Me Using My "New Media"

Check out this article: http://www.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/apostle-urges-students-to-use-new-media

In light of it, I'm going to sound off! I do not listen to the Rick and Bubba Morning Show on the radio, mostly because they are annoying. But Adam, however, likes to listen to them--that is, he DID like to. So as if I needed one more reason to not listen, here it is and SHAME ON THEM!

It all started one morning (or so I hear) when Adam is on his way to work. He, as usual, is listening to the show and hoping his boss is in a good mood today and that no machines are going to go haywire. The show reaches the topic of the presidential election and potentional president-elect Mitt Romney and thus the church that we and Mitt Romney belong to, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I'm not sure what all was said exactly, but I don't have to. I know that a lot of it was false and that something was said about us not being Christians. Well, we are. Rick, Bubba, Christian World, we too are Christians! We love the Lord and know that His suffering and death was for all of us. So there, now you've heard. Also refer to the NAME of our church as it bears the very name of Jesus Christ. And please remember--you wouldn't go to your P.E. teacher to learn how to write a research paper so please, don't go to the member of another religion (friend, website, preacher, morning show, etc.) to find out about Mormons. Go to the website www.lds.org or www.mormon.org or ask your Mormon friend. Lesson #1--"Mormon" is just a nickname probably from someone who isn't. We prefer to be called "LDS" for Latter-Day Saint.

So I'm hopping down from my soapbox now and hope we've all learned something. ;-)

Lake Charles, Here We Come!

Adam got a job in Lake Charles, LA that will be a lot better for our family in a lot of ways. Although we will miss our Tuscaloosa friends, there is a lot about his job that we won't miss. He is scheduled to start with Basell/Lyondell on January 7th which means we have to sell a house and find, then buy a house realy really soon and amidst the holidays at that! Yikes!

All About Ben

I put Ben in his crib the other day. It's more appropriately known to him as his playpen since I can count the number of hours he’s ever slept in there on one hand..Any way, I was cleaning his room and he PULLED UP on the side of his crib.



He was soo proud of himself! It was the cutest thing ever! After probably 5 minutes, he fell down and now he hates being left in there. He keeps looking at this one toy scared of it, like it was the toy’s fault he fell..hehe.



We also went to see Santa Claus at the mall. While we were waiting, Ben is happy as a lark, but Santa changed that! I plop Ben down in his lap and out comes “the lip”. Santa looks at Adam and says “You better hurry and take that picture” lol. Before we could though, Ben had gone into a full blown wail! Lol. I felt bad, but dang it was funny! What a classic picture!




And because ONE picture of Ben crying in Santa's lap just isn't enough, here's one more and the church Christmas party over the weekend. (BTW, email me from here if you want the pictures I took of your kids. I've got some of the kids of Caroline, Megan, Greg and Amy Thompson, Amy Tew, Noel and Brad, and Cheyenne. )

Church Talk

Adam and I were asked to speak in church this last Sunday on Christmas. Here are some my remarks:

This year I received one of the best gifts that I could have gotten. Benjamin Cade Morris was born to us on April 3 at 10:54am. Early that morning, I got into my safe and comfortable car, had my bag packed and prepared, arrived in a nice, clean room made just for the occasion and had a planned induction. After he was born, Ben was put into a bassinette where a team of professionals stood ready to attend to his every need. He received many visitors and gifts as well, although I don’t recall any myrrh, frankincense, or gold. I would definitely remember the gold. :-)




Another mother, Mary, lived many years ago. She conceived the Son of God, though she was a virgin. She was espoused to Joseph, a carpenter. King Augustus had ordered everyone to return to their ancestral homes in order to be taxed. Since Joseph was a descendent of David, he had to return to the city of David otherwise known as Bethlehem. Mary and Joseph were on this errand when she went into labor. She did not have a team of professionals ready to help her deliver nor a ready-made room. In fact, there wasn’t even an inn she could use. She didn’t even have a nice, comfortable place to lay her babe, the Son of God and the Savior of all mankind and Creator of the World. He was born in a stable amongst animals, maybe donkeys, sheep and cattle. Mary wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a trough that would normally hold food for animals, this sweet little baby who would grow up to do more miraculous things than has ever occurred or will ever occur in the history of mankind.




