no more boxes

i can't believe that we've been in nashville a whole week. i'm also proud to announce...drum roll, please...that we have no more boxes left to unpack...we just moved them into the empty family room!!! it's too cold for caleb to play in there, but it makes a lovely home for all of our extra stuff. tusculum hills baptist has really rolled out the red carpet for us. not only have they given us a house to live in (rent free, new carpet, and new appliances) for 3 months, they had our moving truck unloaded in under an hour! wow!!! we have made a fairly smooth transition. the first four nights caleb had trouble sleeping, but who can blame him? he had a new house to explore, a ton of new people to meet, and i had the audacity to take away his bottle. it's all sippy cup, all the time now :) however, not everything has changed. jack and caleb are still able to enjoy their favorite pass time of looking out the window and talking to whatever passes by.

mommy's little mover

during playtime, caleb loves to push things around the house. his lion...the kitchen chairs...his high chair...and most recently, the laundry basket. he really wants to walk by himself and these random objects help him get around...fast! if you need anything moved at your house, just let me know. caleb will be glad to come over and move it...as long as, it doesn't weigh more than he does (about 20 lbs.)!!! he can also turn light switches on and off, clear everything out of a cabinet, and open and close doors. that is, as long as the door isn't completely closed. the doorknobs are still too high for him. enjoy the pics of playtime :)

caleb's 1st birthday!!!

this year has been both the longest (middle of the night feedings, anyone?) and shortest of my life. tom and i cannot believe that caleb turned 1 today. for his first birthday dinner, we chose red robin. why? the balloons, of course. caleb had a blast bouncing a balloon off of his (and daddy's) head. while he didn't have a burger, he managed to snag a couple of french fries. the fun didn't stop at dinner though, we let him stay up until 8:00 p.m. a whole half-hour past his bedtime...party animal! on saturday, both of our families came for the birthday bash. our theme this year was tonka construction trucks...complete with dirt cake. caleb had his very own cupcake and absolutely LOVED the cream cheese frosting. he just couldn't resist grabbing it by the handful, squishing it around, and then cramming it into his little mouth. it turns out, he actually needed the sugar high to open the massive amount of presents that his grandparents brought. caleb had to try out his red wagon first. he liked it so much that he stayed there the rest of the afternoon. who could blame him when there were pretty girls to pull him around, and around, and around the house?!? caleb got some other cools toys like, a dump truck, a hammer that lights up and makes noise, and a puppy dog that talks and sings whenever you squeeze it. with his birthday so soon after christmas, i have had a very difficult time finding a place for all of his new toys. although i suppose that there are worse problems to have :) happy birthday baby boy! mommy and daddy love you very much!!!

nashville, or bust!

on the last day of 2007, tom accepted the student minister position at tusculum hills baptist church in nashville, tn. yay!!! what a great ending to what has proved to be a very challenging year for the agnew family. tom's first day on the job will be january 20th. with the day so soon upon us, we are in hurry up mode around the house...if we don't use it, we toss it. we will wait to bring the dreaded boxes into the house until after caleb's birthday party on saturday. while i love new places, i loathe packing...but, with this new beginning i think that i can find it within me to say, "praise the Lord...even for the boxes!"

christmas: the second part

we were in knoxville this past weekend and celebrated christmas with my family. caleb spent saturday and most of the day sunday hanging out with gran and grandad. he also managed to get in some good play time with uncle adam. they were up to the usual little boy stuff of making loud noises...and playing with a vinegar bottle? not sure what that was all about, but they had fun. we opened gifts on sunday evening and caleb seemed to like all of his gifts, playing with each one after he opened it. he got some pretty cool stuff, but nothing compared to the tissue paper. he loved it! i only have a couple of pictures to post. my memory card was full...guess i'll learn to delete old pictures before next christmas, huh? when i get some more from gran, i'll post. one pic is of caleb and the tissue paper and the other is caleb enjoying his mickey mouse that uncle adam got him at disney world.

christmas: the first part

tom's family joined us for christmas eve and christmas day...and of course, they came bearing gifts. most of them for caleb, including his now favorite toy, the ride and walk lion. i have to admit, it's really cute to watch him push it around, and around, and around the house. it's even cute when he pushes its nose and it sings and growls over, and over, and over again. hopefully, with all this repetition he will be walking soon! other than caleb and his lion, i think i managed to snag the best gift of the day. tom got me a new ipod nano!

santa or no santa?

i read something recently that really got me going. it was a blog featured on the website saidatsouthern.com giving reasons why not to include satan, or santa (blogger's words) in one's christmas celebration. the blogger's argument centered around the dangers of the God-like qualities which we attribute to santa, including omniscience ("he knows when you've been bad or good..."), omnipresence (visits all the children in 1 night), and giving rewards for good behavior (which is not an accurate attribute of God, but many believe He operates this way). i agree that it is very dangerous to make santa into a god-like figure and that the vast majority of families place too much emphasis on santa and his gifts. however, do we have to? do we, as christians, have to make the choice between santa all the way, or no santa at all for our families? why can't we have both? while our santa claus may be a far cry from the original st. nicholas and his acts, why not reclaim that spirit of giving and pass it onto our children? tom and i believe that santa can be a pedagogical tool. while children are very young, let them experience the sheer joy of receiving gifts simply because they are loved. as their intellect matures, so too should their understanding of giving--i reference paul in 1 corinthians 13:11. they do not give to get, or as a trade-off for good behavior, but because they are beginning to desire to love others sacrificially; gifts being one expression of that love. children's interest, and belief, in santa will naturally wane with time, but the desire to give and serve can mature if parents will foster it all year round. i am not naive enough to believe that if parents let their children believe in santa claus they will all turn out to be good, kind, and love God...but, i do believe that if parents seize every opportunity to point their children to God and to His ways, that it will not be in vain. that's why i don't get worked up about setting out cookies for santa and then reading our christmas story before bed on christmas eve. tom and i will make many mistakes while raising caleb, but taking opportunities to discuss God and Jesus with him will not be included among them...just in case santa is checking his list! ;)