Lately

It's been a while since the last blog post, but with very good reason. This morning, we wrapped up 10 days of family in town. John's parents were here from last Tuesday through Sunday, and my parents arrived last Friday. My mom left this past Wednesday and my dad left this morning. It was busy, but very enjoyable...although we are definitely enjoying a low-key weekend after all the activity!

Some highlights of the visit: celebrating Owen's birthday with both sets of grandparents, a trip to the zoo, a picnic lunch in Maymont Park, eating out at local restaurants to show off our beloved city, a morning outing to Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens, and lots of time out on the deck soaking in the Virginia spring!

The birthday boy sure enjoyed his cake!

Opening presents was fun too

Both sides of the family gathered together for the first time since our wedding!

They're not so sure about posing at the botanical gardens

Just hanging out in a tree--there's so much more fun stuff to see when you're this high!

Feeding the fish

Owen's First Birthday!

Today is Owen's first birthday, and, fittingly, there was a tornado warning in our county. We celebrated by going to Bottom's Up, where everyone (my parents, Naomi, Brennan and I) enjoyed yummy pizza in his honor. Owen, meanwhile, dined on pureed squash, proving that sometimes life just isn't fair. The real party is Saturday with both sets of grandparents and a trip to the Metro Richmond Zoo.

So far, for his birthday, Owen has received two books and lots of clothes. Somewhere in the future, an eight year old Owen made a sour face and said, "More clothes! Why is it always clothes!?!"

Here's the birthday boy on his special day...

Happy Easter!

Even though we choose not to do the Easter bunny in our house, the boys still get baskets with a few goodies and we staged our own Easter egg hunt in our front yard after church this morning. Brennan was thrilled to find eggs filled with some chocolate, Goldfish crackers, and fruit snacks!

Still too little to really care about all the fuss, Owen was still pretty pleased to shake an egg filled with crackers!

Sometimes, you just have to settle for "good enough" when it comes to getting a decent picture of two small children!

Happy Easter from our family to yours!

Easter Dance

John sent me a link to this video called "Dance Your Shoes Off" produced by Second Baptist Church of Houston. This song is addicting! After hearing it a couple of times, I bought it off iTunes and the boys and I have been having multiple dance parties in our living room while listening to this song. Trust me, it's worth it!

Egg Hunt Extravaganza

Our church did an Easter Egg Hunt this year. Both boys came away with some eggs, although Owen was far more interested in playing with the dirt and grass than he was in crawling toward a couple eggs!

Bubbles

Bubble-obsession has taken over our house! Brennan has always enjoyed popping bubbles, but this is the first season that he's shown any interest in blowing bubbles. Once he got the hang of it, he is a bubble-blowing machine! Good thing we have lots of bottles of bubbles to keep him entertained!

An Owen Update

Food has always been an issue with Owen, in that he's never had a real active, healthy interest in eating. He does eat, but it only seems to be just enough to get by. And he doesn't complain about being hungry in between meals or snacks. He certainly doesn't get up at night because he would like to eat.

When he started drastically diminishing the amount of formula that he drank when he hit the 9-month mark, I figured we could wait him out and that this was maybe just his new pattern. That he'd daily fluctuate how much he drank. He kept doing his solids well, so I pushed any worry to the back of my mind, giving in to occasional flare-ups. The worry took a front-seat in the past 24 hours because he had been having more significant food issues over the past couple of weeks, but it got really bad in the past day or so. Enough to merit concern on the part of the nurse I spoke with at his pediatrician's office. Enough to merit an appointment for a weight check.

The end results: he's only gained 1/2 a pound since his 9-month check-up. He only weighs 17 lbs., 15 oz. This lack of weight gain was enough to cause him to fall off the growth chart of the normal range. This little guy (and he truly is a little guy!) also tested positive for strep throat--a rarity for infants! He's currently on medication, so we're hoping that he starts to eat a bit more once it really kicks in. The strep explains the dramatically diminished eating over the past couple of weeks, especially the past couple of days, but it doesn't explain the general disinterest in food and lack of significant weight gain.

