God of the Sabbath

i meant to write this post last week but somehow this last week evaded me just like the week before, and the week before that...

i go to a wonderful non-denominational church here in the east valley, and my brother-in-law Robert, is a pastor there. every couple of months we have baptism weekends and last week was one of them.
i think Robert's job is pretty cool cause he gets to sit around and chat with people and lead them to Christ. not necessarily just in one sitting, but still. it's awesome. it's something i don't think i have ever actually done.
so Robert came over after baptism weekend to pick something up for Chris. he sat down and we chatted with him for a while and then he told us this incredible story from earlier in the day:

i (Robert) was still at church at about 2pm, after everyone else had gone home and people were cleaning the sanctuary after the baptism. then the guy who vaccuums the water out of the pool came and found me and told me he needed me in the sanctuary.
i walked in with him and saw a lady sitting in the front row, bawling. she had wanted to get baptised that morning at one of the services but she couldn't get to church because she had locked her keys in her car. she was a real shy and meek kind of lady and went on to explain that she didn't like big crowds, but had been so convicted about the need to get baptised as a public profession of her faith, and symbol of her willingness to follow and obey Christ. so she was excited and scared to get baptised, but then she missed all the services and felt like she had missed her chance. i tried explaining to her that there would be another baptism service in a few short months and that she would have another chance then, but then i remembered the story from Acts 8, where Philip meets a eunuch and he wants to be baptized as soon as they come across some water.
so i asked the water vaccuming guy how much water was left in the pool and he said not very much. maybe half a foot. robert asked the lady if she would like to get baptized right then and there in the little bit of water and she beamed and said "yes!"
so i got in this little pool with this little lady, the vaccuum guy and his assistant were witnessing the whole thing, and i asked the lady to sit on her bottom with her legs stretched out in front of her. i asked her all the pre-baptism questions, she said yes to them all, and that tiny bit of water was just the exact right amount to cover her little frame and face entirely when she laid flat down.
she emerged from the water a new and joyous creation. she went from being the saddest person i had ever seen in my life to the happiest.
there was much applause and tears of joy- not from me, i have an emotional block, but if i didn't, i would have been crying.

is that not incredible????? even though that's not what the woman had initially envisioned for her baptism- it was exactly how she wanted to get baptised, being the shy little person she is. so beautiful. and i am so glad Robert got to be a part of something so majestic and wonderful, AND i am so glad he shared that story with me, and now i am glad i get to share that story with YOU! i had read earlier that day in Mark chapter 2 about Jesus being God of the Sabbath, and i prayed that i would allow God to be God of the sabbath that day, instead of me stealing the power and meaning of the day away from Him by filling it with busy-ness and junk. God is good. all the time.

moving right along

we moved! again! we are in the process of completing move #6 from the last 4 years. and interestingly enough- we are back in the house where all the magic began. yes, this is the house that chris first bought when he came back from iraq.

 

can you believe he was in iraq? i really had a strong suspicion that he might die there. but he didn't! yeah God!

 

i have had a strange week of reminiscing now that i am back in this old/new house of mine. i loved this house when i first moved in- cause it was OUR first new house as mr. and mrs. watson. it was romantic and lovely. but then the smells and the awkward layout started really bugging me. and then a good number of my friends were moving into brand-spanking new houses that had open layouts and beautiful, big, shiny, new kitchens. and then that green-headed monster named covetousness crept in and made me slowly start loathing my old orange tile and strange turquoise countertops. (coincidentally, the ugly countertops are the same color as my minivan... strange... i just now made that realization.)

 

but then fortunately- we moved! and we moved and we moved and moved and moved. and then i hated moving. so we moved one last time. and now we are home. and i am back to loving it. one thing i have learned through all the moving is that there are always going to be things i love and hate about the place i live in, but it doesn't matter- cause i have it really reall good. even when we lived in the apartment- i still had it really really good. and even when we were nomads living with my two sets of in-laws for three months- i had it REALLY really good (i'm just gonna say it- i'm not a lesbian but i LOVE living with other women!) and now the pantry that i thought was too small, and my closet that i also thought was a bit tiny- i have learned to organize and downsize- so now everything fits and has a place! magic!

