My Ebenezer

No, it's not knitting. Guess again! It's Garage Sales. I know!! When I used to go to garage sales as a girl/teen, all I saw was other people's junk: puzzles with one missing piece (you couldn't pay ME 50 cents for a puzzle with a missing piece. It would drive me crazy!), old furniture and lamps, odds and ends, and The Dreaded Knick-Knacks. But when you're in the market for kids' clothes and toys, garage sales are the places to be! I think I'm hooked. For a few Saturdays now, whenever our schedule allows, I've been heading out about 8:30am to see what I can find. When I return an hour or two later, I become almost giddy with excitement when I lay out all my treasures and get to say, "And I got ALL THIS for $15!!" or whatever the amount happens to be. Because it's no fun to just buy the stuff and come home and put it away. You have to show someone and have your bargains validated and celebrated. :) Here are a few of my recent finds: Assorte...

A few weeks ago we got a "swimming" pool for Noah; one of those collapsible kinds to splash around in when it gets hot. He's been in it before today, but I haven't been able to post pictures or videos of it due to the fact that until now he's been SKINNY DIPPING in it and we just didn't think he would appreciate in-the-buff photos and videos of himself (plus we weren't sure if it's "legal" to post stuff like that online)! :) We have a few swim diapers that Melanie gave us, but I'm saving those for public places that require them. In our own pool, I couldn't care less if Noah has an "accident" in it. (Now I bet you want to come swim in our pool, huh? Ha ha!) Anyway, back to the point: I was going through Noah's clothes to make sure the only things in his drawers actually fit him and are the right season, and I found a pair of size 2T swim trunks that I forgot we had!!! What a find! So today after we came back from our mil...

Noah can CLAP!!! :) I've been working on this with him for a while; clapping for him when he does something good, doing Pat-A-Cake and singing B-I-N-G-O (c'mon! You remember! "There was a farmer, had a dog, and Bingo was his name-o, B-I-N-G-O...."). He finally got it today! See the video below: Noah has had a fever for the last 2 days. Each day it creeps up a degree--Saturday it was 100.3, yesterday was 101.4, today was 102.4), so if he still has it tomorrow I think I will call the doctor. Nothing else appears to be wrong with him thankfully, so maybe he is just fighting something off. We've gotten good use out of our new Glider Chair the last couple days, though. More about that in a future post! For now, Happy Memorial Day everyone!

My friend Carrie gave me a book a while ago titled What Do I Know About My God? by Mardi Collier. It's an excellent book really, all about an idea for studying the Bible. I read it cover to cover during our IVF process, and it was so so good and helpful to me (and I didn't even do the study at that time!). At the beginning of this year I decided to take Mrs. Collier's suggestions and start a notebook all about God. It has changed the way I read my Bible, and the way I listen to sermons! I would highly recommend this book. Currently I'm reading in Deuteronomy, and I had to "camp out" so to speak in chapters 6-8, there was so much good stuff there! I'm learning how constantly kind and gracious my God is, and how simple his plan for a successful life is. Bottom line; if you obey God you will have His blessing, and if you disobey God you will have His opposition. There seems to be a direct correllation. Also I am struck by the enduring faithfulness of God. He...

I hope that my child, looking back on today Will remember a mother who had time to play; Because children grow up while you're not looking, There are years ahead for cleaning and cooking. So, quiet now cobwebs, dust go to sleep. I'm nursing my baby, and babies don't keep. --author unknown (but I wish I had written it!)

Josh and I have decided that if Noah were a superhero, his name would be Disaster Man (Josh actually prefers Disasto-Man, but as I've pointed out to him, "Disasto" is not a word...). Like the old story of Midas's golden touch, Noah has a "disaster touch." For that reason, if it's too quiet around here, I usually drop what I'm doing and go investigate. Noah can sometimes play by himself and not wreak havoc on our house, but that's usually not the case. Usually I find something has been ransacked or he's eating something disgusting or..... the possibilities are endless! A few days ago, he had gotten into the pantry as you can see in the photo above. Never have I seen him look so proud of himself! But the other day I noticed it had gotten very quiet. Too quiet. So I went into the playroom and found this..... Noah staring out the window! I couldn't figure it out, 'til I realized that the man across the street was mowing his lawn a...

