Our week

Here are some pictures from our week.

This is the only cabinet that isn't locked......he is very smart.

Our little stair climber.

Sick smiley boy.

New Mercies

Today is a much better day, thank you Jesus for new mercies every morning.

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul,

'therefore I will hope in him.'

Lamentations 3:22-24

Rough Couple of Days

It's been a rough couple of days.

It all started after church on Sunday when we got a phone call from my Mom that my brother's family had been in a car accident in Tahoe. We were told that the car rolled over and my niece Becky was in the hospital. I was a mess of tears and prayer. Thankfully less than an hour later my Mom called back to say that everyone was fine and Becky most likely had whiplash, thank you Lord!

Then Sunday night at about 9:30 James woke up coughing this horrible cough that made him sound like a seal. He was crying out in pain every few minutes because his little throat hurt and he was so sleepy but couldn't sleep, poor pumpkin boy.

Apparently the "little" cold I thought he had on Sunday had morphed into something awful and the next thing you know we had two nervous parents and a very sad little boy. The rest of the night is a bit of a blur but mostly consisted of James whaling and writhing around in pain between us in bed, Ryan and I doing our best to console him and all three of us left with very little sleep.

Monday was hard. With little to no sleep under our belts and a snotty coughing boy on our hands, it seemed I couldn't do anything right. James is a strong willed little man (wonder where he gets that from?) and when he's sick he's a very strong willed crabby pants. I pumped him full of liquids by spiking his water with apple juice (which he loves) and tried my hardest to get him to sleep (which he hates).


I tried to not work, telling the office that James was sick and I was unavailable. But it's a busy week so every hour or so there was a question that needed to be answered or an urgent email to attend to. I did my best to stay on top of it all but I might have cried a couple times.


Today started early (6:54) but the boy sounded better, his cheeks weren't red anymore and his nose was flowing but nothing green was coming out (sorry) and his cough sounded better. There was a work crisis this morning, which did make me cry, but my boss swooped in a took over and I closed my work email for the day.

James didn't have much of an appetite, which is very odd for him, my shirt is covered in snot (not my own) and I got a direct shot to the eyeball with a flying fingernail (also not my own) when I decided it would be a good idea to clip his claws. I'm afraid to look in the mirror at what I might see and I am inclined to eat my weight in graham crackers & peanut butter (my snack du jour) and a huge glass of milk.

Oh but I love my boy and though it's been a very rough couple of days, I'm happy to say that the boy is in bed, the dishes are done (thank you my sweet husband), the humidifier is humming and I am ready to read and go to bed. I hope tomorrow's a better day......or at least Thursday as a gift for my birthday.

Rachel is coming home.

I spoke to my Mom today and she and my step-dad finally have a court date in India...which means Rachel is coming home. Thank you Jesus.

My parents fly out next Friday for India and they will come home just a few days later with their little one in tow.....our new baby sister.

Please pray for their flight, for their time in India (as it is not a super safe place right now), for Rachel to feel safe with them and not scared, for them to be able to pay for the plane tickets (last minute to India is not cheap) and most of all that God would be glorified through every step.

Our God is an amazing and wonderful God.

Throughout this entire process He has opened doors that seemed locked, broken down walls that appeared impermeable, and provided in ways that were completely unexpected. I want to thank Him for loving my parents and little Rachel through it all and praise Him for the work He is doing through my Mom and Tom.

Thank you Lord for being such a wonderful and merciful God and for bringing this new little one into our family, what a tremendous blessing she is.

"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,

the fruit of the womb a reward.

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior

are the children of one's youth.

Blessed is the man

who fills his quiver with them!"

Psalm 127:3-5a

Watching Dad

Today James and I watched Ryan as he installed some baby proofing thingies (technical term) on our kitchen cabinets, here are a few pictures of the big event.

Sometimes when James smiles big his eyes almost disappear. I love this smile.

Other times you can see his beautiful brown eyes.....just like his Daddy's.

Mommy and James behind the baby barricade watching Daddy work.

"Wow, Daddy has an electric drill!"

January

Here are some pictures of what we've been up to so far in January, enjoy!

January

HI-LAR-IOUS!

So I first saw this on my sister's blog after she saw it on her friend Chris' blog. So I am copying Mary in her copying of Chris, who probably copied it from someone else. Did you get that?

Anyhow, if you ever took high school spanish you'll think this is hi-lar-ious!

Enjoy!




If you loved that you'll die laughing over this, second semester:



I apologize that this post has nothing to do with the Singletary family but these are just too funny not to share.

Teeth

James and I both have teeth coming in, his baby, mine wisdom.

I know, I know, I know, I should have had them pulled years ago but I just never got around to it.

Anyhow, pray for us, we're both a little irritable today.

