I have two obsessions for which I need to be helped.

All of you know that I have a little problem with McD's Sweet Tea.  This is what my side table looks like right at this moment:

Yes, those are four large McD's cups you see.  Want to know the worst part?  Those are only the cups since Monday, and I've thrown three away. 

That's my old obsession.  My new obsession is cleaning my sink with bleach...lost of bleach and lots of scrubbing.  I think my new obsession might actually be a little bit dangerous.  I'm not sure that pregnant women are supposed to use bleach or breathe it so strongly.  I'll google that right after I press Submit.  The more disturbing part; however, is that I get the urge to clean my sink with bleach, and I forget it's destructive qualities.  I only have (had) six summer maternity shirts.  After tonight's cleaning frenzy, I am down to five:

Please help me.  Please.  (After you've had a laugh at my expense.) 

I am really starting to love Thursdays!  I don't know what it is, but it seems to be my "Get up and Go!" day!  :)  I really like that.  I've had another full Thursday, and I've had several random blog thoughts.  So...here they go:

Friends and Babies!

Ruby and I went to visit Jamie and Baby Mark today.  :)  Ruby kept saying "Mah" everytime I said, "Mark."  It was adorable.  He is really one very good looking newborn.  He's so tiny, even though he's big by newborn standards.  He's got a perfectly round head with a dusting of blond hair, a beautiful skin tone, and soft pouty lips.  I could have held him forever and ever, but he was getting hungry.  :)  Jamie is doing well, but she's tired and in some discomfort.  (Who wouldn't be after 30 hours of labor????)  Please send prayers of rest and quick healing her way.  Mark is nursing like a champ, and that is such a blessing.  It was definitely a worry for Jamie, so God has been good to provide in that area.   It was also really good to see Jamie's very, very dear friend, Kim.  Kim Pfeifer is one of the most wonderful women I know.  She seems to naturally be a Proverbs 31 gal.  It was incredibly heartwarming to see the love and friendship between those two women as they shared in the joy of Jamie's new child.

It made me think about all that Sarah has been to me over the past three years.  I know you read this blog.  I love you so much I can't describe it.  Thank you for loving my child so much.  Thank you for loving me so much.  I cannot wait to return the favor.  I cannot wait to celebrate with you when you and Zach bring a new child into your family.  God is so good.  All the time.  Jeremiah 29:11 Don't forget it, okay?

No coincidences!

After visiting with Jamie, Mark, and Kim, Ruby I needed to grab some lunch before grocery shopping.  (I have found that grocery shopping on an empty stomach is one of the absolute worst things I can do for our budget.)  Since I wanted some sweet tea, you all can guess where we stopped for lunch.  :)  I couldn't find anyone to come eat with me, but Ruby and I went ahead into the dining room, anyway.  I *hate* eating lunch out with just Ruby.  I feel so lonely and awkward.  

Anyway, I chose a booth next to another mom and her kids.  She had a little girl around Ruby's age, and I thought they might entertain each other in their high chairs.  Well, I was right...they did.  :)  It just so happened that the mom and I hit it off, as well.  Her daughter has a slight nut allergy, and it was a good conversation starter.  We also talked about wild and crazy hair.  :)  When it was time for her to leave, I asked if she had a church home.  It turns out that they used to go to a church here in town, but it doesn't sound like they're going now.  I mentioned that I really my church, and invited her to come visit sometime.

Her response?  "Oh!  I have a friend who goes there...or at least she used to go there."

Me:  "Really?  Who?"

Her:  "Jessica Milsaps"

Me:  "Oh Jessica and her family definitely still come to EFC.  They're very active and involved.  I love Jessica so much!  The three of us should get together and do a playdate sometime."

Her:  "Definitely!  I think she still has my information."

Me:  "Great!"

I know for a fact that I was supposed to be at that McDonald's.  I really feel like that was a connection that God needed me to make.  Not only that, but I ran into an old friend, and it was good to catch up quickly and speak some life and encouragement to her.

If I had eaten at home or convinced someone to come eat with me, I probably wouldn't have made those contacts at all.  I am so glad that God directed my path for lunch.

