TGIF!

Well, it has been one of those days around here ...

It all started at 12:30 am ... and 2:30 am ... and 4:00 ... and finally at 7:30.

But I am so grateful that our baby is healthy enough to cry and fuss and wake up in the middle of the night just because he wants to see us!

Then, when we did get up and get going, we discovered 17 inches of newly fallen snow outside, which necessitated the cancellation of the ladies' Bible study ... major bummer!

But I am so grateful for the team of six snowplows that came and cleared our parking lot!

As the day has continued, it has proven to be a very messy day ... projectile spit-up, explosive poops, and the like, creating a massive amount of laundry in a shockingly short span of time.

But I am so grateful for OxiClean stain treater and the washer and dryer in the basement!

Benjamin's poor little chapped cheeks have been bothering him today ... a consequence of continuous drooling in such a cold, dry climate.

But I am so grateful for his precious little face ... one big smile makes it all better!!

Thank goodness its Friday! Happy Weekend to all!

Growing Up So Fast!

Remember this tiny little bundle, snuggled up, so cozy and sweet? This is one of my favorite pictures from Benjamin's first week ... I think he was 2 days old here.

He watched his momma cook so many meals from that little chair... and wash so many dishes ... and type so many blog posts. :) Aaah, the nostalgia.

Anyway, today was Benjamin's 4 month check-up. He has gained three pounds and FOUR INCHES since his last visit, putting him in the 75th percentile for height! (He's still 50th percentile for weight ... 14 lbs., 11 ozs and 26.5 inches long). He's healthy in every way, and Benjamin made sure to show off how strong he is ... kicking the Dr's hands away when he was checking his hips and almost ripping the stethoscope right out of his ears when he was listening to his lungs. What fun toddlerhood is going to be! ;)

All this growing has necessitated the need for some new toys...

Every baby needs their own set of links, right?

And we are officially saying goodbye to the bouncy seat of the newborn days and graduating to his new contraption ... i don't even know the official name for it, but it's a hit

"Sheesh, Mom! Can you quit taking pictures and let me figure this thing out?!?!"

On second thought...

Only a few hours ago, I blogged about how well we had adjusted to our new climate. Not 5 minutes after I clicked the "publish" button ... by the way, have I mentioned how empowering that is? I mean, I know that nothing I write on here is particularly riveting, but no matter how mundane or poorly written, when I'm done, I can be published :)

Anyway, not 5 minutes after I published that post, I got a text from a southern friend that said something like "Yall have got a bunch a snow headed your direction! sorry!" Well, I only glance at the weather online every morning to check the temperature and thereby determine just how many layers I have put on Little Bit before we leave the house, so I hadn't heard of any impending winter-type doom.

But as soon as I entered our zip code into the Weather Channel's website, I saw this graphic...

Now that's enough to make this Southern Girl quake in her snow-boots, well-adjusted or not!

I was relieved to find, upon further investigation, that our area is predicted to get only 3-6 inches out of this latest blizzard. However, when I relayed this train of conversation/thought/investigation to my husband, he said, "Well, weather men don't know what they're talking about. We might really get a lot." Thanks, Hun, thanks a lot.

All Depends on Your Perspective...

The first sound I registered this morning (besides Benjamin waking up ready for breakfast) was the sound of cars slush-slushing outside. Weird, I thought, Could it be that warm outside? Instead of slush-slushing, I'm accustomed to hearing the crunch-crunching of cars driving on snow that fell overnight.

"35 degrees! I bet I won't even have to wear a coat today!"

Yes, folks, this was my exclamation this morning upon first checking the temperature outside. After these words came out of my mouth, I just had to laugh... yes, it all depends on your perspective.

You see, I used to live in "the South." Where 35 degrees is still considered cold, and one inch of snow closes schools and workplaces for at least a day ... maybe three. (Not to mention the mad runs to grocery store for milk and bread - and hot chocolate and Little Debbie's ... oops, that was just me?)

