Christmas

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you, our dear friends and family! Below are some pictures from our Christmas. It has been a while since I've posted, so here are some quick updates.
Reid is crawling, cutting his first tooth, and using his pincer grasp to pick up and eat everything small! We have all hardwood floors on our main level, so the front of his clothes looks like I've been dry mopping with them most of the time! :-)
Ethan is having a blast with his remote control cars, his new Civil War Musket, train table, and electric ride-on motorcycle (from Grandpa Z of course!)
Sydney is into her Littlest Pet Shop bobbleheads and her new PBK doll named Anna (see below). She is doing a fantastic job with her reading and looking forward to starting dance class in January.
Jeff had a wonderful week off from work, and we were all sad to say goodbye to him this morning. He is enjoying his new MP3 player (as am I!) as we have joined the rest of the world in giving up our "cd mix tapes" (to quote Michael from The Office.)
Melanie now enjoys cleaning house and running since getting my MP3 player since that's my time to listen to my tunes! There is nothing more boring than running on the treadmill while staring at our school room. I have enjoyed vacation from school with the kids and visiting with our friends and family.
Enjoy the pictures!

Sydney with best girlfriends Alexa & Emmaline at Christmas Eve Service.

Ethan dressed in his "Armor of God"

Ethan and his Civil War Musket from Old Salem, NC.

The always happy Baby Reid!

J&E in their "Big Guy" and "Little Guy" hats

Sydney was sooo excited to get Anna from Grammy & Papa!

Our Christmas Babies

A Week of Firsts...

Within one week, Reid had his first haircut, said "mama" to me for the first time, and caught his first cold (and he was a little trooper through it!) Here are pics from his haircut.

Getting ready... nice cape on Jeff! :-)

Getting clipped around the ears and neck...

What a big boy!Look at that kissable neck!


Sydney, Riley & Ethan all got to watch Baby Reid get his hair cut.

Halloween

Halloween was a blast this year! Sydney dressed as Ariel from The Little Mermaid, Ethan was a pirate, and Reid was a baby cow. All 3 have used this cow costume for Halloween.

Jeff's parents were with us as we took the kids trick-or-treating in our small neighborhood. It was a great time to chat with neighbors and let the kids enjoy themselves.

The next day we had a baby shower for Jeff's cousin, Daniel, and his wife, Nadine, who is due with their first baby in the beginning of December. They are expecting a boy, who they will name Nate. They live fairly close, so he and Reid can be playmates!

Then on Sunday, the kids and I went back to VA with Grammy & Papa, where we had a week filled with seeing friends and family. And I got a week off of cooking and cleaning! Wow! Thanks Mom & Dad Chandler! Jeff joined us on Thursday, and we got to spend a day with our dear friends the Mountans, and Jeff & I even had a date night! We saw Fireproof, which was a fantastic movie.

Reid also got his first haircut in VA! I'll put pics in a separate post!

The Girl I Used To Be

I just received this in an email. It brought tears to my eyes, and I wanted to share it here:

THE GIRL I USED TO BE

She came tonight as I sat alone
The girl I used to be.
And she gazed at me with her earnest eye
And questioned reproachfully:

Have you forgotten the many plans
And hopes I had for you?
The great career, the splendid fame,
All the wonderful things to do?

Where is the mansion of stately height
With all its gardens rare?
The silken robes that I dreamed for you
And the jewels in your hair?

And as she spoke, I was very sad,
For I wanted her pleased with me,
This slender girl from the shadowy past,
The girl that I used to be.

So gently rising, I took her hand
And guided her up the stairs
Where peacefully sleeping, my babies lay,
Innocent, sweet, and fair.

And I told her that these are my only gems,
And precious they are to me;
That silken robes is my motherhood
Of costly simplicity.

And my mansion of stately height is love,
And the only career I know
Is serving each day in these sheltered walls
For the dear ones who come and go

And as I spoke to my shadowy guest,
She smiled through her tears at me.
And I saw the woman that I am now
Pleased the girl I used to be.

- Author unknown

Double Double Toil and Trouble

Here are Sydney & Ethan reciting a portion of Shakespear's Macbeth. It may be a little difficult to understand, but I thought the grandparents would like it!

Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble. Fillet of a fenny snake, In the caldron boil and bake; Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting, Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing,— For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble. Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble. Cool it with a baboon's blood, Then the charm is firm and good.

Look Who's Sitting Up!

Reid is sitting up without support for extended periods of time now! Yay Baby Reid! He can push up on to all fours (I saw him rocking on all fours on the carpet in his room today), but because our house has hardwoods, he usually just slips down to his belly!








Ethan asked for some cheese for a snack this morning. I was gone no more than 5 minutes, and when I came back he had created this cheese and raisin "sample tray." He was saying, "Samples for sale! Fifty cents a sample!"

We think Sydney & Reid really look alike! She is a terrific big sister!

Davy Crockett With a Chainsaw

We went to our friend's house for bruch after church yesterday, and they have 2 boys, so Ethan had an awesome time! He loved this chainsaw so much they let him borrow it. Thanks Tripp & Jen! The coon skin hat is Ethan's gift from Jeff when he went to Texas and visited a gigantic bass pro shop on his trip. We recently studied Davy Crockett, and he likes to put on the hat and pretend that's who he is.

For Sydney, Love is Spelled T-i-m-e (A follow up to my previous post)

When Jeff and I were in premarital counseling, our pastor had us write down 3 times in our lives we felt loved. Jeff's included things like his grandpa taking him to play golf when he was a boy, my examples focused on events like when my grandma would take me clothes shopping. From this list, our pastor talked to us about our love languages, meaning we had to show each other love in the "language" we understood. For Jeff, it was quality time, for me it was gifts. Well, the whole gift giving (or receiving) thing never really panned out for me, and I think my love language has since changed to something more like "acts of service" (go figure, being a busy mom!). But this concept of love languages has resurfaced again with our kids, specifically Sydney.

Gary Chapman wrote a book called The Five Love Languages, and if I remember correctly, they are:
Quality Time
Acts of Service
Gift Giving
Physical Touch
Words of Affirmation

The transition for me from 2 to 3 kids was not nearly as difficult as from 1 to 2, especially since Reid is such an easy baby. But once we started homeschooling, I began to feel spread really thin. Being a task-oriented person, it can be pretty frustrating feeling like I just can't get everything done that needs to be done. Jeff is helping me with time management, which really has been helpful so that I don't feel overly stretched. But the whole "test" Sydney gave me really made me want to probe deeper into her heart and find out where that was coming from.

What it boils down to is that Sydney's love language is quality time. She's given more than enough evidence that this is the case, but when I took her to McD's last week for hot fudge sundaes on a mother-daughter date, I asked her how she felt loved. Without hesitation, she replied, "When you spend time with me." And homeschool time doesn't count! :-) She needs one on one quality time with Jeff and/or me- dates, time reading together, playing dolls, hanging out in her room, etc.

Now that I know this, and want her to always feel loved, I can better structure my day to make sure a top priority is giving Sydney quality time. It may be just 15 minutes of alone time doing something she enjoys, but it's so awesome to watch her "love tank" fill up.

A Test of Love

Sydney dressed as a Pilgrim. She put this on for several days straight when we were studying the Pilgrims.

Yesterday, we were getting ready to meet some friends at the park. I told the kids to put on their shoes. Here's my conversation with Sydney:

Sydney: Mommy, do you know where my sneakers are?

Melanie: No, where did you leave them last night?

S: I don't know, I'll go check upstairs.

S: (After checking upstairs) They weren't there.

M: Maybe you left them outside. Did you check on the deck?

S: (Coming back inside) Well, I found them on the deck. But I knew where they were the whole time. That was just a test to see if you loved me.

M: Well, did I pass the test?

S: No. If you loved me, you would have known where my shoes were.

What??? My child was judging my love for her by whether or not I knew where her sneakers were? On one level, as an adult, you can laugh at that because it's so ridiculous. As her parent, I didn't think it was too funny because of underlying implications. But it really got me thinking about the passage in Matthew 4 where Jesus is tempted by Satan.

