Surprise Party, Saving Species, Tom Ashbrook, and the Travails of Motherhood

Well, Josh threw me a surprise party for my 26th birthday, which was on the 19th. It was such a blast!! I don't think I've ever had a surprise party, and I don't know if another one could ever top this one. It was pretty amazing! Josh isn't that great at surprises usually- I think I've known about every other one he's ever tried to do. I remember a time before we were married that he was going to come up to Peoria for a surprise visit. Being the intuitive person I am, I quickly figured out that he seemed to be hiding something during our phone conversations. Then I turned on my expert manipulation abilities, which have been carefully honed, and I told him that I was probably going to have to work on the weekend that I was suspecting he was going to come. Then I carefully evaluated his response. The panic in his voice let me know that my suspicions were indeed correct. Thus when I walked into my apartment on that weekend to see him sitting on my couch, my reaction was nothing short of skillful. This time around Josh must have learned a thing or two, because I was genuinely surprised! My friends Elissa and April did their part to keep me guessing, and everything was wonderful. Josh decided to throw a cooking party since I love to cook, and all of our friends brought food to share. Everything was really tasty! I'm so grateful for the friends that God has blessed us with here! It was so much fun.

If you knew Josh in college, you knew that he had a tendency to power-trip. That whole vice-president of the student body was a handy outlet for power-tripping. (I too was a member of student government- this was before we were actually dating- and there were many meetings full of I-like-you tension.) Anyway, this party saw a resurrection of Josh's power-tripping past in his borrowing of a megaphone for ordering our guests around. He also inducted Howie into the ways of talking into a megaphone, which is below for your viewing enjoyment.

Yesterday Howie and I took a trip to the Galleria in search of some winter shoes for me, which we didn't end up finding, but we had a good time anyway. I started out pushing him in his stroller, and after a while he wanted to walk so I turned him loose. We walked around, ate a pretzel (which he loves), and then stumbled upon Build a Bear Workshop. I am personally not fond of this store, but when Howie saw it, he stopped in his tracks, almost getting plowed over by 2 business men who weren't looking down to see if any toddlers were in the way, and crossed traffic with reckless abandon to get into that store. He stopped in wonder in front of a huge display of already built teddy bears and other stuffed animals. Then he started doing this happy feet dance he does when he's really excited- stepping back and forth. He looked over all of the animals (pronouncing them all "dogs" since he can say that word) and then turned around to find a display of smaller stuffed animals. There were these little dogs that he really seemed to like, and he kept picking a few up at a time. This was OK but then I realized how close he was standing to the door. Sure enough, in his toddler mind he thought those toys were there for him to take, and he made a break for the doorway with a dog in hand. I was so glad that there weren't those things that buzz when you walk through with something you haven't paid for, because Howie would have been caught red-handed. He quite reluctantly put the dog back, and we went on our way.

I love Tom Ashbrook's show On Point on NPR. I was recently on the show's website for some reason and saw a picture of Tom- he definitely didn't look like what I thought he would from what he sounds like. Anyway, I love his show because he always brings up interesting topics. The other week he had Stuart Pimm on his show, a professor from Duke who is a specialist in bringing species of animals back from the brink of extinction. His organization is called Saving Species and their website is www.savingspecies.org. Every time Howie and I go to the zoo I am amazed at how many of the animals are endangered, at least at some level. But it makes sense as you think about what how much the face of our planet has changed over the last several hundred years with all sorts of development and building... animals just don't have as much room to roam anymore with so many changes. It was fascinating to hear how this organization tries to buy up land and rebuild animal habitats. As I was thinking about the huge diversity of animal life, I was amazed again at God's creativity in creating such a beautiful world that we live in. I am reminded of that from time to time as Howie pulls out his animal books (and calls most things dogs)- it's fun to see something like an ostrich and think about how it displays God's creativity as a creator. I think that's why I was happy to hear that this dude is working to preserve diversity in the animal world, because animals give us a rich reminder of how God has made a beautiful world for us to live in.

I put Howie in his crib for a nap before starting this post and he's still horsing around, so I better go see what he needs. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Howie, the Halloween Horse

Howie eating a cupcake for breakfast, left over from a neighborhood birthday party that my precious neighbors threw the night before! What a wonderful way to start the day for Howie!

Howie's office these days... he loves playing with anything and everything in the fridge.

Howie enjoyed his first Halloween. He actually did let me put the horse costume on him, much to my surprise. In fact, he seemed to like it as time went on. He had a trick or treating learning curve... at the first house we rang the doorbell, and the man came outside holding a bowl of candy. He bent down to bring the bowl to Howie's eye level and prompted him to pick something, at which point Howie surveyed the candy, decisively turned around, and walked the other way without picking anything. It was sooo funny!! I guess he didn't realize that candy is the point of Halloween, but by the second house he was already wising up. This time he actually reached in the bowl for something. All in all, it was a smashing success. Howie got to prance around my parents' neighborhood in a horse costume, and I ate his candy. What's not to like???

Though we were all still entrenched in disease over the weekend, I think we've turned the corner. Even though Howie is not great at sharing things, he's willingly shared his sickness with me first, and then Josh. Then we were all hacking. I think it's next to impossible to avoid getting sick when everyone is in such close proximity and Howie usually uses my clothing for kleenex. I have washed more snotty clothes in the last week than the previous several months combined. Yuck.

There is much more to say but not enough time so say it, so I will let this and the pictures do the talking for now and catch up in the next couple of days!

