Birthday Peace

Some years birthdays are a big deal.  Other years not so much.  This was one of those years and it's exactly what I wanted - a break from our hectic schedule, time with those who give me life and, of course, a delicious cake.  Many thanks to all who sent me birthday wishes and presents and love.  My life overflows with joy from having all of you in it:)

Baby P's first visit to the pumpkin patch

Not really sure why Mommy made me stick my head in this hole...

Gramma love!

Making a leaf pile with Grampa - Grampa love!

Not quite ready to help Mommy blow out the candles;)

Sacraments

Merriam-Webster defines sacrament as a Christian rite that is believed to have been ordained by Christ and that is held to be a means of divine grace or to be a sign or symbol of a spiritual reality.  We have experienced two joyous sacraments in our family over the past couple weeks.  In the midst of everyday life, they have made the beginning of this fall a pretty special time.

We had four great-grandparents, four grandparents, and two aunts join us for Baby P's baptism a couple weeks ago.  I already knew in my heart that this baby belongs to God, but I still appreciate the ritual of dedicating him.  And all the friends who also came to our very early church service to witness it. 

Someday they'll be able to hug without my assistance!

Baby P and his nouna

And this past weekend we celebrated the wedding of Hubby T's brother, Uncle B, and his beautiful new bride.  This was the first family wedding since Hubby T and I got married six years ago and I've got to say, our family really knows how to throw great weddings!  I'm not going to lie - it was an extremely stressful weekend - but absolutely one hundred percent worth it to witness the beginning of a new chapter in our family's journey.  Plus Hubby T and I got two mini date nights out of the weekend, as my parents came along to babysit the boys in the evenings at the hotel.  It's amazing what wonders can happen to a tired mom who is liberated of a diaper bag and given a glass of wine instead!  But enough about me...Little B did a perfect job as ring bearer and Hubby T did a great job as best man.  

 And Baby P did a great job being quiet...

I try hard to see the Lord working in the ordinary, everyday patterns of our lives, but it's really special when you get to witness and participate in those extraordinary moments of life as well.  I'm so excited that my boys have a new aunt and that Hubby T and I have a new sister.  Congratulations again Mr. and Mrs. P!

Moment of time

I've been experiencing that feeling that comes across me every once in awhile, that feeling that this moment of time, the way my boys are right now, is not going to last long.  So here's my attempt to capture this moment and to share it with all of you who aren't living it with us.

I tried really hard to get a good picture of them in these adorable matching outfits my aunt gave them...between a wiggly 2 year old and a baby who can't hold his head up, this was the best I could get!

Baby P is now 3 months old (can you believe I've lost track of how many weeks old he is already?!)  He is well out of the newborn stage and into loveable baby stage.  I can put him down now for periods of time and he's content to just sit and watch, rather than needing to be held all the time (phew!)  He loves to grab his feet and there are a couple toys that he's starting to "play" with when we put them within reach. 

He also enjoys grabbing my arm and holding onto it surprisingly tight when I am changing his diaper.  This frequently brings out my favorite feature of this age - his smile.  He's developed a smile that lights up his whole face and says "You are the absolute best thing in the world to me."  Melts my mommy heart every time:)  Unfortunately he rarely holds this smile for the camera.  I'd say this picture portrays about 50% of the power of his full force smile.

Grampa love

He got to the point of only waking up once a night surprisingly quickly, but in the last week or two he's regressed and he's now up twice a night.  I can definitely notice a difference in how I feel each day (dragging) so I'm hoping he'll straighten himself out again soon. 

I love when he falls asleep by himself - even if it's on the floor!

He's wearing six month size clothes already.  His next check-up is in 3 weeks, I can't wait to see how big he is now and how much he's grown, and be given the go-ahead to start him on solid food!

Trying to sit up in his car seat - gravity can't hold me down!

