Life Lately

So, it's 10:30 at night and the last two evenings have been filled with series finales ... first Lost, then 24, which means I only have brain power left for a list...

- It's finally getting warm here.  I wore flip-flops this weekend for the first time since the end of last summer, and may I just say that flip flops are much more comfortable when you're not pregnant.  To New Yorkers, it seems that temperatures in the mid-80's are absolutely scorching, but this Southern girl is just now thawing out!

- Benjamin is trying his hardest to learn to crawl ... poor thing gets so frustrated when he can't quite get his arms and legs to coordinate with each other.  I know he'll get it any day, increasing exponentially the amount of mischief he can get into at any given moment.  While still being relatively immobile, in the last two days he has managed to ... 1. get ahold of my cell phone and slobber all over it before I noticed  2. pulled an untold number of earrings out of my ears  3. knock my little plastic Lords Supper cup on the floor during church (thankfully it was empty but it still made that uncannily loud plastic bouncing noise when it hit the floor) 4. learned to splash water all over my kitchen during his bath.  As much work as it will be though, I'm really looking forward to the adventurous, mischievous Benjamin who will surely emerge in the next few months (and years) (and please feel free to remind me I said that)

- As previously mentioned, we've been engrossed in the series finales of Lost and 24 the last couple of days.  As much as its hard to believe that these story lines are really over for good (after all, we already know they're making a 24 movie), we're really glad in a way to say goodbye to these shows that have been with us for the past few years.  It seems like we can move on now, to more important and exciting things, like ... playing Scrabble.  Anyway, the finales were both mildly dissatisfying which led Will and I to discuss something dear ole Clive Staples and J.R.R. would have heartily amen-ed ... the way in which the more a story reflects the realities of the Gospel, the more it will resonate with us, whether we realize what's going on or not.  The less a story reflects those realities, the more we leave it with a sense of dissonance or emptiness, even if we don't know why...  For truly, the Gospel is the only TRUE story.

Amen.  With that admittedly incomplete and ill-developed thought line, I'm going to bed.  Will is already there and I hate it when he's asleep before I am.  So, on the topic of enjoying a good story, I leave you with this and I'll continue my list of "Life Lately" tomorrow.

Yes, Will was really reading (Dostoevsky I believe) and Benjamin was really sitting there beside Daddy happily chewing on his plastic book

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!)

A New Do

As long as I had long hair, I always said, "We'll have fun with it for a few years till babies come" and sure enough, the long hair was not cooperating with my new job. You know its gotta be cut when you're carrying your baby up the stairs and hear him start gagging. You look at his face to see what could be the matter and see that he's gotten a big fistful of hair, put it in his mouth, and tried to suck on it - yuck! :)

So, Saturday morning at 8:00, I had a date with destiny ... AKA Donatella of Donatella's Salon and Day Spa. At 9:30, I left, closely resembling My Big Fat Greek Wedding...

Since then, I've fought with the new do every day, trying to convince it that it is on my head and not Donatella, the sweet little Italian woman. Yesterday, it finally got the message...

On another note, are you wondering what all that light is doing in our living room? Well, THE SUN CAME OUT TODAY!!!!! Seriously, I almost cried with joy :)

(And yes, I took that picture holding the camera up to mirror - Benjamin couldn't figure out what in the world I was doing :)

A Blessing and a Curse

The black screen sat in the corner all day ... silent, blank, cold. At times , it seemed to call out quietly, "Just come over here ... I've got the answer to your loneliness!"

You're thinking, "What is she talking about? Has all the snow finally driven her over the deep end?"

While that may be true, here's what I'm talking about. Yesterday, was our church's annual day of prayer and fasting. The whole church family takes the day to focus on our relationships with God, both individually and communally. Since I'm nursing Benjamin I couldn't fast from food, so I decided to fast from the internet ... golly, was the day insightful.

