Chasing Babies... Growing in Grace: January 2007

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

About Comments

I love your comments... I really do. Most of the time. Most comments make me smile. I get all excited. I read every word! Emails too.

But then there are those that I don't like so much. The ones that hurt. Bring tears. Make me wish I didn't open myself up to you at all.

I'm over sensitive. There, I said it. And it's true (my sweet husband can tell you that!) So I'd like to take a moment to make some guidelines for commenting.

Build one another up! You've heard it said, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. This doesn't mean you have to agree with everything I or other commenters think, but be kind and loving in your responses. Please make your goal to build us up, not tear us down! (1 Thes. 5:11)
Don't remain anonymous! I know that not everyone has a blogger account, and that's fine with me. If you don't agree... at least leave me with a name. I reserve the right not to post your comment if you haven't signed your name.
If you disagree, do it with Scripture! I will share my thoughts and opinions around here a lot. It's my blog. That's the whole point. Some of you agree with me and some of you won't. That's fine. If you choose to disagree, please know that I don't mean anything personally (even if I've done a poor job of expressing myself). I would also ask that you present your disagreement with Scripture to back yourself up. Then please refer to the previous two points!
This is a "Family Friendly" blog. In fact, it's more than family friendly. My desire is to bring glory to God with this blog. Please don't leave comments that would offend His holiness! I won't post them anyway.

I'll add to this if I feel the need to do so at any time. As far as most of you are concerned, I don't need to say anything... just keep commenting away!

Can't wait to hear from you!

Welcome

Yes, welcome! Welcome to Chasing Babies... Growing in Grace! These are indeed the adventures of my life. And though my online identity and blog name focus on chasing these babies God has graciously given us, it does not consume my life (though sometimes it does consume my time!) Around here you will find so much more than just baby chasing. In fact, as we train and parent our children, we strive never to be chasing them at all... except for in the way we try to keep up with their high energy lives!

I'm trying to learn how to put my head knowledge into action. I'm trying to put off things like laziness and pride and to replace them with humility and... whatever the opposite of laziness is. :) I'm working to be a better keeper of my home, mother to my children, and helpmeet to My Beloved!

I hope that in these pages you will find something to encourage your heart as we all continue "growing in grace!"

Some Favorites

With more than 600 posts and a whole heap of categories, I thought I'd mention some of my favorites for you.

However, it's a harder prospect than I imagined... so I'm not going to hold up the "go live" of my new blog design just for this. I'll be adding to this list as I have time. Thanks for your patience!

Meet my Family

I'm so glad you've taken the time to stop in and meet us "in person". In this busy place called the web, it's hard to keep up. We read snippets of this post and that post, travel through 3-4 blogs before we can remember which blog we were reading in the first place. In all this hustle and bustle we can be reading about the day to day life of someone we've never "met".

How old is this kid I'm reading about anyway??? Where do they live to get that kind of weather? I've asked these questions and more about other bloggers. So here we are... I'd like to introduce you to my family!

If you've been reading this blog for any time at all you probably already know some about me. I'm The Babychaser. When I chose that name for myself back in the beginning, I chose it because I couldn't think of anything else and needed something for the blog address. I've been thrilled with it ever since... especially since it's more true now than I ever thought it would be.

So who am I? I'm a lot of things. Like all of you I wear many hats, though most of them I'm still learning to wear. First and foremost I am a Christian. There are lots of ways to explain this first title, but let me try to simplify a little by saying that I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that he came to earth a man, lived a sinless life and died on a cross so that I could be forgiven of my sins. Because of my trust in Him, I am made righteous, clean, and new before the Lord. Because of His sacrifice, I can have a relationship with God the Creator. I am not perfect, but I am forgiven. Everything else I do in life and everyone else I am in this life is with the goal of bringing glory to Him. (There... that was simple right?)

Other hats I wear? I am wife, mother, homemaker. Child trainer, counselor, encourager, friend. I'm a photographer, small business owner. Like many of you, my hearts desire is to reflect Christ in my life and to be a Proverbs 31 woman (I have a long way to go on both of these!)

