My Favorite First

I think I had my favorite first with Temperance last week.  I know there are a lot of firsts out there for her, but this one instantly derailed me of every other thought.  I was in my office with one of my college girls.  We were about to leave for the day, and I wanted to pray with her.  This is not an unusual event in my day.  In fact it is one of my absolute favorite things to do.  Well, she comes over, and we hold hands and begin to pray.  Tempie is playing in the background.  All of a sudden, unprompted, she comes over to where we are and takes our hands and bows her head with us!!!  I lost it.  My baby is taking her first steps towards imitating her mother in prayer!  There have been few moments in my life where I have in an instant cried and laughed all at the same time.  One was when we learned I was expecting this precious child.  This moment is another.  Every time I think about it I have the same reaction.  I want to shout and cry all in joy. 
This morning I decided to take this a step further.  I asked Tempie if she would pray with me.  Just me and my little girl.  It was in the middle of her breakfast.  I took her hands and bowed my head and began to pray.  She joined me!  She bowed her head and just listened till I was done.  (I kept it short...no need to test her on this just yet!)  Now I want to build this into our family routine somehow.  I guess we should have been doing this all along, but now is a great time to start! 
I am so excited I can't stand it!!!!  Oh God, would you please make my little girl into a woman of prayer one day!!  I love her, and if she only learns one thing from me I hope it will be to love you and to love your people.  Lord, let this imitation of posture be just the beginning!!

I think Grandma Carswell was right!!

So, on the way home from church Temperance will often fall asleep in her carseat.  We then have to quietly and carefully lug her and that heavy carseat upstairs and try not to wake her up.  There is no transferring her from the carseat to her bed.  If she falls asleep there, that is where she will take her nap.  I've been known to read a book in the car as she finishes her nap.  Well, this morning, we'd made it into our neighborhood without Temperance falling asleep.  So I decided to try to keep her up so she'd sleep in her crib.  (I just think that must be a better nap for her.)  Don't you know, I tell Bert what I'm going to do, I turn around and start playing with her, and she plays for half a second, then turns her head to the side and pretends to be asleep!!!!  I was messing with her face poking her, all the things that would normally rile her up.  And don't you know she just stays still as stone in her sleeping position.  I KNOW she's not asleep!  Then after a minute, she pokes one eye open and smirks!!!!!!!!  Bert saw it in the rearview mirror and we both just died!!!!  We are going to have a time with this one!!  She then 'woke up' and played with me.  Can you believe it!!  She is something else.  She's going to keep us on our toes that's for sure!  What a girl!!

Afternoon lunch rollercoaster

Parenting can be such a rollercoaster of emotions!!!  Today's lunch would serve as example #1.  I had the hardest time getting her to eat her cereal.  She kept whacking the spoon and telling me she was done.  Mind you, this is the first things she's eaten for lunch, she's not full!  We've been having such struggles at meal times.  Sometimes she wants baby food, sometimes she wants grown up food.  Sometimes she's just being plain stubborn and doesn't want to eat at all.  So, I was very frustrated by the time we got most of the cereal in her.  Bert and I were eating a pizza for lunch.  We like the California Kitchen Margarita pizza.  We will often give her the tomatoes and chunks of cheese off the pizza.  She really likes it.  She's very partial to tomatoes and to pesto flavored things.  She was gobbling it up this time!!  I was very happy she was finally eating something willingly.  Then I wanted to see if she could handle the crust of the pizza as well.  So I let her chew on it a little.  She did great.  So eventually I just gave her the last bit of my pizza.  She ate it up with ease!  She even waited till she had swallowed one bite before taking another.  (Major accomplishment!)  I was elated and so proud!!  She's my little girl!  I love her so.  Here's a video of her eating some pizza.  I think it leaves you hanging at the end, but no need to worry, she handled that big bite just fine!  And soon after, she dropped the pizza and it was no more!!  Copper the winner this time!

