I Hope This Won't Send Us To The ER

It's amazing how many times those words have run through my mind since becoming a mother. When Lydia was born, I was a typical first-time mom. Any fever, cough, or strange rash would leave me wondering if it was serious enough to rush down to Jackson. When Nathan was born, the fevers and coughs didn't bother me so much. I had a pretty good handle on what was normal and what wasn't. But when he became mobile...that was another story! I found myself dealing with something that had never happened with Lydia--head wounds. Lots of them. Thanks to my sweet son, we've gotten up close and personal with three different emergency rooms. Now that Lydia and Nathan can go outside by themselves to play, I find myself looking out the window, sighing, and saying to myself, "I hope this won't send us to the emergency room" at least twice a week. Sometimes it's something Lydia and Nathan are getting into on their own. Sometimes their dad is helping. Here are just a couple of those moments from the past week.







These PVC pipes are a part of Matt's unfinished irrigation project. They've provided my kids with hours of entertainment. They've also provided Lydia with a little scar under her eye! I got a little concerned when I saw this pipe bridge being constructed across the swimming pool. But, they had a great time doing whatever it was they were doing and there were no major injuries.








Ever since we got the trampoline, Lydia has been convinced that it would make a perfect place to camp. Imagine my surprise when her dad actually gave in! There were numerous ways that this trampoline camp out could have ended in disaster, but the worst thing that happened was that Matt didn't get any sleep that night.

I thank God each day as I watch my children grow. I'm amazed at the depth of their imaginations. Even if some of their "ideas" scare me to death, I'm grateful to be able to encourage their creativity.

Sharing Jesus Without Fear

At first glance, there's nothing really special about this picture. It's an average night at our house. It's getting close to bedtime and everyone is winding down from a busy day. It's the conversation that was taking place that I wanted to remember when I took the picture.

Nathan is telling his sister about Jesus. The conversation goes something like this.

"You know, we're all going to die. But Jesus, He's a real nice guy, you know. He died on the cross, but He came back to life. And when we die, you know, we can go to Heaven. And I'll be there with you..."

I have prayed for my children's salvation since before they were born. I have asked that God would make their little hearts tender towards spiritual things. Every night, we read Bible stories to them and pray with them, and I have seen their interest in the Lord and His Word grow. Have my children realized that they are sinners in desperate need of a Savior? I don't know that they have. But I am convinced that they accept everything about Jesus and His sacrificial death that they are capable of understanding. Nathan knows that Jesus loves him, and he knows that Jesus is so important that telling Lily about Him just can't wait.

Thank You, Papa!

I love my new Auburn bibs! I like my new shirt, too! Let's just hope our team is as ready for football season as I am!

Memorial Day Weekend

Last Wednesday Matt and I decided to take the kids to Missouri over Memorial Day weekend so that Lily could meet her great-grandparents and her Aunt Sharon. We knew if we didn't go this weekend, we wouldn't have another chance to see Sharon and the girls until Christmas. As soon as we decided to go, I was overwhelmed. Trips to Missouri require ALOT of packing, and that's without a new baby! I kept telling myself that it would be so much easier to just stay home! As I hurried to get things together, I remembered a conversation I once had with a dear friend from the first church that Matt pastored.
Mrs. Ruby and her husband had six daughters. When one of the girls (I'm not sure whcih) was a baby, she and her husband Leon decided to make a trip from Mississippi to California. This was before the days of disposable diapers, so they washed diapers in the motel rooms at night and hung them out the windows of the car to dry as they drove down the road the next day.

"We looked like the Joads!" Mrs. Ruby laughed as she told the story. I'm sure there were some moments on that trip that weren't very fun, but she didn't seem to remember any of them. I remember the joy on her face as she looked back what was now a wonderful memory. Mrs. Ruby was a great blessing to me during our time in Durant, and I hope that I have learned a little from her wisdom and her outlook on life. It would have been a lot easier for us to just stay home last weekend, but look at all we would have missed!

Lily's first meeting with her Great-Grandma Tracy was worth the trip! The minute we put her in Grandma's arms, her face lit up! It was also a good chance to get a picture of all the cousins with Grandma. Here she is with seven of her thirteen great-grandchildren.

Lydia and Nathan adore their Great-Grandpa Brady, and I'm sure that Lily will too. Today she didn't seem too sure about meeting another new person!

Aunt Sharon brought a slip & slide and some fun water toys for the kids to play with while they were at Grandma's. The side of the yard was a giant mudhole by the end of the day, but everyone had a great time!

Nathan has a scar just under his hairline from crashing into this birdbath when he was about 17 months old. That marked his first, but certianly not his last, trip to the emergency room. Now we stand him next to it to see how much he's grown!