Customer Service

How do I know I was supposed to be at that McDonald's? (Other than the contacts...)  Well, their credit card machines were down today.  They couldn't figure out why, and they had been trying to fix them all morning.  When I walked in, I didn't see any signage telling me this, though.  So, I made my order, and pulled out my debit card to pay.  (I never carry cash.)  The cashier was very apologetic and explained that their machines weren't working.  I politely told her that I didn't have any cash and wouldn't be able to eat there for lunch.  I thanked her for her time and asked her to cancel my order.  

Her manager was standing behind her and smiled at me.  She said, "Thank you for being so understanding.  How about if lunch is on us today?"

Really??  Does this kind of thing still happen in the world today?  There is no way that manager was having a good day.  No way.  Their card machines were down.  She was probably irritated beyond all belief and her patience was probably stretched to the max.  Yet she took the time and energy to bless me today.  It would have been frustrating to get Ruby packed back into the car only to have to drive somewhere else for lunch...a waste of time and money.  That manager put aside her own frustrations and really helped me out today.  I can't say enough about what it did for my spirits.  Thank you so much, Day Manager at McDonald's by the mall.  You made my day, and you definitely made me into an even more loyal customer. 

R.I.P. Cute Jelly Sandal

While Ruby and I were grocery shopping, she took off one of her jelly sandals and was playing with it while I shopped.  I was actually thankful for the distraction, since it was getting very near naptime.  By the time we reached the Check Out Lane, however, the Jelly Sandal was no where to be found in our cart.  Hmpf...  At some point, she must have dropped it.  I walked all around the store again looking for that darn shoe, because they are my favorite!  I couldn't find it, though.  I should have known better than to let her play with one of my favorite shoes of hers...

Customer Service #2

One of the Payless employees saw me looking for her shoe.  She asked if she could help me, and I explained that the shoe could be anywhere.  For all I knew, Ruby could have even laid it on a shelf next to the canned peas or thrown it into the produce section on top of the fresh asparagus.  I thanked her for the offer, but asked her not to waste her time.

When I got back to the check out lane, one of the customer service managers met me there and had me fill out a paper with my name, phone #, and description of the shoe.  She said she'd have the employees keep an eye out, and they'd give me a call if another customer turned it in.

Lo and behold, five minutes after we had packed up our groceries and left, I got a call from the manager saying that they had found Ruby's jelly sandal!  She said it would be waiting for me at Customer Service whenever I have a chance to come pick it up!!

Wahoo!!!  Way to go, Mall Area Payless!!!!

Feeling Accomplished

On top of all of these great things today, I got A LOT of groceries, including lots of yogurt, milk, actual Kellogg's Pop Tarts, and meat.  My total bill was $85.  I was so very happy with myself for using my coupons and paying attention to the bargains.  :)  **Patting myself on the back.**

So, friends, this is the end of my post.  :)  I hope I have entertained you for just a small while.  I love you each, and I'll see you soon!! 

Today we had a celebration cookout for our church at Colombian Park. It was a fun time with many of our friends from church and their children. I've posted the best pictures on our site here.

Luke and Jamie had their baby boy this afternoon! After more than 24 hours of labor, the baby still hadn't moved down into the birth canal, so Jamie had to have a c-section. It turned out to be a great blessing, because Baby Mark Charles weighed NINE pounds and TEN ounces!! For those of you who know Jamie, you know she is very small boned, and that would have been pretty uncomfortable, if not completely impossible!! Thank you, God, for always knowing what's best!

Congratulations, Luke, Jamie, and Mark!!!

On a separate note, I'm feeling much better. Thank you for your prayers! Ruby and I met up with Amy (and Alex) and April (and Mason, Isaac, and Weston) for a play date around lunchtime, and we had a lot of fun. Here are just a couple of pictures. (Ladies, if you prefer not to have your sons' pictures posted on the internet, please let me know. I'm assuming it's okay, since you've both posted pictures of your respective boys on your blogs. I hope that's okay!!)

