The name game

Now that we've found out our second child's gender, we have begun in earnest to search for his name. (Well, not every day in earnest. There are other things, like work, and dishes, and toddler snuggles, and prepping the nursery, which take plenty of time.) Like with our last little guy, this is not an easy process for us, although we did of course finally settle on a name we now love.

I have my favorites (Samuel and Luke) and so does my husband (Henry [Hank] and Walter). Unfortunately, they don't align. So we're attempting to find a name that we both truly like.

If you'd like to throw in your two cents, please vote at the poll I posted with some of the names we've discussed. We're open to more suggestions, too—maybe a name we haven't thought about yet will be just perfect for our new son. For the most part, we like classic-sounding names.

Someday, our name will come (just as long as it's before our second little prince comes!).

Stuck in time

Since I gave birth to Jack in 2009, I've been pretty delinquent about scrapbooking (as friends who are moms themselves warned me might happen). I've spent some substantial time on it during days and weekends with friends but overall haven't been consistent enough to stay even remotely up to date. Jack's scrapbook, in desperate need of more attention, has him at just a couple months old. That's not to mention the "regular" family albums, stuck in time at Christmas 2007.

Since my goal is to make one baby book for each child (equal rights!), I decided to finish his scrapbook before our new little one arrives in early June (at which point I think I will be thankful just to shower and survive each day—and make sure my children do the same). In the process, I hope to also get at least a little bit caught up on my family albums.

I plan to do six page layouts a week to chronicle Jack's earliest days. For some of you, this might seem silly, but since I am an extraordinarily slow scrapbooker, this is a good (but not too lofty) goal for me.

So here's to finishing Jack's baby book and getting ready to open a cute new book for a brand-new little boy!

Really? Two years?

Has it really been that long? It seems Jack has been in our hearts and lives forever.

Family photos just before Jack's second birthday were certainly, um, interesting. Lots of running around, pulling on the backdrop fabric, running behind the backdrop, and generally very little sitting still and actually smiling. It was just not the best day on earth for obedience. The photographer was sweet and patient and bribed him with cookies. So we have various photos in which he is obviously chewing, but at least he looked at the camera from time to time.

The company likes to print extras and try to convince you to buy them (which we never do) when you go pick up your order. It says something that the photographer said, "Oh, you can have just have these." Yikes.

Anyway, we are happy with them because we have something by which to remember our 2-year-old family of three (authentically, for sure) forever. And what fun would life be without a rambunctious little boy?

Life's a changin'

In the last several weeks, we've experienced two major changes in our little family. First, our baby boy became officially not a baby any more (sniff, sniff). He turned the big 2!

It's been great fun to see him develop physically, mentally and emotionally of late. He has learned how to save "Love you," and loves to give hugs and kisses. He'll come running at me and my husband full-speed, saying "[h]ug! [h]ug!" He's got his foibles for sure, but he's a sweet little boy. He says "Thank you" most of the time when he's given something, and he says "Hi" and offers a big grin to nearly anyone—especially to characters who look like they might be criminals in their free time. His vocabulary seems to expand daily; it's always fun to hear him say a new word he picked up on his own.

Celebrating with dirt cake. Shortly thereafter, he attempted to eat the candle.
That is, he took a huge bite of it before I had him spit it out.

Second, we moved. It was just a few blocks away, in the same town, but it was quite the experience! It was the first time we had moved as a family (when we married, I simply moved into my husband's home), and so we had plenty of stuff to sort through and toss. We ended up taking a very long time to move everything since we were under no pressure, and that made for some extra stress. But all in all, we're fairly settled now (except for a few last pesky boxes). And we are enjoying the perks of our new home.

The move came with a move to Jack's big-boy bed. He loved it—and we loved that he loved it.  Next up, potty training...

 Moving time! I told him we were moving his toys so he picked these up and headed out the door.

