No Guilt

I have been wanting and trying to write a post for weeks now, and it just hasn't happened. I've been reading friends blogs and feeling so guilty for not keeping mine up to date. Let's just say, I am the queen of guilt...guilt over not parenting "right," guilt over not serving enough, guilt over being selfish, and the list goes on and on...guilt, guilt, guilt. The Lord spoke so clearly to me the other day. There is NO CONDEMNATION (no guilt) for those who are in Christ Jesus! Even if it's something as silly as a blog, I cannot allow the enemy a foothold in my life. I created this blog as a fun way of updating friends and family on the happenings in the Bramlett family. No one forced me to do it, and no one is calling me every day saying I must update it so many times a month. So anyway, all of that to say, I am not going to apologize for not writing sooner. :)

To update you, our little man (who's not so little anymore!) is 13 months and growing! He's not walking yet, but I don't think it's going to be long before he takes his first step. He's cruising around the house and standing in one spot on his own for several seconds at a time. Here he is last night on the back porch. Daniel began another project (surprise!) on our back porch, so Riley and I went out to join him. As you can see, Riley had a great time with the hammer. I asked Daniel if he was proud that Riley liked the hammer, and he said, "I think he'd be doing the same thing with a spatula from the kitchen..." Time will tell! :) Not only did he enjoy the hammer, but he loved crawling around in the dirt. In fact, this picture was taken about 5 minutes before he found a dirty rock, placed it in his mouth (while mama wasn't looking) and sucked the dirt off. To my dismay, he wasn't even upset by the taste of the dirt! Needless to say, we brushed his teeth extra well before bed!! I laughed while I did it, too, because I sing a song to him while brushing his teeth (courtesy of Lesley Branscum), and the last line is "keep them white, keep them clean, brush the dirt away." I never knew it would be literal for my son! :)

My other favorite Bramlett male is currently on his way to Bel Air, Maryland. He and one of his best friends from college, Mark, are driving to my parent's house to pick up some furniture and boxes that are ours. I figured since I'm 31, it's probably time to finally get all of my belongings out of my parent's house and have them in one central location (my house!). If you think about it, say a little prayer for Daniel and Mark as they drive through the night and all day tomorrow. It's about a 20-hour trip. When they get there, they'll load everything up, grab a bite to eat, sleep for a few hours, and head back this direction. Daniel is very much an optimist, so he thinks they'll be back in Hope, AR by 8:00 Friday night. I'm more of a realist (not pessimist...ha ha) and think they'll get back sometime early Saturday morning. Either way, I'm praying for alertness, safe driving, no mechanical problems, and good fun. Daniel and Mark are quite a pair, so I'm sure they will have many stories to tell when they return!

I'm not making any promises (because if I don't fulfill them then there's the possibility of feeling guilty...you know how it goes!), but I'm going to try to do some make-up posts and share about the past month of our lives. If it doesn't happen, though, remember: NO GUILT! :)