First, I must inform you all of the miracle of the day. I got ALL FIVE of the kids to look at me and smile at the same time on the FIRST try. Can you believe it?? Here they are: Alex, Isaac, Ruby, Mason, and Weston. (I think I got the twins in the right order. Can you confirm that, April?)

The baseball was definitely the main attraction of the afternoon! I'm pretty sure this is Weston hanging upside down on the ball. It could very well be Isaac, though. (I was trying to remember who was sitting beside me and who was up playing at this time. LOL!)  EDITED:  I was wrong.  This is Isaac hanging upside down.  :)  I thought Isaac was in a time-out when this picture was taken, but he wasn't.  :)  He was hanging on the baseball, and Weston and I were reading a really cool dinosaur book!  I will point out that I definitely knew I was reading about dinosaurs with Weston, though.  :)  I'll get the twins figured out eventually.  I promise!!

Mason enjoyed the baseball, too! He seems very excited to be out of school for the summer!

I also wanted to mention that Mason is a really great big brother! He played with all of the kids and really tolerated their toddler-ish-ness very well. :)

This is one of my very favorite little boys. :) If BG2 is a little boy, I hope he is very much like Mr. Alex. Alex was SUCH a good helper for me! Ruby kept trying to escape, and Alex tried his best to keep her inside the play area.

Ruby loved playing with the big boys. In this picture, she's staring at Alex...she was quite enamored with him. :)

Lastly, I captured this pretty cool pictures of Ruby's eyes. :) (Ignore the little piece of chocolate Teddy Graham on her lip.)

See you all tonight at the cookout!

Hey everyone!

I'm having a very pukey day.  I thought I was in the clear, as I'm now in my second trimester, but today seems to contradict that belief.  I can't keep anything down, so I'd really appreciate some "calm tummy" prayers.   :)  Thank you!

On a related note, members of our family group, Luke and Jamie Ulrich, are in labor with their first child right now.  Please pray that everything goes smoothly and that mommy and baby are fine and healthy.  I'll update once I receive news that they've had the baby!  :)

In the same vein as my previous post, I just wanted to post a little more information about carseat safety.  After your child graduates to a forward-facing carseat, there comes a times when they graduate to a booster seat.  Many of the convertible carseats will hold children in a forward-facing position until at least 40 lbs.  Some of them will even go up to 65 lbs.  It's important to keep your child in a five-point harness as long as possible.  Regular seatbelts are not properly designed to hold children who have not reach adult physical standards.  Even with the adjustments of a booster seat, the seatbelts often malfunction, allowing children to slip out of the restraint and sometimes even completely un-latching.

I know of two carseats in particular that will hold a child in a 5-point harness up to 80 lbs.  They are the Britax Regent and the Britax Frontier.  The Frontier will also convert into a belt-positioning booster seat for children up to 100 lbs.  They are both quite expensive, but they have the highest weight limits.

At any rate, I just wanted to disperse a little bit more information.  I love you all!!  (I promise this is the last boring and information post for awhile...unless something life-changing comes along.)  

Hey everyone! I'm writing this post just because it's been nagging at me. I am not trying to tell anyone how to raise their children or what to do. I'm just passing along some information that I've learned that's not completely main-stream.

In addition, I want to explicitly state that I'm obviously not a professional. We have several men at Elston Family Church who are part of the Safety sector of our community. We have two city police officers, one sheriff's deputy, one fireman, and one state-certified childseat installation expert that I know of off the top of my head. I know that any one of these men would be MORE than happy to help you check your child's carseat requirments and make sure they are safe and secure in your vehicle. :)

We all know that our children are required by law to ride facing the rear of the vehicle until they are *at least* one year of age *and* 20 lbs. What many parents don't know is that these are the very minimum requirements for turning your child around to face the front of the vehicle. Many child safety professionals, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, encourage parents to leave their child's carseat in a rear-facing position until they grow out of the rear-facing height or weight limits (reference the first bullet point in the link provided). This is often long after the 1 year/20 lb. milestone.

