Minivan Mama - Thanks to Papa

I pretty much always knew I'd wind up with a minivan. I just didn't know how much I would love it! The power sliding doors, the storage space, the extra seats, the height - I've never felt more like the target audience of a product.

Josh and I had been on the look-out for about a month when he found a great deal on a 2004 Odyssey in Miami. It was listed on eBay, but the auction closed without a winner. By email and phone, the seller (a Honda dealer) and Josh were able to reach an agreement.

My Dad--amazingly generous guy that he is--drove down to Miami the next day, picked up the van, and then drove it 900 miles north to us. Noah loves the van almost as much as I do, but he also loved having Papa Stewart visit (especially with pillows on his head).

A Weekend Away, A Night Out

Last weekend we took our first roadtrip in the minivan, and it was fantastic (not just the van but the trip too). We visited Grandma and Papa Denny, who were armed for our arrival with a singing Eeyore, cookware, a riding train, legos, a pool table, cookies, and two cats.

Then, Saturday night, Josh and I headed out for a 24-hour getaway at a "museum hotel" in downtown Louisville. Named 21C in honor of its 21st-century art collection, it's a very cosmopolitan, boutique-style hotel that beautifully incorporates contemporary design. Josh and I decided the featured art was universally and intentionally disturbing, but it added a fun, thought-provoking element to our night on the town.

That night included dinner at the hotel's restaurant, where we ate octopus, skate, and bison -- all totally delicious (impressive, considering how adventurous we were).

Of course, by noon on Sunday, I was itching to get back to Noah, though he was having a ball with his grandparents...

33" 21#

18 month check-up this week, and Noah's doing great! Doc said all the calories seem to be going toward height. He hasn't had a fever since...I can't remember when (last fall?), and he's perpetually happy, so we're thinking that's just fine.

She also commented on his excellent and varied communication skills. All day I hear, "Mama, Mama - [babble babble gibberish]" or "Mama, Mama - Dada? Dada?" Today, I counted 26 words that he says voluntarily and we both understand. And that's just the verbal communication that I can decipher. I still don't know what "hops" and "arsh" mean. But I knew exactly what he meant in the nursery a couple weeks ago when I picked up another little boy. He pointed at the boy, and then pointed at the floor...

I may live to regret it, but I love knowing what his opinions are! Today, he was all about his hat...

Escape from Big Oil

Last Wednesday night, Josh took Noah home from church. To celebrate my moment of freedom on my way home, I decided to stop at our usual Shell station to fill up the car and pick up some hot chocolate.

I blame it on the hot chocolate.

If I hadn't gone into the Daily Mart. If I hadn't poured my hot chocolate and talked to the cashier and thought about everything but pumping gas...maybe I would have remembered that I had been pumping gas, rather than just getting in the car and driving away.

Not that I got "away." I made it about 3 feet before I heard the jerk and clatter of a gas pump pulled beyond its limits. I got out to find the nozzle and hose, lying on the concrete. Humiliated, I went back in for another chat with the cashier, this time not about hot chocolate. She was very nice, said it happens all the time, and headed out the door with me to place an "Out of Service" sign.

I thought that was the end of it. But with my pregnancy-induced dreamlife, I revisted the incident in the wee hours of this morning. I was trying to buy gas again, but this time my card was declined and a neon sign above the pump said I owed $25,000 in damages. In my dream, I even thought I had a lawyer to call. It was really more of a nightmare - until I woke up, and Josh convinced me that the oil companies are not on my tail.

That - and several other nightmares of late - have reminded me of a line in Tim Keller's The Reason for God. He dreamed that his family died. When he woke, his "joy [in his family] had been greatly magnified by the nightmare." I'm not sure my joy in pumping gas will be greatly magnified next time, but my joy in being solvent is magnified by the glimpse of a $25,000 liability.

Keller thinks that's how heaven will be. "Every horrible thing that ever happened will not only be undone and repaired but will in some way make the eternal glory and joy even greater." Like waking from a nightmare.

My life does not feel like a nightmare, but I have enough of them in my sleep to appreciate the analogy...and the hope of things to come.

The Costco Mini-mini-marathon

As reported on this blog, Noah took his first steps six weeks ago. Since then, he's generally shown a strong loyalty to his one-legged crawl. If we stood him up and coaxed him, he'd walk to us, but that's it.

Then I had an epiphany. Whenever we go out, I carry him. So we implemented operation "walking practice." At the library, at the grocery store, at church. Assuming we have time to walk 1 mile/day, I hold his hand and let him walk next to me. He's SO cute walking that he inspires patience I didn't know I had. And he finds things of interest now that he's down out of the stroller/cart.

Such was the case during our last visit to Costco. First he played with the tags on the roll of outdoor carpet. Then, he realized the cart on which it sat moved. So he gave it a push. Through the check-out line. Past the concession stand. Out the front door. Across the parking lot and to our car.

It might have been the funniest thing I've ever seen. People would see the cart coming and look confused until they caught sight of the little engine that could. I snapped a few moments of video amidst my safety and steering duties. Take a look at our little dynamo.




