Ten on Tues.

1. Bubby has been sleeping until 7am for the most part since just before he turned 9 mo. I've been waiting to publish this to make sure it's stuck :) He does wake up periodically throughout the night, but more often then not he puts himself back to sleep within a few minutes. There has been two times where I've had to get up. I change him, tell him I love him, say good night, lay him back down, and go back to bed myself. I don't give him any num nums and am with him for only a couple minutes. That seems to do the trick. I figure that I wouldn't want to be in a wet diaper either :) He is such a blessing.

2. I took Bubby to Urgent Care Saturday. He had an open sore on the end of his penis :( They gave me a prescription for two ointments which I have to apply to every area affected for two weeks. By the next day the sore was gone :) The doc. said cloth diapers are the best for babies. Turns out even though disposable diapers keep the pee away from the skin, they still trap the moisture in and that's what causes diaper rashes and such. I have been using disposable diapers once in a while. Now that once in a while will be even less frequent.

3. I'm doing good with no sweets, but it's been pretty easy so far. I think there was one thing I had to decline. I don't keep sweets in my house for the most part, so there's no temptation there. I'm putting my hand to cooking more :) That's another blessing. In any case, cutting out sweets hasn't really changed my eating habits. Again cutting out soda other than ginger ale when I'm feeling sick doesn't really change my eating/drinking habits. Now one glass of juice a day has REALLY changed my drinking habits. I think I might need to cut out microwave popcorn. :(

4. Bubby's been screaming. This screaming isn't due to anger. It's just to hear the sound. I've been trying to get him to stop but I think it's just a stage he has to go through :(

5. Bubby's been cranky during the afternoons. I've been racking my brain as to why. I think it might be due to his eating schedule. Today I adjusted it a bit. Instead of giving him a snack at 11am and his lunch at noon, I just gave him his lunch at 11am. He was WONDERFUL through his nap time. We'll see how I'll need to change his late afternoon/evening schedule.

6. Bubby's getting a bit more freedom around the house. He still plays in his play areas most of the time, but every once in a while he wants to venture out into the rest of the kitchen area. He opened some cabinets and found some bowls. I need to get some locks for most of my cabinets. I also need to decide which cabinet I'm going to let Bubby enjoy getting into :)

7. Joseph bought a Photoshop Elements 8 and a Dummies book for that program. This is to help edit pictures for his photography business. I'll probably be the one who edits the pictures :) I've read through chapter one of the first book thus far, but it's amazing how much good information I've already received :)

8. Joseph seems to be pretty excited about his new amateur photography business :) http://www.bestphoenixweddingphotographer.com/affordablephotographer.html

9. My muscles are so sore, muscles I didn't even know I had, from my neck down past my buttox. I think that's the main reason my back is not currently getting better :( I've managed so far to live with the pain. The pain is less than it was at its worst. Thank the Lord. One way I've managed it is to give up dancing, hiking, going on walks, and sitting most of the time. I'm still standing and believing that I'm healed :)

10. I remember many years ago wondering why some people chose to stay seated when the pastor asked everyone to stand. I didn't judge them, at least I don't think I did. I just wondered. In any case, I'm sure there are those at church who are doing the same to me.
I remember in high school there was a rumor that went around that I had slept with someone. I knew it didn't matter what I said. People were going to believe what they wanted. I decided if someone asked me about it I would tell them the truth otherwise I would remain silent on the issue. Well, I've pretty much held to that my whole life. If something's brought up, I talk about it. If not, I usually stay silent. So if you have any question for me, ask :) If you want the cold hard truth, I'll probably give it to you whether it's about me or you :) Blessings!

Question about Faith

People are really challenging me with their blogs. I've been trying to decide on something I could share on a daily/weekly basis. The Ten on Tues. is more for me than anyone else. So that didn't fit the challenge. I thought of doing what others of my friends are already doing, but that just doesn't work either. It finally hit me today.

I'm going to start a weekly question on Faith in Christ and His Word. Again, this may only speak to me, but I pray it speaks to others if only to challenge you to think about the Truth and what it means in your life.