But now, I live in "the North" and, well, it's different up here...

- Nothing is ever canceled ... kids stand and wait for the school bus in front of snow banks taller than they are.
- It snows more days than not. It's not even remarkable that it's snowing - it's like saying "Yeah, I'm breathing today."
- Our church is having a retreat on March 6. The name of this retreat? "Late Winter Retreat" Yes, March is still winter and everyone assures me we'll probably have snow on my first Mother's Day...
- When pointing to a weather map covered with radar blips, the weatherman says, "That's, like, a little snow," sounding bored. (I kid you not - that's the exact quote from the weather report a few days ago)

But we've adjusted. I've had several phone conversations with "southern" friends lately that went something like this...

"So, do you have a lot of snow up there?"
"No, not really, we haven't had a big snow for quite a while ... there's just about 6 inches on the ground."
"What? You have six inches of snow on the ground??"
"Yeah," I say calmly, "I can't remember the last time I've seen grass."

My, how times have changed. When you've had over 3 feet of snow on the ground and your husband has driven home from work in a white-out (and negative degree temperatures), your threshold for getting excited about cold and snow changes.

And though we've adjusted well, MY GOLLY, I CAN'T WAIT FOR SPRING! To see grass, trees... lo, even flowers. To walk outside with my arms showing... lo, even my toes! Oh glory be! So, today, enjoy some pictures of spring. (I realize some of you are experiencing spring where you live already, but just indulge me. Thanks.)

(Just a note - when I first looked at these pictures on the computer monitor, the bright greens hurt my eyes ... that is sad I tell you, SAD. And also for the record, I did not wear a coat today - it was liberating!)

Ups and Downs

Well, this week has been kind of a mixed bag of great moments and not so good ones. The "downs" have mostly involved my lingering cold and Benjamin's lingering sleeplessness. When I sat down to write this post, I was gonna list out specifics of the negatives ... but really, who wants to read that? and why would I want to rehearse it? So, moving on to the great parts of the week!

- the Olympics! I am a total dork when it comes to the Olympics - I love it! I love the stories of the athletes and admire their tenacious perseverance. Even though I know next to nothing about the vast majority of the sports (who in the world knows about curling anyway? i thought that was something you did with a curling iron), I find myself cheering right along and even joining in with the commentators, "98 meters! whoa!" "Oh, 48.6 seconds will put her out of the medals." I have to take a step back and laugh at myself sometimes.

Also, when exactly did I reach the point that most of the athletes are younger than me? But i digress...

- Comfort foods. There's nothing like comfort foods when you have a cold, and this week I've enjoyed taco soup, countless cups of hot tea, and oatmeal for breakfast. My new favorite hot tea is Celestial Seasonings Mandarin Orange Spice and my new favorite oatmeal recipe is a dash of salt, a pat of butter, and a dollop of orange marmalade - you've gotta try it!

- Celine: The Movie! Yes, that's right folks - right now, in limited release! And we were lucky enough to have one showing here! So a sweet friend went with me last night (we were so excited to find out that we had a love of Celine in common!) and we thoroughly enjoyed it!

- Benjamin's antics. Evidently second only to Tigger in comedic appeal is the sound of velcro ripping open. I kid you not - he thinks its hilarious! Also, he's started this new wiggle which looks almost like he's trying to breakdance. I don't know if he's just trying to work out some gas or what, but its so cute...



(note: he's normally grinning when he wiggles, but he was distracted by the camera. And yes, that's Celine you hear in the background... I'm training him young :)

Finally, on two unrelated notes:
- I've played with the settings for our blog to make it possible for anyone to leave a comment, not just google-account holders.
- Lest you think that the "Book Nook" sidebar is any sort of recommendation list, rather than just what I'm currently reading, I have to tell you that I was not impressed with the book Julie and Julia at all. The movie was much better!

A Sweet Day Indeed!

Yup, those are 2 dozen red roses just for me!