 

another thing that has helped me love this place more is by surrounding myself with people who love this place, maybe more than i do. my sweet friends and sister, Lindsay, came over one night to help me paint a few walls before we moved in. it was so awesome! i am so blessed by the friends and family that i have. and my friends and lindsay love this house. cause this is where the magic began- not just for my family- but for my friendships too. this is the house where chris pulled that terrible april fool's joke that made people cry instead of laugh. this is the house where we shaved chris' head for the first time in the middle of my kitchen floor. this is also the house where most of my bridesmaids stayed when they flew in for my wedding. great times with great people. so. blessed.

 

yesterday was ash wednesday, and i contemplated how i was going to 'celebrate' the season, as i drank an offensive amount of coffee. last year i gave up coffee. and this year, instead of giving something up- i am going to add something. cigarettes. just kidding. i'm stealing this from my friend who did it last year- but i am going to intentionally wake up early and spend some quality time with my Lord. so far- so good! 

 

 

this last week, in the midst of packing, and then unpacking boxes, lots of different crazy things have happened. a good friend of my sister's baby passed away in the middle of the night. it's a long story and very very depressing, but also has a silver lining, as only God could put on a tragic situation like that. but it has definitely helped me to have some perspective on the craziness in my life. even when the kids are misbehaving, or our bank account looks pretty empty, or i am tired of unpacking boxes- again- we have our health and the love of our Savior- and compared to people who don't have one or both of those things- you realize that those two things are everything.

 

 

so, with that i leave you with these verses. it's from psalm 34. and psalm 34 has a warm place in my heart, cause i read it often when chris was in iraq, and i was afraid he was going to die. i'm so very glad he didn't die and God has let me spend the last 10 valentines days with this special special special man. Even though this special special man did break up with me two months after our first valentines day together... moving right along! here is that psalm i promised you: 

 

 

"I will bless the Lord at al times; his praises shall continually be in my mouth.

My soul makes its boasts in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad.

Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!

I sought the Lord, and he answered me and devliered me from all my fears.

Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.

This poor man cried, and the LOrd heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.

The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and delivers them.

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!"

 -Psalm 34: 1-8

wondrous thirty-two

i did not expect anything from my 32nd birthday, which passed yesterday. it's such an unassuming year. 32. what has ever happened to anyone in the history of the world at 32 that is all that amazing? next year will be a big one- my Jesus-year. as one friend put it- Jesus saved all of mankind at the age of 33, what will you accomplish? shoes (or sandals?) that are impossible to fill, but maybe i will do something seriously momentous. we'll see.
but back to 32. it ain't special. but alas- my 32nd birthday felt really special!!!!
it all started with a package in the mail from my beloved sister and brother-in-law. i used to work in a boutique in toronto when i was in university. it was a TINY little store, but it made mucho moola. and in this itty bitty little store, i fell in love with Kate Spade. kate spade is a designer and she makes the simplest, yet most beautiful accessories i have laid my squinty little eyes on. namely purses. and i got one for my birthday! it's coral and it's the brightest thing i own and i love it and it's all mine.
what a great kick-off.
and then, since my birthday ended up falling on MLK day, chris had the day off so we got to hang out together ALL DAY! and since my kids were not in school that day- they hung out with us all day too! and it was wonderful! we started our day off at Liberty Market, where i got $10 off of our breakfast. then we went to the zoo to fit in a bit of exercise before lunch. but while we 'exercised' i drank a starbucks latte, and that proceeded to fill me up quite a bit. then we went to lunch at Joe's Farm Grill, where we met our friends Charles and Grace, and got another $10 off of our meal. we let the kids run around and i sat and watched them as i let food and drink fester in my body. though to be fair- i didn't order a meal. chris, mia, and i shared a chicken salad... and some onion rings... and fries. but i didn't get an actual meal for me! and then we went to FROST, a magical gelato place that we love. i got a free gelato there, that i let topher have, and then chris and i shared an affagato- a gelatto with espresso shots. superamazing. then we went home, hung out, i went to old navy and got a pair of jeans for $10, then our babysitter showed up, chris and i went mini-golfing- which we haven't done in at least 4 years, and then we went to Joe's BBQ at 8pm for dinner, where we got $10 off of our meal (that chris and i shared).
and then i threw up.
just kidding.
did you throw up after reading about my gluttonous birthday? yes, much food and caffeine was consumed. but it was consumed with LOVE :)
i love Jesus. i love my family. i love my friends. i love free food. in that order.
and so that's it. i had a great day. and oh yeah- chris let me sleep in, which was awesome. but those punk children of mine all slept in for chris too. i don't know how he does it...
i know my birthday posts always talk about my quest for free food. but this is the first time EVER that chris and i succeeded in going to all of Joe's restaurants for my free birthday meal. i guess i have already accomplished so much at 32, and i've only been 32 for like 48 hours.