We are keeping busy celebrating others' life changes, too—graduations, a good friend's wedding, baby showers, birthdays. It's that season of the year when I'm reminded to be so thankful that life's a grand adventure!

Celebrate September

September might as well be called Celebratember in our family (except that would be a mouthful). It is filled with birthdays and all of the fun that comes with them. It kicks off with our oldest nephew's birthday, followed by our oldest niece. Another nephew, me, and my husband follow.

The month of celebration is especially nice after a summer during which two close family members left us to go to heaven. Lots of balloons and party hats and candles and smiling children can't help but bring a little joy.

The only slight wrinkle in the September bliss was my birthday. The celebration itself (over the weekend since I had a Sunday birthday) was lovely—a family trip to the zoo, eating out (for free!) at several favorite restaurants, dessert fondue with great girlfriends, cheesecake with family members, opening presents and cards—but it struck me as that birthday when I had to be grown up for good. Yep, I'm now 30.

I mentioned this to my husband. His response? I am pretty much already grown up if I am married and have a child. No turning back on this grown-up thing now, I guess. Still, it seems my 20s were still sort of "young." And it is when so many big, exciting things happened in my life—college graduation, the launching of my career, engagement, marriage, my son's birth, new friends. It feels to me as if that particular "young" chapter in my life is closed (which it is) and I am officially old (please don't snicker, people who are much older than me :-).

A few days after I turned 30, life seemed a whole lot less grim. I didn't feel really that old (although I do have plenty of gray hair). I felt like life was fresh with possibilities.

Exciting new things continue to happen in my life, regardless of my big birthday. My family is healthy and happy and wonderful. God is good and gracious and faithful, no matter how old I am. And that fills me with all the joy a 30-year-old heart can hold.

A downtown adventure

July and August are always great times to celebrate the love that my husband and I share. It was five years ago that we met and went on our first date, and four years ago that we were married.

This year, we had the luxury of an overnight stay downtown while Grandpa and Grandma kindly spent some quality time with Jack (and apparently, he didn't scream the whole time—screaming just for the joy of hearing the noise is an interesting habit he's adopted of late). To make it more of an adventure, we turned down the offer of my parent's car (let me interject that I really wanted to accept the offer, but it was more adventurous to ride public transportation I suppose).

We got kicked out of our first hotel (So sorry, a group came in last night and we overbooked) and stuck in another one a few blocks away. This is fine, because the first hotel footed the bill for the difference, which was about $140 (since we had originally booked on Priceline). Then we wandered around Granville Island, and ate dinner at a very fabulous steak place. The next day, we ate doughnuts for breakfast, had a pre-lunch at a Chipotle-type place called Steamroller (we split a burrito), strolled through Gastown and got a couple souvenir shirts for Jack, and then made our way through some very sordid streets to Chinatown in hopes of finding dim sum.

Although it was broad daylight (well, cloudy and raining and my husband got soaked because he was very chivalrous—and didn't want to get poked in the head—and let me have the umbrella all to myself) it was a little creepy and very sad to observe the lives of people who have nothing but destructive addictions. We walked right next to a rescue mission where, in an alcove on the other side of the street, a few people were huddled with big umbrellas doing drugs and shaking. Another woman on the corner was obviously very troubled and talked randomly to herself. Heartbreaking.

Arriving at Chinatown was no better, except for a soggy stroll through Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden. Standing on the not-so-desirable streets, we suddenly felt uncertain about which restaurant to choose for our lunch, part II. Then we stumbled upon some graffiti with these kind words: "Kill Whitey." Um, no lunch for us. We found the Sky Train, made our way back to my hometown, and visited a local mall in search of dim sum. We found Triple O's instead. Yum. By that time, we were all out of adventure and a good, old fashioned BC burger tasted just about perfect.

This may be the most adventurous date we've had. We laughed, we ate, we got wet, we ate some more, we walked miles, and we were so happy we married each other. And that's what really matters.

Me and the Gastown steam clock

One of our favorite wedding-day photos. I love my husband!

