Baby Update: 37 weeks

I went to the doctor yesterday for my 37 week check up. Everything is still good, and we have finally decided on a name for our son: Noah John Childers.

My husband wrote a wonderful prayer for our son. You can read it if you click on the link. Thanks for all your prayers and please continue to pray for me as I will be having a c-section.

Thanksgivng with the Tombrellas!

Wednesday the Tombrellas arrived at our house. We had the pleasure of having them here for Thanksgiving and Robbie preaching on Sunday at our church. Wednesday through Sunday was filled with many new memories and spent remembering old memories back from our college days. Justin and I are so blessed to still be so close to our college best friends. The kids did a good job playing together and having fun. Thursday, Michelle and I spent most of the day cooking for our Thanksgiving meal. It was all very yummy. Friday both the girls and the boys got to go shopping a little bit. We then took the Tombrellas to lunch at Dick's Hot dogs, our famous place to eat in Wilson. Saturday we took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese, and they seemed to really enjoy themselves. After their nap, they helped Michelle and I put up all the Christmas stuff and decorate their own tree. Sunday we were so blessed to have Robbie preach at our church. He did an awesome job!

Joel, Samuel, and Karis sharing a snack after they went to the park.

Karis putting the star on top of the tree she and the boys decorated.

All the ornaments ended up on the same side of the tree and on the same two branches!

Karis is putting on the last ornament.

Joel sat down to rest after all his hard work on the tree. He really seemed to like Calvin, I know Calvin enjoyed having more "little" people to chase around.

Thanksgiving is such a blessing and a time to remember all God has done for us and His many blessings. It is also a time to focus on our Savior. We were so thankful to spend time with the Tombrellas and have Thanksgiving with them.

Baby Update: 35 weeks

Justin, Karis, and I went to the doctor today. Everything is looking great. We went by the hospital to see where we are supposed to go when the baby is born, so now we are ready in case little "John" decides to come early. We are still unsure of a first name for our little one. My blood pressure is still great, and I only gained 2 pounds this time, much better.

Thank you for all you prayers as we await the birth of our first son!

Big Bows and School!

For those of you who know me well, you know that I am not into BIG bows for my little girl. I have always made fun of my friends when they put BIG bows in their girl's hair, thinking that the little girl's head would tip over from the weight of the bow! My best friend Laura has always just laughed me off, so this post is mainly for her. I have now entered the world of BIG bows, at least to my standards. I went to get Karis a brown bow the other day and the next size from what she usually wears was all they had in brown. I must say, I think it looks very cute, but I do not for see the bows getting any bigger!!
We have also been doing what we call "school" about two to three times a week. She likes it very much and asked to do it more often than that. Usually we do something with numbers, talk about a letter and its sounds, use a certain color, etc.

Karis is concentrating very hard as she counts the dots of each index card. She then put the number in order from 1-10. This is the best picture of the bow.

Here is just a front picture of the bow and her telling me she was all done!

She has learned how to draw an A. I am so glad that she enjoys school now, we will see how it goes from here on out!

Laura, I hope you enjoyed Karis' bow pictures. I bet Jaime would enjoy seeing Karis is a BIG bow.

Carving a Pumpkin!

Here are a few pictures of us carving our pumpkin with Karis. She actually helped this time, sticking her hands in the gooey mess!

Karis is helping Justin clean out the goop!

I know I didn't do a very good job carving this pumpkin, but Karis was very proud of it.

Karis loves to say "cheese" when we take her picture, thus the expression on her face.

We had fun carving the pumpkin, but we had more fun watching it "melt" the next couple of days. Karis enjoyed seeing the pumpkin melt to the the ground. She would say, "why is the pumpkin melting Mommy." I didn't really have an answer for her, imagine that telling your child you don't know, it is not the first time for me and I am sure it won't be the last.

Book Review: Love That Lasts

I recently finished reading Love That Lasts, when Marriage meets grace, by Gary & Betsy Ricucci. The book continually reminds us that marriage is about offering grace to your spouse. Grace is the only way that we can grow in Christ and together. Each chapter depicts a certain aspect of marriage. I will give a brief summary of each chapter.

Chapter 1:The Journey of a Lifetime (Where it all begins)- This chapter tells us what marriage is "Marriage was created by God and belongs to Him and exists for His glory."

1. "God's grace is constant everyday of our marriage."

2. The local church is vital for any marriage to grow. "It is the local church-Christians living a shared life biblically before God and one another-that will ultimately secure the place and role of marriage and family from generation to generation."

Chapter 2: Leading with Love (The Role of the Husband)-"We see in Adam and Eve that man and woman are equal in value, yet different in their roles of submission, ordination, and leadership, following the very pattern of the Godhead."

1."The role of the husband doesn't begin at the altar-it begins with the atonement...at the cross."

2. Husbands are to: love her graciously, love her sacrificially, love her redemptively, love her with understanding, and love her with honor.

3. Husbands are to lead their wives, this isn't just a position-it is a service husbands are to provide.

"Our role originates in the gospel, is empowered by the gospel, and is perfected through the gospel."

Chapter 3: Walking in Wisdom (The Role of the Wife)-

1. Here are some ways to cultivate a heart of love for our husbands: pray for him and with him, learn to understand him, communicate in ways that serve him, demonstrate physical affection to him, and enjoy shared activities with him.

2. We are to respect our husbands in public and private. There are practical examples of respectful thoughts and deeds we can do for him.

3.Great quote:"Submission is our divine calling, designed by God, not man!" When we submit joyfully to our husbands, we are being like Christ who submitted joyfully to his father.

Chapters 4-6 Deal with Communication and Conflict Resolution

All three of these chapters are gospel driven and based. We must be willing to forgive, to offer grace to our husbands. We must communicate with them about our desires, needs, and spiritual walks. We must be willing to humbly listen to their counsel, advice, and leadership about all these aspects of our lives. We must not let pride get in the way, which is the biggest temptation in marriage. We need to allow each other the freedom to probe and analyze our attitudes and motives in the light of God's grace and truth. The gospel must be the center of our resolution.

There are many practical examples of how to resolve conflict and check motives and attitudes.

"The gospel reminds us that nothing done to us, no matter how wicked, will ever surpass the wickedness done by us, to the holy Son of God."

Chapters 7-8 Deal with Romance and Intimacy

These two chapters are very practical about how to romance each other and the beauty of sexual intimacy. They provide us with examples of romance and intimacy straight from the Song of Songs and things that get in the way of both. I like how we are reminded that romance is something to be practiced and learned throughout your marriage. Dating each other is very important, and I am glad to have someone point out the necessity of it.

This book is a great read for any married couple or engaged couple. It offers Biblical and practical help on all the issues of marriage. I would strongly recommend this book to everyone.