Click through to watch video.

In the video clip from Resurgence above, Mark Driscoll interviews Randy Alcorn on the connection between the birth control pill and abortion. This was certainly not explained to me by my doctor or any of the Christian marriage books we read when we were first married. This is of course not an all-inclusive teaching on the subject of family planning, but it's a good conversation starter.

Meanwhile, we are adding another arrow to our quiver. This little one is due to arrive sometime around March 11th. Kaelem went with us to the ultrasound appointment today and was fascinated by the baby in me. He surprised us on the way in the door to the hospital by saying he remembered eating cookies there with his friend Clara when Quincy was born. Crazy how some things stick out to him. He is confused though that this baby is not Quincy. He’s also confused about how the baby got in me in the first place. “You don’t eat babies!” he told me.

Little man Quincy had to get his one year shots today. Oh I hate seeing their little faces when the needle comes out! He didn’t cry for too long though. I was not surprised to see that he’s grown. These days he eats double what Kaelem eats  I’m uploading his growth chart so you can see how his weight has wobbled in the last year. He didn’t grow very much  between months 4-6. This was the time of his horrible skin rash/yeast infection. I’m so thankful that is better now! He was off the chart skinny then, and now is up to 10th percentile for weight at 20 pounds. He’s in the 25th percentile for height.

Some things he can do:

• Make signs for “drink”, “up” and “more”. To him, “more” also means “eat.”
• Crawl backwards down the stairs. He just learned today!
• Loves peek-a-boo.
• Still loves laughing at Kaelem’s antics.
• He’s in the exploring stage. Toys aren’t nearly as fun as kitchen things.
• He has four teeth! They all came in within a week before and after his birthday!
• He can drink out of a cup. This is really fun for him. I give him a teeny bit of water in a lidless kiddie cup at meals and he grasps it with two hands and can sometimes drink it without spilling. He also frequently asks for my water cup.
• He holds our hands semi-quietly during prayer before meals. This is quite a breakthrough. He used to scream during this time.
• He is still walking while holding on to the furniture. He hasn’t yet gotten the nerve to let go. I think we’ll start practicing that more. He can also walk holding onto a walker, such as the umbrella stroller or toy truck with tall handle.
• He still sucks his left thumb to go to sleep. I love when he snuggles in to me and smells my shirt to fall asleep. At least, I love it when his nose isn’t snotty.

So, we’re thrilled with all his accomplishments. I remember being really sad with Kaelem at this age because he was moving away from being a baby, but for some reason with Quincy I’m more happy to see him growing up! Not that I want to rush it. I just don’t feel as nostalgic about the process, I guess. Maybe because I know more of the other sweet and precious things to come?

If you’re not sure what to think about the Ground Zero Mosque issue…start with reading this post by Douglas Wilson and while you’re there go ahead and subscribe to his blog. Then, go read everything in the Bible about the Kingdom of Heaven coming to earth, all the nations worshiping Jesus, and every tongue confessing he is Lord.

What do you think? Should America be a Christian nation? The way Iraq is a Muslim nation? Should Iraq be a Christian nation?

Even though I didn’t take any of these pictures, and wasn’t around for most of them, I thought I’d post some pictures of our week at JAM Camp last week with the junior highers at church. To get the real scoop on what JAM Camp is all about, you can read Steph’s account here.

Our mornings included cabin clean-up check. Cabin clean-up was also a time for campers to earn points for their teams based on cleanliness (obviously) and adherence to theme. A theme was given each day and some cabins chose to decorate their spaces accordingly. Most days, bribes (see above) were offered to the judges.

JAM Camp is the camp of traditions:
Death Ball. The kids run around throwing this this huge ball at each other.

Flour War. The kids run around throwing balls of flour at each other.

Shaving Cream War. The kids run around throwing shaving cream at each other.

And, lakings. The kids run around throwing each other in the lake. This is Pastor Travis with a “10″ for artistic dive.

Kaelem had a grand time at camp. Yesterday at the dinner table he asked us, “Do you remember JAM Camp? That was fun!”

One of the things he LOVED doing was mini-golf. We played every day and even a couple junior high boys came to play with him.

The boys also had fun with friend Ava.

But I think she had her eye on Quincy most of the time.

It was a jam-packed week, (hehe) and we were glad to get home and rest in something other than bunk beds. Kaelem is still playing with the suitcases and pretending he is on a trip. However, I think we’re done with our trips for the summer, maybe.