and as promised, here is my verse of the day:
"Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred." prov 15:17

i am blessed to be surrounded by so much love! thanks to all who called, texted, facebooked, kakaoed, etc. your love means more to me than a free meal. but just a little bit ;)

WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

if you love free meals as much as i do, and if you live in the east valley, hop on over to your local Chandler Library and get a little card to fill out 4 books that your child has read, and then bring it over to Chipotle and get a free kids' meal!!!!!!!!!!!!! yeah for literacy and free food!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3:30 for 2013

my life is an uphill climb. every day. i don't know why. i'm not a single mother. i have all my limbs. my kids have tantrums every once in awhile- but they are awesome kids. my husband makes a good and honest (though... some might not see it as totally honest, being undercover and all...) living. we live in a house. we have two cars. we have it great. really really great.
but still. i struggle. daily.

what's my problem?

me.

don't worry folks. this is not a self-deprecating post. i don't hate myself- though there are things i really want to change about myself. that i NEED to change about myself. for instance:  i try to be organized. i'll put something very important somewhere very safe. but when i need that important thing- i can't remember the safe place where i hid it. argh. failure. i usually put three meals on the table every day. but i can't get my kids (at least the older two) to eat a real vegetable (as in not a french fry!) failure!!!!!!!!!!!!

another major shortcoming- i want things that i am not willing to work for. like i want a clean and organized house- but then i just spend my time looking at things on pinterest to help me get organized, instead of actually putting things away! or i want chris to bring home pay checks that have lots of overtime $$$ on them, but when he actually has to work overtime, i throw a little hissy fit about how he is not home. that's craziness. but that's me.

every year we get lots of 'fresh new starts'. one happened nine days ago. i made some resolutions. and already broke most of em. my birthday's coming up, so i will probably make some more resolutions. and break those too. we are going to move. AGAIN. in febraury. i hate moving but i secretly love it cause i think i will get rid of the crap we don't use and start fresh somewhere else (fear not friends! i am moving about a mile and a half from where i am presently blogging...) but alas, i am not diligent and things pile up and amass and then- blah. crap everywhere.

but. i am not here to wallow in my short comings. no! i want to change! and i will!

(cue some inspiring music from Les Mis!)

i want to be better than i am today. i want to be more authentic in every way possible.

the thing that spurred this thought on was while i was in the hospital with mia, i had no less than 20. TWENTY of my closest friends straight up harassing me on how they could possibly be praying for me or serving me in some way, shape, or form. i am blessed. so seriously blessed. but i don't always act like it. and that's not ok.

so i will try. try to be more appreciative. more thankful. more accepting. more authentic- in words, thought, actions. and i can't do that on my own. it sounds cheesy and predictable- but i need more JESUS!

i am part of a small group, and i even have the audacity to lead a group of high school girls with one of my besties, and i serve in the special needs ministry at my church. BUT who cares???? i don't read my Bible every day. i talk to Jesus everyday, but mostly cause i am begging Him for something- "please help me find this thing that i misplaced! please help me not to psycologically damage my children! please help me to win lots and lots of money even though i haven't bought a lottery ticket..."

so. Jesus and i. we're gonna do this. we're gonna make 2013 awesomer than 2012. and even with how much 2012 sucked in it's sucky moments (mia in the hospital!!!!!)- it was still pretty awesome! but 2013 is going to be even better folks. so hold on to your hats.

from here on out- every time i blog, i am going to add a bible verse. cause there's a verse for everything! and even though i primarily blog to preserve the memory of my crazy family life- i also blog cause i want to encourage you my dear reader. whether you are a mom of 1 or 50, or you happen to be my grandparents (thanks for reading grandma and grandpa!), or someone who likes reading random stories about people you don't know- i want to encourage you. cause we all need some encouragement

so here we go:

"He must increase, but I must decrease." john 3:30

it's my 'magic formula' to making 2013 a great year. a lot less of me and a lot more of Him.

