Peek!

Brennan has always been fascinated with his little brother, but he's lately started actually playing with him. The new favorite game is peek-a-boo. He holds a blanket or a burp cloth up and then drops it, yelling "peek" or "hi" in the process. Owen loves to laugh in response! It's such a joy to get to see my boys enjoying each other in such simple ways.

Finding God in a Can Opener and Pizza

We love our house and neighborhood for oh so many reasons. One of the reasons why we love our neighborhood is right across the street. The house across from ours went into foreclosure earlier this year and remained vacant for several months. In mid-summer, it was purchased by an older couple, Tim and Lori, whose last name is Brennan and who have a granddaughter named Naomi. It was meant to be.

They recently moved in and we've enjoyed starting to get to know these new neighbors with the crazy name connections. They have proven to be incredibly friendly and just all around great people. I've had two examples in the last 24 hours that have solidified our good opinion of them.

I pulled out chili ingredients yesterday and attempted to open them with our manual can opener. No luck. The blasted thing wasn't rotating so I was out of luck. With Brennan eating and naptime quickly approaching, a few tears were shed as I tried to figure out what to do (that didn't involve opening it with a knife, a saw, or a rock--all ideas courtesy of Google). Inspiration struck when I remembered that Lori wasn't working so I thought maybe I could borrow theirs. As it turned out, they had two can openers. Rather than just loaning me their can opener, she gave me their extra one so I didn't have to go out and buy one.

Then, just today, I pulled into the driveway after returning from Thrive, our church's women's ministry, and Lori was just returning home as well. She came over with a pizza box in her hands and said she ordered a large pizza and wanted to share it with us. Now, I had also just been wondering what I was going to feed Brennan since it was getting past noon, and this answer appeared almost instantly.

With financial pressures looming overhead like a big, black raincloud, it's easy for me to lose God in the midst of it all. I find myself wondering if He really does care about us and our troubles. And then things like this happen in most unexpected ways.

Sometimes God just appears in the strangest places and at the strangest times. For me, this week, He's shown up in the form of a can opener and lunch. For some, that might not be that big of a deal. But it's balm to this stay-at-home mom's heart.

Shape Shifter

Kids change your life. Everyone knows it. They force you to move beyond yourself. Caring completely for little people utterly dependent on you for everything can be wonderfully rewarding and tear-your-hair-out difficult all at the same time. Kids bring about change in an obvious way. No more going out without a babysitter. Dates require some serious planning ahead. The house isn't as clean as it once was. No more sleeping in. Sometimes even sleeping through the night is a challenge!

But then there is a more subtle way that kids bring about change. Ladies, you know what I'm talking about. Once you have kids, things shift around on your body. Clothes that once fit just don't quite work the way they once did. And this can be a hard thing to come to grips with. I was faced with this a few days ago as I began to take stock of my long-sleeved garments in preparation for fall and winter (bring it on, cold weather!). Even though I knew this, it hit me more poignantly this time around, particularly as I had to put away shirts that I loved but have no chance of ever fitting into again. Birthing and nursing two kids has forever changed my shape. And that's okay. I think it's worth the trade-off. Besides, I get some new clothes out of the deal!

I was reminded of these thoughts when I came across this article on the blog "Blissfully Domestic: The Smart Girl's Guide to Life." And then I looked at my kids and embraced my changed shape once again. Some things will probably never go back to the way they were pre-kids, but I'm good with that. My boys are well-worth it.

The Beginning

We have been waiting for this day. A few weeks ago, we started to cautiously introduce the subject of potty training to Brennan. His response has always been a resolute "NO!" After reading a potty book from the library and watching an Elmo potty video, he's been a little more open to the concept. Then came the purchase of the potty seat. He really could have cared less about it, but we've been trying to implement "potty time" a couple times a day. Each potty time has been punctuated with a number of requests for "down!" Last night, a Clifford book held his attention a bit longer. Nothing has happened on the potty yet, but we're on the road to freedom from diapers (for this one anyway!).

And, yes, he will probably one day hate this photo!

