a look at this from Antique Mommy. I’ve pondered numbers 1 and 35 all day long.

Ok, back to Lost: that was two thrilling hours of television! 24 used to be thrilling to me, but now it’s same-old and very predictable. Am I the only one that feels that way? The suspense has dissipated. “Bye, bye,” Jack Bauer. Time is limited in this household, and you’re gonna have to go. You’re not doin’ it for me anymore. But Lost, remain forever.

And onto the real topic of this post: our special visitors from this past weekend. Our good buddies, Eric and Kim and their adorable 9.5 month old son, Luke, made the trip from Colorado to visit us, and it was a blast. We go way back with these folks. Eric and I grew up in El Paso together and have known each other since I was 11 years old. At Wheaton, he introduced me to Matt, and then when Eric and Matt lived together in Austin, Matt introduced Eric to Kim, who also happened to be a Wheatie. Did ya get all that? They’re some of our bestest buds, and now Luke and Brennan will forever be bestest buds, at least as long as we parents get to choose who their friends are. But even still, we hope they’ll forever be bestest buds. They sure hit it off this weekend, talking and babbling to each other, playing together, and even crying when the other started crying. They’re learnin’ empathy early on.

Chuy’s was our first stop, and the most important restaurant to visit. It was crazy crowded with a long wait, so we opted for take out, which was so the right option to choose. We stuffed ourselves silly. After the boys hit the hay, the adults stayed up to play. That’s more or less what it was like every day. Day time: lugging our gear and boys around the city; night time: busting out the food, the drinks, and livin’ up the night life. Well, in an exhausted, need-to-be-responsible-parent sort of way.

 

At one and 9.5 months, these fellas weren’t really “double the trouble”. I’m sure they will be one day though. And we’re bracing ourselves by opting for arranged marriages. And chastity belts. If they don’t make those for boys, we’ll invent them. And knee pads for the hours spent on our knees praying.

 

Thank the Lord they’re angels now. Wonderful, precious little boys who don’t even know how to wrestle yet. Or grunt. Or let out disgusting burps on purpose. They just need their mommas’ tender lovin’ care to make it through the day.

 

On Saturday morning, we hit the playground at Zilker Park for some fun sliding and swinging.

 

The game “Chutes and Ladders” comes to mind.

 

Why do the big boys seem to be enjoying the swings more than the little boys? Oh yeah, it’s ‘cause they’re lookin’ at their pretty girls.

 

The swing is only so much fun for awhile. After that, it’s melt-down worthy.

 

  The Coloradoans were freezing in Texas this weekend. Eric kept going “blah, blah, blah, blah, blah” trying to reasonably explain why that could even be possible.

 

1. A cheesy, but heartfelt caption is the only kind appropriate for this picture. I love these friends of ours! The shared history, interests, memories, times of laughter and times of tears are too numerous to recount.  There is nothing like the deep bond of friendship, and this is the kind that is lifelong. There are certain friends of mine that when I think of them, my heart could literally burst in thanksgiving and joy over being their friends, and these three are of that kind. I hope at sometime during your lifetime, you may know this kind of friendship.

 

After Zilker, we could not pass up taking our guests to our staple tourist attraction: Whole Foods. For the first time, we ate at the bar-b-que bar and it was the best thing I’ve had at Whole Foods! For the afternoon, the big boys went to a Longhorn basketball game (where they lost in OT) and the girls and little boys hung out at home and got dinner ready.

 

Cupcakes, glorious cupcakes!

 

 

Tails is Brennan’s favorite new book now thanks to his buddies. And because of that, I’m dreaming about tails. Possum tails. Tiger tails. Swat, swat, swat. Dirty tails, clean tails, fluffy tails. Tails, tails, tails!

 

The hit of the night was a recipe The Pioneer Woman recently featured on her blog: molten lava cakes. Your life is not complete without having at least one of these a week. Or be wild: one a day! We played a couple rounds of “Clue”, a favorite in our household. It was Mr. Green, with the lead pipe, in the library, in case you were wondering. Then we laughed our heads off (that’s such an odd expression) and reminisced over old college photos.

