A Quality Weekend

This was a weekend to be savored, enjoyed, for every moment it brought. Nothing particularly exciting happened, and the frigid temperatures kept us home a good bit (when we woke up on Saturday morning the temperature was -2!) so maybe it was more my heart attitude that made the difference, but we - all 3 of us - seemed aware that these days are fleeting and should be treasured. Also, the sun came out for the major part of both days, so that certainly didn't hurt! Here are just a few of the highlights...

- Long naps. Benjamin took a couple 2+ hour naps on Saturday and Sunday, leaving Mom and Dad time to take naps themselves or discuss the new adventure on the horizon for the Trautman fam - graduate school. Yes, folks, it does indeed seem that yet more schooling is in our future ... this probably comes as no surprise to those who know us well. But anyway, after such long naps, Benjamin awoke smiley and happy and gurgle-y and ready to enjoy fun family time ... things like watching his mobile while Mom and Dad just stand and watch him watching it. :)

- Church fellowship. Have I mentioned lately how grateful we are for our sweet church family here? This Sunday, as we sang together of God's blessings, with my husband beside and our son cuddled in my sling, I felt that being in the midst of this fellowship was a real taste of what heaven will be like. I couldn't stop the tears that this brought, and when the friend behind me pressed a tissue into my hand, I cried all the more for the concrete evidence of what I was already rejoicing in!

Here's a picture of my men sporting their match-y stripes for church this morning...

- Julie and Julia. Though certainly no Sleepless in Seattle, I truly enjoyed this movie. My husband was gracious to watch it with me, too, and even chuckle at parts! I was able to relate to the main themes of the movie 1) cooking - since I've so enjoyed cooking lately and 2) blogging - since as you may have gathered by now, I have a blog :) My favorite line of the movie had to be from Julie, as she waved her butcher knife animatedly at her husband, "I could write a blog! I have thoughts!" On an unrelated note, I loved how the movie celebrated lifelong marriages - having fun together, working through issues together, moving to new places together. Such a refreshing change from the normal Hollywood depiction.

Anyway, we are sad for Monday's arrival, but looking forward to God's faithfulness in this week.

Crave

(these pictures really have nothing to do with this post, but aren't they just too stinkin' precious?!?!)

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1 Peter 2:2

And yearn like newborn infants for pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up to salvation (NET)
Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation (NIV)
Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the Word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation (NASB)
You must crave pure spiritual milk so that you can grow into the fullness of your salvation. Cry out for this nourishment as a baby cries for milk (NLT)

I've always heard that you really don't know the meaning of this verse till you live with an infant - and it has surely been true for me. There is no desperation like that of a hungry baby.

Benjamin's normal morning routine is to wake up somewhere around 7:00. He definitely wakes up hungry, but until he sees Mom or Dad, he's happy to lay in his crib, playing with his hands or talking to himself for 15 minutes or so. One morning this week, he had been doing just that when Will went in to say good-morning before he left for work. Then I came in and sat down in the rocker to feed him ... it was then that we realized that his diaper had leaked out through his jammies and we were going to need to change his diaper and his clothes before we went on with breakfast. So I got up from the chair, put him down on the changing table, and proceeded to take off the dirty pajamas and change his diaper. As soon as he realized what was happening, Benjamin's face just crumpled and he let out the most pitiful little squeal of a cry you've ever heard. This cry wasn't just that he was hungry, wasn't just that he was mad, it was a cry of ... heartbroken desperation.

"Mom! I'm so hungry, and you were all ready to feed me, but now we're doing this?"

It was so pitiful it brought tears to my eyes! I changed his diaper as quickly as I could, then just threw a blanket over him to keep him warm and sat down to feed him ... forget new jammies! we can get those later! this poor child is desperate!

And then, as happens many times when I hear Benjamin cry to be fed, the Holy Spirit reminded me of this verse ... crave the pure milk of the Word! How I need this attitude of utter desperation for the Word - it is my only source of true spiritual refreshment and growth.

May God give us hearts that crave to meet Him in His Word!

New Skills

These days, Benjamin is discovering something new every day - last week, he learned to roll over! Watch out, mobility, here we come!

And with his new skills, Mommy is learning some new things too.

A few weeks ago, a friend from college who has a little boy only a few months older than Benjamin posted something like this on her Facebook status: My to-do list is now divided into four sections 1) What I can do with no hands 2) What I can do with one hand 3) What I can do with two hands while singing and dancing for baby 4) Naptime turbo speed

I know exactly what she's talking about! Benjamin's latest favorite pastime is being toted around while I do whatever I can do while toting him around. Therefore, I've developed some mad skills with that one hand. I can now accomplish the following with only one hand (and the occasional assistance of my teeth)...

1. Make a pot of coffee and ...
2. Fix a cup of coffee, complete with sugar and creamer
3. open and close a ziploc bag
4. open the mail
5. type emails or a blog post (with pretty decent speed I must say)
6. take a self-portrait
7. make a fun video
8. Take leftovers out of the fridge, fix plates, and microwave them for dinner
9. unload the top rack of the dishwasher

Of course, all this toting Benjamin in my left arm while "being productive" with my right arm is probably the reason I seem to have pulled a muscle in my left shoulder - resulting in a lot of pain and not so much sleep the last couple days... Watch out, old age, here we come! :)

I did some ironing today...

Road Trip!

This weekend, Benjamin went on his first road trip ... to Boston! He was a trooper once again, and did great in the car and with a busy weekend schedule. We had great fun hanging out with our sweet friends, Meah and Evie...

and we also got to eat at Chick-fil-A!!!!! Oh, how we've missed those waffle fries and chicken sandwiches! :)

We also enjoyed a beautiful walk at a park on Saturday - sunny and 40 degrees - like springtime!

Also, if any of you out there are expecting a little one and wondering what kind of stroller to get, we love our Graco Metrolite travel system ... the walking paths at the park were gravel and sometimes quite bumpy, but the stroller held up great and Daddy was proud to take Benjamin on his first off-road adventure :)

Next time we go, Benjamin will really enjoy the selection of animals who call the park their home...

All in all, a most memorable weekend!

I can do it, Mom!

When we gave Benjamin his bath a few days ago, I laid him down to dry him off and a whole new thing happened ... he grabbed the towel himself and started waving it around like, "I can do it myself, Mom!" Of course, really, he's just grabbing everything these days, and his drying was not effective at all, but it was surely cute!

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 :)