My wonderful Little B continues to be a bundle of energy, joy, and occasionally two year old dramatic hysterics.  Although he's shy, he is still loving his music class, which gives Hubby T and I endless amounts of joy and amusement.  The toy of the week right now is a giant floor puzzle that his Yiayia and Papou brought a couple weeks ago.  He needs a little help putting it together to start with, but then he enjoys taking the pieces off one by one and then putting them back in.  But the most notable development in him lately is his imagination.  This kid's mind is so busy!!  A few days ago we put his new floor puzzle together, then he decided to build a road on top of it.  Then he decided the road needed stores, which he named.  Then we used blocks to build a playground.  I helped him pull all the pieces together but the ideas all came from him!  I think Little D wasn't sure what to make of it all when he arrived:) 

He's using another set of blocks in his room right now to make "pizza" with "pepperoni and vegetables."  I know he got this idea from a Curious George book but I love that he's transferred the idea to his blocks.  It's wonderful to listen to him talk to himself while he plays and hear how he incorporates the things we do into his imaginary play.

Most of all, I absolutely love how much he loves his brother.  He's generally very gentle with him, loves giving him hugs, and is very understanding when I have to stop something I am doing with him to take care of the baby.

  
I can't wait to see how their interactions change and become more meaningful as Baby P grows this fall.  Bring on pumpkin everything!!!

Peace

When I had to move across country between my junior and senior year of high school, a friend gave me a wall hanging with Jeremiah 29:11 printed on it: "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  It was a very comforting verse at the time, when my life was being turned upside down, and during all the difficult times of my life since then

So when the verse came up in my bible study this morning, part of me sighed and thought, oh geez, not this verse again.  I get it already!  But, in an amazing moment that reminds you to never think you have God or His word figured out, the verse was presented in the King's James translation, which reads, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end."

Well that's different.  If you compare the parts of the verse, the meanings don't quite match up, at least not to me.  "Plans to prosper you" seems very different than "thoughts of peace."  "Plans to give you hope and a future" is different than "an expected end."  Without knowing the original Greek (Hebrew?) that it was written in, I have no way of discerning what the original language actually said or meant.  So I've been dwelling on it off and on all day.  There is a certain warmness to the idea that God has plans to prosper you, to give you hope and a future.  There is a certain mystery to the idea that God wants to give you peace and an expected end.  I'm not even entirely sure what "an expected end" means!  But peace I can understand.  Peace is a new way of looking at the promise that God makes in this verse.  It tells us that no matter what is going on in our lives, God is thinking thoughts of peace about us.  Regardless of whether we feel it or not, God is thinking thoughts of peace about what is going on in our lives and our souls.

So today I have been praying for peace.  Peace for my friend who is suffering a multiple-days long migraine and stomach flu, along with her young son who also has the flu.  Peace for my friend whose father was in a tragic accident and whose life will never be the same again.  Peace for Syria.  Peace for Kenya.  Peace among the conflicts that exist in my family.  Peace for my sons*.  But most of all I am thankful that when I pray I know peace will come, regardless of whether we realize it, because of God's power and overwhelming love.  What a beautiful promise.

* Especially the fussy one who has had a pacifier stuck in his mouth almost non-stop all day so that I can have a moment of quiet...maybe whoever named it pacifier was thinking of pacify, which kind of connects to peace doesn't it?  Maybe it's just because I'm desperate for "a moment's peace"!

Field day

Now that I have my two boy's carseats in my back seat, I don't have room for Little D's car seat.  So on the days when he is with us, we can only venture as far as we can go on foot.  Fortunately there's a huge sports complex, with many wide open fields and two playgrounds, within walking distance!  I took the boys over to the soccer field on this beautiful fall morning to run some energy out.  It's amazing how much fun you can have with a couple balls, a frisbee, and bubbles:)

Here we go!  In case you can't make it out, that's a huge grin on Little D's face

Little B hysterically crying, "No Little D!  Stop!  I want to be the engine!!" (meaning, I want to be first)

This is how little boys play with soccer nets

Didn't you know?  Soccer is played with hands when you're 2:)

Snoozer

Thank goodness for fences, otherwise we would all still be running!

