Monday, September 27, 2010

He is sufficient!

We’re still dealing with the croup or at least the aftermath of it, which is this nasty “wet” cough. So we went from a barking seal to an 86-year-old smoker! Regardless, I am exhausted! I have probably gotten 12 hours of sleep in the past week. But in the midst of my exhaustion, I opened Jesus Calling this morning to find…

“When your energy fails you, do not look inward and lament the lack you find there. Look to Me and My sufficiency…Go gently through this day, leaning on Me…Thank me for your neediness, which is building trust-bonds between us.”

God knows. He knows my daily struggles. He knows my shortcomings. Today I have no energy but I know He will provide what I need to get through this day.

I also have a tiny confession…William’s croupy condition is not the only reason I haven’t been sleeping. Two words...HUNGER GAMES! I am joining a book club and our first gathering is tomorrow. And in true Lauren fashion, I didn't get the book until Friday. On my way home from the bookstore, I had figured out how many pages I would need to read each day to finish the book! Oh, that wasn't necessary...I could not put that stickin' book down; it is SOOO good! I am dying to get the second (and third) book but I am forcing myself to wait until we’re done with the croup.


And we’re both going down for afternoon naps today! :)

love, lauren

Saturday, September 25, 2010

JOHN 3 16

Yesterday I did a little shopping with William and the sister. She is one of the only reasons I occasionally appear stylish. Anywho, get home, set down my bag and notice JOHN 3 16 on the bottom of the Forever 21 bag. WHAT?!?!?!? [insert huge smile and giggle]. I am probably the last Christian in America to notice this but I thought it was so awesome!!! I did a little googling and found out Don and Jin Chang, the owners of Forever 21, are devout Christians and wanted a way to demonstrate their faith! I thought about doing the hot dog dance! :)

(excuse the mess on my coffee table)

In not-so-fun news, sweet little William has croup [double boo]. He has been coughing a little this week but I chalked it up to allergies. AND the fact that I have brought him to the doctor three times for a sick visit only to be told… “Ears look great. Chest sounds good. Let’s just watch it.” And all those terrible symptoms disappear by the next day! But I just didn’t like the sound of his coughing and I am so glad we went. It’s nothing serious but we will probably have a few more sleepless nights in the Haddox household. HUGE thank you to Darby who informed me of the freezer remedy…yup, we stood in front of the freezer last night enjoying some cool air! :)

Off to bake cupcakes and cookies for the tailgate!

GEAUX TIGERS!

love, lauren

ps – double boo refers to double rainbow in the sky. Check it out on youtube!

Friday, September 24, 2010

Watch out Bruce Lee

So, I came across Bruce Lee’s killer ping-pong skills through stumbleupon.com. Let me tell you, the man could play ping-pong. I think we may have another Bruce Lee in the makings! :)


[Keep your eye on the ball, William!]


[Swing and a miss…]


[“Is that all you got???”]


[“I WIN!”]


[“Uh, there’s a ping-pong ball stuck on my head!”]

You can never teach them too early, right??? :) He'll be playing with nun chucks before we know it!

It’s the weekend! Woo-Woo!

love, lauren

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

A New Do

Last week, my girl Stacey came to my mom’s house to do my hair. How awesome does this sound?!?! Stacey, who happens to be the sweetest soul you will ever meet, goes to her client’s houses to do their hair. She has the best prices ever and she comes to you! For my sister, who gets highlights, it is the deal of the century!


(Rebecca with AR)
I have already had one person tell me it took seven years off me…that would make me look like a 21 year old! I am embracing the idea that I look like a teen mom.


But I guess it’s a compliment when I felt a lot older yesterday…I took one step closer to the BIG 3-0! Only two more years left in my twenties! Yowza!!

I took William on his first bike ride. He loved it! I think the helmet is still a little big but my dad is in insurance…that says it all! :)






love, lauren

Monday, September 20, 2010

Tigers WIN!!!

This weekend was the first LSU home game of the season and it was H-O-T! We have been tailgating with the same group for a couple of years now but this was the first time “Chance of Rain” made it to the big screen!!! Thanks to Caroline, for chasing down the photographers, we were one of the “tailgaters of the game” on the jumbo screen during the game! WooHoo!!! :)

It’s so fun and amusing to watch the tailgate dynamic change over the years. At one point Saturday, two babies were getting their diaper changed right smack in the middle of the action, and I just couldn’t help but smile! I can’t wait to get William out there with all his little friends.

(CB, I snagged this pic off dropshots!)


