The past few months (a picturelicious post)

Here are some quick paragraphs to catch up on life.

Eden...

...is 18 months old and talking, talking, talking!  Her language just exploded over the past month.  She's still signing, and often says the word as she is signing it.  Some of our favorites are, "WOW!" "Dra-do!" (Dorado, the dog), "whee" (slides), "be-be" (Baby), "wee-wee" (what she says every time she talks on the phone...we have no idea where that came from), and "bubble." She probably says about 20 words on a regular basis, but will parrot just about anything we ask her to say.

                                

...loves everything about babies.  We've been watching TONS of births on youtube in order to prepare her to be around for the birth of her little brother.  When I have the computer up, she'll crawl into my lap, point to the computer and say, "be-be." She also is fascinated by my baby bump. Whenever she sees it, she says, "be-be" and comes over to give it a kiss!  She's done this to other peoples' bellies, too, which is hilarious!

...continues to love dogs more than we could imagine.  She spots them everywhere, and will perk up when she hears one bark in the distance.  Her favorite dog is Dorado, Ronnie and Suzy's golden retriever.  We were over there last night, and she and Dorado just played all night, and if he ever left her side she would call "Dra-do, Dra-do" until he came back.  She even sang his name the whole way over to his house; she just loves that dog.

               

... and I woke up before Grant yesterday and Eden immediately looked over at me and signed "food." I told her that I would get her food, but that I had to go to the bathroom first.  She agreed, but while I was in the bathroom, she started yelling "MA! MA! MA! MA! MA! MA!" very loudly over and over.  I rushed back to see what was going on, and as soon as I got back, Eden put her hand up to her lips and said "sssshhhhhhh," then she looked over at dad and signed "sleep." Hilarious!

Grant...

...has been working very hard. The church has been giving him several new responsibilities, and he has done well to juggle those in addition to keeping up with his other tasks.  I'm so proud of his work ethic and the fact that he truly love people and believes that he can serve them in his present job.



...and I started a new Connection Group last month and also are teaching the Young Pros class together for the next several weeks.  Both of these things have been good for us to do together. We've found that when we have something that we have to prepare, present, and lead, as a team, our marriage really benefits. So, even though this is a busy season for both of us, carving out the time to do these two things has been a good way for us to reconnect after several months of having more "separate" schedules.

I...

...am very excited to be over halfway done with this pregnancy! It's funny how much faster this pregnancy has gone. It's just so different the second time.  Overall, this pregnancy has been easier than Eden's, but being pregnant is still hard.  Worth it, but hard.  So, I'm happy that this pregnancy is 21 weeks over!

...organized the kids' room yesterday and pulled out all the boy clothes and baby gear.... : ) We're starting to get really excited about a little boy.



...am trying to simplify, go on walks everyday, say "no," slow down life a little, enjoy snuggles on the couch with my favorite toddler, and blog more.

                                           ~~~~~~

And because every post should end with a good video:



                                                                        (Eden and uncle Allen)

9-14-13: Life with Grant

Well, it is quite late and I really should be going to bed.  Tomorrow is a long day of teaching for me - on a off from 9:30am to 8pm!  I have been blessed with a full studio of students, and this prego mamma needs her sleep in order to keep up with all of them.

Anyway, despite the hour, I did want to take a moment a record a moment. A memory.  One of those things that really make life good.  It's funny, we think that it's the big trips or vacations or parties that make life enjoyable, but it's really the day to day living that either make life a stressful chore or a delightful journey...

Yesterday was my birthday.  I celebrated the day by having a day to myself and then the "parties" were today.  So, today we had a great birthday lunch with the Wrights at Gringo's after church (love the green sauce!) and then went home.  None of us - Grant, Eden or I - had gotten a lot of sleep Saturday night, so we came home and crashed.  I mean, I fell asleep in the 4th quarter of the Texans game, when the we had just tied the score with 1:20 left in that game... I was that tired.

