Aylin - 16 months

Wow, it's really hard to believe that my baby girl is so not a baby any more! She will be 16 mos. old next Saturday... Jeff and I are constantly commenting on how amazing she is, and how fun it is to watch her learn and grow, and develop this awesome little personality. She is a spunky little goober. So full of energy and fun! She also has a lovely little temper... but don't all kids come into that at this age? (please tell me they do, and this is only a phase!)

Aylin has been walking pretty much full time since about 13 - 13 1/2 months. Once she figured it out, she didn't go back to crawling hardly at all. She's also gotten to running in the last couple of months now that she's steady on her feet (most of the time). She also has started in the last month or so to climb on things. We made the mistake of leaving too many things close enough together one day that she could climb high enough to get on a kitchen chair. We left my kitchen foot stool next to a cooler, which was next to a kitchen chair facing backwards to the table. She climbed on each and was playing with things on the table. She has this mischievous grin, too, when she knows she is into something she shouldn't be. Once she makes eye contact with you she'll grin and shake her head no and either act like she wasn't doing it, or continue on. Depending on if she thinks you are going to stop her or not.

She's talking some. Most of it we just don't understand yet. But she talks A LOT! The things we DO understand are: Mama, Dada, Si-Side (Outside), Bi-ee (Bite), HIIiieeee (Hi!!), Nonon (No), Ni-ni (night-night), Sock, Caaa (Car), Bu-Bu (Bye-bye), 'S Dat (What's that?), and LOTS of pointing and grunting and shaking of the head! :D She also does this cute thing when she wants to watch Veggie Tales. She'll point at the TV and go Buh-buh-buh-buh! She LOVES the songs especially, in any movie really. She likes to boogie!

We've found that even though she LOVES bath time, she does NOT like pools... We spent some time at Aunt Kris & Uncle Brad's place in Dallas Memorial Day weekend to welcome Bradley back home from his tour of duty, and Aunt Kris has a nice pool. She even got some fun things like a floating baby seat, and all kinds of floaty toys. Aylin wanted NOTHING to do with them, and wouldn't stay in the water for more than a few minutes and that was being held by mommy or daddy. She didn't even want to think about sitting in the floaty seat. Oh well. I still think I might try to get a little kiddie pool and see what she does with it. She likes to play with water, especially when it's the dogs water dish. We shall see...

We've recently been introduced to bubbles, and sidewalk chalk. She loves to chase the bubbles, and we mostly just pound the chalk to death. But hey, it's chalk... and it's cheap. She can get it all over the place and mash it to pieces and it's all good. :)

She's still a tiny little booger. At her 15 month apt she was between the 15th - 25th percentile. She was right around 26 lbs (I think, can't remember exactly). She's a bean pole. :D When she wears disposable diapers the 12 month pants that are right for length, are too baggy for her little waist! They'll fall right off of her if they don't have an adjustable elastic on the inside of the pants. And for this I can be grateful, because at least for now she stays in clothes longer than other kids do. There are still some 9 month onesies she can wear! Her feet are the same way, itty bitty! She is in a size 3 these days. Which if you look, that means 6-9 month size... supposedly.

Changing gears ... Work has been tough for me lately. There has been a lot going on, and going wrong. So it has required a lot more from me than I really want to give. A lot of times it consumes me, and I have a really hard time leaving it at the office. It's a catch-22, because I feel like I'm missing out at home because I've got so much going on at work. But then because I'm so worried about what I might be missing out at home I end up maybe not giving work my all. So neither one gets what they really need. Like I said, it's been really hard and I'm trying to find some balance.

Where we go from here, only time will tell and God knows. I'm ready for something new. Bring it on.

Aylin 12 months

So this blog is slightly late... and I haven't posted sine Christmas. :) So i'll do the best I can to fill in the gaps.

Aylin had a fabulous 1st birthday. She got all kinds of fun stuff from the family. We got a big girl car seat, lots of fun bath toys, clothes, shoes, we also got her portraits done on her birthday. Which turned out wonderfully! We got some great pictures, that captured a glimpse of that great personality she's got. :D We also enjoyed hanging out at Nana's for our birthday celebration, and got to enjoy a cupcake! At first she stuck a finger in the frosting, and looked up at me like "Eeewww, Momma what did you give me?" the I put that finger in her mouth and that was all it took. She went to town, demolished and consumed almost the entire cupcake. And since mom and dad weren't thinking about the time, and the effects of sugar, we all ended up staying up until after 10pm (she started on the cupcake around 6:45 after dinner). We also got lots of great pictures from that fun event. Then she was promptly tossed (not literally) into the bathtub at Nana's, because she was a MESS!

