I ♥ Janell

ear Janell,

You're such a great friend, have I told you that lately? I just love you so, so much. You're a wonderful encouragement to me. I am truly blessed to have a wonderful friend like you! I hope that you feel the same way about me, too!
Love,
Crystal

I have known Janellybelly for about 3 years now. At the time, I had been a believer for a little over 1 year. It was a transitional time, and I really didn't have any Christian friends. The Lord was gracious to me by bringing her into my life. Here are some ways that I have been blessed by our friendship.

1. Janell is a godly wife
   
   
   Janell desires to serve the Lord by being a dedicated and obedient wife. When we met, I was still a newlywed. It was so encouraging to meet someone who didn't think I was crazy when I would say, "I have to ask my husband..." or something of that nature. Many of my old friends would consider me oppressed and tell me to be my own woman. Having a friend my own age who understood a proper husband/wife relationship kept me sane and still does.
   
   
2. Janell is a devoted mother
   
   The Lord recently blessed the both of us with children. Janell's son, Payton, is 14 months old, and my son, Caleb, is 7 months. Janell and her husband, David, had prayed for many years to have a child, and I am praising God for His timing! Janell has been a huge inspiration and encouragement to me as she raises Payton. We have the same mothering style, the same goals, the same schedule, and the same dreams for our sons. She goes through all of the baby stages 6 months before I do, and her advice has been priceless to me.
   
   
3. Janell desires to grow in Christ
   
   It has been an immeasurable blessing to have a good, close Christian friend in my life. Janell and I can spend hours talking about what we have been reading, learning, and teaching others in our walk with the Lord.

Okay, so it just totally hit me, Janell! Your Spiritual gift is ENCOURAGEMENT! Good for you... and good for me too.

You can visit Janell's Blog Mama on a Mission and I'm sure you'll be blessed by her as well!

Past, Present, Future

Every time Caleb does something adorable, I write it down. I want to have a record of the joy it brings me whenever he does something new. Like the first time that he slept on his side, or rolled over in bed. Or the first time he hugged me or gave me a kiss. Today he barked at the dog. It was so cute! He also had a squealy conversation with another baby across a room.

I wish I could put Caleb on pause. He is adorable and I love watching him grow up, but I already feel as if it is going by so fast. I've never had 7 months speed by as quickly as the last 7 months have. When I was pregnant, time went by so slowly, now I don't have any idea where the time has gone. I want to be able to enjoy every second of it.

Part of me is always looking forward. I can't wait until Caleb gets to the next milestone. I check out websites and books that tell you when your baby is supposed to do what. I try to guess when he will start to crawl or walk. I look at my friend's older kids and dream of the day when Caleb and I will be able to run around or have conversations.

Past, present, and future with my baby. I love him so much.

Bane's Bane

I've never had a dog who was afraid of fireworks. Deca was about 7 months old on her first 4th of July, and we didn't think anything of it. We brought her to Ft. Vancouver to "the biggest fireworks show West of the Mississippi". (I don't know if that claim is true, but that is what they call it. It is a very large show though, I have to admit.) Deca acted completely normal through the whole fireworks show. She laid in the grass and chewed whatever insanely expensive patriotic themed toy I'm sure we got her that year.

4 years later, we got Sammy. He was 13 months the first time we spent the 4th with him. I thought that he would be scared because he was such a skittish dog when we adopted him, but he wasn't. In fact, we opened up our glass sliding door to the backyard and he watched the fireworks like a little kid. His head would move upward as he traced the trail of fireworks into the sky and the look of joy on his face when they would explode was not just me personifying my pet.

This is Bane's first 4th of July holiday and he is 10 months old. Fireworks went on sale last night and tonight is the first time that our nearby neighbors have been lighting them. I let Bane outside to see them and he didn't like them much. He barked at them and hopped around like he was some kind of tough guy, but I know it was all due to his lack of confidence because I watch The Dog Whisperer.

The only thing I can think to do is to keep exposing them to the fireworks in a [hopefully] nonthreatening way. Perhaps tomorrow Deca will be awake during the neighboorhood fireworks and her calm attitude will show Bane that there is nothing to worry about. Last year, Deca and Sammy not only watched the regular fireworks, but also stayed outside while some people lit off m-80s. They didn't show a desire to go inside, but I was worried it would hurt their ears and put them in anyway. They just sat at the back door and watched the fireworks from inside the rest of the night.

I'll always miss Sammy...

Love,

Headache

My head is killing me. It feels like my spine is made of a metal rod that is shooting straight up my neck and into my brain. I hurt behind my eyes and ears, my jaw even hurts. I wish I could just sleep it off, but my day isn't over yet. Caleb will stay awake for about another 2 hours, or maybe longer since he took a very long afternoon nap. As long as he's awake, I'm awake.

This headache is so bad, that its making me nauseous. Everytime I turn my head in any direction it feels like my brain slams into the side of my skull. I don't know where this headache came from. I woke up feeling fine, just a little more tired than usual. I took a short 10 minute afternoon nap. Other than that, my day has been completely normal. Nothing out of the ordinary that I can point to at all.

I know this isn't the most interesting blog, but I hadn't updated in a while. So there you have it, a day with a headache in the life of me.