Remembering my Grandma

Some people have their wedding rehearsal dinners at big fancy restaurants. Dan and I had ours at my Grandma's house.

Lots of people have their child's first birthday celebration in their own home. Ian had (one of) his at my Grandma's house.

Christmas, Easter, New Years, Fish Frys, Barbecues, do you know where the family gathered? Yep, at Grandma's house.

And now, so suddenly, so unexpectedly, my Grandma is no longer at Grandma's house.

Instead, she is in a house far more grand, far more precious, and far more permanent than her earthly home.

Instead of being at Grandma's house, she is now in the Father's house, and that simple thought can make me smile even when I find myself misty-eyed.

She was one of a kind, was deeply loved, and will be greatly missed

Let the 15 minutes begin

Yesterday was the annual NICU Reunion at the hospital where Ian was born. While we were enjoying the festivities, we were interviewed by the local news. You can check it out here:

Video Link


P.S. Sorry for the external link. I didn't see the code on their site to embed the video on the page and I didn't feel like trying to figure it out.

I was robbed!

Stolen Item: A delicious panko breaded tilapia fish sandwich, served on a slightly toasted wheat bun, with homemade tarter sauce, a dab of ketchup, and a sliver of swiss cheese.

The prime suspect:


It all started off innocent enough, or so I thought. The person in the photo above joined me on the couch after waking from his afternoon nap. He looked at my beloved sandwich with a certain sparkle in his eye. In hindsight, that should have tipped me off immediately.
Anyway, after a few seconds of sitting quietly, he leaned in and as fast as lightning took a small bite out of my sandwich as I was still holding it.

But wait, there's more.

While I sat in shock, this little person seized the moment, and in one fell swoop took the entire sandwich out of my hands and began to chomp on it.

It was blatant thievery I tell ya...In my own household...On a Sunday!

2 years ago today...

When he was born, he immediately opened his eyes and began to look around. The doctors and nurses in the operating room were so surprised. Apparently, it is very rare for a baby born at 24 weeks gestation, a micro-preemie, to open their eyes; But that's my kiddo, he's very curious.

In the NICU, he quickly developed a reputation for being feisty. He pulled out his ventilator tube when he didn't feel like being intubated and put up a heck of a fight when it was time to have his diaper changed; But that's my kiddo, he is strong-willed.

Four weeks after his birth, when the docs discovered that our 2 pound son would need surgery, they were not very optimistic. They gently warned us that it was going to be tricky to operate on baby that was born so early, and that had been so sick. Surprisingly, (to the docs, not us, we knew we had tons of friends and family praying for us) the surgery was a breeze; But that's my kiddo, he's a fighter.

A few days ago, while walking him to his room for bed, he turned around so he could go give his Daddy another kiss on the cheek; That's my kiddo, he loves his Dad.

And last night, after several minutes of whining, I figured out that all he wanted to do was sit in my lap, read a book, and snuggle with me before bedtime; That's my kiddo, he sure knows how to put a smile on his Mom's face.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY IAN!!

Just Because

What do you get when you ask an almost 2 year old to put on his PJ's?

How can you tell when your toddler might be hungry?

Who loves to lie in the floor with his favorite blanket after a bath?

I guess it was bound to happen

Ian is sick.

Well, it's either a cold or really bad allergies. Either way he's not a happy camper these days.

It all started late last week when we noticed he had a slight cough. By Saturday night, his cough turned into this loud, persistent, sleep disturbing, highly congested hack, and we decided to take him to the doctor early Sunday morning (thank God for our after hours doctor's office).

Thankfully, his oxygen saturation levels are in the acceptable range, so right now we are on a medicinal cocktail of daily steroid treatments combined with frequent breathing treatments via nebulizer.

Seeing how last night was a rough one (he woke up practically every two hours crying and coughing, and also had a low grade fever ) we'll probably make a judgment call Thanksgiving day on whether we will still go out of town.

This is the first cold that Ian has had since we brought him home from the hospital, so I'm dealing with my fair share of "Mommy guilt". Dan is calm and collected as usual :-)

If you get a chance, please say a quick prayer of healing for Ian.

Did you miss me?

So for the past two months I have been completely buried at work. I'm talking late nights until 9pm, working weekends, 12 hour days, etc. It was rough. Anyway, we ended up hitting our deadline, and now I'm free! Since I haven't been posting all that much (yes, I know you all miss my 5 posts per month) I figured I would give a summary of a few things that I've been thinking about over the past couple of months.