She is on the verge of walking. 2 days ago she took 2 big steps free of help from Nana's coffee table to the couch. Then did the same thing that night at home. That seems to be the max for now, is a step or 2 on our own. Then we plop down on our butt and crawl off. She is SUPER fast at crawling, she can zoom across the house in no time. She'll race you to the dog food, or to anywhere she knows she isn't supposed to be. And probably some place you just took her away from. She keeps her daddy hopping during the day. Thankfully the weather lately has been lovely. So they have been able to get out in the sunshine and play some. She wasn't too sure about crawling in the grass at first (probably partly because it's dry and harsh feeling because it's not the new spring grass yet). But she loves to "throw" the ball for the dogs. She can't throw it far, but she loves it when they get all worked up and bark.

She "talks" a LOT. She doesn't know many words yet, we're limited to mama, dada, no or na (NO), nie-nie (night-night) and sometimes she associates beda (Bela), and sometimes I could swear she's saying "HEY!" she also does a gurgly hiss sound whenever she see's a cat! The rest is just gibber jabber, but it's super cute, and a lot of fun to listen to. She also occasionally yells at us... which is interesting. Not sure what to do with that yet, because she doesn't really understand yet that she's not supposed to yell at momma and daddy.

We currently have 5 teeth, and are working on #6 (and possibly 7). She has top and bottom middle two, and her right eye tooth, and working on the left eyetooth. Also under the gums and possible soon to come is the next after the eye tooth on the right side. Makes for an awfully cute little grin!

She's 100% on whole milk now (Praise God we don't have to buy formula any more!!!!!) the transition wasn't too bad. She mostly takes it well once it's warmed up. She is also eating a lot of table food now. She always eats table food at dinner time, weather it's what we are having, or something a little more kid-with-little-to-no-teeth friendly. She loves pancakes, stuffing, sweet potatoes, mixed veggies, mashed potatoes, bread, biscuits, crossants, fruit, cheese, eggs, rice, bits of pizza and pizza crust, and last night she got her first taste of chicken nuggets! We're trying to get creative with things that we can make that she can eat. So i got some of the chicken nuggets that are fully cooked and are "ground meat formed into nuggets"... perfect for a little munchkin. We also got some mac-n-cheese, baked beans, and easy rice dishes. We'll see how it all works out.

We had to go through a cry it out phase to get her sleeping at night. She got to be more and more difficult to get down at night, and no amount of cuddling, rocking, bottle, or anything else would get her down easily. So a few nights of crying it out and sure enough, we're sleeping easily (most nights). Except for when those teeth are cutting thru, and then we have a rough time. But over all we're sleeping good these days... like last night the house got 9 1/2 to 10hrs of sleep! WaHOO!

Aylin got to have her 1st crafty experience last weekend. She was bored, and we didn't have anything to resolve the bordom, so I got a piece of paper, and taped it to her highchair tray, and gave her 2 crayola washable markers. She went to town, absolutely loved it. Of course she put the markers in her mouth, and got them all over herself... But that's why they're non-toxic, and washable!

She also had her 1st park experience w. daddy, Aunt Laura, and Gentry on Friday afternoon. She got to swing on the swings, and LOVED IT (so sad I missed it tho...) Jeff got a really great picture mid air of her face, and it's priceless! Wasn't too sure what to think about the slide yet. But I'm sure that will become more fun as time goes by.

We have been so blessed by family and friends over the last few months. We are so thankful for each and everyone of you in our lives. These last few months have been rough, but I can't imagine what life would be like without the help and love of each and everyone of you. Thank you for your prayers and support. We love you all.

The Melton Clan

Aylin - 10 months, 1st Christmas & New Year

At 10 months Aylin is ALL OVER the place. The start of crawling at 9 months opened the floodgates for all kinds of mobility. She started pulling up on furniture hardly a week after she started crawling. Now she's all over the house. She gets quite angry when she's confined to the living room with a baby gate and she has her sights on somewhere else in the house. She heads straight for the dog food, or a cord of any kind if it's in sight. She's starting to get the hang of standing on her own. Just today she pulled up on my leg and let go and stood there for about a minute before she flapped her arms, excited about something and then lost her balance and plopped down on her butt. I don't think it will be too terribly long before she's testing out walking!

She also eats table food pretty regularly now. It still isn't a huge part of her diet, but she wants to try big girl food any time Jeff & I are eating. So after she's had her afternoon bottle and baby food. She also gets to have table food while we eat dinner. I think it's more about her wanting to do what momma and daddy are doing than anything. But it's good for her to learn how to handle the new tastes and textures. She gets to eat almost everything we have for dinner, unless it's stuff that she really needs teeth for. She really loved the turkey pot pie over biscuits we had the other night. All kinds of yummy noises (lip smacking, NOM NOM, MMMs, and excited squeals)!!

