I'm going to miss home

I am going to miss....

lsu bumper stickers.

fluer de lis.

hearing "sha bebe".

crawfish boils.

beignets.

cafe au lait.

our community group.

the chapel on the campus, our church.

zipping home to drink coffee and watch momma cook.

my family.

and about 1,000 other things.

We are trading all that for the call we feel from Him to move to Birmingham. He has provided opportunity there, and we will go and follow His lead.

I might just scare the good folks of Alabama with a random, loud "Aieeeeeeee."

The mountains and what we're singing

A few weeks ago, my mom, her new dog, my baby, and I took a road trip to Atlanta and then on to the mountains. Momma had to pick out tile and such for the basement that we're finishing in the mountain house. All in all, it was a wonderful trip with only once or twice saying "what were we thinking" in regard to the puppy and baby situation. I think my baby fared better than the dog because I recount yelling "Dixie!" more times than tending to any crying on John Henry's part. 

But it was a wonderfully relaxing trip with even a dear friend, Dorothy, visiting for the night from Anderson. We solve all the world's problems over a glass(es) of wine. 

Dorothy even helps with the most massive of blow out diapers at the dignified Old Edwards Inn. 

A glass on a beautiful afternoon at The Old Edwards Inn. 

Cue the music...

...Stop the music. The "most massive blow out diaper" ensued shortly there after. 

These photos are beautiful, and so was our time. I just felt that I should be honest with real life scenarios too. {i.e. "The most massive blow out diaper"}.

That seems to be the only short-coming about dear John Henry. An angel, I tell ya. 

Since being home, we got into some prizes that I was going to save for JH's Easter basket. 

The finger puppets from his grandparents made it's way into the fruit bowl. That made me smile. 

I got these 2 CD's in the $5 bin at Wal Mart and have been enjoying them in the mornings as we make breakfasts and lunch for daddy. 

I just love these songs! Andrew and I find ourselves singing them all morning, and they bring back memories from church camp for him and VBS for me. 

A few to note: "I Am A C.h.r.i.s.t.i.a.n." I was humming this one in the grocery just yesterday. Strolling my buggy and baby along down the aisles. As I was humming, I passed judgement on someone. I can't remember why, but it dawned on me how horrible I am...while singing about how I am a CHRISTIAN! Woe is me. 

Moving on to blasphemy...

When I sing "When the Saints Go Marching In", I am naturally overcome with chanting "Who Dat?! Who Dat?! Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?!"

All while dancing with the baby on my hip. 

Oh, and don't think Andrew's so innocent. "Glory, Glory Hallelujah" is turned into "Glory, Glory to ol' Auburn! A.U.B.U.R.N!" 

Maybe the worst is my dance rendition of "His Banner Over Me is Love." It's sort of a salsa version, and I just can't help but dance like the salsa scene in Along Came Polly...with my baby. 

I have no idea why I'm telling people this...

Anyway, we are doing well and getting our hearts ready for Easter during this holy week. 

In addition to children's bible songs that we are defaming, I have in my heart "Jesus Paid It All" from church this past Sunday. A wonderful, joyful cry of praise from God's people. 

"I hear the Savior say, "Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray, Find in Me thine all in all."

Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.

Lord, now indeed I find Thy power and Thine alone,
Can change the leper's spots And melt the heart of stone.

And when before the throne I stand in Him complete,
"Jesus died my soul to save" my lips shall still repeat

O Praise the one who paid my debtAnd raised this life up from the dead"

Now if I could just get Andrew to not think of the AlabamaCrimson{stain}RollTide every time we sing that part, we'll be good. He says it just makes sin that much more revolting. He truly gets the despair of sin. 

Right. 

Love one another. Got it. 

Our days

Our days have been full. I like the word full instead of busy. I'm trying to be intentional and purposeful with my time. Those are two of the words of focus in my moms bible study. It's a good thing, a blessing.

I am still the same ol' Whitney, and I find my conversation isn't solely obsessed with John Henry. At least I try for it not to be, though he's obviously a big part of my life. But I'm still the same person I was before my little bundle of joy arrived.

Having said that, when I sit to write my blog posts, the only thing that comes to my mind to write about is motherhood. I tell myself that I know I have other observations and interests but nothing seems to come to my mind other than babies, bible studies, and breast feeding.

