o my son...

it was silent in our house for about 5 minutes, which is never good. when i went to find owen, this is what he was doing... :)

hummer

you know your baby is growing up when he hums with you. i used to rock him to sleep for naps/bed time and hum songs to him, but now he just starts humming along! what a big boy i have. a 1 year old! CAAARAZY!

i just went to target today and bought his big boy carseat. he is going to LOVE driving in it! he gets to face forward and be by the window. its a super nice carseat that will last until he doesnt need one anymore. thanks aunt marla, aunt margie, and nana and pop for the birthday $ to buy one! its fabulous! owen is more excited about the big box that it came in than the actual seat. im telling ya, this kid doesnt need toys. he needs boxes and spoons to play with.

nana and pop came this weekend. they helped us pack up a big trailer and drove it back to texas. 9 more days and ill be flying to texas too. i cant believe its getting so close! definitely bittersweet, but we are excited. here are a few pics from the weekend-




i love the Texas vs Texas Tech picture! who knows where this kiddo will end up going to school. uh oh, hes waking up from his nap...

GENIUS

can i just say that my son is a genius? i think about 4 people read my blog, so i dont feel too guilty for bragging. :) hes just so dang smart! he's been signing things for a while now, but hes starting to really sign them with purpose, which makes communicating with him SO much easier. last night, he had eaten about 3/4ths of his dinner, and he signed "all done." i thought he was just signing for fun, but then he turned his head away when i tried to feed him. its very nice to know when hes done, cause im always afraid im going to overfeed him (we had a delightful vomiting experience a few days ago!). he also signs "all done" when we are done reading, and he turns the pages when i ask him to. he signs "more" and we are working on "water," "eat," and "momma." when we sing songs, he sings along with us. he says "no no" and shakes his head (especially when titus is barking). he walks like a champ and manipulates things so well.

ok ok, enough, i know. im just a PROUD mom! this little boy is the light of my life!

nathans parents will be here tomorrow night to take a load of our stuff back to texas. then we move in like 10 days. crazy! we're excited, but just hope a few last minute details can work themselves out. like a job!

gotta get back to the boy, he keeps tumbling out of the laundry basket...

Fun Weekend!

My parents and sister drove in from Florida this weekend, and we had such a good time! The meal was delicious, of course, and Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Sissy had a blast hanging out with little Owen. The girls woke up at 6 and did a little Black Friday shopping, which is always a blast. Mom stood in line at Old Navy for over an HOUR while Sis and I tried on different things! ha! It was worth it though, we got some good stuff! We hit up Kohls, Old Navy, Target, Motherhood Maternity, and Macys. Not too shabby if you ask me. I need one more gift and my Christmas shopping is complete! And thanks to the sales, I didnt spend too much money! We had such a great visit with my family, which will be their last trip to Louisville! Here are a few pics from the weekend-






Tons of other pictures are on facebook! Owen got spoiled with lots of attention and lots of presents for his one year birthday! Do I really have a 1 year old????

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNDDDDD, if you havent heard... I'm pregnant. Yeah, its true. Some people know, we just havent spread the word like crazy yet. I'm just starting my 15th week and getting a little belly now. It wasnt planned at all, but Nathan and I are still very very excited! After a sonogram done last night, (done by me :):)) i think its a boy. But honestly, it could be a girl. It's still so early, and the baby wasnt being extremely cooperative. It was fun to see him/her bouncing around and having a good time. It definitely made the whole thing a tad more real! We'll have the baby in Denton right before we move to Austin. It'll be a tad crazy, but great :)

And last, here are a few videos from Owen's first birthday party. He had quite a good time!

aunt marla...

