My Ebenezer

My mom always told me that babies and children are smarter than we give them credit for. I believed her when she told me, but now I really believe her. :) Sometimes I am astounded at what Noah understands when I don't think he will. Some examples: I made the comment that something was in the garage the other day, and Noah made a beeline for the garage door and stood there expectantly staring at me! Today I said, "Mommy has to go get the mail. Do you want to come?" Noah headed straight for the front door and tried to open it. If he can manage to get his hands on the remote controls (we usually make every effort to keep them out of reach), he points them at the TV and presses buttons. I know these aren't examples of Rocket Scientist Behavior (ha ha Josh), but definitely he's smarter than I'm giving him credit for! Makes me wonder if I should be a little firmer about what I expect. If he can understand the above things, surely he could start putting his toys...

This means a friend with a blog (Ruth in this case) wants me to list 6 Random Facts about myself. I'm supposed to tag 6 other people, but really, all the people I know who have blogs have probably already been "tagged" themselves, so I'm just going to stop the cycle right here! :) I guess this segues nicely into Fact #1: 1. I am always the person that breaks any sort of Chain Letter. Chain recipe swaps, chain tea-towel swaps, anything where you have to Add Your Name To A List And Forward To A Bunch Of People And You Will Receive 88 Whatevers Back. Please. Don't send them to me! I'll save you the trouble: I have never participated in such things. :) 2. I like my milk Freezing Cold. I believe this to be a carry-over from a day care I went to which always had the milk on the table waiting for us when we got there, and was warm by the time I drank it. Gross! So nowadays, that milk has got to be icy cold or it gags me. Seriously, I put ice in my cereal...

I floated along for a couple days, reliving the "one enchanted evening" we had last Friday, but now we're back to reality, doing the dailies. Over the weekend we had a house guest, Will Martin, who is Matt Rowley's friend from college. He is planning to come to Jacksonville when Matt and Jen do to help start the church and was in the area looking for potential housing. He stayed with us the weekend and left today. This week our church is having VBS, but there wasn't going to be a nursery provided and that, combined with the fact that Josh has a hard time making it home by 6, let alone earlier to be able to eat dinner and make the 25 min drive to church in time for 6:15, meant that we wouldn't be able to help out this year. :( On Wednesday some photos should be ready for pick-up at Walmart. I don't think I mentioned on here that I took Noah to get his picture made for his One Year Birthday. I'm excited to see how they turned out. Next week my friend...

This post could get very sappy! Consider yourself warned. :) Josh and I had the opportunity to go out on a date tonight, just the two of us. "Heavenly" doesn't begin to describe it! Let me back up... It's our own fault that we haven't gone out before now. Several people in the church have offered on more than one occasion to watch Noah for us while we go out. Before now, I haven't wanted to "dump" him on anyone while we go out and "paint the town red". Plus, it's not like we don't like Noah! We love having him around! We never dread him keeping us company, and we aren't burdened by his presence. In light of these facts, it was easy to convince ourselves that we didn't need a night "off". The Hildebrands at church kept telling us we should go out by ourselves and let them watch Noah. The Bennetts (in case you two are reading this!) also offered the same thing. But finally it came down to Melissa Hildebrand looking ...

I found this (crumpled) page with Noah's footprints done at the hospital when he was born, and thought it would be neat to do an update now at one year old. The right footprint is a little darker and fatter than it should be because Noah stumbled a little while we were doing it. I think the doctor's scale is broken or SOMETHING! It said Noah weighs 23.1 lbs. Whatever! He's gotta be at least 28-30!! At least that's how heavy he feels to me when my arms are full and he's wiggling to get down. :) He's 30 1/2 inches tall and, if his weight is really accurate, he's well into the normal range for a baby his age. Phew! When he came into this world so big, I thought he'd be big his whole life. I pictured people assuming he was 5 when he was only 2 or something silly like that. I'm glad to know he's in the normal ranges and not in the 99th percentile anymore. :) Oh, and by the way, the screaming you may have heard this morning from your far corner of the...

The verdict is in.... A penny was swallowed, but the important thing is IT'S BACK where it belongs! Don't worry, we won't be spending it, ha ha! (lest any of you worry that it might make its way into your hands)! I have never been so jubilant over a found item before. Noah must have thought I'd lost my mind. Nope, just a penny, and Praise the Lord it has been found again! This is an answer to prayer, and I'm so thankful the Lord cares about the "little" things in life, the things we wouldn't dare mention in Prayer Meeting. :)

It all started with a penny. A simple penny that we think Noah swallowed on Thursday night at the mall. We're not exactly sure he swallowed it, because we didn't actually witness it, but here are the facts: 1. There were 2 pennies within Noah's reach (stupid on our part, granted, but nonetheless...). 2. We looked away for the briefest second. 3. When we looked back, there was one penny. 4. Josh fished around in Noah's mouth. 5. Noah coughed and gagged. 6. No penny. So, did he swallow it or not? All the sites online said if he did it *should* pass in a day or two and to keep our eyes out for it (guess where?). There haven't been any pennies appearing in Noah's diaper, and believe me I LOOKED. The thing is, all day yesterday and twice today he's had diarrhea. Is this related? Does he have a bug? Is the fact that he's teething causing this? Was it the birthday cake? I DON'T KNOW!!! I called the doctor yesterday after Disgusting Diaper ...

