farewell, old friend - hello, new feature!

This weekend, we took down our Christmas tree. I know, I can hear some of your gasps of disbelief. Last year, though, our tree made it to Valentine's Day! The video of Aaron over to the side was taken last week and clearly shows our tree behind the little cutie.

The new feature I speak of is our "feature film" over to the side. We have been changing the video every few days...gotta love digital cameras!

Aaron is growing, HURRAY! We went to the doctor last week to make sure the cold he'd had for 2 weeks was JUST a cold (it is) and found out that he's up to 13lbs, 3 oz. This is great news for me, as I've been feeding him more often (I feel like I have a newborn again!) and it was nice to hear that the work has paid off! He's such a little wiggle-buns, I think he just needs more calories.

Speaking of wiggling, yesterday after church we put Aaron on his blanket to play while we changed, and we came back to an empty blanket. We found the little munchkin under a chair... smiling devilishly. I guess he's gotten the hang of hide and seek...

excuse me, do I smell?

My good friend Debbie emailed these verses to me today:

2 Corinthians 2:14-15 says, "Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing."

These verses make me think of things I like to smell - freshly baked brownies, clean sheets, crispy fall air - all make me take deep, savor-the-moment breaths. But these smells are not the only ones in my house. There are a few places that occasionally cause me to step away with a "ptwhth!" face...Aaron's trash can, our fridge when we have forgotten about leftovers...

What a convicting thought - that I am the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ! What does that smell like? (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness, and self-control, for starters) Do I make those around me take a sniff and wonder, "Hmm, what is that delightful scent?" and cause them to want to know Christ more? Or do I leave a stinky diaper/old refridgerator smell in the noses of "...those who are being saved and among those who are perishing."

Thanks, Deb, for directing me to God's Word, and making me think today!

you can say mean things about me, but...

Call me old fashioned, call me closeminded, call me brainwashed, or whatever else you like, but I'm sticking to my guns. I like hymns and songs with theological depth.

Today I stayed home from church with a raw throat and congested child, and as I listened to our church service on the radio, I was once again thankful for the godly leadership at our church and their desire to lead the church in corporate Sunday worship, as well as point out that worship is supposed to take place all week long, not just on Sundays.

The congregation sang (among others) one of my favorites, "My Hope is in the Lord"

My hope is in the Lord Who gave Himself for me,
And paid the price of all my sin at Calvary.

Refrain:
For me He died, For me He lives,
And everlasting life and light He freely gives.

No merit of my own His anger to suppress.
My only hope is found in Jesus' righteousness.

And now for me He stands Before the Father's throne.
He shows His wounded hands and names me as His own.

His grace has planned it all, 'Tis mine but to believe,
And recognize His work of love and Christ receive.

Try as they might to convince me, no one will ever be able to get me to think this song (and there are plenty other good songs out there!) can compare to some of today's shallow favorites. Sorry, kids, but "I Could Sing of Your Love Forever" just isn't on the same plane.

I thought I always bought jumbo olives...

Until I opened the can!!! Then I realized that I probably just bought the large ones. These are gigantic olives! Michael is having fun eating them on his fingers for the first time in years!










And speaking of eating things, Aaron's newest chewing preference is his own toes. He likes to do this especially while getting his diaper changed, which calls for a sharp eye and quick reflexes in case the situation gets out of hand.

two hours passed

cuddled up
enjoying
the blue expanse
of still-warm sheets
our little person
sleeps
eyelashes sweep
his pale pink skin
I take this moment in

each minute flies
each breath
each cry
there is a place inside
that screams for time to stop
so I can swallow
these seconds slowly

his little fingers twitch
his sleepy smiles
his heavy sighs
what dreams, what dreams

what dreams have I

opinions?

Tell me what you think of internet dating, or finding your spouse online.

weekend extravaganza!

This weekend, the Newlands came up and we went down to Holland, MI, converging upon the St. Clair hometown. It was great - we hadn't all been together in one place in a couple years!

a strapping lad

Well, Aaron is a shrimp. And we love him. At 4 1/2 months, he weighed in at 11lbs 13 oz and I went home armed with instructions to up the feedings. Today, at 5 months, the kid weighed in at 12lbs, 4oz. Our doctor says a gain of 1 oz per day is "normal" but I think he is crazy. (and I think someone's only been studying formula-fed children.) Our little guy is happy, healthy, and developmentally is doing great, exceeding the "normal" for his age. We have a happy shrimp.

Ephesians 3

Last night at church our youth pastor spoke from the last part of this passage. I came home and read it again - it has been an encouragement to me to meditate on it and I thought it might also encourage you.

For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles—assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Ephesians 3, ESV

welcome to moose park?!?!

Why do all the little infant sized boy clothes have graphics? What is wrong with a PLAIN little shirt? Why add the screen printed graphic? It might be cute for other people's kids, but I want the plain clothes. That I don't have to pay baby Gap prices for.

I've seached high and low for long sleeve un-printed onesies, and this burning question lingers. It seems to me that it would be cheaper to make plain clothes. So who decided to decorate? Who decided it would be cuter to take this perfectly adorable little shirt and add something to the front? My fruitless searching causes me to ask things like, "I wonder if I could bleach that out?"

