So here is a picture of daddy and Matthew, sometime in November.
It is one of my favorite ones so i had to put it up here. It really shows how much they love each other. With Cameron being away so much in the next 6 months, we both worry how little man is going to handle seeing daddy again when he does get back. If this photo is any indication, i think everything will be just fine.

We are getting better and better at eating with a fork. Matthew just really thinks he is a big, big, boy now. =) I love the way, when i praise him for the good things he does and the things that i know he is learning, how it touches his heart and he lights up and realizes how much i love him. It kind of mirrors how our relationship with the Father is and how He praises us with blessings when we do things He would have us do.

There is a group here that we go to called MOPS [mothers of preschoolers] and it is an awesome group. It's a group of women, young and older, that get together at my church [they don't have to go to my church. It is just held there] and we have little meetings with different helpful and supportive themes, like winter survival for the stay at home mom, or how to bring your hild up to love Jesus. This was actually what todays theme was. The pastor's wife of my church stood up and spoke to us, about how to raise not only good, wholesome kids but also kids that loved Jesus and had a heart for Him. She has 6 kids herself and has a lot of experience in that area. It was really awesome for her to show me different ways i can start sharing Jesus with Matthew. I just ordered his very first Bible, with pictures and little stories so he can start learning them now and remeber them for years from now, just like my parents did with us when we were young. It so awesome to think about how God can even take tiny children and have them have a firey passion for Him.




Here are some other pictures that I think just show how adorable Matthew is and how much of a big toddler boy he is becoming. No more little baby, He is transforming into a little man, right before my eyes. Now if only he would be able to help me shovel the driveway.... HaHa

I've been trying to get Matthew to wave now for the last 2 months, and sometimes we get it, and sometimes we don't. He normally just starts getting coy and smiling and laying his head on my shoulder when people wave at him. It's finally clicking though. He was eating his dinner the other day and i said, " Matthew, can u wave for mommy?" Guess what, he did!?!?! I immediately went and got my camera and this is what i captured. It didn't last long though because dinner was getting overrated by that point and he was getting restless.

Anyways, Until Next time....

MERRY CHRISTMAS?!?!?

God's Will..

This verse is the verse that was emailed to me from my daily bible verse subscription. After reading it, i went and read the entire chapter, and I was blown away by how some of the verses mirrored my own longing for the Lord.

In psalm 143:
^"1 O LORD, hear my prayer,
listen to my cry for mercy;
in your faithfulness and righteousness
come to my relief.
² Do not bring your servant into judgment,
for no one living is righteous before you."
David is crying out to God for His help, a help only God can give. David knows he has sinned and that only God's righteousness can help him. Only God's righteousness is sufficient and no man can measure up to His righteousness.
Everyday, i struggle with knowing that i am not worthy of God's grace and mercy.


In Psalm 143:

^"6 I spread out my hands to you;
my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.
Selah

⁷ Answer me quickly, O LORD;
my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me
or I will be like those who go down to the pit."

To understand the longing that David feels we go back to Psalm 42:

"1 As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?"

and Psalm:63:

"1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water."

David is comparing his need for God in his life, to be his very existence, like our need for food and water. Imagine the hottest day you have ever lived. Imainge walking around the desert, your throat is dry, the sun is beating down on you, the salt from your sweat is like knife blades to your throat, burning as you try to swallow and muster any kind of saliva to parch your thirst. This is what a life without God is like to the believer. So often in my own life, I try to put God in a tea kettle on the back burner. I go about my life, knowing He is there, ready and waiting for me, whenever i need Him, not always remembering to listen for the whistling that is God telling me to take Him off the burner. Through all the tough times, I always cry out to the Lord, craving His help and His love. However I need to remember Him always, in the good times, in the easy times, the everyday moments, because to often I go around hearing His whistle but not stopping to take Him off the burner. I need to be more alive in my desire for Him, for my Father. I need to stop being crippled in my spiritual walk. I feel the in my need for Him in my heart and soul, but yet i can not get my feet to move faster. This is my prayer:

Lord, Father, Help me to remove the kettle from the burner. Give me the strength to lift my feet off the ground, get out of the kitchen, and onto the sidewalk and walk in your footsteps.

I'm going to end with this....

Psalm 63:3 "Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you."