Sunday we went to church together and met up with Eric’s little sister for lunch at Central Market, where we wanted to listen to the live Jazz band. But it was too cold for me, and way too cold for Eric and Kim. <grin> The fellas took over for us girls Sunday afternoon, and I took Kim to one of my favorite Austin spots: The Steeping Room, for a lovely afternoon tea. It was purely delightful and was the perfect thing to do on the cold, dreary day. We bar-b-qued steaks and had baked potatoes and salad for dinner. It was a weekend of feasting. This whole month has been one big feast, which makes February, not January, the month to begin our New Year’s resolutions. Oh wait, we don’t have any.

Eric and Kim spent the better half of the evening trying to convince us to move to Colorado. I’ll let you know if and when our bags are packed. But for those of you worrying as you read this (a.k.a. Pops and Meems), you’ll just need to have your bags packed and ready, too.

 

I think they could pass for brothers in this picture.

 

That fella you call your friend is making me put my arm around Luke, and I don’t like it. Neither does Luke. Enough already.

 

 Now we’ll always have proof of the first time the little boys saw each other n*aked, as boys tend to joke about such an event even up into their 30s.

 

 

All four of them mesmerized by watching a Lost summary episode gearing up for last night’s season premiere. We love Lost. And we love those moose with short fluffy tails that go wag, wag, wag.

 

 

Link Love

Hola, amigos! Como están?

It’s February, and I am putting my feet up and taking a deep breath, feeling elated after the last month of partying and special visitors, and feeling much relief that we don’t have one thing on the calendar for any of the four weekends this month. I do have plans to start some spring cleaning, but will take my time working on that. My kind hubby said I could take the whole year to get the house back in order and cleaned well. He would genuinely be ok with that, bless his heart. I would roll over and die of dust. But hubby would just keep on kickin’ without one complaint. He should be loved on real good this month of Valentine’s Day, don’t ya think?

I have much to share from the past weekend, and I also need to write a catch-up post on what fun things my boy was up to and learning when he turned one. But first, here’s a little link love for you to peruse.

Tsh, whom most of you all may know from Simple Mom, wrote a guest article for {in}courage directed to moms, asking the question, “do we really love our jobs?”. It’s simple, yet bold in reminding mommas what a privilege it is to be just that: a momma. The visual pictures she uses to make her points are powerful.

Then this article on Simple Mom, written by guest author, Megan from Sorta Crunchy, was resourceful in addressing difficult days in parenting, and I can’t wait to get my hands on some of the books she recommended. On that note, my little boy is feeling much, much better, and is his sweet, cuddly self again…yet another reason I’m breathing a sigh of relief. But this article is one I’ll keep in my back pocket to re-read from time to time for a little boost of morale.

Are you looking for creative ways to give to others, trying to think outside the box from the normal monetary donation? Then read Marla’s post here. She’s got some creative gift-giving ideas that I’m thrilled about.

I am not well versed when it comes to understanding all the proposed changes to the health care system. In fact, it overwhelms and confuses me. But this post by J.R. Briggs made a lot of sense to me, and after spending the weekend with a doctor friend of ours, we found out he had the same ideas.

Finally, I have a huge announcement to make. No, I’m not pregnant, unlike a friend of mine who told me this weekend that she is carrying their second after making me wait five whole days with only, “I have fun news to tell you and you can’t know until Saturday.” Painful. PAINFUL! It’s just so wrong! <grin> Well, <half grin>. You know who you are, and I’m still gonna give you a hard time about making me squirm that much!! But I’m also still gonna jump for joy at the amazing news!! Anyway, onto my huge announcement: after taking his first steps the day before his first birthday, last Thursday, Brennan decided to take off! Ladies and gents, we have an official walker! He’s walking more and more everyday, and it’s so fun! If you wanna see him in action a bit, click here. It was filmed last Thursday and I was not at all expecting him to walk as much as he did, so it was double the treat.

Oh, and who’s totally stoked about Lost tomorrow night? I’m as giddy as a girl with her first crush!

I’m off to sleepy sleep…the first night I’ll be in bed before 11:30 in weeks. Sleep tight, and don’t let the bed bugs bite!

