The Other Side of the Story

Here's the "other" side of the story...

Wow...

So last weekend was a big one for me and my small group. When our small group started, we were doing a study called "40 Days of Community." As part of that study, we were supposed to do an "inreach" project (something to help our local church body) and an "outreach" project (something to help out community). Rick Warren suggested that we do something so big that _we_ couldn't do it alone, making it obvious that God actually did the hard stuff. We hemmed and hawed and just couldn't come up with anything. When we did, it was something that required someone outside of our group to do something for us without any of us able to be there. There was some miscommunication, so that didn't get done, leaving us without any projects planned and most of the way through the study.

But a while ago, I'd read another mommy blogger's post about her church doing a "clothing swap" where folks bring clothes, they sort them, then folks take clothes - it's open to church members the first night, then anyone the next day. And I've been following Shaun Groves' "shlog" for a while now, hearing about the work he does with Compassion, International...and an idea formed in my head for this ginormous weekend of meeting the needs of folks in our church, our community, and around the world.

So I presented the idea to my small group, expecting to hear what I'd heard from others before - "it's too much...maybe next year...maybe." Or the credulity of, "a Christian musician can't possibly come for free..." But their immediate response, with no questions or discouragement of any kind was, "That sounds GREAT - let's do it!"

So we started the process, getting approval from the church, then working out the details of Shaun coming. It didn't all come together for absolute certain until two weeks ago...but all of the sudden, all of the details were in place, exactly like I'd initially imagined them (and when I say that, what I really mean is "exactly like the idea that God had given me").

Folks helped sort the clothes (and each time I thought we were done, people brought more), and then folks came and took the clothes - over 90 people came, representing WAY more people than that. We had one couple come from a men's shelter in Capitol Heights, looking for clothes for 40 men! People brought canned goods too (because, well...why not?). And everything that was left over was sent to a pastor who works with refugees - he'd just had four new families come in - over 20 people in all! So hundreds of people were served by this one event, both within our church and outside of it!

Then Shaun came and sang in our morning services (even the one in Spanish)! Despite the nightmare I'd had that morning which woke me up at 4 and which was about a) me being late to meet them in the morning, and b) Shaun being a diva and yelling at me, he and Ben (his road manager/booking guy/sound guy extraordinaire) were great and just as personable, fun, and funny as I expected them to be. Then we had lunch and naps, then the concert. And people sponsored 47 kids!

So here I am, after the fact. There's nothing left to do - the clothes are taken care of, the canned goods are gone, Shaun and Ben are (hopefully) back in TN by now...all that's left is to rest today, soak my sore feet (love the boots...don't love the after-effects of walking in them all morning all over creation), and let the kids nap in their own beds at their normal times for the first time in many days!

Lowlights of the weekend:
- I didn't communicate effectively with my small group about when I needed folks where for the clothing swap, so it ended up being just me (with both kids) on Saturday morning when all of the people from outside the church came!
- Getting chastised by the couple from the men's shelter that we weren't having this again in a few weeks.
- Getting yelled at by the man in the couple from the men's shelter because AJ was standing at the doors - his son had lost a finger in similar doors.
- Not having a great turn-out at the concert.

Funny things of the weekend:
- Without help on Saturday morning, the canned goods were not effectively policed, so people started taking those in addition to clothes.
- We still had a few left over on Sunday though....but those had also disappeared by Sunday evening. Oh well...less work for me! And I can assume that the people who came needed the food!

Highlights:
- Getting to tell Shaun that he'd gotten my phone number from my brother shortly after I came back from overseas (to pick my brain about what it was like there and what the transition back to America had been like)...but like lots of men, he got my number but never called!
- Having the pastors "get" the idea behind the whole weekend.
- Having so many people show up to help with the clothing swap!
- Having people actually _come_ to the clothing swap!
- Having a place to take all the left over clothes!
- Having my friend Cindy bring lots of folks from her church to the concert! They nearly doubled our crowd!
- Having 47 kids sponsored!

It was a great weekend of helping our neighbors, both near and far!

Anyone want to give me a foot massage?

MOPS Blog Tour - "Intimate Conversations: Devotions to Nurture a Woman's Soul"

So MOPS sent me another book to read - "Intimate Conversations: Devotions to Nurture a Woman's Soul" by Alicia Britt Chole. This time it's this year's theme devotional book. I'm not really sure how it goes with the theme exactly (Together on Planet Mom), but it was a great devotional book - I just wish I'd had more time to read it so that I could do just one a day instead of having to power through all of them to get done in time to post my review. (Disclaimer: they give me the books for free, but they want an honest review of them...it's just that so far all the books have been really good!)

The book contains 52 different devotions, divided into 12 different categories. When I was counting them initially to see how many I needed to do per day, I thought - "huh...52...so I guess you could do one a week for a year...wonder why some are groups of 4 and some are groups of 5." It wasn't until just now that I counted the sections. Duh...12 months...52 weeks...

I'm a rocket scientist.

Anyway...the devotions are pretty short - usually 1.5-2 pgs, plus a little discussion or reflective journaling section of questions to think about and/or respond to. The sections don't really match up to the Planet Mom theme book sections, but you might be able to pick one per meeting that matched that month's meeting theme. Alternately, if you've got a women's Sunday School class or small group, this would be a great way to open your time together. They're not _BAD_ devotionals for mixed company, it's just all written from a woman's perspective using women as the examples.

As with all devotionals, some of the entries struck me more than others, but my favorite section (or rather the section that spoke to me the most) was one entitled "Dear God...why do I feel so unproductive?" The devotions in that section spoke of women who have chosen family over career (which I sort of have...the job is only part-time and isn't exactly way up there on the priority list, especially now that we're that much closer to being able to get by just on VNB's salary), and women who have gone through times of spiritual "winter."

It's not that I feel like God was ever far away or anything, but the first two years of marriage (which include AJ's pregnancy and the first year or so of his life) are a bit of a blur to me. And I'd stepped back from so many things at church that it's taken a while to really feel like myself again. Lately I seem to have found my footing again in terms of my "place" and it really seems like things are bearing fruit and expanding (for lack of a better term). So to have the analogy of a winter season where you just lie low for a while...well, it really made sense to me, especially given this new "spring" that I seem to be encountering.

Anyway, I plan on keeping these in my pump bag and reading one every time I pump, giving myself ample time to really think through the devotion and the reflection questions. I'm also looking forward to the next book MOPS sends me!

And the required stuff:
Available September 2009 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

I Am The Very Model of a Modern Major General

Ok...so I'm not really, but that song is running through my head as I scamper about keeping balls in the air.

Let's see....the in-laws (of both sides) will be glad to know that VNB found our camera last night, so pictures will abound as much as ever again. Woohoo! (Really, I promise - at the very least we can actually _take_ them again, even if I don't manage to post them ever.)

But even other than that amazing find, the world is a little topsy-turvy for me right now - nothing at all bad, just lots and lots to do and keep track of. Once next week is over, things "should" settle down again...but then I think I've been saying that since June.

So this Sunday starts the collection of clothes for our "first annual" (that means that it's the first time we've done it and theoretically we want to do it again, but let's see how this first one goes first, mmm'kay?) clothing swap. So people will drop off their "gently-used" clothing at the church Sunday, Oct 4 - Friday, Oct 9th. My small group (and hopefully some others) will sort the clothes and they'll be given out to church members on Friday night (Oct 9th) and the community on Saturday (Oct 10th). We'll take canned food donations at the door, but they're not required. Just please don't take all of our clothes in order to sell them at your own yard sale. That would be kinda rude. Click here for directions.

So theoretically, by Friday we'll have everything sorted out and people will come and take what they need. That may or may not happen though because the room that we've been assigned (which is probably too small anyway) isn't free until after MOPS on Thursday. So Wednesday we'll be seeing what's there and doing what we can out in the hallway and maybe on the front of the stage, then Thursday after MOPS we'll really start the mad sorting.