I didn't realize that the first thing I do when I come downstairs in the morning is turn on the computer. I didn't realize how often I open our internet browser in a day ... or just stay logged into my email constantly (an old habit from office work I guess). Throughout the day, I'm checking email, Facebook, blogs, writing here, and googling countless things from weather to recipes to "When will my baby's eyes change color?" (Answer: anywhere from 6 mo. to 2 years)

And this has been great for me, since moving so far away from loved ones. This quick and easy connection. We skype with grandparents, email with friends across the country, and share photos of our babies on Facebook.

What a blessing!

And yet...

Is it also a curse? That instant connection can be so easy, rather than doing the harder work of slowing down to connect with God. At times, the connection can even be deceiving, as I read the blogs of other moms whom I don't even know "in real life." The wealth of information available at my fingertips ... if i have a question, I google it... what's the best diaper rash cream? what's going on in Haiti? how much does it cost to spend the weekend in NYC? What about Kate Gosselin's new hairstyle? But with all that information running around in my brain, am I crowding out the more important things, like praying throughout my day or meditating on Scripture?

Sometimes, the answer is sadly yes!

So, I am grateful for this gift, incredibly grateful, for long-distance connections, but right now, I am making a resolution to STOP, and connect with my Heavenly Father, before I look to others to fill that void.

"I rejoice at your word like one who finds great spoil.
Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous judgments.
Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble.
I have for your salvation, O Lord, and I obey your commandments."
Ps. 119:162, 164-6

Quarter Year! (and a brief catch-up)

Sorry for the long delay in posting. I haven't written in a while mainly because we haven't been doing much - the 3 feet of snow on the ground kept this southern girl indoors for the week! In an effort to keep things cheerful during the long winter, I've hung twinkle lights all around our living room and still play Christmas CD's every day.

Here's just a few of our daily sights:

icicles outside one of our upstairs windows

if you can't tell, this is snow plowed up to the height of the dumpster

gotta love the neighbors cigarette butts hiding out in the snow pile

All in all, I feel like we've adjusted to the snow and temperatures pretty well. I did finally get out on Friday to go to Bible study and I did pretty well driving, too! The thing is, its just a whole lot of WORK - scrape the car, shovel the walk, bundle me up, bundle Benjamin up, heft us all out to the car, remember to bang off my snow boots before i get in, etc. However, my dad sent a picture today that reminded me that it could be lots worse...

Northern Michigan

Anyway, speaking of snow being a lot of work, here is Benjamin in the midst of being suited up for going out... I just can't help but share the preciousness!

Benjamin turned 3 months old on Friday - a whole quarter-year! It's so fun to watch him growing up, doing new things every day, and surprising himself with his new abilities. Here are just a few of his new talents, some of which I think may be harbingers of boyhood to come :)

- Yelling! In just the past few days, Benjamin has discovered that his little voice can make such big, fun noises. Cooing has graduated to squealing and screaching just for the fun of it. Sometimes, after a particularly loud exclamation, his face looks surprised, like he's thinking, "Did I just do that?" He's also a growing conversationalist, if we speak in his language.... Here's what I mean (so far, Daddy is his favorite person to talk to!)



this video also showcases another emerging talent - playing with his tongue! :)

- Remembering! Benjamin is getting more and more aware of his surroundings and remembering what Mommy does when. "The books" say that babies his age may begin smiling when they recognize its mealtime, anticipating the yummy things to follow. There's no smiling for this boy - nope - when he recognizes that I'm about to feed him, he promptly opens his mouth so wide it makes his precious little nose crinkle ... "Feed me already, mama! I'm a growin' boy here!"

- Pooping! (on purpose, that is) For the first few months, it seemed I could never keep Benjamin's little diaper clean - there was just stuff coming out of somewhere constantly. But now, Benjamin has learned to poop on purpose ... accompanied by the funniest little grunts you've ever heard!

- Pushing up! he'll be rolling over before we know it!

And so life continues on as normal - fight the snow, fold the clothes, change the diaper - but every day, I am struck by the amazing privilege it is to call this precious little one our own and to call such a wonderful man my husband!

The Big Snow

Though to some lifelong residents of this winter wonderland our recent snows may be no big deal, to us recent transplants from the South, this is CRAZY! WHO CHOOSES TO LIVE HERE?!?!

... oh yeah, I guess we did, didn't we?