...this is for you :)

friday night lights

nathan and i are completely addicted to the show, friday night lights. i know it came out a while ago, but we just started watching it on netflix. we are in the middle of season two, and its so dang good. there are definitely some inappropriate scenes, but not NEAR as many as the other shows these days. we are really enjoying it and watching wayyyy too many episodes late into the night!

im in a super productive mood today and plan to get a lot done! i need to make some final dr appts before we move, put the finishing touches on a baby shower im hosting this weekend, and pack more boxes! im a packing machine, i tell you. and im a crazy craigslister too! anything that we would normally just take to goodwill, ive started posting on craigslist. $20 here and there really adds up!

meanwhile, owen is growing like a champ. its insane. i cant believe he is almost 1 year old. how the heck did that happen? he is immitating me and being such a big boy. its exciting, but i was packing all of his little bitty baby clothes yesterday and it was so sweet to think of him being that small :) i love my baby boy. here are some recent videos. enjoy!

flu shot

so i havent gotten a flu shot, and im starting to get worried. ive already had a pretty good dose of sickness, though im not sure what it was. lots of congestion, coughing, aches and pains, so maybe ive already had it. lots of my friends are talking about flu shots, and its making me think i should get one. owen had one and i need to take him in for his booster shot soon. BUT, i just watched a video about a girl who got a flu shot and it completely ruined her life. yes, its a one in a million thing, but still. go to youtube and type in "flu shot girl." uh, its so horrible.

its 6:45 and owen is already in bed. he took a huge nap this morning and completely skipped his afternoon nap. he'll be up early tomorrow, but thats ok. he was verrrry tired.

nathan is about to be home and wants me to go watch the UT game with him. eh, i think i may pass. 1. its a really good excuse for me to go to bed super early. and 2. maybe ill lay in bed and read, which i havent gotten to do in a long time! i have a huge book to get through, and im only on page 1o0.

well, imagine that, i dont have a single video to post. i must be slacking today. though the family did get phone videos of owen playing peek-a-boo :)

i love my life

my son is the cutest thing in the WORLD. i love him. i love the personality that he is developing and his big smile when he gets excited :) hes just too sweet! i put this video on facebook, so im sure everyone has seen it already, but here is a quick shot of owen splashing around in the tub-




im not entirely sure why owen doesnt prefer playing with his toys, but he would MUCH rather be playing with spatulas, pulling pages out of books, or going through drawers in the bathroom. this morning he threw my hair brush into the bath water that i had drawn for his bath. silly boy. hes starting to realize that he makes me laugh, so he will do things to intentially make me laugh. he's going to be the center of attention, JUST like his daddy!

owen also figured out that he can feed titus. titus' head is right at eye level with owen's high chair, which works to his advantage quite well. he knows hes not supposed to, so he'll just sneak over there when im not paying attention. heres a quick shot i got-




meanwhile, all is well in the sherman household. we only have 2 more months here in louisville, then we head to texas. ive been packing about a box a day, that way everything will be ready to move and i wont be overwhelmed the week before. we're excited, but definitely sad to leave the sweet friends we have here.

speaking of, i think ill go pack a box. ive gotta reach my quota for the day.

videos and more videos...

sorry to those of you who actually look at my blog.. im officially the worst blogger in the history of blogging. i am a tad busy with the little one, but lots of mommies blog, so its no excuse!

a lot has happened in the past few months for me, nathan, and owen. owen and i went to florida for a bit and visited with grandma, grandpa, aunt sissy, and aunt marla. it was very fun and a much needed bit of relaxation for me! owen just keeps getting cuter and cuter with age. he is on his feet much more than he is crawling these days, and take 2 or 3 steps at a time before realizing that crawling would be a much faster form of transportation. he's starting to sign "more," eating big boy food, jibber jabbering all over the place, and really starting to immitate what nathan and i do. its fun. one thing that we are struggling with- the sippy cup. first, i gave him one with a squishy top so sucking would be easier. well, he learned that if he bites down on it, stuff comes out. so now all he does is chew on it. aaaand we cant get him to actually suck. i guess itll come with time.

nathan and i have also decided that we are moving back to denton, texas in mid-december. we will ultimately end up in austin around june or july, but ill be in denton for about 6 months. we are excited to see lots of friends and to save a bit of money. it should be an easy transition and a good time.

well, here are 4 different videos that you dont have to watch! since i hadnt blogged in a while, i tried to get a bit of a variety. enjoy family! xoxo

WALKING BEHIND HIS NEW TOY:



FEEDING DADDY:




GOOFY BOY:




FOR AUNT SISSY, LEARNING TO SIGN "MORE":




he was a little ticked off when i was making him sign... we'd been doing it for a while and he was hungry!

for grandma and nana

just some fun of owen playing with titus. owen has decided he likes to use a screaming voice now. titus isnt very amused, but is such a good sport.