Last spring, floods washed out one of the bridges across Roubidoux Creek near Grandpa Brady's farm. The kids enjoyed playing on the broken bridge and got to participate in one of their favorite pastimes--throwing rocks in the creek!

Matt unknowingly started a tradtion on our way home from his grandparent's this past Christmas when he stopped at this statue in Ravenden, Arkansas and let Lydia and Nathan get their picture made under it. They've always enjoyed looking for the big black bird as we're driving, but now they expect to stop for pictures every time we pass it!

Cousins

Some of the most fun I ever had as a child, I had with my cousin. I remember how excited I would get when I knew that Uncle Richard, Aunt Grace, and Lauren were coming for a visit. As an older child, I would call my grandparent's house several times on the day I knew they were coming, asking, "Are they here yet?" Even the most boring family reunions were fun if Lauren was there.

Even though we live several hundred miles from all of our cousins, my children have a very special relationship with them. I see the same excitement in them when they know their cousins are coming for a visit or when we are going to visit them.
"How many more days, Mom? Will they be here when we wake up? Is it tomorrow yet?"
This morning, Lydia was so anxious for Uncle Bart, Aunt Tracy, Jim & Sarah to get here that she waited at the window, watching for them with binoculars!

Jim, Lydia, & Nathan enjoyed feeding the geese and goslings at the duck pond near our house....

But Sarah was not too sure about this big gander!

Little Auburn Tiger

"Thank you for all the neat Auburn clothes, cousin Kayla. Now I just need some Auburn bibs to go with them. I wonder if they sell those at Tiger Rags? I bet I just gave my Papa a good excuse to make a trip to Auburn!"

Matt and I are committed to raising our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. I'm also committed to raising them to be good Auburn fans! War Eagle!

Gone Fishing

Disclaimer: Nathan is being disobedient in the above picture. But I took the picture anyway.

Last summer, Matt had an irrigation meter installed at our house so we wouldn't have to pay sewer charges on the water we used for the lawn, etc. After the meter was installed, he decided it would be a good idea to run a pipe all the way around the house to the backyard so we could use the irrigation meter water to fill up the kid's pool. He only made it about halfway around the yard before winter came and hasn't had much time to finish it now that spring is here. Now, I'm not complaining about this. I'm just giving a little background so you'll all know why there's a big ditch full of water in our backyard.

Nathan has been expressly forbidden to play in the ditch or with the mud pile beside the ditch. But it's hard for a little boy to stay away from a big ditch full of water. Especially a little boy who just got a new fishing pole.

Our Little Ballerina

The photos above are of Lydia getting ready for her first ballet recital. She's a skunk--one of the forest creatures of Narnia in The Lion, The Witch, and the The Wardrobe. Ballet has been a growing experience for Lydia this year. For months, she hated ballet. She didn't like having to repeat the same steps over and over again. She didn't like the stretches. Most of all, she didn't like having to FOCUS for an hour! When spring came and her class joined the older ballet classes to prepare for the recital, she found something else she didn't like: the teenage boys her teacher had recruited to play the parts of Peter and Edmund. There were quiet a few "Come to Jesus" meetings at our house over going to ballet during those weeks! It wasn't long, though, until Lydia became very insistent about going to ballet. She began to count the days until her next practice. When Tuesday would come and I reminded her it was her "ballet day," she got so excited! What changed? I'll never really know, but I think it was the realization that every monotonous stretch or boring repitition could eventually be put together to tell a fascinating story. All of a sudden, she got to be a part of something big, exciting, and fun! I've wondered in the past few days if I can learn something from my little ballerina. So many days my life feels like a repitition of the same tasks--over and over and over. I wonder at the end of the day if I've accomplished anything more than feeding children and folding laundry. But every once in a while, I look at my children and realize that, even in seemingly meaningless work, God is allowing me to be a part of three fascinating stories.

I'm proud of Lydia. Not only because she did a fantastic job at her recital, but also because she kept going through fears and frustrations to find something that she has truly loved doing.

Jumping In

Welcome to the Brady family blog! I've really enjoyed following my friends blogs over the past few months, so I decided to start one of my own. Those of you who know me well know that I am about the least tech savvy person on the planet, so blogging is going to be a learning experience for me. Even though I love our lives here in Southaven, the one thing that I miss is being close to our families. I hope that through our blog, our friends and family can be a part of our everyday lives and enjoy the ups, the downs, and the general chaos that fill our days. I can't promise that I'll be posting every day, but please check in on us occasionally. I'm looking forward to sharing our lives with you.