Picnic in the Park

We headed out to Maymont Park to celebrate John's extra day off. Perfect weather was the norm for the weekend, and today was no exception. After checking out the petting zoo and the Japanese Garden, it was time to find a perfect picnic spot. Sitting in the shade brought a nice respite from walking all over the park (for those who have never been there, it's HUGE! I think it's around 100 acres!). What a fun way to end our long weekend!

Boy on a rock

Daddy and a boy

Daddy and his boys

The view above our picnic spot

Owen's first Labor Day. He was enjoying a break from his labors of being a baby.

Lovely Morning

With the long Labor Day weekend awaiting us, we decided to break out of the normal pattern and venture out and explore a bit of Richmond while enjoying the gorgeous weather that September has brought with it.

Stop #1: Country Style Doughnuts. John is the doughnut connoisseur of the family. He tried these doughnuts a couple months back and declared them to be the best that he's ever eaten. Off we went to see if they lived up to the claim. What makes this shop fun is the atmosphere. It felt like we left Richmond all together and sat down for breakfast at a small town somewhere in the Midwest. People watching there was great fun, especially watching the local elderly folks come in and gather around the counter, enjoying their coffee and shooting the breeze. The doughnuts were really good as well (and the price was certainly right!). For $1.59, you could get an apple fritter that looked to be bigger than Brennan's head! Of course, we had to leave with some more tasty treats for later...


Stop #2: The 17th Street Farmer's Market. We had heard about this particular farmer's market, but never quite got up the motivation to head there to see it for ourselves. Today was the day. Now, this is a permanent farmer's market, so I was expecting a bit more than what was actually there. Despite the many empty booths, we were able to find some great produce for a good price. We came home with some zucchini, peaches, green beans, sweet potatoes, a watermelon, and lots of thoughts on how to use our newly purchased local produce. It has made me eager to check out some other farmer's markets in our area and see what other fun food items we can get to help our area farmers.

Four Months

Owen turned four months old on Saturday. Four months? Really??? It's hard to believe how quickly the time is flying with this little guy! At his check-up this morning, he weighed in at 14 lbs. and measured 25 inches long. A growing little boy! He has been an absolutely incredible baby. He naps beautifully, sleeps amazingly well at night, and entertains himself really well when he wakes up from a nap or in the morning. Hearing him make his little happy noises warms my heart! He loves to be entertained by his fish on the activity gym and he loves to be sitting upright in his Bumbo. Watching big brother and having him close are more favorite activities. Owen loves to smile and has recently started laughing and really discovered his voice. His sweet little laugh and fun baby noises are priceless! This is one well loved little guy and we wouldn't trade him for anything in the world!

Wiffle Ball Night

We spent last evening with some great friends, families from church that we've met through playgroup and John's men's Bible study. We had fun eating pizza, watching the kids run around the yard, and playing wiffle ball. We really enjoyed getting some great outside time and putting our huge yard to good use with lots of activity! It was a great way to spend an evening!

Brotherly Love

Our boys really do love each other, something that we are definitely thankful for! Owen loves to watch Brennan and enjoys having him near him. Brennan loves to hold Owen, help burp him, give him his pacifier, give him kisses, wipe up his drool and spit up, and just generally be near Owen. It's becoming difficult these days to get a photo of only Owen because Brennan really wants to be near him for photo opportunities! There will likely come a day when they don't feel this way about each other, so we are relishing in this brotherly love for as long as possible.

The Divine Pursuit--A Guest Post

This is a new thing for our blog: a guest post. A friend from church, Nicole Unice, recently published a Bible study on the book of Jonah. Below, in her own words, is a bit about her journey through Jonah.


Becoming a counselor is a weird sort of schooling. What other graduate program teaches you how to listen, ask good questions, and read interpersonal dynamics? Who but future counselors study nonverbal cues, birth order, and “solution-focused questions?” Counseling techniques easily transform into entertaining party tricks: “Let me guess,” I imagine saying to my unsuspecting acquaintance while swirling my drink, “your deepest fear is turning into your mother, whom you find yourself resembling more each day?”

