The best of the best of the best

We had learned about this yesterday in church. There was a video that talked about the steps that were required to become a disciple back when Jesus would have been a youth so back when he was alive in the world. How only the best went on. You studied and if you were the best at that stage you went to the next. If you were the best at that you continued and you became a disciple to the church if you were the best of the best of the best.
Pastor Susan had some really good points. I can't put them to words because I can't quote exactly what she said but I am sure I am going to end up saying things along the same lines.
The best of the best of the best. Crap! I am so not there. I am not the best even. I am a sinner. I have failed. I have done mistakes and have asked for forgiveness for them.
Jesus didn't care if you were the best of the best of the best. He was looking for you. Those that went back to continue with the family business because they weren't good enough to carry further to become a disciple. He called to those people and those being shocked dropped what they were doing and followed him. It didn't matter to Jesus how smart you were, how good you were just that you were His father's child.
I have struggled and still struggle with understanding why God has chosen me. Why me? I am not smart. I don't know the bible. He is proud of me. Why? What did I do to make him proud? I don't do extraordinary things. I am simple. I can't quote the bible. I know some verses but yet can't tell you where they are. I have sinned. I have failed but yet He still wants me? He still chooses me to come with him? Why?
Because I am His child. Unlike our Earthly parents that may shut us out, friends that may let us down and people that will just turn us away and call us failures. God is proud of me. He loves me. He keeps persevering to bring me to Him. Even when I hide.
Not being the best of the best of the best I feel like I am not worthy. To Him though I am. I am forgiven by Him. Loved unconditionally by Him.
I may feel like I am a bad mother sometimes and like I am failing my child in so many ways but God believes in me. He chose me to become a Mommy and that is the greatest gift He has delivered to me. I am not the best but I am good enough in God's eyes. I am His child therefore I am always the best to Him. Even through the sin he will forgive me. He won't let me down. He calls me to follow Him even though I have no idea what I am doing. But being the Masterful teacher He guides my steps, and urges me to continue. I can with His help.
I am good enough for Him. He believes in me. A failure, a sinner, a human being with mistakes and He still holds me in His arms and trusts me and calls me to Him.
I am glad that I may not be the best of the best of the best because being the human I am I am privledged and blessed enough to be His even though I feel I am not.
I hope this made sense!

Can you believe it??

Little Miss Payton McLatchy is 2 today!!???!!!
I will never forget the day you were born. You sure have grown up little Miss. We all love you. Can't wait to see what you will be teaching your cousin.


Love you Little Miss. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Look what I saw when....

I went to check on a little boy I know!!



Isn't that hillarious!!
I am just glad I caught it a second time without him seeing me!

What a wonderful start to the day - seriously

Cooper woke up at 5:50am for a feed. By the time I was done it was 6:20. DH's alarm was to go off at 7. So I decided to have a bath. Had a nice long relaxing bath. Hear the alarm go off so I got out and made Phil's lunch and our breakfast. Just before he was about to go to work he went in to say goodbye to Cooper. Cooper was awake and wanting cuddles so that is what Daddy did.

Then after Daddy left for work Cooper and I went for a walk. Just the two of us. It was wonderful. It is a nice cool brisk day and it felt great to get out.

To top it off Cooper is down for a morning nap. The third load of laundry is in the wash. And the second load in the dryer. That's right!! My dryer is fixed. One load is folded and ready to put away. Oh.....I heard the dryer stop. Second load done!
I feel great this morning. So far the day has started off wonderfully. I got smiles and laughs from the little man and now I am getting some laundry done. Just hope the rest of the day goes well. I guess it will if I make it that way. Take it easy. Step by step.
Sigh........I feel good.

warning for thos that read this blog... vent ahead

I am having a frustrated day! My dryer is broken. I have 4 loads of laundry tht need to be done. Maybe I need to take them to the laundromat. That is money!!
I just got back in from trying to get Cooper a pair of shorts for a wedding we are going to on Saturday. Khaki ones rather then jean ones. I just don't think jeans should be worn to a wedding. So you would think with it being summer it would be no problem - right!?! WRONG!! All the darn fall stuff is out. Plus you would think there were no little boys in this world. The lack of clothes to choose from is so frustrating. I just need a pair of shorts!!!!
Oh and my carpet needs to be cleaned. Waiting until I have help from hubby. He is always on the go. I had to book an appointment with him so that he could look at the dryer.
One of those days where I just want to crawl under a rock and hide. Then I look down at my son and he smiles up at me. I realize it really doesn't matter in the whole scheme of things. Still needed to vent though!

