Exciting and Disgusting!!

So, this is entry is going to be pretty scattered and random....I do apologize.

First, motherhood is such an amazingly awesome thing! Watching your babies accomplish goals and triumph over difficulties is one of the best feelings ever! Two recent examples: Adelyn is trying to crawl. And every time she gets up on all fours, and tries to move forward.....you would think she was about to walk on the moon. I feel so excited for her, and cheerlead her as much as I can. The anticipation of her accomplishing this trick, and finally learning how to crawl is a big thing for her and for me. Also, Caleb had his first official football game on Monday night. It was sooooo long, but super fun! His little team, "Da Bears" (does anyone remember that SNL skit?!) won their game, 24-12. And Caleb scored one of their four touchdowns! Again, you would've thought he won the Nobel Peace prize! I was so happy for him! He was so proud of himself--he just beamed. And my heart burst for him! I've never been much into sports, other than Aggie football (mostly due to my COMPLETE lack of athletic ability!) but I'm really enjoying cheering on my kid in his little endeavors! (but i vow to myself and to God, to never become one of those crazy 'athletic parents'...those people scare me)

Now, on to the disgusting.....which we all know is another huge part of motherhood. I'm almost embarrassed to share this with the world, but that's obviously not going to stop me. Adelyn is now 7 months old, and her whole world changes from week to week--how she moves, how she can communicate, what she eats....and what is coming out of her other end. So, a few days ago, I was changing her 53rd dirty diaper of the day, and I noticed something very foreign in the contents. It was super stinky, but I was concerned about what was in her poop. I tried just to obverve and hypothesize from afar, but no....I couldn't quite tell, so I had to just dig in. Yes, I was digging in my child's poop to investigate what was in it!! Come to find out, it was paper! I think it was part of a paper towel that she had somehow consumed. But as I was digging in nasty, stinky poop--I kept thinking to myself how disturbing it was, but how is was not so abnormal for the life of a mom. Wow.

And last, but not least, my sweet Ellie, who instead of almost being three, is now almost 16. She and I have fought many battles here lately, but she is constantly cracking me up. Dawson and I are always TRYING to remind our kids of their manners--"say please", "what's the magic word?", "what do you say?" etc. So, the other day at lunch, Ellie had asked me to do something for her, and thankfully, she'd remembered to say please. But apparently she was not satisfied with my response, because she said, "Mommy, you need to say 'yes, ma'm to me." She's apparently confused about who rules the roost! :)

Now, some cute pics of the aforementioned kiddos.....











WE ARE SO BLESSED!

Update on Kiddos

Adelyn is in the baby food stage...which I HATE! But obviously she loves it!


We've been experimenting with smoothies, to incorporate more fruit into our diets. Caleb and Ellie are both fans (as you can tell by their berry mustaches!)


Caleb has started flag football! And he loves every minute of it! Fun, but crazy!!



And this past Saturday, we were up in Dallas for our best friends' son's birthday....it was a fast and furious trip, but we love getting to see our favorite people. Missy and I, and God of course, have already arranged marriages for our three children. It's obviously God's will since among the six, there are three boys and three girls. Someday, Adelyn will marry Brandt....but hopefully, Brandt will one day be bigger than his girlfriend! :)


And hopefully amid all the romances, or even without them....these sweet girls can grow up to be best friends!

Lukewarm

"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm-neither hot nor cold-I am about to spit you out of my mouth.....Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent." Revelation 3: 15-16, 19"

Have you ever been scared of a book?!? Well, I am. Terrified! The book that I'm reading right now is one of the most amazing, challenging, and inspiring books I've ever read....but I'm scared of it! It's "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. Yes, I heard about it through another blog--my pretend friend, Angie, who writes "Bring the Rain." Her online bookclub is reading this book, and it is life-changing. And that's the scary part. Chan pretty much warns you that when you read his book, if you consider yourself to be a Christ-follower--you either have to conciously choose to ignore what he says and continue to live a lukewarm life, or you have to make some life-change. Again....SCARY! But I've been so convicted by his words, and really most it is God's words, straight from the Holy Bible--which makes it even worse!!

I just have to share some from this book. I love that in the second chapter, titled, "You might not finish this chapter," he writes "Frankly, you need to get over yourself." Harsh, huh? But so true! I spend so much for my time, energy and thoughts on me....my needs, my family, my agenda....and rarely am I focused on God's 'needs', God's family, God's agenda. As Chan says, "the point of your life is to point to Him." That's it! Nothing we haven't hard before, but it's truth that I needed to be reminded of over and over. Wow--so I have to question, are my daily activities and attitudes doing that--pointing to Him??

Also, (seriously there is soooo much amazing stuff in here....I could quote you the whole stinkin' book) he goes on to remind us that a life of extreme faith, of abandonment to God is something we will never feel "ready" for. But that is the whole point of faith, right? Amazingly, nothing he says is truly novel, but he says it in such a way that speaks so loudly to my heart and soul.