Well, maybe next time I'll have nuggets of wisdom to share. Until then, I have some collage pictures to debut.

- lunch dates.

- story times.

- a Coffee Call date of coffee and beignets with my nephew.

- i like coffee, I've discovered.

- crochet project :: my first blanket. 

- scripture memory :: we've memorized 9 verses so far.

- snuggles with his aunt Beth.

- flowers in bloom in the country.

- six month shots. 

- relaxation yoga :: i'm stressed. 

- selling jewelry :: #cherche :: #i'mstillinbusiness.

- momma and daddy date of good music and a glass. #hallelujah!

- walking the LSU lakes. 

This is just our daily life, nothing special. But looking back on our days, the images make me smile. I hope our days stay "full." 

Being a mother

"The sweetest sounds to mortals given are often heard in mother, home, and heaven."

That's the quote from my baby book blog. And it's still is sweet to me.

Do you ever have something in your heart or mind and then, all of a sudden, the message is everywhere?

Well, what's obviously on my mind these days is my little one. But I'm pondering more than that. Motherhood as a whole; what's best for my baby.

The world around me is telling me to acquire more, gain more, get more, get ahead, keep up. The world always has done that. I guess I just notice it more times than others.

I feel such a sense of relief because I have decided to go against the grain and started to care less about more. More money, more vacations, more possessions.

Andrew and I want and pray for success in our endeavors, but I feel that we idolize it less. Having a baby does that to some people, I guess.

"Even with the disappointments, however, raising children is still the greatest thing you'll ever do. It's greater than any milestone you can hit in your career. It dwarfs any fame you may receive for your ideas or your inventions. You've been handed a piece of history in advance--a gracious gift you send to a time you will not see--and you play the biggest role in how that history will ultimately be recorded..."
excerpt from Grace Based Parenting

This world we live in is challenging. But so is motherhood. I'm gearing up. It's the most important thing I'm going to do. 

My "happy" weekend

This past weekend, Andrew went hunting in Alabama, so I decided to pack up the car and head to my parent's house in Napoleonville; "the country" as we've all started calling it. It came about when my "city slicker" nephews from Baton Rouge wanted to go to Deedee and Papa's house in the country. It stuck.

So John Henry and I went down to the country to visit and get some R&R.

It was filled with wonderful Cajun things that I would have never noticed years ago when I lived at home. Since I've moved to South Carolina twice and now live in Baton Rouge for a third time, I notice the Cajun subtleties like an outsider would.

I can't tell you how many times I heard "sha bebe" when people saw John Henry. It makes me laugh because one of my friends asked me why strangers would say that to her daughter when she would run errands.

I told her it was a good thing, and they thought her daughter was precious. John Henry was complimented often with "Sha bebe...look at 'dem cheeks."

So Momma and I ate crawfish stew plate lunches with a side of fried catfish and potato salad all for a whopping $7.50 each. It was delicious. We made stock and deboned chicken for my chicken stew that I am to make for my next meal at bible study in a few weeks. Momma's got the Magnalite roaster that I needed. I ran errands in Houma and Thibodaux and heard Mardi Gras music at the grocery. It made me smile. And I smiled even bigger when I saw the King Cakes and tarte a la bouille pies. I picked up one of those pies. But damn it, I forgot it in the country!

Momma called and told me I forgot it. I asked her to freeze it. We wouldn't want to waste.

We crocheted this weekend, and Momma got me started on my first blanket. After doing several dish cloths, we thought I was ready for a bigger project.

100% organic cotton baby blanket. Pattern found here

It was a rainy weekend in the country, but it was welcomed. We drank lots of coffee, visited with friends, looked up patterns, and John Henry was even entertained by the youngest nephew of mine. 

He's such a happy little baby.

Happy. 

Who doesn't want to be happy?

Last week, Andrew and I were scrolling through our Netflix when I came across a documentary called "Happy." {I have a "thing" for documentaries.} The title intrigued me, but what really interested me was the subtitle: "From the swamps of Louisiana to the slums of Kolkata in search of what really makes people happy."

They got me at "swamps of Louisiana."

I have my own assessments of the Cajun people as a whole. For several years now I've talked to my Momma about what I've noticed. And I was especially aware of the ways of the French while we were in France this past spring. Our French friends sent their 15 year old girl to stay with us this summer, and I was again aware of how she was. Let's just say her contentment and maturity far surpassed mine...