Saturday mornings in August

The past two Saturday mornings, Bert, Temperance and I have been going to the local farmer's market.  We've been buying local produce and just enjoying the atmosphere and entertainment.  As we are leaving I always think how much I love Lexington.  As most all of you know, I am a Georgia girl through and through!!  When my daughter gets old enough I'm going to teach her that she lives in KY but she is from GEORGIA!  With that said though, I have fallen in love with Lexington.  It is a big city, with lots to do, but manages to keep a small town feel to it.  If we were to ever leave, there are so very many things I would miss about this town.  The excellent farmer's market and focus on local businesses/produce would be one of them.  Actually most everything I would miss about Lexington are the local things, my favorite bookstore, Joseph-Beth, the many great local restaurants, etc.
Well, this morning, after going to the farmer's market we went to the library.  It was only a block away and I needed to return some things.  We all went and Tempie and I both got some books.  I got some Andrew Greeley novels, and she got some Sandra Boynton books (our favorite children's author).  It was such a wonderful family affair!  I hope we do this every Saturday. Here's a pic of Temperance enjoying the farmer's market as well.
Hope you all have a wonderful Saturday.  Enjoy some local produce and read a good book!

Tempie's favorite pastimes...

My little Temperance LOVES to swing!  Here is a picture of her swinging back in April.  There is a small park area across the street from my work where this was taken.  Masha takes her swinging usually twice a week.  I try to take her after work at least once a week.  She knows the path there and is always excited anticipating the fun of the swing.  She almost always will cry too when we take her out of the swing.  She just loves it.  

Here's another highlight of her day...waiting for daddy to get home!!  (Or just watching all the cars go by.)  

She loves to watch the world outside.  She'll sit there and squeal at who knows what and just enjoy herself to no end.  It is very helpful when we are cooking dinner!  

These are just a few of Tempie's favorite pastimes.

Let the races begin!

Temperance's favorite activity for a long time has been walking circles around our house while holding our hands. She has now taken her first steps unassisted. Here's a video of her practicing her new skills. I'm so proud of her!! I'm not sure what this means for our evenings now. Will she walk circles around our house with out us? Can we sit on the couch once again? Who am I kidding? Now we will be chasing after her keeping her out of where she doesn't belong I'm sure. Oh well.

Long awaited update

Temperance has been so busy since I last updated. She is ten months old tomorrow. I am in total amazement. She is clapping, waving, babbling, crawling, cruising and even trying to walk! She took three unassisted steps this past Monday. She was going from me to Bert. I was so happy! I was always so petrified that one of us would miss that moment. But we didn't! We didn't even see it coming. Well, we knew it would be soon. All she ever wants to do is walk around the house holding our hands, but she's very nervous about letting go of us. So we were both surprised when she did it. I don't really think she even realized what she did. She hasn't done it since. But I'm sure her days of upright mobility are just around the corner.

She was in her first wedding last weekend. Her uncle Josh married a wonderful girl named Brittany. All three of us were in the wedding. It was beautiful, and Temperance loves her new Aunt Brittany.

We will of course be videoing her all the time now looking for more independent steps. As soon as we get something I'll post it. Love you all!

Masha

At the first of the year, I was becoming overwhelmed by taking care of Temperance and working at the same time. I was in serious need of help. One Monday night I was praying with two girls and they asked how they can pray for me and I mentioned that I am seeking a nanny, but very very nervous about the whole thing. We prayed and after we were done praying, one of the girls told me that she is looking for work, that she loves babies and that she would love to take care of Temperance. Her name is Masha. She is from Russia and has been in Kentucky for two years. Her husband is a graduate student at UK.
I was very nervous about the idea of a nanny at the beginning, and Temperance was not doing well going to other people. I felt like God had sent Masha to us, but I wanted to be sure. I invited Masha to come spend some time with Temperance one afternoon. I wanted to see how Tempie would react. I knew that if she went straight to her, then it was most certainly God. She did! Not only that, but one of my students came in to the office and asked to hold her while Masha was holding her. Masha handed her over, and she immediately started crying! Masha took her back and calmed her down. Up to that point, almost no one but Bert or I could do that! I knew it was from God. She has been keeping Temperance at my office two days a week since that time. And it has been truly wonderful. She has been such a huge blessing to ME these past few months. I could never have asked for someone with a more genuine sweet spirit. I prayed when looking for a nanny for someone who would pray over Temperance and love her as a spiritual being as well. Masha certainly does this. Often while Tempie is playing, Masha will be reading the Bible to her (in Russian). Temperance LOVES her Masha!!!
It is such a blessing to trust God. He alone can give more than we can ask or imagine!
We love you Masha!!