A Paper Lover in a Digital World

A few years ago when I was putting together ice-breaker questions for a small group of college gals, I came across the question, “If you found $100 in a store, what would you do with it?” I happened to be the lucky one who drew that question out of the hat and enthusiastically shared that I would spend it in a stationery store, proceeding to tell these girls who had just met me about my love for all things paper. Silence. And bewildered looks were on their faces. How come the conversation quickly halted? Then one of the girls boldly asked, “You wouldn’t take it to the cashier and said you found lost money?” Huh? Thoughts of how their discipleship leader just admitted she wouldn’t care one hoot or try in the least to find the rightful owner of a large sum of money probably quickly turned into, “Why did I have to get stuck with this girl for a leader?” My face flushed bright red having realized my cockeyed, yet innocent, answer. I laughed at myself, trying to regain composure and redeem the first impression that I just blew through an ice-breaker question. I thought it would be eye-opening to see what a person would spend $100 on. Who knows what those girls got out of that evening, but they undoubtedly knew I was a lover of paper, with a level of integrity yet to be determined.

But we live in a digital world. Everything is stored on the computer, which is wonderfully convenient. But this girl has to have something tangible, something to hold onto that is a physical document to touch, to pass down to the next generation. Because all of the pictures and blogs just don’t seem real otherwise. Anybody gettin’ what I’m sayin’? For awhile, scrapbooking was a main hobby of mine. Forget $100; I’ve probably spent at least $800 over the past seven years of scrapping. Once I completed Brennan’s baby book documenting my pregnancy through the main events of his first year, however, the srappin’, at least in a traditional sense, was a thing of the past. Don’t feel badly for the child. He is going to probably know more about his childhood than he ever hoped. Since his birth, I’ve completed a book called Love Letters to My Baby, which was a guided journal for thoughts from the beginning of pregnancy to a few months after birth. If we have a second child, I’ll want to get another copy; I loved that book. Then I kept a “Baby’s First Year Calendar” which marked all of his firsts, growth developments, special events, and daily happenings I wanted to record. I cropped my favorite pictures and had a collage for each month. Thirdly, I write briefly in a daily journal about my favorite moments of the day, what we did, or what I saw him do that was exciting. I even have the gumption of writing about the awful days, like this past Monday and Tuesday which led me to write, “If we have a second child…” just a few sentences above. Where has my sweet, sweet baby gone? He has morphed into a toddler. Granted, he’s been feeling awful, which doesn’t help matters. But since turning one, he is a new child. Oh, he’s still the sweetest thing on earth to me, but the jury is still out as to whether I like this new stage. I digress. Finally, there is the blog, where I record more than some readers would like to know.

Like I said, the boy is not short of journals, pictures and documentation about his childhood. I realize I went overboard. Way overboard! Please know it’s more about my abnormal compulsion for all things paper, and a deep-down desire to want future generations to know about our life, and well, a love for writing. And the four-fold documenting will not likely be repeated for the second child (if there is one) <grin>.

The thought of even the blog remaining in the nebulous place of cyberspace is unsettling to me though. If anything ever happened to it, I’d be heartbroken since it has, more or less, become my journal and scrapbook. At least the main one. <grin> So I turn it into a book! I know, I am crazy. That’s the “scrapbook project of sorts” I worked on in Houston during my down time. You may have heard of the program: Blurb. It has its idiosyncrasies and major bug issues that are nothing short of frustrating, at least for a Typepad user. It took me eight hours to fine-tune my blog imports from July-December, staying up till 1 a.m. I know, I know. I sure hope they improve it. But it’s the only software I know that I can use to turn the blog into a tangible book to take up more room on the book shelf. If anyone knows of something else I could use, by all means, let me know.

And as for my pictures, I still have the itch to have something for pictures all on their own, but traditional scrapbooking takes too much time. I’m so excited about something I came across recently through The Mom Creative: Project Life. Designed by Becky Higgins, her words describe it the best: “it’s a way to capture your memories in a format that is simple, pre-designed, and ready for you to add your personal photos and stories.” I’m trying it for the first time this year, and after receiving the kit in the mail this week, I am in love! I can still be creative, but it’s pre-designed in such a way that I am not drained by trying to think of something creative to do for each page, like traditional scrapping. For those that like to put pictures in an album, it’s basically that but with the option to add journaling cards and the provision to make it colorful and pretty. There are all sorts of ways you can use it. It’s a great deal, too! It only costs $40; that leaves me with $60 to spare after finding someone else’s money in a store!

