Teacup Story

There was a couple who loved to visit England and shop in the beautiful stores. They both liked antiques and pottery, especially tea cups. One day in a tiny shop they saw an exquisite tea cup. "Oh! May we look at that one?" they asked. "We've never seen one quiet that beautiful." As they lady handed it to them, suddenly the tea cup spoke.

"I haven't always been a tea cup, you know. There was a time when I was raw, ugly clay. But my master picked me up, molding me and squeezed me over and over until I cried out 'Let me alone!' But he only smiled 'Not yet.'

"Then he placed me on a wheel," the tea cup continued, "and suddenly I was spun around and around 'Stop it! I'm getting dizzy!' I screamed. But the master said, 'Not yet.'

"Next he put me in the oven. I never imagined such heat. I wondered why he wanted to incinerate me and I yelled and knocked at the door. I could see him through the window and I could read his lips as he shook his head, 'Not yet.'

"Finally the door opened. He took me out of the oven and put me onto the shelf to cool. 'There, that's better," I breathed. But my relief didn't last very long, because the next thing I knew, he was brushing me and painting me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. 'Stop it stop it,' I begged. He only nodded, 'Not yet.'

"Then suddenly he put me back into the oven, but this was much worse than the first time. This time the oven was twice as hot and I know that I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. All the time I could see him through the opening shaking his head saying, 'Not yet.'

"Then I realized there was no hope, I would never make it. I was ready to give up. At that moment, the door finally opened and he took me out and set me gently on the shelf. Then, an hour later he handed me a mirror and said, 'Now look at yourself.'

"Curiously I peered into the mirror gasped at my reflection, 'That's not me!' I exclaimed. 'It can't be me! It's beautiful!' 'I want you to understand,' he said, 'that I know how much it hurt to be molded and shaped, but if I had stopped you would have dried into an ugly lump of clay. I know that is made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I stopped you would have crumbled. I know that it hurt and it was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there you would have had no strength. I know that the fumes were terrible when I brushed and painted you, but if I hadn't done that you would not have reached your potential, nor would you have developed your own beautiful character. And if I hadn't put you back into the oven the second time, you would have eventually leaked and your color would have faded away. But now you are strong, beautiful teacup fir for use at the finest table."

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.

1 Peter 4:12-13

Prayer Request

Well our MOPS coordinator is not doing it next year and she is looking for someone to take her place. Basically if nobody steps up to do it there will be no MOPS and it is a really great thing especially here in a military community. ALL of my friends are people I have met through MOPS so it would make me really sad for it not to continue. Well, nobody has showed any interest in doing it. I have been kinda thinking about it but not really sure if I want to take on any responsibilities. Yesterday at Sunday school we were talking about basically you can not do EVERYTHING just because you can. You need to do the things that God is calling you to do. If you are doing 5 different things then not a single one of them is getting the best of you so the things that God is calling you to do suffer because you are doing a million other things. So basically it got me thinking I need to stop thinking about if it is something that I want to do and figure out if it is something that God is calling me to do. It is hard for me to know when God is telling me something or my own mind is telling me so just pray for guidance for me and figuring out what God wants me to do.

My crazy silly boy...

Man Aidan just cracks me up sometimes with some of the things he does...

So some kids have a special stuffed animal they have to have to go to sleep with, well Aidan just has to have something, it does not matter what it is. Usually when I am getting him to sleep he just grabs the nearest toy and his milk/water cup but last night there was nothing around except the box of wipes so he grabbed that and hugged it for dear life. I could not get it away from him until he was completely passed out.

Just a few minutes ago I decided I needed to go check on Aidan because it was VERY quiet and he was in the den. There is nothing in the den really yet so I was just letting him hang out in there and play figuring that he couldn't get hurt and I was enjoying a few minutes of quiet. Well when I decided that it was a little TOO quiet I went in there and him and Beau were having quite some fun... He got a bottle of syrup from the fridge and was pouring it onto this little table in there and Beau was licking it up. At least Beau did most of the cleaning it up!

Sophia Lynn Baker

I am so excited! It took a little while for it to actually set in... Im getting my daughter!!! It worked out so perfectly I really wanted to have a boy and girl and I would not have had it any other way. It is so odd that with Aidan I was POSITIVE he was going to be a girl and this time I was POSITIVE that I was going to have a boy. Apparently I do not have the best intuition haha. The one drawback.... I think I am going to go bankrupt! I have spent so much time "window" shopping online its ridiculous. There are just so many cute outfits for baby girls! I let myself buy one little dress and pair of shoes but I keep telling myself I can't buy anything else until after my baby shower because I know I will get more than enough little outfits to last her a while.... It isn't too hard to stop myself from shopping now since all we have here is Walmart but once I get to CA this summer it is going to be HARD!

It's a....

GIRL!!!!!!!

Park Pictures

Aidan Update

Yesterday at school Aidan was running around in the gym and not watching where he was running and ran smack into something :( Poor baby! They said he only cried for less than a minute and was up and running again... such a boy!

There is so much to talk about that I don't even know what to say. He is doing great at "school" and learning so much. Lately he has been OBSESSED with cows, it is so funny. He walks around yelling "COW!" and he pulls a chair over to the window and looks into the backyard yelling cow. He knows the two places we drive past that cows are usually out and if there are not out he says Cow, cow, where are you?"

Also he is doing great with colors and shapes. He knows circle, star, diamond, and he sometimes knows triangle but other times he just calls it a star lol. Oh yes and he also knows moon shapes. Colors he knows are: blue, green, yellow, purple, pink, we are working on the rest still. Also he knows most of his body parts. He knows: head, eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, knees, toes and ears.

One thing he is not doing to great on is the potty training. He was doing amazing at first and is going downhill. He has also become very clingy to me when I take him to school. He is fine once I am gone but he hold onto me for dear life and tries to climb me when I drop him off. I think maybe he is starting to understand about the baby coming more than I thought.

OB Appointment

I am 16 weeks and 2 days! Here is what a baby looks like at this stage. It obviously is not my baby, I wish I could see a pic like this of my baby!!!

So I had my second OB appointment today and Aidan and Rob actually got to come and hear the babies heartbeat too! I was happily surprised that I have only gained 2 lbs so far so I am right on track for weight. I was really worried I had gained more because I feel SUPER fat right now. I can not wait till it looks like a baby belly and not a beer belly so I can post pictures!!!

My ultrasound that I did a few weeks ago verified my due date of August 22. And I got to schedule my next one (the gender one) for April 8. I can't wait!!! I am so excited because my mom and Rob and Aidan will all get to be there when we find out the sex!!!! I am be so happy either way as long as the baby is healthy but I really just want to know what I am having right now!!!! I hate calling the baby "it" and I want to be able to say "he" or "she" or even pick a name!!!

When the doctor was listening for the heartbeat we could hear the baby kick over and over and over again. It was so cool to hear it even though I can't feel it yet. It made me really anxious to be able to feel it though but it seemed like this baby is very active so I might be regretting that when the babies action is keeping me awake all night!