As I had previously mentioned, we were waaaaaay excited about Valentine's Day this year. I think in part this was because the last couple Valentine's Days have been, well ... we're not using the c-r-a-p word anymore in preparation for Benjamin picking up our vocabulary, so we'll just say they've been less than ideal.

Last year, Valentine's Day was the first day I really struggled with morning sickness ... all day long. Also, in hindsight, I was coming down with the flu (yes siree, I had the flu and morning sickness all at the same time). So anyway, I distinctly remember craving a cheeseburger, but feeling horrible (I ate more cheeseburgers while I was pregnant than the whole rest of my life combined). So we got take-out at Backyard Burger ... woo-hoo. And we probably went home and watched a DVD of 24. I don't remember that exactly, but that was around the time we started watching the show. I guess we have a tendency to start watching intense tv shows during stressful times in our lives. Lost after the tornado, 24 during the pregnant-graduating-job-searching-moving chapter.

The year before that was the year of the tornado. Valentine's Day being only 9 days after that, you can imagine how much we felt like doing anything special. So, we got take-out from Rafferty's (boy, I do miss their fried chicken salad with honey-mustard-hot-bacon dressing and a croissant - yum!) and went home to watch the season of West Wing that Will had gotten me for a gift.

So, this year, we were ready. Sarah offered to keep Benjamin. Reservations were made at Bonefish Grill. Flowers were ordered (many kudos to my wonderful husband). A special outfit was even set aside for the little guy...

And I carried a cute purse to the restaurant instead of the ginormous diaper bag!

And it was truly a wonderful day. Benjamin did great with his first babysitter - even took a little power nap for her! And lunch was wonderful - yummy seafood, great atmosphere, and I didn't worry all that much about being away from Benjamin for the first time (though I must admit I had my cell phone on its loudest setting, and then placed it on the table 6 inches from me).

Hope you all had a wonderful day as well!

Deja Vu and other random happenings

Unfortunately, I have a cold and Benjamin hasn't slept well for 5 nights running, so pulling thoughts together in a logical flow is a bit out of my reach today. A list is so much less taxing mentally...

- It's deja vu all over again, as my dad would say. Guess what I'm doing? Stuffing a mailout! I tried to estimate, as I was folding invitations, how many mail-outs I worked on during my years at Union ... all I could come up with was "a whole lot." Anyway, I am working on a mailout for a local crisis pregnancy center.

It's been on my mind ever since I became a stay-at-home mom, "I should find somewhere to volunteer." After all, I do have some skills that might be useful - efficient envelope stuffing being among them. Also, I know my tendency to get wrapped up in own little world and I need reminding sometimes of the lost and hurting people that need the Church to be the love of Christ to them. So, last week, I finally got around to it ... and Suzanne at New Hope took me up on my offer. So, here I am ... labelling, stamping, folding, etc. It's kinda fun actually!

- Supersize Me. I've been wanting to see this movie ever since I saw the McDonald's burger and fries from 2007 that Meah has. Seriously yall, the stuff hasn't molded or decayed at all - and its not even refrigerated! Anyway, just watching the movie will make you feel fat and disgusting. If you haven't seen it - watch it! Did you know that one McDonald's burger probably has meat from over 1,000 cows from more than 5 countries? I want to say that I'm never eating fast food again. I know that at some point in the future, I will probably be forced to take advantage of a coupon or something, but really, right now, I don't ever want to eat fast food again. (And, for the record, Chick-fil-A does not count as fast food).

- Valentine's Day! As you can tell from our blog header, I am super excited about Valentine's Day this year. Hopefully, this cold will be gone by then and I'll have my voice back, because ... (cue fanfare) ... Will and I are going to lunch just the two of us! A sweet friend has offered to keep Benjamin so that we can enjoy a Valentine's date ... don't worry all, she's a mother of four - Benjamin will be in most capable hands - and Will and I are SO EXCITED!

- And finally, here is Benjamin with his two favorite things of the moment - a cloth "taggies" book and his Tigger rattle ... precious!