A young man made a YouTube video to tell his sister about the importance of keeping his niece rear-facing until the limits of her seat. It's one of the better videos that does not use scare tactics. There's a point in the video where it shows crash tests performed with a child dummy in both rear-facing and forward-facing positions. The difference in protection is actually quite astounding. This is a link to the YouTube video. Or you can watch the video at the top of the post.

A young infant/toddler's head is disproportionately large and heavy for their bodies, and their neck muscles are not completely developed. Because of those two facts, it is more likely that a child will sustain a disabling or life-threatening spinal cord injury when riding forward-facing instead of rear-facing in the event of a collision.

Ruby reached 20 lbs. at 14 months of age and she was 27" in length. I could have turned her around at that point. However, Ruby has inherited her father's huge noggin, and I feel more comfortable leaving her rear-facing for a little while longer. Her specific carseat allows children to ride in the rear-facing position until they are 35 lbs. or there is less than 1" of hard carseat shell above the top of the child's head. I'm not sure that she will tolerate being rear-facing until she reaches those milestones (at this rate, she may be four years old before she reaches 35 lbs.). :) However, I'm going to try to keep her rear-facing until she simply won't allow it any longer.

Again, my only intent in posting this information is to inform. I swear that I do not judge anyone who turns their child around when the law allows. For one, I don't know your child's weight or height, so I could not make an accurate judgment anyway. :) I just wanted to post this so that anyone who didn't know this information could be aware and then make their decision with all the facts. I love each of you and your children so dearly, and I can't seem to get this issue out of my mind, so I decided to go ahead and post it.

Love you!!

I'm sure many of you have heard by now, but Mike and I wanted to direct your thoughts toward the Chapman family at this time.  Christian musician, Steven Curtis Chapman, and his family have lost their youngest daughter, Maria Sue, due to a tragic accident in the family's driveway on Wednesday night.  They had just finished with an engagement party for their oldest daughter and were preparing for a graduation party for their oldest son.  I cannot imagine such tragedy in the midst of such joy.  To express your condolences, please visit SCC's website: http://www.stevencurtischapman.com.  Please join us in praying for them during this tragic moment in their family.

…so little confidence that you have the patience (or interest) to read it all.  :)

This is a long post, so feel free to skim the first half.  If you just want the meat, go down to the bottom to the bolded paragraph.  That's where the good stuff can be found.  Otherwise, enjoy my post…especially since this is the SECOND copy.  It took me an hour and fifteen minutes to write the first copy, and Firefox died on me.  I love Firefox, but I cried and cursed it when that happened.  I sucked it up and decided to write it again.  I think the first draft was much better, but this will have to do.  Enjoy!

From the moment my eyelids rose this morning, my brain has been in over-drive.  As soon as I woke, I thought, “Let’s do this!”  (If you know me in person, imagine me saying this very enthusiastically, with the emphasis on the “do”.)  I’m assuming that my mind meant “Let’s do LIFE!”  or  “Let’s do TODAY!”  Either way, the general sentiment of my heart and mind was “Carpe Diem!” with a very intense feeling.

It seems that my mind was on board with this, because I have been bombarded with thought today.  Mike would tell you that I’m generally a fast thinker anyway.  I’ve often gone through a dozen thoughts in the time he’s gone through one.  Even my closest friends have to ask me to slow down sometimes.  Today was different.  I’m usually able to slow down my thoughts and focus my mental energy.  Today, it seems that my mind was on auto-pilot.  As soon as I realized it, I asked God to be in control of my thoughts.  It didn’t seem that I could focus myself, so I at least wanted all of my thoughts to be God-pleasing.  He has been faithful.  :)

With that said, here are my random thoughts that I wanted to blog about.  The good meaty thought is down at the bottom…the really long one that isn’t numbered. 

1.  A clean and organized kitchen makes for a very happy Lindsay.  I started my day by getting my kitchen in order, and it made a huge difference for me.  It was like my shiny sink was saying, “See?  You can do this!  Keep it up, sista!”  I ended up having an immensely productive morning, and I’m very excited for Mike to come home.  I didn’t accomplish anything dramatic, but I got several small things finished, and I’m hoping it blesses him.

