A Thought to Ponder on this Beautiful Day!

"Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Grab life by the mane. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Consider the lilies. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshiping what's right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze a new trail. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don't try to be who you're not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away. Chase the lion."

- Mark Batterson

Playing Hard with Daddy

Michael loves this toy! It's supposed to fit onto his swing, but he doesn't like the swing anymore - just the toy. It was one of the first toys he began to interact with and he just has the best time with it. Now that he's sitting up a little more, he can really make it go!

Blast from the Past

A friend posted some old photos on Facebook recently - talk about a blast from the past! These photos were taken in April of 2000. I was finishing up my dissertation at Tulane and had gone to Houston for a weekend trip to see some MSU buddies of mine. That's me on the far left with some really short hair! Jason and I had not started dating quite yet. Next to me is my wonderful friends Derek and Lisa. Next comes Lauri and Ernie (they were dating and that weekend was the first time I met her - such a sweet girl!) and then on the far right is my dear friend Tim (who is now married to his own Lisa). With the exception of Lauri, I met this crew freshman year when we all lived in Garner Hall on MSU campus. We had lots of fun times at State, especially our senior year! Wish we all lived closer together so our families could spend more time together!

Our Boy

These are two photos that Michael's Grandma took while she was here for his dedication. I love these two because they show two very different shades of Michael. The picture above may seem at first to be a bad shot because Michael is crying. In color, his face is bright red, so I filtered it into black and white. I love this photo because it shows Michael being comforted by Mommy. These are the moments that I know I am a mom. I can't tell where I stop and he begins - we are one in these moments and my heart breaks with his.

I love the photo below because it shows how Daddy feels about Michael - shear adoration. I love the look on Michael's face - reminds me of that saying "butter wouldn't melt in his mouth".

Life's Been a Little Crazy

I realize there has been a lack of posts here lately. A very dear friend of mine from when I was living in New Orleans has been diagnosed with lymphoma. I've been working on a prayer blog for her in my "computer time", thus no cute Michael pictures have been appearing here of late. The good news is that now that I have her blog up and running, it'll be easy to maintain. So, I can begin creating on this blog again. :) Please check out my friend Kristi's blog http://prayingforkristi.blogspot.com/ and please remember her in your prayers.

Things here are going well, other than me being worried for my friend (but worrying doesn't help and praying is the thing to do!). Michael is so much fun right now (he always is, but especially right now). He has one sharp little tooth on his bottom gum. He's quite proud of it and loves to chomp on my finger if it's close enough to pull into his mouth! He is getting more mobile. He's been rolling for quite a while now but has recently discovered how to use this "trick" to get to the things he's interested in.

We had a good Mother's Day. It was my first with Michael and my sixth without my mother. Michael was publicly dedicated at church and we had a nice lunch at the house afterward. I still missed my mom - guess I always will! One thing is certain - I love being Michael's mommy.

I'll try to get some new pictures up soon. I feel inspired to begin writing more - up 'til now this has mostly been a picture blog. So, yall keep me accountable to that, ok? :)