I’m sure the liberals will have a field day with this.
This is just stupid
6 Month Stats
Lydia had another great check-up on Monday (8/6). Dr. Mussman was very pleased with her growth and development and she’s right on track 🙂
Her measurements are as follows… Weight = 14 lb 7 oz Length = 25 1/2″ Head Circumference = 17 1/2″
She also did pretty well with the latest round of shots. Just a few brief wails as she was stuck and back to normal as soon as Matt picked her up. She ran a little fever and was pretty quiet/tired that evening and the next day, but by Wednesday she was back to her cheerful, busy (nosy) self!
God has blessed us greatly with her sweet, curious nature and her strong, healthy body. Even with her allergy issues (so far, dairy and strawberries) we have seen His hand of mercy and we are so thankful for how He has protected her and given us the wisdom and strength to love and care for her as she grows!!
History Channel, WV, and Stereotypes
There was an interesting article a few days ago in the Charleston Gazette: History Channel series to feature Welch group.
The cast of the Welch-based “Terror of the Tug” theater group and scenes from McDowell County will be featured in a History Channel two-hour special series on Appalachia that premieres at 8 p.m. on Aug. 26.
Titled “Hillbilly: The Real Story,” the program traces the 300-year journey from the violent border wars of the Scottish lowlands to the Revolutionary War, the development of the Clinchfield Railroad and the West Virginia Mine Wars to present time.
According to Moore Huntley Productions, which produced the special, the program “looks at the real stories behind the stereotypes” and examines a people “who grew as tough and resilient as the Appalachian Mountains themselves.”
“Real stories behind the stereotypes….” Let’s hope so. Let’s watch and see what we think.
[Update 08-27-2007 17:17:42] The show wasn’t on last night. I sent the History Channel an e-mail and heard back from them. I detail their response here . The show has been rescheduled but they won’t tell me for when.
[Update 09-10-2007 07:50:17] The History Channel has announced the dates/times the show will air .
Martyrs No One Cares About
Reading this article hit me in a way that not many articles have. It convicted me that I haven’t prayed like I ought for my Korean brothers and sisters.
From The Martyrs No One Cares About:
The blood of innocent Christian missionaries spills on Afghan sands. The world watches and yawns. The United Nations offers nothing more than a formal expression of “concern.” Where is the global uproar over the human rights abuses unfolding before our eyes?
For two weeks, a group of South Korean Christians has been held hostage by Taliban thugs in Afghanistan. This is the largest group of foreign hostages taken in Afghanistan since Operation Enduring Freedom began in 2001. What was their offense? Were they smuggling arms into the country? No. Inciting violence? No. They were peaceful believers in Christ on short-term medical and humanitarian missions. Seventeen of the 23 hostages are females.
Across Asia, media coverage is 24/7 Strangers have held nightly prayer vigils. But the human rights crowd in America has been largely AWOL. And so has most of our mainstream media. Among some of the secular elite, no doubt, is a blame-the-victim apathy: The missionaries deserved what they got. What were they thinking bringing their message of faith to a war zone? Didn’t they know they were sitting ducks for Muslim head-choppers whose idea of evangelism is “convert or die”?
Curiously, those who argue that we need to “understand” Islamic terrorists demonstrate little effort to “understand” the Christian evangelical missionaries who risk their lives to spread the gospel — not by sword, but through acts of compassion, healing and education. An estimated 16,000 Korean mission workers risk their lives across the globe — from Africa to the Middle East, China and North Korea.
Has it really been 6 months??!!
It is amazing how quickly these first 6 months have gone. We have gone through quite a lot together and I am in awe of God’s design for families and how He created us (children and parents) with such a capacity to love, learn, and grow!
Lydia continues to be such a happy little thing. She is always sharing “smilies” and has also taken to freely giving raspberries 😉 She takes great pride in sticking out her tongue and blowing away.
She has completely mastered rolling from her back to her stomach, but only to the right! She teases us every now and then by leaning to the left, but never quite follows through. And once she makes it to her tummy, she is content to play for a bit before crying to be rescued. I guess she’s decided it’s easier to have someone else flip her back 🙂 As for the directional preference, friends have said it’s beacuse she’s a good conservative baby…and Matt’s so proud!
