Luke in tub & Andrew's new PJs

Bathtime is always fun. The boys usually take one together but Luke got his own bathwater tonight. He likes to imitate....just watch!



Andrew got a new pair of PJs tonight. It's so cold in our house at night that I purchased a cute two piece fleece PJ set for him. He looks so grown up!

My two sons

Our ninth move

We've been married seven and a half years and have managed to have nine different physical addresses (not completely in order):

Hoover, AL
Homewood, AL
Moody, AL (x2)
Thomasville, GA
Columbus, GA (x4)

Finally, we've found a house we love and are excited about settling into and raising our family. We'll move into it in two weeks, just days before finding out the gender of baby #3. Funny how everything is thought of in relation to the pregnancy. I guess that's my timetable now. Speaking of pregnancy, I don't feel pregnant. Maybe it's because this is my third child and my body is so drastically different this go 'round. Maybe it's due to the fact that I'm trying to keep up with two toddlers all day long that I don't have time to think about it. I haven't felt the baby move yet (I'm 17 weeks) but sometimes I'm not really sure what I'm feeling. "Was that a kick or was that Mitch's elbow in my side (in bed)?"

I'll email our new mailing information next week so get that white out or label printer ready! A friend commented to me last week that my spot in her address book was the messiest due to all our addresses changes. Hopefully this is the last one for a good while.

Biker Mania

Andrew got a bike for Christmas and wants to ride it everyday. I wish our driveway wasn't such a steep hill and was flat instead. He likes practicing his turns in the driveway under the carport. Sometimes he gets too fast and falls over. We need to buy him a new helmet (the one he's wearing in the picture is a hand-me-down from a neighborhood girl - it was free!) and knee/elbow pads. He's showing off his steering and speed skills to his Pop in this picture.

Amy Carmichael CD

Click here to read what JT had to say about the new CD of songs from the writings and poetry of Amy Carmichael. I love her story.

Liquid damage

After dealing with a great cell phone that all of a sudden started powering down on me after just being charged all night, I took it to the store to see what the trouble was. Liquid damage. I guess I let Luke play with it too much and it accumulated all of his slobber. So, I've got a new phone now (same cell number, though) but am frustrated that I have to pay $10 to have my contacts transferred from the old to the new. There's a fee for everything......

Boys for the weak?

The guy in the middle is our pastor in Birmingham, Burt Boykin, at Community PCA. His wife, Anita, is a very good friend of mine. Burt and Anita are the proud, and patient, parents of seven children...all boys. They range from 8 years old to 21 years old. Their two oldest sons are Dane and Addison. Dane is a sophomore at Covenant College in Lookout Mtn, GA, and Addison, their second born, is doing an internship at a church in New Zealand, having taken a year off between high school graduation and starting college this fall. I have watched Burt and Anita raise their boys and I am encouraged.

It looks like Mitch and I might be close behind them with our two boys and possibly another male on the way. Maybe we're closing the gap, although it will take a while longer for us to do just that. I guess pastors are good at making boys to carry on their name. Burt likes to think that God gives sons to weak men. I guess he doesn't think he would be strong enough to raise a girl, much less seven of them. He always jokes about that. I snapped this picture last week when Mitch and I were in Birmingham visiting the Boykins for a few days.

Moody visit

We've been in the Birmingham area for a few days and I'm loving every minute of it. Can't wait til tomorrow when I get some more time with friends. I love friends. They are good. They cook for me, make me feel welcome in their home, laugh with (and at) me, share crazy kid stories with me, sit on the floor with me, stay up late to talk to me, let me sleep in their basement, etc, etc.....great friends are hard to find. God's blessed me with many.

Here are a few pictures of Andrew with his Boykin pal, Griff. Also, Luke loved walking at the Boykin house on the hardwood foors, barefoot.

As promised

We took Andrew to Chuck-E-Cheese last night in celebration of his potty achievement. He rode almost every ride there and redeemed his game tickets for a tootsie roll. All the characters were there and he had no fear....he just walked straight up to them, waved, and gave out hugs. Chuck-E-Cheese was spotted immediately so we had to snap this picture for the scrapbook.

He did it

He's two years and nine months old......he finally did it.

ME: "Andrew, what are you doing in the bathroom?"

ANDREW: "Pooping."

ME: "No way, really (as I open the door)?"

ANDREW: (holding his small potty up so I can see his trophy) "Yep!"

That's when I started dancing and singing wildly in the hallway, congratulating him on his accomplishment (which he did on his own with no prompting from me). He was a little scared of all my excitment, as well as a little embarrassed, but he was thrilled that I was so happy. We immediately called Daddy to share the good news. We're taking him to Chuck-E-Cheese's tomorrow as promised.