When I awoke, I realized that Grant had been watching Eden for a while so that I could sleep.  I then asked Grant what time it was.... and discovered it was 5:40! I had slept for three hours! While this might seem like fabulous news, I - pregnant and hormonal, mind you - immediately burst out crying! My second birthday party with my parents started at 5:30, and I had missed it! Further, I had a laundry list of things that I needed to prep for teaching on Monday that I needed to get done before I went to my parents for the evening. So, I was devastated with the thought that I had missed my party and that I would now be up until all hours of the night getting ready for Monday. (My pregnant friends can really identify with these kinds of exaggerated feelings.)  Well, I completely lost it guys - just cried and cried!  It's totally silly, but to my pregnant, tired mind, my birthday had been ruined.

 But - this is really the part of the story that I'm getting at - Grant (I really should say, poor Grant, who had generously helped me sleep so long by watching Eden and who never dreamed that I would react in such a negative way), just started quickly cleaning, vacuuming and helping me get ready for teaching.  He never made a big deal about it, or told me I was acting irrationally, or complained. He just started helping me. He knew what had to be done, and he just did it. He even had an event that he was getting ready to leave for and helping me made him a little late.  But, he did it anyway.  And, to top it all off, when I came home from my birthday party with my parents, I found that Grant (who had beaten me home) had finished up doing the dishes, which were the last "chore" we weren't able to complete before leaving earlier.

 While this may not seem like a huge moment in our life, this is a picture of our life.  I could have told many such stories; truly, this is the kind of man that Grant is.  I have a wonderful guy and a wonderful marriage because of him.  And what really makes it great are not all the big, firework moments - the fun trips, the romantic dinners, etc. - but what makes it great are these little moments. How Grant helps me when I need it.  How kind he is to me.  In addition to many other things, Grant is my friend, and he is a good friend.  And this makes him a really good husband. The Lord knew that my, uneven, task-oriented, short tempered, pessimistic, and brash personality would need someone who was steady, people-oriented, patient, optimistic, and kind.  And the Lord gave me Grant.  And I am so grateful.

 As I was thinking about Grant today, I was reminded of a fantasy I had as a little girl.  I would be in love with this big, super star athlete (I know, I know, roll your eyes...) who lived next door to me (yeah, keep rolling, but stick with me here.. ) But, in my imagination the moment that I knew that this guy loved me back was not when we brought me flowers or spoke some beautiful words, but it was something quite different, (which I remember so vividly): it was a moment when I was completely overwhelmed and suddenly needed help to prepare for some last minute event as my house and he dropped everything to come and help me. Really.

 And today, I realized that this fantasy had come true. Or, that it had been true for many years, and I just now realized it.

 Being married to Grant is humbling.  He is someone who loves naturally and intentionally. As I think about these stories like today, I'm reminded of all the times that I have not been patient with him and when I have not dropped everything to help him.  And it makes me want to be better.

 I don't have a fabulous ending or a lofty point to make in all of this, except just to say that these are the things that I want our children, grandchildren, and many more generations after, to know about Grant:

He is a good man and being married to him is the delight of my life.  : )

6-7-13 EDEN 13-MONTH SUMMARY

Well, I'm officially the worst blogger, ever! Haha!  I have about ten half-finished writings that I've never posted....and only two that I have. Blah. Oh well.  Being a more regular blogger is one of my goals for this summer.

In the meantime, I did want to post a 13-month summary of Eden.

-She can say "da da" "uh oh" "mama" "wow" "ball" in context
-She just figured out how to make funny faces, walk in a circle and backwards, and she's getting better at climbing up and down stairs.
-She is just hilarious.  She likes to laugh when everyone else laughs. She loves to make us laugh when she does her funny face.
-She is still just a fun baby, who has an easy-going personality and loves to be with us.
-She just now signed and said "da da" without us prompting her.  Really, she just looked up at Grant and said it.
-She loves to take care of her baby.  Today I tied the baby to her back (like she was in a sling) and Eden liked it.
-She's still nursing about four long times a day, with a countless amount of little "snacks" mixed in.
-She eats normal table food with us and is getting better at using a spoon.
-She loves to be outside and when she's out there she waves to the cars as they pass and she watches birds.  And when I say she loves to do these things, I mean, she can do them for a LONG time!!

I should really add more to this post.  It needs pictures and more examples; more clever phrases and interesting words. But, I'm playing with Eden right now, and - let's face it - if I don't just post this baby now it will never get posted.... hahahaha!!!! That makes THREE blog posts!!