The kit allows enough space in its page protectors to take a picture a day, and that’s what I’m trying to do. I haven’t succeeded in that yet, but I’ve already enjoyed the fruit of having it in my mind to grab a picture a day; it causes me to have my eyes opened more to the special, even subtle events of the day I’d like to remember. One problem I may run into, however, is deciding which picture of the day to choose, like yesterday’s options:

Brennan learning to brush his teeth

 

or Brennan’s first bubble bath

Which do you think?

Seeing as how Monday and Tuesday made me want to cry at the end of the day and bury my head in the sand, I might just end up using both of these pictures because I was in survival mode and forgot about the camera. Yesterday was better though. The little fella even crawled over a ways to me to give me a kiss because Momma asked for one. And that will be the favorite moment of the day to write about in my tangible journal.

Link Love

Hey, all! I got home not too long ago from lunch with my friend, Emily. We planned on eating at Thundercloud Subs with our boys, but we made a last minute change and went to the Cheesecake Factory. What a treat for us two moms to enjoy a tasty lunch and cheesecake (of course!) with some good little boys, who enjoyed playing outside in the dirt just prior to our meal. If I was quick enough, I would have taken a picture of the boys crawling together; Parker (1.5 years old) reverted back to crawling to play with Brennan and encourage him along. It was awesome!

I brought home a piece of cheesecake for Matt, but I have yet to determine if I’ll actually share that bit of information with him. If he reads this before tonight, then I’ll let him have it. But if somehow that cheesecake gets left in the fridge through the night, well, too bad, babe. <grin>

I just have a few, fun random links and quotes to mention to you that you might find interesting.

I’ve immensely enjoyed some of Pioneer Woman’s recipes lately. They’re simple and yummy. If you’re in the mood for a filling soup to warm your innards, look no further than her Simple, Hearty Chicken and Rice Soup (the only thing I omitted was the food coloring). I’ve also tried her pot roast, which was simple and so good. The meat was very tender and flavorful. It was delightfully aromatic as well. Brennan was most keen on the carrots in the pot roast and absolutely loves the chicken and rice soup.

My dear neighbor has made these pretzel treats for us for some Christmas goodies, and I am IN LOVE! Last year, I ate the entire bag she gave us before Matt got home from work. Do you see a trend here? He either tattled on me or I confessed my addiction to those suckers (I don’t remember which it was) because she sweetly made us more! This year, I made sure Matt got a couple. Literally. They were gone the same night she gave them to us though. I have since made some for gifts and yes, for me to munch on occasionally, too. They are amazing. And terrifyingly addicting! Are you all making any Christmas treats that you love?

I know it may seem like I just emerged from a cave, but I recently discovered Pandora, the live music stream radio through the Internet. I have a whole new slew of Christmas music to listen to! Do you all have any favorite stations you listen to?

I mentioned in my last post about the Advent readings we’re going through as a family. Last Tuesday, the theme of the Scripture verses (Isaiah 13:9-14; Matthew 24:27-32; Revelation 6:1-3, 12-17) was “The Coming of the Lord”. Along with the verses was a quote from Dietrich Bonheoffer's The Coming of Jesus in our Midst. It was stirring and thought-provoking, definitely worth pondering:

We have been so accustomed to the idea of divine love and of God’s coming at Christmas that we no longer feel the shiver of fear that God’s coming should arouse in us. We are indifferent to the message, taking only the pleasant and agreeable out of it and forgetting the serious aspect, that the God of the world draws near to the people of our little earth and lays claim to us. The coming of God is truly not only glad tidings, but first of all frightening news for everyone who has a conscience…Only when we have felt the terror of the matter can we recognize the incomparable kindness. God comes into the very midst of evil and of death and judges the evil in us and in the world. And by judging us God cleanses and sanctifies us, comes to us with grace and love. God makes us happy as only children can be happy. God wants always to be with us, wherever we may be—in our sin, in our suffering and death. We are no longer alone; God is with us.

Ok, I need to start keeping a running list of random musings so I’m not relying on my increasingly unreliable memory. But this will have to suffice for now. We’re headed out for a walk with Miss Molly, and for fun, I think I’ll put her Christmas jingle bell collar on. She might hate me forever for it, though.