There’s another side to studying therapist techniques. Developing questions that pry back even the hardest shell takes practice. And there’s only one person that accompanies me to sleep, to the bathroom, to work—other than my toddler. It’s me. I am the unwilling recipient of my own therapy.

So I paid attention when I got all emotional about the story of Jonah. Do you know him? The bible Jonah, the telling-God-N-O Jonah, the swallowed-by-a-fish Jonah? Think way back to Vacation Bible School. You probably sang a song about him or maybe smoothed him up on a feltboard next to a smiling whale.

Jonah disobeys and isn’t loving, or at least, that’s the point when we tell the VBS version. But when I prepared a teaching series for a women’s group on the book of Jonah, I found myself stirred up, almost resentful, of what Jonah had become in those children’s stories. Like Jonah is a flat caricature painted by a heavenly hand to make us feel good about ourselves. Hey, at least I didn’t have to be swallowed by a big fish to listen to God. At least I wouldn’t defy God like that.

I got emotional because I thought Jonah could have had some reasons for running. That maybe following God’s orders and going to Nineveh was something excruciatingly hard for Jonah, something that felt impossible to do.

And then the therapist in me listened closely and asked a piercing question: “Hmmm….interesting. What are your Ninevehs?”

Hmmm is right.

I pondered my own Ninevehs and the Ninevehs of those I’ve counseled. I thought about the pattern of fleeing, obeying and resisting God found in Jonah—and found in me. I considered the things in life that would make me want to lob a fat N-O in God’s face, modern-Day Ninevehs like:

Living joyfully in difficult relationships.

Struggling through a hard marriage (or waiting on a good one).

Fighting with addictions.

Battling fear.

Making peace with the past. Wrestling with unforgiveness. Learning to wait. Embracing uncertainity. Raising difficult children. Choosing to care for aging parents. Going back to work when you want to stay home. Having children. Not having children. And the list goes on….

Holy Spirit calling: Jonah is me.

Jonah is you, too, if you’ve ever wanted space from God. If you’ve ever escaped from Him in heart or in action. Jonah is you if you’ve ever wondered how or why God would talk to you—and if you would obey. I know one thing: Jonah’s not a platitude to mount on a cross-stitch and hang in the bathroom. It’s raw, real life. It’s one of the many things I love about God--the way He enters our disheveled reality. The way He knows our crazy souls. And the way He shows us His soul for us, and for all his creation.

If you can relate, take heart, and take another look at Jonah. You might just find a friend.

Nicole Unice is a counselor and blogger working in family ministry at Hope Church in Richmond, VA. Her six-week guided study of Jonah, The Divine Pursuit, is available as a printed version or free download on her website. An online community using The Divine Pursuit begins 9/15.

Organization

I've been on an organization kick this past week. I love our house, but it is small. And we have a lot of stuff. Or maybe we don't have that much stuff but the amount of stuff that we have is magnified by the size of the house. At any rate, I've been trying to organize things and think about purging things that we don't need or haven't used. I want to make the most out of the space that we do have.

My first project was organizing Brennan's and Owen's rooms. The eventual goal is that the boys will share a room once Owen is a little older and his sleep is a little more routine. It's amazing how much small changes can impact the space available to us. After moving things around and out of Brennan's room, I was able to create space to finally set us his art easel--a birthday gift from eight months ago!


Now that I'm home with the boys full-time, I think a little more organization in the house will help our days be a little smoother and help me feel like the house may be a little cleaner than it actually is! Not to mention the wonderfully freeing feeling that purging stuff brings. I've found very little to purge thus far, but I hope my next round of organizational activities (here comes the laundry room!) will find more stuff to get rid of. Ah, here's to a little bit of sanity in small spaces!

The Mullett

Business up front

Party in the back

A New Adventure

As a new stay-at-home mom who is looking for a way to bring in a little extra income, I did quite a bit of research into various work from home options. But the reality quickly proved that there are tons of scams, and a work from home desk job was probably going to be too difficult with a toddler and an infant who need quite a bit of attention. My only other alternative appeared to be selling something. But I wasn't so sure about selling stuff since I'm not really a salesperson.

