Make a Smilebox postcard

Bath Time

Ethan absolutely LOVES bath time. This is great for both of us, because if he is cranky, at night I can just put him in the bath and usually he gets in a great mood. Having a bath suddenly gives him this bolt of energy and he is so fun when he gets out. He loves to grab at the water as it comes out. It splashes him in his face, but he doesn't mind. He really doesn't have a lot of fears. When he is finished taking a bath he will let me know. He stands up on the side of the tub and throws his hands on the tub and grunts. Once I get him out he wants to be put immediately so he can crawl and cruise around without any clothes on. I won't put those pictures up though :).

Convicting Quote

"There is no work better than to please God; to pour water, to wash dishes, to be a cobbler,, or an apostle, all are one; to wash dishes and to preach are all one, as touching the deed, to please God."~William Tyndale

WOW!! This is for all of you mothers out there who feel like I do. I saw this quote and instantly I was both encouraged and convicted! Since I have become a mother my life has totally changed. My alone time with the Lord is few and far between. Sometimes (a lot of times I should say) I'd rather do something "relaxing" or just some mindless fun hobby instead of discipline myself to worship the Lord. Now, I will be completely honest, I feel like a hypocrite to put anything spiritual on this blog, because I'm definitely not a godly example. As I read this, I think about how much housework and child work there is to do and how easy we can complain. I'm convicted with the thought that I myself need to change my attitude in the business of life. How I need to honor the Lord in serving my husband and raising up our son. The daily duties are not separate from serving or pleasing our Lord. The verse that tells us to serve as unto the Lord and not to man comes to mind. It is not just for us or our husbands, but it should be done as unto the Lord. Also, recently Dave and I were talking about the passage in Mark where Christ tells the disciples that to be chief you must be servant of all. Well, what more opportunity do we need ask for than what we have in being a wife and a mother. I'm afraid sometimes we do not look at this as "christian" or as an opportunity to be a servant, but it is. In actuality it is a great blessing to serve our family. I know that I often want my husband to notice all of the work I do or to watch Ethan for awhile, which really isn't wrong, but being a servant isn't doing things so we can be praised or even rewarded in this life. Anyway, I hope you are able to understand my rambling :). Just thought I would put something up that I deal with and feel is encouraging. May we be thankful for the opportunity to please the Lord today. May we all think of pleasing the Lord with the many mundane things on our list (like those dishes we attempt to clean).

Mr. Cool :)

I just could not help but put this picture of Ethan up. I guess he knew what his bib said, because I just about died laughing when I looked back at this photo. He is all laid back like he is "The Man". I assume that we will have to be careful what bib we put on him. The "born to be wild" bib might not come out of the drawer! :) I think the "I Love Mommy" bibs will be sufficient until he is able to eat without one!!!

First Thanksgiving

Ethan Josiah's first Thanksgiving was very fun. He received so much attention it wasn't even funny! I tried to get good pics of him, but all that I really got was ones with my family playing with and holding him. In one pic you see Ethan chewing on Dave's zipper. That child is constantly teething and will chew on anything!! In another pic you see Ethan trying to get the paci from nanny. He is so determined that he just throws his mouth on it while she holds the other end in her mouth. Nobody will take his paci :). He is a hoot. We may never get that thing away from him. I tried to get a shot with the turkey, but it just didn't work out. My favorite one is the one with my ninety-one year old mamaw! She was made a great, great grandma for the first time!

Meeting Grandpa

Well, my mom and stepdad live in Texas so they don't see us very often. Because of the distance, my mom has only seen Ethan one time when he was two weeks old. :( My stepdad, Bud, hasn't seen him at all...until this week! Ethan had a great time with grandpa Bud. He loved for grandpa to read him his favorite books . I think the visit was a really sweet time and we enjoyed seeing "grandpa" too! (Although maybe not quite as much as Ethan did:)

Clowning Around

This little suit is absolutely the cutest (and perfect for our "little clown"!). Dave had a piano students' mother ask if Ethan was going trick or treating. He informed her that Ethan was not going and so she sent this little clown suit and told us we had to at least get a picture in it. I really didn't care to much about it, but I did it since she wanted us to. I was sooo glad I put him in it. He was a doll baby!! (Of course I'm not biased!) There aren't very many good pics, because he wanted that poofy thing off!! :) As you can see, he wouldn't let me take the paci, so letting him keep it was the only way to snap a few quick pictures!

Just a Few Random Pics

A Little Food for the Soul

"We are not built for ourselves, but for God. Not for service for God, but for God."
~Oswald Chambers~

A Little Dirt Won't Hurt!!

Well, my son has hit the age where he loves to pull up on mommy's legs. Aw, that's really sweet!! Yes it is except for the fact that mommy can't get any housework done. So, on this particular day I sat Ethan Josiah down in the sun room and quickly darted out of the room before he could realize I was leaving. So I was racing to put a load of laundry in when I realized that my son was very quiet and he wasn't coming to look for me. "I had better go and check on him", I thought. I walked in to see a big dirty mouth. Yep, he had pulled my plant (the only one I can keep alive) over and was eating the dirt. I guess that's the answer...give him a plant to play in. What is so funny is that two days later he ate my body wash!! I assume he wanted to clean out the dirt he had eaten earlier! :)

It's getting cold!!

Here are a few photos of our little man! The cold season has arrived and daddy has bought Ethan Josiah the latest fashionable faded denim coat. As you can see Ethan is a little confused as to why he has to wear all of this frumpy clothing. He'd rather go around in a diaper!! :)

"There is no more lovely, friendly or charming relationship, communion or company, than a good marriage." ~MARTIN LUTHER

I found this quote and just thought it was a wonderful truth!! How little I thank God for the wonderful blessing of marriage. Not only marriage itself, but for a wonderful godly leader and companion that I am able to share this life with. I have a hard-working husband who keeps me at home with our little one. He works so hard and I'm so thankful for his provision in our family. Take a little time to thank the Lord for the one you hold dear. THANK YOU SO MUCH DAVIDE FOR YOUR LOVE AND HARD WORK!!

DEVOTIONAL QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing yet had been done."~C.S. LEWIS

A NEW JOURNEY

Well, I never managed to get any photos up of our little guy. So, here are a few pics of Ethan's journey into the world of solid foods. This was his very first time eating cereal. He did GREAT! I don't know who had more fun, Ethan or mommy. :) As, you can see I am still learning how to feed him (who knew there was an art to feeding cereal). Rule #1, never hold the baby, spoon, and bowl of food at the same time. You see what happens...

HELLO!!!

Well, hello out there to all of my friends (or should I just say Nanny, Mom, and Wanda?). I'm not quite sure how many friends I have out there. These days I can barely remember I have a husband:) Anyway, I have been inspired to begin this blog by my new found friend Aimee Crank. She has been a real encouragement to my new career change. Well, on a serious note, Dave and I are very happy with our little bundle of joy. He will be six months old on Tuesday and he still likes to get mommy up every two hours. I wouldn't trade him for the world. Here are a few pictures as we start our new blog about our place "Palmer's Place".