My Ebenezer

I'm going to be objective here, I really am. I have a tendency to make things bigger than they really are (at least in my mind), but I'm just going to tell you exactly what happened yesterday. No frills, just the facts. This is one for the Hall of Fame to be sure! 1. We arrived at Jacksonville airport on time. 2. We got waylaid in security, where the lady searched my carry-on and Noah's diaper bag and threw away my toothpaste, facewash, and lotion. She also tested Noah's water in his sippy cup with a piece of litmus paper. 3. This delay caused us to arrive at the gate as they were already in the process of boarding the passengers, so we missed being able to board in the early "Small Children" category. 4. When we got to our seats, there was an 86-year-old (very nice) woman sitting in the aisle seat and we had to literally throw our stuff over to our seats and climb over her, since she could not get out of the seat without assistance. That was interest...

We're all packed. Garbage has been taken out. Refrigerator cleaned. The only thing left to do is go to bed! :) Our flight leaves at 10:40am tomorrow morning, and we're praying for good weather. It seems it's been rather nasty up in New England lately! Matt and Jen arrived this evening about 8:30. Josh is over there as I type this helping them move in (along with 2 other guys). It was so good to see them!! I'm excited to have them here in Jacksonville, and looking forward to what God has in store for us all. The other noteworthy event of the day (and by no means related to the other two events): NOAH WENT STINKY ON THE POTTY!!! Can I get an "Amen"? :) Without getting into the nitty gritty details, let's just say I was one proud mama this morning! I in no way consider this success to mean that potty training will be a snap. In fact, after that one brief shining moment, Noah proceeded to go twice more in his diaper throughout the rest of the day....

What if Jesus had not come? This was the question our church Christmas Cantata posed last night. It was really good and thought-provoking too. Do I live my Christian life as if He hadn't come? If I'm not actively sharing my faith, then yes I am. I'm ignoring the fact that Christ came to this earth and died for our sins by not sharing this with other people. What a thought! Yikes. What a reminder that people need the Lord. Dr. Bob used to say "The most sobering reality in the world today is that people are dying and going to hell today." Living life in light of that fact really changes priorities around, doesn't it? After the Cantata the church had a goodbye party for the Bennetts. I still can't quite grasp that they are leaving, but Wednesday morning will likely be the last time I see them for a long time. They're taking us to the airport Wed morning, so we'll have that last opportunity to really say goodbye. Between now and Wednesday I have a lo...

I have officially lost count of how many words Noah can say, since he is into repeating many of the words in our conversations, and it has now become impossible to keep tabs on what he can repeat. We've heard him say tomato, uncle, vehicle (no kidding!), nut, half, and other random words that he feels like giving a try. If you ask him, "Are you a nut?" He'll answer with no hesitation, "Nut!" It's quite humorous. Hands down though, the funniest word in my opinion is his word for Stinky. Are you ready? It's "Geeky". Sometimes I have to ask Noah if he's Stinky (as in, "do I need to change your diaper?"), and he pipes up with "Geeky!" Occasionally he'll even pinch his nose as he says it. Priceless, I tell you! We're beginning to work on the idea of potty training. He knows when he's geeky (see? Doesn't it make you smile?), and he knows when he's going pee-pee (did I just type that?). Now the big battl...

How do you say goodbye to a good friend? It's hard, and something I've done a lot of in my life. Have I ever mentioned I've moved about 15 times? Honestly I've lost count! This time, I'm not the one moving though. My dear friend Carrie Bennett and her family are moving to West Virginia in a few weeks (Dec 30th to be exact) to start deputation to be missionaries to New Zealand. And we're leaving for CT on the 17th, so we won't even be here to see them off. Carrie and I joke about being in denial that they're even leaving; it just doesn't seem real yet. Instead of sitting around and being sad, we decided to go to the zoo on Tuesday to have some fun together and visit! First, I must say that the Lord gave us a beautiful day! We had temperatures in the 70's, a nice breeze, and sunshine for most of it. Plus we were almost the only people there, which made it much more fun. We were able to let our kids run around some instead of being confine...

