Fun Firsts

After two months of not updating, a lot has been going on in the McCurley world!  In June we celebrated Matthew's first official Father's Day.  We had Grandpops (Matt's Dad) at our house the week before and celebrated his early Birthday, which was also on Father's day!  Then, we made a surprise visit to Childress to celebrate with my Dad.  On the actual day of Father's Day, we had a wonderful family of 5 over from church and feasted on chicken fried steak (at Matthew's request), all the fixins and homemade cherry cobbler and chocolate chip cookies!  At the end of the month we went to the lake and Terrell Lee got in the water for the first time.  He was a little skeptical at first, but he learned to like it and we all had a great time relaxing and soaking up some sun (or in mine and TL's case, reflecting the sun with our pasty skin)!

Matching shirts on Father's Day :)

July has held many more firsts for our not-so-little Terrell Lee!  He had his first Fourth of July, spent the night away from Mommy and Daddy, and the best of all...HE WALKED!!!  I just thought it was hard to keep up with him before, but now it is truly a chore.  He is really getting the hang of walking and I know soon he will be running!  Matthew and I celebrated our second anniversary on the 10th.  We took an overnight trip to the DFW and went to a Ranger's game and Hurricane Harbor!  On the way home we had to stop at the Pioneer in Wichita Falls for a chicken fried steak and some famous enchiladas...it just wouldn't be right not to pay them a visit!  Over the past weekend we had our friends Zach, Ashley and Abigail with us!  We had a great time catching up and watching the babies play together.  Terrell Lee tormented poor Abi, just like any little boy would.  It was so much fun to watch their personalities come out! 

 After the July 4th Parade

Our little man turned 11 months old yesterday!  Time has flown by!  I am in disbelief that we will be celebrating his first Birthday in a month!  It really does seem like just yesterday that I held him for the first time and now he is walking and about to be a whole year old!  Children are truly the biggest blessing.  I cannot imagine going a day without our sweet Terrell Lee...laughing at him and watching him learn something new each day.  God is so good to us!

Although I am positive there have been many more 'firsts' for TL, that sums up the big ones.  We are still loving Canadian and ask that you would continue to pray for the Lord's work here at FBC.  We are encouraged each day by what God is doing amongst our congregation and are in prayer for Revival.  

Until Next Time...

Hallelujah, He's Free...(from Seminary)!

Yet again, the past month has been busy and blessed!  Matthew is now a Southwestern Seminary Graduate!!! Did you hear the bells ringing last Friday?!  It is such a relief and blessing to be done with that chapter of our lives.  The Lord was good to us during our time at Southwestern, but we are so thankful to have that time behind us and the future before us!  We celebrated with friends and family at Abuelo's, then partook in an outrageous amount of pizza and coca cola the same night.  It was an honor to watch my husband walk across that stage and receive his hard-earned diploma.  

This past Sunday, we celebrated my first official Mother's Day.  Last year, while I was pregnant, we celebrated with lunch at Olive Garden, but it was not nearly as special as celebrating with Terrell Lee in my arms!  We went to Maxey's in Wheeler, Tx for dinner on Saturday night, because we had a busy day of Ministry on Sunday.  Matthew and Terrell Lee bought me two beautiful plants for our front porch and a pound of Southern Pecan coffee, my favorite!  We had a special day preaching at the local nursing home and passing out roses to the residents, then we visited an elderly shut-in couple, who were some of the sweetest people I've ever met!  Working for the Lord may be tiring at times, but the reward is much greater!  

We are continuing to love Canadian and our new church body.  The Lord has been so good to us!  I just cannot say it enough.  When we went back to Fort Worth for Matthew's graduation, we really realized how much we DON'T miss that place!  Small town life is the way to go.  

Terrell Lee is growing like a weed!  He can crawl, pull up, laugh, clap his hands, and is starting to stand up without holding onto anything.  Walking comes next and I am so not ready!  My baby is turning into a big-boy and I don't like it!  He never ceases to make us laugh and he certainly keeps us on our toes.  He's beginning to understand what 'NO' means (he hears it a lot!), but still doesn't even flinch when he gets his little hand spanked.  He is a go-getter and loves to go exploring in our big house!  

Now I've got to pep myself up for an afternoon run when Matthew gets off work.  So far I am feeling no motivation...

--Insert Creative Title Here--

The McCurleys are officially Canadian-ites!  We have been in our new home for a little over 2 weeks now and it feels wonderful!  Most of the boxes have been unpacked, but the walls are still bare.  We celebrated Easter with a great worship service, family, a huge turkey, and all the fixins!  We got a few pictures, which I have yet to download onto my computer, but Terrell Lee 'soiled' his outfit before we could get any of him.  I guess sometimes a diaper can only hold so much! I'm just glad it was my Papaw who got wet and not me!  