During His life, He would heal sick people, raise some from the dead, walk on water, feed thousands with very little food, resist Satan’s temptations, teach us the truths of the gospel and show by example how to live it, and ultimately allow his perfect body to bleed from every pore as He suffered for our sins in the garden of Gethsemane and He laid down the very life that Mary begat him which we celebrate at Christmas time. But He did overcome death and He did rise on the third day, just like He said He would.



I am so grateful for Jesus. He is my Savior and my King. He has healed my heart many times either from my own sin or the choices of others. He pleads with the Father on my behalf and forgives me each and every time I mess up. He loves me unconditionally and wants me to be happy and return to live with Heavenly Father. He gives me so very much and asks so little of me. I just have to love Him and keep His commandments.

Thirty Things That Change When You Have a Baby

This isn't an original list, but I found it and liked it.


1. You finally stop to smell the roses, because your baby is in your arms.

2. Where you once believed you were fearless, you now find yourself afraid.

3. The sacrifices you thought you made to have a child no longer seem like sacrifices.

4. You respect your body ... finally.

5. You respect your parents and love them in a new way.

6. You find that your baby's pain feels much worse than your own.

7. You believe once again in the things you believed in as a child.

8. You lose touch with the people in your life whom you should have banished years ago.

9. Your heart breaks much more easily.

10. You think of someone else 234,836,178,976 times a day.

11. Every day is a surprise.

12. Bodily functions are no longer repulsive. In fact, they please you. (Hooray for poop!)

13. You look at your baby in the mirror instead of yourself.

14. You become a morning person.

15. Your love becomes limitless, a superhuman power.

16. You discover how much there is to say about one tooth.

17. You finally realize that true joy doesn't come from material wealth.

18. You now know where the sun comes from.

19. You'd rather buy a plastic tricycle than those shoes that you've been dying to have.

20. You realize that although sticky, lollipops have magical powers.

21. You don't mind going to bed at 9 p.m. on Friday night.

22. Silence? What's that?

23. You realize that the 15 pounds you can't seem to get rid of are totally worth having.

24. You discover an inner strength you never thought you had.

25. You no longer rely on a clock — your baby now sets your schedule.

26. You give parents with a screaming child an 'I-know-the-feeling' look instead of a 'Can't-they-shut-him-up?' one.

27. Your dog — who used to be your 'baby' — becomes just a dog.

28. You take the time for one more hug and kiss even if it means you'll be late.

29. You learn that taking a shower is a luxury.

30. You realize that you can love a complete stranger.

babycenter.com

Thanksgiving 2007

"Gobble, gobble"..dying last words of turkey! I roasted my very first turkey this year. I'm usually not a big fan of turkey because it's usually dry, but I brined mine this year, tucked butter under the turkey breast skin, and used one of those roasting bags and mmmwha! yummy!, if I do say so myself! My dad and stepmom came and celebrated the holiday with us, even though we know Ben is the real reason they came..hehe. Even though I had worked a couple of hours each day leading up to Thursday, my stepmom Cheri and I worked right up until lunch time. But we were eating before 1pm so I think it was all a success! We had turkey with stuffing, giblet gravy, mashed potatoes, dressing, cranberry sauce, squash casserole, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, yeast rolls, apple butter, apple butter pumpkin pie, and pecan pie. Ok, so maybe I went a little overboard, ok, ok, maybe a lot overboard, but we had great time enjoying one other's company, watching Ben play with his toy turkey, and it was so nice to be able to cook a nice dinner for a few of the people I love! I'm so grateful for all of my family and friends, for my baby boy and husband, and for my Savior and am looking forward to Christmas and watching Ben experience a little magic in the form of a red suit and beard. Being the mom of a kid is ALMOST as fun as being a kid again myself! (More so in a lot of ways..)Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some leftovers to go eat!


The doting grandparents


Adam fell asleep (remote in hand) watching the game and waiting for the turkey. (He's going to KILL me for posting this picture!)


A banquet fit for a king! (Too bad all he got was cereal and prunes..hehe!)


The man of the house carving the turkey! Doesn't it make you want to do the Tim Allen growl?!






Hours and hours of preparation...snarfed down in 20 minutes.