William did get to hang out with some other little people this weekend.
First of all, gotta love the self timer.

Second, taking pictures with little people can be a challenge…we only got two pics! HA!

Happy Monday!

love, lauren

Friday, September 17, 2010

Immunity

It doesn’t matter what reality show you watch, there is always an opportunity to win immunity…right?!? This week William got to flex his muscles and build up some immunity! Of course it happened in Wal-Mart…

So, I’ve had a buggy cover tucked away in his closet for 6 months and now that he is sitting up I decided to pull it out and give it a whirl. And I really enjoyed using it! Don’t get me wrong; it felt like the little guy was really shopping with me sitting up like a big boy. But, he’s also a little more exposed than normal. Anyway, a shoeless, snotty-nosed three-year-old boy with Hawaiian punch all down his shirt started making his way toward us to look at the “baby.” Before I even had time to tell him not to touch, that little boy stuck his dirty finger in William’s mouth!!!!!!!! He bypassed the hands, feet, even his face and went straight for the mouth! I immediately shooed him away and then his mom starting spanking him right there in the produce section. The child is screaming, his mom is screaming, I’m wiping Williams mouth down with baby wipes, screaming in my head… “you better not give him the sniffles again…we just got rid of them!” This little incident happened on Monday and its FRIDAY…no sniffles!!!

Here’s my happy boy…



Love the weekend! GEAUX TIGERS!!!

love, lauren

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Happy Half Birthday, William!

William is six months today. It’s true…time really flies!
He weighs 20.6 lbs and is 26 ¼ inches long.


It’s crazy to think he was this small only 4 months ago…


At six months, his bottle is still his first love but he’s also enjoying baby food. His favorites are squash, bananas and yogurt.


He is rolling over but only when absolutely necessary or out of frustration! :) He takes two good naps and a little cat nap (only on a good day) and, for the most part, sleeps through the night.


He laughs & coos (no ma-ma or da-da yet), kicks like Michael Phelps in the bathtub, loves his giraffe teether but would rather chew on his feet, is still a big fan of peek-a-boo, started using a sippy cup (hasn’t quite figured it out), gets an A+ in hand mouth coordination, I feel like he’s discovering new things he can do each week! I LOVE seeing his little personality develop; he is such a sweet boy!


I thank God everyday I get to be William’s mom!

Monday, September 13, 2010

Meet Wilson.

I did not actually get to meet Wilson but I heard his powerful testimony at church yesterday. Here is the super condensed version…

When Wilson was 10 years old, he lost his mother to AIDS. Six months later, he lost his father to AIDS. Three of his four brothers were also HIV positive (only Wilson and his youngest brother were spared). He was forced to live off the streets eating out of garbage cans. Through a series of events, he was able to go to a Christian school where, after many years, he was brought to his knees at the feet of Jesus. Wilson began to grow deeper in his faith and felt a conviction to reach lost souls. At 17, Wilson and some friends heard God calling them to start a church and so began Light the World Church.

Oh, Wilson also sings and plays the piano by ear. He has become one of Uganda’s most popular gospel singers, pastors a church with 3000 members and is currently housing 15 orphans. Did I mention Wilson is 26 years old??? What an inspiration!



"Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.” Isaiah 12:4

God is moving in Kampala!

love, lauren

Friday, September 10, 2010

Moms.com

Moms.com is not a place to find the latest mom trends, must have’s, or how to’s. In fact, if you go to this website, you’ll find the domain is for sale. Moms.com is a gathering of moms in our community to study God’s word, fellowship, encourage, and so much more! This was my first experience with moms.com and I left feeling completely full and we haven’t even started the study yet! :) We’re reading Wisdom for Mothers by Denise Glenn. I so look forward to going through this book, getting to know the other moms, gleaning wisdom from those a couple years ahead of me and enjoying some much needed “adult” time once a week!

I also went to my OB this week...I LOVE my doctor! She has been by my side during some of the most difficult moments of my life and I am so thankful she’s my doctor! Anyway, a few weeks ago I sent her William’s birth announcement and a photo of us with William after the delivery. She could not stop talking about the picture I sent. I have to say Jill captured a special moment…there is nothing like those first moments holding your baby. Nine months of waiting, nine months of praying…the picture says it all! Thank you, Jill!



And because it’s Friday and I can’t help but think about all those high school football games…here is a you tube video my sister showed me. We were both cheerleaders in HS and laughed a lot when we saw this!