A wonderful Grandpa

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I lay down to sleep last night
All cozy in my bed
And as my mobile danced
I snuggled down my head.

Across town Grandpa sat down
To close his eyes a while
But instead of waking up like me
He woke up to Jesus’ smile.

To our wonderful father, father-in-law, and grandpa: We love you and we will miss you terribly.

Say "Awww"

My sister-in-law had her tiny little boy yesterday. He is simply perfect. And he has perfect, soft, black hair. Her and her husband have a beautiful family.

As we took turns holding him, my husband remarked that he couldn't quite remember Jack being that small. It was strange to think that just a year ago we had embarked on the world of parenting with a teeny bundle of our own. Now, he looks like a giant next to his newborn cousin.

It was also odd to peek into the very same hospital room where I had held my son for the first time and remember all the emotions and well wishes and, despite reading gobs and watching videos and attending childbirth classes, how extremely clueless I was about parenthood.

I think Jack seemed big at the time because he seemed like such a big deal. A big responsibility. A huge representation of change in our lives. He was placed in our arms for the next 18 years at least. We loved him more than we could express, but it was a bit overwhelming.

Now we're enjoying parenthood immensely and learning to take it one day at a time, and to enjoy little Jack's journey and our own.

And I have to admit holding the precious little guy made me think about making Jack a big brother someday.

Say "Ahhh"

While a kid with eight teeth hardly needs a dental cleaning, the staff at our dentist's office suggested bringing Jack in during my appointment for a quick peek at his pearly whites so he would be more familiar with the concept when he reappears for a real visit in a couple years.

He loves to say "ahhh" at home. Of course, he wouldn't do it for the dental hygienist. But she still managed to look inside his mouth with a little mirror and pronounce that everything looked good.

The best part for Jack was a new whale bath squirter from the treat box.

The worst part for me was that I let him play with a (clean) wipe in the waiting room (yes, I know, that wouldn't be among the criteria for the Mother of the Year award, but I didn't let him put it in his mouth and I knew it would keep him happy—for a few seconds at least). I saw the dental hygienist, flat on my back, and chatted with her as much as one can while propping one's mouth open, brought Jack in for his little visit, saw the dentist, and went out to the front desk to pay. Only then did I notice the large piece of wipe dangling from my shirt.

Lovely.

Money-Saving Monday: A bit too thrifty

This is not an inspirational account about how to save money. This is a simple tale of woe.

Since I had heard several people say they get really good deals by printing Internet coupons on more than one printer (you're limited to a certain number of coupons per printer, typically two), I thought it would be worth it to revive my printer. (Plus, I wouldn't have to bug my husband every time I wanted to print something at his computer.) I purchased a black ink cartridge for my eight-year-old machine, thinking I would try to spend minimal money to get it up and running. No go—the printer required a black and a color cartridge to work.

Begrudgingly, I purchased the color cartridge and took it home, where I printed a few signs for my little guy's recent birthday party. Other than a few hiccups I'd expect from older technology, everything worked beautifully.

Later, I tried to print just an ordinary black-and-white document. Um, no. Spaces in the wording made it pretty ugly. Oh well, I thought. At least I can use the color cartridge.

I printed a couple practice documents as I was preparing to print some wording for invitations I'm currently making. Great! It was good to go.

Until I tried to print the actual thing. A little red light went on, and it was very stubborn. It supposedly meant there was a paper jam but there was not even a shred of paper in it. I unplugged it and turned off my computer. When I turned the printer on, that lovely little light just stared at me. I looked up Epson's trouble-shooting site and tried all the tricks it recommended. At the end, it gave me a standardized message saying I needed to take it to get it repaired, but it probably wouldn't be worth the expense.

Thank you so much.

When I told my husband, exasperated, he inspired me with these words: "You know, you can probably get a new printer for $30." Excuse me. I paid far more than that for the ink cartridges, which I now have to throw out because they are for such an archaic machine.