But wait...there's more...so I'm supposed to sing on Sunday morning with the praise team which means rehearsal Wednesday night...and since I'm there anyway, I might as well stay a little later to help set up for MOPS the next day.

And in MOPS the next day I'm in charge of the "creative activity" which this month is wrapping Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes. Last year we had like 50 boxes to wrap and I think we managed to wrap about 25 at the actual meeting, but ended up at about 100 boxes total...most of which I wrapped myself. So there's probably going to be a shoebox wrapping station at the welcome desk (or whatever) for the clothing swap....because we're supposed to have them all wrapped and ready to be handed out on Sunday the 11th.

But wait...there's more! So Sunday at church we'll also have Christian artist Shaun Groves at the church to sing and talk about the work of Compassion, International. He'll be in the services on Sunday morning, but will also be doing a concert on Sunday night. We've been working on this concert since um....May, I think....but only got firm confirmation that he was coming last Friday (lots and lots of reasons for that, not the least of which is my own penchant for procrastination) and only got the contract in hand yesterday. Which means that all the advertising that I've been putting off needs to be done YESTERDAY!!!! So the church is printing posters and I'll pick them up tonight to start posting in various places. Announcements (for both the concert and the clothing swap) went out in the Fall Festival bags last weekend and there's been stuff in the bulletin, but I just posted stuff to local radio station events pages today.

And I'm also tying up loose ends at work for lots of stuff as we come down to the wire for this spacecraft that I'm working on.

And my power adaptor for my laptop stopped being recognized by my system so I'm having to track down a new one of those and tech support doesn't believe that I know the difference between a power adaptor failure and a battery failure.

So I just feel like I've got 500 balls in the air. I've got lots of help with most of them, but there are so many things vying for my attention right now that it's hard to focus on anything. Especially with random VeggieTales songs (or Gilbert & Sullivan, as the case may be) stuck in my head.

Ok...but I'm at work now, so I should focus on work. And stop blogging about all I have to do that I need to focus on...

Oh, and did I mention that I've had several people now ask if Joanna knows how to talk? It would appear that she can answer yes/no questions. And might possibly know how to say "Cat." The Cat part is pretty normal...and saying "yes" or "no" isn't too far from normal...but actually answering questions? That's something that AJ still can't do reliably. And he's no dummy. But that would be like scary advanced - not only understanding the words in the question, but the form of question/answer itself AND being able to correctly respond, depending on the question. It's really a lot, if you think about it.

Ok....but to work....for real....no more distractions...got stuff I need to do....

Oh yeah...I've got to write a review of the latest MOPS book they sent me!!! When is that due....

Meeting "Larry"

So the end of last week was an exciting time for me. I was at the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) convention with most of the rest of our steering team (and 4000 other women). Operation Christmas Child sponsors MOPS and VeggieTales' new Christmas DVD is about the joy of giving, so they're partnering with OCC too. Plus, Matthew West was scheduled to give a concert at one of the general sessions and he wrote (and sang) the song that goes over the closing credits for the new VeggieTales.

All of that combined together so that VeggieTales and OCC sponsored "VeggOut Nite" the first night of the MOPS convention at which they debuted their new DVD. Beforehand, a guy from OCC, Matthew West (Christian singer mentioned above), and Mike Nawrocki (co-creator of VeggieTales and the voice of "Larry the Cucumber") all got a chance to say a little something about their partnership and the new movie, then we watched the movie.

Afterwards, I got to "squee" a little bit as I asked Mike if I could get a picture:

I thanked him for making DVDs that don't make me crazy.

AJ, however is _FAR_ more impressed with THIS picture:

Creating a Memory

It's been one of those mornings where I _know_ I got stuff done, and I _know_ it was important, but somehow I still _feel_ like nothing got accomplished. My kids ate a relatively-healthy breakfast, I got all of the laundry folded and put away (every last bit - nothing's sitting waiting for a hanger or socks to be matched), I put away some of the dishes (some still needed some more drying time), the kids and I all got dressed and I even got a shower.

I also managed to pull out our cat carrier for a friend who needed to borrow it. "No problem," I said. "It's just in the top of the kids' closet," I said. "I'll pull it out and have it for you, no problem," I said. Little did I realize how well the top of the closet was packed. Inside the collapsed carrier were all of our small photo albums, a few other random things, and all of VNB's old Bibles - i.e., the sucker was HEAVY). In front of the cat carrier were all of our Christmas ornaments and random Christmas dancing and singing things (Santa who plays the sax, snowman who sings something, polar bear, and a couple of random "Christmas" stuffed animals). I hoped that I'd be able to pull the carrier out without having to move anything, but the geometry of the situation told me otherwise. Then I hoped that just by pulling the other stuff off of that shelf (i.e., the Christmas stuff), I'd be able to pull it out (at that point at least it would be in front of the closet door), but no dice there. So then I had to start moving the stuff that was stacked up (very neatly) _next_ to the shelf - VNB's collection of Christmas village, all in its original packaging for safe storage (plus my Christmas Veggie Tales snow globe). So I pulled all of _that_ down, managed to pull the 500-lb cat carrier across the shelf (over occasional bumps from shelf supports) and far enough into the opening to be able to get it down.

The whole time I was doing this, and becoming increasingly frustrated, AJ was finishing up on the potty. After finishing his business, he came in, pants still around his ankles to investigate what Momma was doing. After telling him calmly to go back into the bathroom and pull up his pants a couple of times (the idea being that he doesn't _leave_ the bathroom without pulling them up), he managed to get his underwear up, but not the pants (which are a smidge too long, so he was stepping on cuffs). About the time I got the cat carrier to the point where I could attempt to bring it down, he was crowding my space - with his pants still around his ankles. So not only was he not obeying by getting his pants pulled up, he also wasn't obeying as I was telling him repeatedly to back up (just in case I lost control of some or all of the cat carrier and/or its contents). And in my defense ("why didn't you just go help him?"), I was up on a chair with all the contents of the closet packed around me, trying to remember where it all went so that I could get it all to fit back in there.

So with only a few photo albums dive bombing me, I managed to get the cat carrier down and into Joanna's crib. Then I managed to get everything else back up into the closet. During which time AJ was still struggling with his pants and probably crying because I was yelling at him to pull up his pants and back up (is it bad that I don't even remember if he was or not?).

On the plus side, I found some pictures I'd promised to show some friends a long time ago! And I got the cat carrier down. And eventually we got AJ's pants pulled back up.

But that was my morning. And even though it just took me like fifteen pages to explain what I did this morning, it still feels like I didn't accomplish anything. (And now I'm at work and blogging instead of getting stuff done here...)

But my "Sanctuary's In the Small Things" task for the day is to create a memory. This morning isn't something I want to remember, but last night was. So _technically_, I didn't perform the _task_ on the right day, but I'm recording it for posterity so that I actually _remember_ it today, so I think I should still get my 40 points. :)

So last night I sent AJ to bed instead of going in with him, singing to him, and "saying Amen" (i.e., praying). An hour later when VNB and I were going to bed, he was still awake, so I went in and did our usual routine. Except that I told him to sing with me. We have a repertoire of all of three songs for bedtime (all three of which we usually sing at least once each night), so he's heard them all a "few" times now. It was the most adorable thing (and I know that it's true because VNB took like five trips to and from the bathroom during that song just so he'd have the excuse to walk past the door and listen). He wasn't on pitch, and usually he'd sing an intelligible word a phrase or two after I'd already sung it...but he was singing _with_ me. All the way down to the "yeah" at the end of "God is Bigger than the Boogy Man" (a recent addition to our repertoire, due to our first "I'm scared of the monsters" pre-bedtime event). Probably the best part about it too is that he really seemed to enjoy it and was definitely focusing on singing. You could see the wheels turning as he thought about what words came "next."