Character Suspicions

It's so much fun to see Tempie's personality come out every day! For example, we have learned that she is a straight faced clown. Early on I had worried that she wasn't a very happy baby. She would splash around in the tub, which we thought was funny, but she wouldn't even crack a smile. She did all the things that most babies do and laugh about, but she didn't laugh. We have since learned that she just enjoys making us laugh. She will do something that makes us laugh, (like right now the joke is for her to put something in her mouth and then shake her head) and she will keep doing it, keeping a straight face. She will occasionally give a little smirk that lets you know she knows what she is doing and she is enjoying your laughter. It is a funny sense of humor, probably very similar to mine!
Another early prediction came from her great grandma Carswell. Temperance seems so serious sometimes. She will study everything around her. I wanted to think that she is a wise, observant, studious baby. Grandma Carswell had other thoughts. She thinks that during these times Tempie is cooking up a mischievous plan. She says it's something in her eyes. I never saw it, until we took this picture...


Well, Grandma Carswell, you may be right. I guess time will tell. It will be fun to see what happens to all my predictions once she can talk. Then we will have a better idea of what is going on inside that pretty little head. That is if she will tell us!!

Tempie loves to dance!

Here's a video of Tempie and I dancing to Sandra McCracken. She seems to love her music as much as I do!!

Busy Busy Busy

Well, I realize it's been over a month since I've last posted. But it is not for a lack of things to write about! Temperance is growing so much and learning something new everyday! She is now sitting up unsupported. She is also trying so hard to crawl. She still has some work to do there. She is in the rock and roll stage. She will get on all fours and rock. Then get frustrated and roll over. I'll have to post a video of it soon. It's very cute!
She has also fallen in love with books! This is an answer to prayer! I LOVE to read!!! And I've always hoped my children will too. I read to her almost every day. She has gotten to where on certain books, she knows the last page and she will begin to fuss when I get to it knowing the book is almost over. She will cry until I begin to read to her again, or distract her with something else! Isn't that sweet! She is also learning to turn the pages herself. She loves to do this. Sometimes she gets so happy about it, I can hardly get the words on the page out before she has flipped to the next page. It is so cute! We can get through any board book you give us in record time! You would think we were in some kind of speed reading race! Some of her favorites right now seem to include: I Love You Through and Through, Happy Baby Colors and we both love Horns to Toes and In Between. (Sandra Boynton is a great children's writer!) My personal favorite is You Are My I Love You. This isn't one of Tempie's favorites yet though. It is not a board book, so she can't turn the pages as easily. I think that is part of it.
I have so many pictures and videos to share. I will try to take all of Tempie's nap times tomorrow to work on uploading them all. She is so beautiful and so precious. I just love her so much! I hope you are all blessed this week and be on the look out for more posts!

Fun times in Georgia!

Well, I would say that our first road trip with Temperance was a success. That is, as long as you don't define success as easy. She did wonderful in the car on the way down and on the way back. We didn't hear hardly any crying out of her at all! She played and slept happily most of the time. The troubles began when we asked her to take a nap in a new place. Then we heard as much crying and more than we did on the whole car ride. We learned a lot! Like don't expect our daughter to be able to sleep well in three different places in three days. Poor girl. She was a trooper though. She really did well! We got to see Nana Carrie, Grandpa and GiGi (my dad and Deb), Grandma and Popa J (Bert's parents), and a ton of our wonderful friends from college. I just want to say that we have some amazing friends!!! They were so sweet to drop what they were doing to come and have dinner with us on Thursday night. Some of them drove an hour to see us! Not only that, but many of them stayed out until after 11 p.m. knowing they had to work early! (Don't worry, Tempie did not stay out until 11 p.m.) We really and truly have the best friends anyone could ask for! We love you guys!!! Unfortunately I didn't get a pic of our friends, but here are a few from the trip.

Getting ready to go!!

Chillin in the awesome baby hot tub at Grandpa and GiGi's house!