-----

I've decided that Costco is a gift from God. I hate shopping, especially grocery shopping. You go to the store, pick up all the stuff you need, use it all up and what's your prize? You get to do it all again the following week. Not fun. But then, God saw fit to give us Costco. Now, instead of silently cursing because you forgot to pick up pasta for the spaghetti you planned to make for dinner *SURPRISE* Not only do you have pasta for tonight, you have 12 additional packages sitting in your pantry for whenever you need it. If this doesn't convince people that God exists, I don't know what will.


I'm sick of videos on news websites. Are people not allowed to read anymore? There's nothing more irritating than seeing an interesting headline, clicking the link to read the article, only to have Windows Media Player launch and then display

....buffering....

Then you have to sit through some ridiculously loud 15 second advertisement before you even get to the report. I'd rather read plain text any day.


I'm finding it increasingly difficult to toe the party line when it comes to Christianity. I'm a seeker; always have been, and I assume I always will be. I ask weird questions, and often come to unconventional conclusions. That's who I am and I accept that, but I find myself getting frustrated that I'm expected to conform to what "traditional Christianity" teaches. What happens if I just don't agree?


Hurricanes suck. 'Nuff said


Snopes exists for a reason. Use it BEFORE you forward me a message telling me Bill Gates wants to give me a million dollars. Actually, he doesn't want to give me a million dollars. Trust me.
On a similar note, don't forward me a feel good message that at the end says "send this to 575 people, including the person who sent it to you." Umm, no. I'm not going to do it. It's very rare that I ever forward those messages on to anyone, but I'm definitely not going to send it back to whomever sent it to me. Why would I do that? If you decide you want to read the message again, why not just go back to your inbox and re-read it?


If I hear one more person question Sarah Palin's ability to be Vice-President and raise a family, I'm going to scream. You do realize she's not a single parent, right? Why doesn't anyone ask how Barack Obama plans to raise his two young children if he were to become President?


I was saddened when Bernie Mac died. Two things I really enjoy in life are good music, and lots of laughter, and Bernie Mac had a gift for making me laugh until I cried.
"When a kid gets one-years-old, I believe you got the right to hit him in either the throat or the stomach. If you grown enough to talk back, you grown enough to get ****** up!"
Bernie Mac, The Original Kings of Comedy(2000)
Sure, it's a bit crude, but it's also hilarious.

46 things you probably didn't want to know about me

A friend of mine sent me a fun little quiz today, so I decided to answer via this blog. Feel free to add your answers to your own blog, but please let me know if you do. I want to read your answers as well.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Nope. As the story goes, I was supposed to be named Rachel, but about 3 days before I was born another family at our church had a little girl and named her Rachel, so my parents chose Melanie.
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Feb or March of this year. Ian had his first big fall -- Update: Answering question 17 made me shed a tear.
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? uh, sure
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Turkey
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Are you kidding me? Have you read any part of this blog?! (yes, I have a kid)
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Yes. I rock
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Refer to answer 5
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yep
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Nah. I'm more interested in skydiving
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Honey Nut Crunch
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Nope
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Yes
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Caramel Turtle Fudge - Blue Bell
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Eyebrows. Weird, I know.
15. RED OR PINK? Neither. It's all about blue and purple
16. WHAT DO YOU LIKE THE LEAST ABOUT YOURSELF? Nothing. I may not be what society perceives as perfection, but I'm exactly the person I need to be, at this moment in time, and at this stage in my life. That will always be true.
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? Preston and Paula - May you both rest in peace
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? NA
19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Gotcha! I'm wearing a skirt (blue jean), and the shoes are brown leather sandals
20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? A fish sandwich
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? My boss talking to my co-workers
22. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Violet
23. FAVORITE SMELLS? Vanilla, Newborns, New Car smell, Chocolate
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My mother
25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Yep, she's swell :)
26. FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH? Pro Basketball
27. HAIR COLOR? Brown
28. EYE COLOR? Brown
29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? I'm supposed to. I wear glasses when I drive though
30. FAVORITE FOOD? Not nearly enough time to address this question
31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy Endings
32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Sicko
33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Blue
34. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer
35. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs
36. FAVORITE DESSERT? Only one? Hmm...Probably peach cobbler
37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? NA
38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? NA
39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? Adventures in Missing the Point by Brian McLaren and Tony Campolo
40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSEPAD? Dell
41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT? I didn't watch an entire T.V show last night. I saw a little bit of Good Eats and Family Guy
42. FAVORITE SOUND? Laughter
43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Neither. Well, do you count The Grey Album?
44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Jamaica
45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Living life
46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Texas