Last night we attended the Christmas party for our age group at church. We had such a good time, made better by the fact that Mr. Bundy watched Noah for us at his house, giving us the opportunity to actually talk to the other people. The pictures today are courtesy of Carrie again, who has taken pity on my camera-less state. :) Thanks, Carrie! We played 2 Christmas trivia games, and I won the Christmas Movies one! I don't know if I should be proud of that or not, but I was happy to win a little prize anyway. Everyone brought appetizers for the party and a batch of their favorite cookies/bars to exchange at the end, and we all had fun talking and eating. It was bittersweet for me, knowing that it was the last party with my friend Carrie (she's going to be a missionary and leaves this month on deputation), and maybe with the others as well (Matt and Jen's house is under contract and supposed to close this month, which puts somewhat of a deadline on our time at Victory).

Over the past several weeks I have been working on what I call Mothering On Purpose. The default mode of parenting (at least for me) is to be lazy; not only in discipline, but even in daily activities and teaching opportunities. My biggest temptation is to go check my email and facebook accounts when I could be playing with Noah, or to sit silently when I could be instructing him about something. I am not a talkative person, easily coming up with clever conversations or filling the void with words. I much prefer thinking to talking. But with Noah, who has so much to learn, I may actually be doing him a disservice by keeping my mouth shut. For example, when I am doing the laundry and he's watching, I would rather just shove the clothes in the dryer, throw in a sheet of fabric softener, push the button, and be on my way! Then I realize that a little person is watching me intently and probably wondering what I'm doing. So recently I've taken to narrating my tasks so hopefully ...

Maybe you've noticed that my blog has been painfully devoid of photos lately. This is because my dear husband has confiscated "my" (actually it's his) camera for good. He says I messed with a setting, and that messed him up on his jobsite the other day, so I'm banned from the camera. BUT!! A little bird told me I might be receiving a brand new camera for Christmas. If the rumors are true, the photos should begin to increase and become better in quality before too long. And between now and then I might be able to convince Mr. Camera Nazi to let me borrow his camera now and then. But don't count on it! :)

You know no one likes a tattletale, but how about when the guilty party IS the tattletale? For the past week or so, when Noah misbehaves he comes to me with whatever he wasn't supposed to touch (lately the balls on the Christmas tree) in his hand and saying very seriously "NOooooo". It sounds uncannily (is that a word?) like myself when I'm reprimanding him. Down to the vocal inflection. Eerie. But anyway, my POINT is, when is he going to figure out that tattling on himself still gets him in trouble? I'm not going to be the one to tell him! :)

Would you believe it's been 10 years since I graduated high school?! My reunion was Friday night, but being as it was on Cape Cod and I am in Florida, I had to forego. I have mixed feelings about missing, but mostly I just can't believe how quickly time goes by! Does it pass this quickly for everyone? I am still without a voice, so it's probably good I couldn't go, as I wouldn't have been able to really converse. I managed through my Sunday School lesson today, but only because I had the kids tag-team tell the story. They did a great job with Daniel in the Lions Den, and knew all the details anyway. It was fun to hear them tell me the story for a change. :) Hopefully soon my voice will return. Finally I just want to say what a great holiday weekend this was! From the time Josh got home on Wednesday night until today, we've had a great time as a family just relaxing, resting, and enjoying each other. It has been refreshingly unhurried, and Josh has spent some one...

I mentioned that Josh has been sick since Monday. His fever is gone, but he's left with the end of a cold. As for me, I have had no voice since Tuesday. I have felt fine, but my voice has been MIA. I have never before lost my voice without other symptoms. Well, now I have a sore throat and headache. Except for a fever, this is what Josh had. Goody! I'm just praying Noah avoids it. :)

The only pic I got of our Thanksgiving dinner. Shame on me! Josh thought a ride on his "machine" would be a fun Thanksgiving treat. Trying to fill Mama's shoes He loves wearing our shoes!

Or should I say, Thanks living ! That was the main thought at our Praise and Thanks Fellowship on Monday night. Giving thanks to God should be my way of life, not only reserved for one day in the year. But I am thankful for this one day in the year to dwell on all the richness and blessings that the Lord has given me. Deut 28:1-11 tells about the real first Thanksgiving. The pilgrims may have started it for us in America, but on Sunday Pastor Masitto pointed out that they no doubt had the Old Testament in mind for their celebration. God lays out for us in this Scripture how He wanted to be thanked: with our Hands and our Hearts. Giving of the firstfruits of the land that was harvested, and giving thanks verbally out of an overflowing heart. I will be bringing Green Beans to the Bennetts tonight for dinner, and maybe some cookies or a pie. As for my heart, well, I thought I'd share a few of the blessings that the Lord has given to me, and remember Him in thanks. 1. Probably ...

