I am often dry and brittle of heart. Here I lay out the kindling of my heart with strong and true things of God. What I can never do for myself, I pray God will do--to let the consuming fire fall and set my heart aflame with worship.
* Yesterday, Victor was sitting on the bed while I got dressed. I saw him scootching, rolling, and crawling toward the edge, so I came over and snagged a foot so he wouldn't get too close. Our comforter is pretty puffy, so neither one of us realized the edge was right there... until he was over the side, dangling by one ankle! (Apparently he's a bit of an adrenaline junkie, because he thought the whole thing was pretty great!)
* Victor has been working on teeth for at least 2 months now. He regularly chews on my chin (guess it's a convenient size and shape for a teething toy). But yesterday he decided to chew on my nose twice. A bit slimy.
* His new favorite thing is puffing his cheeks out like a blowfish and buzzing his lips. It kinda cracks him up, so even when he screaming on the changing table (during a disagreeable changing session), he'll stop and buzz his lips and kind of forget what he was mad about.
(Note 1: The reason for the unsnapped onesie was the big poopy diaper Daddy was about to change...
Note 2: You'll note that the spatula is only the secondary reason for the crawl. We're really after the stack of papers in the corner. Major paper fetish!)
Yesterday, Victor and I went on a nice walk. It was a beautiful day, but time got away from me. Victor started fussing, so I hustled back toward the van to take him home for a nap.
We were still a little way from the van when he pulled his hat off and dropped it. I shuffled around, put his sunglasses back on, and it wasn't until he was loaded back into his carseat that I realized the hat was missing.
He was hollering with gusto by that point, so I knew I was running out of time. I stopped briefly where I thought we had lost the hat, but I didn't see it and finally gave up and went home.
I was frustrated. With just a little stupid forgetfulness, I lost Victor's hat. Our little fair-skinned baby wouldn't fare well without his hat (we wear it at least twice a day for walks), but I knew I couldn't get back to the area to look around more for at least another day. It was gone.
While I drove, I prayed something spiritual like, Lord, I know that You CAN get the hat back for us, but I know You're not going to.
Such impressive faith.
I have been listening to a sermon series on prayer, and the theme that stuck out to me so far is that we talk to God as our Father.
I'm a mom now, and parent-child relationship with God means something like it never did before. When Victor wants something, I want to give it to him. It doesn't mean I'm going to give him my steak knife when he really, really wants it (even when he doesn't understand, I am looking out for his good). But as often as I can, I'll answer with a yes.
So I was convicted about my unbelief.
And this morning I found the hat smushed into the very bottom of the car seat.
* Meeting up with the Lasers at Grandma Vaupel's home. Driving home with Krista.
* Hearing about ice cream at Orange Leaf (though not partaking myself, per Victor's continued dairy dilemma).
Saturday (7/7)
* Listening to the Cedar Rapids municipal band at the farmer's market.
* Lori rolls in! Nice walk in the sunshine.
Sunday (7/8)
* Church at CVBC, encouraging message by Joel DeSousa on Genesis. * Ben surprised us by arriving just after lunch.
Monday (7/9)
* Uncle Kevin keeping the little squirt happy as a clam while we re-pack our stuff to head to the real vacation.
* The caravan departs for Epworth, IA and The Barn House... our home away from home for the week. * Kevin's first-of-many nights manning the grill (burgers. To be followed by chicken, brats/dogs, steaks, and pork steaks in subsequent evenings.) * Kicking off family devotions, a different person leading each night. The theme: animals.
Tuesday (7/10)
* Going to the grocery store. On vacation, this is not just an errand. It is a quest. An adventure. Sets the stage for a very wonderful week.
* Breaking out Dad's long-long-awaited Rack-o game.
* Victor's first vegetables: carrots (with rice cereal. Real delicious.) * (Victor slept great this night!)
Wednesday (7/11)
* Outing to Dubuque, fun bulk dry goods store, guys and kids got to take a cool elevator kind of thing up a huge hill.
* Ben's devotions on the bronze serpent and Jesus (with hand-drawn illustrations).
Thursday (7/12)
* The rest of the crew goes to swimming pool (Victor and I hang out at the barn with Grammy) * Nice long walk with Lori, Victor, Ben, Kevin, and Kate. Footballs and vine-swinging...
