He got me!
Take THIS big brother.
Now for some sweet smiling.Saturday, January 15, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Grammy and Papa Tom Visit
Grammy and Papa Tom came for a visit recently and I am running behind in posting. Enjoy the picture overload.
The truck that doesn't stop talking. Ben loves it!
New cup from the cousins. It is full of juice right now!
Hurry up dad. A boy can never have too many cars.
All the goodies.
Not a good pic, but I thought you should see a glimpse at how lucky I am to have such a "helpful" son.
Looking, but trying to stay out of the way why Papa Tom opens his remote control car.
Papa Tom introduced us to a wonderful treat of pretzels, rolos and pecans. Yummy.
Ben helped open the rolos. He took his job very seriously.
Nate and me at Exploration Place, a children's museum of sorts.
His dimples! Someone caught a glimpse of the dimples! Aren't they the cutest thing you have ever seen?
We are in a children's museum and Ben spent the majority of his time doing puzzles.
His sense of fashion is interesting. I don't fight it. And that is one happy boy in this picture.
Chilling with Papa Tom. Ah...
Let me get that sock off for you, Nate. Again, notice the "helpfulness."
Got it.
Kisses
Getting love from Grammy.
The presents keep coming!
New whistle. It took about 24 hours before he mastered it.
New whistle. It took about 24 hours before he mastered it.
The truck that doesn't stop talking. Ben loves it!
New cup from the cousins. It is full of juice right now!
Hurry up dad. A boy can never have too many cars.
All the goodies.
Not a good pic, but I thought you should see a glimpse at how lucky I am to have such a "helpful" son.
Looking, but trying to stay out of the way why Papa Tom opens his remote control car.
Papa Tom introduced us to a wonderful treat of pretzels, rolos and pecans. Yummy.
Ben helped open the rolos. He took his job very seriously.
Nate and me at Exploration Place, a children's museum of sorts.
His dimples! Someone caught a glimpse of the dimples! Aren't they the cutest thing you have ever seen?
We are in a children's museum and Ben spent the majority of his time doing puzzles.
His sense of fashion is interesting. I don't fight it. And that is one happy boy in this picture.
Chilling with Papa Tom. Ah...
Let me get that sock off for you, Nate. Again, notice the "helpfulness."
Got it.
Kisses
Getting love from Grammy.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Happy 22 Months
Yikes! Almost 2 years old. I must say though, my goal was to do monthly updates until he was 2 and I think I just might make it!
Ben is talking tons these days. He has a countless number of words, but his only sentence is "I want/need..." It is amazing how many words he can put at the end of that sentence. He constantly surprises me and just says a word that I have never heard before. He has a few ABC books and a few days ago he said, "A for apple." Then, when I got an apple out of the frig today he said "Apple!" He saw an owl on TV and said "owl." I didn't even know he had seen an owl picture. Today he tried to say snow, but it sounded just like no. He recently discovered batteries. Now every toy needs batteries and his word sounds just like baby so I have to see what he is talking about to determine which word it is.
Some of my favorite things he says:
He still loves his art easel that he got for Christmas. He colors on it every single day! He doesn't just play with toys anymore, but really interacts with them. He loves water. He loves to drink it and play in it. Sometimes he wants mommy's water and sometimes he wants me's. He likes to get his step stool and play in my sink while I do my hair and make-up. He has recently discovered how to turn on and off the tub water and takes great delight in it. No matter how cold that water is he still plays and does not like for me to turn it off.
Now, for pictures:
Playing in everything that is Nate's.
Sorting his bath stuff. He spent almost an hour sorting and moving and just playing with it all.
Who needs tight pants and a button up jersey to play baseball? An art smock will do.
Looking like a big boy these days.
This is what he wore to our New Years Eve party. Nice, huh?
Loving foam soap at bath time.
"More me!" He loves watching himself on my computer.
Ben is talking tons these days. He has a countless number of words, but his only sentence is "I want/need..." It is amazing how many words he can put at the end of that sentence. He constantly surprises me and just says a word that I have never heard before. He has a few ABC books and a few days ago he said, "A for apple." Then, when I got an apple out of the frig today he said "Apple!" He saw an owl on TV and said "owl." I didn't even know he had seen an owl picture. Today he tried to say snow, but it sounded just like no. He recently discovered batteries. Now every toy needs batteries and his word sounds just like baby so I have to see what he is talking about to determine which word it is.
Some of my favorite things he says:
- I need more up. (He usually says this when he just got up from a nap and does not want us to put him down.)
- I need a cookie. (He says cookie for all cracker-like foods. It's a win-win.)
- I want more out. (He loves being outside and running errands.)
- I need me's. (He says me's instead of mine. Thankfully, he isn't forcefully using "mine" yet, but is usually talking about wanting his drink instead of mommy's drink or something like that.
- I need baby up. (That can mean he wants to hold the baby, get the baby up from his nap or get the baby out of my lap so he can have my full attention.)
