Merry Christmas

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Happy 2nd Birthday Rowe!!!

Today is Rowe's 2nd birthday! More to post soon. Here is just a small pic of what is to come soon. Check out his perfect little 2 shirt from www.duesouthdesigns.net.

Rowe had 2 much fun!

Christmas Day

Rowe has been in the Zone since Santa came. He doesn't want to eat, have his diaper changed, sleep, or anything else that requires him to take a break from playing with his toys. He just sits there so quietly playing happily in the floor. It is too sweet to watch!!!! I love this kiddo!

Playing with Granddaddy at Little Mama's

Check out our little football player!

There's no crying in football!

Christmas Eve

Mom and I spent Christmas Eve making all of our favorite Christmas candies. It was a blast, yummy, and now my clothes have shrunk!
Rowe was happy as long as he had a cookie in his hands or mouth! Needless to say, he stayed up really late!!!

Santa Claus came to visit!

Just Call Me "Master Gillis"

Well, I have finally accomplished one of my major life goals. I have now earned my Master of Science Instructional Technology (MSIT) degree this month. I started this journey in June of 2005. I had planned to finish within two years, but life does not always go as planned. I completed one summer of 12 hours of classes, and the following spring, we suffered our first devastating miscarriage. The following summer, I was not up to school fulltime mentally. The following winter, we suffered our second miscarriage, and our money was going towards medical testing, my shots, and doctor visits. I didn't want to go into debt, so I took some more time off. Well, fortunately we found out we were expecting again in May of 2007 and was put on "couch" rest. That eliminated any ideas of going to school that summer, but I was NOT complaining. At this point, I was really questioning whether or not it was God's will in the first place to have even started this degree. Finally, Rowe was nearly six months old when I finally returned to school in the summer of 2008. It was tough going to school 9 hours and having a new baby. Fortunately, my mom was there to make it all possible for me. I could not have done any of this without her! I went back to school the following summer of 2009 with 12 hours of classes. This was a tough summer academically filled with projects, papers, and lots of hard work. I finished the summer, and decided to take my last class during this fall. I didn't want to wait until next summer, and I am so glad I chose this fall to finish. I loved my night class and classmates. I had a great fall semester thanks to my husband helping with Rowe on Monday nights, my parents for helping also, Kay who was my class partner, Jan that helped me get through comps and lots of prayer and studying.

When I say that I am excited to have graduated, I mean it!!! This time in my life was more than just classes, but was a journey for my whole family.

Now if I can only convince my students to call me Master Gillis! :)

Monsters Inc.

My almost two year old son loves the movie Monsters Inc. I was a little reluctant in letting him watch it. I was afraid some of the scare scenes might frighten him. Well, I was very wrong. The first time we watched it, he laughed at the funny scenes and the scare scenes. It tickled him, instead of scaring him. My little man was fearless!

The more I thought about that, the more I envied his fearlessness. Why do I let the "monsters" in my life frighten or paralyze me? We all have our own monsters in the closet. You know, the ones that you keep hidden away, and hope no one finds out about. Well, I guess you could say "it's closet cleaning time" for me. I face one really ugly monster daily. My monster's name is anxiety. Just typing the word makes me nervous. This monster rears its ugly head in the form of worry, nervousness, doubt, low self esteem, and more. I have battled with this monster for many years, and it seems that it has only gotten stronger in the last few years. I have not been as consistent with my quiet times with God, nor have I spent as much time and energy in prayers as I should. The less time I spend with God and His Word, the stronger this monster gets, and the more my family suffers. It is up to me to care enough about the people in my life and my relationship with the Lord to do something about this. If I continue living the way I always have, it is foolish to think things will get better. Today, I will fight back. I will put on the armor of God, and wage war against this enemy in my life that is not flesh or blood.

What are the monsters in your life? What is hindering you from becoming fearless? Is it depression, gossip, worry, temptation, or something else? I challenge you to give that monster a name, face it, and do something about it.

Isn't it amazing how God can use a wonderful children's movie to convict me in such a strong way. God is good.

Happy 6th Anniversary to Us a Little Late!

Lee and I celebrated our sixth anniversary on Sunday, December 6th. On Saturday night, December 5th, I reminded him! ha ha.

Notice Rowe's Big Boy Haircut!