A New Favorite Pastime...

Making Benjamin laugh!! Last night, Will got to witness the giggles for the first time - what a treat!

Though we had hoped he would laugh first at Mommy's tickles or Daddy's funny faces, it really doesn't matter to us what he laughs at, we've never heard anything so beautiful as the sound of that giggle! And evidently, while Mom and Dad can certainly be amusing, nothing holds a candle to the comedic stylings of Tigger the stuffed baby rattle.



(On another funny note, did you catch the look on his face at the end? Like he was slightly offended that Tigger would have the nerve to land on his face. So funny!)

4 Months Old!

Well, I've been trying to draft something meaningful for this post all day... something about how much I desperately love this precious little boy and can't imagine life without him. But sometimes, there just aren't words. And so, instead, I offer this little tidbit...



The kid has the CUTEST LAUGH I HAVE EVER HEARD IN MY ENTIRE LIFE AND HOLY COW COULDN'T YOU JUST EXPLODE IT'S SO PRECIOUS?!?!

(Sorry that the video is kinda wobbly ... its hard to hold the camera steady in one hand while you shake the Tigger rattle like crazy in the other hand.)

February 5

I suppose the day will come when this date no longer seems significant to me. But for now, it still rings a solemn note, although it seems 10 years ago instead of just 2...


The tornado. I forget that for people who don't know me and don't know Union, those words don't really have context. What a crazy few months were to follow that night. Some of the most challenging of my life - mentally, emotionally, spiritually, physically, professionally... every -ally you can think of! A couple weeks after the tornado (see, there I did it again) was when we started watching the TV show Lost - it was somehow comforting to watch others who had it worse (fictionally) - stranded on an island with smoke monsters - yeah, it could be worse.

And this seems 5 years ago instead of 1...

The one-year anniversary event. Running around taking care of details, keeping the secret of the tiny little life I was carrying!

My how times change. I hear there's an event at Union today also. But Benjamin is upstairs napping, and I'm in my sweatshirt, roasting carrots after the morning's Bible study, and blogging.

After such a little taste of disaster, comparatively, I'm praying for the people of Haiti today.

Weary

Today, I am feeling weary ... probably because Benjamin kept me up for several hours last night. But, hey, that's what babies are supposed to do, right? And he's such a good sleeper that when he occasionally has a bad night, I can hardly blame him. And, as you can see, he was none the worse for wear this morning.

However, be that as it may, today I am feeling weary. My to-do list is calling, but I am grossly unmotivated to tackle it. I remember hearing once, in a book or at a Bible study or something, that the work of a wife and mother is "done in order to undone" or something like that... you wash the clothes so they can get worn, and therefore, dirty again. Same with the dishes, the floors, the toilets. You go grocery shopping to get food, so it can be eaten, so you have to go to the grocery store again.

I don't think I realized how much this was true when I was a full-time professional and only part-time wife... I just realized how bad it sounds to say "part-time wife" but you know what I mean. And truthfully, Will usually got only the leftovers of my time and energy, so it's fitting. Anyway, in that former life, I only did laundry the day after we were forced to wear socks from the dirty clothes basket and only went to the grocery store when the refrigerator only held moldy cheese and an old jar of mustard.

And now, though I am profoundly enjoying my role as a full-time wife and mom, I am realizing that each week, my to-do list is almost exactly the same ... wash clothes, get groceries, ironing, cooking, dishes, etc. Today, as I folded clothes, I kept thinking, "Didn't I just fold this the other day?" And I'm just weary.

But a dear friend reminded me of Galatians 6:9 recently...

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

So, today, I'm folding clothes and washing dishes while envisioning fields of clean clothes and neatly stacked dishes just awaiting me to pluck them whenever needed :)

Seriously, though, this afternoon, I sat down with the Word, knowing there is my only source of refreshment, and picked up where I had left off previously in Revelation 21...

"And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away... And the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass ... and the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb."

Amen.