Then, to add to the fun, I got to bookend my day with another trip to KidMed, the pediatric urgent care here in Richmond. Since Owen hadn't had any significant amount of formula or anything from a sippy cup in over 24 hours, he also hadn't had any wet diapers. His pediatrician's office referred us to get IV fluids into him. Having had a couple IV's myself when both boys were born, I can say from experience it's not any fun. But watching your baby go through it is far worse. I thought I was going to cry as much as he did. And I knew in that instant that I would have traded places with him in a heartbeat if it meant sparing him the pain of an IV and strep throat. But when he fell asleep in my arms while he was getting hydrated, what a priceless moment! They pumped 10 oz. of fluid in him to help him catch up, with the hope that he'll start to feel better once he's better hydrated. We'll keep you posted!

In the meantime, we'd appreciate your prayers for this little guy. This is the first real bout of sickness that we've encountered with either of the boys, so there's a whole lot of uncharted territory and worry, especially on my part. We go back for Owen's 1-year check-up in about 2.5 weeks, so we can get some follow-up and see if his eating picks up at all again in that time. Otherwise, we'll figure out a new game plan at that point.

Specific prayer requests: for Owen to start to feel better (good enough to eat), for him to become generally more interested in food, for more significant weight gain in this little guy, and for me to have peace going through this with him. I tend to worry too much as it is, but the worry starts to go a little crazy when I offer him plenty of food with a wide variety and he just isn't interested.

Stay tuned for further updates! And thanks so much in advance for your prayers!

Things to Love About Spring

After some wacky weather lately, with temperatures varying from 50-something to 80-something, it seems like spring is finally here to stay. With this our fourth spring here in Richmond, I'm reminded again of how thankful I am to live in a place with such great seasons. There are so many wonderful things we are enjoying about spring!

1. Getting to play outside on a regular basis
2. Playgroups at parks or people's homes where we can take advantage of great weather
3. Planting our first garden this year--the ground is worked, and I'm hopeful that seeds will be planted this week!
4. Planting some petunias in our window boxes--this was a sadly neglected area of our house last year, primarily due to the fact that I spent last spring either about to burst at the seams or caring for a newborn and adjusting to life as a family of four
5. Windows open and letting fresh air blow through
6. Actually looking forward to doing laundry so I can hang the clothes up on our line out back

Fall has always been my favorite season, but now I think spring may have just overtaken it!

Lego-land

Sometimes it feels like we're drowning in Legos. Brennan is going through a phase where he needs to pull out every Lego and build things. Today, he got pretty ambitious and built Daddy's office building. Owen loves to get in on some Lego action as well, but his Lego abilities are limited to choosing the "Lego of the Moment" that he will proceed to chew on until another one catches his fancy, meriting a switch just to see if all Legos taste the same.

Upside Down

Brennan has been interested in showing off some of acrobatics. Here, he's demonstrating the move he calls "upside down". We are looking at the possibility of enrolling him in a local gym class. Based on these latest moves, I think he may enjoy it!

11 Months Old!

Owen's had a big and busy month! He went from army crawling to full-on crawling to pulling up to kneel to pulling up to stand to cruising along holding on to the furniture. All this movement has encouraged us to double our efforts to childproof since this kiddo gets into things that Brennan would never have dreamed of! He loves to give high-fives and blow raspberries. His happy shrieks frequently fill the air (I think he likes to feel like he's contributing to the noise and general chaos of the house!). What a joy he is!

Three Years

We rolled into Richmond three years ago today. Has it really been that long already??? John drove the gigantic Penske moving truck with all our worldly possessions for 14+ hours. I got to travel with an infant (whom I was also nursing at the time!) and a cranky cat who didn't like being in the car. But it's been a good fit and we've certainly loved our time here!

Two cute boys

Owen is quite mobile now, crawling everywhere, pulling himself up and scooting around. It's super cute to watch him discover new things and interact with the world around him. It creates some extra work for us ... putting books back on the shelves, turning off things he's turned on, plugging the phone back in, etc. Baby-proofing items only go so far.


