We're Back... but not back in POWER

We picked a great time to leave the great state of Louisiana. We were gone for 1 week to see Uncle Scott (Wayne's brother) and Aunt Rebecca (sis-in-law). We had a blast and I'll have a few pictures up for the next few days showing you, in pictures, how much fun we really did have! When we got back we had no electricity for a total of 5 days, and our sewage line was backed up, MMM... I love the smell of sewage (sarcasm noted)!


Truett was a WONDERFUL passenger, he was always complimented on his behavior and really was a little cherub!


Mommy and Truett playing by the "pony" at PF Cheng, thank you everyone for letting me go to my favorite restraunt!
All clear, daddy!

Truett was very patient while we waited for a half hour and was about to lose his patience after the meal took an hour and a half, we (Wayne, Paw Paw, and myself) took turns taking Truett outside to let him "get his energy" out! He was VERY sleepy that night!



I'll write more soon as to what is going on in our lives right now!

Huh Uh, Huh Uh, Huh Uh, Oh No No!!

Sing it Truett

2 more days...

"What's that you say, mommy?"

"We're going to visit Uncle Scott and Aunt Becca AND fly in an airplane!"

"yippee!!!"

* Paraphrased*

The price of staying at home... part 1

I'm told often that I'm "lucky" to get to stay at home with my child(ren). I would say yes, I am, but it is way more than just THAT. I knew before having a family that my goal was to stay at home with my children. I wanted a safe, secure, healthy environment for my family. I knew that God created a family to be his picture of Christ and his Church. Wayne, being in a sense, Christ and me in a sense, the Church.



Our children are to be molded into their roles. I can not imagine handing that responsibility over to anyone else, ANYONE else! Not my mom, not my home church, daycare, or nanny. My secondary goal was their education. I am a byproduct of "public" school education and while many would say "See, you didn't turn out THAT bad", I know it has taken me many of years to undo what has been twisted into my brain as correct and fact.



With that being said, we didn't win the lottery or somehow save a lifetime's savings overnight. We knew we wanted to start our family and made necessary adjustments in the process. We were use to 2 brand new vehicles, a nice home, nice vacations, nice clothes and some would say a pretty good status for two young married twenty somethings. We were in a sizable amount of debt. We were living the American Dream!

Wayne and I sold both brand new vehicles and bought 2 used (10 year old) good conditioned vehicles. We stopped our shopping sprees and sold our home. Radical you say, NOT REALLY. Not when you value one thing over another. Whatever it took for us to get out of debt and allow me to be at home with our children was what we would do.

My pride hurt more than anyone will ever know but I am learning more and more about Christ likeness and humility. I'm being broken and poured out. I'm home with my little arrow and my cup runneth over.

Wordless Wednesday... on Thursday!

UNDER......................

Truett catches on really fast to just about everything and anything. Truett has a fish and net set for the bathtub. He tries to catch the fish by putting the net on top of the fish and pushing it down. I then showed him how to put the net under the water and then go up with the net to scoop up the fishy. I emphasized the UNDER word.

The next day Truett was caught doing this. Just in case YOU can't understand my perfect speaking toddler ;) he says UNDER, UNDER, UNDER. Later he says "OFF" as mommy jumps to his request!

ENJOY!

Here's lookin' at you kid....

Truett has been so talkative lately... who does he get that from? :) We enjoy our mornings and mom needs Truett's nap time to get everything done (house chores, cooking, emails, and of course the not so important bath or shaving). Wayne has been super busy with things going on. We have a good bit going on right now. Wayne's grandpa is in the hospital tonight, he had a slight stroke early this morning. We've been there all day. He is doing better, but he's staying the night in ICU for precautionary measures. If the Lord leads you to pray for him please keep his wife (Maw Maw "Mee" as Truett calls Maw Maw Mary) in prayer also.

Another thing going on is our trip to see Wayne's brother and sister-in-law in Durham, NC. It will be Truett's first flight and I'm a little nervous. I'm trying to finalize a "trip list" for everybody and I'm taking tips and ideas if anyone has a few.

We are also looking at some land (48 acres!). We are super excited but things haven't finalized yet.

I'm getting back into the blogging mindset so bear with me.

LOST and FOUND...

I've been panicking these last 3 days. I wanted to post Sunday night but I couldn't find my camera. To make a long story short, I (my mother-in-law really) found it right where I lost it. :) She is bringing it over this evening, I can't wait to post some thoughts that have been on my mind. Hopefully tonight or tomorrow I will have a post or two up.

This was the last video clip I took at our old house.

Outsource Parenting... it's really not as bad as you think!

This is not too far from reality...

Why I stay at home... Part 2

There has been a process ever since Truett was born, a slow but steady process. I've had a lingering conviction that continues to weigh on my mind more and more. I am to be at home, I need to be at home... I'm reminded of a Bible verse "Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one's youth." Psalm 127:4. The warrior keeps the arrows close, and so I am to keep Truett close.

I have been called to remind Truett of God's commandments " You shall put these words of mine in your heart and soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and fix them as an emblem on your forehead. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise." ,






I (Wayne is included here) am who my children will learn from, spiritually, educationally, morally. It is our God-given responsibility to govern them as God governs our lives. In a sense we are to be our child's view of Christ. Some can overlook this task, but I feel it to be a very high and serious calling.