We were at the library checking out books yesterday and as we were leaving, the children's librarian said "Have a good Turkey Day!" I have heard this expression a lot and everytime I do, I think how sad it is that Thanksgiving has turned into merely Turkey Day for a lot of America. But it makes sense; those who don't know the Lord aren't really celebrating Thanksgiving. Who would they be thankful to ? I am rejoicing that God is real and that He is worthy to be praised and thanked for all that He is and all that He does. It's also a pointed reminder to me to share my knowledge of Christ with the lost, so that they too will have reason to be thankful and a proper Recipient to whom they can direct their thanks! In other news, Josh has been feeling a little under the weather lately. He came home Monday night with a fever, headache, and sore throat. I'm praying that whatever it is stays away from the rest of us, and that he will feel better soon.

Guess who forgot her camera? :( Nonetheless it was a great time of fellowship with our church family. I can say family because we really have become one over the last year. (That is what I would have said had I come up with the courage to stand up in front of everyone and give a testimony.) Victory has changed so much in the last year, all for the better! When our previous pastor left and our interim came in, it was like a new spirit was breathed into our church. There was life again, and people started loving each other again. I can't explain much more than that without going into the whole long story, but the best analogy I can give would be if you've ever seen the movie Pollyanna (I'm guessing the book would have the same effect too): There was a whole town being squashed by one person, and it took a girl with a positive outlook and the grace of God to turn it around and make them a family. Testimony after testimony was given last night, and it was great to hear the tha...

I haven't posted in almost a week, and I find when I let it go like that, I have too much to say and my thoughts are jumbled. So follow along if you can, I'll try to cover everything! The picture you see is another one of the ones we didn't choose for our Christmas photo. I think it's so cute! :) Our photos are ready to pick up at Sears, so I plan to do that this week. I'm excited, but I'd be even more so if I really LOVED the family shots we got. Trouble is, I don't. In years past, all our portraits have been waist-up shots, so it doesn't matter what we wear on our legs. Until this year. As usual, we wore whatever we wanted on the bottom (which meant jeans for me and shorts for Josh), only to discover that the man taking our pictures thought it would be really nice to get full-length shots of us all on the floor, and barefoot! This would be all well and good if we were all wearing khaki pants and had really nice tans, but since neither of those were the...

Do you ever have one of those days that just everything seems frustrating? Me too. Today I felt like I said, "Don't touch," "Stop fussing", "Not now," "Shh", "Be still," and "No!" about 1,000 times. Each. All day I've had a song running through my head: "Don't quit! There's a job to be done......Don't quit, weary Christian, don't quit!" Josh sings this often to me, and I have to say it at least puts a smile on my face. Lord, let tomorrow be better! :)

My good friend Carrie and her family are about to start deputation to be missionaries to New Zealand. They leave us Dec 30 this year, which is SO sad (and so happy!). Over the weekend they had a huge moving sale, and sold almost half of their belongings. We stopped by on Saturday and scored a few toys for Noah and hung out for a while. The two toys pictured are definitely the new favorites around here! The train is rarely put together, since Noah likes to drag it around and rearrange the blocks on it. And the airplane! A whole paragraph should be devoted to this cute toy. It's Rocking-Horse-Meets-Airplane and Noah drags that around so he can ride on it in the same room Josh and I are in. He LOVES it! He hasn't quite got the hang of how to push the buttons by himself (they're squishy buttons and you have to hit them just right), but riding it is second nature already. Watch him have fun on it in this video. As a bonus feature, at the end you'll get to see him use the sig...

Wednesday night after church (I can't believe I forgot to blog about this!) I went to the nursery to pick up Noah. Carrie Bennett was in there and pointed to me and asked him, "Who is that?" With a big smile on his face, Noah said "Mama". It took someone asking him, but he finally said it! Now I'm sure it won't be long before he says it over and over to get my attention. But I hope I never get sick of hearing it! Also on Wednesday, we went out as a family and got our annual Christmas photos taken at Sears. The pic above is one of the ones we didn't order, that's why I'm posting it. Over the next few weeks I'll post some of the others we didn't choose. Sorry, but you'll just have to wait til Christmas to see the ones we picked! We send them out with our Christmas letters and I'm not about to ruin the surprise. Not that you need to hold your breath waiting or anything, they're not THAT spectacular!

