To Love a Child

I've been reading rather widely lately, mostly blogs that interest me. I was fortunate enough to find this blog post today in my survey of goodies. And it just hit me right in the pit of my stomach.

I know that this article is about love for an adopted child, but what kills me, is thinking about all children, biological or adopted. What if we approached being parents to any children with this mindset? Or what about being spouses with this mindset? Or family members, or community members, or simply people in this world? What if?

So many people will quote the famous 2 Corinthians passage. So many will say that it is their favorite passage in the Bible. So many people know parts of it by heart. And yet, as the days pass, it sometimes seems to me that fewer and fewer truly look at this passage as a possibility, as a path, as a way to approach life. No matter the language, the creed, or the culture, one can find much wisdom in passages like these. And yet, as revered as it is, I have seen few people apply it to their lives the way this writer has done.

I know, none of this is anything new. And none of this is earth-shattering. Be kind. Look at things from the other perspective. Allow yourself to open to new ideas, new ways of seeing and knowing. Be true, not only in doing unto others, but also in not doing to others what you would not have others do to you. Being aware of consequences, and teaching those by example. None of this is new. But is it earth-shattering? Or perhaps, the better question is, could this be earth-shattering, if it were more common in our world?

How much do we change the world when we change the way we love a child?

Fun in the Sun

Fun in the Sun
Originally uploaded by mawkinberd

I was lucky enough to get the chance to win a copy of BrittBree's new kit, Spring Candy. How fun! I thought it only right that I share with everyone how cute this new kit is. I'm afraid I don't do it justice with my little layout, but as soon as I saw these elements, I fell in love. :) Very fun for a spring layout with the little ones in your life.

Today's been a strange day. I guess I'm not exactly feeling my best. Joe has been very mischievous, which is fun, but he hasn't liked being put in his pen for the number of times he's tried playing with the wires behind the television. He loves to pull plugs out and put them back in. Luckily, it hasn't been the dangerous cords, but we've had a time trying to convince him to come out and leave them alone. He's not terribly fond of being in his "box," which is what we call his playpen. Wish there was a way I could reason with him; I hate it when he's this upset.

Well, wish I had something exciting and interesting and fantastic to share, but I just don't. Which is probably a good thing; if every day was exciting, I'd have no need to blog. And I wouldn't want to miss out on that. lol Take care, everyone!

Furbaby

Fur
Originally uploaded by mawkinberd

I had a good bit of inspiration in the last few days, and for the first time in a couple weeks, my eyes are killing me with allergy fuzzies. Sooooo.... I have a couple new layouts that I did today alone! :) This first one was inspired by Jacquie's new fantastic Pets - Dogs word art set. Awesome, huh? She finds awesome quotes and stuff. If you haven't checked out her blog before, I highly recommend it, and not just because I'm on her CT. She's fantastic!

I've learned a few new things about GIMP lately, which makes me rather happy. I still feel like a beginner with GIMP, even though I know that I'm probably closer to intermediate. But there is a huge amount of things that one can do with GIMP that I have yet to tap. So, I'm enjoying learning new things, like new Script-fu stuff. There are so many Script-fu settings in the "basic" model of GIMP that I'm not familiar with that are really helpful with sprucing up one's layouts. Besides that, I want to do more designing. I really enjoyed making that first set. (It's still down there, if you want to look at it. Just saying. :P)

I also made a little layout with Daniel and Joe for Easter egg hunting. Joe didn't really get the whole hunting thing. He saw lots of kids running, so he ran after them. He saw one purple egg, so he picked it up. So, Mommy got him a few eggs. After that, he got Daddy to open his eggs. It was precious. I did it with this Font Challenge's font, Happy Days.



I also have a couple of cute baby moments to share. Joe is so funny these days! He's starting to show that he has a sense of humor. For instance, we're not certain if he really does think that unh unh (the no version) mean yes or if he's just pulling our leg. (He shakes his head no simultaneously, and we're pretty sure he knows that means no.) It's really cute, though, to watch him do it. Plus, he is such a player! He loves to do things to get your attention and then pretend like he wasn't doing it. That, and he loves to play kiss and hug. He'll do that over and over. Talk about making your heart melt!

