busy busy...

I sometimes wonder how we squeeze SO much into one little week, seven measly days....I don't know  how we do it, but somehow everything seems to get done.  Last week seemed like a classic example of me being "overdone".  I sometimes have a knack for over-volunteering my time and services for things.  I would rather have it this way, I guess, than having something neglected or overlooked.  I finally feel like the Martin household is back on track and I can get back to jumping on the trampoline, playing with play doh, coloring and being goofy (a few of my favorite things).  Soon Dallas and I will leave for Haiti, and I guess someone will have to get us prepared for that trip, get the kids prepared for wherever they will be that week and get all of our living trust paperwork in order.  I vote Dallas:).

So, a lot has happened in the last week.  We had a funeral, conducted a science project, found a new love for Jude (and me), repurposed our kitchen table, took a trip to the Dr. after Rhett fell out of a shopping cart and landed on his head and the excitement goes on and on.  Here are a few of the details...

Jude's first experiment!  We planted 5 kidney beans in a clear plastic cup using nothing but a paper towel and water.  We watered the beans everyday and look....

These things are seriously a foot tall today and there are three of them now with another one just sprouting. 

We also planted seeds for roses in a teeny tiny pot, and much to my surprise, those are coming up as well!  We will transfer these to pots and watch them grow as long as I can keep them alive, but I don't want Jude getting too attached, I don't exactly have a green thumb.  

Jude's Love...

Most of you know that Jude had a HUGE crush on Kari Jobe last year.  She sweetly sang him to sleep every night last winter (that's how we got him to sleep in his bed).  Kari is an amazing Worship leader who Dallas and I went to school with at ORU.  The baseball team called her "the angel" because of her sweet voice and obvious beauty.  Seriously, I think more than just Jude have had a crush on her.  I'm remembering a weird conversation Dallas and I had where he was pondering why Kari's boyfriend wouldn't just "put a ring on it" already. He of course had no idea of how long they had been dating or any other details that go along with marital type decisions:).  She has recently become humongous on christian and non christian charts.  She had the #1 downloaded song on i-tunes for a long time running last year and her music has been a ministry to our lives.  Our church hosted a women's conference last year and Kari was the main-event.  I was on the committee that put the whole thing together and Jude had an opportunity to meet miss Kari in person...twice.  She doted over him and sang "Hey Jude" while he just stood there like a deer in the Headlights.  He was so overcome with excitement, that all he talked about for a week was Kari Jobe.  To this day every time I pass the hotel where the conference was held Jude says, "Mom, that's the hotel where Kari Jobe was".  

Well, bad news bears, Kari!  There's a new girl in town, and Jude's got a new crush.  Her name is Kim Walker and she's quite a bit spunkier than Kari.  I think Jude likes it so well because of instrumentals involved with the band.  It's got much more of a "rock" feel to it. She has a raspy voice and I must admit,  it is amazing!   Kim sings with the band Jesus Culture and it's all Worship music too.  I definitely recommend them.  Some of our faves are Relent, How he loves us and Your love never fails.  You can listen to all of them on Youtube if interested.  

I'm starting to feel like a bad mom for all of the falls and bumps my boys have experienced (feel free to disagree with me here).  This sweet little noggin above fell out of a shopping cart the other day.  I can't explain the terror that goes through your body and mind when something like this happens.  He flipped right out of the basket, landed on the top of his head and then on his back.  Thankfully he was up running around and laughing just seconds after the crying stopped.  We dashed off to our Doctor right away to have him all checked out, and he is fine.  

The scariest experience I've encountered (and I hope this is it), was at a softball game when Jude was 2.  He was sitting on the top bleacher reading a book with one of the moms, and I was standing on the ground behind the bleachers talking to some friends.  I turned to look up at him and at that moment he lost his place and was heading straight for the asphalt.  I couldn't get there fast enough and he landed, on his head, on the hard asphalt.  It seriously was the WORST sound I've ever heard.  Friends say it sounded like a cantalope hitting the ground.  I grabbed him immediately started praying over him.  I couldn't even look at his head at this point.  I just had my hands holding his head and holding him against me.  He was hysterical and I probably was too.  They stopped the game and Dallas came running off the field to find out what had happened.  The ball-field sent paramedics over to see about him and they had to remove my hands from his head.  They looked at him and said to get him the the emergency room.  When I saw his head I gasped.  I'm telling you there was a crack in his skull.  I saw it, Dallas saw it, apparently the paramedics saw it and our friends who were close enough saw it too.  We prayed over him until we got to the hospital and I held him in my arms while we waited for Doctors and ct scans.  He was so scared, poor baby.  I was pregnant with Rhett at the time, so I couldn't be in the room with him while the x-rays were taken.  They wrapped him up like a burrito and told him they needed some pictures.  He still talks about this experience and uses those very words to describe it.  He was 100% miraculously just fine!!!  I know that Jesus healed his head that day.  I know that there was a crack when we left the ball field that was gone when we arrived at the hospital.  You may not believe in miracles, but I do, and I know that Jude was healed that day.  