Um, there's frosting on my finger. Hmm, it's not half bad! It's actually pretty good! The photos are a little blurry because Noah didn't ever sit still! And here is the video of us singing to Noah. He didn't quite know what was going on. :) That's pretty much all the Birthday news we have. On to Year #2 in Noah's life, and we pray that this will be a great year for him and for us.

One year ago today I was in labor for 16 hours before the doctor finally announced, "C-section!" At 5:59pm on July 20, 2007, Noah Samuel was born to us weighing 10lb 4oz and measuring 21 1/2 inches long. What a happy moment that was, hearing him cry for the first time, and finally after the years of waiting and heartache, holding our son! Praise the Lord for His miracles and for granting us the desire to have a child! And such a happy one! Here is the year in pictures, one picture for every month:

Noah turns ONE tomorrow!!!! What was originally intended as a smallish party for Noah with a few friends turned into just a family party after our guests cancelled. Bummer! But we decided to party anyway, just a little more laid-back. We had originally invited the Bennetts and the Bundys, but Noah's birthday fell on the same weekend as Pastor Mike's ordination, so with all the Bennetts' family in town plus the busyness and stress of that event, they weren't going to make it. So then it was going to be the Bundys and us, but this morning the Bundys called and said they couldn't make it due to having to go get their grandkids today. Thankfully Josh, Noah, and I were able to make it, Ha ha! :) I made a Dump Truck birthday cake for Noah, hung up some balloons (which he LOVES by the way), and gave him a dump truck for his gift. We ended up spreading his celebration out over the whole day. At lunch we wore our party hats, and then for dinner we went out to Cracker Barrel...

My father's only sister, Lois, died last Friday. She had advanced cancer which was just found this year and had refused any treatments, so it was only a matter of time. I do not know if she was saved, for she always would emphatically affirm that she was, and that she was "trusting the Lord" as she told my mom shortly before she died. However, we just don't know for sure. I wish I could attend the funeral which will be this Friday, not necessarily for her sake since she won't be there, but more for my family's sake. I haven't seen some of them in quite some time, and even under circumstances like these, it would be wonderful to see them again. Instead, I'm making plans to go up north in August to visit my mom and sister, and see whoever we can get together. In the meantime I'll be praying for the funeral and those who will be in attendance.

It almost worked out that I could be in Pennsylvania today for my Mom's 74th birthday (more about that in post later), but then we decided it would be better if I went next month instead. I wish I could give you a hug in person, Mom! Wishing you a very Happy Birthday. Is it the hottest day of the year there? :)

I have to say, lately I feel as though I'm spinning my wheels in regards to housework. On my list of Things To Do, I have put simply, "A place for everything", meaning I need to find a place for everything and then work on keeping it there. This becomes difficult when you have a two-foot-tall wrecking ball following you around, determined to touch everything you touch and leave it worse off than when he found it. Yesterday for example, I must have picked up the dishtowels off the floor and hung them back on the oven handle about 65 times . Seriously. I gave up trying to fold the 4 loads of laundry I had done the day before, and finally just shut the laundry in the guest room until Noah went down for his nap. I'm glad I did! It took me over an hour to fold it all and put it away, and I can't imagine how long it would have taken had I tried to do it while Noah was awake. I get very frustrated when I look back over a day's events and remember being busy all ...

This was always one of my favorite columns in Reader's Digest, and I believe the principle is true. Nothing lifts the spirits like a good laugh. My niece Rachel and I spent almost our whole childhood keeping each other in stitches! Anyone who watched us grow up could attest to this fact. We were The Laughers, and even had a "theme song" jingle. If you haven't seen Mary Poppins lately, rewatch it and pay special attention to the tea-party-on-the-ceiling scene. Rachel and I used to laugh that much, maybe more. I've enjoyed exploring what makes Noah laugh and hearing the childish giggle. It's infectious and lightens whatever load we happen to be bearing. Tonight Noah fell and hit his tooth, and his gums started bleeding. My quick fix for this is to wrap an ice cube in a washcloth and let him suck on it. The cold helps the pain and bleeding to subside, and the novelty of an ice cube distracts him for a while. So after his fall, we were on the couch e...

I would appreciate prayers today. Feeling rather horrendous with this cold. Got a grand total of 2 hours of sleep last night, so I'm Tired, Sick, and Low On Patience. Not great things to be when you have a one-year-old running around your house who is also Tired, Sick, and Low On Patience. And he's not in a snuggling mood today.... COME HOME JOSH!!!!! That's all.