He still loves his art easel that he got for Christmas. He colors on it every single day! He doesn't just play with toys anymore, but really interacts with them. He loves water. He loves to drink it and play in it. Sometimes he wants mommy's water and sometimes he wants me's. He likes to get his step stool and play in my sink while I do my hair and make-up. He has recently discovered how to turn on and off the tub water and takes great delight in it. No matter how cold that water is he still plays and does not like for me to turn it off.
Now, for pictures:
Modeling his new cup and new boot slippers.
Playing in everything that is Nate's.
Sorting his bath stuff. He spent almost an hour sorting and moving and just playing with it all.
Who needs tight pants and a button up jersey to play baseball? An art smock will do.
Looking like a big boy these days.
This is what he wore to our New Years Eve party. Nice, huh?
Loving foam soap at bath time.
"More me!" He loves watching himself on my computer.
Happy 1st Month
Superman out-take
This past month has flown by! I wouldn't have expected it to feel any different though. Nate is growing and changing and fits perfectly into our family.
In his first month he has:
- Gained 3 pounds
- Gotten 2.5 inches longer.
- Outgrown 2 newborn outfits, but still can't wear any 0-3 month.
- Been visited by Mama D, Grammy and Papa Tom.
- Been to church twice and countless other places.
- Met way more people by this point in his life than his big brother had.
- Become aware of Ben - he moves his head to the other side when Ben kisses him too much.
- Just started to track when I move out of his direct line of sight.
- Holds his head up like a champ (Ryan says it is so he is constantly aware of Ben's proximity to him).
- Settled into a good 3.5-4 hour routine in the day.
- Not settled into a good night routine, but I'm not complaining. He gets up once around 3:30am at most and sometimes makes it all the way through the night (10pm dreamfeed and 6am wake). We just never know which it will be and are honestly pleased either way.
- Some evenings that he goes right down and other evenings that he prefers our undivided attention once Ben is in bed.
He likes tummy time so much more than Ben. You can't see, but I promise that his eyes are open.
Holding his head up.
He has to spend a lot of tummy time with Ben close by!
Really close by, usually.
Eyes wide open from the second he wakes up until the second he falls asleep. He is very alert.
He is such a squirmy sleeper. This is how I found him one nap, nowhere near where I left him.
A different nap. Ben used to snuggle down in his swaddle. This is the only time Nate has done it. I'm not a fan of it, so I'm glad he doesn't normally do this.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Cry Now, Laugh Later
Ryan and I have been involved in full time ministry together among the urban poor for almost 8 years and we have the battle wounds and stories to prove it! We have made our fair share of mistakes and blunders that made us seriously question our calling to ministry at times. (And we have experienced some great joys too, but that is not what this post is about.) We recently had such an experience and I have now re-told the story twice and both times it makes me laugh so hard just imagining it all happening in one evening. So, it gets marked down as one of those stories and I thought it was worth telling here. I hope you laugh with me!
Ryan took over as pastor of our church plant at the beginning of December. We work alongside a great team, but ultimately he is responsible for most things. On the Sunday after Christmas I wasn't really wanting to go to church because Ryan was preaching so that meant I had Ben and Nate by myself and Nate was only 2 weeks old. Ryan talked me into it and I went. One couple from our team, along with two other missionaries, were out of town that Sunday. The other couple on our team had family in town and they were at our service. Our church meets on Sunday evenings and we start with a potluck meal. Ryan and I walked in with our food and were immediately met by a couple that attends and they didn't bring food because it had been announced that the church was providing the food. (Remember, Ryan is the pastor and I handle all the finances of the church.) We had been home with a newborn when it was announced, but we had been there for the team decision to do this, we had just forgotten. Two other families did not bring food either. We had an exceptionally small number of people there, but only a meal for four and a cheesecake. It wasn't going to feed all of us.
Knowing it was pretty much our fault for forgetting about the church providing food, along with my unstable postpartum emotional state, I let some tears fall down my cheeks. I tried to hold it together, but it was too much. A few deep breaths later, I was ready to go.
A man offered to go to the store and get some food. He came back with three pieces of chicken from Popeyes. We quickly knew that wasn't enough food, so he went back. He called his wife to tell her what he got and she sent him back through the drive-thru to get more! We finally had enough food and we ate.
The service began. We have a tradition of lighting candles to open the service. We forgot to put the lighter by the candles. Ryan ran to the other side of the (unfinished) basement where we meet to grab the lighter. He came back with it only to realize we didn't have our reading sitting there either. The lady lighting the candles just said one line from the reading that she knew from memory and we called it good. We ask all members to participate in the service in some way. A lady was leading worship from a CD for the first time and was very nervous. We got one song in and the CD stopped playing! Ryan and another church member boldly (insanely) suggested we continue on acapella. I'm sure the Lord enjoyed it, but we wont be getting any calls for a record deal anytime soon. In the middle of our singing Ben innocently dropped a musical instrument and it busted and made a big mess.