Taking a nap on Nana Carrie's bed. We couldn't get her to nap in her crib. I had to lay next to her for her to fall asleep.

Hanging out with Nana Carrie and her pup pup Bo.
My Grandma Lynn and Papa J threw a party for me. Lots of family and friends came. Here I am meeting my cousin Hendrix. My Aunt Brittany and I bonded a lot that day!


Playing with Grandma on the floor.
Sleeping the whole way home!! :)

New things everyday!

She seems to be growing by light years every day!!!! She has been rolling over from her belly to her back like crazy the past week. She's had the ability and muscles to do it for a while now. I've been trying to coax her with toys etc. But she's no fool. She didn't like being on her tummy, so she wasn't going to do it! She seems to have had a change of heart though. Now we can't keep her off her tummy! Even in the mornings when we go to get her out of her bed, she's often rolled over on her tummy! She's so cute when she sleeps now. She sleeps on her side. It makes her look like such a big girl. I"ll have to get a pic of it sometime.
She's also standing a lot! She doesn't stand on her own of course. But any time you grab both of her hands, she's on her feet in a second! I had begun to wonder if she'd walk before she crawled until she had her recent change of heart towards tummy time. We shall see! More pics to come soon!

Going to the homeland!!!

I am so excited I can hardly stand it! Today we are leaving to take Tempie to GA for the first time! She is napping and I have packed the car. I am clearing out some space on my memory cards for the camera and video camera. I will be taking lots of both! Man, I feel like a kid getting ready to go to Disney World!!! I hope I haven't forgotten anything! From the looks of my trunk, it would hardly be possible. I warned Bert that I would over pack this time. Well, Georgia people...here we come!!! I'll post updates and pics soon!! Love you all!

Peeps

Peeps: Nutritional Value: -150 Entertainment Value: Priceless!!!

Grace sufficient and new every morning!

Parenting has so many ups and downs!! And these ups and downs happen in very short time intervals!! She can be refusing to take a nap...making me want to pull out my hair...and then give me the biggest smile from her bed and just make my heart melt. Sometimes in the middle of the day when it is the hardest (like when I am fighting her over a nap), I think I can't make it. I think to myself, this is too hard, I just can't do it. Then the evening comes, and I get to nurse her and hold her just before bed. She gives the sweetest looks then. She'll crane her neck just to stare at my face while I'm reading her a book, or she'll fall asleep on my shoulder, just as relaxed and secure as she can be. Then I know I can do it. I often come downstairs after putting her to bed with tears in my eyes. Bert used to get concerned. Now he just knows, she's made a sweet face or something. Truly grace is sufficient for me!
The highlight of my day comes first thing every morning when Temperance wakes up. She is a morning girl! She always wakes up making happy noises and smiling away. It really is the best part of my day. I try to get up and take a shower and at least start getting ready before she wakes up. The whole time though I'm anticipating hearing her sweet voice calling to me telling me that she has a special morning smile for me. Truly grace is new every morning!
God is so good! Sometimes the days are long, and when she is teething they are extra long!! But each morning and each evening I get to have reminders of why I am doing this. Thank you Jesus for my little girl!

New Steps

Temperance has taken another important step...she's now eating baby food! She tried rice cereal for the first time on February 13. She is a natural at eating. Here's a video of her first experience with food, and then one from one week later. She made a lot of progress in only one week!!!





Since then she has also tried applesauce and carrots. Of course her initial face is pretty funny...but she never wants to stop eating it, so she must like it pretty well! Also, just this past week she began making a new noise with her lips. It's a lot like spitting, but a lot more exciting :) I've heard other people call it 'blowing raspberries'. I've never heard that phrase before, but it may describe what I'm talking about to those of you who know of it! Anyways, I never thought being spit at could be so exciting! I love this girl!

Isaiah 40

I've always been convinced that Isaiah was a girl...
Ok, maybe not really. But when I read that book, I can certainly see how females are made in the image of God as much as males are. God is VERY emotional in this book! I love to read it. I could go on a spill about this for a while, but the point of this post is to tell you how much I've learned about being a mom from Isaiah 40.