My Beloved and I were married on January 9th, 2005. We have one of the best love stories I've ever heard myself. Perhaps someday I'll finish posting it. When we met, My Beloved lived in a one room cabin here in Central PA with a loft and no plumbing. They had offered him room and board in exchange for keeping up the computers etc at a local camp. He'd only been there a year, but it was right up his alley! We could have stayed there after we got married, but I really wanted plumbing! :)

During the day he works as the main "computer guy" at a local missions organization... a job he loves, serving people he loves. I am thankful that the office is only minutes from our home. It makes it easier for us to manage our one car. It comes in handy on days when everything falls apart just before the end of the work day and he only has time to come home for a couple minutes to eat a quick dinner with us before returning for the rest of the night. And it comes in handy on days when he can join us for lunch, or better yet, come pick us up and take us out to lunch with him!

My Beloved is different than any man I've ever known. He's super friendly, has an amazing servant's heart, and would do just about anything to keep me safe and happy. He loves all things outdoors (hiking, hunting, biking, backpacking, campfires, hanging out in a hammock, and on and on), yet he says that he still would have picked me if he had known how much outdoor stuff he'd be giving up. He truly is the perfect man for me. He loves me in spite of me... and tells me all the time that it's the easiest thing to do.

Tornado was born December 4, 2006. You may be able to figure out where his name has come from. He's always moving... and he's loud. All. The. Time. As a toddler he was ever leaving destruction and mess in his wake. One of the times my mom was visiting, she took to calling him the little tornado... I decided it was an appropriate name. :)

Tornado is still all boy at almost 4... and the smartest kid I know! I'm no longer surprised by his "preschooler-ness", as he's been one for a while now. He loves doing "school" and is thrilled when I bring out a simple workbook, coloring books or scissors for "scissoring". He's my song bird and sings all the time, both real songs and fake word songs he makes up. He is also always playing some imaginary instrument. We do lots of reading together (though not as much as I would like) and have recently started adding chapter books to our picture books. He seems to enjoy them. He is getting more and more genuinely helpful as his "chores" now include (among other things) several laundry tasks.

Sweet Pea was born March 7th, 2008. She was so tiny (at least compared to Tornado) those first few months... Sweet Pea just seemed the perfect name for her. She's 2 1/2 now and loves to follow her brother around. She's always been more fearless than her brother which can be scary at times. Her attitude still has that toddler way about it sometimes, but she melts my heart when she says, "I want to be with you mommy."

Her talking is more clear everyday. She started late like her brother, and is still hard to understand sometimes. She's also much quieter, which makes it that much harder to understand what she's trying to say (over the noise coming from Tornado's direction). She too loves to sing. Her favorite song is "How great is our God" and she sings it all the time, even when Tornado tries to get her to sing something else with him. It's great!

She's quite the little lady and just this week has learned to fold wash clothes all by herself when we are doing laundry together. She's also great at throwing things in the trash for me and most of the time bringing me something... except when she gets sidetracked!

Little Man was born on August 6, 2010. At 9 pounds 10.6 ounces at birth, I looked down at him and couldn't help but think that he was my little man already... and the name was born. Now that he's almost 3 months, he's sleeping through the night and has a mostly even temperament. I follow flexible Babywise scheduling for him, like I did for the others. He's great at nursing, likes to cry in restaurants and is pretty good at pooping (and sometimes pottying) on the potty. He's starting to show more personality everyday and delights my heart with his smiles! (Since he's always changing these days, I'll be posting updates.)

Labels: Family

Kindred Spirits

“Kindred Spirits are not so scarce as I used to think.
Its splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.”
~Anne of Green Gables~

When you choose to walk in a way that is apart from those around you, it is so encouraging to meet others like you... even if you've never met at all. Here you will find links to some I consider "kindred spirits" in one way or another (in no particular order).

Kindred Spirits