We finally got to the preaching time and I took the boys to the other side where Ben can play and nursed Nate. The evening finally ended and I am sure I came home and ate ice cream to console myself.
I find it all hilarious now, but it was quite an evening! No matter how much we screw things up though, God redeems our lousy attempts and is blessing our church. People that previously have just attended church are starting to participate and we can only hope that it will continue and we will reach more people in the neighborhood for the Lord!
We were also giving out gifts that Sunday to the kids in our church. See the unfinished basement? It isn't anything like a traditional church, but it is the the body of Christ gathering to worship and share life together - it is definitely church!
Ryan took over as pastor of our church plant at the beginning of December. We work alongside a great team, but ultimately he is responsible for most things. On the Sunday after Christmas I wasn't really wanting to go to church because Ryan was preaching so that meant I had Ben and Nate by myself and Nate was only 2 weeks old. Ryan talked me into it and I went. One couple from our team, along with two other missionaries, were out of town that Sunday. The other couple on our team had family in town and they were at our service. Our church meets on Sunday evenings and we start with a potluck meal. Ryan and I walked in with our food and were immediately met by a couple that attends and they didn't bring food because it had been announced that the church was providing the food. (Remember, Ryan is the pastor and I handle all the finances of the church.) We had been home with a newborn when it was announced, but we had been there for the team decision to do this, we had just forgotten. Two other families did not bring food either. We had an exceptionally small number of people there, but only a meal for four and a cheesecake. It wasn't going to feed all of us.
Knowing it was pretty much our fault for forgetting about the church providing food, along with my unstable postpartum emotional state, I let some tears fall down my cheeks. I tried to hold it together, but it was too much. A few deep breaths later, I was ready to go.
A man offered to go to the store and get some food. He came back with three pieces of chicken from Popeyes. We quickly knew that wasn't enough food, so he went back. He called his wife to tell her what he got and she sent him back through the drive-thru to get more! We finally had enough food and we ate.
The service began. We have a tradition of lighting candles to open the service. We forgot to put the lighter by the candles. Ryan ran to the other side of the (unfinished) basement where we meet to grab the lighter. He came back with it only to realize we didn't have our reading sitting there either. The lady lighting the candles just said one line from the reading that she knew from memory and we called it good. We ask all members to participate in the service in some way. A lady was leading worship from a CD for the first time and was very nervous. We got one song in and the CD stopped playing! Ryan and another church member boldly (insanely) suggested we continue on acapella. I'm sure the Lord enjoyed it, but we wont be getting any calls for a record deal anytime soon. In the middle of our singing Ben innocently dropped a musical instrument and it busted and made a big mess.
We finally got to the preaching time and I took the boys to the other side where Ben can play and nursed Nate. The evening finally ended and I am sure I came home and ate ice cream to console myself.
I find it all hilarious now, but it was quite an evening! No matter how much we screw things up though, God redeems our lousy attempts and is blessing our church. People that previously have just attended church are starting to participate and we can only hope that it will continue and we will reach more people in the neighborhood for the Lord!
We were also giving out gifts that Sunday to the kids in our church. See the unfinished basement? It isn't anything like a traditional church, but it is the the body of Christ gathering to worship and share life together - it is definitely church!
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Rose By Any Other Name
Since Ryan and I began dating almost nine years ago I can count on one hand how many times he has given me flowers. I'm not complaining though. I agree with him - we are painfully practical people and flowers just don't make sense. They are pretty and they smell good, but then they die and have to be thrown out just like a dirty diaper. Instead, he finds wonderful ways to give me "flowers!" He takes me out for pizza on a night that I am tired even though we weren't planning to eat out. He brings home some ice cream when he ran to the store just to get a loaf of bread. (See a pattern - food fixes everything in my life :) He gets up with Ben in the morning so I can stay in bed just a few more minutes before Nate gets up. He refills my water jug so I can get my daily 100 ounces of water necessary to nurse this hungry baby we have. And those are just a few things he does for me. He also pastors our little church plant and picks up my slack with work things when I just don't have the brain power to handle it all right now.
Those are the sweetest smelling flowers to me!
I am constantly amazed that I am grown up enough to have a home to care for and two small children. Many days I feel like I have no idea what I am doing. Many days I feel like I am just having way too much fun playing house. Many days I feel like throwing in the towel. But then the little ones go to bed and I sit next to my best friend and it all seems worth it because we are in this together.
Those are the sweetest smelling flowers to me!
I am constantly amazed that I am grown up enough to have a home to care for and two small children. Many days I feel like I have no idea what I am doing. Many days I feel like I am just having way too much fun playing house. Many days I feel like throwing in the towel. But then the little ones go to bed and I sit next to my best friend and it all seems worth it because we are in this together.
The best decision I ever made. I love you Ryan!
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