Breathe Easy

Daddy coming home from work, saying "there's my bud!"
Eating his peas, yummm.
Pop and Nana and the youngest Bama fan during the Iron Bowl, RTR anyway!
4 months old
Hello!
Rosie and Sam, before we knew this wasn't such a great idea :)

Well hello friends! It's been awhile.

Whew! A lot has happened since I have written. We have been busy. I bet you have, too. The Thanksgiving and Christmas season brings so much to do, to cook, to mail, to shop, all while working a full time job, and having a full time family. But I believe the key to enjoying it all is to slow down and find peace and rest.

We are doing a series at our church right now, from which I have learned so much. When Christmas is said and done, and someone asks me what I got for Christmas, my answer without hesitation will be, "peace." I have gotten so much PEACE lately. The Lord has shown me an amazing peace in the middle of chaos at work, with family and Sam's breathing issues and allergies (more on that later). I have learned that although there will NEVER be "peace on earth" (Luke 12:51) there WILL be "on earth peace" and goodwill towards men on whom God's favor rests. (Luke 2:14) So, in the middle of this crazy holiday season, I am so very thankful that God has given me an extra dose of HIS peace, which truly passes all understanding. If you would like to hear the whole message about this, check it out at http://www.churchofthehighlands.com/media/series/silent-night. It is part one.

Update on Sam:

Sam is doing great, although we hit a minor bump in the road! As you know from previous posts, he was having eczema, and sounding very rattly (is that a word?). We had to do breathing treatments and he had to take some medicine for it. We had 2 chest x-rays done and he didn't have any kind of infection so the next step would be allergy testing. We had him tested last Thursday and let me brag on him, he was super brave!! They poked him 20 times on his chubby little forearms. I made them poke me first, just to make sure it wouldn't be too bad. It wasn't :) They tested for 10 common allergens like dust, mold, dog, cat, etc. on one arm and 10 common food allergens on the other arm. WELLLLLL.....DOGS and EGGS are the culprit. We left feeling a little defeated, yet excited because we now had new knowledge. Of course we wanted to do whatever we had to to get him better but that meant finding a new home for our beloved canine and first baby, ROSIE. Thanks to my sweet aunt and uncle, Rosie now has a wonderful new home with two amazing kids, Julia and Jack. Chris and I will always appreciate their sacrifice. Sam is breathing easy now. It made me think about how truly blessed we are to be Americans, to live in a land where you can easily take care of your child's health needs. Thank you veterans, thank you.

(A little late) 4 month milestones:

eating baby foods! he looooves bananas, but who doesn't? :)

laughing out loud

rolling over and over and over

sitting propped up, like a "big boy"

playing in his Bumbo chair

following your hand and mouth with his eyes, mostly when others are eating. he loves to eat!!!

he is 28 inches long, weighs 19 lbs, wears a size 3 diaper and 9 month size clothes

Favorite things to do:

go to his honey and hoppy's house

go to his nana and pop's house

watch his Praise Babies DVD

go to the nursery at church

lay in the middle of mommy & daddy in their bed while they make a "Sam-wich" out of him!

play with his friends at school

Thanks for visiting. Praying all of you reading this will experience a renewed peace and joy this year.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Alex

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30

Eczema, Teething and our first cold, OH MY!

It's so true what they say about becoming a parent, much of it definitely IS trial and error. While our baby has been cool, calm and collected (for the most part) for these past 4 months, something else was going on of which we were unaware. Until recently that is. We took Sam to the doctor last weeks and it appears as if our little man has eczema! His doctor says it looks like a milk allergy. He must have been itching and irritated for quite a few days. Sooo....we changed formulas. Not only did we change formulas, we changed to a special hypo-allergenic formula made in Europe-yay! You can't buy it in stores and must order in bulk, online. It costs roughly $22.00 a day to feed him. You do the math! And while I stressed about the enormous cost of this formula, I just said, "God will provide! He will help us make it work." A couple of days after seeing the doctor, I called my insurance company just to see if they could offer any assistance. I didn't expect anything, not a cent. Surprisingly, the nice lady on the other end said they would reimburse us for 90% of the costs. What?!?!?! Ninety percent. I was again reminded of my God's faithfulness-always. He knew we would need that, and yet again, He provided. He constantly shows us that He alone is in control and that He truly knows our needs. That's comforting:)

So while we are working this allergy thing out, we are entering the ever-exciting world of TEETHING. On top of that we are experiencing our first cold with a stopped up,

runny nose. It comes in threes, huh? :) Even through all that, Sam has been a good baby still with plenty of smiles and giggles. He is sleeping all night, which is wonderful too! Especially for mom and dad.

Tonight I opened a drawer in the kitchen and caught a glimpse a beautiful, hand-sewn hand

towel that mom gave me when I was pregnant. It's pink with dainty flowers and across the front in brown monogramming says, "motherhood is the toughest job you will ever love." I smiled because truer words have never been spoken. Tonight I am thankful for my mama and all the hard work it took, day in and day out, to raise two children (17 months apart) in a sticky, tiring, busy world.

And she did it all, all the time, with love in her heart and a smile on her face. She still does.

Sam is 4 months old today. I'm going to try to post pictures to catch up on the past few months since I started the blog a little late.

Love to you and yours. Let us rejoice with thankful hearts. God has done great things!!

Love, Alex and Chris

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Welcome to the McCune Family blog, Chralex + One!

Well, here we

go! I decided to jump

on the blog train. I have never written a blog, but decided to do so after some urging from friends and family members. It seems like a great tool to stay connected, especially so we can keep our family and friends updated on our baby boy and all that we are doing as a family.

Someone recently told me that people get boring after having a baby. I disagree. I think people come alive after having a baby. Now th

at we have a baby, our lives are truly rich! Chris and I both, at different times, after leaving the hospital with our new bundle of joy, remarked to each other that the whole world looked

completely different, in a good way. I will never forget leaving the hospital and looking around and thinking to myself, "where am I?" Northport, Alabama looked like a place I had never been, a happy place, full of light and adventure. McFarland Boulevard, a busy road I have traveled hundreds of times in my 25 years looked like a new road, almost like I was in a dream where I had never felt happier, more alive and more satisfied. I checked into the hospital on July 13, 2010 regular old me but on July 18 I left a new person, a mommy! Because the "mommy spot" in my heart that had always been there, was now filled. It was filled with a new hope, a new joy --of my little family of 3. That experience also gave me a new appreciation and more love for my mother-in-law, who felt this exact same thing 27 years ago when her son, Chris, was born. And he is now my sweet husband. I know exactly how she must have felt and still feels about her very own baby boy. When I laid my eyes on Sam, I had a new perspective of how God sees us and how He feels about us. Completely smitten. Overly obsessed. Just the way I feel about my boy, nothing he could ever do or say could make me love him any more, or any less. I just simply love him, with all my heart. That's how God feels about us. And that--my friends--is true love :)

Sam's 3 Month Milestones:

-Cooing and laughing, especially when daddy tickles him

-Rolling over, everywhere! He likes to push up and look around.

-Going to daycare and loving his teachers, Mrs. Lacy and Mrs. Alyson

-Loves Wednesdays with his "Hoppy" for "Hoppy Hour(s)" going to Mr. Bill's, running errands, visiting family and riding around in his wagon.

-Having some mild allergies, we are changing formula

-Size 3 diaper

-25 inches long, 18.5 lbs.

Happy Fall Y'all! Blessings to you and your loved ones. Love, Alex & Chris

But I Trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. Psalms 13:5