Happy Friday, Happy Football!

love, lauren

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

A Night to Remember…

Or lack thereof! Craziest thing happened to me Monday night. Let me start off by saying Monday I was exhausted. William had been up way too many times throughout the night for the past few nights and I was reaching my breaking point. So, Monday evening I get in bed around 9:00. The next thing I remember, I’m waking up…it’s 6:30 am…and William is in the bed with us. I nudged Adam and asked him why he brought William in our bed to which he replied, “I didn’t bring him in here.” Yall, I have absolutely no recollection of him crying in the middle of the night, getting out of my bed, getting him out of his crib or bringing into our bedroom! I did wake up Tuesday morning very refreshed! :) But, yowza…did I do anything else during my night of temporary amnesia?!?!?

Hope everyone has an uneventful night sleep! :)

love, lauren

ps – my sweet little boy who sleeps through the night is back!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Sleepless in Farmerville

I always loved the movie Sleepless in Seattle and I know being lovesick can create many restless nights. But nothing, absolutely nothing, compares to the sleepless nights you have with a newborn. Crazy thing is I don’t have a newborn! I have a 6 month old who was just getting into a great little routine. A very loose routine but a routine, nonetheless! We went up to north Louisiana for the weekend to see Adam’s fam. Every night we were there the little one decided to wake up not once, not twice…four or five times each night. It brought me back to those first weeks of bringing home baby when you are in complete survival mode with lots of sleepless nights. A friend told me a few weeks back, just when you start getting the hang of things it all changes! Amen to that, sister!!!

Here are some pics from the weekend!








Happy Monday! Oh, dear...I just realized it's Tuesday! Happy Tuesday!!! :)

love, lauren

Friday, September 3, 2010

A Surprise Party and the “Stumble” Button

I forgot to do a weekend recap and last weekend actually deserves to be recapped…it was a good one! It was the big 3-0 for a good friend and her husband gave her a fab surprise party! And let me tell you…



This gal was completely SURPRISED!!! She was not expecting dinner with close friends celebrating another year of her life. We spent the evening baby-free (PARTY!), visiting with good friends, enjoyed a delicious dinner and yummy birthday cake, and came home to the sniffles…yeah, the sniffles have been here way too long! Great job G…the birthday bash was a complete success!!!





Random funny-ness happened to me last night. Have you ever heard of the website stumbleupon.com? You sign up on this website and check off a bunch of topics that interest you. Then you hit the “stumble” button! At this point, they introduce you to websites, videos, music, anything on the internet that you might like.

So, I’m just soooooo curious about what they think I will like…well, the first video that came up was Bruce Lee playing ping-pong with nun chucks.


How did they know I like Bruce Lee??? :) Just kidding but I do LOVE ping-pong…my family loves ping-pong! I just got the biggest kick out of that! They also linked me up with biblemaps.org…you type in a book of the bible and it shows you where on the map it occurred...really cool! My husband was a big fan of that one. Anywho, try it out…I promise you’ll laugh out loud!

Have a great weekend!

love, lauren

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Patients, Painting and the Sniffles

Yesterday I started volunteering in the children’s ward at Our Lady of the Lake Hospital. Let me start off by saying, it was everything I thought it would be and more! I didn’t realize how much I missed teaching art and working with kids! I’ll be going up there once a month to do art projects with some of the patients working alongside other ladies from the Jr. League.

I pulled some of my favorite lesson plans and decided to start off with an easy project that yields beautiful results. We used Kandinsky‘s Squares and Concentric Rings and Color Study as our inspiration and let the kids go from there. I was painting with a little boy in his hospital room and, at one point, he turned to his mom and said, “I think we should frame this for my room.” His mom replied “No, I want it in my office.” They went back and forth as to where to hang his artwork. He was so proud of his work and I loved getting to visit with the two of them.



It’s crazy to think OLOL is one of six hospitals in the state offering child life services. It’s considered an expense and the funding just isn’t there for most hospitals. This incredible staff helps children and their families understand all the “doctor talk” during their stay at the hospital. I was able to see the benefits of this program yesterday…lots of smiles, laughter, a brief escape, grateful parents, an indoor playground, tons of toys and a wall of movies.

Did I mention they have an INCREDIBLE staff…cause they really do!!!

In other news, William got his first case of the sniffles. I know there is nothing I can do but it’s just so pitiful when he can’t breathe through his nose. He wants to suck on that paci so bad and realizes, after a few seconds, he can’t breathe! Sniffles, it’s time to go home!

Really hoping we’re back together again for the weekend!

love,
lauren