meanwhile, all of our neighbors have gardens and keep bringing over tomatoes. i used to hate tomatoes, and now i have at least one a day. how on earth did that happen? i guess when youre a poor seminary family, you learn to like whats free! i also just put together a dinner menu for the next 10 days using only what is in our cubbard! we spend way too much at the grocery, so im going to start using a bunch of coupon websites and put together menus that way. i have a friend who did it and is saving hundreds each month. i enjoy doing stuff like that, so im gonna give it a go! first we have to get rid of everything we have though, so the next week or 2 may be interesting eating! nathan doesnt mind :)

im really looking forward to seeing my family in 2 weeks. YAY! owen cant wait to be in florida!

funny boy

i swear, my full time job is picking up after this child! he is REALLY enjoying dropping things on the floor so i will pick them up :) heres an example...

waiting

I'll admit, the only reason that I'm blogging is because I have to wait another hour before I meet Nathan for lunch. But at least I'm blogging, right?

Not much has been going on around our place, except that Owen is become more mobile and I chase him around the house CONSTANTLY. It is kind of unreal. The doctor said that if I cant see him, he is probably in trouble, which is SO true. A few days ago, he pulled an iron lamp off of the coffee table down onto himself. He also made it 5 steps up the stairs before I grabbed him recently (and our stairs have no sides, its scary). He wants to stick his hands in the toilet, tries to pull the oven open, and wants to pull himself up on Titus' food bowls. SUCH a handful!

He went to the doctor and got his big boy shots. He barely cried, such a tough guy. His hair is growing in pretty thick these days, though you can barely see it because he is so blonde. And his eyes are still bright blue, I hope they never change!

Nathan and I are doing great. He started school and is caarazy busy with tough classes while working full time. I am enjoying being home as a mother and Im still figuring out what to do during the day. Im headed to Florida to see my mom and dad and sister, and I am verrry excited! Owen needs to see his Aunt Sissy, for sure.

Here are a few recent pictures. And three different videos. Dont feel like ya have to watch them, theyre mainly for Owen's fabulous family!

Always trying to play with the potty.

He loves the grass.

i love sleep.

i really do love sleep. funny how a teething baby who is up at night can make you realize just how precious sleep is. i guess id be awake at night too if i had 4 teeth coming in up top. ouch.

im sorry to the few individuals who actually read my blog, ive been horrible at updating lately. im going to set a goal of once a week, then maybe a few times a week if i can stick with it. ive been a little busy lately, but i promise ill get back to it! especially for those of you who pester me until i blog again.. you know who you are..

well, everything is great with the baby boy. hes going on 9 months old now. so weird. hes walking along the side of the couch and pulling up on anything he can get his hands on. he got a mosquito bite on his forehead and has rubbed it against the side of the pack n play so much that its turned into a lovely scab. we've gone swimming a few times lately, which he loves, especially when daddy comes. i recently decided that i wasnt going to spend big bucks on diapers anymore and purchased some Luvs because they are cheaper. yeah, im going back to Pampers.. when he is wearing Luvs and i go to change his diaper, my hands get wet just from touching the outside of the diaper. so not ok. speaking of- i took him to the pool a few days ago but realized once i got there that the pool was closed. i put him back in the car seat and made the 3 minute drive home. when we got here, as i took him out of the carseat, i realized that peepee was running down my arm. he had gone potty in his swimming diaper, and apparently they dont hold anything in. it was a delightful mess in the carseat.

nathan just started school this week and he is going to be one busy boy. i also started working a little harder with my stay at home Advocare job, and its been fantastic! just in the last week have i started working like an hour a day instead of 30mins, and my paycheck doubled this pay period. heyo! hopefully ill really be bringing in a decent income within the next few months and we wont have to raise QUITE as much support when we plant a church next summer.

i guess i havent written since i went to the advocare convention in dallas, so here are a few pictures. we got to see grandma, stacy and marla, nana and pop, aunt libby, and aunt tracy and uncle claudio. he was one spoiled boy, thats for sure! heres some pics and videos from the past few weeks...

helping mommy unpack

my little texas ranger

hanging out with daddy on a pretty day

destroying aunt sissys puzzle

our advocare group, GO TEAM RHINO!

we hung out with grandma all weekend!

nana and pop!