His love is better then life. He proved it by sending Jesus to die on the cross. Jesus scarified His life, so that we may be washed clean and know God's love. What a wonderful and awesome gift.

ponderings...

I read this article today it really made me stop and think if i was listening to God's will for my life. Read on and ask yourself the same question.



Finding God's Will
Ed Gungor
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
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I don’t think that believing in God and His plan for our lives means we are reduced to being puppets. Nor do I think that God is interested in mandating who we’re to marry, exactly what job we’re each supposed to have and just what we’re to eat for dinner. He doesn’t want to micromanage our lives.

I think God is more like a parent. Gail and I have four children (all adults now). We certainly had a “will” for them: We wanted them to be happy. We wanted them to grow up to be responsible, contributing individuals. We urged them to dig for and discover their talents and interests, and then invest them. We wanted each one of them to find someone to love and enjoy. We had a whole bunch of specific things we willed for them—specific and yet general enough to not be controlling or repressive. We did not want to run their lives.

I think this mirrors how God approaches His will for us. He has a specific will for each of us. He wants us to be happy; to live moral and ethical lives; to process our failures with forgiveness; to live long, satisfying lives; to be fruitful in our endeavors; to impact the world; to be free from addictions and destructive behavior patterns; to feel complete; and so on. These are all very specific things that He wills for us—specific and yet general enough to not be oppressive. He does not want to run our lives.

FREE TO BE


Don’t fear that submitting to God’s will means there is only one specific thing that you are allowed to do—marry a specific person or hold a specific career—or else God will be angry with you. That is not true. As long as the directionality of your heart is to love God and you are open to His influence in your life, you have the freedom to run at the things that bring you joy, love, happiness and laughter. Go for it!

God intended for life to be an adventure. He wants us to enjoy it. Discover the things that give you inner happiness—those are the things that will fuel your success. Find what makes you feel good, what resonates with your heart and you will find yourself right in the center of God’s will. Unless God makes it clear that He wants something else for you (He will sometimes ask you to participate in special projects), you can live in the joy that you are completely in His will.


PLANS WITH CAVEATS

Though we should have a great sense of freedom when it comes to personal choice, the apostle James admonished folks to always keep an attitude of submission before God as they made their plans. He warns, “And now I have a word for you who brashly announce, ‘Today—at the latest, tomorrow—we’re off to such and such a city for the year. We’re going to start a business and make a lot of money.’” But his “word” of warning has nothing to do with the actual planning process. He simply tells them to add this caveat: “Instead, make it a habit to say, ‘If the Master wills it and we’re still alive, we’ll do this or that’” (James 4:13-15 MSG).

We don’t have to be nervous about planning our lives—we can think and dream about any future we would like. It is fine to do that. But we must always give God right of veto! Why would God ever veto? Because He knows the future and will sometimes warn us if we are making a bad choice. That’s a good thing.

Solomon echoed this when he penned: “Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track” (Pro. 3:5-6 MSG). Notice there is no challenge issued about making sure you only do what (or go where) God specifically tells you. That’s just not the case. Take your liberty, but as you go, listen for God’s voice. It’s OK to make choices about life. Just make sure you acknowledge God in the process and obey Him if He says no or seems to be leading you another direction.

Deck the Halls...

Here is Matthew with his daddys broken controler. We are starting him early apparently...;-)

There is one thing Matthew has learned lately that is driving me bonkers! He has decided that his hand needs to be dug deep into the back of his pants, sometimes into his diaper. Like a reverse man down pants pose. I hate it! he just picked this up this week and i do not know where he learned it from.

It's adorable right now [kind of] but it wont be when he is older.. I have to stop it....somehow.



The Holiday season is upon us. Woot! My last winter and holidays in Alaska. :-) I am BEYOND excited about this. :-) We got lots of snow already up here. I have even fell and its only the beginning of December!? I have a LONNNNNG winter ahead of me. LoL

Daddy was home for Thanksgiving. I cooked my very first pumpkin pie. Cameron said it was good, so that was all the A+ i needed. :-)



Rather then Cook a turkey and the whole fixings for just the 2 and half of us, we were just going to go to the galley on base. I mentioned this to one of the women at my bible study and she graciously invited us into her home. It was a nice time and my pumpkin pie was enjoyed there as well. I had some amazing smoked turkey, stuffing, and Cheesecake as well. Thanks Angela and Dennis?!