Brotherly Love

Andrew loves to hold Luke. Luke usually doesn't allow it

but this time he didn't budge.

"Splish! Splash! I was taking a bath....'long about Saturday morning!"

Just thought this was funny.....MEN!

Men Are Just Happier People
What do you expect?

Your last name stays put.
The garage is all yours.
Wedding plans take care of themselves.
Chocolate is just another snack.
You can be President.
You can never be pregnant.
Car mechanics tell you the truth.
You never have to drive to another gas station restroom because this one is just too icky.
You don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt.
Wrinkles add character.
Wedding dress $5000. Tux rental $100.
New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet.
One mood all the time.
Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat.
You know stuff about tanks. A
five-day vacation requires only one suitcase.
You can open all your own jars.
You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness.
If someone forgets to invite you, he or she can still be your friend.
Your underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack.
Three pairs of shoes are more than enough.
You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes.
Everything on your face stays its original color.
The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades.
You can play with toys all your life.
One wallet and one pair of shoes -- one color for all seasons.
You can "do" your nails with a pocket knife.
You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives on December 24 in 25 minutes.

No wonder men are happier.

HT: GIRLTALK

Bibles Unbound

I've read up on the ministry, Bibles Unbound, and think that their mission is amazing. I take it for granted that I have access to four Bibles. I can buy any translation I want, when I want, however thin or thick I want, bound how I want. The people in these countries just want ONE each.

The Polar Express

I cannot count how many times I've watched the movie The Polar Express. We gave Andrew the DVD for Christmas and it's all he cares to watch. We have had to limit him to a few minutes of it a day instead of it running non-stop. He's watching it now while sipping on some juice. I've memorized every line of it. I think he has, too. Anyone else's kid have a favorite movie...memorized it yet?

Kiss my feet

Silly me...when teaching my 3rd grade art class last week, one of the boys asked me who was gonna win the BCS Championship game. I am a SEC fan, but a huge Gator hater so I didn't hesitate to say, "Ohio State will win for sure!". He disagreed with me and we joked about it for a few minutes. Finally, I said, "Tell you what - if Ohio State beats UF then you have to kiss my feet with my shoes on (that was the smart part of the deal) and if UF beats Ohio State, then I'll kiss your feet with your shoes on". The entire class laughed and we shook on it. Today at school, the young man approached me and said, "You better get that pucker ready, Mrs. McGinnis, 'cause you're gonna have to do some feet kissin' when we come to your class!" I laughed and told him that I would be sure to bring my camera so I could capture him eating his words while having to bow to kiss my clean feet.

Guess I better get my pucker ready 'cause UF just beat Ohio State, 41-14. It is sometimes best to go with the UNDERDOG.

Hockey

We took the boys to go see the Columbus Cottonmouths hockey team play the Richmond Renegades this past Thursday night. They had a blast! Andrew wanted to chase the mascot, Boomer, around everywhere he went. We managed to find him and pose for a picture. Luke loved hearing the loud music and danced like crazy....especially when they scored. The Cottonmouths won in overtime 4-3.

Heartbeat heard today

I heard the baby's heartbeat for the first time today. Funny.....according to the rate (it was in the 140s), my midwife thinks it's another boy. Then, after laughing out loud at her prediction, the heart rate jumped immediately up to the 160s - she said she might be changing her mind. We'll find out the gender on Valentines Day.

A REAL letter

A real letter from a real Marine serving in Iraq.

Weird milk theory

Heard a weird theory the other day. I'm trying to wean Luke totally....now that's he's almost 13 months. I'm tired, pregnant, and not enjoying it anymore. I realize it's not about me but he is slowly losing interest anyway. I'm already down to one feeding a day. Some might say that shouldn't be burdensome but it is when it's always at 4 a.m. Did I mention I was pregnant? Oh yeah..... Anyway, I called my lactation consultant last week (is that too much information for some of you?) to get some advice as to how to wean this child. After giving me much encouragement NOT to wean him, she told me to offer him SOY milk (I've tried whole milk from the cow but even a little dab of OVALTINE hasn't done the trick to get him hooked). She then said, "You know, don't you think it strange that we're the only mammals on the face of the earth that drink the milk of another mammal?". I've never been asked that question, thus have never given it any thought. I didn't have to think long for my answer (I didn't voice it to her, however). God created man and called him VERY GOOD. We are his most valuable creation. A soul has been given to us so that we might know and ENJOY him here on earth and in heaven. Therefore, I have no problem drinking cow's milk. He created the cow for various purposes (I'm not a vegetarian) such as for meat, for milk, and even as pasture trimmers. So, when I drink cow's milk, I drink to the glory of God. I thank God that He chose to create and give us an animal that we can enjoy. That might sound weird to some. Oh well.....SOY milk stinks, anyway.