I Thessalonians 5:17

This verse simply states, "Pray continually," and Landon has been giving us a lesson into what this means and it is such a joy to experience as his mother!

We, as a family, pray before our meals. Not just, "Bless this food to our body," but prayers for our family and friends; things going on in our world; our requests, needs, desires; etc. When Landon was younger, I would extend my hand to him, but he would usually be more engaged with his spoon or cup. Alan and I would then hold hands, keeping our eyes open to make sure Landon wouldn't topple his plate to the floor (we learned that one the hard way!). As Landon has gotten older, he's become more proficient at knowing the drill - we tell Landon that we are going to pray, I hold out my hand, Alan holds out his hand, and Landon grabs each of our hands as we bow our heads. When we say our "Amen," Landon nods his head satisfyingly and utters his own version of "Amen." We begin eating and as I'm shoveling the food in, Landon will look at me and hold out his hand. "Do you want to pray again?," I ask, as Landon thrusts his hand into mine. He then extends his hand to Alan while we are giving each other a look over Landon's head as if to say, "It's your turn this time." We say our "Amens" and begin eating. I get about 3 bites in before a chubby, little hand reaches out to mine. Landon is, once again, declaring that it is time to pray. At each meal, we pray no less than 3 times at Landon's prompting.

As I stated earlier, it is such a joy to see his enthusiasm for this conversation that we have with our Heavenly Father. But, it's also a challenge because sometimes I'll sit there and have no idea what to say. Or I'll shorten my earlier prayer knowing that Landon will ask us to pray again and 'save' what I was going to say for when that time comes. But mostly it's humbling that my 16 month-old son is teaching me what it means to "pray continually." I know that as I make it more of a habit - to pray for the person in the ambulance rushing to the hospital down the street; to pray as I'm watching the news or reading the newspaper; to pray for the people whose houses I pass by; to thank the Lord for the blessings (and struggles!) in my life - that the words will become easier and flow from my lips as the Lord has intended. One thing that I know I will "pray continually" for will be Landon - it's my prayer that his desire to pray will not wane, that he will grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, and that he will be a man of God who honors the Lord in his thoughts, words, and actions.

I am a Curly Girl

And do I like being a Curly Girl? No, not at all. Today I went to get my hair cut by a curly hair specialist and while I like that my curls are under more control (i.e. not frizzy) and I got some great tips on styling them, I still don't like the fact that my hair is a mass of boisterous curls.

My hair issues are nothing new. I used to think it was because I had black/white hair. But then I met Amanda in high-school, who was also bi-racial, and she had the most beautiful hair. Her hair laid flat against her head and at the bottom she had wide, bouncy ringlets - not my tiny kinks that covered my whole head. I've had my hair chemically straightened; straightened with a hot iron; styled curly with gobs of gel holding it down (stiff, crunchy hair); in braids with extensions; in braids without extensions; and in other various styles. I had even thought about shaving it all off and starting over, but that thought quickly vanished when I heared that your hair grows back thicker. Straight has been, by far, my style of choice. However, there are a few issues with my type of straight hair:

*When I straighten my hair it never looks as good as when I get it done at the salon (and I know I'm not the only one that this happens to, no matter what your hair style is).

*It also takes me a long time to straighten my hair. When doing it myself, it takes about 2 hours. As the mother of a 15 month old, I don't have that time to spare.

*Getting my hair straightened at the salon would cost a significant amount of money. This is not something that I could just get done at a neighborhood hair care place to cut down on costs.

After leaving the salon today, I tried to embrace the curls. I wore my hair down (and out, since my hair will never lay flat while curled) for the drive home. I scrutinized it in the bathroom mirror without having the watchful eyes of the stylist on me and I promptly pulled it back. I couldn't even get it straightened at this point because it would look like I got a really bad haircut. A curly cut has no rhyme or reason to it to the untrained eye (it's cut curl by curl - dry - so the curls fall in their natural state).

So I guess I'm going to have to embrace a modified curly girl look. I'll take care of the curls as my stylist today did ("slow and deliberate," was her motto), but still fall back on the 'usual' - pulled up or back for the time being.

So, how about you? What would you change if you could?

Easter, Easter, Easter!

We hope you all had a blessed Easter celebrating the Risen Savior! Please click on the link for Praying for Stellan. MckMama wrote, in far better words than I ever could, a post about the true meaning of Easter.


Landon loved the child-sized Elmo plate, cup, and silverware we got him. He carried them around with him most of the morning!




