The Joys of Moving

Josh and I finally undertook the huge job of hanging pictures last night. This is our 3rd move as a married couple, and for some reason, hanging pictures in our new home has been a late night project every time. Last night was no exception. After we finished the mountain of dishes in our kitchen (alas, still dish woes at our new house), we decided to get a couple pictures hung. I don't know if we just have the most complicated pictures in the world, or if we make it harder than it is, but it's always a herculean task getting two hung in particular. We have this one huge picture that was taken during our engagement- I've heard it referred to has our "glamour shot"- that one is always horrible to hang. Josh literally had to redo one of the hooks 3 times before the stupid thing was remotely level, and then I had to monkey with it some more before it was perfect. I told Josh that we can't breathe walking by it for fear that it will fall to where it's actually nailed into the wall. But it is looking homier- I love the stage where you finally have everything hung up. It's a pain, but well worth it.

Other than hanging drama, things are going well at our house. We went to our first Cardinals game on Saturday afternoon and roasted in the sun for a few hours- we just moved from Augusta and I guess I thought that I was immune to the heat somehow, but it seems like St Louis is somehow hotter. I walked out of my house last night around 11, and it was still humid enough to make you wilt on the spot. Anyway, the game was really fun- Howie wasn't wild about it, but the rest of us enjoyed it.

Gotta run- have a great day!

Parenting Encounters With Howie

I guess that Howie has realized that he is now entering the toddler phase, because Wednesday was the day of our first parent-authority showdown. Howie was in an old-fashioned high chair at a friend's house, one of those kinds where the tray flips over and down the baby's head. He discovered that he would lift the tray up and it would start to go over his head, but I didn't want him to do that because all the food on the tray would fall onto the floor (or in his hair, even worse). I repeatedly told him "NO," and had to try my hardest to keep a straight face as he laughed at me and kept trying to do it. Over and over I said "NO," while he kept trying. Eventually I held the tray down and said "No," and his little face turned red as he tried with all of his might to get that tray up. Finally I couldn't hold back the laughter anymore and broke a smile... of course that was a bad idea because then he thought he was funny. Ahh, the beginning of mom-trying-not-to-smile-because-she-shouldn't- battles.

Howie's getting smarter. The other day he was sitting in his high chair with some blueberries on the tray. He likes blueberries, but seeing as they're fun circular shapes, I could see the little wheels in his head turning and telling him it would be more fun to throw them off the tray onto the floor and see them roll around. So I watched him pick his blueberries up one at a time with his chubby little fingers, lean over the side of his chair, and drop them very intentionally. It was so funny to watch him figure that whole process out.

The other day we were invited to the birthday party of one of our little neighbor girls via a swimming noodle that was placed in front of our door. The details about the party were written on the noodle. Howie thought that noodle was really cool and picked it up with one hand while holding Papa's finger with the other hand. It was soooo funny to see him carrying that thing around, since it was more than twice his length!!

Just a couple of Howie stories for you- more and more he's just making us laugh every day!

Have a great weekend!!

Howie Has Just Turned One Year Old

We all celebrated Howie's one year birthday this past Sunday- I can't believe that he's 1 now! In some ways this past year has been very slow, particularly during the crisis times. For example, when Howie was spitting out his paci 8 times every night and waking up for it every time, it seemed like I had been a sleep-deprived parent forever. Or when he refused with all his strength to drink from a cup, I thought I had been nursing forever and would have to continue. Or when he screamed like a wild man through most feedings, I thought that I would lose my mind. But those are limited times. Most of the time I say, "Wow, I can't believe he's already 1!!" It's so funny how much he's changed in 12 months. Last night I was getting misty eyed watching some of his videos from when he was a newborn, and it was amazing to me how much he's changed. He's gone from being completely helpless and interacting minimally to laughing, walking obsessively with help, smiling almost non-stop, playing, etc. Some of the most rewarding moments are when he just looks at me and smiles (this usually happens when I'm putting him to bed or right after he's eaten), and then uses both of his hands to tap my shoulder on either side. It's kind of a strange little manuever, but in that moment, I know that he loves me.

Being the mom of a toddler is fun. It's definitely more challenging in some ways, such as having to avert disasters like Howie grabbing my parents' cat's face and yanking, or hitting his chin on a chair, but it's also just fun to see what he does. He makes me laugh a lot these days.