Lydia continues to thrive and explore. She’s very healthy and is working on mastering the whole spoon thing. She seems to enjoy her rice cereal, LOVES applesauce (she’s a Maxson!), and has tolerated green beans. In the next few weeks, she’ll get to taste sweet potatoes and pears…YUM!! And she gets to taste some of the finer things in life from time to time. Last week, Matt and I had Oreos and he gave he one to play with. She started licking and gumming it, and Matt took it away before it got too soggy and started to fall apart. Well, she was one unhappy little girl! She started wailing in protest and looking at us so pitifully as we ate our cookies. We’ll have to watch out for her sweet tooth, but she also gets to taste other things. She’s licked on chicken, lemon, cocktail sauce, french fries, and pineapple among other things. It’s important that she have a well-rounded palate 🙂
It is so much fun to watch her and play with her during this stage. She is VERY curious and loves to investigate everything. Food, toys, papers, mommy’s hair…it’s all fair game. She doesn’t want to hang out over my shoulder any more. She turns to face out and reaches for anything nearby. Lydia is sooo nosy lately, but it’s so funny and so neat to see. She’s always looking, touching, and tasting, and you can practically see the gears turning when those bright blue eyes get all wide and serious. She’s really working hard to make connections and figure everything out. Her little hands are constantly busy as she manipulates objects of all shapes and sizes…though she seems particularly fascinated with things like utensils, laundry, computer stuff, and the remotes (and, of course, her hands and feet). And if she gets bored with something (be it an object or her location) or you’re not paying enough attention to her, she starts doing this fake-y cough. It’s so cute to be there as she learns how to communicate in ways other than crying or fussing. She laughs, coos, squeals, and babbles up a storm these days. She’s never been too fussy or difficult, but she’s growing into such a sweet, well-adjusted little girl.
Lydia is just about to master sitting up. Once we get her situated, she’s able to balance herself a little bit longer every time. And the way she reaches for stuff when she’ on her tummy, it may not be all that long until she starts working on scooting and crawling. The one thing we’re really waiting on at this point is teeth. She’s been drooling and chewing on her hands for a couple of months (and she’s got the chapped cheeks to prove it), but nothing yet. I was a late teether, so we may be waiting a while longer, but that’s okay 🙂
To celebrate her 6-month birthday, Matt and I (along with his mom), took Lydia to Virginia Beach. She traveled very well and hardly fussed the whole day. We slathered her with sun screen and sat in the shade of a pop-up tent/canopy. The beach wasn’t all that busy and the breeze was so refreshing. She got to play with sand and Matt held her in the surf so she could get her legs splashed. She slept through getting rinsed off at the boardwalk shower and took another nap on my wet shoulder. I was pretty worried about the sand and salt water, but she seemed to enjoy the whole experience and Matt’s calmness is a wonderful balance to the “hyper mommy” that shows up occasionally. We’re ready to go back one day this fall!
I’ll be posting pictures of all our adventures soon 🙂
Comment Moderation
I’m sorry to have to do this; however, I have been getting TONS of comment spam (even with the capcha turned on…I guess I need a better one). Before I changed to only allowing registered users to post, I turned on comment moderation. So, before your comment will show up, I’ll have to say ok. Sorry for the extra step.
If you have a better idea (or know of a better way to do a capcha) let me know.
2007 Missions Century Route #2
We are still trying to decide the route for the missions century. Below is the proposed route #2. We are going to meet tomorrow and discuss the different routes.
Here is the post detailing the first proposed route .Â
[Update 2012-12-26Â 16:58:38] Edited the internal links to clean up the site.
Bike Ride Stats — 3 August 2007
I had been off my bike for almost 4 weeks so I took time this morning to go out. I felt ok; however, I could tell I had been off the bike. By the time I finished, the temp was 95 deg…HOT!
Journey to the Center of the Earch — Chapts 4-6
{enclose journey_interior_earth_04-06_verne.mp3}