SIS, this video is for you. its pretty boring, but youll appreciate it!

Daddys Boy

this child is a total daddy's boy. hes grumpy all day, but daddy comes home and hes a little giddy school girl. daddy's just sooooo funny! :) heres a quick video of him playing on daddy's shoulders. its his most favorite place in the world to be...




im TOTALLY excited about the bachelorette finale tonight. not quite as excited as last season, but still looking forward to it. nathan has lost interest, and i dont think ill be able to sucker him into another season. we've been working on eliminating some tv shows, and this might be one of them. along with top chef. we're going to have one tv night a week where watch tivo'd shows that we like. the other nights will be spent at the park with the baby and dog, or doing things fun! well, unless, of course, the rangers are on. then we just HAVE to watch! o gosh, and football season is coming up. so disregard everything i just said.

gonna start working on dinner for sarah and craig tonight, im so excited theyre back from thailand! we've missed them. so off i go..

baby story

i love the baby story show on TLC. i cry every time. ridiculous, i know. i cried during a security system commercial today, SERIOUSLY? ah, hormones.

not too much going on around here, except chasing this precious boy around the house. below are two short videos of him just being himself. hes so fun! and such a handful!

have yall seen the commercial for taco bell where they sing "it's all about the Roosevelts baby?" so funny. alright, gonna feed this baby.

clever title

i couldnt think of a clever title, so instead i just wrote "clever title." ha.

not much new, just thought id share a few green bean videos. i bought 5 things of green beans thinking id be using them, but he hates it. he doesnt like the texture of pears either. only bananas. SO, thats all he is eating for now, and still nursing. by the way- why is baby banana food so good?

here is my attempt to get owen to eat his green beans-



and when i got a good bite in his mouth-

big boy

owen is getting to be such a big boy. its crazy. he pulled himself up on the crib and everything- heres the evidence. he starts on his knees, then pulls up...

almost there

and hes up! what a face :)

he also has quite the giggle. im singing the song on one of his toys, and he thought it was SO funny!

so theres also a little problem with owen being able to go from laying down to sitting up. he used to be able to sooth himself back to sleep at 3am. but now, he sits up, then starts crying like crazy! when is he going to figure out that he just needs to lay back down? he usually loses his mind and i have to comfort him like crazy. i usually let him cry stuff out, but it doesnt work too well when hes sitting straight up in his crib. grr.

im headed to texas for an Advocare thing in a couple weeks. im excited! gonna get back on the advocare grind and start losing more weight. ive sold over $1000 in product and lost quite a bit of weight. its such a good side job for moms who want to bring in a little extra income. im just sayin!

He's gonna be a singer!

Yup, Owen is going to be a singer like his daddy. Nathans parents were in town this week, and we went to have dessert by a restaurant that had a live band. When they would play their music, Owen would start singing and dancing. Well, not quite, but kind of! Heres a quick video-




We had a great visit with my parents and Nathans parents this week! Owen is one spoiled grandbaby. And he is so worn out! He is napping right now, though I hear him moving in the monitor... the fireworks going off every few minutes are not working so well for his nap.

Everything else is the same in our neck of the woods. Nathan is working hard on his Greek class homework, Owen and I have gone swimming a couple times now, and Im continuing to work on my cooking skills this summer. The fish tacos were a success; next up is a tasty pot roast recipe that I have never tried!

Owen also had his first trip to Churchill Downs to see the horse races! It was great! Here are a few pics from the races-this is how owen watched the horses!

our little family. and yes, i chopped my hair off! i love it.

gotta have your cute kentucky derby hats!

Little Swimmer

I know I know, Im a horrible blogger. I just always want to upload videos, and it takes so long! No excuses...

We have been busy around the Sherman household, but nothing too crazy. Owen officially has 2 bottom teeth and is working on one on the top. He went to the Dr. on Monday and got his big boy shots. He's such a good baby, I love this kid. Grandma and Grandpa (my parents) drove through this week and we had a great visit with them! Now Nana and Pop (Nathans parents) are in town, and we are really enjoying it! I think I may shower today, maybe even put on a little makeup, all without worrying about the little one! SO exciting!