lucky 500 is a doozy

can you believe it? this is only my second post for the whole month of december, which is apparently going to end, with the rest of this year, in a mere 3 days. BUT, this also happens to be my 500th blog post! it only took me 6 years but i have written 500 random stories, a good number of them involving poo and pee.

anyhoo, the reason i have been M.I.A of late has been because of my sweet little mia. let me tell you a really long story:
almost three weeks ago, on a monday, mia quit using her left arm. strange. i noticed that she was holding her snacks in her hand but not bending her arm to put them in her mouth. i didn't think much of it until i realized she still wasn't bending her arm to hold her bottle at night. (yeah yeah, she is over a year old and i haven't weaned her from the bottle yet! judge not lest you be judged too... or something like that). oh yeah, and she was in a TERRIBLE mood all day too. but i attributed it all to teething, cause that's just what we moms do. or at least that's what i do. every time, 60% of the time...

so, instead of being a superconcerned and vigilant mom who needed to know IMMEDIATELY what is bothering my baby girl, i went to sleep. cause i was tired! but the next morning, still cranky and still not using her arm, i brought her to an urgent care right by our house, and conveniently right by lily's school. even though we got there an hour and a half before lily needed to be at school, my sweet SIL, lindsay, had to rush over to the rescue and drop lily off for me. this was the first of many favors owed to lindsay...

after a few x-rays, the doctor at the urgent care was convinced that mia had something called 'nurse maid's elbow' where a ligament gets caught in between two bones and just needs to be pulled out by a series of different arm twists. it didn't work. mostly cause mia didn't have nurse maid's elbow! but, because in the doctor's professional opinion, she was too tense, so he sent us to cardon's children's hospital's ER where they were going to sedate my girl for 2 minutes and pop her elbow back into place. so off we went to the ER where a doctor looked at mia's xrays that i brought with me, and he said that she definitely had a fractured elbow. even though he couldn't see a fracture in the xray, there was some dark shadowing around the joint, and apparently that is a 'clear' sign that there was a fracture present. so they put mia's tiny little arm in  a temporary cast and sling, and sent us on our way. in the middle of all this, chris, my phenomenal husband, left work early and sped to pick lily up on time, and was home to support me in the midst of this long and expensive day.

i had an appointment with an orthopedic specialist on thursday. they took mia's once tiny arm out of her temporary cast, and we were greeted by a very swollen and sad looking arm. they did some more xrays but couldn;t really see a whole lot since her arm was so puffy. so the doctor set mia's big ol' arm in a splint with some loose bandaging and told me to up her pain meds and let her arm breath a little every day, and to come back on monday.

sunday rolled around, and we were going to have a birthday dinner for chris at his mom's house. i showed barb mia's arm and she was not happy with what she saw. she said the swelling did not look normal and that there were red areas that looked like they were signs of an infection. all these 'signs'! so many of them wrong! but unfortunately, my not-a-doctor mother-in-law was right. we went to banner desert hospital and the ER doctor there was just as alarmed as barb was at the sight of mia's ever growing arm. after MANY long hours there, we were ambulanced over to cardon's, where we spent the next 5 days!

on monday, she got lots of blood drawn, was sedated, had an MRI, was diagnosed with a septic joint, rested, was sedated again, had surgery to clean out her elbow, came out of surgery, had her IV infiltrate her good arm- which means the IV came out of her vein and instead was pumping her arm full of liquid. so ironically her good arm swelled up to the same size as her infected arm! can you believe it????? so they put her IV in her head, which was fine while both of her arms were swollen, but the minute mia's IV arm deflated and was ready for action- she pulled the IV out of her head and there was blood every where. it was a disaster, which perfectly sums up mia's run-in with the medical community in the last three weeks.

we were FLOODED with love and concern and prayers, which is the only reason we made it out of the hospital with no fatalities under our belt. we celebrated our 7 year anniversay and chris' 33rd birthday in mia's hospital room on wednesday, while lily and topher were being cared for by the 6th of 8 couples who watched them over the course of mia's 6 days in the hospital. i did not get our christmas cards in the mail, and am presently still debating whether or not i should send them out this year or not...

so, that's why i have been missing in action for the last three weeks. apparently, after everything was said and done, mia never had a fractured elbow ever, or nurse maid's elbow, or anything else that the doctor's said she had. if anyone had bothered doing any blood work, they would have caught on that mia had an infection, but alas, no one did. even though when i was asked how she might have fractured it, or gotten the nurse maid's elbow, i told them that there were no incidents of mia really hurting herself.

anyway, i am so glad that it's all over, and that our little mia is getting stronger every day. i am also SO glad to be blessed with so many friends and family who love us and support us- in real and tangible ways, whether it's throught sending texts, watching lily and topher, bringing us food, bringing us starbucks, lots and lots of other things! we are so so so so so very very blessed.

here's mia all bundled up in the ambulance

 

before surgery :(

 

 

here's chris in the harmony garden in the middle of the hospital being as sarcastic as his shirt says he is.