Anyway, we've just been trying to keeping warm, drinking hot chocolate, watching movies, and enjoying Will's last few days at home before he has to go back to work.

So I thought i'd try to catch some footage of the winter shenanigans today with our cool new video camera - what an awesome Christmas gift! And as I was taping the snowplow men, it occurred to me - that is the perfect job for my brother Daniel! It requires a desire to serve people, precision driving ability, an enjoyment of snow and cold weather (i don't know if you can tell in the video but our snowplow-man was wearing short sleeves and had his window down the whole time - and just for the record the wind chill at the time was -2 degrees) and a desire for adventure ... dare I say even an amount of funloving recklessness? So come on up here Uncle Daniel! we've found the perfect job for you! Plus, we miss you and Aunt Hannah!

(quick disclaimer: the dogs at the beginning of the video are not ours - they just live in our building. Our dogs are living it up in Florida eating Grandma's hot rolls :)

(another quick disclaimer: sorry for the bouncy video. Benjamin has been kinda fussy for the last couple days - i think we're teething - and most of this was filmed with the camera in one hand while I bounced Benjamin with the other. I think you can even hear him start squealing at the very end of the video :)

Wintertime Lessons

(Disclaimer: This is going to be an incredibly long post. To entice you to keep reading, I'll be sprinkling pictures of Benjamin throughout ... they are the ones we didn't order from our family portrait session a couple weeks ago. Though cute, they didn't make the cut. They have nothing to do with what I'll be writing about. Enjoy :)

Today, I had to go to the Post Office. I didn't want to go for three reasons: 1) the current temperature is 11 degrees 2) our car looked like a giant snowball and 3) the street in front of our building looked like some kind of Olympic ski slope ... its not on a hill, but you get my drift (no pun intended).

But I knew that unless I want to be a hermit for the next 4-5 months, I need to get used to scraping ice off vehicles, driving in the snow, and braving the frigid temperatures. So, when Benjamin drifted off to sleep at 11:00, I got busy.

I put on 3 shirts, my coat, wool socks, my new snow boots (yahoo!), gloves, scarf, and ear muffler. I would have put long-john's under my jeans but I was finally able to fit in my favorite pre-pregnancy jeans today, and there wasn't room for anything underneath them, but I was too excited that I had been able to button them to take them off :)

I then went outside to scrape off the car. At which point, I learned...

Lesson 1. Pull your windshield wipers up during the night so that they don't become joined to your windshield in one giant ice cube.

After finally freeing the wipers and generally scraping all the ice and snow I could reach, I called it a job well done, started the car so it could be warming up, and came in to bundle up Benjamin. At which point, I learned...

Lesson 2. Don't get Benjamin up from his nap wearing your coat, gloves, scarf and the ear mufflers that make your bangs stick straight up. You will look scary and he will get freaked out.

After calming him down, bundling him up and strapping him in his car seat, I learned...

Lesson 3. I need to get one of those detachable keychains so that I can lock the door to our apartment while leaving the car running at the same time.

Then, at 11:45, I finally left home to drive to the post office.

At this point, I should lower everyone's expectations and tell you that I was not going to the post office to mail Christmas cards. Will and I have not sent Christmas cards in all six Christmases we've been married. Each year we think about it when all those cute pictures of babies and update letters from friends start coming in the mail. Each year, we say, "We'll wait till we have kids, then we'll send out Christmas cards." This year, it occurred to me about December 5 ... shoot! this year, we've got a kid!!

And well, you could say I was trying to be green, you could say I was trying to save money, but really, I just didn't get around to it before it was too late ... unless the saying "better late than never" applies to this situation and people wouldn't mind getting Christmas cards from us around Valentine's Day?

oh well ... maybe we'll starting sending Christmas cards when we have kids in the plural. But in the meantime we've decided to send out a Christmas e-greeting here on our family blog. So, look for it's debut next week right here at Trautman Adventures! :)

Now, back to my story about the wintertime lessons I learned today.