He's a happy boy who loves to smile, blow raspberries and give high-fives. At the dinner table he likes to cock his head to one side and smile at us. He laughs when I mimic him. He's enjoying finger foods like tiny pieces of grape, cheese and bread. He has good gums for smushing things and one little tooth coming in to help with the "hard stuff"! If you look closely at the photo below you can see the top of his first little "tooth-um" (as Naomi likes to call it).


From the photo below you can see that Brennan wants to have a goatee like his father. Brennan is having a hard time embracing the responsibility that comes with being a big brother, but has super cute moments that off-set the trying times. Most of those moments have to do with things he says, like:

Take me away! (when he's being sent to time-out),
Owen Nathanael! (when Owen is doing something he doesn't like; he picked this up from Naomi)
Pillow fight, Dada? (when he wants to wrestle on the bed)
Can I come with you? (sometimes, when I'm going out somewhere)
Family time! (when we're eating dinner or all together somewhere)

Each day he becomes less like a toddler and more like a little man. Some days that transition happens just a little bit too fast. Sigh.

Close Up

These are just because I can't get enough of his big blue eyes or his chubby little cheeks...

Workbook

We are pretty well decided on postponing preschool for Brennan until the year before he starts kindergarten, mostly from a financial perspective than any other. With this decision firmly in place, I still want Brennan to get some sort of practice doing "school". I found a great workbook at Borders from Kumon that focuses on tracing, letting him practice drawing different lines. He loves getting the chance to do his workbook and has definitely been improving with some practice. I'm already looking forward to seeing how he does with some of the other workbooks once he has this first one down as the foundation!

Breaking Ground

After sitting on thoughts of planting a garden for a year (spring was little interrupted last year by Owen bursting on the scene), we finally got to realize the goal this year. Borrowing a tiller from some friends, we broke ground this morning and are getting excited to get some seeds in the ground. Thoughts of a bountiful harvest kept us going through some definitely heavy labor this morning!

Determination

In our house, having the computer in the living room is a necessity based on space. Normally, it works quite well. And then...Owen started crawling. There's something about the bright, glowing buttons and legions of cords that is irresistible to the younger set. We set up a portion of a gate to try to keep him away from this area of our living room, but he quickly figured out how to thwart it. Then it was time for plan B: stick a rolled up Sports Illustrated through the gate slats to help prevent him from pushing the gate aside. It's worked. But the little turkey is still determined to defeat the gate. He's now figured out that the magazine is preventing him from pushing the gate aside so he's using every ounce of determination to try to pull or push the magazine out so he can reach his forbidden goal. Gotta admire his persistence!

10 Months Old!

Owen turns 10 months today! It amazes me how much he has changed and grown over the past ten months. Some photos of him as a newborn came on our screensaver the other day. In some ways, it feels like just yesterday he was that tiny, but in other ways it feels like it's been so long. What a wonderful addition to the family!

He's perfected the army crawl and super quick as he moves about the floor. Two of his favorite things to go after are the computer/desk area and the cat's food and water dishes. Sigh. He loves to smile and laugh, especially at the antics of his big brother. He's started to be more interested in feeding himself, so we've been working on expanding his finger food repertoire. And he's definitely proven that he's all boy--when he's given the chance, he goes right for the remote controls. Mama doesn't stand a chance of ever getting the remotes in an all-boy household!

Owen is on the move!

ABC's

Brennan has really been getting into the alphabet lately. He loves to sing his own version the song and loves to make his music table sing the ABC's. He also loves to play with the alphabet magnets we have for the fridge. Only, he loves to transfer them to various magnetic locations around the house. In an effort to encourage the enthusiasm but stifle the magnet relocation, I gave him one of the cookie sheets to hold the magnets and provide him a more contained environment to enjoy his beloved magnets.

Signs that I'm getting old (or that I'm a parent)

1. I much prefer wearing dress pants to jeans.

2. Music no longer provides the soundtrack to my life. I don’t find self-expression in someone else’s lyrics or a driving melody. I enjoy music, but it doesn’t speak for me the way it used to.