Matthew 4: 5-7:

Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: "'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'" Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"

How many times have I judged God when things were not going my way? The thought pattern is something like, "If God really, really cared, He surely wouldn't let this happen." Or, "Okay, either He loves me but just isn't completely sovereign, or He is sovereign but just doesn't care." Either way, I set up my own silly standards just like Sydney did, and if God doesn't pass my test, then His love just isn't true. Instead, I need to remember His faithful promises in His true word about His everlasting covenental love for me, not because I (or any of us) have earned His love but because He is love and He keeps His promises and He is good- all the time. And He is all that while being completely sovereign.

Thinking about this makes me really want to worship God for the mighty and loving Father He is. Instead of judging His love and faithfulness to me when things don't go my way, I need to confess to Him my desire to have things go my way all of the time. I need to remember that when I am tempted to think that way, it incriminates me and exposes my desire to be first. I must turn from that way of thinking and run back to my all powerful, all loving God who desires relationship with me. That's called living in faith and freedom instead of fear.

1 John 4:18a "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment."

So, back to Sydney. I guess the saying is true that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree! I'm sure any faults our kids have are learned from Jeff & me, but as we live life together in love and fellowship with one another and the Father, my greatest aspiration for them is that they will know the undying power of His unconditional love and faithfulness to His people.

Look Mommy, A Whale!

Ethan Teaching Reid to Hold His Bottle

Driving down a country road a couple of weeks ago, Ethan & I had the following conversation in the car:
Ethan: Look Mommy! A whale!
Melanie: A whale?
E: No, Mommy, not a whale, a whale.
M: Are you thinking about a whale in the ocean?
E: No, Mommy, not a whale, a whale. I just saw a whale outside!
M: Aren't you silly! Whales live in the ocean. Maybe you saw a horse?
E: No, Mommy. It was a whale! Like what Ma & Pa get their water from. (We like Little House!)

He was trying to say well! I guess living in Davidson County has had an effect on him!

Thy Mercy My God

As if I didn't write enough about baptism in my previous post, there was something extra special about that Sunday that I really wanted to share. My favorite musical group is Indelible Grace, who takes ancient hymns and sets them to new music. One of my absolute favorite songs they do is Thy Mercy My God. Click here to listen to a sound clip. Just click on the song title to hear it.

On my way to the hospital to have Reid, Jeff & I listened to this song, and I kept it in my head during labor (click here to read that amazing story!). Although we sing Indelible Grace at our church often, we have never sung this particular song when I've been there. Would you believe this is the song we sang right before Reid was baptized?! How awesome it was to sing this with my faith community and reflect on God's tender mercies just before the sign of God's merciful covenant was applied to my sweet baby.
Here are the lyrics:

Thy mercy my God is the theme of my song
The joy of my heart and the boast of my tongue
Thy free grace alone, from the first to the last
Hath won my affection and bound my soul fast

Without Thy sweet mercy I could not live here
Sin would reduce me to utter despair
But through Thy free goodness my spirits revive
And He that first made me still keeps me alive

Thy mercy is more than a match for my heart
Which wonders to feel its own hardness depart
Dissolved by thy goodness I fall to the ground
And weep to the praise of the mercy I've found

Great Father of mercies! Thy goodness I own
And the covenant love of Thy crucified Son
All praise to the Spirit whose whisper divine
Seals mercy and pardon and righteousness mine!

Reid's Baptism

Last Sunday, October 5, Reid Wallace was baptized. Our family and dear friends gathered around us for this special event, and we are so thankful for all who were able to come. The ceremony was beautiful and we had brunch at our home afterwards. It was really special to have Mark help with the baptism and pray for Reid and our family.

This is a long post, but I really wanted to write about why we baptize our infants. I realize that there are different beliefs among Christians about baptism, and I wanted to explain our viewpoint from scripture for anyone who wondered why we do this.

Coming from a Southern Baptist church in high school and college, I always believed it was wrong to baptize infants. I thought people either did infant baptisms because they believed it would cleanse the child of their original sin and give him/her a clean slate (which some people do believe) or that it was just a formality, like a baby dedication but with water. After coming into a Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) church in 1999, I learned that neither of my assumptions were true in the reformed faith.

