Although the recent postings on this blog would indicate otherwise, I do occasionally think about things other than my adorable two boys. I once thought of myself as a somewhat intelligent person capable of thoughts and conversations revolving around something other than the cute thing KJ did the other day or how often C eats (very often if you were wondering). Sometimes I feel like I’ve become, for the most part, BORING. So, in an effort to show some of my thoughts that are truly MINE and do not exclusively revolve around my children, here are some posts you can look forward to:

– Playground evangelism
– My shocking opinion on smoking bans
– My repulsion at some of the new TV shows (on regular TV)

Stay tuned.

1) We had a big night on Saturday at church. It was C’s first time to go to church. I was so excited for him to meet so many people who have been praying for him. It also did my soul good to be there and worship. Also, KJ “graduated” from the nursery and had his first night in “big boy bible class” (aka the Toddler hall). I decided that I really did not care what anyone else thought and I took my camera to take his picture. I mostly got pictures of his back, though, since he ran right in to class before I had time to catch him. Its so sad that he struggles so much with separation anxiety.

2) MY MOM IS HERE!!!!!!!!!! With both boys I prayed from early days of pregnancy that my mom would be here when they were born. The Lord answered that prayer with KJ by bringing him right on his due date so that we could plan. With C he answered that prayer a little differently. My family was already in town to celebrate Christmas when C was born. However, because no one was PLANNING on his arrival my mom was only able to stay a few days after his birth. The only way I could let her leave was her promise to return. And now she is back- the sun is shining again, the birds are singing again, and I think I’m going to make it!

3) Every night RRL and I look forward to our “date”. A good friend of the family made us some of her famous chocolate chip cake. This cake is absolutely amazing. Way too amazing to be shared with our toddler. So we wait until after he goes to bed and sit on the couch eating cake and relaxing (and usually holding and/or feeding C). Not sure what we will do when the cake is gone!

4) KJ really loves to sing songs and I love that he is finally able to sing along. He fills in words or sings parts he knows. A recent favorite is the days of creation song. He is like broken record, though, singing “day two, day two, day two, day two” over and over until someone helps him move on. He also really like to sing “The Lord’s army”. I’m not sure how to explain to him, though, that “shoot the artillery” is NOT a basketball move. To him there is only one way to “shoot” and I’m ok with that.

5) We just got a new washing machine and dryer. They are super duper amazing. RRL and I even fight over who gets to do the laundry.

6) As I look back on the days before C’s birth, I wonder if any of the following activities could have induced early labor: Climbing stairs to the nosebleed section at the hockey game (4 days before); walking forever to get free parking and climbing bleachers multiple times at the football game (2 days before); climbing in the two story playscape at church with my toddler (day before…see picture below)

7) I have rediscovered a long lost friend… my FAT JEANS. I bought them after I had KJ and I was sick of wearing maternity jeans. When I finally came to the realization that I may never wear my pre-pregnancy jeans again I bought a pair in a slightly bigger size that still made me feel good about myself. I have rediscovered them post-C’s birth and I may wear them every day (at least when I come out of sweats and PJs).

8) C is already stealing the hearts of many. Here is a slideshow of some of his earliest introductions.

That’s about it for our little world right now. We continue on in “survival mode” but are so thankful to have two healthy boys.

ABL

WARNING– If you (or your wife) have had particularly difficult labor stories and are prone to jealousy, this post is not for you.

I wrote the post immediately following this one at approximately 9pm yesterday. I did not post it then because I was going to go back today and add some pictures. I did not ever get that opportunity or the opportunity to do several other things on my check-list in preparation for BL2 because he decided to make a fast and furious appearance early this morning. I wanted to go ahead and post the updates, though, from Christmas and the updates about BL2 which are quite amusing now knowing that I was already in labor but clueless that he was on his way to us so soon. Despite the fact that the little man drastically changed our plans for the next few weeks, we couldn’t be happier. The Lord is good and faithful and His timing is so perfect. I am thankful that He does not listen to me when I think I know what is best and instead orchestrates all of the happenings of the universe to perfection. What a cool thought that the arrival of CCL was a small part of that today.

Soon I’ll post more details about C’s bday, but I think I will wait until I come out of shock and sleepless stupor to put my thoughts together. In the meantime, thank you for your thoughts and prayers during this special time for our family.

Without further ado, please join KJ in welcoming his new brother.

5) Also on BL2…he seems determined to make an early appearance. I suppose most pregnant women would be thrilled at this prospect, but my over-analytical/ need-to-plan self would really prefer he stick to the date that the doctor gave him. I’ve tried communicating this to our little guy and obviously do not know yet whether he will listen, but the doctor is pesimistic that he will cooperate with Mommy’s plans. Without going into any uncomfortable details, lets just say things are “progressing” enough to make her think he’ll be here in the next week or so. Unfortunately, the doctor (nor I) have a crystal ball, so…we wait. I do LOVE knowing, though, that the God who created our little man is in complete control of all the details of his arrival.

6) Is it sad that I am very proud that my wedding rings still fit (most of the time, night is a little different). I’m thankful I haven’t had to take them off yet. With KJ I had to quit wearing them around 7 months I think. Maybe the cold weather counteracts the swelling?