This is cute...

a story about Cooper....
Well kinda...
It was my birthday on the 4th of July. I got an email from COOPER. I was like what the heck!! I opened it and it was a birthday card for me.
I asked Phil if he created the account and he said no. So did my friends. No one is admitting to it. So I send my son an email. THis is what it said and the response I got back:

Misty wrote:
this is mommy.
I have to give whoever helped you create this account tons of credit! Now
you just need to tell mommy who it is! Who is this? You are confussing me.
I just wanted to thank you for the birthday card my little man. Made me cry.
I love you so much. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. And thank you to
the adult that helped you!
Love:
Mommy



From Cooper:

Hi Mommy!!

Glad you liked your card. I like being able to send to stuff and tell you how much I love you. You are a wonderful mommy and I think you are doing a great job(and it's my opinion that matters!!) As to who is helping me, I think I'll keep it a secret a little longer. This is fun!!

Love your Cooper


Now how flippin cute was that!!

"Cousins"

Payton and Cooper. Wednasday, July 12, 2006.

I've got a jealous little man

and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Last night Phil and I went over to the neighbours house. Phil had Cooper. The neighbours just got their adopted son. Finally were able to bring him home. He is exactly one week older then Cooper.
I was holding little Aiden and he started to fuss. What did I do? The same thing I do with Cooper. Whispered shhhhh and rocked him while holding him in a cradle position. Phil turned and Cooper found me. Saw what I was doing and started to cry.
It was like, "That is my Mommy! Mommy, what are you doing?"
I thought he was crying just because Aiden was but when Phil turned so Cooper didn't see me the crying didn't bother him at all. Then when he turned back towards me and saw me again he started to cry again. Harder.
Gave me a sense of peace. That even after a tough day my son knows me. He knows that I love him and he doesn't want to share me with anyone else. Made me feel really special.
We are going to cuddle this morning now cause he just doesn't seem to want to nap on his own this morning. That is ok. I am not going to get this time back. I just hope I don't regret it later on when he is older. Am I so wrong?
That is my special little boy and I really don't mind that he is a little jealous. I know he loves me. What a feeling.

When it rains...

It pours.

But I think I can see the Son.

Check out the pouty lip!!

That's my boy!
More pictures in My Fotos.

Daily Christian Wisdom

I think that if God forgives us we must forgive ourselves.

-C.S. Lewis

Ouch, that hit me in the spot!

Babies have THEIR own agenda

I have been told constantly over and over that "he's a baby, that's what babies do." When I feel frustrated at something.
I have learned that that little sentence is more true then I would have ever thought.
Cooper is a really good baby and I am so grateful for that. I thank God all the time. I don't mean to complain but I find myself doing so. I justify it to myself by saying that I am just frustrated and I need to vent. But those I vent to are probably sick of me.... :(
Anyway....I would like to tell you about yesterday.
Cooper tends to fight naps every so often. Yesterday was a scream fest for an hour. Every five minutes I would go in there and calm him down. Then walk away. I reassured him that I was still here and it was just a nap and that he is ok. That may sound mean to some of you out there and make me sound like a bad, mean mom. I hope not but if so, then you are entitled to your opinion. I just hope it doesn't make me out to be a bad guy. What I am about to say really worked for us. He slept for 2.5 hours that nap.
At night time Cooper was really good. He would always just go down with no problems. Bath, book, feed and then bed. He knew the drill. He still does and I think he fights it cause he doesn't want to go to bed.
The last three nights he has been crying when we put him down. Last night we tried the letting him Cry It Out. (CIO) Not for long mind you. He would cry, never to the point where he was beside himself, and then we would go in. This way it would help him to learn to soothe himself. I will tell you it was SO hard to do.
So it started. He cried for 5 minutes. Then Phil went in there for 5 minutes to just calm him down and reassure him. It wasn't a super hard cry just a normal I am complaining cry. Phil patted and rubbed his back for five minutes. Didn't say anything to him, didn't pick him up. Just reassured him by letting him know we were there. Feeling his presence. Then after 5 minutes of doing that he walked out.
Cooper started again. Ok...5 minutes... then it was my turn. I took my five minutes rubbing his back, patting his back and rubbing his hair. (he loves that) and then walked out. I didn't talk or pick him up. When I went in there at first he looked up and smiled. Like he just needed to know I was still there and I was and he was happy with that. I walked out. He started to fuss then all of a sudden all was quiet. It was 1/4 to 9. 9:30 I fell asleep.
Then this morning I woke up looked at the clock and it was 5:10am!! No peep out of Cooper. I peeked into his room and he was still asleep, still breathing. So I went to the washroom. Went back to bed and that was when he woke up realizing that he was HUNGRY!
So I fed him and he was back in bed by 1/4 to 6. It is now 1/4 to 8 and he is still sleeping. He went through the night! I feel rested. I feel good. I know that today and tonight may not go as smoothly but I can still hope...
He has always done really good at night and I know that I am VERY fortunate. Thank you God for the sleep. I even thanked Cooper when I got him up to feed this morning. Not bragging or anything cause we do have bad days. And I give so much credit to those mom's out there that have to deal with a colicky baby on a regular basis. I don't know how you do it!

