5 Months!

**Sidenote:  THANK YOU to everyone who answered my questions from the previous blog!! I really appreciate the time you took to share your stories.   If you haven't done so, feel free to email me... I promise it's confidential :)

Well... yesterday Caylee was officially 5 months old!  She is getting so big and I love watching her grow.  She's still in 3-6 month clothes.  Right now we're in the process of solid foods (this has been going on for a month and details will be saved for another blog).  Let's just say, it's been a LONG month :)  She has rolled from back to front and front to back just 1 time each and both were about a week ago.  She won't do it again.  I keep hoping she'll be rolling soon!  She still is getting up once during the night, a few times she's made it all the way through, but then we can usually expect her to get up 2 times the next night.  I'm not sure how to get more food in her to keep her sleeping all night bc she eats a ton as it is!!  Right now her favorite entertainment is the dogs.  She LOVES when they play with each other and thinks it's so funny :)  She doesn't laugh out loud too much, except at the dogs... but she always smiles.  She's been doing great in the church nursery with those sweet ladies and has done great on all of our travels.  She can sit up fairly well, but only for short periods before she falls over so I make sure to put pillows around or sit behind her.  She still naps well and has added a morning nap this month that is about an hour.  Her afternoon nap is about 2- 2 1/2 instead of 3, but that's ok! 


That's about it!  She's pretty easy-going and I'm so thankful for that!  Here are some recent pics...

She can put her entire foot in her mouth, but not roll over yet... crazy!

Diego would love to play with her, Sammy just stands guard...

She's been very curious about everything around her and tries to put most things in her mouth...

Getting tired of pictures, but still happy :)

Cute shoes! Couldn't resist throwing this pic in...

Holiness

Holiness... this is what we're talking about in the Friday morning bible study I attend.  To be honest if someone had asked me if I'm a "holy" person, I would have said no.  Yes, I read my bible, I go to church, I serve, I'm a faithful wife, I try to be a good friend... but holy, not so much...I guess in my mind, "holy" was always reserved for God.  However, reading through this book (Holiness: The Heart God Purifies) has begun to change my mind. 

In it, the author (Nancy Leigh DeMoss), talks about "holy" as being set apart, distinct.  Well, that's us right?  As Christians, we are called to be different, to be distinct... we are set apart by God.  Still, "holy" is a hard concept to grasp.  Today we threw around all kinds of questions like:
               1. What does holiness look like in your life?
               2. How do you become holy? and
               3. Why do we care about being holy?

Here's how I answered these questions today:
1.  I'm not sure... I definitely feel that this year has been one of extreme growth for me.  I hestitate to say this, but even while working in a church for 4 years I never experienced God as I have this year.  Part of that is because I'm focusing on what He wants for me now, not for others.  It's no longer a job with deadlines to meet and people to please, it's about my relationship with Him.  However, I still wouldn't go so far as to say that I'm suddenly "holy".   I do think that in my life, spending time with Him for myself has helped me understand so much more than before and hopefully that will lead to a "holy" life.
2. I have no idea... One lady today said that she thinks of the word "clean" when she thinks of holy.  I liked this idea.  I definitely think that God has cleaned up some areas of my life and without that cleanliness there could be no holiness. Being cleaned by God is no easy task- I can attest to that.  It means that I've really had to let Him show me areas where I struggle and then be willing to change.  I've seen those areas (especially this past year) and I can't say I've been willing to change all of them... not yet... hopefully soon... You know how in your head you know you need to change something, but you just can't wrap your heart around it?... that's where I am in some things.  It's a work in progress, but hopefully being cleaned up will lead to holiness.
3.  Well, because God says.  :)  Haha... that seems like such a simple answer, but it's true.  God actually calls us to holiness.  He actually calls us to live a life worthy of Him.  It doesn't mean a judgmental life or a "holier than thou" life.  The author says "People are supposed to be able to look at Christians and see what God is like!"  That's the truth.  I hope that when people look at me they see Christ, but I can't be certain of that all the time... I know when I've messed up and I know when I haven't given God credit....  Luckily, there is grace.  We care about being holy because God wants that for us, it's His very best.  But when we fail, there is grace.  Thank goodness!!