But then I read a book called "Be Centsable: How to Cut Your Household Budget in Half" by Chrissy Pate and Kristin McKee. I was blown away by what I read. After exploring their website and beginning to apply some of the principles I learned, I got so excited about my new money-saving techniques that I decided to take the plunge and become an educator with Be Centsable to help others learn the same things I had learned.

As an educator, I'll be presenting workshops to teach people how to save money by using coupons effectively, using store incentives, and how to plan and create a stockpile. If anyone in the Richmond area is interested in attending or hosting a workshop, just let me know! Also, if we are traveling to your area, I can do workshops there as well! I'd love to spread the knowledge!

Outdoor Play

Even though the temps in Richmond remain rather hot (still too hot for my taste!), I'm trying to get the boys outside regularly. Brennan enjoys being outside, and it helps him nap a bit better in the afternoons--always a great motive for some outdoor fun!

Beans may be good for the heart, but they are GREAT for some outdoor play! He was fascinated with our bin of beans and spent quite a bit of time playing with them--way more time than I would have ever expected him to play with anything!

Outdoor baby in a Bumbo! He is really doing well with sitting up in it and definitely seems to enjoy experiencing the world from a more upright position.

Louisville Sluggers

Our road trip to Indiana took us through the lovely state of Kentucky. However, a TWO-HOUR backup on the interstate outside of Lexington made our opinion of the state decline by the minute. It took us nearly two hours to go less than five miles before we finally made it to an exit where we could get around it and see the delay in the distance. It appeared there was possibly construction that was only letting a few cars through at a time. Ugh. That fun episode inspired John to rename Kentucky as "Ken-sucky" for how horrible the delay was!

On our return trip, we hoped that a visit to the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory would redeem the state for us. It worked. We really enjoyed our time there and loved getting to see how the bats are made. The day we toured, they were making bats for Alex Rodriguez. Maybe he used one of those to hit his 600th home run!

Meeting Ted Williams

Holding David Ortiz's actual bat from 2005 (hence, the white gloves--it's considered an historical artifact)

Little sluggers

The world's largest baseball bat

Thank you, Louisville Slugger, for redeeming Kentucky!

Road Trip

We just got back yesterday from our road trip to visit our friends, the Franks, in Bloomington, Indiana. John and Chris were roommates back in Austria days. We enjoyed touring the grounds of Indiana University, taking the boys to WonderLab, hiking at Lake Griffey, playing in the backyard, swinging on the porch, and just enjoying some great company! Good times, good times!

Owen and Zeke enjoying a little fresh air at IU

Snack time!

He LOVED being out of his car seat and in a little fresh air!

Brennan had a blast throwing sticks and rocks into the stream below the bridge

Brennan and Max returning from a wagon ride around the yard

A mini-nature lesson at Lake Griffy

Good times with good friends!

Three Months

Our big boy turns three months old tomorrow! It's hard to believe it, since the time has just flown by. At his check-up on Monday, he weighed in at 12 lbs., 14 oz. and is 24 1/4 inches long. To celebrate this milestone, we're driving to Indiana. What's in Indiana? Our dear friends, Chris and Anne Frank, and their three boys, Cole, Max, and Zeke. Max is 8 days younger than Brennan, and Zeke is about one month older than Owen. We're excited to see them again since it's been over three years since we've seen them last. Vacation, here we come!

We sure do love this little guy--especially his big cheesy smiles!

Brotherly Tummy Time

A post about books ... and Naomi didn't write it.

So there's one prolific reader in our house, and it's not me. But I'm trying. Sometimes.

I have a lofty (ahem) goal of reading one book a month this year. I think that's the first new year's resolution that's made it past February in years.

I'm delighted to say that I'm actually on target and we're more than half-way home. I owe it all to two things though:
(1) books on CD
(2) a 50 minute commute every day.

So if you're getting picky about it, I'm not actually "reading" all these books. I am consuming their contents however, and am pretty darn good about retaining it even though I'm also occupied with the safe operation of a motor vehicle.