The past few weeks have not been all about packing and unpacking...though it seems like the unpacking will never be finished! Matt has been busy with finishing his Master's degree as well as fulfilling his Pastorly duties at the office. I have been watching the laundry stack sky-high as I attempt to organize this big ol' house! And Terrell Lee has been making sure that there is never a dull moment at the McCurley house.  

Today marked a very special event in Terrell Lee's life.  Today, he puked for the very first time.  Now I'm not talking about a little dribble of spit-up or an overflow of milk.  I'm talking about the real-deal, stinky, nasty, gotta-get-a-bath-quick PUKE!  He had a little too much mashed potatoes, to say the least.  

Now that I've grossed everyone out, I believe I'll cut this post a little short due to a need for sleep.  I've gone running the past two days, and if you know anything about Canadian, you know its streets feel like you're in the Rockies!  But along with all the wonderful sweets and eats from our fellow church members have come a few extra pounds that have got to go! 

I can't afford new clothes!!!

Life Changes

It looks like I've got a pretty consistent pattern of updating only once a month...give or take a couple of days.  I have opened the 'New Post' page a number of times this month but could never gather enough interesting information to make a post.  I've also been waiting to update you all on the exciting changes that are happening in the McCurley family!  Matt is now the Pastor of First Baptist Church in Canadian, TX! This past Sunday, March 25th, we went in-view-of-a-call to Canadian, TX and accepted the position.  We have been on our knees praying that the Lord would give us a Pastorate for a long time now, and the Lord has answered our prayers!  We are absolutely ecstatic!  

We got back to Fort Worth on Monday night and Tuesday afternoon I began packing.  We plan to be out of Fort Worth this Friday and into our new home in Canadian Saturday afternoon.  It's a quick move, but our first Sunday is Easter morning, April 8th.  We will be moving from approximately 700 square feet of living space to over 2500 square feet of living space! From one bedroom and one bathroom to four bedrooms and 2 and 1/2 bathrooms!  It is extremely humbling to know that the Lord's will is being done in and through us.  He has been gracious and merciful to us and we are so thankful for His blessings upon our family!  We are looking forward to serving the people of Canadian, TX and are thrilled about being back in West Texas!  

We visited Matt's brother, Craig, and his family in San Antonio

(from left to right) Cullen, Matt, Me, Terrell Lee, Shari, Carys, Cale, and Craig

This was on our last Sunday at FBC Whitney, TX

We already miss y'all!

Terrell Lee just keeps growing and surprising us every day!  He is a crawling champion now and is pulling up on furniture, walls, the refrigerator...you name it! haha! He is into everything in our little house, so we are very excited to have so much room in our new home!  He's got two teeth now and is still chewing on anything that comes close to his little mouth.  Terrell Lee is our little wild-child and we love him to death!  He's already melted some hearts in Canadian and made lots of friends! 

I hope you all have had a great March!  Enjoy this Spring-like weather while it lasts...May is just around the corner!

Time Flies

Wow!  Where did February go?  

It was a busy month at the McCurley household!  With Matt being in the middle of his last semester of Seminary, things are beginning to get pretty hectic around here. One day he's studying Greek and the next he's writing a sermon or doing a book report.  I don't know how he keeps up with it all!  The first week in February I started going to a Bible study on Experiencing God by Henry and Richard Blackaby.  It has been so rewarding Spiritually and I have seen the movement of the Lord in my life more than ever.  Not to mention, I get a little girl-time every Tuesday night while Matt keeps Terrell Lee! 

In the month of February we celebrated Valentines Day, made a quick visit to Childress, Matt preached a funeral, and we took our youth group on a Leadership Weekend at a nearby youth encampment called Latham Springs.  We have been very very busy, to say the least! 

Terrell Lee is becoming more and more a part of our family every day!  His personality is really beginning to show--he's just so much fun!!!  He turned 6 months old on the 23rd--he's learning to crawl, almost has his first tooth, and as of yesterday he has mastered pulling up onto his knees in his crib! The kid is a hand full!  His eye has improved a lot over the past few weeks, which is an answer to our prayers!  Thank you for joining us in that prayer and please continue to pray for complete healing.

We went for Terrell Lee's 6 month check up yesterday and he is perfectly healthy. He weighed 14.15 lbs and is 26 inches long.  He's long and lean! We thought he was going to be massive with his birthweight being 9.1, but he is all muscle these days!  Matt calls him our Blue-Eyed Bronco Billy and he fits the name to a T. 