2.  Our insurance company stinks, and medical billing offices seem to be incredibly disorganized.  It is one of the hardest times for me to maintain a Christ-like attitude when I’m on the phone with them.  I was successful today, and I’m giving God all the glory.  (It helped that I called them while Ruby was playing in the bathtub.  Her giggles and laughs kept helping me remember that all of this insurance nonsense is trivial compared to the blessing that she is to me.  Oh…and I was sitting right next to her.  She was not unsupervised at any moment.  I had my cellphone and all my paperwork in the bathroom with us.)  :)

3.  Yummy smelling kids’ shampoo is actually an incredibly bad idea.  Ruby’s doctor has asked that we use Cetaphil to clean Ruby’s skin to help with her eczema.  Since we can’t use that on her hair, I used up the rest of her sweet-baby-smelling Johnson’s Baby Wash for her hair washings lately.  Monday, we ran out of Johnson’s, so I decided to switch her to kids’ shampoo, since we’re only using it on her hair and using the Cetaphil on her body.  Well, wouldn’t you know, Suave for Kids Orange Mango 2-in-1 Shampoo/Condition is just too much of a temptation for my little girl who loves to devour hygiene products (like baby wipes.)  The minute I sudsed up her hair, she reached up to grab a handful of bubbles and promptly began to lick the bubbles off her hand.  GROSS!!!  Apparently, the shampoo tastes at least half as good as it smells, because she would have kept licking, if I hadn’t stopped her.  What is with my child??

4.  A quick letter to the customer who was driving a silver VW Jetta and pulled in behind me around 10:45 this morning at the Teal Rd. Regions Branch Drive-Thru:

Dear Sir or Ma’am,

This bank provides two drive-thru lanes for a reason.  They have two tellers waiting to service the drive-thru customers.  If both of the “Open” signs are lit up, customers are free to choose either lane.  I understand that you may prefer Lane #1.  I also prefer Lane #1 for some silly reason.  However, if Lane #2 is open and there is already another customer in Lane #1, and you choose to pull into Lane #1 anyway, you should realize that you may need to wait a minute or two.  Please, please, please do not honk at me when I take a moment to put my wallet back into my purse after replacing the canister in the chute.  You really irritated me, and, in my hormonal pregnant state, you made me cry.  I know it’s silly, and I know that you were probably having a rushed and not-so-great morning yourself.  Still, I (or the next customer who happens to be in line in front of you) would really appreciate if you can give me just a moment of grace and respect after I’ve finished my business.  Thank you.  I pray that your transaction went smoothly, and I pray that the rest of your day has been calm and blessed.  If you happen to find this blog through the link that the JC provided, I would *love* for you to join us at Elston Family Church this Sunday, if you don’t already have a church home.  I know you’ll be blessed.  Also, please don’t feel badly, a really great song came on the radio after our interaction, and it cleared up my tears and restored my bright mood for the day.  :) 

5.  I am really crushin' on a band right now.  Their name is OneRepublic.  They are not Christian (as far as I know), but their two popular songs are clean.  I have checked the lyrics, and I can find no crude or disgusting insinuations.  I'm going to link to the two popular songs, just be aware that the links will have sound.  If you're at work or you have a child sleeping nearby, it's probably not appropriate to follow the links.  :)  OneRepublic (feat. Timbaland) "Apologize"  and  OneRepublic "Stop and Stare"

6.  My brother is really great and wonderful.  I love him dearly.  He doesn’t even read this blog, so I’m not sucking up to him.  I’m just letting you all know that he is really worth getting to know.  Just sayin’…

7.  CNN has a cool article about a cool study that’s getting underway.  If you consider yourself an evangelical Christian and you do NOT consider yourself a back-woods bible-thumping “easily led” moron, then you will probably be interested in this study.  “Study to Crack Evangelical Stereotypes”  Very cool, in my opinion.  :)

8.  I live a very blessed life.  I am feeling very humbled today, because I realize that God has probably blessed me out of an understanding of my inability to handle a more challenged life.  The praise for my situation in life is due in no part to me…only to my God who has been so wonderful to me.  I don’t deserve it.