 

happy birthday chris! :)

 

this pic was the beginning of the drama from our first visit to cardon's 3 weeks ago

the cutest hospital patient! after four days of being isolated in her room, she was so happy to be allowed to cruise the hallways.

on the mend with her cute pink bandage after the stitches came out

freedom! still keeping her arm straight as a board, but making it look good!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

halloween 2012. yeah i know it's december

somehow i managed to totally miss out on a halloween post. and to be frank- topher's favorite thing about this blog is to see all the halloween posts. so it would be wrong for me to not post about halloween, just cause it's december.

 

so our halloweens all look more or less the same. we like to go see chris' mom and dad at some point in the day and show off our costumes.

 

here are my ladies with chris' dad. mia is a sexy ladybug (? i don't know. i just threw her in lots of black, white, and red.) and lily was about to go to school but they weren't doing costumes, so she is just wearing a halloween shirt and a tutu. she's rocking the outfit nonetheless. chris' dad didn't have a lot of candy to dish out- but he's an accountant= so he had cash :) as in $0.15 or so. lily was a very happy trick or treater.

topher didn't get to see his Papa Wes cause he was at school doing lots of fun halloween stuff.

this kid really really really loves halloween. look at the sincere joy on his face:

here's a midafternoon pic of Mia. she is so embarrassed about the outfit i chose for her. i guess she does not approve of the sexy zebra look i subjected her to:

here we are at chris' mom's. she gave the kids some halloween cheetos and a chance to see her new bull dog puppy, and her chickens.

here is my sad attempt at getting a pic of my three kids in their costumes:

 

then the next day we went to a little post halloween party and Mia decided to wear the lady bug costume all morning. she is not a fan of stuff of her head- hats, bows, head bands, anything. but she kept this headpiece on for about an hour. i took an absurd amount of pics of her that morning, but i am only posting two for now:

 

 

and that was our awesome halloween of 2012. hope you enjoyed that topher! ;)

 

it's all in the hair

as you all know, i am married to a stud of a man.

he has had the distinct pleasure of being able to look like a total homeless bum for the last four years, but then the tides at work changed and he was forced to shave.

 

he was sad. i was not:

 

look at the adorableness! this is the face i fell in love with 8 years ago.

 

but, this is also one of my fave look- a bit of facial hair. chris was still unhappy about being told what to do with his face by the fine people of the fine city he works for:

 

here's chris looking like a crazy transient. how many woodland creatures can you spot in his beard?

 

the last time chris had a clean face was when topher was a baby and lily was a wee toddler. so when the kids woke up and were greeted by their clean shaven dad, they were both very surprised. topher said that chris looked like a little boy, and lily said that she thought chris looked very handsome.

mia also loved her dad's unburly face. she was all about giving him kisses. so sweet.

 

then we had mia's birthday party and it was a hairy mess.

well, not really. but it was funny.

my 4 year old nephew is growing out his hair. he looks so handsome! so ready for a lunch meeting at the drop of a dime :)

chris hasn't seen gabe in awhile, and when he saw him running around in our backyard, chris had to ask who that was. not a shining moment for chris as an uncle i guess...

anyhoo, then gabe was playing basketball, and he made a basket so chris said: "great job gabe!" (way to come back uncle chris!) gabe said: "thanks uncle chris!" and looked in the direction of the voice that spoke out such wonderful words of encouragement.

and then gabe got really confused. he never took his eyes off of the man who was speaking to him, but gabe calmly asked his dad, who was sitting right by him: "hey dad, is uncle chris here?"

the boy was staring right at chris! classic moment.

anyway, after chris and gabe were reintroduced we took this picture of them:

 

preciousness.

 

stay tuned as we continue on this journey of chris' hair. which for the record- he is back to not shaving and creating a nice home for the stray cats in our neighborhood...