So here's my list thus far:
1. The Teammates by David Halberstam. All about the friendship between Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, Dom DiMaggio and Johnny Pesky. Entertaining read about some of the old time Red Sox. Turns out Ted Williams was a bit of a jerk. Greatest hitter of all time, but a bit of a jerk.
2. In-N-Out Burger by ... I can't remember. Unauthorized profile of the company isn't nearly as good as their food. Made me hungry all the time and want to fly to somewhere on the West Coast for lunch.
3. More To Be Desired Than Gold by Christy Wilson. Heaps of great missions stories from the guy who started the Urbana missions conference. Inspiring stuff.
4. Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy (audiobook). What a great guy. Made me feel bad that I rooted against him in all those epic matchups with the Pats, especially since there's definitely a jerkiness vibe coming from Mr. Belichick. But I consoled myself by remembering that I did root for him in the Super Bowl against the Bears. Now I want to try to get him to Richmond for The Family Foundation gala and a nice men's retreat.
5. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (audiobook). Not unlike The DaVinci Code in that it starts out really well and then rapidly descends into hooey. I will say hooray to the idea that prayer really effects things in the physical world and that people who discount faith are far more naive than those that hold to it; but boo to the whole "the temple is just a metaphor for the human mind and god is each of us" malarkey.
6. Blockade Billy/Morality by Stephen King (audiobook). King wrote Faithful back in 2004 about that year's Red Sox team. It was all baseball, and it was an enjoyable read (listen). I was expecting all baseball with this short story. Uh, no. This was like Faithful but with a touch of The Shining, albeit in fairly tame, short-story form. The bonus short, Morality, can be summed up like this: willful sin (of the kind that even people who don't believe in sin would think is pretty bad) has a real corrosive effect on your life and relationships. The End.

That brings me to the book I'm on now ... the only one so far I'd already read (really read): The Screwtape Letters. Read it in college and loved it, so it was long overdue for a second visit. Loving it again. Two things strike me:
1) there's so much in this book that 50 minutes is too much in one day. You need to do one or two chapters, at most, and spend the next 24 hours thinking about them and letting their insights sink in. It's such a short book, and yet you burn through it at your own risk.
2) as great as it is, it'd be nice to have an updated version that addresses some of the more contemporary challenges a Christian faces. Our issues today are somewhat different from 1941 England. Some brave soul (or total fool) ought to write a version for 2010 America. Maybe I'll take a stab at it on my weekends, as I can be both very brave and very foolish. (I believe it will require finding the extreme of both to take this on). I certainly have the time, as all my nighttime reading is now done while safely ensconced in my automobile during daylight hours.

Mom-Brain

I don't remember being quite this forgetful or clumsy after Brennan was born. But Owen's arrival seems to have brought out those lovely qualities in full force! The past couple days have caused me to wonder if it's just plain forgetfulness or if I'm going crazy!

• We went to the library for storytime. I planned to feed Owen after storytime was over so Brennan had a chance to play with the library toys. Only after we got situated for storytime did I realize that I forgot the diaper bag at home--with my nursing cover and the burp cloth in it! Thankfully, I had put a blanket in the car seat so I could still feed him with some modicum of privacy.
• Even though Owen's been on acid reflux medication twice a day for the past month, I have the hardest time remembering to actually give him his medicine! I completely forgot this morning until it was nearly 1pm.
• After finishing my cereal this morning, I went to put my bowl on the coffee table so I could drink my juice. Somehow, completely unknown to me, I managed to miss the table completely, dumping the bowl on the floor and splashing the remainder of the milk all over the table, the floor, me, and Brennan.
  
• Last night, I had to send John to the store on his way home from work because I couldn't find parmesan cheese to top off our meal. I was convinced we had some, but it was nowhere to be seen.
• I got to the grocery store over the weekend, only to realize I had forgotten our WIC checks. Back home I go to collect them and head back for a second try. John told me some specific cereal requests before I left. What did I do? I bought cereal, but forgot all about his requests. Sigh.
  

These are just some of the many examples that sometimes have me questioning my sanity! Please, God, don't let me forget one of my kids somewhere!