what's new

I have really been slacking on the blog these days. We've been pretty busy, and the blog has just not been a priority. But, I really want to do better because this is where I like to journal and record what's going on with Micah. Here's to hoping I can actually stick with it!

Micah has added a couple of new things to her list of accomplishments lately. She stood on her own for the first time on August 14, and I totally forgot to include that in her 9 month letter {oops!}. She could only stand without holding onto something for a couple of seconds before falling or reaching out to grab something, but in the past week or so, her balance has gotten so much better. She can stand for almost 30 seconds by herself and even rock back and forth to get her balance. I think she looks so precious standing up all by her little self. All grown up :)

Micah has also started clapping, and it is too cute! She likes to say "aaa" while she does it because we are always saying "yay" when we clap. How precious is that?!? She also sometimes claps for the "more" sign while she is eating. I just love that sweet girl.

september 16, 1982

September 16, 1982 is a very important day in our house because it was the day that my sweet husband was born. I think that I can officially declare September 16 one of my top 3 favorite days of the year {right up there with Christmas and Micah's birthday}. I am so thankful for Christopher Charles Field, and he truly blesses me every single day. I am thankful that our paths crossed 10 years ago and that God worked some amazing transformation in both of our lives. I cannot imagine what my world would be like without Chris in it, but I can be sure that it would not be as colorful!!! So, in honor of my hubby's 28th birthday, here are 28 things that I love about him.

1. His love for the Lord. This is of utmost importance to me, and I am thankful to have a life partner who is passionate about God.

2. His ability to make me laugh. He is seriously hilarious, and as anyone who has been around him much can attest to, he can definitely get on a roll!

3. His passion for the least of these in our world.

4. His ability to connect with anyone, anywhere, at anytime. That is truly a gift of his, and I love seeing him in action, making people feel important.

5. The way he works so hard to provide for our family. He always makes sure we have what we need.

6. His money sense. I never have to worry about bills getting paid or running out of money because he is the king of budgeting!

7. His excitement when he gets a new idea that he thinks will be great. He will talk about it and work on it for days on end.

8. His commitment to Mercy Project, even if it means working long hours or traveling for weeks by himself. It's not about him or his pride or glory but about bringing glory to God.

9. His willingness to follow the Lord's calling on His life.

10. The way he still cries almost every time he talks about the children in slavery on Lake Volta in Ghana. He has such a tender heart for the children there.

11. The way he still gives me butterflies 10 years after I first had a crush on him.

12. His love for justice and mercy and being a person who brings that everywhere he goes.

13. His love for his family and my family.

14. His spiritual leadership.

{birthday kisses for Daddy}

15. The way he works hard to keep up with friends and relationships that encourage and spur him on in the Lord.

16. The way he ALWAYS loves to sing. That's always been one of our very favorite things to do together.

17. His love for Micah. It's truly incredible to watch the ones you love fall more in love with each other every day.

18. His ability to bathe Micah, and wash her hair, without her ever crying. She screams every time I do it! I still don't know how he manages this.

19. His desire to be healthy and encourage those around him to do the same. He is always offering to help people with a running program or offer nutritional info.

20. The way he serves me in any way he can, whether it be doing the dishes, vacuuming, or just entertaining Micah for a few minutes.

21. His desire to work hard at everything he does. This man does not have a mediocre bone in his body!

{birthday high five!}

22. The way he loves his Momma and treats her with so much respect.

23. His insatiable desire to never live a life that is simply status quo or chasing the American dream. This challenges me to my very core.

24. His patience with me as I learn to let go of many of the earthly treasures that I so easily store up in my heart.

25. The way he can command the attention of an entire room, whether it's full of crazy elementary school kids or apathetic adults. He is certainly charming!

26. The way Micah smiles at him every single time she sees him. It melts my heart.

27. His fearlessness when it comes to trying new things. I am not very adventurous, but I love that about him!

28. The way he respects me, protects me, challenges me, encourages me, and loves me.

{love, love, LOVE these 2 faces!}

Happy Birthday, sweet love! Here's to another year full of seeking the Lord and hopefully rescuing some kids along the way. I love you, like a million!!!

who needs toys?

Who needs a chest full of toys?

When you have a box...

Or a dog's tail...

Or some DVDs...

Or a TV stand to play with?

Certainly not Micah!!!

Although, she did inherit a pretty cool toy from my childhood.

That is an aqua keyboard with Kermit the Frog on it. It's pretty sweet. And, you know you're a child of the 80's when one of the 4 options for the sound when the keys are played is a synthesizer. Oh yeah. Awesome.

Micah is thinking, "seriously, Mom, how many pictures are you going to take?"

nine months

My dear sweet daughter,

You are nine months old...wow! You have been here with us for longer than we knew that you were growing inside of me. You were our little miracle then, and you still are today. Every moment I spend with you is pure joy. I don't know how you manage to do it, but somehow I love you more each day. These past nine months {NINE MONTHS?!?!?} have been so incredible, and I love watching you grow. Every stage we go through together is so fun, and even though I sometimes think about your little tiny newborn days, it's hard to mourn their passing because you are a bundle of fun now!

