What I would have written in your Christmas card...

Hi all! I put the first wave of our Christmas cards in the mail yesterday. I felt a little guilty about not writing a personal note in each one, so I thought I'd write a little note here on the blog.

We have experienced so much blessing this year. To be able to watch Kate grow and near her second birthday while we eagerly anticipate the birth of our son is an amazing gift. I think I can speak for Fred when I say we are completely humbled to have the gifts of these two children in our lives (even on a night like tonight when Kate somehow managed to get a staple lodged between one of her molars and her gums).

We are anticipating a big year in 2010. We're expecting John Parker to arrive in late February. Sometime before that, I should hear the final word on my tenure at LSU. So far, all the news has been good. Fred is graduating from seminary and getting ordained in May!! Our church has arranged for his ordination to be the same weekend as his graduation. It will be such a blessing to have our families here for both events.

I think one of the greatest gifts God has given me this year is watching Him work miracles in the lives of some of our closest friends. I have several close girlfriends who are also pregnant right now and some of them have had a very, very hard road to get here. Other friends have had struggles with jobs and homes, but God has shown himself mighty in each situation and He has done some amazing things in response to faithful prayer. We are blessed to walk alongside our friends as they trust in God in good times and in bad. May God bless each one of you this year and may you experience His love in a real, tangible way in 2010!

Love,

Fred, Lisa and Kate

Beginning to look a lot like Christmas

This was a busy week in the Lundy house. We had three Christmas parties. Tuesday evening, we had a party for the ministerial staff at church (see below). Thursday night, Fred went to a party for all the staff at church. I stayed home with Kate. Last night, we had a party for the small group Bible study I teach at church. All the parties were fun, but we are looking forward to a more low-key week coming up.

Kate vs. blue crayon

Ready for church this morning. One of Kate's new games is putting her dog "night-night" - she carries the dog and her blanket all around the house, putting the dog to sleep and covering him with the blanket. It is really sweet.

Relaxing with Alli after a long week. I think Kate might have a harder time adjusting to sharing attention from Alli with John Parker than she does with sharing attention from us :)

"Bless you"

Update: I started this post Friday at work, but I was interrupted when I grabbed a diet coke out of my fridge and it exploded all over me and my desk. So, my blogging time turned into an extreme makeover session deciding how to cover up the diet coke stains for my afternoon faculty meeting. I ended up wearing a white hoodie over my nice work clothes. I am sure people thought I looked a little strange.

As Kate gets closer to 2 years old (yikes!), I find myself doing more and more little girl stuff with her and less baby stuff. For example, I've been working on putting her hair in pigtails in the mornings. It's so cute that way and keeps the hair out of her face. Her teacher, Ms. Kathy, even gave me her "beauty parlor" tutorial. Every time I do it, I'm reminded of the countless times my mom and I stood before her bathroom mirror while she did my hair. It's a little girl thing! We're not really potty training yet, but Kate will come and tell us when she needs a new diaper (sometimes). When I look at pictures of her from earlier this year, I can't believe how different she looks.

Kate is talking so much these days. She can tell us what she wants, ask us questions, etc. Sometimes we don't understand, but more and more we are able to communicate with her. I tell her "I love you" all the time and I've been waiting for the day when she says it to me unprompted. What's funny are the things she just picks up hearing us say them (well, not always funny). The other morning, I was snuggling with her on the couch in the morning (about the only time of day she's interested in snuggling). I sneezed and, after a little pause, she said "Bless you!" It was so sweet to hear her say that. It doesn't seem like a big thing, but one of my biggest prayers is to foster in her little heart a genuine concern for others and their needs. One of my favorite songs right now is "Hosanna" by Hillsong United. To me, this is a song about hopefulness that we'll see more of the beauty of Christ in a world that can seem overwhelmingly negative. One of my favorite lines is "I see a generation, rising up to take its place, with selfless faith." I always think about my kids when I hear this line. I don't really care about my kids being religious. I care about them having a faith in Christ that seeks to emulate his life by giving and love selflessly to others. I care about them wanting to be a blessing to others.

Here's a few new pics. Sorry about the delay since my last post :)

Sidewalk chalk is a new favorite. Much of it usually ends up on Kate's face or on Alli.

She also loves wagon rides around the backyard. She's getting a tricycle for Christmas...shhhh :)

Chillin' in the wagon, watching the sunset.

First time for mommy to do pigtails for church.

The result - this is harder than it looks.

All ready to go.

Ready for church this morning. First Christmas outfit of the season.

I have to use Elmo to distract her so she'll stand still.

Thankful

For some reason, I always seem to be out of town the weekend before Thanksgiving for work. This weekend, I was in Dallas for a grantwriting workshop. Unfortunately, Kate's preschool Thanksgiving luncheon was on Friday so I had to miss it. Fred went with her and sent me some pics.

Lundy Update

Hi all! Things are good in the Lundy house, just normal craziness. Here are a few new pics:

Kate loves to try on any shoes we leave out, but these take the award for biggest shoes to fill :)

Swinging might be even more fun than sliding.

Getting some love from mommy.

Ready to go! When Dottie was here last week, Kate went down this slide head-first.

What to try next?

Where's Alli?

Climbing around with Daddy.

Fun weekend with Dottie

My mom came to visit this weekend and we had so much fun. I can't believe I didn't take any pictures, so I had to post this one from Kate's birthday weekend. We had a fun girls' day on Friday and took Kate to the playground to play. It was just a really nice weekend. It made me ready for the holidays!

Thanks for the prayers!

Just a quick note of update: Little Sarah Kate who I blogged about last week is home and has been for a few days. She seems to be doing pretty well right now and her parents are ecstatic to all be home together. Something we take for granted every day - for them, it's a huge answer to prayers, your prayers! Thanks for lifting them up!