visit to Virginia and beyond...

We went to visit grandma and grandpa in Virginia from July 20th-August 12th--the shortest & longest three weeks of the summer for me. The brevity of those three weeks is due to Matthew's great developmental accomplishments. He went from squirming like a worm on the floor to crawling on hands and knees in a short 5 days! I'm sure all that squirming and maneuvering on his belly all attributed to his increased ability to get himself from point A to point B, but it literally took about 5 days to get to the next level for him, and boy it was amazing! I couldn't be prouder to see my boy crawl. Not only that, but his personality is shining through even more. When he gets happy or excited he expresses it by laughing while clapping and turning around in sitting position. He looks as though he's on a mini merry-go-round; it's the cutest sight ever. On top of that, he's learned that "up, down" means put your head up then down. By the end of our trip, this was translated into "ahn nyung hah seh yo" in which he just drops his head down. If he likes you he'll keep nodding his head up and down, making you say "ahn nyung hah seh yo" over and over again. Sometimes I wonder who's playing with who here. hehe.. When his daddy got back from Canada, he taught M the word "bahksoo." Not that he could say it, but he definitely understands and responds by clapping his hands. I have such a smart boy!

As awesome as it was to witness all these little milestones, the three weeks were TOO long to be without my husband. He was off in Canada with a group of kids from our church doing missions work in Gitanyow--a Native American village. How I wanted to be there!!! But, I knew that my role was to stay home, take care of M and pray, so I did and God was more than my comforter. Many times I felt like my heart physically ache because of his absence, but I prayed into it, asking God specifically to be my comforter and He was. Thank You Jesus! Sometimes I wish I could just be somewhere like Gitanyow, or Newark airport on the morning of Huey's arrival, but as a mom I have to put M first, which in all honesty is really hard for me sometimes. I love him and would give up my life for him, but sometimes I just want to do something for me, you know? And I can't. Being a mom is no easy role; it's all about being selfless--about putting my family's well being before my own. It's hard, and sometimes I feel like I'm at the edge of tipping over when taking care of my family and home. This compels me all the more to pray because I know I just can't do it on my own....

I pray and ask God for much needed grace, wisdom, patience, a good sense of humor and passionate love because I know my family needs me to embody these things.

I pray and desperately ask God to help me because I love my family.

Those three weeks away from Huey were probably the hardest weeks, along with all the other weeks he's been away. This time around though, it wasn't AS bad as the other times b/c of one thing: I embraced my role as a mom and a wife--I stayed home, took good care of M and prayed for my husband. It's much easier to live life to the fullest when you actually start to embrace your role, your circumstance and situation that's in front of you.

A few more updates:

- M now points to things that he wants and pushes away things that he doesn't want (i.e. the milk i'm trying to feed him for HIS OWN GOOD! sigh..)

-M will not stay still while having his diaper changed. This poses a HUGE and MESSY problem when he's pooped. And let me tell you, his poop is no ordinary little poop that you would think would come out of a little baby. OOOHHHH NOOOOO!

- M loves it to be quiet and will yell at anyone who is making too much noise (i.e. he yelled at everyone during the mini-olympics at the retreat. another i.e. he yelled at zoie for screaming. )

-M loves to play peek-a-boo. He always has, but really cracks up each time...love it!!

-M LOVES cell phones, cable boxes, laptops/computers, and remote controls.

-M LOVES books and is quite skilled at flipping pages.