As I navigated the snowy shopping center parking lot, someone started backing out right in front of the door to the post office. Great, I thought, I won't have to park in one of those snowy spots farther down! But just before I could pull in, an elderly man driving a boat of a car cut into the spot before I could. The moment I felt the anger rising, I saw his license plate ... former prisoner of war. Wow, that'll make ya feel bad! As I pulled past, I saw him getting out of his car with his cane and going in the post office, and I thought, I should thank him for his sacrifice to our country when I get inside.

Anyway, I found a parking spot, got me and the big bundle of fleece otherwise known as Benjamin, and went inside. It was then that I learned...

Lesson 4. Don't go to the post office the week before Christmas unless you want to be there for at least 30 minutes.

The line was humongous! However, we made it through and Benjamin was a little angel - he hardly fussed at all and only had two really loud poots! :) It was waiting in line that I learned...

Lesson 5. Be careful of over-dressing or you'll end up sweaty before you have to go back out in the cold.

The ear mufflers might have been slight overkill ... everyone else in the post office was dressed like a normal person, instead of like an eskimo. I think I was advertising to the whole place "I'm not from here!"

After the whole fiasco, Benjamin and I made it back home at 12:30. Yes, if you've been counting, that would be an hour and a half to run one errand two miles from our house. Winter is going to be an adventure. woo-hoo.

But then I re-learned a lesson I've unfortunately had to learn before...

Lesson 6. When the Holy Spirit prompts you to say something to someone, SAY IT! You'll feel so full of regret later if you don't.

You see, I stood in line behind the precious elderly man the whole time at the post office and thought of every excuse in the book not to tap him on the shoulder and say "thank you." But now, as I look at Benjamin's precious little face, I'm so grateful for the freedoms we enjoy and the hope that Benjamin has for his future, and the sacrifice of so many brave ones who made it possible, and I promise, the next time I see a veteran, I will say, "THANK YOU!"

PS: Hope you've enjoyed the random "blooper pics" of Benjamin! :)

Places to go and people to see

Well, we have had a very busy few days and Benjamin has been such a trooper! I think part of the reason we've been so busy is that he's been sleeping 8-10 hours at night, so Mommy and Daddy actually feel like getting out and doing something!

Over the weekend, we got together with friends several times for movies, football games, etc., and even went for our first family portrait - previews coming soon! We enjoyed church Sunday morning and a potluck lunch after the service - though a blow-out diaper prevented Mommy from hearing much of the sermon. Thus, a bath was in order for Sunday afternoon...

I think Benjamin thought it was kinda funny :)

Then, the inevitable happened ... on Monday evening, we got our first real snow ... here's Will digging out to go to work on Tuesday morning...

Thankfully, the roads were clear by the time we had to leave to go to Benjamin's two-month check-up ... yes, he's really two months old already!! He now weighs 11 lbs, 11 ozs and is 22.5 inches long - right at the 50th percentile. He was even a trooper at the dr's office when an emergency with another patient required us to wait for quite a while, leaving Benjamin very ready for a nap!

Then last night, we braved the winter weather again to go to our prayer group, which is always so refreshing for Will and me! However, I did discover that people weren't kidding when they talked about the need to wear snowboots ... my running shoes were no match for the slush we had to walk through on the sidewalks. I've officially learned my lesson :)

Anyway, Benjamin slept through most of prayer group - despite another blow-out diaper :) But thankfully, Mommy dealt with it lots faster than the last one (learned my lesson there too) and didn't miss much of the group. On the way home, Benjamin fell into a deep sleep since it was almost 10:00 and way past his usual bedtime. He was so cute sleeping in his carrier with his big winter hat over his eyes, I just had to share some video - listen carefully and you can hear his sleepy breathing; watch carefully and you can see him still sucking on his binky every now and then...



Sorry the video's sideways - i can't figure out how to fix it :)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

We woke up this morning to snow on the ground for the first time this winter! I guess it was fitting since it's December 1st, but I just cried! It took so long for the snow to come when I had been geared up to be snowed-in since October that I think I had lost my preparedness. It wasn't a lot of snow and it all melted before noon, but it signaled the end of "carefree errands" and such for me... ah well - May will come soon enough (hopefully)!