I did better in my description of the cat carrier incident, but this memory is one of the sweetest yet since I've been a mommy. My boy, singing. Knowing by heart that "God is bigger than the boogy man," that "there is nothing I can't do when God is at my side," and that "a thankful heart is a happy heart!" Sweet.

So even if I accomplish nothing else today (which would be bad since the kids and I are flying to Nashville tomorrow and haven't even started packing yet!), I've recorded a memory that I want to cherish forever. It's a good day.

Pictures!

Thanks to UncleR, here are some recent pics of the littles, taken at a family reunion a few weeks ago. If we could find our camera, there would have been another shot of Joanna sleeping this morning. She didn't quite go down for her nap as easily as she usually does, but I let her cry for a little while hoping that eventually she'd settle herself down. About the time I was going to go in and comfort her, the crying abruptly stopped. I peeked in and she was sitting up with her head leaning against the bars of her crib, fast asleep. I eventually laid her down, but man was that cute!

Also, one of her top teeth decided to poke its way through yesterday. That makes three now!

And AJ has had a few successes with the potty! Now if only we managed to have a couple days in a row at home, we might be able to actually get this done!

Anyway, pics:

AJ

And Joanna

Are you sure it isn't Monday?

So this morning I did something I only rarely do - I set the alarm. You see, my kids' internal clocks are magical. They wake up between 7:15 and 7:30 on days that we have no where to go and mama is super tired (wait...is there a day when I'm _not_ super tired? I don't remember one...), but on days that I need them to wake up exactly at 8 so that we can get to were we need to be, they sleep until 9:30...and so do I because they're my usual alarm clock...and what I said about always being tired? Yeah, very true. Joanna's "only" waking up 2-3 times per night now...

So this morning I set the alarm for 7. You see, we had to be at our first MOPS meeting of the year at 9, which means we had to leave the house at 8:30-ish, which means that they needed to have breakfast the moment they woke up (at 8, theoretically) so that I could get them dressed and out the door on time. But since I was going to work straight from MOPS, and then our small group was coming over, I also had to have the house "company ready" before I left. Fortunately, it was already relatively close and these are people who come over on a weekly basis, so as the weeks go on, my standards slip bit-by-bit. Anyway, so I got up a "few" minutes after the alarm went off the first time (or was it the 5th?), gathered up the non-toy clutter, ran a load of dishes, then fed the baby breakfast.

As I was putting something or other away in his room, AJ woke up, saw me, and immediately stretched his arms wide, indicating that he wanted a great big hug. Melt my heart...

Anyway, so Joanna tried "mixed cereal" for the first time this morning. She had her 4-oz jar of applesauce with pomegranate juice (yum! Why don't they make flavors like that for adults?!), then most of another 4-oz jar of "mixed cereal" with applesauce and bananas. I gathered up everything I needed, got everyone dressed, brought all the stuff out to the car, came back, turned out lights, grabbed babies, and then got all of the people out the door.

As AJ was mosey-ing up the steps, I started strapping Joanna (adorably dressed in a "we're seeing Mama's 'mommy friends'" outfit) into her car seat when she proceeded to add another "first" to things that she's done - empty the entire contents of her stomach full of "solid" food (almost two 4-oz jars!). All over her cute outfit. All over the car seat. Completely freaked her out.

So, I unstrapped her from her carseat, and held her at arms' length (I was dressed in "work" clothes) while I found the keys, yelled for AJ to come back inside, unlocked the door, and got her de-stickied, re-dressed, and somewhat calmed down. We went back outside (where AJ was still mosey-ing, not having apparently received the message that I yelled for him to come back inside - but at least he was still on the side walk and not playing in the parking lot or something), mostly cleaned up the car seat, strapped her back down (she isn't a huge fan of that at any time, but certainly not shortly after such a traumatic event in said carseat), strapped AJ in, and got to MOPS before the meeting started, if not quite when the leadership team was supposed to be there.

It was quite the morning. And they tell me it's Thursday. Feels more like a Monday to me!

Quiet

Our small group has gone home, the kids are in bed, VNB's gone to bed, the TV is off and all is quiet.

I've got piles of dishes in (and around) the sink, puffed rice cereal all over the floor, books and toys scattered about, a dining room table that's practically in my lap right now (it's so big with all the leaves in for the small group that came tonight and our house is so small)...but it's quiet. And there's no one using me for a jungle gym.

Back 10,000 years ago, before I went overseas, this was what it was like all the time (well, the TV was on occasionally). Then it was _too_ quiet. Now it's a welcome respite from the noise...but at the same time, the noise is a welcome respite from the world.

Even with all its flaws, this house is home because the people who sleep under its roof are my family - people (some smaller than others) for whom I am ceaselessly grateful and absolutely amazed to be able to call "mine."

Someday (in sha'allah), the kids will grow up, move out into the big, wide world, meet people, get married, and start families of their own. But even then, they will still be "mine" (and VNB's pretty much stuck with me "till death do us part").

And in these rare moments of quiet, I can dream dreams for them (and for us). I can pray that they will be successful in every way that the world calls "success." I can pray that they never want for anything important. I can pray that they have strong marriages and healthy families.

But mostly...mostly what I want for them is that they follow God's will for their lives, no matter where that takes them. And now that I'm a parent myself, I understand the terror that statement invokes (so, um, thanks Mommy and Daddy for supporting me in the whole "I'm going to Iraq" thing!)...but alongside the terror comes peace. Peace that God's in control and will continue to be whenever they are called to do whatever it is they will do.

But mostly peace that I don't need to worry about that today. Today I get to worry about laundry and potty training and random things they put in their mouths. Today there is noise. And every now and again, there is quiet.

Have We Got A Show For You!

So AJ's new potty rewards system is that before he can watch a DVD, he has to sit on the potty for 5 minutes. I sit there with him and we read a book, but it has to be done before any new DVD can go in the DVD player.

First up this morning was "A Snoodle's Tale" from VeggieTales. I was feeding Joanna her breakfast as it was playing and she got her first bite right around the time the opening song was starting. Bob the Tomato was singing the words "if a squash can make you smile" just as her first bite was approaching her mouth and she was therefore rejoicing by smiling a big ol' smile and kicking her feet.

On the spoon approaching her mouth? Squash. I guess that means VeggieTales is the show for her. There are worse things.

Not at all related to that is the fact that I'd like to record for posterity that Joanna has been successfully pulling up for over a week now and has almost mastered the art of getting back down without hurting herself (almost). She can also occasionally move a step or so, but mostly she's stuck in a single spot once she's standing. Similarly, for the last week or so, AJ has actually been hopping (two feet off the ground). He can even jump off of things. Fortunately, he's not brave enough to jump off of much (yet). Mostly just curbs.

And not at all related to that is the fact that it's always amusing to look at my site counter stats because the visiting IPs usually fall into one of two categories: 1) friends/family - I can tell who you are for the most part by where your IP is located (hi new grad student in Wheaton, IL!) and 2) people who get to my site by searching for the combination of unisom and vitamin B-6 (anti-nausea OTC meds that I took while pregnant with Joanna).

Anyway, have any of you noticed (as I have, although I haven't checked to see exactly how accurate this is) that I always seem to start my posts with the word "So...?" I'm not sure what that means.

Poor Parenting Moment # 5872 (or so)

So for lunch today, AJ had a peanut butter and raspberry sandwich. We picked the raspberries ourselves last Friday and I didn't want them to go bad, but also didn't really want to go to the hassle of making jam from them, so I just stuck them on the sandwich like you'd do with bananas. It's remarkably good (I had one too). That's not the poor parenting moment.

We walked to a friend's house today (3 mi each way!) to let their birds out for a bit while they're out of town. It took a little longer than I expected, so we didn't get back until 2 (naptime) and hadn't had lunch yet. Hence the peanut butter and raspberry sandwich. That's not the poor parenting moment.