I suddenly find it imperative to impose my preference for unprinted t-shirts on my son, aged 5 months, who obviously will follow in his mother's footsteps when it comes to clothing tastes. Obviously.

The search continues.

aaron's christmas commentary

Merry Happy Days!

It was super fun to get together with my mom's side of the family on Christmas Eve Day - Uncle Gary & Aunt Connie got to see Aaron for the first time and it was pretty great.







Mom wanted a picture of us by our tree. Aaron is having a bit of a rough day, but he managed to make it through the photo shoot without screaming. HA.








And we have 4 generations here while Michael takes the picture. I love our tree, decorated courtesy of Michael's family when they were out for Thanksgiving.







I had forgotten how many ornaments we got for our wedding. This year is the first one with the big tree, and we filled it up pretty easily. We've got some pretty special ornaments that have neat-o memories connected to them from childhood. Our tree is topped with a wooden cross, handmade by Dad Forbes, also a wedding gift. I still remember the first Christmas that it dawned on me that it was different to have a cross on our tree - dad told me that it was to remind us of the reason Christ came. Today it was fun to read the Christmas story to Aaron and to tell him the reason we give gifts to each other at Christmas. We did not buy him anything this year, but he did have fun playing with the paper!

What kind of unique traditions do your families have?

happy anniversary to us!

It's hard to believe that three whole years have passed since Michael & I got married. I am so thankful that God sent me such a wonderful husband! He has taught me so much, and has shown me Christ's love on a daily basis. Praise the Lord that He directed me to this godly man who is so perfect for me!

Alicia is (one of) my Hero(s)

I think the first memory I have of you, Al, is from my freshman year when Kathleen, Sarah, & Al took pity on little me and took me to a local eatery. We had a little too long of a good time, and on the way back took a wrong turn. I vividly remember seeing many trees and hills, and hearing Alicia go "AH! we can't be late!" as we flew with great haste back to campus. More memories of that year include the heisting of old NBBC uniforms and dodging the security guards (which were much less uptight than in more recent times) Yes, Alicia, once you guys graduated, the "good old days" came to a close. *sigh*

What I really want to say is THANK YOU FOR FIXING MY FORMAT!!! Those underlines were driving me nuts. You're the best.

Josh & Jason go "witnessing"

don't buy the big packs and you might as well ask

Has anyone else noticed what I have about superstores like Meijer & WalMart? Don't get me wrong, I like the fact that I can buy groceries and blank CD's all in the same store, but their little pricing games have me saying "ah-HAH!!" and triumphantly approaching the checkout lane with more packaging for less money. I have learned something astounding in my 27 years on the planet, and I am about to share it.

The big pack is not always the cheapest way to go.

Now, you might think that you would get a better deal if you were willing to buy and store 375 paper plates and 48 rolls of toilet paper - after all, there is less packaging for the company to pay for and, after all, didn't our mothers tell us that we can save money by buying in bulk? All I have to say is it might be true, but you'd better do the math. I once saved $4 on 8 bars of soap because I bought the 2 packs rather than the 8 pack. That was a good day.

Today, I had another "ah-HA" moment. I called Charter to see what the cost of upgrading our high speed from 3M to 5M, and lo and behold it turns out that I will save $3 per month by having the higher speed. Go figure.

thanks, dad...

For anyone who is interested, there are some pretty funny pictures of Aaron and I on my parents' site.

And, YAY we are now beta bloggers! Hurray!

NEW NOTE: OK, NOT yay we are beta bloggers. Anyone who can help me get those stupid underlines off the post titles let me know. I think it looks so cluttery and I can't seem to be able to isolate the HTML code that is responsible. HELP!!!

anyone remember this?

I am looking for anyone who might know if Ben Nyce ever published his arrangement of "Complete In Thee" that he taught us all at NBBC. If anyone has any information concerning the whereabouts of this song written out in sheet format, please tell me!

Updated: Here is one version. Email me if you'd like more information on this song, or a version that has the guitar chords. (click image to enlarge)

tiny munchkin

When Mom & Dad Muth were here, they commented on how the pictures on our blog make Aaron look much bigger than he actually is in person. So I guess it's the angle. (Now if only I could figure out the angle to make me look smaller in person...) So here's for all of you that say Aaron's getting "so big" - this is a picture of my little sweet baby on our futon in the office. He's sitting in between 2 pillows here. I think he's about the right size for 4 months, especially since I thought for sure we'd have one of those babies that looks, directly from the womb, like a stuffed sausage. My sore back and arm muscles rejoice that this is not the case. As an added non-related note, I'm actually quite excited about our $10 futon cover. I made it out of 2 clearanced tablecloths from Target. Hoooray for clearance!

And here's the little man in his car seat. We finally took out the newborn insert!!! Grandma Forbes got him this junior size reindeer hat and matching slippers to keep him cozy in the car. Thank you, Grandma!!! (he must have a big head from us telling him how cute he is over & over again...the hat leaves a little mark around his forehead when we take it off. OH WELL it made for a cute picture!!)

before you know it, I'll be crawling!

Happy 4 months, Aaron Carter Muth!