Friday (7/13)
* Trip to Target with Lasers, matching outfits for the kids for family photos. * Hudson and Ezra loving on Victor.
* Victor's Great Bath Challenge: including major poop explosion (and new talent for flipping over while changing), too-tight onesie impossible to remove (with aforementioned poop all up the back), peeing on the towel, spitting up in the bath water, impressive flipping/wrestling moves while trying to affix fresh diaper. A true triumph to complete. * Chocolate chip cookies and celebrating Father's Day with the whole clan
Saturday (7/14)
* Going to the farmer's market with Victor and Auntie Lori * Victor's bathtime with Grandad. Super much simpler than previous night (must have known he had an audience). * Brian's smoked grilled pork steaks and getting to sit with the family for the whole dinner (since we ate a little later and Victor was already down for bed) * Betsy's angel food cake and celebrating Grammy's birthday
Sunday (7/15)
* Fabulous coffee cake and celebrating Betsy's birthday in the morning * Family pics. Blood, sweat, and tears, but they are precious! (Full photo coming...)
It's our last full day of family vacation. This is the time when I always get sentimental and nostalgic.
I love my family and love spending time with them. I always look forward to vacation with a bittersweet anticipation.
Bitter because it always goes too quickly, and the times we're all together are few and far between.
Sweet because our vacations have so many wonderful times--devotions together, hysterical laughter, vast quantities of food, catching up with one another's lives, enjoying the outdoors, playing games, and generally savoring the chaos and fun of being together.
I know there are people who don't get to experience this kind of fellowship with their relatives. And I thank God for the tremendous blessing my family is, every single person.
Leaning toward the day when we won't have good-byes...
We are in the midst of a week of family vacation with the Anderson clan. What a super delight. Seeing our far-away cousins playing together and loving on Victor is such a gift.
Six months now, you have flipped our world upside down and brightened our days.
These days…
• You put most things in your mouth… including your fingers and (impressively enough) toes. Favorite items: blue lid to Cetaphil container, spoons, letters
• You have eaten one whole box of rice cereal. Like a champ, you munch down a bowl several times a day. It is a bit of an aerobic workout to maneuver the spoon into your mouth without your grabbing it and turning it into a slingshot for the aforementioned cereal. And so we have transitioned our daily aroma from spit-up to rice cereal.
• To eat your cereal, we normally sit you in your Bumbo seat. You have grown to the point that you have to get kinda wedged in, and when we pick you up, the seat comes with you. We think your rolls are real sweet.
• You’ve had some rough nights—it seems like some teeth are troubling you, since you chew on my chin like a dog on a bone. Some nights Tylenol has been our friend...
• You don’t crawl yet, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t mobile. In the past week or so, you have begun maneuvering yourself around, partly rolling, partly scooting.
• This means that you are starting to act like a toddler. In a matter of a day, you pulled the trash can over onto yourself, rolled your play mat sideways, and shuffled underneath your car seat.
• You and Daddy play peekaboo together. It’s real sweet.
Tuesday: Ben and I got to go out for a date! We went to the Black Forest Inn, a German restaurant. We shared a platter loaded with sausage, red cabbage, German potato salad, a homemade pretzel, sauerkraut, and French fries (ironically enough). Delightful.
Wednesday (4th of July): The Katterson clan converged upon the scene for a little family celebration. We had fun reading books, eating tacos, and combating the blistering heat in the pool.
Victor had his first experience in the super-sized bathtub... and he did well.
Thursday: Victor and I got to trek back to my old stomping grounds at 1604 Elliot Ave to have lunch with Grandma Nancy and Sarah, and her little guy David. We (women) were Steller dwellers for 4 years together, and it was delightful to connect again.
Friday: If the Lord wills, Victor and I will be heading off for Iowa in the morning! Ben joins us on Sunday after church, and we're all geared up for a week together with the Anderson clan. So excited!
Ben found an outfit tucked away that Victor just barely fits into. (Thus, the onesie dips a little low, rendering our fellow to look slightly like Elvis...)
I love Jesus poorly but want to love Him more. I am a wife, mother, sister, daughter, admin, and I want to spend my life on what counts. I hope you'll pray for me. The views and opinions expressed here are solely mine.