Best Christmas Present Ever!

My sister sent me this for Christmas:


If you are not familiar with the ShamWOW! then check out this video and you'll understand.



Awesome!

Hammer Time

James is such a boy and I love it!

Everyday he finds this little blue and yellow hammer that came with one of his Christmas gifts and he crawls around the house holding it in his hand. Occasionally he'll stop at something like another toy, the coffee table or even just a wall, and hammer away at it. Once the thing is hammered to his liking he crawls off to the next thing with his hammer in tow, hilarious to watch!

Here are some pictures of our boy and his new favorite toy.

Maybe he'll grow up to be a carpenter......I know another really cool guy who did that for a living.

Shoes

Have you ever seen a pair of shoes or even just one shoe on the side of the road and wondered "how'd that get there?" Well today I found out.

Sometimes moms are so busy with all of the details of life that a few small things slip through the cracks and all you can do is laugh at yourself and be thankful that you didn't forget something big....like your baby.

So today when I was putting James in his car seat to go visit Daddy at work I did my usual routine of holding one of his toys in my mouth above him while I buckle him in, as a distraction so he doesn't squirm out of his seat, and then I jumped in the car myself.

What I failed to remember was that I had just put James' shoes on top of the car because putting his shoes on (or putting anything on him, clothes, diaper etc.) is quite a chore these days with his squirmability, so I usually put them on when he is strapped down. Anyhow, you can see where this is going.

Fast forward about 30 minutes when I am with Ryan and I realize that James is just wearing socks. Suddenly it dawned on me and I busted up laughing not only because of what I had done but also because I am not a first time offender......some of you may remember the bible incident about 6 months back, don't worry I found it.

So I told Ryan what I had done and hoped that the shoes would be somewhere near our house. On the ride home I scanned the road for tiny blue shoes and there they were, a block from our house, on the side of the road and about 200 yards from each other, two tiny shoes.

So that is how shoes end up on the side of the road.

Awesome Hair

We have had a couple days of pretty awesome hair here in the Singletary household, some of which was helped along by Mommy and a little water, so I thought I'd share.

What's so funny?

Oh, I see.

Hey, no fair, I just woke up!


I do not look like a monk!.....ok maybe a little.


And to conclude, here's the only picture that I have been able to take of those two top teeth. In addition to those teeth he is also getting the two on either side and one more on the bottom.......poor little guy, it's gonna be another hard week I think.

2008 Wrap Up

I apologize for not being a very good blogger lately. With Christmas and New Year's we have been driving all over the place and when I have been in front of a computer I have just been tired and unwilling/unmotivated to post.

Here are the highlights of our past couple weeks:

• Christmas in Wenatchee with Nana and Papa. Unfortunately Aunt Meghann couldn't join us because of the crazy Washington weather. :-(
• Ryan and I got to go to a movie....in the theater (Nana and Papa babysat) AND we had a lunch date all by ourselves. This was some much needed and much appreciated time alone together....I think I held Ryan's hand through the whole movie, which was almost 3 hours.
• Watching James on Christmas morning.
• Having Ryan home for two long weekends!
• Re-organizing our living room and adding two chairs (gifted to us by Ryan's grandmother) to make it a cozy place to sit and talk.
• Not watching TV. I'm not sure what has come over me but lately I have a strong dislike for TV. Even my beloved Food Network, which I once cherished, is now frustrating to watch. Perhaps this is the Lord's way of preparing me for January 16th, when the TV goes bye, bye. (more on that in another post)
• Reading and praying. With Ryan home and very little work to do I was able to sit and read my bible and pray a lot more than normal. This was a very precious and convicting gift from the Lord.
• Going to Canada to visit Ryan's grandparents. Yummy food and good company.
• Re-organizing the office/playroom. Creating a great space for James and me to hang out during the day.
• BABY GATES! We have a lot of stairs in our house and young James is now trying to test his limits and climb them, yikes! Ryan installed two more baby gates in the house making for a much safer environment for the little man to play in and a happier/calmer mommy.
• James got his two front teeth! After a couple weeks of no sleep and a lot of tears (both his and mine) James has his two front top teeth. He is a little chomper now.
• James 9 month doctor's appointment where we learned that he is tall and kinda slim for his age with a big head. Healthy and normal, yeah!
• James said Mama! He has said it a few times in the past week and although it is not a regular word in his vocabulary yet, I melt each time it slips out of his mouth.
• Talking with Ryan in the car on our many journeys to and fro. Talking about our goals for the coming year, sharing our struggles, our joy and our love for one another and more importantly our Savior.

I'm sure I am forgetting something but that's a pretty good list for now. Here are some photos that I took of the young man yesterday. (Click on the picture to view the whole album)

Love ya'll!

1/4/2009