So I slapped together the sandwich and let AJ watch a short Thomas DVD that my mom had given him this weekend while he was eating (while telling him that when Thomas was over, it was naptime). Even though he'd already seen that particular Thomas DVD once already today, that wasn't the poor parenting moment either.

So AJ goes down for his nap and I start the laundry (which is a communal facility a floor up from our condo). Joanna had napped both ways on the walk, so she wasn't interested in napping when he did, so on one laundry trip I stuck her in her "intellitainer" (like an exersaucer). The next time it was in her walker. The next time, I just left her on the floor with some toys. Believe it or not, but leaving my almost-8-mo-old (who is very mobile) loose on the floor as I left our condo for 5-10 minutes to change the laundry was also not the poor parenting moment.

HERE's the poor parenting moment:
When I came back from the laundry, Joanna was sitting there (approximately where I'd left her) with a HUGE grin on her face. Coming out of her widely-grinning mouth was the leftovers of AJ's peanut butter and raspberry sandwich (which had been on a plate on the coffee table next to her).

Let's count the ways that my youngest could have died in those 5-10 minutes:
1) Gluten. Well, ok...gluten doesn't usually cause anaphylactic reactions in people, but since it's a possible ADD trigger, I'm a bit of a "no gluten until they're at least 1" nazi. Gives their digestive tract a little longer to develop.
2) Peanuts. Most research shows that peanut allergies are reduced if the child doesn't ingest peanuts of any sort until at least 1. We don't have any peanut allergies on either side of our family, but still. Some OBs will tell you not to eat peanuts while you're breastfeeding! (Glad I never officially heard that from any of mine!)
3) Berries. Like with peanuts, the longer you avoid berries, the better off the child is in terms of potential allergies. Some pediatricians even say to wait till they're 2!

All she needed to do to get all of the worst "not before they're 1" allergens at once was dip it in a glass of milk.

Oh Yeah!

So it's been a crazy couple of weeks, as I said before. But I forgot a couple of other good (and exciting) things. A) Joanna cut her second tooth yesterday! She's also been sleeping now for almost two hours. Kinda spooky and annoying when she does that. Especially when it means that she probably won't take her afternoon nap when AJ takes his. Bother. Oh....awake now. Still not gonna be ready for another nap in an hour though. :(

Anyway....and 2) VNB essentially got promoted! He'll be moving to a larger branch, closer to home, and will now have a staff to oversee! We haven't heard the specifics on salary yet, but he will be salaried instead of hourly like before (which cuts down on his stress). He'll also be getting a company phone. They're going to try to keep his phone number the same, but that's essentially a pay raise as long as switching to just me on our plan doesn't wildly raise our rate or something crazy. He starts at the new place the Tuesday after Labor Day and is rather stressed in the meantime trying to get his current place ready to do without him.

Oh, and in a couple of days, we're gonna pay off VNB's college loans, leaving only my college loans and our mortgage as our family debt! One step closer to losing that monkey! We'll dump all we've been putting into his loans into mine after this month and hope to pay mine off in the next year or so. After that, we'll build the down payment fund back up again and take advantage of another thing that VNB's new job allows for us - we can expand our search for a home into less pricey areas that were just too far away from his current store!

Anyway....so there you go....life, as usual, is good. :) Even when it's not perfect, it's still very good and we are very blessed!

"Vacation" Recovery

So, our vacation was supposed to be the last week in July. We were going to stop by VNB's folks for the night on our way to the swamp where my dad was Rangering this summer, followed by a few days at Myrtle Beach with my fam (including my younger siblings), followed by a few more days with VNB's fam.

But then VNB's grandfather went into the hospital just after 4th of July. He was still in full control of his faculties, but organs were slowing and shutting down and he wasn't expected to ever go home. But hospice had him on their "six-month plan," so we bumped our vacation up by a week just to make sure we got there while he was still functioning, but fully expected that he'd make it several months after we visited (if not longer). Moving our vacation up by a week threw our plans all out of whack, but everyone understood. We even called my younger siblings to see if they could move their trip up by a couple of days so that they'd still get to see us.

So we arrived in Cary, NC (where VNB's parents live) Friday night (the 17th), planning to make the 1.5 hr trip to Greensboro (where his grandfather was) the next morning. Before we (in our "we're on vacation" mindset) managed to get all of us dressed and ready to go, my father-in-law got a call from the nursing home that VNB's grandfather (and my FIL's dad) had died.

Now, we hadn't been told how much pain his grandfather was in, and he was an old man who'd lived a good, long life. We know he was a believer too, so there's no doubt in our minds where he is. All in all, it was hard for everyone to be too sad. I'm sure it'll hit VNB when the holidays come around, but in the meantime it doesn't really affect our day-to-day too much. We're all doing surprisingly well. And really...he's out of pain now. And in heaven with both of his wives that he outlived. And he'd lived a long life (just turned 86). It's hard to be too sad about that.

VNB, my FIL, and my bro-in-law hopped in the car to take care of things in Greensboro while us womenfolk (and the kids) stayed in Cary for the day. VNB was very proud to bring home his grandfather's WWII medals (he was a Marine) and we spent the evening Googling to find out what each of them was.

Anyway, our plans being in even more disarray, I called my mom to tell her what was happening and she told me that my younger siblings had not only been able to change their plans, but they were actually already on their way! So we called them and got them to stop at VNB's parents' house for the night since we'd be tied up with the funeral for most of the time they'd be in town.

Sunday, VNB, the kids, and I went to his home church while his family went to Greensboro to clean his grandfather's house and make all the arrangements. Sunday night, we got to hear VNB's former youth pastor talk about his family's missionary work in Indonesia.

Monday morning was spent. Literally. We'd found a few jackets and pants that VNB could fit into between friends and family, but not a suit befitting his grandfather's funeral, so we happened upon an S&K that was going out of business and bought VNB a new suit for 60% off! We also got a few other odds and ends that we needed (all told, we spent about $400 that morning!), then came back to his parents' house in time for lunch and the trip to Greensboro for the viewing. On the way there, I typed as Ryan dictated what he wanted to say in his eulogy for his grandfather.

While a friend of VNB's sister watched the kids, we went to the viewing and I shook the hands of and hugged a lot of people I know marginally and a few more that I've never met before. The funeral was the next morning. VNB did great giving his eulogy (although we didn't get as many laughs as we were expecting), then we all packed into the car and drove to Myrtle Beach.

We spent the evening introducing AJ to the ocean. It started out with him not wanting to get near it and ended up with us having to keep him from running into it! Unfortunately, my dad had taken off of work for the week that we had originally planned to come down and couldn't change the dates, so he had to go back to Columbia, SC very early the next morning to Congaree National Park. But we spent the late morning and early afternoon at the beach, then came back for naps. That night the kids went with my mom and siblings to play mini-golf while VNB and I had dinner.

VERY early the next morning, my younger siblings had to head back. My mom and our family went to the Ripley's Aquarium in the morning, then spent a little more time on the beach in the afternoon. By the end of the second day at the beach, I think everyone's expectations of what "AJ going in the water" meant finally matched up, so everyone had a good time...until AJ got tired and sunburned and wanted to keep walking south along the beach rather than coming back north to where our stuff was. That wasn't particularly happy, but at least he'll probably enjoy the beach when we go again (up here) in mid-September.

Since AJ hadn't gotten to see much of his "PawPaw" (my dad), since my mom assured us there was a GREAT children's museum in Columbia, and since my dad didn't have to be at work until 2 that day, we drove Friday morning to Columbia (3 hrs), met my dad at the museum, and played until he had to go to work. Then we played a little longer, ate lunch, then met him at Congaree to take a tour of the boardwalk they have over their swamp. It's only about a 2.5-mi loop which we totally could have done, but AJ was melting down, VNB had hurt his foot, and my mom was having trouble keeping up, so we turned back after about half a mile. So then we said goodbye to PawPaw and headed back to Myrtle Beach.