Here comes the “profound” part of my thoughts today.  This is probably the only Spirit-inspired part of this post.  (Not inspired like Bible-author-inspiration, but inspired like “Here, Lindsay, today I’d like to reveal something to you so that we can start working on it and making it stronger, deeper, and more effective.)

Pastor Randy has been preaching and teaching about our S.H.A.P.E.  The acronym stands for Spiritual Gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality, and Experiences.  We’re discovering the things that God has created in us in order to use us to glorify Him more.  (As a quick side note, Max Lucado wrote a really great book that is hugely complimentary to this subject entitled “Cure for the Common Life: Living in Your Sweet Spot”.  I’ve linked to the Amazon page for the book.  It was a great, great resource for me at one point in my life, and God used it in mighty ways to lead me to an amazing path.  I just thought I’d share in case anyone else is looking for their “sweet spot” in life.)

Anyway, the “S” part was pretty easy for me.  I’ve know what my spiritual gifts are for some time now.  That’s not to say that I know how God is wanting to use them…I just know which ones I predominantly possess.

The “H” part was different.  Thankfully, God has prevented Pastor Randy from moving on to the “A” just yet.  It’s given me some good time to really study and meditate on this part of the acronym.  H stands for Heart in the S.H.A.P.E. acronym.  By heart, we mean passion, fervor, ardor, fire, love, or zeal.  What is it that really gets you going??

It has been really hard for me to think about my heart, my passion. 

In our family group, someone mentioned that if you consistently get fired up or upset about a subject, it’s probably a sign that you’re passionate about that subject.  Mike joked that I must be passionate about almost everything, because I get fired up about almost everything.  (It’s okay, you can laugh.)  :)

I agree with Mike.  In general, I am an all-around passionate person.  I feel very deeply about almost everything.  I think that’s why it has been hard for me to pin down my true “heart”.  Even though I can be very passionate and feel very deeply about multiple subjects, I do believe that God has given me a specific passion…something that will get me fired up any day, any time.

This morning, it hit me like a lightning bolt.  That’s not really an exaggeration.  I was standing there washing the dishes, praying about my heart, and it hit me:

I am passionate about the people in my life.

This goes beyond being a “people-person.”  Sure, I enjoy crowds.  I love being the center of attention.  I enjoy talking with strangers.  I have fun entertaining.  Social situations energize me, not intimidate me.  And on and on…  But my passion is different.

When I say that I am passionate about people, I mean that I am PASSIONATE about people.  Goodness, I really feel like maybe I should record myself on video and put that up instead.  I wish you guys could hear my emphasis.

I am not passionate about being around people.  I am passionate about growing people.  No, I don’t mean being pregnant (although I enjoy that a lot!).  I mean, I want to see the people in my life grow.  I want to see you mature and excel and find blessings and challenges beyond your wildest imagination.  I want you to experience a relationship with Christ that just completely turns your life Up Side Down.  I want to challenge you.  If I say something that stings….GOOD!  Go find the truth in it.  If you find the truth and still feel I was completely out of line, come talk to me about it.  If I say something that makes you stop and think or pull out your Bible…PRAISE GOD!  Follow that.  Run after that.  Search for truth!  Seize the day!  Do not stop here.  God has amazing things for each and every single one of you, and I so badly want you to experience those things that I am *committed* to being a catalyst in your life.

Whatever it takes.  I will cry with you.  I will laugh with you.  I will tell you when you’re wrong (in love!).  I will admit when I am wrong.  I will praise you.  I will encourage you.  I will admonish you (in love!).  I will learn from you.  I will learn with you.  I will share with you.  I will give to you.  I will allow you to feed back into me and to correct me (in love!).  I will pray for you and over you.  I will cover your families in prayers. 

I will come alongside you.  I will do this life with you.

Why?  Because I am passionate about you.  You are my heart.

Our blog was featured in Lafayette's Journal and Courier newspaper today. Here's a link to the article:

Greater Lafayette bloggers: Mike and Lindsay Goodwin

Just thought that I would share.