Ok, this is late at night for me. Mommy is getting sleepy! lol So I'll let you wonderful people go. Have a great night!

Easter Madness

I hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend! Ours was busy, to say the least. First up was the Easter egg hunt at Clark Springs Baptist on Saturday morning. Joe was in his finest (as you can see in this video), and Mommy and Daddy were excited to see what he would actually do on his first egg hunt. I didn't get any good pictures of it, but the verdict was that he was more interested in chasing the other kids at top speed than actually searching eggs, so Mommy picked some up for him. Daddy trailed behind faithfully as he waved the one egg he picked up (purple, which is why it caught his eye, I'm sure) and chattered at the other kids. He had a blast. It would have been even better had it not been for Mommy's overprotective streak. I covered him with sunscreen. Unfortunately, some of it got in his eyes. He wasn't a happy camper about that, but since he got more chocolate than he had ever imagined existed, he was ok with it. He also got some cool cars from Nana in his basket. He really liked that. :)

After that, we loaded a (very very tired) baby into the car and went to the park to meet with Aunt Jo. It was a perfect day for Kiroli Park. We piled up on a table and ate fried chicken while Joe had fun on the "fire truck."



We also did the swings and stuff, but I haven't uploaded that video yet. Joe had the best time watching Daddy swing in the swing next to him. Unfortunately, that meant that the yellow baby swing wasn't good enough for him anymore. We'll see if that lasts when we get to the park again. We also did a nice walk through the (shortest) nature trail, and I got some good shots of azaleas and other things. If they turn out well, I'll try to extract them and pass them along for everyone to share. The colors are too awesome not to look great in a spring layout. ;)

As for Sunday, we chilled out. And it was a good thing, too... Mommy hasn't felt her best. Maybe it was the candy, maybe it was her body's way of saying "noooooooooooooooo!" Whatever it was, I could use another Sunday to make up for it. :) I guess I'll have to wait a few more days for that, though. Joe and I played a lot, and Daddy was the only one who woke up early enough for sunrise service. Good Daddy! :)

Oh, and one of my blogging buddies Brandi is supposed to have her third child/first daughter by c-section today. Happy thoughts for welcoming little Karis into the world!

Park Buddy

Park Buddy
Originally uploaded by mawkinberd

I'm getting so close! For a while, it seemed like I would *never* finish Joe's first year album. Now, I've finished 9 and 10 months old with one page each, and 11 months old looks to be the same deal. After that, I have the 1st birthday, the party, and the wrap-up. I see the light! Now, I get to work on making the video out of the pages, picking out music, burning to dvd... lol. Perhaps I was a bit too ambitious with this project. Then again, you only get to live your first year once! Besides, Joe deserves it. :)

I also have to go back and fix some pages. I started this album when I first started doing digiscrapping, so there are some pages that are so different in quality from the other pages as to make them look like they don't belong. Yeah, my pride is talking here. lol Luckily, it's really only about ten pages, and I only really have to do some embellishment work on most of them. I can handle that.

Joe is doing better today, but he has definitely wanted to be snuggly. I *love* being snuggly with Joe, but I worry when he wants to be with Mommy so much that no one else will do. I have a hard time letting go of him, so I have to watch myself to attempt to keep from holding on too hard. I always make a point to honor when he wants to be let go unless there is a compelling reason not to, like his safety. But it sure is hard to let him go when he's sick. Mommy needs to calm down and let it be. But Mommy doesn't necessarily want to. :D

I think that almost everyone that reads my blog right now is involved, but for anyone who isn't and enjoys digiscrapping, I highly recommend attending the celebrations at MLAS. The birthday stuff right now is really awesome, and everyone is very good to each other. Having taken part in various online groups on different occasions, I can only think of one other time where I was so impressed with the atmosphere of caring, compassion, and friendship that is being fostered there by its owners, designers, and active participants. (Can you tell I love MLAS? LOL!) So come visit!

Ok, gotta get back to it. Hope everyone has a wonderful afternoon!