The next morning we packed up what was left of our stuff and headed back (4 hrs) to Cary. We went to church with his family Sunday morning, had lunch, then drove back home to MD. All told, we were in the car for about 27 hrs over the course of the week. With an infant and a toddler. It's a wonder we're not all crazy. Oh, wait... ;p

I would have updated the blog from the road, but my dear husband has something against me telling everyone on the internets that our house is unoccupied for a week (well, except for the cat and fish). Something about the crazies on the internets taking all of our belongings and us not even knowing about it for several days. Sweet man. It would never even occur to me to think about something like that. Good thing I've got him around to take care of me!

Anyway, in the week _since_ we got back from vacation, we've gotten into the car as little as possible, Joanna has cut her first tooth and started sitting up on her own (not only unsupported, but I'd leave her lying on her back, blink, and she'd be sitting up on her bottom - pictures of both to come), and AJ has started potty training (don't worry - no pics of this one).

Wait...when's vacation again?

Camping Adventures

So we went camping and whitewater rafting in Ohiopyle State Park last weekend (western PA). Well, all four of us went camping, but only VNB and I went whitewater rafting. Joanna's good at kicking, but she's not quite a swimmer yet. At least not enough to be in a boat on rapids.

It was the first time that VNB and I had gotten to do anything like that as a married couple. Something about getting pregnant two months into marriage kinda keeps you from rafting. Which, incidentally, provided the childcare for _this_ trip (pregnancy anyway, I know they've been married longer than two months). Except for the gash on my thumb from getting tossed out of the boat and the myriad of bruises and scrapes on my legs from getting pulled back in to the boat, we escaped with no major injuries and even still liked each other at the end of the afternoon. :)

We're still learning how to camp though. VNB had never been car camping before we were married (just backpacking). For his first Father's Day, we took a trip to the Poconos to see a NASCAR race and camp in the woods. He, thinking the trip was his present (and not just the fact that I was going to a NASCAR race with him and an 8-mo-old), and also never having done it before, assumed that I was going to pack everything. I (with my many many years of Turner camping) was expecting the Daddy to do it all.

We managed to get there with a tent, maybe an air mattress, and a few sheets (we weren't going to be at camp much, after all - there was a race to go to and a lake to swim in). We got to camp a little late though and didn't feel like scrounging for wood in order to cook the hot dogs or whatever food it was we brought along, so we went to the local Subway and got dinner. On the way back to the campground I got to introduce VNB to reality of camping with the Turners - as we were pulling into the campground, we started hearing pings as something hit the (new-ish-to-us) car. When we realized it was hail, we pulled in under the trees as much as we could and waited it out.

Thinking that we'd passed the "Murphy" test, we settled into camp for the night. We were borrowing the tent of some friends which had a separate little "room" for AJ to sleep in. We got him to sleep in it, then went to sleep ourselves only to have AJ wake up like every hour all night simply because it was _FREEEEEEEZING_ (did I mention this was August?). So the next day we took turns buying out the little camp store. We bought two very expensive camp chairs, a very expensive scratchy wool blanket, some very expensive food and condiments, and a few other things just for good measure. Then we went to shiver in the lake for a little while. AJ had a blast though, through his blue, shivering, little toothless gums. So that night, we were prepared for the cold. We tucked AJ into bed with us, wrapped up in the wool blanket, and proceeded to swelter all night in the blazing heat.

So the next day dawned with the promise of NASCAR, followed by the drive home. We got to the race early enough to find our (very expensive) seats and discover that in the Poconos raceway not only is smoking allowed, that was the first year where they'd actually set aside a "no smoking" section. Were we in it? Of course not! So we sat in the hot sun, not a cloud in the sky, coughing in the second-hand smoke as the VERY LOUD cars drove around in a triangle (did I mention that we forgot the ginormous box of ear plugs we'd bought for this exact occasion?). After a few thousand laps of heat, sun, smoke, and noise, we decided to give both me and AJ a break from it all and go out to see the vendors. Except that I was wearing shoes that were killing my feet and we were having to lug AJ everywhere since he wasn't walking yet and we didn't have a stroller or carrier with us.

We considered buying me a pair of Crocs at the Crocs booth, but they were like $500 so we didn't. After a while we wandered back into the stands for a while, but even VNB had had enough by then. The race wasn't exciting at all (the Crown Royal car kept spinning out and not hurting himself or any other cars and the #2 was in the lead the entire race), we were all dying of smoke and sun and AJ was screaming (or was that me?). So we found this random restaurant in an old factory or mill or something, had a good (if expensive) dinner, and then made our sunburned way home.

So this trip went better than that one. Of course, it'd be hard pressed to do worse, but it really was better. We're still learning what we need to bring though. We sat there Saturday night after rafting trying to cook dinner. We'd planned for grilled cheese and tomato soup. But after smelling the burgers two sites away, grilled cheese just wasn't really substantial enough. So we figured we'd have grilled cheese and bacon sandwiches. Except that we had no paper towels for the wiping of hands or the collecting of bacon grease, we had no tongs for the turning of the bacon, we had only a tiny like 5-in pan, and VNB's backpacking stove (one tiny burner over the fuel canister that you have to balance pans on top of - the table wasn't level and my balancing skills aren't that great, so we ended up losing several pieces of bacon and lots of grease along the way). So the process went like this: cook one piece of bacon cut in half (we didn't have anything other than a pocket knife either); cook another piece of bacon cut in half; cook the grilled cheese (with newly-cooked bacon) sandwich in the bacon grease; repeat ad nauseum (with multiple spills along the way). After about three sandwiches, I gave up for a while and VNB cooked his soup. But then we had all the rest of the bacon that we had to cook. Fortunately our friends took pity on us and let us borrow their actual camping stove and a frying pan that could fit _two_ pieces of bacon at a time.

So then we put Joanna to bed and sat around the campfire at our friends' campsite (two away from ours, up a hill, with several other friends' tents in the middle). After a while, AJ said that he was done with the fire and wanted to go to bed (really - I was just as surprised as you), so I took him down to our site, got him into pjs, and put him to bed. He totally was fine with me leaving him there and going back up to where our friends were. That is until about 30-45 minutes and a couple of rain showers later when across the campground we hear a panicked "MAAAAAA-MAAAAAAA!" Before our friends even know what's going on, I'm sprinting down the hill in the dark in my flip-flop sandals with socks on (meaning that they're not exactly secured to my feet), dodging tents and random tie downs (not to mention trees) to get to our son who was beside himself in terror. We assumed it was from the rain shower on the tent roof that woke him up or something.

By the time I got there, Joanna was awake again too, so I had to soothe her back down while trying to get him to stop bawling. After a while, me being there was only keeping him awake, so I turned off the light, but then he was scared that he couldn't see me anymore, so I was singing to him, but that was waking him up, so finally I just picked him up and held him until he was asleep enough that VNB coming and going didn't wake him. They both then proceeded to sleep at least as well as normal the rest of the night.

The next day we went to the lake and swam for a while. Joanna sat (with only a little support) on the edge of the water and splashed and played in the sand while her big brother and daddy played out in the deeper part. After a fun (if tiring) weekend, we made it home, safe and sound.

At least until VNB discovered that he'd somehow managed to get a viral strain of pink eye. So far he hasn't shared with the rest of us, but we're still very much hoping he gets better soon!

Now to unpack!

Beginning My "Jesus" Year

So yesterday was my 33rd birthday (thanks Mommy! I appreciate you popping me out SOOO much more now that I've done it myself a couple of times!). Some people call your 33rd year on Earth your "Jesus" year since that's when his Earthly ministry ended. Not all of the important stuff happened that year, but a whole lot of it did. We'll have to see what it brings me. (Oh, and happy 5th birthday, free Iraq!)