I'm sure I'll get over it, but just wasting money totally annoys me.

So the moral of this story? Sometimes I can be too thrifty. And being too thrifty, ironically, can cost a great deal. I should have tossed the old printer instead of trying to resurrect it after four years of latency.

I haven't completely given up, though. And if I get it to work, I suppose thriftyness will triumph after all.

So blessed

Sometimes in the midst of life, I forget. Three poopy diapers and a crazy day of deadlines and worrying about family photos turning out and cleaning my house frantically kind of rolled in a like a fog today.

It's days like these at a frenetic pace that I feel trapped, as if I need to take a step back and really see life. And then life comes into focus again when, for example, my little munchkin falls asleep on my lap, and I take a bit of time to reflect.

And I think: Really, what am I doing? How did I get here? All of a sudden, here I am, all grown up. I've had my dream wedding, complete with poofy white dress and antique car. I've spent years with the man who God designed to be my mate—laughing, talking, traveling down the journey of life. Now I have a little boy just shy of a year old. I have a flexible job with a gracious employer that lets me be a mom and still keep my brain in gear and my skills polished. My husband has a flexible job with an outstanding employer (himself), allowing him to be an even more wonderful daddy to Jack. We take family walks or go to the park in the afternoon sometimes, just because we can.

Really, my life is bursting with blessings. And that is what I want to keep in the forefront of my mind, especially when the days seem overwhelming.

Thank you, God!

Almost one!

Before I had my little boy, I was astounded at how sentimental moms seemed when their daughters and sons were approaching their first birthdays. Now I am standing in their cute mommy shoes and I know exactly what they mean.

The other night Jack fell asleep in my arms and I just sat and stared at him for a long time, watching his tiny eyelashes and perfectly round cheeks and listening to his soft breathing. I want to hold on to moments like that and tuck them away forever. I never want to forget Jack's first-year baby months as he goes through potty training and preschool plays and spelling words and school sports and (gasp!) college. It's hard to believe that here they are, drawing to a close.

Jack, however, is not waxing sentimental. He's giggly and fun and crawling and cruising like crazy. He still loves to put most things in his mouth but he's learning more and more how to actually play with toys and keep himself amused for a time. It would be his dream come true to crawl into the dishwasher, but we don't let him.

He likes to eat still, but some days he's pickier than others. However, he has rarely turned down cheese, applesauce, apple juice, or yogurt. Veggies are a whole different matter.

So here's to one more month of official babyhood before the barnyard birthday and a dive into his own piece of cake signal that toddlerhood has officially arrived.

Money-Saving Monday: Shopping Around

I am not a money-saving expert by any means but I have tried in the last year or two to follow frugal blogs, clip coupons, and watch for deals.

However, I think I could do a lot better when it comes to groceries. Typically,  I grocery shop at one store (Wal-Mart) and use the coupons I have for the things I need (or can stock up on). I save $10 or $15 doing this. Lately, however, I've realized I can save a great deal more on our food budget.

Yesterday, we were having dinner guests so I ran to a nearby grocery store (City Market, a Kroger store) to pick up some last-minute items. While there, I noticed that there was a very good sale that included items we reguarly use: pasta, pasta sauce, and salad dressing. I ended up with 16 extra items, but the sale meant I saved about $30 on those items. I also noticed that that the price on Betty Crocker cake mix (for which I have a coupon) was cut to $1, and that Pantene shampoo, for which I have a $2 coupon, was $2.97. I will be headed back there, coupons in hand.

This inspired me to read fliers and visit other stores at least once in a while, instead of just assuming Wal-Mart has the lowest prices (it obviously doesn't). While it's a bit of a hassle, the savings might well be worth it!

Do you shop at various grocery stores or just one? What has worked best for you?

Life after cable

Before I married my husband, I had never had cable TV. My parents weren't that into TV; we didn't even have a television until I was almost a teen, and even then we used it mostly for watching movies. So when I lived on my own I didn't feel any need to fork over the fees for cable shows.

