Dear Victor

Dear Victor,

You delight us.  What a fun stage this is, 20-months... full of comedy and lumps on the head and snuggles and songs.

I couldn't begin to list out all the words you know.  Being a chatty kind of fellow, you just talk about whatever you see or whatever you happen to think about or whatever you like, all day long.

Commonly, when we sit to pray before naptime, you want us to pray for Hudson.  And Dell.  And Brian (an enthusiastic favorite).  Sometimes Betsy makes it in there. (Sorry, Bets.  I think it's just a hard name...)  You think with fondness of Toby.  And Pop-pop.  And Lucy.  You love Grammy and especially Grandad.  It's always a highlight to skype, especially if Grandad happens to be home from work.  (You talk about them so much, and I usually say, "Oh, how we love Grammy and Grandad!" So you started saying, "Oh... Grandad!")  Since we saw the Lasers last in Iowa, you often ask for Janessa or Silas when we're going to skype with Grammy.  When Momma gets off the phone with Auntie Lori, you talk about her the rest of the day.

You love, love, love going to the park.  Particularly, the slides.  When Daddy gets home from work, you may give him 30 seconds or so before you're grabbing his leg, looking up with big blue eyes and a curly-top, saying, "Down the sli-ide!  Down the sli-ide!"

Your duckie, donkey, and puppy have taken on all your favorite pastimes.  Now when you wake up, Daddy will tuck them under your blanket for a snooze.  Later, you'll prop them each up on the couch, and you give them each a book to read.  When duckie got dropped behind the toilet today (we won't ask how that happened), we decided he needed a bath in the washer.   As one who loves your bath, you were content to go a naptime without precious duckie for that nice bathtime for him.

You've begun breaking into song at various times during the day.  Your first little number was "Hep-py bir-tay to you, hep-py bir-tay to you, hep-py bir-tay to you..."  (You only know one line of most songs, so you just enthusiastically repeat until Mom or Dad jumps in with the rest.)  A couple days ago we were singing "Hallelu, hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah, praise ye the Lord!"  And a few minutes later, I heard you making your own little song combo with, "Hal-le-lu-jah to you, hal-le-lu-jah to you, hal-le-lu-jah to you..."

Other favorites: "So big, so mighty, so big, so mighty..." (from "My God is so big, so strong and so mighty...").  And "Jesus Loves Me," from which you know several different parts, so sometimes we hear "Yes, Je-s loves me..." or "lit-tle ones ..." and sometimes "For the Bi-ble!" 

You had a cold a few weeks ago, after which you would say "Bless you!" whenever you or someone else sneezed, blew his nose, or coughed.  Also, each time you sneezed, you would tell Mommy, "Clean up..." (I think that's what you thought we were saying when we talked about "kleenex.")

You are growing in some little courtesies, like saying "please" when you want something and "thank you" when you get something and "excuse me" when you burp.

You have good eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills--you're building some pretty big towers these days, you can dig with your little shovel and put the sand into a bucket, and you like chunky puzzles or putting shapes in the shape sorter.

You have a curious fascination with sirens and flashing lights (you call them beep-beep lights), and daily, we find the beep-beep trucks in your Richard Scarry books.  Whenever an emergency vehicle goes by, you come and grab my hand and say, "Pray!" so we can pray for God to help them and give them grace wherever they are going.  (This all began one day when the weather sirens were being tested while you were outside.  It was a little creepy, hearing those sirens so loud, like they were right on top of you.  And ever since, we've been slightly scared but very, very fascinated by sirens and flashing lights of all types.)  When we were at Miss Sarah and David's house last week, David had a little toy fire truck that made a siren when you pushed a button, and you came right over and grabbed my hand so we could pray...

You are a good eater, still pretty happy to eat whatever's put in front of youj.  But if you could pick what you eat everyday, it would be grapes and cheese.  (With a treat to finish it off.)

You're starting to count.  Normally, it goes "2, 4, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8..."  Every now and then you'll get 9 and 10 in there too.  

You've begun waving hi and bye to various things.  When we go out for a walk, it's "Bye, books!  Bye, duckie!  Be good!"  The funniest was when I was cleaning the bathroom, and you saw a little splatter of water on the toilet.  You said, "Wet."  And I said, "Yep, there's a little water there.  Come on, now we need to go to the store."  So you gave your little wrist wave, and said, "Bye-bye, water!"