Christmas Morning! We had to wake Aylin up (probably one of the only years for many to come that we will have to do that!). Once we all got breakfast (and momma finished wrapping a few toys) we piled all of Aylin's toys into the living room. At first the un-wrapping was fun, and we wanted to eat all of the paper. But we soon got bored with it so momma had to help. We also wanted to play with each toy we opened if you could see the toy from the box around it. So it was a slow un-wrapping process, but we had lots of fun. She received all sorts of fun clothes and more cloth diapers! She also got LOTS of fun toys. In no particular order she got: a Vtech sit to stand walk behind toy, A Giant soft teddy bear, a Busy Activity Center Cube, a Leap Frog Learn & Groove music activity table, A Ball Popper, Veggie Tales movies, Winnie the Pooh movie, a Shapes & Colors Farm, a Juke Box music toy, and probably other's that I am forgetting because they are all strewn about the house! :D The child is not lacking in things to keep her occupied.

For Aylin New Years Eve wasn't anything much different from a regular day. However after being down to bed for an hour she woke up wailing. Our only thought is that something scared her. It took about 10 minutes of momma and daddy both trading off trying to calm her down. She was quite histerical. Once she finally calmed back down then we were wide awake (at 10pm) and wanted to play. So she stayed up for another 30 minutes or so when she started crashing again and went back to bed.

Jeff & I stayed up until midnight-ish being nerds, watching TV and surfing the inter-webs. I enjoyed a little champagne and made a cream cheese cheese ball & taco salad. This year we actually made it to midnight, where last year my pregnant body couldn't make it. :)

I am curious to see what this year has in store. Where will God lead us? What new things will we experience? A few things we are looking forward to: Aylin's 1st birthday, Our 5th wedding anniversary, Brad & Kristi's wedding, just to name a few...

Sometimes God Chooses To Work In The Ordinary Too

A friend shared this story with me, and it touched me.

~Kristina

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GOD WORKS IN THE ORDINARY

He [God] Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).

A devout Christian heard an urgent news report on his radio that a flash flood was within minutes of entering the peaceful valley where he lived. Immediately he went to his knees and prayed for safety. The words were still on his lips when he became aware that water was gushing under his door. He retreated to the second floor and finally onto the roof of his house.

While he sat on the roof, a helicopter flew by and the pilot asked over the loudspeaker if they could lift him off.
“It’s not necessary since I have the Lord’s protection,” he replied.

Moments later the house began to break up and he found himself clinging to a tree. A police boat, braving the waters, approached him for rescue, but he assured them that the Lord would save him. Finally, the tree gave way and the man went to his death.

Standing before the Lord, he asked, “Lord, I’m glad to be here, but why didn’t You answer my prayer for safety?”

The Lord responded, “Son, I told you over the radio to get out of there Then I sent you a helicopter and a motor boat!”

Nowhere in the Bible are we given the idea that God works only in the extraordinary. Much of the time He supernaturally works through His created order. Many people think God is present only when there is a miracle and that He leads only through signs and wonders.

There are people who always look for a sign. They walk by sight, not by faith. To them, God is only present in the miraculous. God was “really” at the church service if something unusual happened. Many desire and look for “visitations” from God.

But how does that square with God’s omnipresence and the fact that He will never leave us or forsake us?
Isn’t God at every church service? Since God created the fixed order of the universe, would you expect Him to work primarily within that fixed order or outside of it? If God gave us a watch, would we be honoring Him more by asking Him what time it is or by simply consulting the watch?

Lord, forgive me for looking for signs when I only need to trust Your Word and live by Your promises.

Christmas Ramblings

The wind howls outside, wildly blowing the snow back to the north, whence it came. It plays to my mood this Christmas Day. Over the last few years, the Lord has seen fit to lead Kristina and I ever more deeply into a hand-to-mouth existence. It's a lifestyle I thought I left behind when I moved back to the Ozarks from Oregon. This poverty of circumstance — as it did when I lived in Portland — accompanies a season of personal, spiritual and emotional growth.

Yet as hard as times are, I know the Savior was born into far bleaker circumstances than those in which Kristina and I now find ourselves. He was brought screaming, naked and cold into an awkward social standing and a political maelstrom that literally threatened His life. In context, the story reminds me that my Father's promises don't include comfort, wealth, or the kind of stability I sometimes crave. It's a reminder I often need, if one is to judge by the frequency with which I hear it. "I'll say it again — it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!"