For my friends reading this who are not Christians, we believe the Bible teaches that due to Adam’s disobedience in the garden, all people are born into sin because he represented the whole human race. We sin because we are sinners, we don’t sin and then consequently become sinners. Because of God’s great mercy, he sent Jesus, the “second Adam” (see Romans 5) to pay the price for our sin and redeem all those who put their faith in Him. Jesus did what Adam did not. He lived a sinless life, suffered, and died the painful and shameful death of the cross to satisfy God’s justice. Because Jesus represented His chosen race, those who believe in Him by faith alone can be completely forgiven of our sins and be in relationship with God. That is why on my profile I state that I am a sinner made righteous by the work of Christ. I am righteous in God’s sight, but ONLY by the work of Christ, not by anything I have done.

In the book of Genesis, God makes a covenant with Abram and the Bible says that Abram believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness (Gen 15:6). The sign of the covenant is circumcision, and Abram is told to apply the sign to every male among him. From that point forward, male babies were to be circumcised on the 8th day of life (Gen 17:12), even though they had not professed faith in God. The outward sign was to set them apart as part of God’s people, the covenant family.

You can follow God’s covenants with His people from Genesis to Revelation, and it really is a beautiful story. God constantly keeps His promises even when His people are unfaithful to Him. Ultimately, Jesus ushers in a new covenant of grace, which is the high point in the story of God and His people. However, it is always by believing God that people are reconciled to God, even before the death and resurrection of Christ.

The way that this relates to infant baptism is that children were always part of the covenant family. The outward sign of circumcision was always applied to infants. In the New Testament, the sign of the covenant is baptism. Since so many of the early Christians were Jews, they would have been accustomed to applying the sign of the covenant to their infants, and we believe that if they were not supposed to do that with baptism, there would be instruction in one of the epistles to not do it, but there is not. Furthermore, Jesus welcomes the little children to come to Him and puts His hands on them and blesses them (Mark 10:14-16). Acts 2:38-39 says, “Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off- for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

Jeff, Sydney, and I have received that promise and have put our faith in Christ. The faith we have is a gift from Him. As a baby, Reid does not have the capacity to put his faith in Christ, but we believe the promise is for him since he is our child. The baptism is an outward sign, and we look to Christ with hope and expect to see the inward fulfillment of the outward sign when Reid is older. The baptism marked Reid as part of our covenant family, our church community, and is all about God’s promise to His people. Although in the ceremony we did promise to raise Reid (and Sydney & Ethan at their baptisms) in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, the baptism is more about God’s promise to Reid and us, and less about our promises to God. We don’t believe the baptism saves him in the sense that from this point forward he is cleansed of his sinful nature, but we do believe it calls him out for salvation later.

One last thing that I personally love about infant baptism is that it really illustrates how believers have come to Christ, like helpless babies. Faith in Jesus is never something we can muster up, it comes as a free gift from him. We do not have the capacity to work our way to God, His amazing love does the work for us. Blessed be the name of the Lord!

The kids got changed and went out to play as soon as we got home!

Jeff''s mom made amazing desserts!

Precious Baby Reid! His middle name is Wallace, after Jeff's grandfather, Alvin Wallace, who is holding him in the photo, and his mother, Annie Wallace.

Myrtle Beach

Here are some pics from our trip to Myrtle Beach. We went Sept 14-18 with Jeff's parents, missed both storms and had beautiful weather! It's a great time to go because there are no crowds, it's not too hot, and the hotel rates are so much more reasonable. You run a huge risk, though, because that is hurricane season. We had a great time, and the kids LOVED the ocean! It was their first time at the beach in 3 years.

Sydney had a blast collecting shells each day.
She loved getting splashed by the waves! Reid (our dream baby!) took his long naps on the beach each day.
Being silly!
We took the kids to an amusement park for the first time, and boy did they have FUN!
Ethan & Papa

Ethan loved boogie boarding!
So excited to be at the beach!
Sweet Baby Reid
Enjoying the view
Reid turned 6 months old at the beach.