Late last spring, Momma and I went to the back of Pierre Part to get cleaned crawfish heads from a sweet old lady that lives out there. We use the crawfish heads to make crawfish bisque. She was a typical Cajun lady. Sweet, sweet, sweet. She invited us in to her very modest and impeccably clean home. She asked us how we were doing with "Comme ca va?"

So what I've noticed about these Cajun French and French people is that they are hard workers, fun-loving, calm, and very, very content.

When we got back in the car with our crawfish heads, I was strangely overwhelmed with joy. I, too, wanted to speak French, live in a modest home across from a bayou, and clean out crawfish heads! Apparently it's all I needed in life.

I asked my Momma if she was just as impressed, and she said it's a contentment that comes from the French; the "joie de vivre" or the joy of living.

When Andrew and I began watching "Happy", I had some of this prior knowledge about Cajuns in me. When they interviewed the Cajuns, it was a typical looking day for a family living around the swamps of Louisiana. It was filled with the cypress landscape, quiet animal harmonies along the bayou, obviously lots of food, and most importantly, family. A simple life filled with, seemingly, such happiness.

It was an interesting documentary with lots of interviews and psychological research provided.

One thing that wasn't proposed was faith in Jesus Christ. But as Andrew and I discussed, it still pointed to the Gospel. The secular research, the secular documentary, and this secular world still points to the Gospel of Jesus Christ if we let it and think through what is being said, countered with what we know to be true as Christians.

To me, The Gospel does not ensure my happiness on a daily, minute by minute basis. That is not a popular thing to preach in 2013. God prunes those He loves to make us more like Him, and that can be very uncomfortable and cause me to be unhappy. He is not concerned with Whitney's 24/7 happiness scale.

What The Gospel does ensure is joy. Joy in the Lord; joy in all circumstances; joy because I have been rescued; joy because this world is not for me; joy because He has gone and prepared a place for me.

Psalm 118:24 says, "This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."

So the French have it just about right: "Joie de vivre" sounds a lot like Psalm 118:24 if you ask me.

My hope and prayer is that this little guy keeps his "joie de vivre." 

Have a happy day. 

Our days and new goals

These are the things that I see around my house these days.  

And I smile.

My home is filled with baby things, and I love it. I love it so much more than I thought I would.

I was bound and determined not to have my house taken over by toys and baby things, and for me most part, it's not. But every time I take a bath, I see John Henry's bath animals, and it warms my little heart.

My heart is just that: warm. It's softened since motherhood, as it should, as mine needed to. I've told Andrew so many times that I find children so much more precious now that we have one. We often talk about our shopping experience in the Montgomery, AL Target near Halloween. From the next aisle over we heard a little boy talking rather loudly asking his mother if she wanted to be "a good witch wit a bwoom." That'd be "broom" to anyone over the age of 3. I chuckle, too, because it sounds like the mother and son may have had a conversation about good witches and bad ones.

I look forward to conversations with my son as the years go by. I talk to him like he's not 5 months old. He pretends he understands me. He is a thoughtful child, I can tell. He is very resilient, a wonderful sleeper, and a really good eater. I think he is, by nature, a really good baby, but I must say, I have trained him to be that way. I thought I knew how to train a baby before I had one, and lo and behold, I did! I have a myriad of things that I'm not good at, but mothering an infant is something that I can say that I find such joy, pleasure, and success in.

Christmas 2012. John Henry 4 months. 

Now to conquer the things that I'm not so good with...

Enter New Year's Resolutions. 

I've never made resolutions, because let's be honest, no one keeps them. I know myself enough not to waste the time or energy. I'm very honest with myself about these things.

But this year, I feel like Andrew and I should push ourselves in some way. When our bible study leader challenged our group with setting 3-5 goals for 2013, I have to say that even though I wanted the challenge, I sort of dread it. A factious, "great", is what I thought. But isn't that how all challenges work? You immediately want to flee, but sticking to it, going through the hard part, doing it anyway, produces success. You accomplish something. 

I'm still working on my list and our challenge for a "one word" for the year like joyful or simplify or calm. I like all those words. I asked Andrew if mine could be "just don't be a bitch." He suggested "kindness" since that word is more conducive to a bible study setting. Still, working on "kindness" implies that I'm a bitch. I can be. Who can't, really? I'm just lacking in filter is all. We can all agree that there is no need for my 2013 word to be "honesty." I got that down. 