Oh how I love your smiles! They seriously melt me. I love that you smile as soon as you see me, no matter how long it's been. You still have that huge open mouth smile, but I sure do love your new, push those little gums together as tight as you can, grin. It makes me laugh every time! You are such a happy baby, and I love that your daddy and I know exactly what to do to make you smile. You have started laughing when we laugh sometimes, and it is too cute. You especially love to do this with your daddy in the evenings. You will just stare at him and laugh and laugh when he laughs so silly with you. You even try to mimic his noises. It is the sweetest thing ever!

You are very verbal these days as well! You have your "m"s and your "b"s down, and you are still saying "mama" which steals my heart everytime. We think that you are calling your daddy "baba." We are still working on those "d"s. I love hearing you jabber away at your little monkey friend in the car. I will just turn the music off so I can listen to your sweet little voice. You have started picking up on a little bit of sign language as well. Even though it doesn't look much like the actual sign, you can do "more" and "eat." I love that you are beginning to communicate with us!

You LOVE to eat! Oh my goodness, sweet girl, you do enjoy your food. The only time you really get fussy is when you are ready to eat {or to sleep but who doesn't get grumpy then?!}. You are still enjoying your baby food, especially the fruit, and you have developed a love for Puffs. Mommy and daddy love these too because they keep you busy so we can eat at the same time :) When we went to Dr. S for your 9 month appointment, she told us that you could start eating all kinds of table food now, so we are all excited to start exploring new choices. I am certain you will love it. No teeth yet, sweet pea, but we know they will come soon. You are still nursing 4 times each day, and I really enjoy those times to just sit still with you, even if it only lasts for 10 minutes!

You sleep so well for us, and we are so thankful. I still rock you to sleep each night and sing our songs. It is such a sweet time for me, and I always look forward to holding you while you fall asleep! You still sleep with a little blanket that Mimi made for you, and it is just too sweet. You love to play, but these days you are into EVERYTHING!!! You love to stand at your toy chest and pull all the toys out. I don't know that you have a favorite toy, but you are definitely loving your books. You are also very interested in things that are not toys like magazines, DVDs, cell phones, dog bowls, etc. I love watching you explore the world around you.

You are crawling all over the place, and mommy and daddy have a hard time keeping up with you! You are super quick, and your newest crawling discovery is the bear crawl. You realized that crawling that way is MUCH faster than the traditional hands and knees version. Even though you keep us on our toes, it's pretty cute to watch! You are pulling up on everything you can get to, and it makes me nervous sometimes. You love the fireplace and glass screen...yikes!...and the TV stand, both of which make me anxious. You also love to crawl into the kitchen and pull up on the oven and the cabinet doors. Holy moly, you keep me busy! Daddy and I have had to tell you "no" a few times now but only because we love you and want you to be safe.

You still love being outside, and we took advantage of the last couple of days of summer this past month and went swimming a couple more times. You would just get the biggest grin on your face and squeal as we played in the pool. We also just sat in the grass a few times, and you thought it was very interesting...and fun to eat! We had to watch you really closely :) Anytime you are fussy, we know to go straight outside, and it always does the trick! Bath time is still one of your favorite times of the day as well, and daddy is the resident bather! You never fuss when he washes your hair, unlike when mommy does it, and you are both always laughing and talking. I love listening!

This month involved a little less traveling, which was nice for all of us! We went to College Station a couple of times, and you did great as always. You got to see the new building at mommy's old school, and you got to spend some fun time with LeeLee in Houston. Other than that, we have just had lots of low key days at home. You still love going on runs with your daddy in the morning, and I love seeing that huge grin when you get home! Your newest trick is giving kisses. Oh.my.goodness. I am in love with this. We say "kiss kiss," and you lean over and give us a big, open mouth kiss. So precious. You love to kiss the pages on your book too. Sweet girl.

Micah Elisabeth, I don't think it's possible that your daddy and I could love you more. You are such a gift, and we thank God every single day for you! We are so proud to be your parents, and we love showing your beautiful, happy face off everywhere that we go. We love experiencing life with you and are grateful to be your mommy and daddy. You are deeply loved, by us and by your Creator. We pray that you will grow to know the Lord intimately and passionately pursue Him. Happy nine months, precious baby girl!

I love you, to the moon and back!

Your Mommy

it's official!!!!!

I have exciting news out of the Fieldhouse today. We have been praying and dreaming about this day for several months now. Beginning today, Chris is working full time as the executive director of the Mercy Project. For those of you that do not know, Chris and I founded the Mercy Project at the end of last August, and God has blessed our meager efforts in amazing ways! We are so excited to be able to launch Mercy Project full time and cannot wait to see what continues to happen through it.

Although we are extremely excited and feel that we are following God's leading to begin this full time work with Mercy Project, we were sad to b e leaving the church here in Rowlett. We have developed some great friendships there and really appreciate the ways that so many of our church family at Heritage helped us to grow and be challenged to be more like Jesus. Change, although so good, can be difficult as well.

So, that's our big news!!! Mercy Project is our new gig, and we couldn't be more pumped. We are so passionate about the kiddos in Ghana and hope that our hard work can provide them with the lives that they deserve! To learn more about Mercy Project and our work, check out the website by clicking here. Make sure to keep up with it because there are lots of great things just ahead.