Leading up to my birthday, God gave me His present - a new, fabulous job! I'm working at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Lab. I'm working with some former co-workers and customers (a.k.a. "old friends") doing stuff that I enjoy doing! They have a new laptop for me and _TWO_ ginormous screens (and a docking station) for when I'm in the office. Right now, that's daily mostly in the afternoons. In a couple of weeks, I'll start working most days from home. The main reason that I haven't posted about this (or anything else) since I started two weeks ago is that they became aware of a cyber attack the day before I started and today's the first day that they've restored complete internet access to us. They're paying me (way) more, they're a (way) better organization overall, they value me as an employee (way) more, they've bent over backwards to do everything possible to make working for them as convenient for me as they can. And did I mention that I'm working with friends doing stuff that I love? :) It's _GREAT_!

It's been hard being away from the kids even though it was just the afternoons, but we've got a friend watching them for us and they're really enjoying her. Plus I'm really only missing lunch, naps, and the post-nap whiny period. For the most part, I'm ok with that. :) It _has_ been difficult trying to keep the house "company" ready-ish and getting stuff like grocery shopping done while still pumping enough to meet Joanna's needs while I'm away, picking up our friend (who is currently car-less), and getting to work "on time" (which is really just a requirement I set for myself - no one here cares when I get here). But we're making it work!

Joanna was 6 months old last Tuesday, so we started with the solid foods. She's not the fan of carrots that her big brother used to be. Didn't mind the peaches so much, but just isn't as into eating solids as AJ was at 4 months! It's still amazing to me how different they can be!

Hopefully she'll do alright with them though because the next two weekends we'll be apart for significant periods of time and I'm not sure I'll be able to pump enough. My folks are sending me and VNB to a little B&B on St. Michaels this Friday night (with babysitting included since my mom's flying up Friday morning and staying through Monday morning). Then the following weekend, we're taking our first family-of-four camping trip with a big group of friends. The group is leaving Friday night, but I've got a meeting till late, so I'll be away from her a good bit of the evening, then most of us (myself included!) are going white water rafting on Saturday. So I'll spend this week and next downing my "Mother's Milk" tea and eating oatmeal cookies to boost my production as much as possible.

But speaking of which, I need to go pump. So things are good! I just haven't had time in the mornings to post anything.

Life on Planet Mom

So I was sent the book "Life on Planet Mom: a down-to-earth guide to your changing relationships" by the MOPS people to review and tell everyone about. It's written by Lisa T. Bergren and is the theme book for the 2009-2010 MOPS year. The main point of the theme ("Together on planet Mom") for the year is that when you have your first baby (either through birth or through adoption), all of your relationships change as a result. Some of them change for the better, some for the worse, and some just disappear.

The book focuses on six different relationships that are vital to a mom: your relationship with yourself, your spouse, your family, your friends, the world, and God. In each chapter, Ms. Bergren gives understanding and encouragement for a mom as she navigates each of these relationships and how they change when kids enter into the picture. She also gives practical advice on how to maintain or even improve each relationship.

Scattered throughout the book are responses to an online survey that MOPS moms were invited to take. I can't tell you how surprised I was when I read one quote that sounded vaguely familiar only to have it attributed to "Leia!" Yep, I'm quoted in the book! Pg. 138, if you're curious! I only barely remember the survey, but how cool is that? :)

My favorite chapter was the one on how your relationship with the world changes when you become a mom. It's very important to me that my children get exposed to many different opportunities to help various people both locally and around the world. Finding toddler-friendly service opportunities may be difficult, but it's slowly becoming a passion of mine. At the very least, it was good to be encouraged that sometimes even if the kids can't come, it's good for them to see their parents serving in various ways.

Coming from mostly a fiction background, Ms. Bergren begins each chapter with a short snippet of the lives of four friends who are in various life stages and situations. Without being too hokey, the various situations give excellent examples of ways that relationships change with kids, but how important it is to work to maintain important relationships in our lives.

All in all, I liked this book (really there _are_ books out there that I don't like, MOPS just seems to be sending me books that are well-written, interesting, and pertinent to me - I promise I'd let you know if they were bad or poorly-written). I'm really looking forward to this new MOPS year and am excited to get to share what I already know about the theme with the rest of our steering team!

Thanks to MOPS for including me in their "Blog Book Tour!" I can't wait to see what they send next! :)

Raindrops Keep Fallin' on my Head

So VNB's been doing this weight loss challenge through work and after depriving himself for most of a month and reaching his target weight (but still losing the challenge since someone else lost a greater percentage of weight), he was really craving a Frosty. Wanting to maintain his renewed slimness, he wasn't going to indulge until I mentioned that it wouldn't be so bad as long as we walked over to get it (Wendy's is about a mile away along wooded paths - yay, Columbia!). So we pulled out the stroller, strapped Joanna in, packed an umbrella since it was supposed to storm, and went on our merry way. AJ had a great time running (his favorite thing ever), we all got exercise, and it was a lovely walk. We decided on Chik-fil-a rather than Wendy's when we got there, then decided to check to see if Walmart had something we were looking for (same shopping center). Well, after our Walmart stop, we headed back outside only to be met by the very first drops of rain. By the time we reconfigured outfits and the stroller and dug out the umbrella, it was pouring, as it continued to do most of the night.

AJ (who was riding since we were in a maze of parking lots and roads) immediately started screaming like every drop of rain burned his skin or he was melting or something. So we put AJ in the back, piled the baby on top of him, I held the umbrella over me and VNB, and VNB pushed the stroller. We made it most of the way home (although VNB ended up taking the umbrella back since he was better able to protect the littles than I was) with only the occasional screams from AJ about his "piggies" getting wet (seriously, you'd think the kid was made out of sugar or something for all of his screams about getting wet). After a while, he was done with holding Baby, so I ended up carrying the baby the last little bit while AJ cowered in the stroller and VNB pushed.

Fortunately, it was a warm night and a warm rain...and our laziness after a recent zoo trip meant that AJ and Joanna had jackets in the stroller. Even so, we were all sopping wet when we got home.

It was a fun adventure though, and one that VNB and I, at least, enjoyed. Joanna liked it too, once I was carrying her. AJ's the only one who will probably be scarred for life (although it didn't seem to make him want to hurry at all _today_ as we were running through parking lots to avoid getting wet - no, _today_ rain was tons of fun). Still, remind me never to walk for Frosties on a whim again. At least not without serious rain gear.

Jesus Is My Friend!

I'm not really sure what disturbs me more. This video by itself or the fact that AJ wandered by while I was watching it, saw a close-up of the lady on the left with the glasses, and said, "MAMA!!" like he thought she was me.

Creepy Crawly

So last night at small group, VNB was telling our group that she'd be crawling within the month. Apparently Joanna took that as a challenge.

She's already managed to crawl to one of her brother's drawings, grab it, chew it up, and get yelled at by an outraged big brother. Today, the belly crawl. Tomorrow, the world!

Turning, Turning, Turning Through the Years...

This happened the night before Easter. She's wearing the Tigger outfit because I was meeting the family at a restaurant for dinner after Amplified that night and when Daddy asked AJ what the baby should wear, this was what he picked. AJ was also wearing his Tigger hoodie. Apparently Tigger's _not_ the only one.

Anyway, so when we got home, she was playing on her little play mat. On her back. A few minutes later, this video was taken.

Now she's a little roly-poly. You put her down on her back, look away for 2 seconds, look back and she's halfway across the room, having cleared multiple obstacles to get there. But it only happens when you're not looking. You look away again and she's on the other side of the room, AJ's latest drawing is scraps of pulp, and her face, hands, and clothes are smeared with "safe, non-toxic" "washable" markers. Look away again and you find her under the dining room table, ticked off because she can't get the whole table leg into her mouth.

AJ enjoys sitting on the quilt under her play mat as she lies there, batting at toys and trying desperately to fit a beach ball in her mouth. Then, when she touches him, he screams like a banshee, and tells her "No no, Baby! No touch AJ." He doesn't seem to get that he's in _her_ space. I think he just sees it as an opportunity to boss someone around like he's bossed around so frequently. He similarly likes telling the cat "no no" for non-crimes like walking across the room.