I finally got Noah walking on video! Of course he saw the camera, got excited, and lost concentration, but I thought everyone might enjoy seeing him walk if you haven't already. My favorite part is seeing his arms out all cockeyed for balance--Too Cute! :)

I hesitate to post this. I really, really do. In fact, when I started this blog I knew this would be the one drawback to making the blog "public" (as in, more than just for Josh and me); that I'd be afraid to share my heart on here. Afraid of the scrutiny and of making public what used to be private. But in spite of that, I feel like I can tell you this, which is why this is my first post about Infertility. I am back in it, y'all. Back into the monthly disappointments (heartaches really), and the incredibly Un-fun Rollercoaster that is Trying To Conceive. I thought it might be different this go-'round, but it's not. I thought having Noah would "fix" all that, but it doesn't. He helps, don't get me wrong! I'm so very thankful that the Lord let us have him!! I'm so thankful that I have his huge laughing blue eyes to look into when I'm sad! But it doesn't take away my desire to have another baby. "There are three ...

My job for yesterday was to assemble a child seat for a bike and attach it to the bike. I failed. The bike seat beat me!! So I waited til Josh got home and (as usual) he was able to solve the problems and get the thing attached. YAY! Now we have more options than just the stroller. :) Now before I get comments about how Noah should have a helmet, I know! We just took a spin down our street to try everything out. If we venture any farther, we'll have to have a helmet for Noah. Below is a little video of Josh coming back down the street with Noah in tow. To tell you the truth, I thought Noah would be **slightly** more impressed by the new bike seat than he was. Maybe if we all ride together and go farther than our neighborhood, the excited-factor would go up a bit! Then again, at that point he'd be wearing a helmet, and he usually doesn't like stuff on his head. ;) This evening we are expecting Josh's aunt and uncle and family--the Fosters--to arrive on their way through ...

We have our first word, folks!!! At least I'm 99% sure we do. Ball! I've known for a while that Noah knows what that word means because when I say "Where's your ball?", he always looks around and stares right at it or goes to get it when he finds it. Today I was throwing him the ball and he was "throwing" it back, and said "Bah!" a few times. So maybe that means "ball?" But what cemented it in my mind was what happened this evening... Noah had me by the fingers and we were walking from the living room into his playroom. As we rounded the corner, there on the floor was his ball. He looked distinctly at it and declared "Bah!" Coincidence??? I think not!!

I am very happy to finally be able to celebrate Mother's Day as a mom myself! The past few (with the exception of last year when I was 7 months pregnant) have been torturous for me. The greetings by other women to each other, and then just smiling when they saw me; they couldn't wish me a Happy Mother's Day. The flowers handed out to all the Mothers at church, and then I might get one if there were leftovers. The "Would all the Mothers please stand! Now let's give them a round of applause!" as I sat--again--staring at the pew in front of me. And the year I was scheduled for nursery duty on Mother's Day; holding all those other women's babies and yearning for one of my own. I still ache for those of my friends who long to be married and who long to be mothers. I pray for them often, that the Lord would comfort their hearts with His presence and dry their tears. This year, the Lord has changed my mourning into gladness! I have my Noah Samuel, my "C...

Today Noah took his first steps!!! After a bungled attempt to take a video of him wobbling around, I decided just to blog it for memory's sake and try the video tomorrow. Josh pointed out that Noah will probably do it again. Funny guy, that Josh! :) Anyway, for the last few weeks Noah has been able to stand on his own and sort of step as he fell in my direction, but today for the first time we witnessed him let go and move with some purpose toward something else. I think I counted 4 steps before he fell, but hey we all have to start somewhere, right? So my baby continues to grow up (too fast), and learn new skills. It sounds trite, but it really is bittersweet! The "bitter" because I am well aware that Noah could be our only child (oh, I pray not! Please let us have another, Lord!) so each time we pass another milestone I realize it might be our last experience with it. The "sweet" because I know that children shouldn't stay children forever, and th...

It was a blessing having Dave here this week! He worked with Josh every day, which meant his car was left sitting all by its lonesome out in our driveway. Dave told me I could use it if I wanted to, which was a much welcome relief to me! Sometimes my days just get so monotonous, not being able to leave the house. One day I went to the grocery store with Noah to pick up a couple things, but yesterday we were able to go to the zoo! It was so much fun! Dave left last night, and we will surely miss him (and his car!). :) My good friend Carrie has a membership to the zoo which gets her in as many times as she wants to go, and she can bring friends! She invited us out to the zoo yesterday and it actually worked out for all of us which was amazing (like I said; with no car, outings are a bit of a challenge)! We were at the zoo from 12-2pm in between Noah's naptimes, and before her boys take their afternoon nap. In that amount of time we were able to hit all the major animals (lions, elep...