Why I stay at home... Part 1

Let me preface this blog with the fact that since I was very small I knew I wanted to be a stay at home mommy. I had a mom who stayed at home and thought this was the best possible situation. I always felt a peace at my home that I didn't with my friends with working moms. This is not to say my home was a peaceful place, but there was a "peaceful" atmosphere. Mom wasn't rushing us to and fro, sending us to a before school program or running us ragged with "things", I appreciate that. I felt a sense of security that I can't explain to you.

Now let me say, as I have grown to a wife and a mommy I look at motherhood differently. It is no longer just a convenient thing, something with status or because it was what I wanted to do. I now feel compelled to be at home, because it is my mission field. God has called me home, literally. I have found a couple other blogs that say what I wish I could say, so eloquently.


This is a wonderful article that can better describe how I see my position:

http://www.boundless.org/2005/articles/a0001697.cfm
This sums it up:

"In considering that question, I found guidance in much of Scripture, but I remember finding it one place I didn't expect — in Matthew 15, the account of the Canaanite Woman whose daughter was possessed by demons. Desperately, the mother cries out for help from Jesus.

"It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs," Jesus tells her.

"Yes, Lord," she says, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."

Jesus commends her faith and heals her daughter.

Hardly a commentary on today's motherhood issues, huh? After all, Jesus is making the point that the gospel was to be given first to the Jews. But I was struck by two things. The first was the mother's tenacity to do what her daughter needed, no matter the cost. The second was Jesus' phrase: "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."

Jesus is talking about priorities. In His analogy, the child is understood unquestionably to be more important than the dog. The child gets the best and the first. That led me to question my own priorities. Would my child get the best and the first or would my job?

As a Christian, I knew that not only would my children be little human beings, they would be eternal souls. Their bodies would have physical needs. Their minds would have emotional and intellectual needs. But their souls would need much more: an introduction to our Lord and instruction in His Word."

100!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOW... 100 posts and hopefully lots more to go!

I wanted to post this video of Dr. Voddie Baucham. My next few posts will be about my passion: staying home with my children. I want you all to know my heart and where I come from. I hope to share with you some scripture and lessons I've learned that challenge me to become the mother I am to be. This video is a shake of the shoulders for some and some it is a sad reminder of just how much of our parenting is outsourced (more of the outsourced parenting to come).

I know this blog has been predominately about Truett hence the www.expectingtruett.blogspot.com but I think I'm going to start making this blog more of our family's journey through a foreign land, maybe some recipes that we've tried and maybe an occasional rant/rave. Before I do that, let me update you on more of Truett's life. He is weighing in at a HEALTHY 27 lbs., Yowzers! That is why lifting weights is not necessary! I am not sure of the inches but last time we checked, roughly 6 weeks ago, he was 33 inches. He has said three word sentences several times. One was "Mommy be back", another was " Daddy go out", another was " I play Annabelle" (I play with Annabelle), " That's a no-no", and "Daddy go car...work". This is NEVER prompted and he actually won't say a 3 word sentence when I try to get him to! I'm not going on "mommy translations" either, most of the comments were told to me by others who heard what I heard. He is very verbal and very clear with his words (those that he knows already).

I'm not going to write all of his vocabulary, the list is too long. Wayne and I think it would be roughly 60-100 words. He can mostly say anything we say with some difficulty, but the vocabulary would be words he has already made associations with or knows by our repetition. I think that is all for now... I won't stop posting about him all together, but will try posting about more of our general life.

Truett enjoying his bath time, he thinks it is a waterhose!

Static electricity looks good on him!

"Driving" Uncle Jason's "mo-mo" at Pappa's and Nanna's

My How You've Grown

A couple of weeks ago we let some friends of ours take this "jumper" home for their little girl who is now very mobile. We are packing right now and are moving this week so, we thought we would leave the "jumper" in the office so we wouldn't have to tote it to the shed and then back up to the house. Truett loves to play with the toys on the "jumper" and will say "in?". We put him in and he acts like he is jumping up and down in it. He is way to big for it, but I thought he couldn't hurt it. I took a few pictures to remind myself of how very big, but yet, how very small he is! Excuse the boxes in the back ground. I'm sure most of the upcoming pictures will be of our upcoming move.

Bye, bye, bye, bye, bye....

Truett does not take as many baths as it seems, I promise. It seems to be the only time we can get him to literally stay in one area. He is a very busy boy and has more energy than bugs bunny himself.

Truett needed a trim...

Before:


After and wet:

we don't necessarily want Truett to have long hair, but we like it the way it is. I've had a couple of people comment on "Oh! Truett's hair is getting long" and " He's just too pretty to be a boy following a comment on how they "love" his hair". I know most people like shaved boys heads, especially in these very small Louisiana towns, but quite frankly we don't care. I'm not saying "never" but we have NO intentions on having his hair really short anytime in the near future. We are a little rebellious and like to ruffle a few feathers. SO... having that said, I did "trim" Truett's hair and I actually liked it better before the cut. Oh, well! It will grow back! I'll try to take more pictures this week.

Truett's reaction...

when we told him Uncle Josh K. was coming for a visit!







ONLY KIDDING!!!!!! We love you Uncle Josh!

When do children matter?

Silly little bear

Truett is such a silly and fun little boy. I am so grateful to be his mommy. God is so generous with his love. I wish the video could do him justice, but it doesn't! This was last week, I think.

Our dear friends

George and Leila brought their little man, Elijah. He is a precious little man of 8 months and is such a HAPPY baby, thank you Dr. Ezzo for Babywise! Here are a few pictures from that little visit. Ignore the no makeup mommy!