 

 

Link Love

A few articles and sites you might be interested in perusing:

This is probably already old news among the blog world (even though it’s only been up and running for two days), but Pioneer Woman created a great new recipe website called Tasty Kitchen.  You can share recipes, search through them all (Pioneer Woman’s tantalizing recipes included), and even participate in live chat sessions with other members.  It’s pretty cool.  And from what I’ve experienced of Pioneer Woman, anything she puts her hands to is cool.  I don’t know how she does it all.  But she does.  And I am in awe.  She’s a special breed.  If you aren’t familiar with The Pioneer Woman, then you need to take a moment and read all ‘bout her here.  If she wants a protégé, I’ll volunteer.  Happily. 

This is a tremendously poignant post written by Melissa Moore Fitzpatrick.

I recently discovered Billy Coffey at What I Learned Today, whose writing I enjoy a lot.  His memoirs remind me of Antique Mommy’s writing style, which is how I aspire to write when I’m inspired by something…but I have a long way to go!  This post, entitled “Love Made Visible” has been my most favorite yet. 

Having been born and raised in the border-town El Paso, Texas, I found this article very intriguing.  If you’re interested in the effects of immigration, particularly as it pertains to safety among big cities, you should take a look.  Agree or disagree?

Finally, July 11th’s edition of The Economist caught my attention with a 10-page special report on Texas and an article entitled “America’s Future:  California v Texas”.  Any true Texan will automatically agree that by far, Texas is better than California; that’s just a given.  Just as any true Texan would say that Texas is better than any other state, for that matter.  Usually Texans don’t have much to back up such convictions other than our solid, prideful stance that, “That’s just the way it is.  You’re wrongly mistaken if you believe otherwise.”  That stance has worked.  Simply because it’s true. And we don’t need to prove our greatness.  But the featured article and special report in The Economist has gladly provided all you skeptics reasons for why 1) Texas is better than California and why 2) Texas is the strongest state in the Union at the moment.  It’s not all glamorous, mind you.  There are some significant failings issues that Texas needs to address soon.  However, this article presents a strong case as to why so many, including Californians, are bee lining it to our Lonestar State.  If you happen to be one of the newbies, Welcome!  As for the rest of ya’ll, Don’t Mess With Texas!

 

 

Link Love

Hi, Internet peeps!  Matt needed to work a little bit tonight so I'm sittin' here watching Dancing with the Stars and American Idol drinking a glass of chocolate milk.  The amount of chocolate far surpasses the milk.  Oh, how happy it makes me!  By the way, so far Melissa and Shawn are my favorites in DWTS; I have yet to pick a favorite for AI.  What about you?

Me and Chunky Monkey have had a wonderful past two days!  We made our first trip to the grocery store yesterday.  I couldn't fit his car seat in the grocery basket and had no idea what to do with it.  So walking into the store, I asked the lady walking in next to me if she was a momma.  She said with a smile, "Yes, I am."  I proceeded to ask her, "What do I do with the car seat?"  She was so friendly and helpful, showing me different options.  With the car seat set, we made our way through the grocery store.  He was lulled to sleep by the motion of the cart and my voice since I was talking to him the whole time.  The last two days have been great days enjoying my sweet baby.  Thank you, Lord!

Here are some things I think you'd be interested in:

• The animation of this video of the Hudson River plane landing is amazing.  The story is still incredible to me.
• My friend, Jill, made us Thai Coconut Shrimp Curry from Cooking Light a few weeks ago to help us out with Brennan.  It is delicious!  If you're not a shrimp fan, I'm sure there's a way to substitute it with chicken.  Serve it with fried rice and snow peas.  I'm making it for dinner this week.  I'm telling you, it is good! 
• Julie requested the recipe to Kim's pumpkin ice cream pie with chocolate-almond bark and toffee sauce that I mentioned in the last post.  The recipe is from Epicurious.  Here it is.
• Who is psyched about March Madness!?  I AM!  Granted, I have no idea what's been goin' on in the world of basketball, but there is something really cool about March Madness and the lively variety that it brings to the weeks ahead.  Matt and I just filled out a bracket for a pool that my sister-in-law put together.  We flipped a coin to determine the game winners.  For the first round, about 80% of the underdogs were selected to win because of how the coin toss turned out.  Ha!  I think we're gonna be losers with a capital L!  We shall see.  I'm also filling out a bracket in BooMama's group.  If you're interested in filling one out for kicks, go here for more info.  Brennan's gonna be lovin' him some b-ball by the end of the month!  Go Tar Heels! 
• If you like making photo collages, check this out.  Matt made one with some of our pics:

Christina asked how Molly's vet appointment went (thanks, Christina!).  She was a happy camper; they spoil her with treats oh, yes they do!  She had some blood drawn but has to go back tomorrow for x-rays and an ultrasound.  This is not the first time she's suffered from rumbly, upset tummies, but it's gotten progressively worse over the years.  She really doesn't feel well, and I'm worried about her.  So hopefully we'll know more this week and it won't be serious.  We're giving her lots of lovies.  The funny thing about the vet though was that you could definitely tell she and her assistants are animal people; they barely acknowledged Brennan at all.  It was hilariously odd.

