Bottoms up.

Noah enjoys taking a walk around the yard, but isn't so good about keeping the sunglasses on...

I love Noah's whisps.

Noah had his first taste of homemade ziti last night!

All this pasta is making me sleepy...

Jeff & Noah love to play together!

As promised - our Mother's Day sermon:

"What's a Mother To Do?" Exodus 2:1-10

Being a mother is not an easy job.

Here's the story: Moses was born during a violent period of Egypt's history, at a time when it was dangerous to be a male Hebrew. Because of his mother, Moses did not suffer the fate of other male infants who were purposefully drowned in the Nile River. In looking at Moses' mother, we can see 3 great examples to follow:

1. Do what you can to protect your children

Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman & she became pregnant... ~Exodus 2:1-2, NIV

When she saw that he was a fine [healthy] child, she hid him for 3 months ~ Exodus 2:2, NIV

Ideally, mothers & fathers work together as a team.

We live in an age when it's dangerous to be a child. GUARD what your child is allowed to watch on TV!

Giving your child direction is NOT intrustive...it's your job!

2. Do what you can to develop a good plan for your children.

Then Pharoah's daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to get it. She opened it & saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. This is one of the Hebrew babies, she said. ~Exodus 2:5-6, NIV

Then his sister asked Pharoah's daugher, 'Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?' ~ Exodus 2:7, NIV

If you come up witha plan for your children, God will help you too!

Having a plan in place helps you to make a lot of decisions in advance.

Children are too important to lave your parenting style up to chance!

3. Do what you can to instill a sense of destiny for your children.

You can't take care of your children without God's help.

"Yes go and the girl went and got the baby's mother. Pharaoh's daughter said to her, 'Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.' So the woman took the baby & nursed him. When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh's daugher & he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, 'I drew him out of the water." ~Exodus 2:8-9, NIV

God's hand was on Moses & he protected him every step of the way!

You have an opportunity to influence your children, to inspire them to greatness, and through them to change the world!

Don't underestimate the influence you will have!

Jeff got up a little earlier this morning; he "helped" Noah make me a card. Jeff & I typically don't go "all out" on presents OR cards for that matter, so I was delighted to have this homemade card from my 10-month old for my first Mother's Day.

The church sermon was beautiful today & I'll share that later ... today was just a reminder of how special it is to be a mother & what a blessing it is. We had my mom & dad, my brother & his family over for lunch & had a wonderful afternoon together.

I have been blessed out of my socks.

Prior to Jeff proposing to me in October 2003, I had spent time doing missions in Haiti. I had a 35mm Canon with mega-zoom lens at the time - took some great shots of my trip. When we got engaged, I sold my camera & gear because Jeff needed a computer in order to do his Master's online - to continue teaching. For Mother's day - he got me this: my dream camera. This time, fully digital - Canon Rebel XTi 10 megapixel.

I am so thankful...

Reader's beware: you thought my blog was picture-heavy before...

I turned 10 months old yesterday, on the 10th! Wahooie!

Our lil' monkey has discovered the stairs - and that he can climb to the top quite well. We try to distract him, but the stairs are rather interesting!

April 24th we went to specialist #2 for a second opinion on Noah's eyes. This Dr. was compassionate and wonderful in all ways, much unlike Dr. #1. He does not want to classify Noah as legally blind at this time, for he is certain he has vision - although the question still is, "But how far can he see?" We will wait until Noah is older & can read an eye chart... We got to spend a good hour+ with the specialist & he answered all of our questions, along with stating that a nystagmus has nothing to do with intelligence.
We now have to have an ERG test done up at Strong over the summer, just to make sure everything "inside" is A-ok, which he was certain things will be, because of the rate Noah is developing. OT & PT tests came back and Noah scored in the 91st percentile... WAY above average, praise the Lord!
We're getting there, it seems like a long road, but thank you all who are praying & continue to do so. We currently have the Teacher of the Visually Impaired (TVI) coming twice a month, rather than weekly - that, too, is a blessing.
God is faithful & I'm so glad we have found a specialist who loves children, who is kind, and who is willing to work with us & Noah as we travel down this road.
By the way, Dr. #1 said Noah would never be able to feed himself... this picture shows otherwise. Noah is a pro at eating his Gerber Puffs!