Halloween 2007

Ok! I'm finally getting around to posting about our Halloween this year. (Here it is after Thanksgiving!) I ended up carving our jack-o-latern on Halloween day while Adam was at work. We meant to do it as a family but just never had gotten around to it. Ben had fun avoiding touching the pumpkin guts at all costs. I don't think he liked the texture too much. Boomer made up for it though by sniffing and eating anything that got near his shoved-in pug nose. Paybacks are heck though when Boomer was Adam's prisoner at the church trunk-or-treat. Adam was animal control, I was a cat, and Ben was a puppy. I had the cutest bear costume for Ben, but I just couldnt make him wear it since it was so hot. So we took pictures in it the next day. If you look closely at the last picture, you can kind of see Ben's first two teeth!

No sleep!

It's five in the morning, I've been up for an hour and can't sleep! So I'm blogging because I can hear if Ben wakes up from in here where the computer is. Ben is still in the bed with us and has woken me up three times in the last two hours, each time juuust after I managed to fall back asleep. I've laid in every position a few times and STILL can't get back to sleep! Some days, I want him in the bed with us because I don't want to have to miss him in the other room and I'm not ready to admit that he's plenty old enough for it (not to mention I don't look forward to the fight to get him in there), but nights like tonight (or mornings) really make me scream!

A Fresh Rain

The other day, we got a little bit of rain. Adam got home from work shortly after it stopped. We were outside enjoying the clean fresh air and found a butterfly with a broken wing that had not faired the rain so well. So I, being always in search of the perfect picture, wanted to snap some. At first, we had a hard time keeping Ben's eyes on the butterfly. Finally we let it crawl on his finger which got his attention because he tried to squeeze it! So I took it back, but this time, his eyes were on the colorful wings. So Adam was able to snap a couple of pictures before Ben lost interest again.

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

I just LOVE this time of year! The cooler weather, leaves beginning to change, all the fun fall festivals and events, not to mention Halloween and the search for the "great pumpkin". On Saturday, we took a little day trip to Calera, AL (between Birmingham and Montgomery) where we rode a 97-year-old train complete with red caboose out to a pumpkin patch and hay ride.




Ben wasn't even scared of the whistles and screeching; he was just really curious about what was going on. He even got to meet the conductor and wear his hat! (Naturally, the conductor's pocket watch went straight into Ben's mouth just after the picture was taken!)





When we arrived to the patch, there were lots of people waving and welcoming us. We had a great time searching for the pumpkin that was the most round and smooth for carving and had the longest stem. It didn't take us long to find the perfect one.





Ben had fun seeing all the bright orange everywhere. Adam would say that is to be expected from the littlest Vols fan though! :-) He took a little taste of some hay and met a scarecrow in the patch too!




While at the patch, we also rode the hay ride around a field and got a nice view of the grapevines.




Then it was time to go! On the way back to the station, we rode in an outside cab of the train. Ben took in all the sights and sounds and just seemed to thoroughly enjoy the ride. It was so cute to watch him with the wind on his face swing his little bare feet while his Daddy held him tight!





The ride took us through some pretty scenery, including a pond and a golf course where we saw a bunch of turkeys. They ran as soon as the train went by. They must know what other holiday is coming up!




Fall has just got to be the best time of year!

Camping at Moundville Archaeological Park

This past weekend we had a nice little adventure at Moundville Archaelogical Park. We enjoyed the beautiful fall weather by going camping with our good friends and neighbors, the Holleys. It was all "firsts" for little Ben and he seemed to love the outdoors, especially the fire, but none of us enjoyed the train that came about every hour less the a 1/2 mile away. We did all the normal camping stuff--made smores (Ben watched), fought the raccoons and bugs off, etc.



Saturday morning we hiked up one of the mounds for a beautiful view of the other mounds. Unbeknownst to us, Moundville got its name from these mounds which were built by southeast Native Americans around A.D. 1000-1500. Apparently, the mounds were used for civic and ceremonial structures and homes of nobles. If you'd like to know more, check out their website at moundville.ua.edu.




After that, we took a hike to the Black Warrior River
and even saw a couple of deer. (They were too fast to snap their picture!)



This past week, Ben also experienced solids for the first time. He loved it and kept trying to grab the spoon out of my hands!