I would greatly appreciate your comments whether they disagree with my thoughts or not. And please ask questions. That will help challenge me and others who read this blog. Love and prayer...


The two verses to follow seem to correlate with each other. One is from the Old Testament and the other from the New Testament. The thing that sticks out to me most are the words 'are healed' and 'were healed'. Why is that word changed? What do they really mean? And are those verses talking about our bodies, souls or spirits being healed?

Isaiah 53:5 King James Bible
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

1 Peter 2:24 King James Bible
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

I believe...

a. God wants the best for us
b. He wants us physically, emotionally, and spiritually whole, healed.

But when I stand firm on His Word, am I standing on what He said or what I want Him to mean?

scriptures found at http://bible.cc/

Life is sometimes hard even on a baby

My son has a toy table that has a "cup" for snacks. While he sticks his hand in it to get the snacks he walks to the other side of the table to play a game over there. Now he starts crying because his hand is stuck and arm is twisted. Mommy to the rescue :)

What to Eat...

I've been struggling with my weight for quite some time now. Having a baby and major back pain hasn't helped the situation. I'm determined to lose approximately 30 lbs. of fat. Yes, 30 lbs. I still can't walk down the street without being in major pain, but starting with what I eat will make a huge difference. I just found this advertisement for a healthy diet and was wondering if any of you have ever tried it. It got my attention because it mentioned not going hungry and eating a LOT of the foods others say to stay away from. What are your thoughts?

http://www.thedietsolutionprogram.com/BurnFat.aspx

three toothed Bubby :)

Always smilin' :)

Ten on Tues.

1. My Bubby has been waving for a couple weeks now :) Every day he waves more and more.

2. My upper back and neck have been giving me issues this past week, so my lower back and left side have been suffering more :(

3. A friend of mine is making a cookbook to sell to help raise awareness and funds to help families like hers who have outrageous medical bills due to Fatty Acid oxidation Disorders. She is asking for non-fat or low fat recipes. If you have any and are willing to share, please pass them my way.

4. Another friend of mine mentioned she had a miracle take place while in a 1 1/2 hour praise and worship service. During the service she felt a cold sensation followed a little while later by a hot sensation on one of her shoulders. It wasn't until later when she was looking in the mirror that she realized her shoulders were aligned. She's had a touch of scoliosis for the past 25 years and for weeks and weeks she's had minor back pain. She said that she didn't pray for the healing. It just came. I mentioned to my mother about this miracle. You know mothers are a lot smarter than we give them credit :) She told me that God wants us to commune with Him. And praise and worship is a BIG part of that. Praying for things is good, but not alone. My friend who just had this miracle began her blog by mentioning that she never used to like praise and worship time. And she'd always sing really low as to not offend anyone around her with her voice. She's now done a 180. I used to like praise and worship as a child and even into my early to mid 20s, but it's been hit and miss since then. I definitely started singing a lot softer since high school or junior high. Don't know that that'll change. But my friend did make a good point. God loves our voice whether on key or not. To Him it's a sweet sweet sound :) I'm for one glad loves me no matter what. I need to start singing praises to Him more often. I have been praying that God help me raise my son to know Him and this is one way for me to do that. In the car and at home, I'll be playing the kids praise and worship songs. My son will grow up with a love for praising God.

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

5. If you want the skinny of it, skip down to the third paragraph.

I'm not big on New Year's Resolutions. I just think for the most part they don't stick. However, I am big on Lent. No, I'm not Catholic but most of my family is. So I usually find out through them when it is. It didn't dawn on me until about 10 years ago that I could participate in Lent even though I wasn't Catholic. Last year I some how missed the beginning of it, so I didn't participate at all. Bummer :( Well, this year I might just start sooner :) The reason I like Lent so much for me is that I, for the most part, keep it going even after it ends. One year I decided to stop drinking soda. I was never really into caffeinated soda anyway. So when I gave it up, I didn't have the caffeine attacks. To this day, I still don't drink soda much. One year for Lent, I gave up watching American Idol. Now that was difficult. My family and friends talked about it a lot. I couldn't participate though :( But now I can watch it or not. I'm not addicted like I was before :) Another year, I gave up hot chocolate. That year I didn't really have an addiction to anything else. Rarely drank soda or ate chocolate, wasn't anything I couldn't live without on TV, really couldn't think of anything else. I was drinking 1-3 cups of hot chocolate a day, so I gave that up. Now I rarely drink hot chocolate. But I do enjoy a cup now and again :) Sorry for the tangent.