We went swimming...Well, kinda

This past weekend, we packed up the little one and headed to Dan's hometown. The occasion was a surprise birthday party for my mother-in-law, and it was a lot of fun. It appears that Dan's mom was genuinely surprised, and the party went well. It was a good time to let her know just how special, loved, talented, giving, and inspirational she is, and I think she appreciated it.

Over the weekend, we also decided to take Ian "swimming" for the first time. I put swimming in quotation marks, because what we really did was turn down the temperature in my father-in-law's hot tub, put on our swimming trunks/suits and splashed around in the water. Ian seemed to enjoy himself though, and that's all that matters.

Here are a few pics

A year ago today...

On the afternoon of July 10, 2007, Dan and I brought Ian home for the very first time. After a 100+ day stay in the NICU, Ian was finally able to see his room for the first time. It is so amazing to think that an entire year has passed. I still remember all the emotions that were running through me that day. Excitement, fear, worry; and oh my, all the questions I had. How would we be able to keep up with Ian's medication schedule? Did I remember how to work the oxygen tank/concentrator, the apnea monitor, and the nebulizer for breathing treatments? How would I ever be able to sleep without fear of the apnea monitor going off?

But now, here we are a year removed, and Ian is healthy, happy, strong, and all is right with the world. It's also interesting to note that on today, the anniversary of Ian's homecoming, we also celebrate the fact that Ian is officially med free! That's right, this morning Ian took the final dose of his very last medication. Hurray!

In light of Ian's homecoming anniversary, and the end of his medications, we decided to celebrate. Nothing big, just the three of us, hanging out, eating spaghetti, and for dessert we decided to get some pie (yum!). I guess I passed down my love of chocolate, because Ian inhaled the chocolate cream pie. It's cute now, but we may have to nip this in the bud. There can't be two chocolate lovers in the house. It could make for some ugly fights when it gets down to the last piece of chocolate.

Anyway, all in all, it was a good day. I got to hang out with my men, eat some good food, and reflect on the past year. Yep, it was a good day indeed.

What a difference a year makes!

The "conversation" continues

Remember the email "conversation" that I previously had with my co-worker? Well, he sent me a follow-up email. The things touched on in his reply were:

• Follow-up to bad things happening to good people
• Christian faith that is rooted in the fear of Hell
• Christian leaders that don't welcome tough questions
• The many differences among Christian denominations

Below is the main portion of my reply. Some stuff has been edited out for privacy.


I know what you mean about coming up with a loss about some of the painful life experiences that we go through. There is one main experience that I’m at a bit of a loss about . . . The main thing I really took away from it was an opportunity to show love . . . I also wonder if maybe it’s not about what I need to learn (it's not all about me), but maybe there are lessons for others involved as well, or maybe someone else will be benefit from watching how I handled the difficult situations in my life. Maybe I can give hope to someone without spirituality or faith that we can make it through the rough times and come out OK in the end. I don't know. I just can't believe all of these things that happen in our lives, and the lives of people around us are completely pointless. I hope you understand, that I’m not trying to provide you with a specific answer as to why XXXXX's mom’s situation played out like it did, I’m just telling you about different thoughts that have run through my head and have given me the tiny bit of sanity and peace that I needed to carry on.

I think some churches do have that don’t ask mentality, and to just have faith, and that if you somehow question God, you are hell bound. I think part of that is due to the fact that clergymen/women of churches don't have the all the answers, and for so long it seems like Christianity has always been about knowing all the answers. I feel like we should be encouraged to ask the hard questions, listen to everyones perspective, and acknowledge that we just don't know it all. I’m trying to learn that I don’t need to have the answers to everything, but that I can sit back and go through the journey of life and just absorb and even enjoy the questions. It’s kind of how I view driving a car. I don’t understand the inner workings of a car. I’ve had people explain spark plugs, radiators, engines, distributer caps, and what not, but I don’t get it. I’ve just decided to focus on the stuff I do understand about cars (oil changes, air filters, tire pressure, alignments) and to enjoy the benefits of the car such as road trips, the music from the radio, air conditioning, and the basic getting from point A to point B.