This chapter came to my attention by means of one of my wonderful God loving students, Rachel Williams. One day last summer while I was still pregnant, she sent me a text with v.11 in it. "He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young." Of course this was such a great blessing to me. I carried it with me for many months to come.

Ok, now flash forward a few months, and I'm nursing a beautiful little infant. Struggling as all moms do with the trials of nursing. I return to this verse, but this time it is not the last line that hits me, but the first two: "I will feed my lambs...holding them close to my heart"...is this not the picture of a nursing mother!?!?! I was floored! I still am!!! To think that my God knows and understands the struggles of nursing. MY GOD, who has always been portrayed as a man, without the characteristics or experiences of a woman. (Well, I was going to try to avoid this controversy...but I don't think I can state the full effect of this verse without mentioning it.) HE CAN UNDERSTAND my female struggles. I've come to understand this from a textbook/theoretical manner in the past few years, but this hit me as a reality. Nursing is truly the one thing women can do that men can not and never will be able to do. And my God, always portrayed as a man, understands it. Well, with all the surges of hormones in my new mom body, you can imagine how many tissues it took to clean up the effects of that verse.

Now maybe a month later...I'm still stuck in this chapter. Tempie is about three months old and for some reason I'm getting nervous about her eating. I think she may not be getting enough. I move on slowly to v.12 "Who else has held the oceans in his hand? Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers? Who else knows the weight of the earth or has weighed out the mountains and the hills?" For those of you who have not nursed, one of the greatest struggles of nursing is wondering if your baby is getting enough. You can not see how much is going into her. It's not like it's a clear bottle with little tick marks at each ounce you can see draining. So, God totally used this verse to show me that He knows how much she is getting. He's weighed the oceans!!! He can measure things we can not! He knows how much she is eating! This was very comforting to me.

But of course, as a woman, I let my worry become louder than His comfort, and I began to call the doctor and read all the books etc. One morning before going to the doctor's office, I read v. 13-14 "Who is able to advise the Spirit of the Lord? Who knows enough to be his teacher or counselor? Has the Lord ever needed anyone's advice? Does he need instruction about what is good or what is best?" He was trying to remind me that He had already told me she is ok. But of course I had to get a second and third and fourth opinion. Finally, after so much searching, I came to understand that God was right in the first place. She was just fine! (She was actually just teething.)

V. 18 has constantly haunted me since this lesson "To whom, then, can we compare God? What image might we find to resemble him?" I had been comparing him to a doctor, or one of the millions of 'experts' who wrote all the child rearing books I had been reading. These have become my idols. I have his Spirit living in me! My best friend Janie has been telling me this since the very beginning of my pregnancy. I am not doing this alone, I have the Spirit of God inside of me. And I MUST trust that Spirit. I don't want any of you to be scared, I'm not denying the need for doctors or great 'expert' advice. I'm just learning to put them in their place - second to the creator of my little girl. I must trust His Spirit to gently guide me just as v. 11 has promised.

Well, just a few more reasons I think this chapter is written for parenthood. V.1 - "Comfort, comfort my people says your God"...this is the first few months of a new parent's life...comforting a newborn. And finally the last paragraph of the chapter, the last verse which is so familiar. I think I'm just going to write it all here.
"O Israel, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles? How can you say God refuses to hear your case? Have you never heard or understood? Don't you know that the Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of all the earth? He never grows faint or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to those who are tired and worn out; he offers strength to the weak. Even youths will become exhausted, and young men will give up. But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint."
I could cite many many more ways that in these early months God has used these verses. From naps times, to fussy times to fun times. But the main point is that God does understand what you are going through. There is no measuring the depth of His understanding.

If you made it this far in reading, I applaud you and thank you. I also want to thank Rachel for pointing this chapter out to me, and Janie for living this chapter out in front of me. I love you both.

Picture

Ok, so Bert had a picture on his phone I didn't know about of her watching the game. I want to follow up from that post and also let you all know that Temperance also likes watching water boil...if that says anything about the relative interest and excitement of basketball :P


Also, here's a picture of Temperance and her beautiful Aunt Rachel. Everyone comments on how much she looks like Rachel. I am so glad! They are both so beautiful!!!