Owen took his first trip to the swimming pool last Saturday, and has since become a water bug. He LOVES it. Here is a quick video below, he loves to splash around and kicks his legs like crazy. Daddy is going to go with us next time so he can see how fun it is!

Nothing else new, really. We dont have plans for the 4th yet, but I am sure that something will develop! Oh, I cut my hair off. Its above my shoulders, which it hasnt been since 7th grade. I really like it, and I will post pictures eventually. The husband is awake, so Im outta here! xo

the men in my life

Happy Father's Day to the three wonderful dads in my life. I am so incredibly blessed to have such a wonderful family.

DADDY

GRANDPA

POP
I LOVE YOU!

Oh, and here is a little video for Grandma and Nana... xoxo

brothers

so titus has always kept his distance from owen, which is exactly what ive wanted. but hes become more lovey with owen, and i like it :) hes still too big to do too much, but i got this video this morning and its super sweet! toward the end, titus licks owens head, and owen cracks up. my sweet boys.

oh. my. goodness.

my husband is bald. completely bald. its unbelievable. heres the story...

nathan has cut his own hair since he was in college. he has a pretty nice set of clippers and just uses different guards to do it. he cuts it short on a 2 sometimes, but mostly keeps it faded and long on top.. the way i like it. it was just getting long enough for him to gel it on top again, so i was excited. he was downstairs cutting his hair this morning, when i heard him say, "um, marcie..." he came upstairs and asked "how bad is it?" and turned around. ooooo dear. while he was cutting the back of his hair, the guard fell off without him knowing it. he did an entire strip of hair completely down to the skin! i couldnt stop laughing. he wasnt horribly upset, and thought that maybe he could cut it super short and no one would notice. didnt work. no matter what he did, you could still see the line up the back of his head. SOOOOO, he shaved it off. completely off. ITS UNNNBELIEVABLE. and here are the pics and video to document. maybe one of the most hilarious events of our marriage. and horribly dreadful at the same time! not only does he have to go to work and attempt to sell phones today, but hes also leading worship in front of the entire church tomorrow. heaven help us.

THE INITIAL DAMAGE.


THE ATTEMPT TO MAKE IT LESS NOTICABLE.

SHAVING IT ALL OFF.THE FINAL PRODUCT.
YOU DONT HAVE TO BE NICE,
WE KNOW ITS SCARY.

AND THE PAINFUL VIDEO:

Nepal

Sorry this has taken me so long to post, but things have been a little crazy around here. Our trip to Nepal was absolutely incredible and filled with stories of how God is moving amongst his people there. I won't bore you to tears with all of those, but here's a quick recap of what we did.

After two days of flying, we arrived in Kathmandu--which including the surrounding areas hosts over a million people. Our main goal in Kathmandu and the two other cities we visited was to lead a pastor's training, and usually two of us would stay with our professor, and the other four would go out and talk to Nepalis. 80% of those are Hindu; 10% are Buddhists; 5% are Muslim; and then a smattering of other faiths make the rest. The majority of the non-Christians that we talked to were Hindu, but we did spend a great part of the day at this Buddhist temple.
Surrounding the temple on all sides are prayer wheels. The people walk around the temple clockwise for hours spinning the wheels which they believe are ushering up their prayers. The people that we got to talk to, we would ask how long they had been doing this same ritual. Most would reply nearly everyday of their entire lives, to which we would ask would it ever be enough and could they know for certain the outcome of performing these rituals, to which they would uniformly answer, "No."

These were great opportunities to share that Jesus came to perform all that we need to reach God, and that no amount of good works will ever give us complete fellowship with God because of God's holiness and our sin. The supposed freedom and enlightenment that Buddhism brings is really enslaving these people's lives under ritualism and doubt.


But the main focus of our trip was encouraging and ministering to pastors who are eager to teach their congregations but have had little to no theological education. Below are some of the dear brothers in Kathmandu and me teaching through a translator.