We were joking about that at our bible study dinner last Sunday. We all know if you want a sweet, "feel-good" answer about something you're facing, go ask someone else. Ol' Whitney is a straight-shooter. I'm like that with myself, too. I keep it honest and real. 

I must give my "sharpness", as I'll call it, to the Lord. {All this talk sounds like I'm a Yankee, and we all know that ain't the truth. What an insult that we be.} 

The Lord is revealing to me, though, the path I am to take. Several Proverbs have been presented to me in the sweet way He drops the hints. The Lord has been so kind and merciful toward me, and He is prompting me to act more like Him. It's going to be a good year, I think. I hope. 

Once I narrow down my list of goals for 2013, I hope to share. Some will be more trivial than others. We gotta have some fun book reads or {unattainable} fitness goals in the midst of "be kind, Whitney" and "read your bible everyday" goals. 

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and that the New Year was bright. The holidays are such a sweet time of year, but in a way, I'm glad it's over. The hustle has come to an end. And as my baby naps, I listen to the rain and get on with the boring, yet welcomed month of January. I think I'll go make some soup. 

Well hey there!

"Blog." It's been on my to-do list for weeks now, but I've been too busy kissing my son's cheeks.

This picture was taken on my birthday last month. It was a wonderful, beautiful Saturday. Andrew got me donuts in the morning. I was nearly sick from the sugar rush, but it was very much worth it. To counter the unhealthiness, we went to Whole Foods to get fancy cheese, and a nice bottle of wine. If they sell it at Whole Foods, it's healthy, right?

My interest in cheese has peaked since my trip to France. 

My interest in bread is not new; it has always been with me. 

Andrew cooked an amazing dinner for me that night, and it was a good day. 

I should have soaked that good day up because the ones to follow were not good. Like the heart-breaking LSU loss to Bama. Or more monumentally, the Romney defeat. I'd say that's a good word for our hearts: defeated. 

That's only one part of this big world puzzle, though.

I have found such sweetness in being a wife, in home making, and in motherhood. I've taken to this honorable challenge. What's so encouraging is the resources that I've been blessed with recently. Our church offers a Thursday morning bible study called moms.com. How fitting for my new role. Our study: Sacred Parenting. Again, how fitting. To say it's a blessing is an understatement. We studied Sacred Parenting, and when the book was complete, we were given the opportunity to sit in on round table discussions on topics that interest us such as marriage, toddler discipline, prayer, sleep, family devotions etc. 

I chose the first three, and I am still filled up with the wisdom that was shared. This week, we had a Proverbs 31 "mom fair" of sorts. The stations consisted of Blessing Your Husband, Coupon and Meal Planning, Hospitality, Missions, Toddler Rearing, Organizing and more. I live for this stuff. I am really a mom now.

I hope to share some of the resources as I sort through my papers. 

So with the sweet blessing of our church members and the heaviness of our hearts with the state of our country, I started thinking. I feel like I need to do something. 

Do you ever feel like you pray as a last-ditch, final effort? I do. That's what I did in terms of praying for my country. I'll admit, I started praying for this election in October. The election, as we know, is in November. I didn't pray for her people; I simply prayed for Mitt Romney. 

I want to do things differently. I don't want to start praying for my country again in 3 years and 11 months. I want to be held accountable for praying for our country, not as a last-ditch effort, but a powerful, intentional conversation with the Lord. 

I'm not one of those people that wants to move out of the country. Where would I go? We live in the best country in the world. I am so proud to be an American, but I'm disheartened is all. 

My son will be 4 years old when the next election rolls around. It's time I educate myself on the truths of our country and teach my son it's principles. I look forward to the challenge. 

I suppose this last week of events has caused a momentary somber feeling. To put it in perspective, I couldn't be happier with my role as mother. I could be happier with John Henry, and his sweet disposition (and sleep habits!). My husband has been so helpful, and as I mentioned, our church, a huge blessing. 

We must have joyful hearts for the blessings in the midst of this crazy world. I think the world is so corrupt now in 2012, but come to think of it, it always has been. That's why we needed a Savior. "Take heart; I have overcome the world" is as true today as it was then.