We're getting settled into our new apartment in St Louis. Howie's birthday present from Mama and Papa was a sandbox in the shape of a crab and a play lawn mower. The crab sandbox has already proven to be a hit, both with Howie and his little friends in neighboring apartments. We've felt very welcomed into the seminary community and Josh is getting through his Greek class. I'm having to learn about letting him study, which means not bothering him every 5 minutes with a stupid question or ideas about watching random TV shows with me. That's tough! After 2 years of unrestricted access, I'm having to learn about sharing Josh with his Greek books.

I keep talking about the oodles of pictures I have, and I still have them, but our computer decided to randomly go on strike for about 2 weeks, meaning it would not turn on, and then for some reason beyond our comprehension it decided to come back to the negotiating table and start working again. But it's currently dead and I don't have the power cord with me, so I'm going to have to say that the next post will have oodles of pictures of our big one year old boy and lots of other things.

Have a great day!

We Made It... Mostly

Wow, it's been an exhausting few weeks! We're officially in St. Louis, more or less settled into our new apartment. Josh has already started his Greek class and has said it's like drinking out of a fire hydrant every class, so that's a good start. I've started my job working as a nanny for 2 boys, almost 8 and 10. They are so sweet and get along really well with Howie, which is good! I'm getting a preview of coming attractions... what Howie is going to be doing 7 years down the road and so forth. Howie is adjusting to having his own room! It's wonderful to be able to contain most of his stuff in his room (instead of having it scattered across the kitchen, front room/bedroom, etc.) and close the door if he cries before bedtime- ahh, new luxuries. I had hoped that my track record with dishes would improve once I wasn't doing dishes in Howie's bedroom, but that's yet to happen...

As far as we can tell all of our boxes appear to have made it to St. Louis, with the exception of a little box full of spices and herbs. Believe it or not, this is somewhat of a major casualty. I packed that box and it was one that I held up as my best packing feat... it was very small and packed very tight. I am not an organized person in general, but I think the one organized bone in my body did enjoy the challenge of packing good boxes.

More to come... I have many pictures to post. Have a great day!

An Announcement

If you are from Covenant College or just want to see some funny pictures, please go look at our Flickr pictures!! I was going through an old folder on my computer and came across some real winners!! Plus some more winners from our last few days in Augusta! The link is further down our blog over on the right-hand side.

Enjoy!!

Lengthy Photo Update... It's Been A While, Folks

All right, Folks, these are in no particular order, and for some reason I can't figure out how to move them in an efficient manner, so since I don't want to sit here for 30 minutes moving them, I'll just explain. I think these pictures do a good job of illustrating what's been happening over the last few weeks.

1. JIM PLUNK. The man just got married over the weekend, and Josh was privileged to be at the wedding in Mississippi. Howie and I were planning on making the trip as well, but we were seriously prevented by a bout of the plague. More on that later.
2. HOWIE and PASTOR CHARLIE. This picture was taken with our dear friends the Stakelys on one of our last nights in Augusta (we've moved, by the way)- they had us over for dinner and Howie's first pool party! He wasn't too keen on the pool and spent most of his time on the side of the pool wrapped up in a towel.
3. The STAKELY FAMILY. Charlie is the pastor at Redeemer and we were so glad to have become friends with this precious family. They were so good to us during our 2 years at Redeemer.
4. The YOUTH at our last youth group. That was sad. We'll miss them!
5. JOSH at JIM PLUNK's wedding!! What a blast!!
6. JOSH MATHER, RYAN FISHER, and MATTHEW GILLIKIN- wonderful friends at JIM PLUNK's wedding!!
7. JOSH and HOWIE at our friends SCOTT and KELLI's house. Scott and Kelli were in our small group at Redeemer and we went out to their house for some fun a few weekends ago.
8. SCOTT, KELLI, US, TIM, and EMMA at our last small group gathering.
9. HOWIE and ME at the pool party. He looked completely precious in his swim trunks borrowed from a little friend!
10. HOWIE wrapped up, sitting by the pool- he was content to watch the other swimmers but wasn't crazy about being in himself.
11. HOWIE, contemplating life by the pool.
12. HOWIE turning pages in one of his favorite books, amidst the chaos of boxes and moving. By the time we were ready to move, Howie had been playing with some truly random things for several days... papers he found under the couch, plastic forks and spoons, cups, etc.
13. HOWIE and JOSH on Howie's first 4-wheeler ride! I think we've created a monster... he loved it.
14. THE WHOLE FAMILY 4-wheeling away.
15. HOWIE's first encounter with a horse at SCOTT and KELLI's house!
16. THE LITTLE RIDER.
17. HOWIE, our handsome little boy.
18. AUNT CARRIE feeding HOWIE on a visit in late April.
19. HOWIE getting excited about a tower built by AUNT CARRIE and AUNT STACY.
20. STACY, CARRIE, ME, MARNIE, and HOWIE enjoying the visit!
21. HOWIE eating his first spaghetti lunch! He has now advanced to all kinds of adult foods... macaroni and cheese, grilled cheese, pizza, etc.