This week I have been making use of my Pioneer Woman cookbook that I got for Christmas.  This is my first time to use it and so far she has not disappointed.  This weekend we are excited to spend some time with our friends, the Griffins, on Friday and going to the PBR (professional bull riding) rodeo at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium on Saturday night.  We figure bull riding at $15 a ticket is the cheapest and best way that we'll ever get to see the stadium! I'm sure I'll stick out like a sore thumb seeing as I am not a cowgirl and own no cowgirl paraphernalia.  But I have to say I really enjoy watching those guys attempt to ride those crazy bulls! They are much braver than me!  I remember going out to feed the cows with my Papa as a kid and sitting in the pick-up while he and Tanner were feeding, because I was afraid a cow was going to slobber on me.  Hopefully we won't be getting that close to the bulls this weekend.  

I hope you all had a great February! Happy March 1st!

Blessings, Blessings, Blessings

The Lord has poured blessings upon our family over the past week! We spent more time in doctors' offices than we would have liked, but we have seen the work of the Lord.  On Wednesday, we visited an Ophthalmologist (eye specialist) for Terrell Lee.  His left eye has looked swollen since he was born, but has improved over the past couple of months.  Our Pediatrician suggested that we see an Ophthalmologist, just as a precaution to be sure there wasn't anything seriously wrong with his eye.  At the eye doctor, we discovered that he has a slight stigmatism in that left eye, but was unable to tell what might be causing the swelling.  She suggested that we see her again in 6 weeks, then when he's older an MRI will be required in order to see what is behind his eye that might be causing the stigmatism and the swelling.  We left that appointment feeling discouraged and emotionally drained.  It's difficult to hear that your child has something wrong with him!

At 12:30 Thursday night, I awoke to Terrell Lee screaming! When I went to pick him up, his body was on fire (not literally, of course)!  He was running a temperature of 101.3! I immediately called the doctors' office and spoke with a nurse, who said he was probably coming down with something, but there was no way to tell until symptoms worsened.  I gave him Tylenol for the fever, but by this time he was crying uncontrollably! Matt kneeled down by our bedside and began to pray for healing for our son.  After praying, he got back into bed and told me to turn out the lights, but Terrell Lee in the crib.  I thought he was crazy! I was not about to let my sick child cry himself to sleep!...but the Lord knew what He was doing! So I put Terrell Lee in his crib, turned out the lights, and got into bed.  After about 5 minutes he completely stopped crying and didn't wake up until 7 a.m.  Now you may be thinking, "Duh! the Tylenol kicked in! Of course he went to sleep!" But I believe that the Lord brought a peace over our household that allowed us all to rest in the assurance of His arms.

We are going to get a second opinion on Terrell Lee's eye and in the meantime, we are on our knees each night asking the Lord for healing for our sweet son.  If you would, please say a prayer for Terrell Lee and for the doctors that we are seeing.  

Throughout all of this, Terrell Lee is still smiling and laughing! He's a big trooper!

Tonight I'll be making "Fake Steak".  It's like Chicken Fried Steak, but not...

• Take one pound of 80/20 ground beef and form into 4 equal-sized patties
• Beat 2 eggs
• Add about 2 cups of milk to the eggs
• Season 2 cups of flour with salt, pepper, and garlic powder
• Dredge the patties into the egg/milk mixture, then into the flour mixture
• Repeat for a thicker crust
• Shallow fry patties in 1/4 inch of vegetable oil or shortening

This is an inexpensive way to make a yummy meal! I serve it with cream gravy, mashed potatoes, and a vegetable of choice.  Don't knock it 'til ya try it!

The Kick-Off

Since this is my first blog post since my long-lost Xanga days (ohhh, high school), I'm a bit rusty...so bear with me.  Life at the McCurley house has changed a bit, as many of you may know. We welcomed our precious son, Terrell Lee Daniel McCurley, into the world on August 23, 2011.  Since then I have become a stay-at-home mom, full time maid service and, at-home chef extraordinaire.  The bills keep rising (almost as high as the laundry), doctor visits are frequent, a full-night's rest has become overrated, and Matt and I could not be happier! The Lord has richly blessed us far beyond our expectations! Terrell Lee is the light of our lives. He keeps us on our toes at all times! At 5 months and 1 week, he is able to roll over from tummy to back and back to tummy, eating pureed veggies, cutting his first tooth, and laughing and smiling all the time. I have never seen a baby that smiles more than our TL! I am head over heels in love with this sweet boy (he's a very close second to my handsome hubby)! 

Matt began his final semester at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary last week, which means he will be graduating May 4th! Shouts of joy and celebration will be heard 'round the world on that day!!! (can you tell I'm excited?) In the mean-time we will continue to minister to the youth of First Baptist Church of Whitney, TX. We have a solid group of kids that are growing leaps and bounds in the Lord! These are challenging, hectic, busy, exciting times in our life and we are so grateful for the opportunity to endure and press into what the Lord is doing in and through us! 

What's for dinner tonight, you ask? Chicken Pot Pie, a Garden Salad, and fresh iced tea!