I believe Landon's looking quite dapper in his new outfit and 'do. We decided to put gel in his hair so his locks would remain curly. I think it might have to be a regular occurrence since so many people commented on the curls at church today. Not to mention that I think the curls make Landon look a lot more like me than Alan ; )

Extreme Makeover: Blog Edition

Well it appears as if I might need to change my "About Me" section. I didn't think I'd be posting that much in the way of photos and videos on the blog and this week alone I posted two videos! I also didn't think I'd waiver from the trusty Blogger templates, but I've done that as well! I've also added some direct links to some of my favorite blogs - My Charming Kids (you'll find it if you click onto "Praying for Stellan") and Money Saving Mom. What do you think of the makeover?

Old McDonald Has a Cow, Sheep, and Pig

Well, I have been trying for days to get this on video and have finally succeeded! It appears that Landon has 'picked up' animal sounds. Really. We don't sit around the dinner table teaching him the various animal sounds or drill it into his head during long car trips. I would say it's mostly due to the reading of Sandra Boynton's Moo, Baa, La La La, which I don't even think we read that often (definitely not as much as Mercer Mayer's Just a Snowy Day - his current favorite). I'm just so amazed at all that he is picking up!

Of Blueberries and Bathtime

Tonight we had blueberries with our dinner. This picture does not show his blueberry stained hands and the remnants of blueberries in his hair. Circumstances necessitated that Landon take a bath - his fourth one in three days (1. Wednesday he was due for a bath; 2. yesterday he had a blowout so I quickly washed him in the sink. I didn't have his diaper with me and ready so when he peed on himself, 3. I gave him a bath in the bathtub; and 4. tonight).

Landon and I have a new game we play in the bathtub thanks to the the new bath toy Alan got for being a good patient at the dentist : ). I fill the fish with water and then slap my hand on top of it to get water to squirt out. Landon responds by splashing with great gusto. Here's a little video of our new game (Mom, I'm in it! Just for you!). And, although we had fun in the bath and got the blueberries off of his face and out of his hair, he went to bed tonight with blue stained fingers. Gotta love blueberries!

Week in Review

We have had a very busy week - here is the review in photos:On Friday, my mom, Landon and I travelled to Chicago to spend time with my sister and her family, my grandparents, and my aunts, uncles and cousins.  I was a little worried about flying with Landon but he was a champ.  Our flight even boarded late leaving the Cities, but Landon occupied himself by walking back and forth on the moving walkway in front of our gate several times.On Sunday, we joined Greg, Nicole, Charlotte and extended family at church for Eli's dedication.  I should have kept Landon in the nursery during the actual dedication because he was very squirmy and was not content just being held, but still not as bad as what Charlotte did (I'll let my sister explain in her blog!).Sunday after church we had a baby shower for my cousin, Sarah (sorry, no pictures here).Monday and Tuesday was filled with lots of play time with Eli, Charlotte, and Abby as I tried to work on Landon's scrapbook.  One of the most popular activities was jumping on the air matresses and then climbing up them like Spiderman.  Weather was even nice enough that we walked for ice cream.  Landon thoroughly enjoyed his first ice cream cone!Before leaving Chicago on Wednesday, we got to meet new baby, Lila Belle.  Isn't she adorable?  Thursday was Landon's first swim class.  He loved it!  Well worth the money!


And now, apparently, our week was filled with too much activity.  Picture above could be titled, "This is What Sick Looks Like."  Landon woke up an hour later than usual with a slight fever (101.8) this morning and a runny nose.  After giving him Motrin, the fever went up to 102.2.  Went to the doctor only to be told it wasn't an ear infection or anything viral or bacterial.  After Landon got up from his 3 hour nap (skipped lunch), his fever was at 104.  Called the nurse line and dispensed another dose of Motrin.  Ninety minutes later the temp only dropped 3/10 of a degree.  Through in a couple of diapers of the very loose kind, shallow breathing, and an overall lethargic kid, I was to the point where we were going to drive to the ER.  I called the nurse line again and was able to talk to the on-call doctor. After giving Landon a dose of Tylenol and watching him devour 4 chicken nuggets, he is now sleeping and his fever dropped back to 101.8. 

It will be interesting to see what this upcoming week is like as Landon and I go back to work. I'm sure he will be out of sorts on Monday (as will I), but will be raring to go by Tuesday - or at least that's what I'm hoping for.