Looking forward to the day when he learns to actually throw the frisbee, although he had an awful lot of fun just chasing it!

Wow the wind blows bubbles far!

Bubble joy:)

Look who woke up!

Trying to get these two to sit together for a picture is not easy

Cheese!

Naptime

I'm not at all sad that summer is over now that I have this joy back again:)  In anticipation of nap time, they tucked themselves into bed all on their own...

Not looking so tired...

Hugs

Uh-oh, Baby P started crying!

Where did the boys go?

Peek a boo!!

Okay, maybe now I'm getting sleepy...

Summer's best

Well, here we are - September.  I find myself taking lots and lots of deep breathes these days.  I'm not sure if it's out of relief that this summer's over, handling anticipation of all that is to come this fall, or both!  But before summer slips away, I wanted to take a couple minutes to reflect.  Here's a little compilation of our "bests" from this summer.

Best meal: Barefoot Contessa's Israeli Couscous and Tuna Salad - Ina made this recipe on an episode of her show that I watched while in the hospital after having Baby P and it looked so good that my mom made it for our first family dinner once we came home.  I think we've had it twice since then, it's fantastic!  Don't worry about finding Italian tuna, I'm not even sure what that means, because regular old tuna works just great.  Next time you need a healthy, fresh, delicious one-dish meal, try this.  You won't be disappointed.

First bath in the big boy tub because he already outgrew the baby one!

Best song: Wagon Wheel by Darius Rucker - I cannot tell you how many times we listened to this song this summer.  Little B loves it!  He can identify it immediately whenever it comes on the radio or iPod but will only sing one line on his own..."Rock me mama like a wagon wheel, rock me mama like a wagon wheel, rock me mama like a wagon wheel..."  It's a good thing Hubby T and I like Darius Rucker!

Best fruit: Blueberries - We went blueberry picking probably four or five times while waiting for Baby P to arrive and I learned that not only is my 2 year old capable of picking blueberries (I truly wasn't sure the first time) but he loves eating them off the bush!  I don't blame him.  I also learned as a child that there is a very special deliciousness to eating a sweet berry that has been warmed by the sun.  We did more picking later in the summer when they were ripe at Mom-Mom's house further north.  Next spring we are going back and we won't stop picking until I have enough to completely fill my freezer - delicious!

Ring bearer in training!

Best new (to us) book series: Arthur - Little B has gone through many phases where different book characters were his favorite...Curious George, Amelia Bedelia, Little Critter, Biscuit, Spot, Berenstain Bears.  A couple weeks ago we discovered Arthur and he is sticking.  Little B now tells us multiple times a day to turn off the computer and Macbook at night because that's what Arthur did to save electricity in Arthur Goes Green.  I don't think Little B has any concept what being "green" is but he sure know how to do it!

Almost smiling for the camera

Best grown-up book series: Harry Potter - Knowing that I was going to spend copious amounts of time sitting-nursing-reading this summer, I decided to re-read the Harry Potter series.  It's so wonderful to read something you know you're going to enjoy.  Also, really fun to read after you've seen the movies because you forget how much more story is in the books!  Sadly I finished Book 7 last week.  Although maybe that's a good thing.  Last night I had a dream in which I was looking for something and said "Accio wand!" and it came to me and even in my dream I appreciated how cool it was to be a wizard.  Any other suggestions of series to read to make late night feedings any easier?

Best new (to us) toy: Books on tape - Yes, I do mean cassette tapes.  Any other children of the 80's remember these?  My grandma used to keep them in the backseat of her car for us...blast from my past!

Mom-Mom had a ton of these books and tapes that she was going to get rid of if we didn't want them, so we snatched them up and brought them home.  Little B has now figured out how to turn on the tape player, put a tape in, press play, and follow along as the narrator reads.  It buys me 20-30 minutes of peace every day.  Just goes to show that sometimes a good idea is timeless:)

But in the end, the summer of 2013 will always be the summer of Baby P.  He is what we will remember most.  He is the best of the best.