Meanwhile, I resolve to keep my boys out of danger in 2011! 

I love their little heads...

 Jude wore CawCaw's tie to the funeral...he might hit up a fraternity party after:). 

I also love Rhett's gray skinny cords from Gap!  

Good news on my dining room situation.  I've figured it out!  I will post pics when I get it all put together and my new chairs come in.  

Julious James Owens...

otherwise known as Cawcaw, JJ, Jim and Jude's buddy, passed away just moments ago.  Dallas' grandpa was a wonderful man who served his country, loved his family and loved a mighty God.   Though I'm sad he is gone and mamaw will be here without him, I'm so thankful that right now he can see again, hear again, and that he is face to face with the one and only God who created him.  I imagine that right now he is hearing the words, well done good and faithful servant.  We will miss you Cawcaw!

88th Birthday Party in December.  

Blessed...

I was just snuggling Rhett to sleep for nap and thinking about what an amazing blessing he is to us.  Both of my boys are unbelievable blessings, obviously, but I was just struck by this sweet boy while rocking him.  I was remembering back to when I was first pregnant with him and all of the emotion and fear that I felt.  I was scared to let myself be excited or overjoyed because of the miscarriage at 11 wks I had experienced just 3 months prior to getting pregnant with Rhett.  Dallas and I prayed and prayed and kept him a secret for 3 long months, but what we really wanted  was shout out from the rooftop!  I was ashamed of my fear because I know that the bible tells us not to worry, but fear has always been a downfall I've struggled with.

I will never forget the way God showed me that everything would be okay.  It was like a precious gift that He handed to me that wiped my fear away.  I was 11 weeks pregnant and in a Sunday morning service at church. The service was a moving one on healing, and I have alway struggled with migraines, especially while pregnant.  I went up to the front for prayer after service and an older couple, a couple I respect, came to pray with me.  I told the woman, Patty, about my headaches and she quickly murmured a prayer that I could barley hear.  Then, she took her hand and put it on my stomach (nobody knows I'm pregnant, remember) and she said, "Sarah, God wants you to know that today is a new day, what was yesterday is gone, and today is a new day."  I just started sobbing and felt a huge weight lifted off of me, a burden was gone.  I knew that Rhett would be born and not lost as the last baby was.  I know that God has a specific purpose for his life, one that I can't wait to see.  Rhett's due date was October 27th, the very same date that we lost our last baby one year before.  God took a horrible experience and turned it into something wonderful, something exciting, He gave us Rhett!  Our sweet, loving, snugly baby boy who has stolen our hearts completely.

I'm thankful that I serve a God who cares enough for me that He takes my fear away so I don't have to struggle with worry.  A God who loves me enough to help me with something that He's already told me (numerous times throughout the Bible) over and over again.  A God who loves me regardless of my unfaithfulness to Him at times, and a God who wrapped His arms of peace around me and comforted me when I lost my sweet baby 2 years ago.

Rhett's words, food, Christmas...

Hot, momma, dada, bath, jude, peek a boo, papa cracker and "G" for Jen (for some reason we call her G).

He's picking up so much lately.  The past few weeks he's been throwing things away.  I will change his diaper and he gets up, grabs the diaper and runs to the trash to throw it away.  He's been having milk in a bottle in the afternoon and will take the bottle to the trash when he's done with it.  I've fished a few bottles out of the trash lately, and a few toys here and there:).