He has a chapter called the Profile of the Lukewarm
and I am going to end this entry/internal discussion with a few of the super powerful descriptions he uses to describe the Lukewarm. I was so convicted by these 'characteristics' because they seemed to speaking directly to me.

LUKEWARM PEOPLE give money to charity and to the church....as long as it doesn't impinge on their standard of living. Luke 21:1-4

LUKEWARM PEOPLE desire to fit in both at church and outside of church; they care more about what people think of their actions than what God thinks of their hearts.
Rev. 3:1, Matt. 23:5-7

LUKEWARM PEOPLE are moved by stories about people who do radical things for Christ, yet they do not act. They assume such action if for 'extreme' Christians, not the average ones. James 1:22, 4:17

LUKEWARM PEOPLE say they love Jesus, and He is, indeed, a part of their lives. But only a part....He isn't allowed to control their lives. Luke 9:57-62

LUKEWARM PEOPLE are continually concerned with playing it safe; they are slaves to the god of control. This focus on safe living keeps them from sacrificing and risking for God! WOW 1 Tim. 6:17-18

LUKEWARM PEOPLE probably drink and swear less than the average, but besides that, they really aren't very different from your typical unbeliever. They equate their partially sanitized lives with holiness, but they couldn't be more wrong.
Matt 23:25-28

Wow. Wow. Wow. And there's so much more! I'm almost finished with this book, and I just pray that I will have the courage and steadfastness to really change the way I live, think and view my faith.

I'm an addict.

Since blogs are a good place for therapy.....because they're so private and confidential, I've decided that it's time for a confessional. It's time to admit that I am an addict. They say that admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery. So I now openly admit that I, Michelle Skow, am addicted to chocolate. I know, shameful, right? Are you shocked?? It's a little scary to realize the power this substance has over me. Like tonight, when Caleb accidentally kicked over our "picnic table"--splattering our chinese food and drinks ALL OVER the dining room floor, and the baby was SCREAMING in the background--because she had another exploding dirty diaper, and Ellie was crying and calling for me from the backyard--all I could think about was, "WHERE IS SOME CHOCOLATE?!?" Like anyone on a 12 Step program, I try not to keep any of my drug in the house, but I went scavenging through my pantry, cabinets, etc. looking for some kind of chocolate to help ease the stress, anxiety, and overall craziness that is my life. I ended up finding some old, dark chocolate something on top of the fridge...and yes, I ate it! And amazingly enough, it made me feel better. I don't know if this kind of dependency is normal, but I had to laugh at myself after this crazy episode. Chocolate is just a magical thing for me. The only other physical substance that has this power in my life is Sonic drinks. But as many of us know, I've found that even more effective than chocolate or Sonic is prayer! I just have to work at making that my first line of defense every time. Prayer is so much more comforting, and it's fat free! :)

Now, to share some pictures from our CRAZY photo shoot at Sears this past weekend. Thankfully, some of the pictures turned out great....obviously because of the precious kids in the photos!

Is it Christmas break yet?!?

Holy Cow! Having a kid in school is exhausting! You would think that it would be less exhausting, since seven of my waking hours are now minus one kiddo, but somehow this is not true. Getting up every morning at 6:00am.....or let me rephrase that, getting five people up every morning at 6:00am is crazy! And then rearranging every single part of our day--eating and napping and running errands, etc--around the drop off and pick up is a big change! I will say that it is a lot quieter around this house during the day...but can't write anymore about that without these tears in my eyes starting to roll down my cheeks.
I just wanted to say that I had no idea how tiring this new phase was going to be.

And I have to also make this observation....is it bad when you get to suppertime, and you realize you've eaten THREE different kinds of chips that day?!? What does that say about my diet?!? (baked lays w/grilled cheese for lunch, tortilla chips w/salsa for afternoon snack and then doritos w/hot dog for supper) Wow. I'm ashamed.

In other news, Adelyn had her 6 month well-check today (a week late) and she weighed 20 lbs 10 oz!!! This is the size of most 3 year old Amazon children.....well, not really. But she is big! However, she is also 27 1/2 in long, so the doctor said she is perfectly proportionate. :) (and perfect in most other ways too!)

Last memory to record for today....last night, Ellie was saying one of her marathon prayers, where she thanks God for every one in our family at least three times, and starts to repeat things over and over. So, after she had said, "and thanks God for me, me, me, me...." at least five or six times, I whispered, "And Amen". Ellie then sat up straight in bed, looked at me, and said in her big girl voice, "Mommy, please be quiet, I'm trying to pray." Of course, I had to apologize, and settle for listening to a few more minutes of emphatic praying.:)


Beautiful and Sassy!


Caleb with his teacher--he loves her!