An intruder and a little bit of clean up..ok a lot

We had an intruder at the Poladian house this week.  

Its name..the stomach flu.  Its offense...sickness.   

The bug intruded on my sweet husband.  Poor thing he was so sick it made me sad. Even still, we decided it was best if Cooper and I fled the scene.  Yep, we took off in an effort to stay healthy. 

(Here is where I admit to my phobia of germs and nothing makes me run faster than the thought of the flu.  Throwing up..the worst. Nausea..unbearable. Chills and aches...yuck.)

So in the morning when Matt was better and decided to take off to work my one request was open every window and sliding door in the house.  Fresh air in and germy air out. A few hours later Cooper and I came home.  I gave the guy lunch, put him down for his nap and went to work. I sprayed disinfectant on every counter top Matt may have come in contact with and left it for 10 minutes, longer than the recommended 1 minute listed on the bottle for sanitizing.  We were not taking any chances here.  I used bleach on every toilet and cleaned the floors around the toilet.  All sheets, towels, blankets and clothes that were worn during the intrusion period were washed in hot water. Any toy of Cooper's that Matt could have breathed on was cleaned.

I was tireless.  

When I was done I wanted to do it again...you know...just to be sure every germ was GONE.

Here comes the lesson.

When I was putting the sheets back on the bed I thought about my sin.  Just as disgusting as the stomach bug germs.  Just as far reaching and intrusive.  But do I go to the great lengths (and I know they are great - a little over the top some of you may even say) to rid myself of it as I do when a sickness invades my home?  I can't answer with a resounding YES! and I see that as a problem.  My sin, albeit it very respectable (you should all read Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges), is SIN.  It is what keeps me from a relationship with a Holy God.  It is the difference between Christ and myself.  It is what I work to shed as I travel the road of sanctification.  Its absence in heaven makes me long for the day when I can arrive.  It is what brings me to my knees in humble gratitude toward Christ.  

You see, because my sin is too great for me to repay and too entangling in this life for me to get free from, I need help.  I need a sinless life.  I don't have one and I can't live one. But God in His mercy sent His Son to live the sinless life I couldn't.  God made provision for the repayment of my sins through Christ's death on the cross.  He conquered it and beat it and because I believe He did when God looks at my life... He sees a sinless one.  AMAZING!     

This message..the gospel message...should encourage me every day to flee from sin just like I did the stomach bug. To scour my life and clean it up. I must use bleach if necessary and go back over it one more time just to make sure it is GONE.

Have you?

Cooper John 8 months

Here we go with another month to report on!  I'm sitting here typing, watching him on the monitor move about in his bed instead of taking his nap and smiling because it seems like Cooper has always been part of our family.  Our days without him seem so distant when in reality less than a year ago we didn't even know we were having a boy!

The big news this month is CRAWLING!!  Just a few days after Cooper passed up the 8 month mark he figured it out.  Moving the hands and legs together to move forward.  What a feat!  For the past month he had been trying so hard.  He had the legs down for a long time before he got the arms moving.  But all the pieces have been put together and he is on the move!  He still prefers to get up on all fours and fling himself forward..he can get there faster...but I can be sure by the 9 month post I'll be able to report about a little man crawling all over the place...and a tired mama chasing after him.

He continues to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables...not turning his nose up at too many.  His definite favorites include avocado, sweet potato, apple sauce and banana. The next up in his cue to try are proteins and dairy!  Yogurt, tofu, chicken..yummy!

He is so curious and interested in what is going on.  We pray that curiosity stays and leads him to an understanding of what Christ accomplished on the cross.  That he remains interested in other people and has a heart to love them.  He is sweet and playful and rough and tough all at the same time. 

He is precious to us. So precious.  

He experienced his first trauma this past month.  We were driving out on the toll roads in Orange County when we were hit by a car running a red light.  It was loud and spun us around, but by God's grace we were both unharmed.  Cooper charmed the Police Officers and Paramedics as well as two passer-bys who stopped to help. The car is in the shop, Coop has a new car seat and I am ever so thankful it wasn't any worse. 

And of course... a photo gallery of our big boy!

This face with the bed head cracks me up..and yes I took the photo into the sun :) 

This next series is so typical Cooper. Fingers in his mouth and rolling around! The only thing missing is grabbing his feet and putting them in his mouth.

And lastly, our crawler.  So proud of him! 

This month I am counting my blessings and praising God, who before time began planned the course of each of our lives and decided Cooper should be part of ours.

Colorado!

We love Colorado!  We love the snow, we love the Bosserts, we love taking our little man on adventures!  This last trip was just as wonderful as the rest.  

This time I got to ski for a day!  Yay!  The first run down after two years was a little rough..in fact I thought I maybe forgot how to ski..or maybe it was that my hubs took me down a black diamond...well, whatever the case, each run after the first was much better.  And yes, I still know how to ski.  I can't bring my camera up with me so I have no pictures of the ski day except these from my phone.  It was GORGEOUS!  God's creation on full display!

The rest of the time in Vail was spent with family, walking around the cute village, eating good food and playing games.  It was a great respite in the middle of a pretty busy season.  

 Headed out there.  We could have each had our own row.  The plane was empty!

playing with Uncle Aaron

Hearts Tournament! I Shot the Moon!  Wahoo!

our growing family!

 Sweet Callie Jean!

 Cooper John

 Cousins!

How warm and cozy would you be in  a seat like this one?!?!

 My Love and me

 Aaron and Samantha

Cooper's first time in the snow!  He loved it!

All the Apple products we brought..plus Melinda's phone...not Apple

Two Cuties in a restaurant! They were so good!

We all have some North Face gear!  

Flying Home! Our guy is turning out to be a pretty great traveler!

Can you believe the amount of luggage!  This isn't all ours...I promise.

Until next time Colorado!  

Two Great Messages on {Instruction and Discipline}

While at Compass Bible Church I was part of the women's bible study that met weekly to study God's Word. We have been studying the book of Proverbs to gain true wisdom rather than knowledge that comes from the world.  2 Peter 1:3 tells us "His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence." We have everything we need in scripture! 

 I was so enriched by my time there and was bummed to leave in the middle of the year.  I decided to continue on with the study and tune in online weekly to hear the message.  I desperately miss the small group time, but I am thankful to hear the message and "chat" with the other people watching from home.

The last two messages were so encouraging to my heart that I wanted to share.  They are on instructing your child and disciplining them.  Pastor Mike and his wife Carlynn lead the discussion together and are so clear with what the bible tells us, as parents, is our responsibility.  

Watch these messages.  

You won't be disappointed.  

Each is about 1.5 hours but you could split it up into 4 mornings. Watch even if you don't have kids, or if they are older, or if you are a grandparent....    

The message on discipline focuses on what the bible says about disciplining your children and then goes into some very specific application.  So helpful for this Mama just starting out! The second on instruction goes into directing your child's heart, mind and body.  There is an extensive book list that I can email to you if you are interested (they go through them too fast to write it all down).  I immediately started an Amazon.com wish list for Cooper John with a bunch of books and decided it will be all he asks for his birthday and christmas this year!  Build the kid's library with good books that will set his feet on solid ground! I feel equipped and better prepared to train my little arrow to fly straight after watching these. 

The links are below.  Again - watch them!  

Then call me so we can talk about it! 

Instruction and Discipline