Random Thought #13

I had the desire to send this link to someone in our office who shall remain nameless, but is not an attorney and who yelled at me this morning. The person really needs to read it though so that maybe the handwriting on the wall can be seen.

Random Thought #12

Sometimes there are articles that make you think - and praise God for His grace during a year of loss. This article is one of them. Sometimes you really cannot do anything to save someone, but there is comfort in knowing that you tried.

In case you are looking for baby names ...

... I would not suggest following in this couple's footsteps. The Johnny Cash song "A Boy Named Sue" comes to mind - although I think he would have agreed that Sue is better than that name.

Snow in NO

I see that my NO kids are able to enjoy the snow today. It always find it strange when it snows in NOLA!

What our week has been like ...

I will let Summer, Cory's wife, share the news with you about our week. Just a little background information. I was attending trial as Cory in our office tried his first case on his own (meaning without the partner present). The outcome was good for our client, and, well, let's just say that Cory "moved" one of the potential jurors on the panel.

The Importance of Teaching Children Generosity

On Thursday, our local young lawyers association donated law related books to children at the local Texarkana Baptist Orphanage. In the spring we will be taking the children out for a night at the theatre so that they can watch the production of To Kill a Mockingbird. One of our local young lawyers was kind enough to bring cookies that she baked for the children. She has a young daughter of her own who was watching her bake the cookies. Her daughter is at an age where she asks many questions because she is curious about everything. Naturally she asked her mother why she was baking cookies. Her mother explained that she was baking the cookies to take to boys and girls who did not have a mommy and daddy to take care of them. This caused quite a bit of concern for the little girl who cannot imagine life without a mommy and daddy. After thinking about it for a while, she told her mother that she wanted to share her apple with the children at the orphanage who did not have a mommy or daddy. Although the piece of apple would not come close to feeding the 15 children at the orphanage, her mother allowed her to package the piece of apple up to give to the children. This story reminded me of the importance of teaching children generosity, even when they may not be completely able to understand. The natural tendency of children is to be selfish all the time. However, with little hints here and there about how fortunate the child is can go a long way in teaching an attitude of generosity. I think it helps with the attitude of entitlement as well. Since Christmas is usually a time of getting gifts for children, I hope that there are other parents like this young lawyer who are teaching their children that it truly is better to give than to receive.

More Pictures of Verchaun Guy

 

Thanksgiving

Here are some fun pictures of my cousin's children from Thanksgiving. James is the oldest, Luke the middle child, and Emily the youngest. For some reason, James and Luke think that I am just a big toy to play with. This year, though, I was the puppy-sitter because they just got a new miniature daschund and they were afraid that my cousin Lisa, who loves animals, was going to steal it. They did not get nervous about me stealing the dog until I let them know that I have a dog at home that needs a friend because he doesn't have another dog to play with. James said that their dog did not have a dog friend to play with either. Then he got nervous because maybe it would be better for the dogs to be friends, and maybe I would take her. Children are so funny!

James

Luke

Emily

Brotherly Love

Random Thought #11

Sometimes I wonder what the people in the Walmart photo department think when they see my pictures. Take yesterday, for example – my pictures were of my cousin's children and of Birdie and the baby. Half white people, half black people. I wonder if they wonder what the story is there. I am sure that my pictures are not the strangest pictures that they see though.

The Happiest Days are Days Babies Are Born

Verchaun Guy was born on November 30, 2008 at 2:25 p.m. I received a nervous/excited phone call from his daddy at 2:00 p.m. informing me that the baby was about to be born, so I hopped in the car to head to New Orleans. He was 5 lbs. 14 oz. and 19 inches long. I walked into the room and had him in my arms within seconds (of course!). His proud daddy stole him away a few minutes later though :).




His proud daddy gave him back a few minutes after taking him from me too! I think his daddy really wanted pictures - especially since he even smiled in the picture.

We had to try to wake Verchaun Guy up in order to feed him. Let's just say that Verchaun Guy was very stubborn and would not wake up! Here is video of us trying.



We tried everything we could think of, but he would not open his eyes until there was no light in the room other than the light coming from the TV. Here is him seeing me for the first time.



His daddy was so cute telling him, "This is Miss Cyndia!" I am sure that he is going to be seeing a lot of me. I will also be teaching him to call me Dia instead of Miss Cyndia, but I guess it is habit for his daddy after 7 years.

After an hour and a half of trying, he finally had eaten 25 ml and been burped twice, but he still proceeded to throw up all over me with his daddy gagging in the chair beside me. I am sure that won't be the last time he throws up on me! I guess he just was not hungry. Or it could be because his daddy discovered he could hold him with one arm and swing him a little.



We talked a little bit about Guy on Sunday, which is where Verchaun's middle name came from. It reminded me of the verses in Job that say, "And he said, 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.'" (Job 1:21, ESV) This baby is truly a gift from God during a year when it seems that the Lord has taken away so much. Babies are a reminder that there is hope and that life continues to go on.