My husband has never not had cable, and so when we married he just kept his subscription and I enjoyed the luxury of watching TLC shows, NCIS reruns, and movies on demand.

Being parents had made us rethink some things—and I'm sure it will change our lives much more dramatically in the future. We opted to cancel cable TV. It's saving us a little bit, but mostly we cared about the character development of our little guy.

I'm not by any means saying you can't have hundreds of channels and raise kind, godly children. But for us, it was the best choice. We found ourselves watching shows with language and action that could be a detriment to Jack's little life—while he was in the room—and probably did nothing for us, either. Even commercials are pretty tasteless sometimes.

Anyway, this cutting off of cable came as a bit of a shock to the system when we were used to watching TV at night when we felt like doing nothing else, or in the morning to catch the news. The other day I came to the realization that the living room is pretty underutilized these days. It was an eye-opener to recognize that most of the time we spent there was consumed with TV.

In the past few days, we've rediscovered another item in the living room—our piano—and enjoyed making music as Jack pounds away at a few keys he's figured out how to reach. We didn't spend excessive time in front of the tube before, but we've been doing more reading, playing games, and talking. (Admittedly, we still watch a few favorite shows online—but that's also time we spend together since we make a point to do so rather than aimlessly channel surfing.)

We may head back to the land of cable someday. But for now, we like it here.

Yes, I still scrapbook

I have to admit that my scrapbooking goal (get caught up on my albums) did not so much get accomplished before Jack was born. My intentions were glorious, but all the moms who warned me that it was highly unlikely to happen were absolutely spot on. (Feel free to say, "Told you so!")

After Jack popped his little head into the world, I spent entirely too long making baby announcements (they weren't super fancy, but it just took a while); in fact, the last ones were sent when he was three months old. Then I made two mini albums for each set of Jack's grandparents that feature pictures of his grandparents holding him when he was fresh and new, and his one-month portraits.

Currently I'm working on one more project (a surprise for someone so I can't say). I hope to finish it this weekend.

And then, at long last, I will try to get caught up (currently, I'm on December of 2007) so I can get on top of Jack's baby book. My goal is to at least start on it by the time he is a year old—and I hope sooner (even if I'm not totally caught up on my other albums). I'll try again to use this blog as a form of accountability for myself so I won't sidestep my goal this time.

We shall see...

Pre-Dedication Disaster

We were nervous about Jack's baby dedication this past Sunday. My husband and I are not the type of people who relish standing on stage in front of the entire church, for one thing. And 3-1/2-month-olds don't exactly have predictable behavior.

My plan was to feed Jack right before church so he would be as happy as possible. This, however, also means he was as full as possible.

Unfortunately, he emptied himself a little right before we sauntered on stage—from both ends.

The dedication was to be after a set of worship songs. I purposely put a blanket between the baby and me so that my clothes would not be soaked if Jack had a bit of a blowout.

During one of the worship songs, I looked down and saw a large, brownish wet spot on one of Jack's legs. Oh, dear. I looked at my husband in a total panic. I could envision the pastor announcing the baby dedication and baby and mommy being nowhere to be found. I told him I had a spare pair of pants in the car, so I ran out of the church to get them. Fortunately, I ran into the pastor at that point and explained the emergency. He said I had time to change the diaper, so I went back into the church, got the baby, and headed for the bathroom. I nervously changed the diaper as fast as I could and put the clean jeans on him. Then I rushed back out into the sanctuary, relieved that the pastor was still in the middle of pre-dedication announcements.

My husband looked at me. "He threw up all over your shoulder and hair." Oh, dear, part two.

Frantically, we grabbed wipes and he mopped me up as best and as quickly as he could. I was wearing a black shirt so at least the wet spot didn't show too much.