3. I get sick of the usual rock radio stations really quickly and switch over to…

a. talk radio (receding hairline)

b. A book on CD (getting gray), or…

c. Classical music (start working on the eulogy)

4. If there is a soundtrack to my life now, it’s the sound of my kids’ voices.

5. I like to look at pictures of Brennan when he was a baby. It gets me kind of emotional because I feel like my little boy is growing up way too fast.

6. At my next birthday I’ll cross the last of the you-can’t-do-that-until-you’re-x-years-old thresholds.

7. I like documentaries and BBC productions more than most action movies.

8. I visit cnn.com, the Richmond Times-Dispatch page and foxnews.com as much as espn.com and si.com. I also watch news programs on TV more than sports programs.

9. It's 11:30pm. I'd rather go to bed than think of a tenth item that make this list feel complete. Symmetry and tidy endings are for young people!

Kool Boyz

In the Air

There's something wonderful when the temperature climbs into the 60's. Even though it's February, it definitely felt like spring was just around the corner! We had all the windows open in the house and got to spend a huge chunk of time enjoying the backyard. Owen loved crawling all over the deck and chewing on the outdoor toys and balls. Brennan had a blast playing in his sandbox, making sand castles, and then racing around the yard, banging sticks on trees. I love this feeling of spring in the air!

Competing Spoons

Owen has been a bit reluctant to drink his bottle and eat his solids the past week or so. He seems to do best when he is able to hold something in his hand. It provides enough distraction that he's able to eat without much problem. Thankfully, his appetite seems to be coming back a little today (maybe it decreased due to his cold/cough or teething...who knows?). One of his favorite distractions while eating is holding his own spoon. He loves to stick it in his mouth and gnaw on it, particularly when I'm trying to give him food on a different spoon. Today, our competing spoons really created an interesting eating adventure!

What the Church Should Be

One thing that I love about not working (outside the home, that is) during this season of life is that I get to attend our church's women's ministry, Thrive. This semester, we are going through the book of John. The teaching we receive every week is like water quenching the dryness of the desert. I love leaving feeling refreshed and filled up.

Yesterday, we discussed John 4, the ministry of Jesus to the Samaritan woman. We dove into the topic of what it means to cross human judgmental boundaries to truly love others. And that got me thinking about what that means for the church. As we pondered the idea of people being turned off the church, my table leader, Cathy, came up with a wonderful description of what the church should be: a hospital instead of a beauty pageant.

I love the hospital analogy. Hospitals are places where sick people come to get well. They are filled with the broken, the infirm, the dying. People waiting for the touch of a physician. Beauty pageants are filled with plastic people, fake smiles plastered on their faces; everyone looks the same, with no real depth behind the lovely exterior (a little overly simplified, but go with me on this one).

I find myself longing for the hospital. I know I am in need of one. At least for me, nothing has brought my sin, my brokenness to the forefront like being a parent. I find as Brennan's latent sin nature awakens, all the sin that I've shoved deep down inside comes bubbling up as well. Two strong sin natures can't compete for long before something needs to give! And this where I find my need for the hospital is greatest. A place to find healing. A place to have the brokenness caused by sin mended again. A place to meet the Great Physician.

I know I'm not alone in the desire for a hospital. Wouldn't it be great if the church began to foster an atmosphere of transparency and security, inviting people to truly come as they are, sin and baggage and all? We shouldn't be afraid of admitting our own sin or hearing others admit theirs. Sin happens. To everyone. Rather than set ourselves up as judge and jury, why not let people know that we've heard of a great hospital where we get to meet with best physician of all?

The Samaritan woman went to that hospital. The outcast, the adulteress, of a race labeled ceremonially unclean. Jesus came to where she was. He didn't judge. He showed her love. She received His love. And, in turn, she became the catalyst for many in her town to believe in Christ.