Hope those of you with the day off are having a fantastic day, and that those of you who don't have it off (like me, ha ha) are enjoying it too. I decided to get festive and dress Noah in camouflage pants, which happened to be the only ones he had clean, so I guess I can't take credit for his outfit! Laundry day, you know. Today we went to the Salvation Army to look for some more long-sleeved shirts and pants for Noah, since I have been coming up to Laundry day short on clothes for him lately. He has "enough" in that he has at least 7 outfits, but if he spills something on himself or plays in the mud while my back is turned, or or or... (the possibilities are endless with an active little boy) we run short. After the Salvation Army we went to the park to let off some steam, and then came home. Now Noah is down for his nap and I'm folding laundry, blogging, and cleaning house. Pretty typical day for us, but I hope each one of the veterans out there will have a spec...

The last time I nursed Noah was Oct 31, one week ago. Therefore I think it's safe to say Noah has been weaned! *Sniff* *Hooray!* I have mixed feelings, but mostly a sense of freedom that he doesn't need Me And Only Me at night time. Now, if I so choose, I can be out in the evenings and have Josh put Noah to bed with no worries. Like that's ever going to happen. But still, it *could*, and that's the important thing. For those interested (and I think I can safely say I've scared away any men reading this by now!), it was easier than I expected to wean Noah. I thought it would be difficult because Noah had begun asking to be nursed, and I couldn't think of an alternative that would be fuss-free. Finally I just decided to handle it the way I put him down for naps: I give him about 8oz of diluted juice, read him a few stories, and put him in bed. It's that simple. It works for naps, and now I'm happy to report it works at bedtime too. Since Oct 31 he has only...

It seems almost every day Noah learns to say a new word or convey a new idea. A few of the recent words are: Bug Choo-Choo Burr (it must be the season for them! He's constantly picking them up) Bus Daddy (FINALLY) For some reason he has an affinity for words that begin with B. Must be easy to say! Still waiting for him to say Mommy, but at the rate Noah's been acquiring words, we may not have to wait long! :)

After church on Sunday, the Bundys gave us this duck toy for Noah. As tired as he was in his post-church-haven't-eaten-lunch-yet-and-way-past-naptime state, he lit up and wanted to play with it. He even started quacking! Have you seen these? Apparently they have been around awhile, but I've never seen one. I think it's hilarious! It waddles JUST like a real duck, and it has kept Noah occupied much over the past day. Thanks, Mr and Mrs Bundy!

We went to the Dr today for Noah's 15 month check-up. He's now in the 60th percentile for height and 75th percentile for weight. He was 27.2 lbs and 31 1/2 inches tall. He's a pretty healthy little guy, and I'm so thankful his percentiles are averaging out. I think I've mentioned before, but I was SO worried he'd be big all his life when he came out of the womb in the 99th and 97th percentiles for weight and height! My friend Ruth asked in the comments section what signs I've taught Noah. Those would be (in order that I taught them and he picked them up): More, Please, All Done, Eat, and Thank You. These signs have served us pretty well, though there are plenty more I could use and don't. These are the ones that have cut down on the whining a LOT, since he's able to at least communicate these ideas. And the Thank You is just for common courtesy. Now that he's picking up words by mouth at a quicker rate, the need for signing should start...

This year for the time change, I decided to try a new strategy; instead of wait for the actual day and try to get Noah's inner time clock to abruptly add an hour, I worked with him all week long so today wouldn't come as such a shock. And I'll be honest. It was also so he wouldn't wake up at 6am this morning! Selfish much? :) Every day last week I began shifting Noah's bedtimes later by about 15 mins, so by the time we got to yesterday, his schedule was on track to change times. For the most part it worked!! Noah woke up this morning at 6:50am (7:50 old time), and adjusted much better throughout the rest of the day. You think I'm a little OCD about schedules? Maybe. But it sure makes life run smoother when the little kid isn't all out of whack and exhausted! :)

"If it's doubtful, don't do it", so goes the Patch the Pirate song on one of the many cds we have. I've been thinking about that in relation to Halloween "festivities" lately. On the one hand, I would love to be able to dress Noah up as some adorable creature (can you imagine him as, say, a lion or a puppy dog? I'd just eat him up!) and parade him around the neighborhood collecting candy from the neighbors. And who are we kidding here~at his age he wouldn't (or shouldn't) be able to eat all the candy by himself, so his loyal parents would just have to step in and help him out of his Pile-Of-Candy Dilemma... :) On the other hand, Halloween isn't rooted in innocence and full of Christian virtue. It's rather a dark (Satanic?), gruesome day and part of me wonders whether we as Christians should even dip our toes in participating in such a thing... Pastor Masitto has been preaching lately on Forming Convictions and Standards, and I...