After a very successful four days in Kathmandu, we drove six hours to the southwest to the very rural area of Chitwan. Here there are a lot of Christians and a growing amount of churches mainly due to the work of one man whose goal it is to plant over 100 churches over the next 10 years. We did much of the same kind of teaching in Chitwan and spent some good time answering questions in small groups, such as "Are we now free to eat beef? What happens if someone dies without being baptized? How is it that Jesus is both fully God and fully man?" All great questions, and the kind of things we talk about at length in American seminaries, but these pastors have no one to answer these questions.


After three days in Chitwan we drove five hours north to the mountain town of Pokhara which is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to. We taught at a small school directly under the Anapurna range of the Himalayas.


After the first day of training in Pokhara, several of us went up to a small rural village to talk to people about Jesus. By God's providence, when we stopped the truck there was a man named Sunil standing right where we got out. He had become a Christian a few months prior but still had many questions and didn't know of church nearby. It just so happened that Timothy, our translator, knew a church that his father-in-law pastors at the bottom of the hill. Sunil was overjoyed and invited us back to his house, which was no more than a mud hut where his wife made us lunch--which probably cost them a week's pay--and he brought person after person over for us to tell them the good news of the gospel. This might have been my favorite day of the entire trip to see God's sovereign hand at work, to be able to encourage new believers and share with those who knew nothing of Jesus, and to be utterly humbled by this hospitality.


After our final day in Pokhara, we returned to Kathmandu and flew home. As usually happens in short-term mission trips, I'm sure we learned more than anything we taught the Nepalis, but nevertheless I am confident that the work we did in two weeks will have eternal significance for the furtherance of the Kingdom. Please pray for Nepal--for the perseverance of these eager pastors, their churches, and the gospel to go out with great expectancy to an unbelieving culture. Thank you so much for all of your support without which this incredible trip would not have been possible. I hope that you have been encouraged by the faith of these believers who are under considerable persecution by their families and culture. If you're my friend on facebook, you can see the rest of my pictures.

YIKES

so much has happened since i last blogged, i dont know if i can fit everything into one post! heres my attempt-

after i graduated, mom, dad, owen, and i drove to north carolina to see aunt beth and uncle larry. they have a beautiful house in the mountains and it was a blessing, as usual, to get to spend some time with them. we then drove back to florida, which was rather interesting for the little one. 3 straight days in the car, 6 hours driving every day. poor kid. he used to love the carseat, now he hates it. we had a WONDERFUL visit in florida. mom held owen while i laid out in the pool, we did some shopping, celebrated my sister's birthday, ate good food, went to the beach, got to see aunt margie... pretty much got spoiled rotten. while in florida, owen got his first tooth. he went from sleeping 10 hours at night to waking up at least twice. it was rough. his second tooth came in about a week ago, and hes just starting to get over it. he's not a fan of the teething thing. either am i.

nathan had a fantastic time in nepal. he went to three different cities and trained pastors in Bible fundamentals. they also did evangelism and had such a wonderful response from the nepali people. he got to do crazy things like ride elephants and see the sunrise over the himalayas. i wont spoil it though, because he is going to do a blog on here to update everyone on how it went! we missed daddy DESPERATELY, and we are so glad to have him home.

nathans grandfather passed away while he was in nepal. he was 95 and it was very expected. he was such a sweet man. the funeral was just a celebration of his life. owen and i flew to texas and got to get daddy from the airport on his way home from nepal. it was great to be with the sherman gang. we had lots of family time and owen got to meet extended family that he may never see again!

we are finally back in the swing of things around here. nathan is taking 8 credit hours this summer including greek syntax, so he is completely swamped. owen is a rolling machine and a handful to keep an eye on! i wish we had carpet and padded walls, and id just let him roll around the house :) hes such a wonderful baby. nathan and i are so lucky. i babysat for a baby on friday who ended up in the hospital yesterday with possible meningitis. needless to say, i was slightly freaked out and disinfected the entire house. it turned out to be a possible ear infection or some other infection in the body, but not meningitis. i feel much better about it, and my house is VERY clean.

on a different note, i started working from home and i LOVE it. im an independent distributor for advocare, a company filled with christians that provides great products. iiiiiin fact, i just start using them, and ive already lost 6 pounds. HEYO! i weigh less now than i did before i was pregnant. high school weight, here i come! yall just wait :)

owen is getting fussy and needs to go down for his morning nap. i promise ill be more faithful to the blog (brittnye!!). xoxoxo