When Mom and Dad were here for Thanksgiving, they helped us decorate for Christmas! So, on these dreary winter days, I will turn on all my twinkle lights and watch little Benjamin be mesmerized by them :)

I'm not from here

Overall, I would say that our transition to CNY has been a smooth one - we've found our way around the city pretty easily (with kudos to Jack the GPS), we've been overwhelmed at the warm welcome and extension of hospitality by the church we've been visiting, and we've found the people here to be much friendlier than we southerners sometimes stereotype "northerners" to be (i.e. people smile and nod when you pass them on the walking path at the park). However, there is occasionally a situation which arises that reminds me that indeed, "I'm not from here" (preceding phrase to be read throughout this post with an exaggerated Southern accent :)

This week's situation went as follows:

Will has been working extra hard on a project at work and I thought he deserved, in honor of his faithful efforts, a french silk pie, which is one of his favorite desserts and for which I have an excellent recipe. So, on Monday, I went to the grocery to pick up the one ingredient I was missing - marshmallow creme, which everyone knows is located on the baking supplies aisle adjacent to the marshmallows themselves (a location which is most fitting and logical in my humble estimation). Upon arriving on the baking supplies aisle, however, I was mystified to find no marshmallow creme at all! There were the chocolate chips, the brownie mixes, the spices, sprinkles, and marshmallows, but not even an empty space for the marshmallow creme. Since, as previously mentioned, I find the location on the baking aisle to be a supremely logical place for this pantry staple, I could think of no other place in the store to even begin looking, and thus was forced to ask one of the helpful employees for assistance...

"Excuse me, could you tell me where the marshmallow creme is?"

After a thoughtful pause, the response was, "Do you mean marshmallow fluff?"

Not quite knowing how to respond, I replied with "Umm, well, I'm not from here and I don't know what yall call it, but sure, can you tell me where that is?"

(At this point, in the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that I did knowingly and intentionally use the contraction "yall" in order to emphasize my plight and the extent to which I am certainly "not from here.")

At this point, the helpful employee led me to the peanut butter and jelly aisle and picked up a jar right next to the peanut butter labeled "Marshmallow Fluff." Slightly suspicious at first, I closely examined the jar and found, to my great surprise, a recipe for easy fudge on the back.

"Is that what you were looking for?"

"Well, you can make fudge out of it, so I guess so! Thanks!"


So, to all my Southern friends, I am now living in a land where marshmallow creme suffers under the misnomer "fluff" and is forced to reside next to the peanut butter instead of in its rightful place (lets all say it together...) BY THE MARSHMALLOWS!

PS: For anyone who's interested, the pie turned out fine! Here's a picture to prove it:

Not Home Yet

I've noticed that every few days, as I'm going about the daily-ness of life - folding laundry, grocery shopping, arguing with Jack the GPS about the best way to get where we're going - that I am suddenly caught by a strong wind of emotion which I can only put into words this way: "I want to go HOME!"

Since I am mostly happy here in CNY (Central New York), I've been unsure where this feeling was coming from or the reason for its strength and random timing. Is it the natural grief process of leaving the people we love and the places which were so familiar? Is it those crazy pregnant hormones? Is it the enemy trying to distract me from the work God wants to do with us here? I'm thinking that it's probably a combination of all those.

However, it has gotten me thinking though about the whole idea of home, and that fact that "this world is not our home" - a profound truth that I think we often take for granted. I've realized that this longing I have for "home," while legitimate in a certain sense, must be always framed in this truth. The longing to feel comfortable, loved, surrounded by a familiar and reassuring presence, will only be ultimately met in our eternal home with Jesus. This void I feel, while painful, can be a powerful reminder that instead of looking to people (or familiar landmarks for that matter) to meet my needs, I must look to my Savior! When we feel that wonderful sense of "home," we can praise the Lord for what is, literally I believe, a taste of heaven! But when we find ourselves surrounded by the strange and unfamiliar, we can look to our Heavenly Father who has promised us an eternal home with Him in Glory. Hallelujah! Come, Lord Jesus!

"Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am there you may be also." John 14:1-3