Anyway, the video's not so exciting, but it is actual footage of her actual first successful complete roll from back to belly. Or at least the wiggling on the belly part post-roll.

Making Work at Home Work

So y'all have heard me talk about MOPS before. It's a great group for moms of preschoolers. We started a local chapter at my church in January of '08 and have been enjoying it ever since. Well, a few months back I took a survey for something or other for MOPS and at the end it asked if I had a blog and, if so, would I be interested in reviewing books for them on it. Let's see...asking Leia if she wants free books? Hrm...what will she say? Um...."Heck, yeah!"

So fast forward a few months, and I get an email asking me if I'm interested in reviewing a book called "Making Work at Home Work: Successfully Growing a Business and a Family Under One Roof" by Mary M. Byers. Let's see again...free book...about working from home...being offered to Leia about the time that she's seriously considering starting her own engineering firm (from home) in order to actually get paid for something? Again, "heck, yeah!"

So fast forward again a few weeks and I get a book in the mail which I think I started reading that night. It's broken down into two sections: "Saving Your Sanity" and "Preserving Your Profit." In the first section she gives practical tips on keeping the balance between work and home. She even includes some recipes for quick and easy (but relatively healthy) dinners! In the second section, she focuses more on the business aspect, dealing with taxes, investing in your business, retirement advice, and things of a similar nature. Each chapter is pretty short (nice for a mom with littles who don't appreciate long afternoons of reading) and she punctuates them with interviews of real (and successful) work-at-home moms.

I really liked how practical this book was (both sections of it). In the sanity section, she helps step you through all of the common headaches of working at home - guilt, working more than is necessary, dealing with clients, figuring out (or remembering) your motivation, and how to deal with child care (among others). One of my most favorite aspects of this book is that she doesn't tell you (like so many do) that you have to wear something other than PJs in order to work. I don't know why that's such a sticking point with people, but I've heard over and over from work-at-home people about how people always assume that they work in their PJs, but the reality of it was that they got dressed and "went to work" like everyone else - their office was just closer. Well, I'm going to confess to you that I work from home and I do it in my PJs whenever possible. That's partly from a pragmatic standpoint though - the fewer clothes I wear, the fewer clothes I have to wash, the less laundry I have to do. See...it's really my great efficiency that causes me to laze about in my jammies all day.

I also liked that she didn't tell me (like so many do) how I _have_ to have childcare during my work times if I'm going to get any real work accomplished. I'm sure that there are people who can't produce quality work when their kids are around (and I'm sure that it depends greatly on the type of work you do). I know that I have my days of that myself...but if I'm going to send my kids to day care so that I can work from home, to me, I'm defeating the purpose of me being home in the first place. And our place is so small that even if I hired someone to watch them while I worked, we'd all be in the same room, so I'd have all of the same distractions anyway.

This book gave a great balance of practical tips alongside a healthy dose of "do what works for you, just make sure that it's actually _working_."

The second section was great for someone like me who just doesn't have much of a "business" mind. I can do what I do very well...but ask me to sell you something and you might as well be asking me to stop by Mars on my way home from the grocery store today. Or ask me to sit down and figure out the specifics of a budget and most of the time I'd pretty much rather poke my eyes out with something dull. I may still do it anyway, but that's how I feel about it. The "Protecting your Profit" section kept the information at just the right level for someone like me. It was clear, without the details that make me want to poke myself with something hot, but with enough information that it will actually be useful, should I ever decide to start that engineering firm.

Ever since I read it, I've been trying to think of something that I could say that I _didn't_ like about it. All I can think of is a story she tells at the beginning. The details aren't important so much as the fact that I think she was being too hard on herself. But really, that's it. I can't think of anything else I would have put in or anything I'd have taken out. It was short and to the point - both excellent things when you're dealing with little ones running around. It was informative without getting too detailed. It was practical without ordering people to do things in one specific way.

So anyway, "Making Work at Home Work" by Mary M. Byers. Apparently it'll be available June 9th (or so). I would assume that Amazon will have it, but I know that Christianbook.com does. They're even selling it for less than the cover price. And if you use this link, I think MOPS gets some of the money.

Next up for MOPS book reviews: the 2009-2010 MOPS theme book!

Big Shoes

Enough

So on Saturday, I got pretty much the whole day without my darling kiddoes. It was both blissful and painful all at the same time. Blissful because I got to be an adult all day without anyone hanging off of me while attending a great training for MOPS leaders and then Amplified. And painful because not only was I without my darling, wonderful husband (who was watching our children all day, despite being called into work at the last minute) and my adorable little ones, I was also without some of the necessary pieces of my breast pump. By the end of the day, we'll just say that I was...full...

Anyhoo...it was a beautiful day, so I got to drive with the windows down, singing along with the radio (or at times with the radio off and just in silence!!!). And it was freeing! It's so rare that I'm actually _alone_ in a car anymore. That used to be my time to sit and chat with God, and I have to say that it's one of the things I've missed most since being a mommy. Well, that's how I used to think of it anyway. But since I had probably two hours of "alone time" while driving to and fro on Saturday, I think I have come to a startling realization.

I am seriously lacking in angst in my life right now. That's totally not a bad thing to lack and I certainly don't miss it, but it gives me far less to "chat" with God about in those rare moments when we _are_ alone. Looking back, I think our "chats" used to revolve a lot around the "things" I wanted in life (pretty much just a husband and kids, back in the day), and now that I have those "things," I don't know what to talk about.

Makes me wonder exactly how self-centered my relationship with Him was in those days, constantly asking Him why I wasn't getting the things I wanted at the times that I wanted them. Heh...reminds me of a certain young man I popped out a few years back who is still learning the concept of "yes, but later."

Wow...this is totally not the blog post I expected it to be. How do I expect my 2-yr-old to understand a concept that I didn't get when I was 27? And still probably wouldn't get if there were anything I wanted RIGHT NOW. I wonder how many times _I_ got put into "time out" and had those "things" taken away because _I_ wouldn't stop pouting? Now there's a point to ponder...

Anyway...I've noticed a lot of other bloggers lately talking about the concept of "Enough." C.S. Lewis touches on it in "Perelandra" (the 2nd book in his "Space Trilogy") when Ransom eats the special fruit. He recognizes that the ample crop would allow him to eat as many of the fruits as he wanted to...but something holds him back after the first one or two. By indulging (or over-indulging), he would be taking away some of the "special-ness" of the fruit. And by waiting in between each taste of the fruit, he got to savor the memory of the last special meal and eagerly anticipate the next.

What I have now is "enough" and then some. Yes, we could stand to have more money, but we have enough for our needs right now. Yes, we could stand to have a bigger house, but we have enough for our needs right now. We could have nicer cars, a bigger TV, phones that can do everything, all the toys AJ and Joanna could ever want....but what we have right now is enough for our needs (and then some).

And now that I recognize that, I can see how shallow my interactions with God were back in the day when all I'd do was complain about what I didn't have. Now I've just gotta figure out what else there is to talk about with Him.

One thing for sure is to thank Him that He has _far_ more patience as a parent than I have. And self-control. Dude...if I had to deal with whiny me while being all powerful? Let's just say that there'd be a whole lot more lightning bolts.

AJ's Word of the Day

So AJ likes him some Veggie Tales. He's seen the ones we have enough now that he has names for each of them. Not necessarily _their_ name, but _a_ name. Often it's the name of one of the prominent characters (e.g., "Cue" = Minnesota Cuke). Lately he's been asking for "Be Bo Bah."

Any guesses?

Be Bo Bah = Larry Boy

But before you begin to ponder exactly how "Be Bo" = Larry, I'd like for you to know that "Be" actually equals Larry. "Bo" is Boy. "Bah" is actually Bob. He's actually saying "Larry Boy Bob." "Bob" represents not only Bob the Tomato, but also Larry the Cucumber and Veggie Tales in general.

