Rethinking Christmas

Let me just start off by saying this year's Christmas was not what I hoped it would be. Next year will be different.
LESS
Presents- why do I feel compelled to buy so much for people who don't need it just so I can say I did?
Food- gaining 10 pounds in a month is ridiculous and baking for people who want to loose weight is not nice.
Work- as much as I love my job, my place is at home, with my husband and child.
MORE
Time- we will make a point to spend time as a family, not shopping or getting ready, but just enjoying the season.
Meaning- the gifts I do give will serve more of a purpose than just to say "Here's a pile of crap you can regift later."
Jesus- we will be intentional in remembering what we are celebrating, and teaching this to our family and to others.

Merry Christmas (Part 3)

The Second Best Christmas Present

Merry Christmas (Part 2)

O Holy Night is by far my favorite Christmas Hymn. Take a few moments to meditate on these words and sing them to your savior.


O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of our dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
'Til He appear'd and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees! O, hear the angels' voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born;
O night divine, O night, O night Divine.

Led by the light of Faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,
Here come the wise men from Orient land.
The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friend.

He knows our need, to our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before Him lowly bend!
Behold your King, Behold your King.

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name.

Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever,
His power and glory evermore proclaim.
His power and glory evermore proclaim. !

Merry Christmas (Part 1)

My Dad and my Aunt Beth visiting St. Nick

















my Aunt Melinda (she's the tree in the front)

Note To...

MOMMIES OF YOUNG CHILDREN
If your child gets sticky hands, perhaps from eating something like a doughnut hole, the proper response would be to:

• get sticky stuff on everything else
• use a wipe
• wash their hands
• get a napkin wet
• stick their hand in their own mouth

Under no circumstance should you stick their hand in your mouth and proceed to make suckie and mmmm mmmm noises.

Thank You.

We've been Elfed!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Christmas Questions

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends. Feel free to join in if you need some blog inspiration! Thanks Tiffany!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I am a professional wrapper, thank you very much!

2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial, they got me at pre-lit.

3. When do you put up the tree? Before Thanksgiving

4. When do you take the tree down? In the new year

5. Do you like eggnog? not so much

6. Favorite gift received as a child? good question

7. Hardest person to buy for? My father-in-law

8. Easiest person to buy for? myself... err, I mean Tommy

9. Do you have a nativity scene? we have several, but I only put one out this year, and I'm not sure it's even my favorite

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail, I enjoy opening them

11.Worst Christmas gift you ever received? a re-gifted re-gift, with a card addressed to a person I'd never heard of from a person I'd never heard of enclosed

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Home Alone

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I never stop

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes, but I try to avoid what happened in #11

16. Lights on the tree? White

17. Favorite Christmas song? Handel's Messiah

18.Travel at Christmas or stay home? Travel

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Who?

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Nothing at the moment, our last angel was retired, and I haven't found any good replacement

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? with my family on Christmas Eve and Tommy's family Christmas morning
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year. The Christmas Shoes Song

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I have no theme

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Tamales

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? My advisor to email me and say "We reviewed your transcript, and you have enough credits for graduation, please reply with your address so we can mail your diploma."

Inside-Outside

Inside:










Outside:

















Daniel and Eleanor at 3 months.

Friday Funnies

A few things that make me smile:
-Tommy singing "Legalize It," "Hollaback Girl" or "Pink Triangle"
-Daniel playing in his crib in the morning and then stopping to smile when he sees me walk up.

Thankful (Part 3)

We are also thankful for Jesus. Before we were born he lived a sinless life on our behalf and took the wrath of God the Father against sin that should have been against us. Then he conquered death by rising again so that we too can have new lives.

When we were physically alive but spiritually dead in our sins, Jesus gave us new life. We received his life. He took our death. He is our redeemer, sustainer, savior, king, friend, and God.

Thank you Jesus!

Thankful (Part 2)

I am thankful for such good health. Just last night I finished the box of tissues I bought before Tommy and I got married (over 3 years ago).

I am thankful that Tommy and I both have such great jobs (that we like), and we actually like our bosses too.

I am thankful I can laugh with my husband at conversations like this:
me: I feel fat
him: your eyes are pretty

Thankful (Part 1)

After a long day of being at work with me, Daniel was ready to let loose and spend some time with his daddy.


I am thankful for such a healthy and wonderful baby, and his even more wonderful and engaged daddy.

Neurotic Computers?

Nick Carr:

Anders Sandberg and Nick Bostrom, of Oxford's Future of Humanity Institute, have published an in-depth roadmap for "whole brain emulation" - in other words, the replication of a fully functional human brain inside a computer. "The basic idea" for whole brain emulation (WBE), they write, "is to take a particular brain, scan its structure in detail, and construct a software model of it that is so faithful to the original that, when run on appropriate hardware, it will behave in essentially the same way as the original brain." It's virtualization, applied to our noggins.