So He has laid waste to my life again, because that's what it takes to get my attention. I'm disgusted by the conspicuously-displayed wealth of my brethren, yet am chastened for my ugly jealousy. I'm broken by my inability to provide gifts for my beloved wife and beautiful daughter, yet the generosity our families continue to shower on us brings me to tears. Just when Kristina and I think we can't take any more, Christmas comes along to tell us that not only did the Son survive far worse, but that He has provided the escape route from our spiritual poverty. Christmas, then, turns my eyes all the more urgently to Easter. The two are inseparable. They must be so, for without one, the other is meaningless.

That may not seem terribly joyous or hopeful, but indeed, "the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow, a light has shined."

Come, Lord Jesus. May Your children all be so fortunate as we have been this Christmas season.

Aylin 9 months

Aylin is now 9 months!

Over the last 2 months, Aylin struggled with an ear infection for 5 consecutive weeks. That was a struggle for the whole family. In the 5^th week we learned that Aylin was allergic to penicillin. She woke up one morning with a rash, that throughout the day, turned into a full on case of hives. Thankfully the hives didn't seem to bother her. After that though the ear infection seemed to clear up, and – knock on wood – we haven't seen any more evidence of it.

She also has stared full on crawling. The kid is all over the place! Once she started crawling, we couldn't stop there, it was even more exciting to pull up on things! So she is into EVERYTHING. But having a blast. Nothing in our house is safe any more! Not even (or maybe especially) the critters!

She's also started to eat some table foods. Around Halloween she got to have her first real sweet potatoes, stuffing, and a roll. Then for Thanksgiving she got to have mashed potatoes, green beans, and a roll. She also got to have her very own pancake (sans the butter and syrup!) last weekend when I made pancakes for breakfast. She LOVES table food. Partly because she loves anything she can do for herself, and partly because it's something new and exciting.

She is now also exclusively on formula. With the lovely ear infections she wasn't taking much milk because of the pressure that sucking puts on the ear drums. So my supply continued to decline. Once she was recuperated from the ear infections and eating better, my supply did not return.

It is so amazing to watch her learn and grow. She is such a joy! She was a Tiger for Halloween, and I took her up to the office to show her off. She loved seeing all of the people at the office. Then we spent some time at Nana's and got to see Uncle Brad & Aunt Kris. It was good to see Bradley while he was home for a bit. We recently enjoyed going to see the lighting of the Bentonville Square for Christmas. We've been getting to spend lots more time with Nana (Adrienne), Aunt Laura, Aunt Melinda, and Granny (Virginia). They take care of Aylin when Jeff has work. She's been having a blast there, and loves to show off for the ladies. We also got to go to the cabin out on the farm and hang out with the Harrison gang for most of the day yesterday. She decided she didn't like the sound of the 4-wheelers, but generally everything else was good. She loved her Papa Joe's toasted bread from the grill.

My new job has been keeping me very busy. I've been in classes pretty much for the last 8 weeks since I first started. I am finally done with classes, and now get to try my hand at actually doing my job! The more I get into the job, the more I enjoy it. But there are still many days that I feel I am in way over my head. I am hoping that will pass as I get more confidence with what I'm doing on a day to day basis. It does frustrate me though when I have to stay late because it takes me longer to finish things than I would like. Then those frustrations turn into distractions because all I can think about is my family at home and how i'm missing out. Those are things I will have to learn to work with, and figure out how better to handle both sides of.

I am praying that one day soon my life won't feel like such a whirl wind, and that maybe I'll be able to feel like I can stop and more fully enjoy what's happening. Because these days I feel like I am jumping from one thing to the next without being able to stop and take a breath in between.

We didn't have to, but we did anyway.

The internet monk had a blog post this week, dealing with "cohabitation". That subject is one that's very sensitive to Kristina and me, so I thought I'd drop a little blog post on it.

The church response to our relationship status was the straw that broke the camel's back with me and Kristina going to church. We were attending a church in Fayetteville, to remain unnamed because I still have a few friends involved there. The small group of which we were a part was looking for a new host. We offered up our place, but the leaders chose to disband the group rather than meet in our home. The reason? We were living together unmarried.

We were imperfect followers of Christ then, as we are now. We got married. A few years later, we had a kid. We're happy together now, as we were then. In March, we will have been married five years. We've had some rough times, but the grace and peace of Christ continues to reign, lead, and provide for us. Kristina and I knew that the situation we were in wasn't ideal. We were seeking to know Jesus better, and to know each other better, and recognizing our weaknesses and the realities of our respective pasts, we did so as best we could.

The philosophical and moral arguments about cohabitation aren't really relevant here.

The point here is that the Gospel rejects no one. No one. A Gospel-embracer trusts Jesus to effect the work of redemption. Until we as a body of believers embrace that, we will continue to be a proud and stiff-necked generation.

Click through to see the internet monk's original post here.