We've got much more coming!!

EyeGate & Hoecakes

Let me start out with this quick story. I've always read that you should wash your hands very carefully after chopping a hot pepper, and especially be careful to avoid touching your eyes with hands until after they're washed. Well, folks, I now realize firsthand why that caution is out there. I was chopping 2 poblano peppers last night (which aren't even that hot) for some turkey burgers, and I thought that I washed my hands when I was done. Josh cut an onion and yeesh, was this a strong onion. Josh's eyes started burning since he was on the battlefront with the onion, and it was so strong that my eyes started stinging from across the room. Then I made the horrible mistake of rubbing my stinging eyes in search of some relief. Not only did I not get relief from the onion stinging, but I inflicted upon myself the full fury of that poblano juice in my eye. It's hard to describe what it feels like to essentially get squirted in the eye by a hot pepper. Let me just say that amidst all the chaos of Josh's eyes burning from the onion, my eyes stinging from the onion and then getting scorched with pepper juice, the turkey burgers cooking, etc., Howie was in his high chair, screaming at the top of his lungs. I suspect that either the onions had started burning his eyes, or he was extremely disturbed by the sight of his mother bemoaning her life and running around with a hand towel doused in cold water held over her left eye. That was one of the worst feelings in my life, second only to the time that my roommate Kelly and I were dared to eat a habenero pepper in college (which I think is the hottest pepper) and took the dare. That scorching INSIDE your mouth feels slightly worse than in your eye, but now I know that I NEVER want to be pepper-sprayed. Take it from me, who only endured the wrath of a poblano in the eye- pepper spray is an effective deterrant. Josh responded to the screeches of our son and took him outside to cool off his eye sockets, and I stayed inside with the hand towel over my eye, watching the turkey burgers and marveling that your eye could feel like it was on fire. Anyway, eventually our eyes all returned to normal and we could eat in relative peace.

Howie and I had the pleasure of traveling to Savannah with my sister Marnie earlier this week, which was such a blast! One of the many highlights was eating at Paula Deen's restaurant, The Lady and Sons. Anyone who watches Paula Deen's show on Food Network knows that she has one staple and one staple alone in her cooking: BUTTER. I knew that I wouldn't be disappointed in her restaurant, because when butter is your main ingredient, how bad can it be?? Marnie, Howie, and I had a wonderful lunch. Soon after we sat down, a server came with some garlic biscuits along with some HOECAKES. Now those of you who aren't familiar with Southern cuisine need a little lesson at this point. Hoecakes are these fried little cornbread pancakes, and they're fantastic. Josh and I have had many hoecakes at Goolsbys, a local restaurant in Augusta. So anyway, the lady brought out hoecakes, and I gave a piece of one to Howie. Yes, perhaps fried food isn't the best for young babies, but seeing as Howie is a Southerner by birth and we're leaving the South in 2 short weeks, I thought it wise to give Howie some hoecake to see what he thought. He loved it. Throughout the course of our lunch, he ate more and more hoecake. I tried to give him some more traditional baby food as well, but what he wanted the most was the hoecake. I also fed him some of my barbeque sandwich, which he loved. I always knew that he would embrace his Southern roots at some point, and I witnessed it right there in Paula Deen's restaurant. Since then I've seen a longing look in his eye many times as he sits in his high chair- I think he's hoping that the next thing on the menu will be a hoecake.

Have a wonderful day!