My Ebenezer

We took Noah to McDonald's for lunch today and, being inspired by that conversation at the park yesterday, we got an ice cream cone. Noah loved it! We weren't surprised. Noah has seemed to like every food he's tried so far. (You can see a mosquito bite on his cheek. That had to be the Granddaddy of all mosquitos~it bit him almost 2 weeks ago, and there's still a red mark. Yikes!)

At the park today, I let Noah run around (in SHOES!!!) for a while. As I watched him, another family was packing up to leave, and I heard the following conversation: Mom: "Do you want to go to McDonald's after this and get some ice cream?" Little Girl: (ecstatically jumps up and down) "Oh YES! Ice cream!! Mom, can we pleeease go inside this time?" Little Boy: "Yes, Mommy pleeeease take us inside. I love it when we go inside!!" Mom: "Ok, I guess we can go inside." Little Kids: "YAAAAAAAYYYYYYY!!!!!" (more jumping up and down) I had to chuckle to myself, as I remember being the same way when I was little. I even remember a similar conversation between my brother Tom and me when I was a little child. He was visiting us, and offered to take me to McDonald's for lunch and I was elated. After jumping up and down like the little girl at the park and then asking my brother why he was not as excited, Tom said, "Jo there...

Let it be known that Noah hates shoes. Hates. Them. Any previous attempt we've made to make him wear shoes has failed. Like a little Houdini, he's out of them in no time at all. Maybe I waited too long to introduce them, or maybe he's simply like his mama, but either way Noah would always choose to be barefoot. However, like it or not, he's going to have to face the fact that Everybody wears shoes. You just can't avoid them. So in light of that... We have a bag full of hand-me-down shoes (mostly size 1-2, which he outgrew probably before he was born!), and I've been able to get a few other pairs at garage sales or on cheap clearance sales. I think I'm going to start making him wear them when he goes out in public to try to get used to them. Church tonight will probably be the test! I tried a pair of sneakers on him today, just to make sure they were the right size. He's in size 4 already!! Check out this video of him trying out the shoes: We're plann...

Visitation is one of those things with which I have a love/hate relationship! I love the opportunity to meet people and have a chance to witness to them, but I also hate to watch people shoo us away as though we were peddling something they don't need. I can imagine their thoughts as they come to the door or peer at us through their curtains, thinking we can't see them: "Oh no! Not another salesman/Jehovah's Witness/do-gooder!" Most of the people in the neighborhoods we visit fall into one of 3 categories: 1. Not Home 2. Home, But Want You To Think They're Not Home. 3. Not Interested This can get so discouraging!! Eagerly walk up to the front door, tract or brochure in hand. Ring bell. Wait. Wait. Put tract in door. Leave. or Eagerly walk up to the front door. Ring bell. Wait. Door opens a crack. Person peers out and answers our questions with the answers they think we want to hear, then says "thank you" without meaning it and shuts doo...

I went to get my hair cut yesterday. Went in with a picture of what I wanted. Came out with Something Entirely Different and spent way more than I usually spend. (I should have seen the $$ amount coming, since when I walked into this salon, which I hadn't been to in over 2 years, they had entirely remodeled~it looked like a spa in there!~and they offered me a complimentary beverage. My mouth fell open when I heard the total!) Still, in spite of all that, I really like the haircut anyway! It's definitely much much cooler for the summer, and easier to do every morning, which is so key! What do you think?

Today Noah learned to say "Uh-Oh!" Being so accustomed to hearing nothing but babbling and gibberish from him, it's so bizarre and just priceless to hear him say a word that actually makes sense and sounds like English! I've been dropping stuff all day just for the fun of hearing that little voice say "Uh-Oh!" And to let you all hear what I mean, I captured it on video! If you listen carefully, Noah says "Uh-oh" 3 times in the video. As a sidenote, I don't plan to keep coaxing him to say it. The coaxing was simply for the purpose of taking the video. Is anyone else surprised by the fact that Noah learned a silly word like "uh-oh" before a staple word like "mama" or "daddy"?