Imagine the ramifications. The possibilities are endless if only we open ourselves up to receive our own healing from the Great Physician. And what if we then extend the same love and mercy to others in need of that same touch from Christ? Pretty exciting to think about!

Identity

Back when we saw the "Behold the Lamb of God" concert, one of the special guests was Jason Gray (props because he's also a fellow Minnesotan!). He performed one of his new songs called "I Am New". I fell in love with it immediately and have lately been really drawn to this song. It's such a fabulous reminder of who we are in Christ. Some days it feels like I need to listen to this song every hour to help myself dwell in the truth of my identity of Christ. Definitely take a listen; you won't regret it!

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
--2 Corinthians 5:17

I Am New

Now I won't deny
The worst you could say about me
But I'm not defined
By mistakes that I've made
Because God says of me

I am not who I was
I am being remade
I am new
I am chosen and holy
And I'm dearly loved
I am new

Who I thought I was
And who I thought I had to be
I had to give them both up
Cause neither were willing
To ever believe

I am not who I was
I am being remade
I am new
I am chosen and holy
And I'm dearly loved
I am new

Too long I have lived
In the shadows of shame
Believing that there
Was no way I could change
But the one who is making everything new
Doesn't see me the way that I do
He doesn't see me the way that I do

I am not who I was
I am being remade
I am new
Dead to the old man,I'm coming alive
I am new

Forgiven beloved
Hidden in Christ
Made in the image of the Giver of Life
Righteous and holy
Reborn and remade
Accepted and worthy, this is our new name
This is who we are now...

By: Jason Gray, Joel Hanson

A Nazirite No More

" During the entire period of his vow of separation no razor may be used on his head. He must be holy until the period of his separation to the LORD is over; he must let the hair of his head grow long." Numbers 6:5

At least for me, there was truth to the old adage that if you have a lot of heartburn during pregnancy, your baby will have a lot of hair. Owen came out needing a haircut. His long hair has become his trademark. But...it was time. After much deliberation of when we should cut his hair, we made a trip to SportClips this morning for this special first in Owen's life. He is a Nazirite no more; his new haircut makes him look more like a little boy and not quite so baby-like anymore. Let's just hope his strength doesn't leave him now like Samson's did after his hair was cut!

9 Months Old!

Owen turns 9 months old today. Where has the time gone? After months of contentedly remaining in one spot, he has really become a roller over the past month or so. He's on the verge of crawling, so I expect and am preparing for more angst from Brennan over a more mobile baby brother!

Relative-ly Speaking

We were able to spend some time last night with my aunt and cousin. They were in town briefly to check out Virginia Commonwealth University. VCU was the third of three colleges they were visiting, so we enjoyed getting to talk up Richmond and all its greatness. It took Brennan a little while to warm up since the last time he had seen them was on his first birthday! But it was great fun to get to catch up, introduce them to Owen, and let Brennan get reacquainted with some extended family members. Maybe we'll see them again in the fall when VCU starts for the new school year?!?

Amazon Mom

Shameless plug alert: several months ago, I heard about a program sponsored by Amazon.com called Amazon Mom. After hearing about the benefits (free two-day shipping, discounts on diapers, etc.), I immediately signed up. Ah, the joy of buying diapers online for a discounted price! By participating in the "Subscribe and Save" program where you can arrange to have diapers automatically shipped to you on a predetermined schedule, you can save 30% on each pack of diapers. Score! (The upside to this S&S program is you can cancel it at anytime and the re-sign up when you need diapers next)

Today, my big order of diapers arrived. We now have two good sized boxes and some packing paper which have already provided loads of fun for the boys and will likely provide more fun until it's time for these things to mysteriously disappear. So, thank you Amazon Mom for cheap diapers and inexpensive fun for my kids.

Bedtime Fun

Last night was time to get a little silly while getting ready for bed, with a little help from a fireman's hat and some good dancing music.

Practicing his mad standing-man skills and rocking the most amazing baby hair ever

He had more fun hiding his face than actually looking at the camera

And it was great fun to wear the hat backwards

Fire Chief Owen in his fireman pajamas

Where it happens

If you've seen the movie "Amazing Grace" about William Wilberforce and his crusade to end the English slave trade, you probably, like me, got a certain measure of goosebumps at the end when Parliament finally passed the law that ended the practice in the British Empire.