The author says "God is holy, and holiness is not an option for those who belong to Him."  That statement hit hard.  I guess because "holy" has always seemed so far out of reach.  Or maybe it's because I don't actually want to let go of certain sins in order to become holy.  Either way, I know it's not an option and that in order for me to grow closer to Him, I need to strive towards that holiness.

So.... I'd love some feedback on what holiness means to you, how it looks in your life and what you do to strive towards holiness.  Since all 5 of you who read this regularly are Christians, I hope you'll email me a response :) (If more than 5 people read this, then I want your responses too) :)   Don't worry, the feedback is just between you and me.  It'll be helpful because we still have 6 chapters in this book to figure out holiness and I love learning/hearing from others!!  Plus, I was honest about my answers, now it's your turn :)  I'd love the input and I know that your personal walk isn't always easy for everyone to talk about, but I'd love your honesty too.  (bparsons514@gmail.com) THANKS!

SPRING!

Well, spring has officially arrived and here on the farm it's absolutely gorgeous!  We also took some family spring pictures (to be shown in a later post) since it has been so nice out.  Here are some pics from around the farm :)


Front Gate... (There are a few more trees about the bloom and I'll try to get that picture later)... the purple is so fun though!

Barn back behind our house....

One of the many long drives.... I love the lime green colors of the leaves, they will darken up for summer, but they are so fresh and fun right now!  You can also kind of see the tiny white flower patches all over the ground...

Tree next to our house....Aren't those flowers gorgeous!?

One of the training barns....  I love the HUGE trees with their white flowers, gives such a clean feeling next to the white and red barns!

Ok, one preview of a family picture... my least favorite of the pictures, but check out the tree behind us... it's amazing!  This was taken in the horse cemetery on the farm.

I love the huge white flowering trees too...  they smell incredible as well!

Just for fun... these are a few of the many Tulips you can see all around town.  Tulips and Daffodils must be a Lexington favorite because they are everywhere.  I love it because tulips rank as one of my favorite top 3 flowers, right next to Lilies and Orchids!!  (I know, I don't like cheap flowers...) :)

There you go!  There is your spring preview.... I'm hoping this spring brings lots of fresh, new exciting changes for our family.

Sisters!- Part 3

Sunday we headed over to the Mengel's house.  These are Nick's parents, Nick is Cassidy's boyfriend.  They invited us over for a traditional Irish meal... cornbeef and cabbage.  I was a little nervous because it didn't sound like anything I'd like.  However, I was pleasantly surprised because it was REALLY good!  His parents were so sweet to have us over.  They adored Caylee and loved playing with her.  Their only grandson is exactly a month older than Caylee, but he lives in Pennsylvania.  I also met one of Nick's sisters and her husband.   Everyone was very sweet and we really enjoyed spending some time at their house! 


Caylee LOVED the ipad...  they tried to move it and she grabbed for it!  So she just hung out with Nick's sister looking through pictures and watching it.

Nick's dad loves babies :)  He was very good with her and took her outside to show her their amazing view.  They really do have a gorgeous view-- I imagine the Fall is incredible up there! 

 Nick, Cass, Me, Caylee

If it weren't sooo humid I probably could have had better hair, but it still turned out to be a pretty cute picture :)

Well, that was our weekend in St. Louis!!  We had a blast, there is so much to do there so we'll be back for more fun soon!!

Sisters!- Part 2

Saturday was St. Patrick's Day.  I have never cared or celebrated St. Patty's Day, but apparently it's a big deal in St. Louis.  So... we got all greened up and headed down to the parade.  There were tons of families and everyone was wearing green.  It was pretty fun!  Although, we missed the news the night before and the parade had been moved back 30 minutes.  We had arrived early for what we thought was the start time and by the time the parade was actually supposed to start we were bored.  We took the pictures we wanted and headed to the mall.  It's not like Caylee would have enjoyed the parade anyways.  Maybe another year we'll stay for the whole thing!