Rhett just seems so teeny tiny to me lately.  I bought him some skinny jeans the other day (cutest ever!!!), and he practically disappears when he turns sideways.  I'm guessing he's fallen on the charts since his 10th percentile at 12 months.  I doubt he's put on any weight since October.  I'm determined to do all I can to fatten him up, in a healthy way.  We practically NEVER eat red meat around here, but I bought some steak and ground beef just for Rhett today (that is, if I can keep Dallas from eating it first).  I'm sure he will love it.  That's what is so strange about this child, he will eat anything and everything put before him.  Not only will he eat it, he won't stop eating until you stop feeding him.  He is a bottomless, weightless little pit.  A lady asked me at a store the other day if he was about 8 months old.  Um, no...try 14 months.  As long as he is healthy I guess it doesn't matter.  Our doctor never seems concerned, and Rhett has always been ahead of the game developmentally and in all of his milestones.

Does anyone have any healthy food suggestions on some good fats for a one year old?  He does love avocados, cheeses and hummus, and I want to stick to mainly natural, non processed foods.  Let me know if you have any kid-friendly ideas.

In other news,  Christmas was a success at the Martin home.  We managed to keep Jude informed on the real meaning of Christmas and have a fun celebration for Jesus with gifts for all of us!  Our big gift to the boys this year was a trampoline.  We have wanted to get one for a while, but we figured we should save something that big for a Christmas present.  Dallas and I stayed up until 3 am in the freezing cold and rain on Christmas eve eve, and got it put together.  We actually had a lot of fun and many laughs that night (possibly frostbite as well:)).  So, we attempted to hide the fully assembled tramp (that's her name) from Jude all of Christmas eve.  We pulled all of the blinds shut and put the basketball hoop in front the the back door window so there was at least an obstacle in his line of sight (as if that would mask the giant wonder-world of fun lurking in the background).  Every time he even set foot near the door Dallas or I would redirect him or distract him with something.  Late that afternoon I was doing dishes and Dallas was distracted by Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (even though he can recite it line for line), and I looked up and Jude was staring out the back door window with a confused look on his face.  I panicked and screamed, "Jude", he jumped and said, "what?", I said, "come here, I want to ask you something."  Just when I thought my super clever mind tricks would work he said, "okay, but did we get a trampoline?"  This is where the lying started.  I was devastated seeing as how we didn't get Jude much else because this gift was going to knock his socks off.  What would Christmas be like for him if he already knew what he was getting?  I just felt like I failed as a parent, like I didn't do a good enough job keeping this a surprise for him.  Really it somehow turned into Dallas' fault for being distracted by Christmas Vacation after seeing it for the umpteenth time, but really I was mad at myself.  So, Dallas concocted a very elaborate story about how this trampoline was for Cole and Austin (cousins), but we were hiding it here so they would be surprised on Christmas.  Apparently uncle Larry was going to come put the 14 foot trampoline in the back of his truck after we all went to bed.  Thankfully the logistics of all of that meant nothing to a 3 year old, or we would have been made lickety split!  Christmas morning we opened stocking gifts and the presents under the tree, and then we took Jude outside and told him that the trampoline was really for him, and we just wanted him to be surprised.  He was really excited, and we've had so much fun on the trampoline the past few days.  The weather has been great, and Jude and Rhett have loved being outside and burning off energy.  I must say that I do regret lying to him.  I don't know how else we could have handled it, but he was really confused by the whole situation on Christmas day.

So, as if this was not failure enough....when we finished opening gifts Jude came up to me and said, "Mom, are there anymore presents?", I told him we were headed over to Mamaw's house and would have a few gifts there.  He said, "Well, I hope there's a belt there because that's what I told santa I wanted."  FAIL, FAIL, FAIL!  How could I not get the belt?  He loves his belt, so much so that it's torn in several places and the leather is coming off.  I'd stopped letting him wear it in public, and he really wanted a new one.  His had become a leash for cat in the hat, a fire hose, a rope to pull his toys around and anything else you can think of, but this sweet little boy just wanted a belt to hold his pants up (most of them have an adjustable waist and don't need holding up), and to be just like his daddy.  I instantly covered for santa and told him that he and I were going to go the the store the day after Christmas and that he could pick out his very own belt, whichever one he wanted!  So we did, and he was happy.

Back to the trampoline for a minute...she is a beaut! A vision in khaki!  I did not pick it out, it was a special the day after Thanksgiving that my in-laws were kind enough to pick up for us, but I personally loved the colors.  I've never seen a trampoline so modest.  They are usually bright blue with blue foam bars and spring covers.  I have no idea the brand, but we are pleased she is less of an eyesore peeking over the fence than we thought:).

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas as well!