It's Monday....

Hi all! I hope you had fun dodging rain drops and playing in the sun's rays this weekend. It was pretty gorgeous here in between the showers. I went to my friend's birthday BBQ and we had to make a mad dash for lawn chairs and yard games as the wind whipped up and threatened to sweep it all away. It thought it was fun though - we even sat on their enclosed deck after the temperature dropped fifteen degrees in ten minutes. It seems like only in Ohio will it be near 90 degrees, humid and insufferable one minute...and within twenty minutes to an hour it's 70 something and you need a sweater.

So this last week our Abby asked Jesus to live in her heart and be her Savior. She's never actually prayed the prayer of salvation before and every time she asked about the commitment we'd tell her the basics of what would happen. She'd say something like "well I want to have Jesus live in my heart" or "he's already in my heart" and then the conversation would die down. This time she really, really wanted to go through with the prayer and all that goes with it (the baptism.) Before, it was always "I want to be a Christian but I DO NOT want to get in the water! Can I wait until I'm old to do that?" And the answer was yes. We don't believe that the act of baptism saves you, it's just an outward profession of an inward commitment, but it's also a very personal symbolic event. I remember my own baptism and get a little misty.

This whole thing really makes me realize how important my job as a role model is. She watches me day in and day out, and hears everything I say. I need to make my own faith and daily walk with Christ more visible for her and sincerely take the time to develop a prayer life with her. I think she is pretty darned mature and can handle a lot more than I give her credit for. Scott and I both have the awesome privilege of showing her what a real, working relationship with Christ is and it's gonna mean a lot more effort on our part, which is a great thing in itself. I'm excited to see how this changes us all!! So, if you're a praying person, keep us all lifted up and especially our Abby as she takes this step of obedience and accepts the best gift she'll ever receive.

Zachary has his first playdate with Gramma Baker tomorrow. So she and Papaw will need our prayers too. *tongue in cheek* But hey, don't forget...Gramma Baker raised Zach's father so she's no stranger to all the Baker Boy antics. She self-admittedly does NOT have the energy she use to though, so she'll probably need a shot of whiskey and a big nap to recover.
I gotta tell you, as I type this, Abby is desperately trying to get Zach to poop on the potty. She REALLY wants to have the party I keep telling Zach we'll have if he does it.

Miss Lilly's big news is that she's basically forgotten about my mammies. It's been three days since I've nursed and while I enjoy the freedom, a teeny, tiny back corner part of my heart is a little bit sad. Not sad that my breasts won't leak all over my shirts. Not sad that my boobs aren't going to be engorged or have mastitis again. Not sad that a baby won't be crunching down on my nipples with sharp, jagged, bony teeth, sending me shooting off of the couch again. Not sad that I have to be concerned with what I'm eating/drinking because it might be passed on to a baby. Nope...not sad about any of that. I AM a little bit sad that I won't have a warm, smooshy face against my breast. I'm a liiittle sad that the beautiful part of nourishing my child with the best that is available to her will be over. I'm a tiiiidbit sad that my baby is growing up and I cannot freeze her in this most adorably cute stage. But overall, I have to say, I did a very good job nursing all three children and did it for as long as comfortably possible for us. I leave this stage of our relationship behind with full knowledge that I did what was best for us and look forward to the future. Scott, for one, will certainly be happy that he can touch them without worrying about getting dripped on. And that's another bonus for me too!!