It's an emotional moment, made more so by the tributes to Wilberforce by his peers, who recognized his steadfast devotion to a righteous cause that they themselves so often failed to have the courage to stand for. Can you imagine what it would have been like to be in the room when something so monumental took place? I've seen that movie a half dozen times and it never fails to make me want to make such a difference in my time. But the idea always fades.

This week it burst to life again, without having watched the movie again. I did not have the opportunity to be transported to early 19th century England, but I got what, oddly, might be the next best thing: a seat in the third row at a Virginia house of delegates committee meeting.

The setting seems innocuous enough -- perhaps even boring. I myself yawned in the middle of writing the sentence. But I was in rapt attention during the hour or so I was in that room on Thursday morning. If you've done this a hundred times, as most of my colleagues have, the impact has doubtless worn off, but not for me. It was a whole new world ... a world beyond rhetoric, bluster, promises, libel, accusations, lies, half-truths and endless debate -- everything that politics usually brings to mind.

Politics has always been a topic of discussion, a dividing point and a surefire way to turn friends into enemies, spoil moods and kills conversations. In that room though it was something else entirely: it was action. It was a moment. It was the hinge upon which the door of history turns. In that room ... it's where it happens. It's where modern day Wilberforce moments can happen. If such change is to happen in our lifetime (and it must, because there are as many horrors in this day as there were in his), it will happen in rooms like that one.

In that room dreams, idealistic goals and ambitious visions of righteous movements became attainable. Because, in the end, all you have to do is get more people to decide to act than to stay silent.

What's stopping us?

Building

We busted out the Legos while waiting for Owen to wake up this afternoon. Here, he's in process of making "Daddy's building". We've gone to visit John at work a few times, and the building must have stuck in his mind. He was so excited about his project and super focused as well! He even made it complete with a big doorway and a hallway. Gotta love Legos!

On Our Nightstand, Part 9

Since I haven't posted one of these in a while, I have some catching up to do! Here's some of the books that we (I) have read recently that I'd recommend.

1. "Firefly Lane" by Kristin Hannah
2. The "Redemption" series by Karen Kingsbury
3. "1-2-3 Magic" by Thomas Phelan
4. "The Town That Food Saved: How One Community Found Vitality in Local Food" by Ben Hewitt
5. "Eat, Pray Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert
6. "The Lost Girls: Three Friends. Four Continents. One Unconventional Detour Around the World" by Jennifer Baggett
7. "Wild Things: The Art of Nurturing Boys" by Stephen James and David Thomas (HIGHLY recommend this book for anyone with boys!)
8. "The New Strong-Willed Child" by Dr. James Dobson

John has been listening to a number of audiobooks on his commute to work and has really been enjoying being able to redeem the time spent in the car. Brennan still loves his books and story time at the library. I'm introducing Owen to books in the hope that he will love books as much as the rest of us do. This is definitely a book-loving family!

Back to Blogging

We haven't fallen off the face of the earth! 2011 got off to a crazy start for us! We started off the year with several doctor appointments for Brennan thanks to some horrible diaper rash and a never-ending battle with his colon. Thankfully, a referral to a GI specialist has us on a path to some colon cleansing. We go back in early February to find out if things are clearing out or still backed up. It also means that potty training will not be commencing for us any time soon, but we'll just be glad to get a little regularity in his day! Then, both John and I ended up with a nasty stomach virus which took out a few days last week. We're glad neither of the boys ended up sick and that we are all in good health now, with the exception of some minor runny noses and coughs.

After a break from most things over the month of December, it's felt a little challenging to get back in our routine. I think I've only taken out our camera twice to snag some photos! But now that health has returned, I'm hoping that this week will be our first "normal" week of the year! And I'll try to do better about getting the camera out to capture some lovable moments with the boys. Stay tuned for photos!