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.