Then we got on stage. The beautiful dedication message seemed far longer than it was as I glanced nervously about 101 times at the baby in the pastor's arms. He squirmed a couple times but never cried.

After church, it hit me. I should be thankful for the little pre-dedication disaster. After all, if Jack had waited just a few minutes longer for his performance, it would have been a public fiasco—on stage, in front of the entire congregation, in the pastor's arms.

Good thing God has a plan, even for the little things!

A mommy moment

For the first few days after we had Jack, I felt sort of like a long-term babysitter. In the back of my mind, I wasn't really a parent. Someone was going to show up any minute to take him home.

But last Wednesday, mommyhood couldn't have been more real.

We were on the way back from taking my parents—who stayed with us for a while and helped us so much—to the airport. We stopped at a store so my husband could get himself some shirts and I could feed the baby in the car. I spread out in the backseat and started changing Jack's diaper. I was just about done when a fountain—and I am not exaggerating—of baby, er, waste spurted all over, paying little heed to the cute little changing pad and landing on the seat and on my shirt and jeans. Another quickly followed.

Being the inexperienced mom that I am, I gasped in horror and called my husband to come out of the store and help.

Baby Jack, of course, took it all in stride. He just looked at me innocently, as if to say, "Hey, it's not my fault you took my diaper off."

Worth the wait

It's my first Mother's Day—sort of. Many people were very sweet and gave me warm wishes for the day. It's a bit of an odd feeling to be a mom, but not exactly.

Our baby, Jack, was technically due on Friday, but he's decided to wait a little while before making an appearance. So I halfway expected I would be a mom by today.

I suppose I am a mom, as I have a fully grown baby within me. But somehow it will all feel far more real when I can caress his tiny hands and feet, give him a little kiss, and study all of his features. I'm having a hard time being patient as I wait to meet him—to hold him, see what he looks like, and watch him grow.

Until then, a warm and loving Happy Mother's Day to my own precious mom and to all the other moms I know!

Just a few days!

It's so difficult to believe that in just a few days my husband and I will be parents. (The official due date is May 8.) I suppose technically we've been parents for almost nine months, but as my husband puts it, "I'm sure he's a lot easier to take care of in there than he will be out here."

The excitement of meeting our little boy—combined with the anticipation of labor—is almost overwhelming. I'm not sure whether to be overjoyed (I can't wait to hold baby Jack and kiss his little cheeks! Won't it be wonderful to see my husband be a dad!) or just completely panic (Our house is not quite organized for the baby! Will I be a good mom? What if we've forgotten to read up on some critical aspect of childcare?! And labor—yikes!).

Thankfully, the baby is coming soon, no matter how ready I do or do not feel. I am grateful that God is in control of our little family. Last night, some songs on the radio reminded me of how much I needed Him—at this time in my life, and always.

It's a comfort to know God picked us to be parents to Jack, and him to be our son. How honored we are to be blessed with such a beautiful miracle.

A new plan

It's time for a confession.

I was gung-ho about completing my outstanding scrapbook projects before my little boy's birth. Armed with a plan (and then, later, an accelerated plan), I was determined to snip and tape until my book was up to date.

Now, however, I am hopelessly behind. While I've worked on my album a bit here and there, I remain in November 2007. A busy work schedule, made worse by pregnancy-induced tiredness, has not been helpful. And my priorities have shifted away from stickers and ribbons to blankets and bears as my husband and I have shopped and prepared for our baby.

I'm a bit frustrated, because I want to be caught up on older photos so I can make a book of memories about my baby as he grows.

Enter: new plan.

I am resigning from my full-time job (although I hear motherhood can keep one quite busy, too!) about two weeks before the little one pokes his head into the world. If all goes well and I have the baby close to his due date, I will have several days of peace to focus on catch-up. If I'm not done when the baby is born (imagine that!), I'll work on his album alongside my photos of pre-child life with my husband.

Here's hoping my new plan works. Either way, I can't wait to take lots of photos of the little guy to treasure.