Howie & His Ear Infection

A hug for Dad

Searching for a tomato somewhere in the jungle of vines
A man with his dog, or the neighbor's dog, which is almost as good

This has been a rough last few days for Howie, who has fallen prey to an ear infection. He felt pretty feverish Monday afternoon, but seemed to feel better by bedtime. Later on I heard him moaning in his crib and went to check on him- he was acting kind of weird and breathing funny, so I picked him up and he promptly threw up on me. Oh, one of the greatest joys of motherhood. I took him into the bathroom and the poor little boy threw up some more. I felt so bad for him- he was just sobbing and clearly feeling terrible. Of course this would happen when Josh was at an evening class, so I was flying solo. I had to change his clothes, change my clothes, take his temperature, give him some medicine, gather the laundry, etc. It was pretty bad. Then obviously the clean-up, but we won't go there. Suffice it to say that I had a flash-back to our rotavirus runaround last May, which was horribly, horribly ugly.

Since then, he's doing a little bit better, but definitely hasn't been himself this week. I'm hoping that today he'll turn the corner. The last couple of days have been beautiful in St Louis- wouldn't you know it would be the 2 days out of the year that we're trapped in the house. One bright spot from yesterday was that Howie got to see Tommy, our neighbor Aaron's dog. Howie loves Tommy so much. In fact, I think that "dog" was one of his first words, largely due to Tommy's influence in his life. Howie's just begun to pet Tommy, which is always funny to see.

Hopefully next time I post our house will be infection free!

The Winterization of Howie

We are already teaching our child to do chores. It's a beautiful thing. Honestly Howie is probably more diligent about vacuuming than either of us are. I was talking to my precious friend Kelly this afternoon, and Howie insisted on vacuuming during that conversation as well. I guess he thought I should have been multi-tasking.

It's officially gotten cold in St Louis- the low tonight is 32 degrees. Even though I grew up in Illinois and thought freezing winters were old hat, somehow spending 2 years in Augusta has significantly thinned my blood, to the point where I am freezing at temperatures I previously would have scoffed at. Josh and I went for a walk yesterday, and there was a stiff breeze. I proceeded to put a decently heavy coat on top of my sweatshirt, and was still cold on our walk. I think my system is shocked by temperatures that would have been balmy before. Thanks to Augusta I am now a weather wimp. I will be huddling inside this winter. (But come to think about it, it's pretty cold in here too, since we don't want to run up the gas bill.)
In an effort to winterize Howie, the two of us went to the store the other day to get him a hat and mittens. He already has a coat that aunt Jennie gave him last Christmas that still fits for now, but needed a new hat and mittens. I put a few on him- I was surprised that he didn't put up more of a fight since he HATES hats. This is a side note, but let me tell you that putting his halloween costume on him is akin to making him eat sardines or something. He has a super cute horse costume that my wonderful friend Judy Ryan sent him a while ago, and I'm so excited for him to wear it, but it has a little hat with a mane and stuff that makes him look uber-horsey, and he HATES the hat. He screams bloody murder when I come near him with that hat. So I'm not sure how halloween will go down- "hey Howie, why don't you put this costume on that you hate and we'll go door to door in the cold to get candy that I won't let you eat so you'll have to give it all to me????" Don't think he'll go for that. Anyway, getting back to the hat shopping story, I picked out a fuzzy blue one with a funny pompom thing and put it on him, fully expecting the hat-drama-meltdown, but he was surprisingly mellow about this hat, and wonder of wonders, actually got upset when I took it off to pay for it. There's something about this hat that he really likes- he's since objected a few times when I've taken it off. Maybe somehow I can put the fun hat on and then slide the horse hat on top of it.

We wish you a warm and cozy evening from here in chilly St Louis- warm up with some hot chocolate or something.

This pic is from earlier today- Howie found this rod that goes in bottom of the sliding door and was carrying it around like the staff of Moses, and occasionally tapping the floor for effect. It was pretty funny!

Visit with Nana D., Haircut, etc... Plus Pumpkin Pie for Breakfast

Howie and Nana D, chilling outside
Howie sporting his new haircut- it's hard to get him to sit still for a pic anymore
Marching around the park, trucks in hand

Howie had a wonderful visit with Nana Desch over the weekend. We had such a good time! Some highlights were taking Howie to Target for a new pair of shoes which he's obsessed with, seeing the penguins at the zoo, eating Lamar's donuts, many rounds of truck playing, a haircut, and enjoying a beautiful Sunday afternoon at Forest Park. Come back soon, Nana!!

This is Howie eating pumpkin pie for breakfast this morning. An example of what happens when you don't go to the grocery store for a few days.

P.S.- I still have a perfect record going for keeping the dishes clean. What is this, 3 weeks now??

Who's Been In The Cookie Jar??

Photos To Go Along With the Long-Overdue Update Below

I'm horrible at blogger formatting, so I'm doing a separate post with pics and saving myself a headache!! Look below for the rest of this post.Howie sitting on his mama, with a pile of trucks for amusement

The New Howie: constantly on-the-go. Not even taking time to sit down for a drink.
Howie has commandeered one of the shelves on his level for his very own. He feels free to rearrange books when needed, leave his dice, trucks, and minibooks, and do whatever else he deems necessary.
Family pic from a recent trip to the zoo with Em, Rob, and cousin John!
The two babies having a ball at the zoo

Howie and Mama
Howie in the pumpkin patch! He loved visiting Tanner's Apple Orchard near my parents' house when we were there for a visit a few weeks ago.
Howie wanted badly to check out the pumpkins and would not stop for a pic with Mama, Grandma, and Cousin John.
A Man With His Toys... Howie, dice, trucks, and bowling pins. Those things make him a happy.