Four month update

Tuesday January 26 Temperance went for her four month check up. She's growing great! She is now 25.5 inches long and 14 lbs 1 oz. She's in the 84% for height...which is down from the 93% she was at her 2 month appointment! She's always been long, and as a result there's always been some speculation as to her future. After last week, I'm very curious myself. It was a Saturday and she had just gotten up from her afternoon nap. Bert had a basketball game on the TV, and don't you know she was GLUED to it!! She's always liked football, but we've been always been able to distract her from it somehow. Not that day! We did everything. I called to her, talked to her, played the music of all her favorite toys - nothing...until commercial break!!!! When a commercial would come on, she would look around the room and talk to us, play with us etc. All the while though she would be glancing back at the TV to see if the game was back on. As soon as the game came back on...she was done with us! At one point Grandma Lynn got in between her and the TV and she craned her neck to see around her. It was hilarious. Mind you, she had not eaten in a while or anything. She's never been that glued to anything before. Now, before you Kentucky people get too excited, it was a Duke vs. Georgetown game. The colors were black and gray. Nothing to get too excited about...but she liked it anyways. So, we'll see. Perhaps it is not coincidence that she is crazy long (with two average height parents) and born in basketball crazy Kentucky in the year they finally reach the #1 spot...even if only for a week or two. We shall see!

Prayers for Haiti

I have a friend who grew up in an Orphanage in Carrefour, Haiti, which is very close to the epicenter of the earthquake. He is in the States now studying engineering at the University of Kentucky. So naturally we have been praying for Haiti a lot. Especially the children of this orphanage. The name of the Orphanage is the Good Shepherd Orphange. This is their website if you'd like to check them out http://gsohaiti.org/index.php. My students have been taking mission trips there over the past year and plan to return in March. It can be so hard to pray over situations like this one where the loss and the devastation seem beyond hope. I found a prayer to pray over these kids the other day while Temperance and I were doing our daily Bible reading.

We read an Old Testament story and a New Testament story most every day.
* Side note: She LOVES her Bible!!! I am so very excited and hope this is a life long love.*
I have learned as much through our daily Bible readings as I have from my own quiet times. I have been able to see so many connections between the Old Testament stories and the New Testament ones. I'm not sure if the editor of this Bible did this intentionally. Well, sometime last week we were reading and the Old Testament story was of God providing manna and quail for the Israelites while they were in the desert, and the New Testament story was of Jesus feeding the five thousand. It inspired me to pray for the children of the Good Shepherd Orphanage (and others in Haiti who are also hungry) that they would be able to say that they have truly been fed by the hand of God! While this is a terrible tragedy and nothing is worth the loss of so many lives, I do hope and pray that God is making believers out of this situation. Believers because they have seen the hand of God in the midst of such tragedy. I am praying for miracles to happen and for God to get the glory for them. I know God gets many questions and doubters out of situations like this, and I'm not blaming anyone for doubting. If there ever were a cause to doubt...this would be one of them. But I choose to believe that there is more than I can see or understand. And I am praying that He will get as much glory as he gets groans out of this situation.
Lord may you raise up missionaries out of the Good Shepherd Orphanage. Missionaries who don't even have to go far. Just children who grow into adults with full faith in you, and the urgency to share it with everyone they meet. Always remembering that in 2010 they were fed by the hand of God.

Picture update

So Temperance is 4 months old now!!! The past two weeks have not been very fun with the whole teething process. Sometimes I wonder if steak is really worth it, or if we could all just deal with mashed potatoes for our whole lives to just not experience (or put our moms through) this pain of teething.

I have learned two things in the past two weeks:
1. It is a very good thing babies do not remember this part of their lives.
2. I have learned how much my mom loves me. Not for anything she's doing now...which is a ton...but for realizing what she has done. And just finally understanding the love between a mother and daughter, and to realize she feels the same way about me. I love you too mom!!!!!!
Well, here's some pictures, some recent, some not so recent.
Here's Temperance on her four month birthday...such a big girl!

Bert has really gotten into the weather since we've moved to KY...seriously. But of course if you are on Facebook, you know this. Well, here's Bert trying to get our Tempie into weather...they're checking out cool weather maps on the computer.