The catch:

They deal with the problem of free will, or, as they term it, the possibility of a random or "physically indeterministic element" in the working of the human brain, by declaring it a non-problem. They suggest that it can be dealt with rather easily by "including sufficient noise in the simulation ... Randomness is therefore highly unlikely to pose a major obstacle to WBE." And anyway: "Hidden variables or indeterministic free will appear to have the same status as quantum consciousness: while not in any obvious way directly ruled out by current observations, there is no evidence that they occur or are necessary to explain observed phenomena."

Back in college I had once thought to build a “free will” machine. I was going to use the radioactive decay of an isotope as the source of what I thought would be a truly random number generator. But then I realized at some point that there really is nothing random. Even the “noise in the simulation” for the WBE is not random; it is just that the sources of such noise are sufficiently complex that we can’t predict what such noise would look like. But it is not random or chance. Everything is deterministic, whether we know the determiner or not. Our own thoughts and will are a complex of internal competing desires and outside stimuli which are well beyond our ability to grasp. But the choices we make are not random. Just imagine: could any person reasonably be held responsible for making choices that do not arise from their desires?

Further, could any random choice be thought to be rational or reasonable? In constructing a computer with seemingly random decisions, it seems far more likely that the Oxford Future of Humanity Institute would create a computer exhibiting all manner of mental disorders than to replicate a creative consciousness.

In constructing a “free will” machine my hope was to create a creative computer. But if human creativity is not the result of chance, where does creativity come from? Interestingly, in Exodus 28:2-3 and 31:1-6 we are told that the first person(s) to receive the Spirit of God were artists. They were given the spirit of skill to devise artistic designs, for glory and for beauty. Even our creativity finds its source in God, not indeterminate chance. Praise God!

Facelift

Yep, it's the same blog, just switched up the colors and layout.
It's been a pretty boring weekend, haven't gotten out much except to work yesterday where I gift wrapped 40ish Christmas presents, and to church today.




Daniel always looks good for church. Tommy called him his little Ninja Turtle in this outfit.











I made some pumpkin pancakes in lieu of fall and cooler weather. They were only okay.







Daniel has been rolling up on his side lately.

Great-Grandparents

Daniel is so blessed to have four grandparents (all originals) and three great-grandparents (also all originals).
This picture is of Daniel and my dad's parents. I've been reading Sacred Marriage and love how he explains that marriage should be a reflection of Christ and the church. This is why divorce and homosexuality are so devastating. Although no marriage is perfect, it is so awesome to look back and see the heritage I come from.
I love you Granddad and Grandmom!




Happy Birthday (on the 12th) to my cousin Nathan!










To see more pictures of my trip to San Antonio go HERE.
To see more pictures from Halloween go HERE.

Happy Halloween

For Daniel's first Halloween/my birthday/Reformation Day, he started off by giving me my birthday present- he slept 10 hours! So Tommy and I slept in, then we dressed Daniel up and went to breakfast. I took a lazy day and just bummed around the house, I also wanted to be sure Tommy would have some cleaning to do to keep him busy while I was away this weekend.


In the evening we went to a friend's house and handed out candy so their kids could trick-or-treat. But our friends might not invite us back because there were a few undressed-up teenagers that I refused candy to. There were several moms with their kids and moms with little babies who had their own bags for candy! Hello! You're going to end up eating your kids candy anyway- and I know those babies aren't eating those Snickers!
All told it was a good birthday!

Left

No, this is not a statement of my political leanings; don't worry! This is to let you know that as of Wednesday, Tommy and I decided to leave our church. We had been unhappy for a while, and after much prayer and discussion decided it was time to look elsewhere. Some of our issues were related to the style of the service, some were not. We are sad for some of the relationships we will be leaving behind, but we know that God has much prepared for us. Please pray for us as we begin to look for a new home.

On a lighter note, Daniel is 2 months old today. We took him in for a check up and he weighs 11lbs 11ozs and is 23 inches long. Everything looked great, but the doctor did hear a murmur on his heart, but said because everything else was okay, it's likely a normal one; not uncommon in little babies. So we're not worried. The Lord has blessed us tremendously in Daniel. We couldn't ask for anything more. He doesn't need to be rocked to sleep, we don't have to do any silly gimmicks. Most nights he sleeps 7 hours, nurses and sleeps for another 2 or 3 hours. When he is awake, he's pretty active. His arms and legs are always moving; if I was that active, I'd have already lost all my baby weight! He will stand and put alot of weight on his legs when you hold him, and he holds his head up well. His fussing is pretty tame, and never lasts very long. The best is his smiles, laughs and coos. He is one happy boy.

PS- My birthday is in one week!

Productive

Today has been a highly productive day.

• 6 loads of laundry, washed, dried and put away
  
• made Daniel's 2 month check-up appointment
• made dentist appointments for me and Tommy
• did the dishes
• gave Daniel a bath
• paid bills
• balanced the checkbook
• sent a long over due thank you
• sent off for a rebate
• read Titus
• complained to Snapfish
• and I blogged!