Here are the belated Quincy birthday pictures I promised in the last post.

“Wild One” at his birthday dinner.

This hat had a band to keep it on.

One of his many squincy faces.

High five!

Yippee it’s my birthday!

Yep, the hat is still there.

This is the “before” shot of his special birthday cupcake. That gloppy mess is a fish.

And then he ate every bite of it.

It was quite the mess.

This is a little boy in a sugar coma. Good thing this is only once a year!

That frosting was like finger-paint. But, he loved it. That’s just one of the  differences between Quincy and Kaelem. Kaelem can’t stand ickyness.

He had a quick bath…and then opened some gifts, the puppy and cute hat.

Thank you to everyone who helped make his day special! Quincy, we love you so much!

Happy Birthday Quincy! We’re celebrating Quincy’s 1st birthday over three days. Yesterday, was his actual day, so we went out to eat at Buffalo Wild Wings for the $.60 boneless wings. Funny, it’s not the first place you’d think to go for a baby/toddler’s birthday…but he liked the food and Kaelem had a blast with the extreme sports on t.v. and the arcade nearby, so we all had a good evening.

Today, he opened presents. He received a Bible story dvd collection from his great-grandparents, some touchy feely books and birthday money from grandparents, The Very Hungry Caterpillar boardbook from Kaelem (he picked it out himself), and the egg toy in the pictures from us. I saw the egg toy on Amazon and thought it was so cute! There are so many details, the little chicks squeak, the shell faces can be matched with the chick faces, and the shaped bottom shells can be matched to the shapes in the bottom of the carton. Quincy rarely plays with toys and much rather prefers anything that is mine, however, he was very concentrated on these little eggs for probably 20 minutes. Kaelem too enjoyed all of Quincy’s gifts and, I noticed, later tried to hide the eggs in his castle.

His cake-eating is tomorrow evening. We’ll post more pictures of the birthday boy this weekend!

When I was a kid, I remember doing three things during summer: swimming, baseball, and watching t.v. We didn’t take a regular family vacation or attend summer camp at church or any other art classes, band trips, etc. So, summers were long. Or, it could be that it was just southern Alabama and summers are long and hot regardless of how you spend them. I was reminded again of what heat feels like when our van’s a/c blew out in Montgomery, with five hours left of our trip in a climate that reaches 93 degrees before 10am. Thankfully though, Alabama summers also have regular afternoon rainstorms, so we were able to get some spritz to cool us off while driving.

Anyway, we had a great time with my extended family last week at a lake house in northern Alabama and then still more relaxing at my parents’ home in Mississippi. The hardest part, of course, was getting there and back, but it was well worth the effort. Plus, there was swimming, baseball, and t.v.

Some highlights:

• The cold pool at the lake house.
• The fast slide at that pool.
• Swimming with Quincy in the middle of the lake while the boat was anchored.
• Screaming on the jet ski with Jed.
• Having our fill of Chick-Fil-A’s spicy sandwich.
• Lots of naps.
• Eschatology conversations.
• Sleeping in.
• Seeing David play right field with his church team.
• Watching Veggie Tales Lord of the Beans (twice) on dad’s new big screen.

I put lots of pictures on facebook as well as pictures of our church family camp. But, here are my top favorite pictures from both trips.

Kaelem either steering or drumming in the kayak in mom and dad’s backyard.

Quincy checking out the new t.v.

Father and son at family camp with favorite hats.

I love how Quincy always smiles back at me while he’s being carried by Daddy.

That’s a thousand words.

(It’s VBS week!)

Blueberries! With a little curl on top.

He asked for white pancakes. (The OPH put powdered sugar on his birthday pancakes, so he wanted that again.)

A new favorite puzzle.

Actually, that is his happy face.

And because it’s a really busy week…a stock photo of our new wheels. My first minivan!

Thank you for all the time and effort you spent in teaching us the way of the righteous. We love you!

1Blessed is the man

who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked

or stand in the way of sinners

or sit in the seat of mockers.

2But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

3He is like a tree planted by streams of water,

which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither.

Whatever he does prospers.

4Not so the wicked!

They are like chaff

that the wind blows away.

5Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked will perish.

Note on the video: He was almost finished when be became distracted. It was bedtime after that. He’s been camera giddy every since, so we haven’t been able to capture the complete recitation.