In my daily devotions these days, I'm reading through the Bible (not in a year, I prefer to go at my own pace) and I happen to be in Numbers right now, specifically chapters 23-24. You may know this to be the account of Balaam's prophecy. Well, I don't pretend to understand everything I read and get all the nuances, so I usually have my humongous Matthew Henry's Commentary On The Whole Bible nearby to help me out. Today Mr. Henry described Balak as being sottish . No, not Scottish; sottish . I seem to remember reading that word somewhere before in a Shakespeare play, but couldn't remember what it meant, so I was driven to the dictionary. Here is Webster's definition as found online: Sot: 1. A stupid person; a blockhead; a dull fellow; a dolt. [Obs.] --outh. In Egypt oft has seen the sot bow down, And reverence some d?ified baboon. --Oldham. 2. A person stupefied by excessive drinking; an habitual drunkard. "A brutal sot." --Granville. I think He...

Josh's brother Dave just finished his semester at Bob Jones, and decided he'd like a few days of relaxation here in Jacksonville before going home. He's got a busy summer ahead of him (with no motorcycle) and so he decided to come visit--we think in part to ride the motorcycle that happens to be parked in our garage. :) We're really enjoying having him around. We are keeping a friend's small boat (key word is SMALL) in our backyard for a little while, so we all took that out on the river last night for fun. It didn't go as fast as the guys would have liked, but I liked it just fine. I think we **slightly** exceeded the weight limit for the boat, which would explain why the motor didn't have quite enough juice. Noah seemed to enjoy the boat ride, despite his Michelin Man-esque life jacket he wore. We took a tour down the river and back; ran aground once by accident :), saw some beautiful houses on the water, and even some dolphins playing! In other news, the...

Here is a (bad) picture of a few of our bunnies from the last batch. We actually miscounted before; we really have AT LEAST 15 bunnies, but maybe more. They just keep coming out of the woodwork so to speak! They are very skittish, so I could only get so close before they'd all run under the shed again. This was the best I could do for now. And, earlier today while we were playing ball, Noah began laughing hysterically. Unfortunately we were only able to capture the tail end of it on video, but I thought you might appreciate seeing at least what we got. Josh and I were both giggling too, though we tried to keep it as quiet as possible so you could hear Noah. It's priceless! That sound has gotta be at the top of my list of Favorite Sounds. Turn up your volume and enjoy!

I have been waiting for almost 5 years (since we started trying to have a baby) to be able to cook for more than "just the two of us." Finally that day has come! Noah is now eating pretty much what we eat, with a few small variations (and much smaller pieces of course). Well, tonight it was Lasagna and as you can tell from the photos, he enjoyed every bit of his! He ate almost 1/2 a slice, which I thought was pretty impressive. So now we get to fix him his own plate, and I'm officially cooking for 3. I couldn't be happier about it either! :)

I would be remiss if I didn't say that we were right about one of the other rabbits being pregnant. We now have 9 new baby bunnies that emerged from the burrow. These are much prettier (cuter) even than the last "batch", and slightly more skittish. Hopefully soon I can get some pictures of them. There are 3 jet black ones, 5 brown ones, and a white one. Bunnies abound! Get it? :)

After the events of yesterday morning, by the end of the day, Josh and I both were ready to go to church. We needed a good message and the fellowship of other believers to lift our spirits a bit, or so we thought. We got all ready for church, strapped Noah in his carseat and headed out. But when we came to the on-ramp to get on the highway, it was completely backed up. We have never seen it backed up like that! We could only assume there was an accident on the bridge or something like that, and it didn't look like it was clearing up anytime soon. Having left a few minutes late anyway, combined with the obvious traffic delay, it was clear we weren't going to make it to church anywhere close to on-time if at all. So we went home! Josh was frustrated, saying "Here I am, trying to go to church and do the right thing, and I can't even do that!" I was thinking similar thoughts about how we'd just spent time getting ready and getting out the door to have was...