You love going to church.  When we start talking about it (Saturday night), you get so excited to see Grandpa David and Emmett and the babies (i.e. anyone under 18) and sing and pray.  We bring you in with us to worship for the singing, and then you are very happy to go to your class for the rest of the service and Sunday school hour.

And one of our favorite things, when we're saying good-night or Daddy is leaving for work, is that we say, "I love you," and you say, "Ah love you too-o!"

We love who God is making you to be, little buddy.  We pray that your little awareness of things bigger than yourself will grow and blossom into full-fledged love for Jesus and trust in all He's done for you.  

You melt our hearts.  You are our favorite small boy.

Love,
Momma and Daddy

First S'mores

He was really more interested in the slide than the s'mores.... But such a fun time anyway!

Favorite Recipe: Recent Baking Winner

I'll be honest.  I'm not doing so much baking these days.  So it's a testimony to the ease of this recipe that I have made them not once but twice since pregnant.  The first time, I rolled the dough quite thin, like I was making cinnamon rolls, and the recipe made about 2 dozen.  But after baking 20 min, they were very, very, very done on the bottom and totally crunchy.  Which Ben loved.

But it wasn't what I was aiming for.  So the second time (last night), I left the dough pretty thick, and I cut the breadsticks pretty thick, and I only made 8 breadsticks.  And they turned out chewy and tender and absolutely delightful.  And Ben was a little disappointed (but he's a good sport and still said, after a bite, that they were so good he could no longer speak).

So, make them as your heart desires. 

Category: Easy Baked Good
Winner: Breadtwists

Breadtwists

1½ cups warm water
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. yeast

Let that sit for 5 minutes.

Then add: 3½ cups flour
 1 tsp Salt

Mix until smooth then let raise for 10 minutes. Roll out dough into a large square on a floured surface. Brush with melted (real) butter mixed with minced garlic and then sprinkle with kosher salt. Fold in half and cut into 1 inch strips. Twist and place on a cooking sheet. Let sit for 15 to 20 minutes to raise. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately after baking, brush with more garlic butter and sprinkle with kosher salt and grated parmesan cheese.

Makes 8-10 big breadsticks or 2 dozen thin and crunchy breadsticks

Hi, Baby

We've made it 13 weeks down the road, and I confess that pregnancy remains one of the most challenging things I've done (if it counts as "doing").

Yet, some of the sweet little gifts of this journey are the evidences of life we get along the way.  (I confess that sometimes I get this muddled, ugly feeling that I'm not really pregnant, just sick with something that is not ever going away...)

Our first little glimpse of Baby #2, from 3 weeks ago...

And here we are from this morning... sitting up straight, even standing up for a little bit. 

Hi, little sweetie!  You seem to be growing great and it's just amazing to see.  You are a precious little person, tucked away in there, making Momma feel crummy.  We love you and love seeing your little hands wiggling around your face, your spine stretching straight down your back, your little feet crossed at the ankle, enjoying your snug little home for some more months.  And we pray that God will continue to shelter you and do His perfect knitting together until the day we get to meet you face to face.  How many more dreams and prayers we have for you, little one, and we can't wait to see what God has in store.

Sunday Mornings

Ah, yes.  Do not be fooled, we are all there...

Our Happy Birthday News

It was 32 years ago yesterday that my dark, quiet, warm world exploded into the loud, bright, colorful realm of life on earth.

I had no comprehension of the joy, pain, sweetness, and grace that would meet me on this road.

Wonderful family.  The gospel.  Cancer.  Bible studies.  Sweet church family.  College.  Work at Bethlehem.  Marriage to Benjamin.  Little spunky, cheerful Victor.  Seminary life. 

And that kind of brings us up to today ...

... and the wonderful gift of one more little Katterson on the way, Lord willing to break into this world somewhere near the end of March 2014.

Little one, I do not know what your days will hold.  I pray that God will shelter you from harm and fill your story with hope and mercy and favor.  I pray that the blood of Jesus will cover your broken, sinful heart and that you will never know a day when you don't love the sweet grace of His gospel.  And for the hard days, the heartbreaks, the messes, the mistakes, I pray that I can kiss away some of the ouches and that God will overshadow all the rest with His everlasting arms of comfort and help.  We love you already.

Every good thing given, and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. - James 1:17

Catch-up Videos

And some videos from the summer (meant to post these quite some time ago...):





Calisthenics with Dad






Tickle attack

Tickle Kisses

Tonight was Daddy on a rampage, sneaking up on Victor and giving him tickle kisses.  Victor loved it and kept telling him, "Tickle!  Tickle!"

One such attack...