Encouragement??

I have been reading James Dobson's book for most of the summer and let me tell you I don't understand where the encouragement is. You see on the maroon line where it says, "practical advice and encouragement...??" Well, let me tell you I am still searching for that part. In its defense I have not quite finished the book, but I am pretty close. I have learned so much from this book. I do recommend it, but as a mother it has proven to me that I don't know much about raising a boy AT ALL!! Basically a lot of their raising depends on their fathers!! There is a whole chapter devoted to the negative effects of the lack of a father figure in a young boy's life. I am very blessed that Chad loves to spend lots of time with Linc, but I am wondering where my role is in all of the raising?? I hope I don't nag him to death with my comments of " well the book says you should....." I am sure he won't appreciate that too much. I think the main thing I am supposed to do is keep Linc alive because from what I can tell he will be getting into fights, jumping off of trees, playing with all kinds of unsanitary animals, and engaging in whatever risky behavior is available. One thing that I know I have to do is protect my marriage. Unfortunately for young boys when a divorce happens the father typically leaves and the boy no longer has a regular example of how to be a man. A mother can try her best, but in adolescense she doesn't really have a clue. Marriage is fragile especially if you take seriously 1 Peter 5:8 (New King James Version)
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. It sucks to know that Satan hates marriage, but I am sure that he knows that if he can destroy that he can easily get to our kids. May Christ be greater in my family and yours and may we constantly seek His face so that He can show us how to avoid life's pitfalls!

More AR Pics

Duke on his wild horse.


Victoria is getting so big. She is going to high school this year. Such a beautiful girl.

Juliet had a wild little horse and the trail guide called her fluffy. So rude!! She has such a compassionate heart.

Pawpaw with his twin. While we were in AR a random man told him that we didn't need to take a DNA test to find out if Linc was related to him. Pawpaw grinned from ear to ear all day long!!

Linc and his mommy. I love holding him. He is the sweetest little guy!

Arkansas Trip 5 months

Thanks to a very generous Pawpaw we were all able to travel up to Arkansas to meet Linc's great grandmother, Bon-bon. I had no idea that Arkansas was so beautiful. We stayed at a lodge up on Queen Wilhemenia mountain. We went horse back riding, rode the train, and went to the neatest little wildlife refuge. I would post those pictures, but Chad was in charge of the camera and instead of taking pictures he always seems to want to film everything. So I have like 20 little video snippets.


Me, Linc, and Chad at the Red River.

The Butler family on the Wilhemnia train.

Linc and Daddy at the Red River.

Memaw, Bon-bon and their grandkids.

Lincoln Chadley Butler

Ok.. so this is way late because Lincoln is now 5 months old. On Feb. 3rd, 2010 at 6:26 pm Lincoln was born. He was 21 inches long and he weighed 7lbs 12 ozs. I felt like he weighed at least 15 lbs. He has been such a blessing to our lives. He is such a good baby. Everyone constantly tells us that he is great. He set the bar high for any siblings he has should the Lord bless us with one or two or three :)

Baby Shower

We had our first baby shower for little Lincoln. We are still debating on the name either Chadley Lincoln or Lincoln Cade. ( For those of you who think we are weirdos Chadley is Chad's real name.) The shower was so precious. Karla, Vianey, Alyson, and Irma did such a great job. The theme was so cute. Obviously, it was all football theme in an effort to honor the Linc's daddy. Vianey's sister made me a little homecoming mum to wear. It was so cute. Karla even made a cute scoreboard that went along with the theme as well. We got some great gifts and were so blessed by everyone's kindness!


This is me with my neice, Juliet, at the baby shower. She has the most beautiful hair and is such a joy to be around.

Fun goodies that Karla and Vianey made.

The sweetest hostesses who were so generous to throw such a great shower for us.

Trust in the Lord

A part of me sometimes feels like I can't enjoy this pregnancy too much because there is always a chance that something will go wrong. I have been suprised by my lack of trust in the Lord in this area. I feel like I worry constantly and wonder if I will be the one who this that or the other will happen to. This morning I read a blog on http.blog.mom4life.com about how she lost her little baby Sawyer at 37 weeks. I accidentally ran into the blog as I was looking at a babybook she was recommending. It broke my heart to read her story. It is a mother's worst nightmare come true. However, as I read thru her posts it was amazing to see how the Lord carried her thru it all. She did a great job documenting her grief and expressing how the Lord is faithful in any and all circumstances. I forget that so often. I know He loves me deeply, but I always wonder what He is going to allow to happen in my life to sift me. I spend way too much time thinking... will this be what He allows??

Baby Lincoln??

Hmmm. I have been hesitant to write a blog post because I have always prided myself in being a good writer. However, these days it seems I have lost my ability to express myself with any sort of entertainment value. So... maybe my young child along the way will help to stir my creative juices.
We finally bought the little guy some baby furniture. It will still be a while before it comes in and Chad will need to assemble it, but I will be sure to post some pics once we get it all set up. We are still debating on what name he should be given. I say that, but Chad is pretty adamant about naming him Lincoln and calling him "Link" for short. I am not sure how much I like that name, but I have been told several times that unless I can come up with something better that Chad agrees with I better get used to Link. I hope he likes whatever name we give him and most of all I hope his name fits him. When I was in junior high I used to call this girl Rachel all of the time and her name was Sarah or something like that, but she just looked like a Rachel so I just couldn't get it right. Hopefully, we don't name him Lincoln and he really looks like a Pedro.