A Birthday blog!

Today is my 31st birthday and I am doing something I rarely ever do.  NOTHING!!  I'm usually always busy at something, and find it hard to not be productive, but today I decided it was a "do nothing" day.  Joel is home sick today and is also doing very little!  I went to work out this am (I guess that's something) and then came home, took a quick lay down (like 5 min.) and took a bath.  Then got back in clean PJ's and have sat on the couch reading my REAL Simple magazine (my favorite, by the way!!).  I stopped for lunch and have played with Jack off and on and put him down for naps and such but otherwise have been completely lazy!  And it feels great!  I think Joel is shocked - he's never seen me idle!  I figure once we get to Indonesia, I'll probably never have the chance to sit still so I'm making up for it all in one day!  Call me crazy but I'm enjoying it!

 

We got shots yesterday - a big OUCH!  We've had sore arms all night and day today.  We still have to get the Japanese Encephalitis one but I'm all done.  Joel and Jack still have more though.  Fun times, I tell you!

 

Well, I'd best get back to.... oh, yeah, I wasn't doing anything!  But I still should go.  Joel is taking me to dinner tonight and I suppose he'd like me to wear something other than pj's!  I'd be fine in them though!

 

Bethany

 

A Mommy's Day

Well, since it seems Joel is going to be doing the majority of updates on our blog, I thought perhaps I could add a note of my own today.

 

It’s a quiet afternoon in the Potter house.  Jack is taking a well deserved nap.  We were out most of the morning and early afternoon with Jolene, my best friend.  She has been gracious enough to run me here and there the last few days and we went to a local fitness center today to check out possibly joining, in order to do some aerobics classes together.  Bye-bye baby pounds!  Jack was a trouper and held up until around 1pm.  He only got a 15 minute nap while we were at Target and then fell asleep in the car seat on the way home.  I didn’t have the heart to wake him, so I left him to sleep in it in the living room and when he did wake, laid him in bed. He’s a tired little boy. 

 

I had hoped to begin packing this week, but ended up doing a bunch of little things that had to be done in order to get to packing.  Maybe next week I’ll make some progress. 

 

I’m reading several books right now on children and gleaning all I can so as to be a good mommy to this little man in our lives.  We can be thankful for so much; like that he loves to smile!  Even when he’s in a bad mood, he still will smile!  He loves to give hugs and kisses; and for as long as he’ll give them, I’ll take them.  He will eat just about anything!  I met another mom today whose 7 month old will only nurse – she won’t eat anything else but cheerios.  They are having to see a specialist to figure out how to get her to eat.  I thank God we don’t have to deal with that.  Jack loves people and doesn’t know a stranger.  Like I said we have much to be thankful for with him.  The little setbacks we face (not sleeping well and touching the toilet paper roll while on the potty) are pale in comparison to so many other families.  I have to keep that in perspective!

 

Well, that’s my two cents!  This is therapeutic I think!

 

Love to all!

 

Bethany

New everyday

Not only is God's grace and enabling new everyday, but what the Potters do everyday is new...

First off, the last post about snow somehow was posted late. We were under that advisory Monday night and in reality we didn't get any measurable snow, but Tuesday evening as I drove home from work, it was a pretty sight! But then the temps got up to 55 degrees the next day. Actually, we would love to have one good snow storm before we leave for Indo, so would mind praying for one decent snow fall?

Well, today and yesterday, in a striking contrast to working with Jeppsen Construction, I've been helping out a good friend of mine who is one the pastors at our church, High Street Baptist. He wears many hats, and somehow wears them well. I've worked with him before and really enjoy being a help to him. Somehow I don't feel like I'm quite as prone to make costly mistakes when I'm in an office working on a computer, as opposed to working in an almost finished house, where a little mistake could mean a whole in a wall, or ripping up a newly laid hardwood floor...

I've primarily been helping with IT tasks in the church office. Just in general, troubleshooting and keeping our computers up to date. I like it because I can dress the way I like and it keeps me up to date with what's going on in our church. It also keeps me sharp when it comes to technology. Well this is it for now, so thanks again for reading.

Joel

Snow

Just a quick little update. Springfield actually is under a snow advisory! Yahoo!!! We’de love to get some snow, even though it’ll probably be 55 degrees on Wednesday. SNOW SNOW SNOW!

Hwoah...

That's what I said on my drive home from work this afternoon. Last night before we got into bed, I remembered how tired work usually makes me. Now don't get me wrong, I have no problem with hard work. I'm sure the work and schedule we'll keep as we serve in Indonesia will be way more intense than what I do now, but working with Jonny is just plain hard work. And after a three and a half week break, my body had gotten used to not being punished all day, so this Monday was a doozy.

What do I do, you might actually ask? I help Jeppsen Construction, which is a friend of mines business. We lay tile and hardwood floors in the Springfield Metropolitan area and we're always 2 weeks behind. That's how busy we are. I assist our crew of 4 as well as Jonny in whatever tasks come about. Mostly I make the crew laugh by inventing new ways of making mistakes, like the time I shot a board through a beautifully finished wall...

I'll try to post a few pictures soon.

We've had a good couple days with Jack. He's playing marvelously on his own again, but he's really perplexing us with his sleeping habits. Maybe we're just perplexed because we're not getting enough sleep. He's waking often during the night (Saturday night was the exception) or waking up very early during his day time naps. He's also exerting his loud boisterous side during meals, which is more than what we'd like. Please be praying for patience and wisdom and ideas for us, we really need that and some good sleep.

Ok, take care for now.

Joel

running back towards technology

This innaugural post is to say hello to any one who finds themselves here. Hopefully through regular moderate posting, this can be a good method of sharing both random and intentional information about what and where in the world the Potter trio is and is doing. A wise person once said to me taht a blog with frequent short postings is the way to go. So, on this balmy sunday afternoon with jr. Potter in my lap, I bid you hello.

Things are settling back down in the potter house after the festivities of the past three weeks. We had so many good time with all of you our family. The past couple days have seen a great return to normal. Jack actually slept through the entire night last night without once coaxing mommy and daddy out of bed! We've enjoyed some quiet time before we get back into the swing of things this week. I'll be working with Jonny mon and tues and at church wed and thur. So, Bethany will be baptized by fire back into being a stay at home mom. She'll need prayer for patience and the ability to get some things done while corralling our little bronco, Jack.

Good news on the Indonesia end. We were blessed with two new supporters on our team. We're being provided for awesomely! We shared in a sunday school this morning which went really well. And I actually will be able to speak before the whole church on a wednesday in February. Be praying about what we share.

Ok, I must go and enjoy this balmy Cuban feeling day, all I need are some linen pants, a fedora, hemingway, and a few other choice accessories...

Take care all,
joel and jack on sunday afternoon.

'ohhwhauhhh...'
- jack aiden