Ok. One more tangent but only to get to what my plan is :) One summer I was dancing 4-5 nights a week and spending as little money as possible. If you don't know, that will get you to lose weight. I didn't know! At the end of the summer I had dropped about two sizes. I could fit into size 8. Yah, my 5'9" frame. Well, I didn't want to gain the weight back, so I kept from going back to my bad eating habits when school started up again. Teaching, that is. If there was any food left over among the teachers, they would usually give it to me. I ate it because I didn't want it to go to waste. That was a difficult thing to change. I had to say No, thank you. Wow! It wasn't as hard as I thought not to eat sweets. My mom even offered to go get the icecream and/or pay for it and pizza. I declined!!! I just kept thinking I didn't want to gain all that weight back. If I did, I figured I'd end up gaining even more. We'll when I started dating Joseph, I started eating like him and as much as him. Shortly after we were married, I gained it all back and more! Ugh!!! I finally started working out again to lose that awful weight. Then I got pregnant. But that wasn't the worst of it. I ended up getting major back and leg pain which prevented me from doing any activity for about a year now. My back is getting better but I'm still not able to even take a walk down the street without pain. So I figure instead of waiting for my pain to be gone to eat right, I should start now.

Ok. I need to be organized and have a plan. When my phlegmatic side kicks in, my organization goes to pot and my plan starts to deteriorate. So I first need to practice on keeping my phlegmatic side from interfering with my organization :) My plan is to

a) organize my house/garage (once that's done, things will run smoother)
b) watch less tv - don't turn it on unless there is something I want to watch (I'll need my husband's help with that since I only watch tv at night)
c) Study the book, Photoshop Elements for Dummies, that my husband got me. My end all goal is to join my husband's business in that I would be putting together picture "movies".
d) change my eating habits (maybe I'll start blogging about what healthy things I eat each day... I just said maybe :) I'm sure there's someone who might want some other ideas of healthy meals; I know I would. So if you are one of those people that already eats healthy food that's not difficult to cook; I'll join your blog :) If I don't hear from you, I guess I'll have to do all the leg work myself. That's ok. It'll be worth it.) First things first, healthy deserts only. I'd much prefer to have plain yogurt and blueberries than chocolate anyway.

6. I think #5 should actually be 5-10; but for those that think I'd be cheating, I guess I'll just have to add some more to Ten on Tues.

7. The three of us went to the park with my brother, his son, a cousin of mine, and his three kids yesterday. It was a lot of fun :) I think we'll have to do that more often.

8. There is something in the works for June. It'll be just for me, but I'm concerned about being judged. So I'm not comfortable with sharing it right now. That is one thing I need to overcome, caring about what judgmental people think. I'm sure most if not all of you reading this would just think that it's great, so I'm not necessarily talking about you.

9. Bubby and I went to visit CW again today. It was a pretty short visit but very pleasant :)

10. There are only a handful of people that I don't like, mainly because I can't trust them as far as I can throw them. It doesn't usually cause a problem except when they're around those you love. You can't help but get a wrenching feeling in your gut. But all you can do is pray that those you love are safe from the one that is untrustworthy.

truthfuness

My friend who has a photography blog has decided that Thursdays will be truthfulness days. I so relate to this one :)

http://beelergirls.blogspot.com/2010/02/truthful-thursday_12.html

10 Tues.

1. My son is a really good eater, but when he's done with his food he shoves it off his tray. I'm trying to teach him to tell me when he's done by signing "done", but so far no luck. Right now I just try to take the tray away as soon as possible and tell him, "No, throw food." Any other ideas?

2. My son will eat anything, but he definitely prefers his veggies, breads, fruits, and dairy over meat. Maybe that's because we just introduced him to meat. Ok, check that. He likes his breads over everything!

