A Fool or a Wise Man?

James 3:2, 4-6, 8-10, 13 says---
"For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body... Look also at ships: althought they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell...But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so... Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom."

Which one do we choose each day, fool or wise? I'd like to put myself in the latter category more often, but more often than I'd like, I fall in the first. Do I think before I speak? Is what I am saying building up those around me or tearing them down? Do I have my interests in mind first, or those of others?

But, thanks be to God, whose kindness leads us to repentance!

"For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more." Hebrews 8:12

Mom & Lucas

Doesn't my mom look great? Here she is with my cute nephew, Lucas.

Here is Alex with Stephanie, his cousin. She is a great babysitter. I love this picture!

Nicole's birthday

Here we are celebrating Nicole's birthday. Alex got to meet the rest of the family and we all had a blast. As always, Abel and Cecilia had a great spread. Lots of fellowship and food=Fun.

Happy Anniversary!

Keith and I celebrated 10 years of bondage, I mean marriage, July 9th. They have been the longest and yet fastest 10 years of my life. I have no regrets and I look forward to celebrating another 50 more years, God willing.

Barb & Alex

I could not neglect to post a pic of Alex and his grandma.

Happy Birthday, Jesse!

Alex had a blast as you can see from this picture. Great cake, Barb.

Six degrees of Kevin Bacon...

Steve Buscemi in "The Big Lebowski" with John Goodman, John Goodman in "O Brother, Where art thou?" with George Clooney, George Clooney in "Ocean's Eleven" with Brad Pitt, Brad Pitt in "Sleepers" with Kevin Bacon...And so began our 3-hour car ride to Blue Grass, Iowa. It was a weekend of new experiences for Alex, Keith and I. Keith and I got to ride in Barb's brand new ATV all over the subdivision (it's much cooler than it sounds). Alex got to eat cereal for the first time on July 4th!!! Very exciting stuff, man, at least to us parents. And was Alex ever ready for it. I think he would have eaten a steak had I fed it to him. Barb also noticed that Alex's 2 bottom teeth started to come in, at 5 months! It was a very fun weekend and a blessing to get to spend it with Barb and Jesse and their family (Stormy, Jack & Ernie).

The biggest cutie pie ever!

Here's Alex at 4 months or so at a Church picnic.

I just could not resist posting this! Check out the little Beethoven. When I sat him down at the piano, he really just couldn't resist. Of course, as his mommy, that makes me quite happy indeed.

Hubby's birthday!

Today was Keith's birthday! Ha! Now you can join the rest of us fogies, hubby! j/k :)
From my perspective, it was a great day and a good year for him. I think the 46' LCD he's always dreamt of would have been enough to make him happy, but he also got some other nice gifts. And of course the icing on the cake (no pun intended), was the Culver's Concrete Turtle Cake and getting to go see Hancock!!! ...which by the way is at least the 3rd Will Smith blockbuster we've seen on Keith's actual birthdate. All in all, I would say it was a very fine day indeed.

Can it be?

So a little under 2 weeks ago, we started "sleep-training" Alex. Before becoming a parent, one has all these ideas about what one will and won't do. :)
Of course, baby sleeping in bed with mommy and daddy was a big no-no. And then, reality hits...You realize everything goes out the window (at least it did for me) where precious sleep is concerned. Alex would not sleep in his crib or bassinet at all from day one. After some half-heartened attempts to get him to sleep in his bassinet, we resigned to letting him sleep with us. It was very convenient for me too as I am breastfeeding him. Well, 4 1/2 months and 21 lbs later, we decided it was time for him to learn the fine art of falling asleep on his own. Then, all hell broke loose.

For those of you who aren't parents, there are very specific sleep-training methodologies in the how-to parenting manual. Just a side note, DO NOT tell anybody which one you are adopting if you don't want someone to go into a 10-minute discourse on why their method is best and what a bad parent you are if you don't adopt their method.

So, Keith and I settled on the cold-turkey "cry-it-out" method. The first 4 nights were miserable!!! One night, Alex cried for 1 hour and 20 minutes and still hadn't fallen asleep (yes, I caved in and picked him up at that point). But we continued trying, and I'm happy to say that last night was the 11th night of trying, and he fussed for all of 10 minutes and fell asleep! Now he goes to bed at about 7:30 and doesn't wake up for his first feeding until 11:30-12:30. I am so proud of him! He's my sweet little angel. For those of you out there who may be trying this method or will, it sucks, but it's worth it.