Just wanted to record that Noah has learned a few new words this week: Bubbles Yuck All Gone (but it doesn't sound anything like the English version that you and I say; It sounds like "awee awee". Does it count as learning a word if no one else would understand it?) and he learned to sign "Thank you" which is always appreciated! If you count "All Gone", this brings his total to 10 verbal words/expressions, and about 5 signs. He can also tell you what sounds the following animals make: Dog, Cat, Pig, Cow, and Monkey. :) This verbal development is so exciting to me!

Three months ago we had our first date night since Noah was born, and last night was Date Night #2. I don't need to tell you it was wonderful! :) Again, there are no pictures except what is in my mind, but that's okay. The picture above is just for effect, and was taken on my birthday. Due to heavy traffic, we ditched the idea of getting back on the highway to go to Olive Garden, and instead ended up at the same place we went to last time: Perard's Italian. Daring soul that I am, I again had Chicken Parmigiana. Hey, it was good last time so I figured I'd go with a known. Josh had an Italian sub. And just like last time, it was heavenly to enjoy my hot food without cutting into teensy pieces and feeding it to someone else first. (Sidenote: When I was telling this to my mom this morning, she interjected, "But you wouldn't have it any other way, right?" Of course right! I wouldn't go back to the way things were without Noah. He adds so much to our lives t...

(looking for a lizard) Four years in Florida have really thinned out our blood! The past two days we've had a cold snap here. Nights in the upper 30's and 40's, and days in the very low 60's with cool breezes. In New Hampshire we would have counted these as some of the warmer days and gone without coats! :) I'm noticing though that my sissified self is pulling out the electric blanket, sweaters, and mittens with temperatures in the 60's. How far I've come! The photos are from today when Noah was playing outside. He doesn't seem to mind the "cold", except he really doesn't like long sleeves and pants restricting his movement. After months and months of shorts and tee shirts, I doubt he remembers ever wearing pants and sweatshirts before!

It's raining today. All day. Long day. No possibility of going outside. And outside is our relief from inside. When he's ransacked all he can ransack, I let Noah outside to play in the backyard while I pick up the pieces. But today? My house looks like a tornado went through here. Noah just went down for his nap, and I'm claiming a couple minutes of rest before I get up and make sense of the debris... In desperation for Something Productive To Do, I brought out the fingerpaints, which I had been saving for just such a rainy day as this (only I had hoped to wait until he was a little older, but oh well). After wondering for 15 seconds what would make a good smock, I just decided bare skin was the easiest to clean, so I took Noah's shirt off, set us up, and got ready to paint! Only he didn't like it! Not one bit. He went from sheer fear of the fingerpaint bottles (what is that about???) to confusion over the paints (am I supposed to eat them, mom?). He then progressed...

Sometime over the course of the last few years, strangers have quit calling me "Miss" and have moved straight to "Ma'am". I realized this today, after my third "Ma'am" of the day. All of a sudden I thought to myself, "HEY! I'm getting OLD!!!" My Sunday School class of 6-8 year-olds reiterated this fact to me as they were discussing the fact that they were all young. And I chimed in with, "and don't forget about me; I'm young too!" They stared at me. Stared. Any minute I thought one of them would twirl their finger in the air around their ear in the classic "crazy" sign. They thought their 28-year-old Sunday School teacher was nuts for thinking she was young too! Tell me I'm not nuts. 28 is still young...RIGHT? Not that being old is bad , it's the way it sneaks up on you that's unsettling. :)

As tired as I am, I'm sorry to say the text is going to be a little wimpy on this post. Just posting the couple pics I took at the park yesterday, and a video as well. For the video: I had been intending to film Noah throwing dirt in the air, which was what he was doing until I showed up with the camera. I decided to post it anyway, since Noah ends up stepping on something, and says "OW" very clearly. Thought you might like to see and hear that! :)

Holly, this one's for you! I was talking to my childhood best friend, Holly, the other night on the phone. After we caught up on our kids' lives, she said to me, "So what's new with you ?" And I tell you, my mind went blank. Blank . What's new with me? Hmmm..... I'll have to get back to you on that one! I spend so much of my time and energy on Josh and Noah that....well....what IS new with me anyway? So I decided to blog about that for a change. For starters, I'm really enjoying the Sunday School class I teach. It's first through third grade, and I now have 5 students (we've had 2 new families come recently and they seem like they'll be pretty faithful); Molly, Aria, AnnaMarie, Bryan, and Alex. They're a spirited group of kids and fun to learn with. This Fall quarter's theme has been Finding God Trustworthy, and we've been seeing in the lives of Bible characters how they trusted God even when it didn't necessarily make sense...