I don't know what will be left for tomorrow!

Our Weekend

Giddy Up Daniel!




















We went to a western themed birthday party and Daniel dressed up for the occasion!

































Smile Daniel!


Nap Time with Daddy

Katie

This weekend I had one of the best surprises ever! Almost. Tommy arranged with my friend Katie, whose UHaul we drove to CA, and whom I visited in May, to fly out to meet Daniel and visit with me one last time before they leave the country in two days. Katie's husband called Tommy Thursday evening to confirm some details, and Tommy got caught off guard, which kinda gave it away. I still didn't know 100% for sure what was going on until we picked her and Raymond, her 9 month old, up at the airport Friday morning. They only got to stay one night, but we had a great time. It was nice to go out together and be able to claim a kid, in the past they were always all hers!

Smiles

Daniel has been smiling a lot, but we don't have many pictures because we aren't quick with the camera and we'd smile with him than take pictures. But here are a few.





I realize he looks a little deranged here, but you get the idea.












We practice our smiles everyday :)

Where's Daniel?

Growing so fast

Too Cute!













At his one month weigh in, Daniel was 9 lbs 8 ozs. We measured him last night and came up with 22.5 inches.











Some days are better than others.

Under Control?

First off, I finally typed up my birth story and can e-mail it to anyone interested. It’s about two pages long, or I’d post it here. If I get around to writing a short version, expect to see it here.

I’ve been thinking a lot about babies, specifically how to proceed with number two. No, we have no plans of any kind right now and I am totally not pregnant! I am really seeking God’s will regarding birth control, family planning and things of that nature. In my quest I’ve come across some interesting articles and thought I’d pass them along. It’s a pretty heated topic, and I’d be interested in what you have to say.

A Hard Pill to Swallow- the article that originally influenced my birth control choices about three years ago.

A Funny Song- because you can’t ever take yourself too seriously.

John Piper had some interesting thoughts regarding pre-fall and post-fall directives.

Making Home- An excellent blog that is becoming one of my new favorites -This is a discussion of how birth control has affected the culture we live in.

Tommy and I LOVE being parents and believe God when he says children are a blessing. I think this culture teaches us that children are a burden, are expensive and are an inconvenience. How heartbreaking.

Time for Daniel to wake up

Fishy face












Okay, so this was staged...

...and because nose bulbs don't seem to work.











Everyone smiling










Listen carefully

Me and my little boy

outside is one of our favorite places














this is one of my favorite pictures

For Granddad

Because we haven't figured out the webcam quite yet and grandparents need their fix.




In other news, Daniel will be circumcised tomorrow. Hopefully we can get a good picture of him with the Rabbi beforehand!

Grandparent's Day

Daniel is blessed with four wonderful grandparents. These days it's rare to have parents at any age that are still married to their first spouse, to have made it to grandparenthood deserves special commendation. What a legacy and example! We were so blessed to have all four to visit Daniel last weekend. He is the first grandbaby on both sides, and the first great-grandbaby to all three living great-grandparents!







Hopefully we can do this again!
















Nana and Granddad














Grandma and Grandpa

Before and After

July 13












September 2









These little piggies came home from the market.
I almost forgot what they looked like!

Hiccups

There was a time when Daniel would get hiccups everyday in my belly. I would try to figure out how he was positioned based on where I felt them. Now that he's out he still gets them!

Daniel Mitchell

Daniel made his entrance into the world at 4:00am Sunday, August 24th.


6lbs. 12oz
20 1/2 inches








































































More to come!!

Nursery Duty

Our crib finally arrived on Wednesday and Tommy dutifully put it together the same day. We spent a good part of yesterday and today making the curtains for Daniel's room. Here are the fruits of our labors!






Yay for the crib!! It finally feels like a nursery!















Our rockin' curtains.










This is me from about 3 weeks ago and Tommy's awesome painting. And his favorite toy, the catapult in the foreground (the bouncy seat).















Our stock pile of diapers and some of Daniel's clothes. And Tommy's tools.

Three Years

Today marks the three year anniversary of the day Tommy and I got married. Things have only gotten better since then. I thought I'd do a few sets of 3s in honor of today.

Three biggest changes
1. Adding to our family; while Daniel hasn't made his grand appearance, we're excited to meet him in a few weeks!
2. Living in Fort Worth; having only each other to depend on has brought us so much closer together.
3. Tommy has grown and changed so much. He has become much more gracious and humble and he loves me even more than I deserve.

Three favorite places we've been
1. Grand Canyon, Arizona
2. Chiang Mai, Thailand
3. Lincoln National Forrest, New Mexico

Three Wedding Photos





















































Three things we're looking forward to in the next three years
1. Growing our family
2. Seeing where God leads Tommy in ministry
3. Seeing more of God's glorious creation

Three people we couldn't have made it without
1. Joseph and Katie (tie for first)
3. our families