And here's Temperance with her Great Grandparents over Christmas.


Well, I hope you all have a great weekend, and enjoy all the solid foods you eat. It was hard work getting to this point...even if you don't remember it!

Guess who bit me today!!!

That's right! My little girl bit me this morning! I was so excited. I've never been so happy to have someone bite me. She's been pretty obviously teething the last few days. Everything from the heavy drool to the diaper rash and let us not forget the crying!! Well, this morning she grabed my finger and put it in her mouth (nothing unusual!) and I felt something sharp. It was the corner of a tooth making its way through the skin! I was so excited I ran upstairs and had her bite Bert:) It's not big, or even very visible yet, but it's definitely there. I hope this means a slow down to the fussing...we'll see.

I love her so much! She's growing so fast and learning so much right now! She's just started laughing in the last week or so. We're still working on getting a good video of that. Which means we have lots and lots of video of us doing silly stupid things and her just staring at us! Yesterday she also rolled over from her stomach to her back for the first time generally unassisted. She's definitely making progress in rolling in both directions. Soon she'll be mobile! We'll upload a video of her rolling skills (or attempts) soon. I love you all friends and family! May you have a blessed week. And may you find joy in the bites life gives you!

Yummy Muffins

So, Bert likes to let Temperance smell things. He did this with the dogs before Temperance came around. Only the dogs didn't get to smell food, they got to smell things like the mail. They were always up for it though, wondering what it might smell like today! Bert has been letting Tempie smell things since the very beginning. Funny story...the first week Bert went back to work, he came home with a candle from Yankee Candle Store. Of course not wanting to leave our daughter out of anything, he holds it up to her nose as well to smell. She was only a week old at the time. She produced the most violent gag we had seen up to that time, and I think since! It was far too strong a smell for her! Well, Bert still lets her smell things, just not such strong things. I made these muffins the other night. They are apple cinnamon muffins. This video is her smelling the muffins. It is the first time we've gotten a reaction from a smell since the Yankee Candle. Only this time it is a good reaction. She is just too cute!

New Year's Resolutions

Well, this year I probably have more resolutions than I ever have before. I'm not sure why that is. I guess I know I have a lot to work on. One of my resolutions is to start a blog and to update it weekly. If with nothing else, then at least a picture of the week of Temperance. I have heard that some blogs can be bound into a book if you want. I hope this one can. I think it would be neat for Temperance to have later when she grows up. All the stories and pictures of her that I may otherwise forget. I hope never to forget these years, but already I have forgotten so much. My resolution to journal failed miserably last year...so maybe with the journaling being in the form of typing, and the subject being my favorite of all (my little girl!), I will keep it up. I'm sure my mom and the rest of my family will give me great encouragement to do so!

The name of my blog site comes from a quote from one of my favorite Christian Saints of old: St. Augustine. He describes the four cardinal virtues as four forms of love: temperance, fortitude, justice and prudence. Temperance he defines as "love giving itself entirely to that which is loved." I'm not convinced Bert had this quote in mind when he chose the name for our daughter. I'll bet he hasn't heard this quote till he reads this blog :) but I like it.

I'll go ahead and give you the definitions of the other three because they are equally wonderful and they describe very well some of my other resolutions. "Fortitude is love readily bearing all things for the sake of the loved object; justice is love serving only the loved object and therefore ruling rightly; prudence is love is love distinguishing with sagacity between what hinders it and what helps it." Augustine goes on to say that "This object of this love is not anything, but only God, the chief good, the highest wisdom, the perfect harmony. So we may express the definition thus: temperance is love keeping itself entire and incorrupt for God, fortitude is love bearing everything readily for the sake of God; justice is love serving God only, and therefore ruling well all else, as subject to man; prudence is love making a right distinction between what helps it towards God and what might hinder it."

As most women, I fight off worry and fear nearly every moment of the day. The last virtue, prudence, is a great description of my other resolution. To be wise in knowing what is worth worrying about, and what will hinder me from God by my worrying about it.

My daughter is beautiful. Temperance Grace Parham. She will remind me by name and virtue to give my love entirely to God, "the chief good, the highest wisdom, the perfect harmony."