So Molly goes to the vet tomorrow and then Brennan goes to the doctor for his 2 month check up on Thursday. He'll get four shots!  I'm dragging Matt with me because I can't bare to see him go through it. 

It's been gorgeous here this week.  I hope to get out with Brennan and work in the yard over the next few days.  The weeds are starting to overtake our backyard and I can't take it any longer.  Spring is here, my friends.  Hope ya'll have a wonderful evening and Happy St. Pat's Day!

Oh, wait...I just had an exciting, fleeting thought!  Easter is coming!  That means that the Easter bunny is on his way!  There's much more to Easter than that, don't get me wrong.  But a renewed sense of excitement for the Easter bunny that I haven't had in years has suddenly resurged because of the new little one in our home!  I mean, he'll only be 3 months, but hey, it's Brennan's first Easter!  Any fun ideas about what to put in a little Easter basket for him or where to find a cute basket?

Ok, now I'm signing off.  G'night.  <grin>

Link Love

Hi, folks!  Guess what I'm gonna finally going to work on after this quick little post:  the low down (a modest rendition) of Brennan's birth and the rest of my answers to your questions!  My aim is to post them by Friday, so keep checkin' up on me. 

In the meantime, I wanted to give you a tad bit of link love to check out some posts and articles that have caught my attention recently.  They either got me thinkin', thankin', cryin' (a good cry), or chucklin', so enjoy!

Tina at Antique Mommy comes up with the most original posts about mommyhood!  I've bookmarked one of her most recent posts called, "The Resume", in which she very strategically toyed with words to create her resume.  Yes, I bookmarked it in case I ever need to steal borrow her wording for my own resume. 

My brother, Mac, sent us a very poignant and fascinating editorial that appeared in the Wall Street Journal in January called "Atlas Shrugged: From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years".  While I've never personally read this particular Ayn Rand novel, I found the comparison of the current economic situation to her classic piece intriguing and insightful.  Maybe Washington perked up upon reading it? 

Speaking of my brother, he and Julie come into town this weekend to meet Brennan!  Matt and I are cashing in our first coupon and asking my folks to babysit for us on Saturday night so we can go out on the town with Mac, Julie, and some other dear friends, including my pseudo younger brother, Oscar, and his precious wife, Candis.  Meems and Pops jumped at the opportunity to babysit...I think Brennan already has them wrapped around his little finger!

My first week at home on my own has gone pretty well.  Today has been a really nice day with my baby boy, as was Monday.  Yesterday was a little rocky, and I must admit that there are times when I wish for my old life back.  Maybe being married 6 years before having kids made me much more content and comfortable in our way of life than I realized.  But then I have other priceless moments of sheer joy holding Brennan and looking into his eyes, ever so thankful for the gift that he is. 

One of the blog posts that has meant the most to me was a post written this week by Beth Moore called, "Before Baby Girl Comes".  At the time of the post, Beth's eldest daughter, Amanda, was 38 weeks pregnant with their second child, a baby girl.  (Baby Annabeth came a bit early and was born yesterday!)  Amanda's firstborn is a nearly 3 year old "unstoppable little force" named Jackson, and Beth wrote a lovely, moving post about who Amanda is as a mommy to Jackson.  I love the way Beth writes!  I was in tears of joy, thanksgiving, and prayerful longing as I read about being a mommy to a little boy, hoping that I would be such a mommy to Brennan.  So far, Brennan is pure sweetness and gentleness.  But who knows?  He may quickly develop into a rough and tumble precocious boy that gets into anything and everything...just like his Uncle Mac.  If that's the case, may the Lord have mercy on me! <grin> I know many of you blog readers who know of Mac's childhood would echo that prayer for me!  But I long to be a joyous and patient boy's momma, ready for the anything and everything that will come from being a mommy to my handsome boy.