Birthdays...

so as my 27th has now come and gone I find myself reflecting a bit. Dangerous, I know. Really it was only just another day. Another day that found me frustrated that I had nothing to wear cause I still have my baby weight to lose. But then I found myself thinking and realizing that I would do it all over again for my little boy. In a heart beat. He looks up at me and smiles and that was the birthday gift I needed.
Now, every year (except this one and I am not sure why) my mom calls me at 9:52pm to say happy birthday. The time that I was born. I always did think it was kind of silly until this year and the time went by and there was no phone call. I actually felt disappointed. Maybe she just forgot. Why feel bummed about that?
I realize now though how important that time was for her. How important it was to call me at that exact time. Remembering the birth of her first child and only daughter. I get it now.
6:40am God blessed our lives with my handsome son. 6:40am, the sun was just flowing through the room the second he was born. There he was, on the bed and the most beautiful thing I had ever seen and the room brightened with God's light. Easter Sunday my son came into this world. The significance of that day forever etched into my mind. The beauty of the moment. The reason why I will always wake my son up at 6:40 am just to tell him happy birthday and that I love him.
The meaning why my mom always called me at that specific time makes more sense to me now. Now I understand. The exact moment that my life was changed forever. The exact moment when my heart filled with so much love that I didn't ever think it was possible to love someone that much. (no offense to my husband) Just when I didn't know if my heart would ever be able to love him like I wanted I was proven wrong as I looked down at what we had created together. What God had blessed me with forever.
Birthdays seemed to have a whole new meaning to me this year.

We're back!

I took lots of pictures. Go here to view them.

We were totally amazed at how well Cooper took this weekend. We still gave him bath times and story. We still did the bedtime routine. The first night he was SO tired. He slept from 9 to 5. Then the next night he did his normal thing of 9 to 2. He was such a good boy. Naps were a little hard but he got lots of cuddles.
Grandma got to see happy baby in the morning. That is his happiest time.
We went for a walk. We went on the boat too.
Man, the boat was hard for me to do with Cooper. I cried before we got on. I was so scared. I was nervous and anxious. It was time to go on the boat and I hesitated. I cried. (side note - Daddy is playing with Cooper right now and he is LAUGHING!)
The boat ride went well. The life jacket looked pretty funny on him. He was learning to drive the boat with Grandpa at 2 and a half months!!

It was a beautiful weekend. No burns. No mosquito bites on Cooper, Mommy took them for him!
There were a lot of firsts for him this weekend. First time in a tent, on a boat, camping, in a hammock, seeing fire (he was mesmorized by that one!) and first time hiking down to a river.
We had so much fun. He was in the playpen with a bug net over it and I was so surprised at how well he did. He had a touque on, socks on his little hands and a thick blanket. The funny thing is that at night time he had managed to turn himself slightly more then 90 degrees in the playpen. Now, I have to watch him in the crib. He is pushing more with his feet and moving a bit.
At first he did NOT like the life jacket then he calmed down. Then he fell asleep listening to the roar of the boat. It was too cute.
I am sure that I will think of more to write later but for now that should be enough. Any questions, ask away. Just in case I forgot something. hehe.....
Now the unpacking, the washing and the resting begins. Glad to be home though.