With more waking hours in the day for Noah, I was desperate for ideas of things to do with toddlers... (I should point out here that Noah actually sleeps as many hours in the day as he did before he dropped the morning nap, but he sleeps them all at once. This is a slightly mixed blessing! Sleeping them all in one chunk gives me time to do get all my "stuff" done in one fell swoop, and allows for more lengthy projects and tasks to be done~for example, I can now get all my laundry folded AND put away AND get the floor mopped, etc etc. BUT there are now fewer breaks in the day, which makes it harder to keep Noah occupied in those long stretches of time. I found myself going slightly batty those first couple days with no structure to the day.) SO without much delay, I came up with a new schedule to make allowance for one longer nap, and got to work brainstorming ideas of fun stuff to do with Noah. And it's funny, I think I'm having just as much fun as he is! Here is a sa...

Noah learned how to climb (or fall rather) out of his crib!!! Not even 15 months old yet! Anyway, thought you might like to know. :) The photo is of Noah and his friend Dinah in the church nursery yesterday.

This blog has been a blessing to me, as it gives me a way to remember my life as I know it. The challenges I face, the joys I experience, and being able to see in hindsight the Lord's leading hand. As I type this Noah is wailing in his bedroom, hopefully going to sleep soon. I've done everything I know to do for him and he just won't settle. So I left him. Sigh. I hate nights like this. This whole week has actually been rough at bedtime. The only thing I can figure is he's throwing a fit because he doesn't want to go to bed? Like I said, I do everything I know to do and (for the last 5 nights) he still screams as soon as I put him in there. This week Noah acquired two new words in his little vocabulary: "Juice" and "No". This brings the total to seven. He can now say the following words: hot no juice ow! uh-oh! motorcycle ball (There, he stopped crying. WHEW!! My blood pressure just went back down to normal.) :) Along with the newly...

When I was 5 years old, my mom and I lived with my brother and his family on Cape Cod. My memories from that time are fuzzy, but there are some things I remember with perfect clarity. Sledding with my nieces, building a snowman, riding our bikes down the hill on the way to the lake, playing in the basement, watching The Cosby Show, Play-dough. My brother's wife Cheryl used to make our play dough (and take us sledding, and play with us, and make us lunch, and settle our arguments, and and and....). For some reason I remember her making green play dough one time, and how it left a salty feel on our fingers. I could smell it too. This memory had been stuffed down in the basement of my memories until today, when for the first time, I made play dough. I had been compiling a list of things to do with Noah, and one suggestion was to play with play dough, and suddenly my childhood memories came bobbing back up to the surface of my mind. I suddenly needed to show Noah the joys of hom...

Josh and I have recently been discussing the role that heredity plays in our lives and Noah's... For instance, is my lifelong dislike of all drinks carbonated because my father didn't like them (he didn't, by the way) or because my mom didn't give me a whole lot of soda growing up? I mean, sure, you can point to various physical traits such as blue eyes or blonde hair and try to find the origin in your family tree, but what about personal preferences and dispositions? Hmmm... What brought this up was that we have discovered that Noah LOVES tomatoes, just like Josh does, but unlike me (I can take them or leave them). He also holds his mouth The Exact Same Way as Josh when he's concentrating on a fine motor skill. Add to that his love of anything with an engine, and you start to see that Noah is his daddy's son! How much of this is the Boy in him, how much is inherited from Josh (and me), and how much is just Noah's personality? Don't know, but it sure is ...

Noah's Morning Nap died today, October 7, 2008, after 14 months of faithful service. Cause of death: being no longer needed by Noah. It will be most missed by Noah's mother, who is deeply saddened by its loss and will hereafter have to find ways to squeeze in her housework some other time. Morning Nap is survived by its partner, Afternoon Nap, whom we all hope has a long and prosperous life ahead of it. Helpful hints and words of advice may be sent to the mother in lieu of flowers. Wait, what am I saying? Flowers are always appreciated too. :)