Matthew is getting bigger and bigger by the day. He has already grown out of all his 12 month Clothes and is on his way out of 18 months already too. Lately, he mimiCs everything that me and Cam do. He Cant say really Clear words yet but if u say thank you to him, he mimics what it sounds like. He is really smart though because he knows where the milk is, where his snacks are, and when i say, "go get your sippy Cup," or "time for breakfast," He knows right where to go. :-) He has started using a plate and fork to. He really dislikes it when i wont put his food on a plate. He isn't using the fork the right way all the time just yet, but he holds onto it the whole time he is eating.



Everyone have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

I know, I know. It's been a long time since i updated. I have no excuses except for life with little man is tiring.

He is 14 months old now and is always on the go.
He is becoming more and more strong willed as the days go by. Its a positive and a negative in my book. It's great because he is getting more and more independent. On the same hand, it is horrible for me because it means if he doesn't want to do something, he throws a hissy fit until he either gets his way or he gets distracted. It's a very repetitive and patience driven life but so worth it. He is my little "angel."

We FINALLY had our first sticky snow this weekend in Kodiak. I have been waiting oh so patiently for it and here it was?! :-) We got Matthew a snow suit from Columbia and some boots and some gloves and we ventured outside.


Matthew was exited at first. He liked the way it looked and the way it felt. He was all good until the wind on our hill started. Unfortunately we live on a hill and our garage blocks the wind from going around house so it all centralizes in our front yard. Poor little man was getting windblown. It only lasted for a few min. but it was the most fun few min. watching my little man play in the snow. :-)



He is quite the mobile man now. he even runs. Well he tries. :-) He is an expert dancer to. We watch yo gabba gabba(his favorite kids show) and all he does is dance the whole time.
It's so funny to see. I'll try to get a video of it later to show. :-) He is also very into reading and being read too. He will sit in the corner with his books and just look and look at the pictures. His favorite books are the touch and go books about all the animals. cam and I are able to almost recite the books word for word at this point, but if it enhances his imagination and joy for reading in the long run, We wont stop. :-)




Matthew even got to really experience Halloween this year. :-) We only got to about 10 houses, but he walked up to them as if he had been doing it forever. He loved his little pumpkin and wouldn't let go of it all night. He was a monkey this year [as lion like the costume looks.] We even let him suck on some gummy worms [It was Halloween !] He loved it. :-)






We are in the beginning stages of the transferring out of Kodiak process. :-) We are priority number 2 so that means we have a HIGH chance of getting one of our top three picks. While we aren't transferring back to California [sorry, i just am selfish and want my husband around more then the boats there allow ;-)], we are trying to stay on the west "coast".
Our top three picks are:

1.Everett, Washington
2. Astoria, Oregon
3. corpus Christi, Texas.

We are really hoping and praying we get our number one. I love Washington and Everett is right in the surrounding area's of Seattle!? After being isolated for the last 3 years, I'm ready to live in the middle of a metropolis, that's for sure!? Wherever God puts us is fine with me in the end. :-)

Anyways, Matthew needs a diaper change. Yuck!
Until next time. :-)

So before Cameron left, we had cake for Matthew's 1st birthday so daddy could celebrate with us. Cameron made fun of my cake though. I tried to simulate "Matthew" on the cake, buuuut we obviously know that matthew is not blue and he doesn't have green eyes. So needless to say, i am not a cake decorator. It was cute though, for being a first birthday cake. :-)
Lets say Matthew looooves cake! :-) Like most 1 yr olds, he really kinda tore into that chocolate cake. I have to say though he really ate pretty cleanly though. Here are some pics of that.

The day before, after church, Cameron went out and tried to catch some fish on his rod he got for Christmas from his dad. :-) He still hadn't caught anything on it yet and he wanted to before he left for patrol.

Well this time, he caught two HUGE silver salmon.

As you can see, He was very proud of himself.

So since we don't eat much salmon at all, and the guys were leaving, Cam decided to smoke some. He really enjoyed himself out in the front yard, in the sunshine, being a man..

The Next day daddy left so we took some pics of our little family, daddy on the boat, and it sailing away...

We even got a picture of the two of us before little man was woken up.

Here is daddy on his boat. He is the only one looking at us. Can you find him?

Bye Bye Daddy !!
See You Soon.

Until our next update....