BIRTHDAY BOY!
This is what I like to call "cake face". He wasn't too sure about the cake at first. {We gave him the red cupcake off the cake.} But once he got started it was great! He squished it in his fingers, rubbed it in his hair, there was even some in his ear, and he got a couple big clumps of icing in his mouth. MMM!
He had a good party. He could have cared less about opening presents though. He enjoyed them later. Thanks to all our friends and family that helped us celebrate Matthew!
At 1 year old, Matthew can just about run. He is trying to talk and attempts to say several things - Mama, Dada, boo, hot, light, ba for bath, hi, bye, and at least one more I'm forgetting. Sometimes he tries to copy what you say and I think he'll be talking before we know it. He has 6 teeth. He LOVES to be outside, he loves taking baths and being naked or "kaked" as Andrew likes to call it. He's very friendly and happy all the time. He's still sweet and cuddly and I hope he stays that way. He's a very special, sweet, and loved little boy.



He went straight to the tub after this!

THE CAKE
Let's start with last Friday - Feb 24th. I decided that I was going to make Matthew's birthday cake. We had originally planned to have his party on Feb 18th, the day before his birthday, but we got snowed out. So we switched it to the next Saturday. The cake that I had ordered for the 1st party date was very tasty but I didn't like what she did with it - at all. So, since I had most everything together for the party and would have Friday free, I decided to make the cake. I don't really like the decorations on the store-bought cakes and I'm a little picky when it comes to what I want anyway so I figured why not do it myself - that way if it stinks there's no one to blame but me! Anyway, I never knew cake making could be so expensive! Thanks again to Keith for buying the supplies. I had some decorating tips but I needed an icing spatula, food coloring, a little beginners book, meringue powder, bags, extra couplers, a pan, a cake box and cake squares - those things the cake sits on in the box. I'm sure there was probably something I left out of that list too - and this is all besides the eggs and flower and over 6lbs of powdered sugar! I got the cake and icing recipes from Wilton web site, got all my stuff and first thing Friday morning I started on the cake. A little ways into it I realized I was going to have to make 2 cake batters to have enough. This was a bit of trouble so I made a batch of cupcakes first to make sure it was going to taste good enough to be worth it. The cupcakes were AWESOME and gone before we went to bed that night. The cake turned out good except it fell in the middle. I tested it with a toothpick and even gave it extra time but I don't think it was done enough. It was still good though. So after 2 cake batters it was on to 2 batches of icing. One white to ice the cake then the other was divided into 4 bowls and colored red, blue, yellow, and green. It was between 5 and 6:00 before I finished icing that cake. It was really good though, and everyone loved it. I decided I still want to take the classes so hopefully they will help me finish a little quicker.

Very excited! (notice his Big Bird & Elmo figures) 

I have been blessed with a breakthrough! I have always struggled with reading the Bible. Even when I wanted to read or made myself read, it's like none of it was really sinking in. Something has changed - and it's great! It seems like every time I would start over at trying to read the Bible I would start at Genesis. I can't tell you how many times I've read Genesis. But this time is different. It's like God is unlocking the scriptures for me.
I'vw also started journaling after my reading. I'm writing just whatever I happen to think about the chapters I just read. Tonight it was about the tower of Babel and I wrote about how it must have been for those people to experience that. I mean, one minute you're friend is talking to you and the next gibberish is coming out of their mouth! Sometimes it's more meaningful than that - but you get it. But it's not just the journaling that's making the difference. The reading is different. I told Matt, it's almost like I've been tested all this time to see if I would ever give up. I've failed TONS but I always thanked God for never giving up on me and I always tried again. I've always known there was no turning back - that will never be an option. And the messages we hear at our church challenge us not to be just another person that comes to church once a week. Yeah that person may be saved and going to heaven - but don't you want to be better than just "there"? Especially when it comes to what you're supposed to be basing your life on? So I've been convicted about just being "there". Some days it didn't matter but more and more days it has mattered. I think I'll finially be able to take a step forward. It feels that way anyway.
We went to see Sesame Street Live on Wednesday. We took both our boys - Matthew (11 mths) and Andrew (3 in April). They both loved it! I was surprised Matthew paid so much attention and sat so well. Andrew did pretty good. He had a meltdown right before intermission and again right at the end. My family joked that he was coming down from his sugar high induced from the cotton candy -which is probably true. He hadn't had a nap either - my plan for him falling asleep in the car hadn't panned out. But we had a good time and got some great pictures. I love the ones of his sweet little face all lit up and not paying a bit attention to the camera.
I was very thankful to have Grandma and Grandpa there to spoil Andrew too. They provided the junk food and an Elmo ball cap - very cute - and a Sesame Street figurine set. Andrew loves those figurines and held on to a couple through the entire show. The next day he had them all out on the table while watching a SS video - very cute. Oh and my neice Madison (age 8) went and got Andrew one of those spinny things that lights up - he loved it too. We would definetely do it again one day. But I don't think I can talk anyone (especially Daddy) into the Barney show in February! haha!

What kid doesn't love to unroll the toilet paper!?

This is me! April 2005

Cool! I have a blog! I wanted to start this for several reasons. I wanted a "family gathering" type place where I could tell stories about the kids and post recent pictures or scrapbook pages. I also wanted to be able to write things that I would probably never say. And I wanted to journal now and scrapbook later and this is a good place to keep up with that.
I feel like there are going to be a lot of good changes for us this year. I have a few ideas as to what that may entail but only God really knows. I'm hoping one of those good changes is that Matt gets that job at Eastman. That's one of the wonderful things about serving God. When you put your life in His hands you don't have to worry about having a big plan and having it all figured out. You trust in Him and He gives you hope - that things will be better because He loves you and has many promises for you in His word.
I also am hoping another good change is that I will actually get my act together and do what I'm supposed to do. Some people thing I have this Christian thing down pat but going to church and living it every day are two very different things. My motto for this year is DECIDE. Decide to take control, decide not to wallow or be depressed but to pray when I feel bad even though I REALLY don't want to. Decide to be pro-active and not procrastinate. It's surprising how many times I've already told myself to DECIDE since I came up with that. I think I got the idea from a Wednesday night church service by the way.
Anyway, this is my first post! I hope that this will help bring me out of my comfort zone and give people more insight into who I am. And I think this will help me figure that out too.