Look for the St. Louis Arch in the pics!! 

Sisters!- Part 1

This past weekend Caylee and I headed up to St. Louis to visit my sister!  This is the first time Caylee has ever been to St. Louis... not that she'll remember, I realize that.

According to mapquest it is a 5 1/2 hour drive.  Going up there I turned it into a 6 1/2 hour drive... how?  I got lost.  Here is how the conversation went....

Me: Cass, we're gonna be later than I thought because I took about a 20 minute detour.
Cass: Detour?
Me:  Ya, I got a little turned around...
Cass: How?  There is only one highway the entire way...??
Me:  That was the problem, I couldn't find the highway :) 

So... Caylee and I took a scenic route through some small Kentucky towns until we got back on track- thank goodness for GPS on the iphone!  Due to the short detour I had to stop twice for Caylee to eat.  Other than that she did great!

We stopped at 2 of these.... 

Yes, it is a truck stop.  Here's my theory though...  Pilot's are very nice truck stops and truckers themselves are usually very nice people.  Trust me, I talked to MANY of them on our stops!  I heard about all their own kids and grandkids and they told me where the next nice Pilot stop would be.  You might think I would stop at those rest areas that every state has.  NO WAY!  Never, by myself will I EVER stop at a rest stop....  I have watched too many Primtime's and Dateline's to stop there by myself with a baby and risk getting murdered in the middle of no where... :)  You will never convince me to stop at those without Matt, even with Matt I get a little nervous and make him wait outside the bathroom.  Once it was very late and there was one man there and no one else, so I made Matt come into the bathroom with me... yep, those pretty rest stops freak me out!  I much prefer Pilot's!

Anyways, we travelled through Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and finally made it to Missouri. 

Like I said, Caylee did very well on the trip.  She didn't sleep as much as I thought she would, so she did fuss a little.  I think she was more aggravated that she couldn't grasp her feet though!  Every time I looked back she was pulling herself up to get to her feet, they are so entertaining these days!  We listened to a TON of music, of course we had lots of variety...  her favorite (the cd she was most calm through) was an Allison Krause and Robert Plant cd... it was very mellow music. 

Going home we made GREAT time (I found the highway this time).  We only stopped once and made it in 5 hours and 45 minutes. 

Going Home Part 3- Random

Random parts of our trip:

1. One thing I have not mentioned yet is that while I was in Texas we sold our house. Well, technically we are still in the 10 day option period, but it looks like things will be just fine.

This is the backyard (these pics are old)... we had 2 acres!

This is the front of the house ...yes, very brown because everything was dead in Texas at that point... but look at that sky!  You won't see a blue sky like that up here!

This was our room... a work in progress, but a friend painted that verse for us and it is still on the wall.  When Matt and I first got engaged my grandma sent us a congratulations card, inside was this verse and I have loved it ever since.  (Jer 32:39)  We found out we were moving literally about 3 weeks after she painted that verse and for a going away gift she re-painted the verse on a gorgeous wooden board.  It still hangs in our house! 

It was bittersweet walking through the empty house on my visit.  I'm thrilled it sold, but I loved that house.  I know one day we'll have another house though! 

2.  While I was away it snowed in Kentucky! Of course it would choose to snow while I'm gone :)  I have been waiting all winter for a good snow to get pictures of the farm.  It's ok though because I was enjoying warmer weather and good company and STILL got the pictures I wanted thanks to Matt and a friend!  Check it out....

3. I mentioned yesterday that I didn't take pictures.  However, Sherry and Melanie took Caylee out one of the days and took some great ones!   These are my top 3 favorites!!  (Thank y'all!!)

Well, that about wraps up our trip to Texas!  We were so blessed to see so many friends, borrow a friend's car to make visits, have easy flights down and back, stay with amazing "family" and just have a nice time relaxing and catching up.  Thank you to everyone who made our trip so great!