Oh, and I should mention the practice seems to be working. Today during small group, he was walking voluntarily around the family room! Very exciting stuff. :)

17 months; 17 weeks

Noah's Favorite Words
Ash, Jash, Osh, or Dada = Josh
Mama = Mommy
hot = any pot, mug, oven, stove, steaming or bright object
tuck = truck or cup
dreps = "grapes" = very small round objects (today, jellybeans)
ball = round or nearly-round objects (including grapes)
dee = plane or airplane
no = no
da-dog = the dog (we think)
eee (high-pitched) = vacuuming

He's also fluent in non-verbal communication, like when he's chewing on a lemon...

Vomit-free Zone
Turned the corner on morning sickness at 14 weeks! Yahoo! Still pregnant (picky eater, restless sleeper, and intermittent nausea/fatigue), but no gagging! So great.

Utensils
Noah now likes to use a spoon, fork, and plate - none of which really facilitate eating, but they do make mealtimes more fun!

The Gender
Still changing my mind daily on whether we're going to find out. Partially hoping Josh will decide, partially afraid to let him decide. This really shouldn't be so difficult, should it?

Spring Fever
The weather in Nashville has been amazing all week - 60's and low 70's. So, we've been walking our neighborhood trails every day and finding ways to use our deck. Might be time to think about some patio furniture...

It's a chair, it's a horse, it's...Daddy!
In the meantime, Noah seems to think Josh is a lovely piece of indoor-outdoor furniture. I quite agree. :)

Speaking of Furniture
My amazing husband who works very hard all week and spends hours of fun with his family, also bought, built, exchanged, and re-built two bookcases for our office! For the first time since we moved, we can find our books and see the floor. Yahoo!

What Do You Know for Sure?

Oprah was once stumped by this question in an interview - and was embarassed that she was stumped. So she started working on it, and now--presumably--she knows. She also asks everyone she interviews.

She's not about to interview me, but it is a question I've been working to answer my whole life. Thankfully, God seems to have been working even harder to help me answer it. As I wrote in "Belief Creep," I'd gotten a bit lazy on the subject in recent years. But the last month has been really exciting.

As usual, God has been faithful to provide exactly what I need when I need it (whether I knew it or not). He's given me The Reason for God, Breaking Free, What's a Christian to Do with Harry Potter?, Romans, and 1 Samuel 1-3. I've had doubts, and he brought Tim Keller to my church. I've been complacent, and he brought Paige Benton Brown to my church. I've been confused, and he brought Dave Filson to my church. (Notice a trend?) Through my mentor and Bible study and radio and mother and husband... I've been amazed at the countless ways God keeps up the conversation.

And that conversation has reminded me of a few of the things I know for sure:

1. I don't like who I am when I'm distant from God (and trust me, neither do you).
2. My family and church community draw me closer to God.
3. I cannot be close to God if I'm not spending time alone in the Bible.
4. The Bible answers more questions than it raises.

These are not the things I set out to find, mind you. I was looking for whether hell is a literal lake of fire. But I'm seeing that there are layers of growth that have to happen before I'll be ready for that answer, if I even need that answer when I get to that point.

Discovery

I've given up trying to record all the special moments of a given week, but since Noah is happily sitting here sucking an orange, I'll tell you a little tale...

It all started when I was bringing in the groceries. I left a tantalizing bag of balls at the back door. My little explorer crept forward to examine. What a treasure. He poked. They rolled. No protest from Mama. Bright orange, plump, round, in netting - what could be more delightful?

He dragged them into the family room for further inspection. Lift one end of the bag. Lift the other end. Poke through the mesh holes. No exit. Hmm. Enter Mama, touching the bag. Pick it up, wrong end. Pick up other end, they roll out!

Dazzling. Pick one up. Squeeze. Turn it over. Squeeze again. Roll. Pick up. Sniff.

Aha!

Bite. Bite again. Smash into face. Hold up to Mama.

We moved to the high chair for surgery. I cut the ball in half. Wow. More orange, but juicy! I gave him individual pieces of innards, but he preferred the half, sucking and gnawing skin-and-all till I had to draw the line at bedtime.

Too bad one has to sleep when there are oranges in the world...

A Few Good Movies

I just finished re-watching Kenneth Brannagh's version of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, and it took me back to high school, when that was far-and-away my favorite movie (not to mention the crush I had on Kenneth). It is light, clever, passionate, and beautiful. If you haven't seen it, you really must.

Which reminds me that we've seen some good movies lately. I do use that accolade loosely. They are not all clean, not all profound, and not all new, but we enjoyed each for various reasons (and Josh and I did watch them all together, so they're not just chick flicks). Since I do my share of complaining about Hollywood, I figured I ought to give a little credit where it's due. Note: This is a random assortment I happened to see in the last few months, so keep your expectations low and you'll be happily surprised.

Dan in Real Life - true romantic comedy; great music

Baby Mama - Tina Fey on pregnancy, need I say more?

Slumdog Millionaire - fascinating

Paul Blart: Mall Cop - mindless fun

The Bucket List - if you don't like Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, don't bother (then again, who doesn't?)

Martian Child - think John Cusack in "About a Boy"

Fireproof - little cheesy, but worth seeing; great message

Reign Over Me - dark but sweet in its own way

Wild Hogs - goofy; William H. Macy was my favorite

Get Smart - funny only if you've seen too many Bond movies

Mad Money - goofy fun; great actresses

Once - slow but original; good music