Monday, February 11, 2008

Remember the Alamo!


(i.e., the big rock wall we're standing in front of)
Josh and Noah went with me on a business trip to San Antonio this past weekend. Not only was it Noah's first time in Texas, it was also his first time in an arena full of 15,000 women. I must say, he did great during his visit to the National Women of Faith conference (where I imagine he felt right at home around lots of mommies). And thank the Lord for his daddy, who cared for him the rest of the time. Josh looked a little shell-shocked when I got back from the conference Thursday night, but then who wouldn't after 5 hours in a dark room with an infant that does not want to go to bed?

Sunday, February 10, 2008

The Wandering Hand


I love nursing. I'm not a nursing nazi. I'm not saying everyone has to nurse. I just happen to really enjoy it. I love having regular time set aside every day when I get to be alone with Noah to look at him, pray over him, and think while he eats. I love feeling his sweet little body against mine, feeling my milk come in, and getting that restful sensation that I'm providing what he needs.

When he's nursing, Noah has the habit of waving his outside hand around -- straight up in the air, through my hair, around my chin, in my mouth, over his face -- pretty much anywhere... There's something so precious about seeing that adorable little hand with the dimple nuckles and supersoft skin touching me.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Daddies


Gentle, thoughtful, playful, curious, strong -- these characteristics have always made Josh a wonderful husband. Now, they are proving daily that he's a wonderful father as well. I keep bumping into books and radio programs that echo the importance of a father in a child's life. I cannot express how thankful I am that God gave Josh and me such amazing fathers and that he is now giving my child one as well.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

And the winner, by a bumper, is...

Well, the final counts are in. Those of you who know me (Josh) well may be able to predict what this post is about (and if you are still lost, the title gives a clue ;)). This was to be the year that Toyota overtook GM after 76 years as the number one auto company in the world (which, I might add, is longer than the average male life expectancy). Several weeks ago, Toyota released preliminary numbers: they were projecting annual sales of 9.37 million vehicles. GM was projecting 9.3 million. Early articles touted that mighty GM had fallen. The race was on...

As they reached the back stretch and crossed the finish line, the real totals were: GM 9.369 million, Toyota 9.366 million. GM was the victor by 3,000 cars worldwide - a mere 0.03%. (Both automakers grew from the previous year but Toyota grew faster.) In the US, it is still more lopsided, 24% to 16%. Ford, however, bit the dust as #2 in the US in December and January as it has continued to cut fleet sales (rentals, etc) and tries to make money. So far, however, GM retained its title in January 2008, though the good money would be on Toyota for this year due to strong growth in China (where it just recently entered the market) and continued US growth.

The first time GM took the lead their most popular car cost $545 (the chevy 9AE). It's been a while...

Friday, January 18, 2008

Health Matters


After our frightening experience with the gas leak, I thought we'd had our excitement for the month. But I forgot that life with a baby is always an adventure...

Two weeks ago, Noah started coughing - or should I say barking? His congestion was enough to get us both up through the night for a week. Then, he shared it with me. And since I can't take sudafed (b/c nursing), I discovered the only way I could breathe through my nose (and thus eat) was to exercise. So I spent this last week on our treadmill or hopping around the kitchen. Noah was highly amused, and I'm afraid his father may have caught me on video. But you don't know what a beautiful thing it is to breathe clearly until you can't.

By Thursday, we both seemed on the road to good health, until Noah woke Friday with a 100.5 fever. Thankfully, he's a happy guy who likes to snuggle, so we're riding this out and hoping he's just teething.

Last but not least, for the past 2 months, Noah has steadily been shifting his milk intake from daytime to nighttime -- a worrisome trend for any parent who prefers not to be nocturnal. At first, I blamed the upheaval of the holidays and illnesses, but his consistent refusal to eat more than 2.5oz or 4-5minutes at a time during the day taught me otherwise. I finally broke down and called the doctor when he went 3 days only eating 4-5oz. during the day (that's usually enough for 1 feeding, not 3).

I can't tell you my relief when she said this is just a phase. He's distracted during the day (eating is boring!) and makes up for it at night. He's also more efficient when nursing and dislikes bottles, so judging his intake by his bottle feeds probably isn't fair. Since he's a healthy weight (15lbs, 4oz), eating, peeing, pooping, and still smiling, she's not worried. According to her, it's ok to go ahead and feed him at night for now. If we can just make it to his 6 month birthday, then we can start solid foods (much more exciting) and he'll naturally shift back toward daytime. We'll see about that.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

I Didn't Do It!

And actually, he didn't! But this picture of Noah and his cousin was just too incriminating not to share.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

We have gas!

No, I'm not talking about Noah, Carolyn, or even myself (Josh). This time it was the house that ate a bunch of beans in the form of CH4 and HS gases.* When Carolyn came home from work, she could smell rotten eggs in the driveway from her car. Apparently, when our cleaning folks came they inadvertently had knocked the gas valve for the fireplace to "on" and it had filled the house. Carolyn called 911 and Noah got to see his first real fire trucks in front of our house. They put industrial strength blowers at our front door and opened all the windows. Since the smell was still fairly strong (and they recommended we not take Noah in our house for a while), we spent the night with Dave and Christina (Carolyn's brother and sister-in-law). Noah wore his fire-engine outfit in tribute. Since all our windows were open, I hid pillows under the sheets to make it look like someone was sleeping in the bed. :) We also managed to lose both sets of keys to one of our cars, so I'm reading about hot-wiring on the internet now - any tips out there?

Needless to say, we feel very blessed to still have a house and relatives in town to crash with at a moment's notice. A great reminder of how ephemeral all this "stuff of earth" really is, and how close our life could be to chaos and tragedy but by the grace of God.


*
This was one occasion I was very thankful for the addition of hydrogen sulfide since methane is odorless and explosive at concentrations above 5%.

Adventures in a Pandemic

Our area shut down one year ago, and it's best I didn't know how long it would last. Friends from Kansas were visiting and heard the...