Rai and Jiri at Lungha.

No, Yoda!

Ok, before you all think that I'm a terrible, horrible person, compare the two pictures below.

Joanna

Joanna's Momma

Joanna looks JUST LIKE her mother (that's me). So anything I say about her, I'm essentially saying about myself too. And we'll deal with the therapy bills later.

Also, please know that I think my child is absolutely beautiful. Not "look, it's a baby" beautiful, but really and truly beautiful. (Now why don't I think _that_ about myself? Nevermind...we'll deal with _my_ therapy bills later too...)

Having said all of that, I also see a striking resemblance to both Yoda and a garden gnome.

Yoda

Gnome

Now, if I'd actually taken the time to Photoshop the pics rather than just Paint, I think the resemblance would have been even more striking (green tinted skin, different backgrounds, better Yoda hair, etc.). But I wanted to post this sometime before she's 30. But I love the Yoda pic, especially in her little Bumbo. It's just like their Jedi Council seats! Heehee! Ooo...I should have added the lightsaber!

Darmok and Jilaad

So there's this Star Trek Next Gen episode where Picard gets kidnapped by this alien race that they're trying for a 2nd "first contact" with. You see, the universal translator can't make heads or tails of this race's language and that led to war or something the first time around.

But the alien leader (we'll call him "Not-Gorn" for reasons that are obvious to those who have seen both this episode and the classic Trek episode with the Gorn - not the Enterprise Gorn, the classic Gorn. I'm still mad at Enterprise for its Gorn) knows that the same thing will happen again unless he can get someone to understand their language. So he kidnaps Picard and puts the two of them into a stressful situation (kinda like with the original Gorn except with no outside force manipulating things...and without the homemade bazooka) where they have to work together against this random energy beast in order to survive. Since stress is apparently the best way to learn a language, of course Picard picks it right up...just before the not-Gorn dies of his energy beast-inflicted wounds.

So their language is metaphorical, and based on their mythology. Now, don't get me started as to how completely absurd it is that this system of language could work in "real life" (it's just entirely too unwieldy), but be that as it may, there are days around here where I feel like I'm Picard in that episode. AJ is the not-Gorn, and the "random energy beast" is played by his emotional state (i.e., toddler meltdowns that could kill us all...or incessant whining that could cause _me_ to meltdown).

Not only am I dealing with trying to decipher poor enunciation...but it's like he's got this whole mythos that he's pulling words or phrases from - a mythos that, while I was probably present for its founding, I have zero knowledge of. So I have to infer from the context a) what the words are, and b) what they mean. Sometimes I can then think back to figure out their etymology. Often not.

There's the "hey you." He got it because VNB says it to him frequently as a greeting. So now when AJ wants something and/or doesn't think he has our complete and undivided attention, it's "Mama, mama, hey you!"

And the "yes sir" (or "yeah sir" as it comes out). This interestingly came from him hearing the negative. Both VNB and I say "no sir" when we correct him. We've very occasionally said that he should say "yes sir" or "yes ma'am" in response to a command or question, but not often enough for it to have possibly sunk in. But occasionally he'll just come up to me and say very distinctly, "yeah sir" over and over again like it's supposed to mean something special to me. All I can do is correct him to say "yes ma'am" (sounds like: "yeah man")...but I have no idea what he's actually trying to communicate.

And then there's the "wa wa wa." Lately he'll start almost all of his sentences off with "Wa wa wa ____ ." I think this is "want" with a couple of extra syllables (and sometimes the last "wa" is "watch").

Someday I'll figure this language out. Then I, too, can say "Darmok and Jilaad at Tenaagra. Shahka, when the walls fell." and know what the heck we're talking about.

Doesn't It Figure

So at the beginning, when Joanna's hands weren't firmly pinned (i.e., swaddled) to her sides at night, she'd keep me up half the night with her slurping on her fingers, and probably didn't sleep all that well herself. But we're approaching the dreaded mega bed transition. AJ will go into a toddler bed and Joanna will go into the crib (and out of the pack 'n play next to our bed). We're also approaching her rolling over (she gets up to about 90°, but then falls back onto her back). I'm not comfortable having her hands pinned when she starts to roll over...and since she often frees herself now anyway, I'm _really_ not comfortable having that swaddling blanket loose around her head when she's not right next to me.

So last night I tried letting her arms go free for at least part of the night. It was definitely helpful to _get_ her to sleep to have her arms pinned (apparently poking yourself in the eye does not promote sleeping. Who knew?), but at the first waking, I tried giving her a pacifier and holding her (loose) hands down until she went to sleep. It was probably like 5 minutes, but in half-asleep time it was an eternity before I finally picked her back up again and bounced for another eternity (i.e., 5 minutes) to get her re-settled. Then when I put her back down, the hand went immediately back into her mouth and I let it stay there (she doesn't suck her thumb, she sucks her middle and ring fingers (and sometimes the pinky too), mostly palm up, but occasionally palm down). Since she has far better fine motor control now, there was far less slurping and she and I were able to get back to sleep. She even managed to _stay_ asleep for almost two hours (I'd told myself that it was back to the swaddling if she woke up before then). So after the next feeding (and we're moving away from nursing in bed since she won't be doing that once she's in her own room), I left her hands free and just put her down. Since I didn't mess with her at the beginning, she got _much_ better sleep and didn't wake again for 3.5 hours! She's been sleeping or at least dozing for the past 2 hours now too!

So the moral of the story, let sleeping babies lie however they want to and you'll get more sleep! These past few weeks that she's been waking every two hours on the dot were probably _my_ fault for keeping her away from those tasty fingers!

You Know Lunch is Over When...

As I sat at the table, eating lunch, doing a puzzle, and waiting for the Comcast guy (this is day 3 of our wait for "same-day emergency service"), I looked up and saw this:



I guess he likes his new booster seat. :)

Chatterbox

Apologies for the quality of this video - we've gotten a new camera since my old one doesn't want to recharge its battery at the moment and we're still learning how best to use it. Plus the lights weren't on because it was supposed to be nap time (hence the multiple layers of swaddling and blankets). But _SOMEONE_ (not pointing any fingers here) didn't want to take her nap and chose to talk to her mama instead. This is also the reason that this unnamed someone will be in the church nursery from now on instead of in Sunday School and worship with her mama and daddy. She's quite the chatterbox, my girl.

Moments with My First Born

So today AJ was watching as I grated some cheese. Inevitably, he asked for a piece of cheese so I cut a hunk off the chunk I was grating. A while later, after I'd finished grating the cheese, he asked for another piece. When I handed him a slice, he started saying "tuh, tuh cheese" and pointing at the counter where I'd been grating. Then it dawned on me. He was telling me he wanted me to "cut the cheese." In approximately 11 years, he'll think that was hilarious.

Apparently AJ is becoming aware of the feelings of others (especially sadness) because lately he'll point out that someone is "saah" when he see tears on TV or elsewhere. Well, we're still working on grammar too because whenever his sister cries, he says, "Don't saah, Baby, don't saah."

I like to kiss all over his cheeks and do it as often as he'll hold still for it. Well, the other night he was sitting on my lap for a few minutes and I was just putting my cheek up to his. He then proceeded to manhandle my head until my lips were on his cheek so that I could kiss it. Any time I stopped or turned away, he would forcibly move my head back into cheek kissing position.

One of his favorite PBS shows right now is "Word World" where all of the characters and things are made up of the letters that spell their word (e.g., the duck is the letters D-U-C-K in the shape of a duck). In the show they frequently "build a word" where they put letters together and after a moment the letters shape themselves into that object. Well he recently got back his foam bath letters and while we were watching TV the other night I saw him pushing the letters together and staring at them intently. I think he was trying to build a word. It's a good thing he doesn't know how to spell yet. We really don't have room for an elephant or whatever else he'd spell.