Being the kind soul that he is, Noah decided to share his cold with me! Thanks but no thanks. :) Around lunchtime I started noticing that I was not feeling well and it has just snowballed all day to where now the pair of us are quite the sight! Tissues, tissues everywhere! I think one of the worst features a cold has to offer is the perpetual mental fog it puts me in. Brain function slows waaayyy down and I just feel like one big nose walking around. Anyway.... The real reason I sat down to blog was the events that happened at dinner. Or rather, just before. Picture it: I had pork chops on the grill, and was finishing up the macaroni and cheese (Velveeta, Noah's favorite!! I figured since we were feeling poorly we might as well have some comfort food) when I heard a loud ceramic-sounding CRASH. Simultaneously Noah started WAILING. I turned around to see one of my corningware baking dishes shattered into about a zillion pieces with Noah laying on top of the mess. I picked him up and...

Yesterday morning when I was signing off to go get my little boy, I had no idea I'd find a sick little guy up there. :( His nose was all crusty and he had a fever and was CRANKY. I thought he might be teething, but now I'm not so sure. I think maybe he has a summer cold (or a "warm" as Zig Ziglar would say!). Even in this photo above you can tell he's just not himself. Poor guy! Yesterday we laid low most of the day, and today I'm just planning to stop by the Library to pick up some books they are holding for me. Other than that we're sticking close to home and trying to keep quiet. I'm giving Noah access to drinks all the time, and for dinner last night I made him some Chicken and Stars soup, which he really seemed to like. Also giving him Tylenol for his fever. One positive thing about him being sick: he tolerates snuggling a lot better! :)

Off and running when we first got to the park Climbing up the slide. Picking up a fresh pine cone. (Did you know pine cones are HEAVY before they disperse their seeds?) These photos are pretty characteristic of our time at the park these days. We go just about every day to give Noah a chance to burn some energy, for a change of scenery, and to meet other people (though many times when we go, we are the only people there). But this isn't really what I intended to post about! I have been listing in my mind some of the things I didn't know about parenting that I'm finding out now in parenting an almost-one-year-old (if you couldn't tell before, I'll get it all out in the open: I am a List Person). Here goes in no particular order: 1. If you want to enjoy your "own" food, best eat it when the child is asleep. If he is awake, you can ALWAYS count on sharing it. Doesn't matter if you are eating liver and onions: if the child sees you with food, he...

I'm talking about books; those dear old friends of mine that I haven't kept up with and, quite frankly, I had forgotten how much I enjoy their company. It has probably been 10 months or more since I read a book! Oh, I've read excerpts from both baby advice books and spiritual help books, but no books that called me with their intriguing titles from their cozy stacks in the library. None that drew me into the story, daring me to put them down, knowing all the while I wouldn't be able to. And the thrill of words placed just so on a page! The ability some authors have of drawing an idea with words so expressively it fits just right, like the last piece in a jigsaw puzzle. To me, there's the same satisfying little "click" when you come across a well-written phrase. I've missed it! Over this holiday weekend I've had my appetite whetted again for the thrill of a book, as I picked up a novel and have read it almost completely through. I find th...

So this is a day late, but that's okay! We had a good but quiet day celebrating the 4th. We didn't attend any fireworks because of how late they started, plus Noah isn't exactly a fan of loud noises. We went over to some friends' house and had dinner and then came home and went to bed. :) And just because I want to remember it, I'm going to write down the following incident which happened today: At 5:30am this morning Noah was crying, so I went in after it became apparent that he wasn't going to settle down by himself. He definitely had a reason to be upset! His foot was caught by the ankle in the slats of the crib, he was tangled in the blankets and couldn't get free, AND his diaper had leaked so he was soaking wet all up his left side. After freeing his trapped foot, changing his diaper and pj's, and getting his blanket for him, we rocked in our glider. He grabbed his blanket and wadded it up in a bunch and then....HUGGED it! It was so cute it...

Josh's brother Matt and his wife Jen had their sweet baby girl today! Brianne Ruth Rowley was born at 8:21am, July 3, 2008. She was 6lb 10oz and 19 3/4" long. A tiny thing! And very beautiful too! Congratulations, Matt and Jen! Welcome to parenthood! Can't wait to meet her in person.

I thought I'd put together a blog of Fun Facts so I can remember who Noah was at 11 months of age (I can't believe he's almost 1). I know of at least 30 different words and phrases that I know Noah understands He can say 2 words: Uh-Oh, and Ball He signs "more" and "please", but they are exactly the same sign as far as he's concerned! He can point to 3 body parts: Ear, Nose, and "Pee-pee" (Blush. I don't know how he picked up that one first!!!) He "reads" to himself. This is sooo cute! I've tried to get a video of it several times, but each time I try, he gets focused on the camera and stops. It really is priceless though! His favorite place to be at any given moment is Outside. If he even hears a door being opened, he does not walk~he RUNS toward it. He fusses when it's time to come in. As a result of this love of the outdoors, he usually has an assortment of bug bites on him. He makes car noises! He has a little dum...