3. Bubby is standing on his own and climbing all over the place.

4. Bubby one more tooth. Top front left... I think he might be cutting another one soon. He's been a little cranky today. But he's really not that bad when teething. Praise God!

5. My husband started a new game on Facebook, Country Life. It's similar to Farmville. He needed more neighbors and stuff, so he asked if I'd join. He promised I wouldn't have to do anything. Well, yesterday I helped him out with his and my Country Life. I like it. But I have the best end of the deal. I can go and do some stuff if I want and he makes all the decisions :)

6. A friend started a photography blog. A different type of pic each day. I'm really enjoying reading it and looking at the great pix :) http://beelergirls.blogspot.com/

7. I got the best complement ever yesterday. "hey Catina! I just wanted to send you a message and tell you that I truly think you are an amazing mom. It's not an easy job, and I don't think I have ever seen anyone do it so well, and so comfortably, especially the first time around. I admire your mom skills, and I love that you've been able to hang on to yourself and not get lost in the mommy role. Your little Joseph is an incredibly lucky little boy, and your future children will be just as lucky. Just thought you should know, because as a mom I know how good it feels to have someone recognize the job you're doing. (and for the record, ------ totally agrees. We were just discussing the other day how great you are at what you do!). hugs to you and the little one!" I don't think there's a better complement. I received it when I really needed it. I've been pretty down with not being able to do much physically. At least that doesn't hinder me from taking care of my little one :)

8. Some of my cousins and I started Karaoke with the girls in December. We get together once a month at Old Chicago in Phx. I have a cousin with an amazing voice! I don't know where she it from, not from my family :) I am having a blast with them and all those who join us. I NEVER would have thought I'd be going to Karaoke and much less enjoying it. I even sing but only with the rest of the group. No microphone for me. I'm not that brave.

9. I just started Ladies Night at my house again :) It won't be once a month since we have Karaoke too but it's still happening. We'll see who shows up Saturday.

10. My back is improving :) Yeah! It still have a long way to go, but it's getting there. I decided to take my son on a little walk today. He on his tricycle, me pushing him. We almost made it to the end of the block when I had to stop and rest my back. We came back with me doubled over the trike. The pain went away quickly though. It's a far cry from hiking a mountain with Bubby on my back, but it's way better than major pain walking 20 feet. God is good. I do believe with physical therapy my muscles will be able to hold my back in place.



My modest little boy :) No need to listen.

Ten on Tues.

1. Yesterday Bubby and I went to Flagstaff with a friend of mine and her two boys. It was the first time the two younger boys saw snow. They weren't too impressed with it, but it was still quite fun. Thankfully we found a place to sit and still enjoy the snow without getting too wet :)

2. My back has been feeling much better than the past couple weeks :) It still has a way to go, but I'm feeling confident that the pain will go away.

3. Joseph rearranged the living room for me :) Our "living" area is smaller to make room for a play area for Bubby. He loves it and so do I. Now I don't have to chase him all over trying to keep him away from the cords and stuff in the living room. Yeah!

4. I made yams the other day for Bubby. I cut them up into large chunks for later. Well later came and I put one on Bubby's plate. Before I got a chance to cut it into smaller pieces, he grabbed it and ate 2/3 of it. Don't get in between that boy and his food :)

5. Too much going on. It's now Wednesday evening. I need to get this blog done :)

6. Went to Bubby's pediatrician appt yesterday. I was a day early! Go figure. I still haven't gotten all my brain cells back from being pregnant. Still breastfeeding. Maybe that's what it is. Who knows...

7. Today's appt left Bubby crying :( He got his flu and H1N1 shot today. His iron level is ok. They also did a TB test. I think that a negative but I have to wait a little while longer to know for sure.

8. Bubby is 20% for weight, 90% for height, and has a small head. That's what the doc said at least.

9. Bubby is cutting his two front top teeth. No wonder he's been a bit cranky in the evenings lately.

10. I think I figured something out about my back. My back muscles tighten up when I'm stressed, and hearing Bubby cry definitely stresses me out :(