The last week or so has been extra-busy, so I think rather than work on several posts, I'll just try to recap the activities in one "swell foop" as my roommate used to say. Matt and Jen's Visit : Josh's brother Matt, and his wife Jen were here visiting this past week. Jen's family lives in south Florida, so they stopped through on their way to visit her folks and attend her final baby shower. Jen is due with their first child~a girl to be named Brianne~on July 10, and is in those final uncomfortable days of pregnancy. We had a great time with them! Matt and Josh spent a lot of time at a rehab property of Josh's, re-roofing the building. And when I say re-roofing, I mean exactly that. This building had been burned and the entire roof had to be ripped off, rebuilt, re-sheeted, and re-shingled. And did I mention it's averaging about 93 degrees here in the day with high humidity? Hats off to these two, who not only had that hot job, but also had to...

I'm warning you, if you have a weak stomach, this would be the blog to skip! I'm about to catalog some of the Very Gross Things I have found Noah eating and doing. I figured at some point it would be good to know what he has survived! Josh and I joke that Noah is either going to be a very healthy little boy or a very sickly little boy. Here goes (and keep in mind that the top 2 items were just today!): Eating Cat Food (see above picture. Don't ask me why we still have cat food and no cat. I don't know. But I got rid of the bag shortly after taking this photo.) Sucking on the Toilet Brush (!!!!!!!! there are no words adequate to express my disgust!) Eating Rabbit Droppings ("but, Mom, they look like little chocolates!") Sucking on the little cap that goes over the bolt that holds the toilet to the floor (I should say that mine are all clean now!) Licking shoe soles Splashing in the potty Picking through the trash can and eating what he finds (lint. used tissues...

I "stole" this picture from Carrie, but I don't think she minds. :) As much as I don't like to post about the weather~I think there are usually far more interesting things to talk about~, it is what is making headlines this week; namely, the HEAT. I thought we were hot the other day, but then I saw on the news that places far north of here were even hotter than we were! Strange. Unfortunately though, unlike everywhere else, I don't think Jacksonville is in the middle of a heat wave. No, this is just Summer As Usual here. So while the northern regions should slip back down to the 70's and 80's, we will likely stay in the 90's for the duration of the Summer (ie: until November). :) The biggest impact this weather is having on us is that I'm having to come up with more things to do inside. Noah and I usually take a mile-long walk every day (well, I do. Noah sits in the stroller). But lately it has been so hot, I've opted out. Today we did go, but...

Here is a video of Noah with 2 of the latest toys I brought home today from my adventures in Garage Saleing. When I set out to take the video, it was meant to be all about the lawn mower, but Noah got distracted so you'll get to see the tool bench I scored too. The total for both toys? $1.50. And let me tell you, the mower is already more than worth its price, since it has kept Noah occupied for an hour today! That is a lot to expect from a single toy. :) This morning Josh and I changed the oil in our car. Funny story: Every Single Time we change the oil, Josh invariably says, "Next time I am paying someone to do this! What is it, like 20 bucks? That's a deal!" I always have to laugh because he likes to save the money by doing it himself, but forgets how much he hates getting out the ramps and scooting under the car, getting covered with oil (hard to avoid), etc etc. Tonight we plan to go out to dinner to celebrate the sale of our house on Lord Taylor Dr. ...

Isn't this ADORABLE!?! Josh tends to sleep with his arms up over his head, and apparently Noah does too. :) Here's the background: Noah woke up crying Way Too Early at 6:30am, so instead of get up and start our day, I got him and brought him into bed with us so he could nurse and hopefully fall asleep again. It worked! After he was asleep, I went to get my Bible so I could have my devotions while I waited for him to wake up "for real". When I came back, this is the sight I found. Of course then I had to rush back out and find the camera. Who could resist??

I got another video of Noah walking today just to show some progress. He had a huge wipe-out at the beginning, but then got up and kept coming. He LOVES to get his hands on the camera and so was highly motivated to get to me. :)