Spring Break Week

Wow, this week has flown by! It was Spring Break this week here in Little Rock. My Mom was great, she took a week of vacation so she could come stay with Jonathan. They had a great time. They took an afternoon and went to Wonder Place. It is one of Jonathan's favorite places to go, so needless to say, he was quite excited. I met them there after work and we closed the place down! Too funny!

Warning: Potty Training Info. Below...

The next morning they began potty training. Completely her idea but we were totally down with it. The first few hours went well until going potty started interfering with his play time. We made some adjustments the next few days, but it wasn't really until this morning that we struck 'gold.' Jonathan had received some chocolate pirate treasure at Katie's birthday party a few weeks ago. So today I told him that if he stayed dry and went on the potty, he could have a piece of treasure. The right motivation does wonders. Stayed dry most of the morning. (Did have an accident at Chick-Fil-A, but hey who wants to leave the indoor playground to go potty?) And so far so good this afternoon. I've about decided he does better out of the house than in it. Who knows why? Anyway, it is definitely a process. I kept hoping maybe we'd do this overnight, but no, that would be easy! So we'll keep working on it. I'm interested to see what happens at preschool Monday. Hopefully they will work with us to keep making progress. Oh, and I have GOT to get some more of his treasure. We are running low already!!

Mark spent part of the week in Washington, D.C. He had a great time exploring the nation's capital. He flew in a little early and went to the Smithsonian American History Museum, the Holocaust Museum, and the National Archives Museum (Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, Magna Carta). The next day he was in meetings. He went out that night and saw the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, WWII Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Korean War Memorial, and the White House. He had a great time and took a bunch of great pics.

Mark went to play paint-ball this morning with some guys from church. He had a blast and according to him, didn't do half bad either! We'll see how many bruises he has tomorrow! It was a cold and wet day to play, but he had a lot of fun.

Jonathan has a field trip to the zoo on Tuesday and Heather Owens is taking Easter pics of him on Wednesday. So lots of new pics to come!

I have just been thinking about how very happy and blessed our family is, and how truly blessed we are to have Jonathan. Jonathan is growing so big every day. He is such a good helper and tries very hard to be good. He gives great big kisses and love pats while you are holding him. He loves to talk and the things he comes up with are hilarious. Both Mark and I's work is going well. We are both happy and fulfilled in what we do. We have great friends both here in LR and around the country that love, care, and pray for our family. And we have our family who has always always been there for us. Things are not perfect, and sometimes things go wrong, but I feel so at peace with our blessings and with how God is holding us in the palm of his hand. One of the verses in our Sunday School lesson last week really stood out. The gist of the verse is Calm Down and Be Quiet. Do not be afraid. I am in control. (Isaiah 7: 4). (This is a complete pharaphrase.) Now how neat is it that God said that? And how fitting to LARGE parts of my life. I keep finding things this week that completely make me think of this verse.

Also just a few praises and prayer requests...
Praise- Russ & Tenille's baby boy Will is home from the NICU. God is good.

Praise- Doris's sister's twins arrived this week happy & healthy. God is good.

Praise- Mark returned home safely from another business trip. It is always a good feeling to have him home safe and sound with us. God is good.

Request- Continue to pray for baby Annette. This is the 6 month old child of a couple we know through some other friends from Tech. She has brain & spinal cancer, very aggressive. God is in control.

Request- Jamie Burton is on bedrest with her pregnancy. She is doing her residency and I know this must be a hard time for her. God will provide.

Request- a lady and good friend at work, DeJuana, is having multiple medical problems. The doctors have been completely unable to control her blood pressure or diabetes. She also recently found out that she has numerous pituitary tumors and sleep apnea. She has been the primary caregiver for her great grandmother for many years, and she passed away about a month ago. Her stepmother also has Stage IV breast cancer which they are treating, but not aggressively. So needless to say, she is need of lots of prayers. God knows the desires of the heart.

Request- A friend from Vicksburg's little boy was born with spina bifida. He is 18 months old now, but is continuing to have numerous medical complications. Please pray for healing from these complications and peace for his parents. God will provide.

Request- Please remember as always our prayers for our little man, Jonathan. Things are going so well for him medically, but please continue to ask God for the complete healing of his little body. We go back to OKC in May. I know that is a couple of months away, but that little flicker of fear has already planted itself in my mind. I am choosing to believe in God and his healing power and doing my best to shut Satan's doubts out of mind and thoughts. Also please remember him as he tries to potty train. He is trying but he is also a very busy 2 year old with his own priorities that don't really include stopping every 45 minutes to go to the potty! God loves our little boy and is in control.

Request- Unspoken. God is in control. We will seek His will in all things.