7) In not so fun pregnancy news, I have serious heartburn. I did not experience this with KJ and it is DISGUSTING, usually in the middle of the night or right as I am trying to go to sleep. I am addicted to Tums. Who knew they could taste like chocolate?

8) Back to real news…My family is here for the whole week. YEAH YEAH YEAH!!! As part of their visit we went to a Bowl game on New Year’s Eve day. My brothers jump team did the skydiving performance, bringing the American flag into the stadium, which was SO COOL. Since KJ wasn’t going to the actual game, we took him to see the practice jump the day before. He loved the airplanes and of course he loves his favorite C1C, Uncle D.

9) We spent New Year’s eve with some of our favorite people. It was a laid back night of playing games, eating bbq and I wish I had pictures of the fun group that so graciously came to our house so that I would not have to go out anywhere and KJ could be home to go to bed. I am blessed to call them friends.

10) It is truly amazing to me how much happened in 2007. Just thinking about how much KJ has grown and changed is enough to shock me. RRL has had some serious job transitions, we found out about the upcoming arrival of baby boy #2, we’ve walked with friends through some tough trials and we’ve celebrated many answered prayers. I cannot wait to see what 2008 holds in store for us and you- keep us updated!

This weekend RRL and I celebrated the end of our 6th year of marriage. Compared to some of our “heroes” who are in their 30th, 40th and 50th years of marriage, this milestone may seem a bit small and insignificant. However, when I look back over those six years and all that has filled them I am both proud and humbled. God has been more than good to us and that is humbling. We have worked hard through some tough times to grow our little family in the ways of the Lord and in that I take pride. I am proud to call RRL my husband. I am humbled by the fact that the Lord blessed me with someone who is an amazing daddy, an incredible minister, the most fun friend, an inspiring man of God and just my very favorite. I love you, Babe, and I’m glad I get to call you mine!

One of the things I have always loved most about my relationship with RRL is that over the last 6 years we haven’t had to spend a lot of money to have fun together. It seems like each anniversary that comes around there is always something more pressing that requires any extra money we might have than doing lavish celebrations. But looking back over the last 6 years I wouldn’t trade any of those memories for all the money in the world. Somehow, we have always made our anniversary day one to remember. It is always a day that we treasure as we look back and remember where we’ve been and as we take time to stop and celebrate the relationship that we have. As a result, I can tell you exactly how we have celebrated each of anniversaries, the memories of each are forever engraved on my heart.

This year was no different. As we are only a few weeks away from welcoming baby boy #2, traveling was definitely not an option for us. Really anything involving much more than just “hanging out” did not appeal to me. Thanks to KJ’s Grammy, though, we had more than 24 hours of uninterrupted “us” time and it was amazing. We found a great deal on a hotel in town so that we could escape some of the draw toward responsibility that always traps us at home, had a great dinner laughing and talking, and spent the day visiting some of our hometown’s historic sites then going to a hockey game. Nothing very exciting in itself, but because we did it together it was the MOST fun day. Another successful anniversary celebration!!

Here are a couple of pictures of our fun day (and as side bonus- a view of my GROWING belly)

I am excited about many more years with this man!

ABL

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is hearing my mom read the “Night Before Christmas” and the story of Christ’s birth before we go to bed. In a little while, before we put our little one to sleep he’ll get to hear his Nonna read. I can hardly wait. The anticipation of moments like that this holiday season are far greater for me than any anticipation of marterial gifts.

I will not apologize to you who disagree with me, or even to my husband. I do not plan to make apologies to my boys later in their lives either. I will not apologize for the fact that I like to dress my baby boys like the precious babies that they are. I love smocked overalls, peter pan collars, knee socks and little white shoes. I love baby blue bubble suits and cordorouy christmas outfits. I’m not quite ready for sweaters and ties and black leather shoes like daddy’s. Don’t get me wrong, KJ has his share of “big boy” jeans, polos and tennis shoes. He loves to wear baseball caps and his crocs. I do not plan to try to keep him from growing up, but I just can stand to rush through the way my heart melts when my baby can just be a baby.

6 months

9 months

12 months

Current

Now if that last one won’t convince you, probably nothing will. I think even RRL admitted that he looked really cute that day! You don’t have to agree about the clothing choices, but hopefully we can all agree on how cute KJ is!!

ABL

What does that mean, anyway? “In a nutshell”? I’ll need more than a nutshell size of piece of paper to recap our November and I certainly hope that anytime you spend reading this will not equate to the part of the nut that you throw on the floor. Anyway, here are some updates from our whirlwind month. Any one of these items could make for an entire post, so be prepared for a long read…

1) MARATHONS– While “marathon” would be a pretty accurate metaphor for November at our house, there were a couple of literal ones this month, too. I finally achieved my pregnancy goal of walking 13.1 miles. Technically I power-walked 10 miles and strolled the last few; out of 2000 people in the race about 12 finished after me. Still, I count it as mission accomplished. The best part was that a childhood friend came to walk with me. We had nearly 4 hours of one-on-one catch up time and that was a huge blessing to me. RRL RAN a marathon a couple of weeks later with some of our favorite running buddies. I was so proud of their stellar time, despite being one of the hardest courses I’ve ever seen and I cried as they crossed the finish line (shocker). Here is a photo of the whole 1/2 marathon & 5K crew in Tyler.

2) RENEWAL– I had the joy of organizing an event for the women of our church during the 2nd week of Nov (with a LOT of help from some amazing volunteers). I have been hesitant to post about it, since I was in charge, but I just need to say publicly how blessed the event was. It was not blessed by my talents, efforts or wisdom; it was blessed by the Lord who provided so abundantly for it. Seriously, I was under prepared for the magnitude of the event and I have zero experience with dealing with that many women. If left to myself, my patience would have been zapped by questions about cloth vs paper napkin, people arriving 45 minutes early and whether the decorating theme should be fall decor (not even sure what that actually means). If it had been up to me, there would have been zero chance that 300 women would be willing to step outside their comfort zones and sit at tables with women they did not know. Instead, those details just fell in place, people came who have not been to women’s events for a long time and there was a peace on the place as we dealt with some uncomfortable “laundry” that was among us. I was once again amazed at how the Lord uses me to accomplish HIS plans, despite my efforts to accomplish a personal agenda. Eventually, I will quit fighting and just surrender to his purpose. Why is that so hard?

3) HOME SWEET HOME– RRL, KJ and I drove to my parents house for Thanksgiving. We got to spend one whole glorious week with Momma and Daddy and visited a host of other relatives and friends. You are never too old to be renewed by sleeping in your childhood bed, having meals prepared for you and getting hugs and kisses from your parents everyday. At least I hope I never get too old! I love that RRL, KJ, BL2 and I are making a home here that is a place I cherish and long to return to, but I can still have that home, too. I just love Thanksgiving. Our family has so much to be thankful for and I pray we can be more mindful of that all year. Here are a couple of pictures of our trip:

4) DREAMS– When I was pregnant with KJ I remember having weird dreams. They were mostly far-fetched sort of sci-fi kind of dreams about childbirth. The dreams have started again, but are so different this time. This time they are so real and vivid that I wake up able to remember every detail and I often get the dreams confused with reality. It is such a funny feeling to be in the middle of my day and not be able to remember if so-and-so is really angry with me or if that just happened in my dream, did I forget to send KJ’s lunch or was that in my dream. Crazy. One of the funniest dreams I have had, though, was one I like to call “Michael Scott and I save Dunder Mifflin“. Seriously, I had a very intense dream about how MS and I met with the owner of Dunder Mifflin to remind him to have more fun at work. This would help people want to continue working there. I had a whole power-point presentation that I wish I could recreate. The dream started as just any ordinary day at my real office, but some how went down this very different path. Do you think I watch too much TV?

5) TRICKS AND ENTERTAINMENT– KJ is full of tricks these days and I often I find myself just sitting and watching him. He is so funny. One of my favorite things that he does right now is sing the ABC’s. We have a Leap*frog letters magnet on the fridge that he sings along with. He only does a few of the letters, but always yells “Z” at the end. I love it. He also loves any kind of ball and some of his favorite words are catch, pass, dribble, shoot and miss. A recent favorite is a Christmas book that sings “Away in a Manger”. He loves to pat the baby in the pictures and call him Jesus…be still my heart! I could go on and on, I’m just so proud. If you run into us expect a show while I encourage my child to show-off. I’m definitely one of “those” moms.

6) COUNTDOWN– BL2′ s expected arrival is less than 8 weeks away. He is definitely growing and so am I…WOWzers. I seriously love being pregnant, though. I do not love people that have negative things to say about my size, the way I am carrying the baby or about how full my hands are going to be with two young boys. No JOKE, I know, thanks for the input…all things (and a few I’ve censored out) that I would love to say to such people. I’m thinking of wearing a sign that says “encouraging words only, please…may bite”. On that note…no, we don’t have room ready for the baby; and no, we don’t have a name picked out. The list of names is constantly changing. Current front-runner is Hudson Clark (funny, I don’t even think that name was even on the list last time I posted about this). Despite the lack of planning, I am not stressed. I know he will be welcomed with joy into a family that will love him and teach him about Jesus, who cares what color his room is. We just can’t wait to meet our littlest man.

7) PRAYERS FOR THE TRAVELERS– My parents are about 1/2 way through their trip to Paraguay right now to visit my brother. They went with 278 lbs of luggage, a small corner of which was reserved for their clothes and the rest was gifts (including components of a swingset) to take to the people they have never met, but that they love because my brother has come to love them. I love that my parents (and mother-in-law, too) have the desire and ability to travel to all parts of the globe to see their children and experience their lives. I hope I can pass that kind of love on to my boys, it is the only way I know to let my parents see how much it means to us!

Hope that explains a little bit of why I have not posted in a month. It was such a fun month that really wanted to document it, even if it was long. I did not even get into all of the normal youth group activities, going to work 3 days a week, having house-guests, etc. Like I said, this was just the “nutshell”.

ABL