I also am not a fan of what I’ve heard referred to as fire insurance salesman. These are the people that continually preach a "gospel" of hellfire and damnation. There is no doubt that fear can be a big motivator, but it seems at some point we should attempt overcome fear with love. I like the quote from the bible that says something to the effect of perfect love drives out fear, because fear is based on punishment. I think we've focused on punishment so much that we've forgotten what it means to love.

I once read somewhere that human beings are genetically 99% similar to one another (or some high percentage like that). That was amazing to me, because we (the general public) seem to focus on the 1% where we are different-Hair color, skin color, height, weight, etc. Then when you throw in societal factors like wealth and status, we end up dividing ourselves even more. It seems like this is what is going on in the current state of Christianity and religion as a whole. We are all so busy trying to identify how we are not like one another instead of celebrating the ways in which we are so very similar. I’m really guilty of this. I remember there was a time when I was trying to figure what phrase I should use for my religious identity because I didn’t want to use the word Christianity. I didn’t want people to confuse me with those ‘other’ type of Christians (other = Christians that I disagreed with on some points). I had to realize that all of these labels that we have constructed for ourselves can’t completely encompass all of a person’s individual beliefs. It may get you in the general neighborhood, but if someone wants to know what I’m about, or if I want to know what someone else is about, we just have to take the time to talk and get to know one another.

I have to say, these faith based conversations with my co-worker was most unexpected, but it's been very enlightening.

First time Grandparents = Temporary Insanity?

So we packed up and went to my hometown for Memorial Day weekend so that Ian could get some face time with my folks. A good time was had by all, but this past weekend confirmed what I already knew in my heart to be true. First time grandparents are crazy.

Seriously, they consider everything that Ian does, good or bad, to be cute and adorable.

I told them the electrical outlet story, and all they could say was "Oh, looks like you have a little engineer on your hands. He's so curious."

We were in church and Ian did not want to sit still. He was crawling in the pews, babbling and flirting with the woman sitting behind us, shouting periodically, just for fun (side note: Ian would so fit in at a charismatic church), and so I decided to do the responsible thing and take him to the nursery. All of a sudden I hear a woman that both looked and sounded like my mother say "No, don't take him out. He's fine. He's not bothering anyone." Are you kidding me? This lady must have been abducted by aliens because this is not my mother.

We went out to eat with my parents. Dan and I are starting to master the 'hurry up and eat before we run out of distractions and this kid goes completely insane' method of dining. My parents not so much. They are taking their time, savoring every bite, and when Ian starts screeching and banging on the table, again, just because it's fun, they giggle and say how cute it is. I look at them, and I can tell that in their twisted little minds, they think the only reason other people are looking in our direction is so that they can make a mental note of just how adorable Ian is.

I may need to have them committed.

Interesting "conversation" with co-worker

So last week my co-workers and I were chatting and somehow the conversation took a turn towards the age old question of why do bad things happen to good people. One of my co-workers began to reminisce about his partner's mom. She was a devout Catholic woman who became very ill in her last days on this earth and he and his partner were in agreement that it seemed so unfair. I think the exact statement was something like "She was a devoted Catholic, prayed to the Saints and all that stuff, and look at what it got her."

I gave a very short, trite statement about how I agreed the situation was unfortunate and even seemed unfair, but I thought the answer to that question, if there was one at all, was a multifaceted one. Anyway, we decided to end the conversation at that point because we had been discussing non work related stuff for a while, and it was time to get back to work. I couldn't get the conversation out of my head though, and I decided to jot down a few notes and turn it into a blog post a little later.

Well, imagine my surprise when I received an email from said co-worker going into a bit more detail of our conversation. Some of the issues covered in his email were:

• Why is it that people can be devoted to their faith and yet bad things still happen to them
• Televangelists that seem to be out only to make a buck/Christian hypocrisy
• Why Christians want everyone else to adhere to their moral code

My response to his email is below, minus the typos of course. Rather than create an entirely new post, I just decided to pull a portion of my email and let that serve as my post.


I can’t say I’ve never wondered the “Why do bad things happen to good people” question. What I’ve come to realize, is that I’m not qualified, nor am I at a place where I can answer that question. So instead my focus has shifted. Instead of asking “Why” I ask “What”. What can be learned from this situation? What good came out of this situation? What lesson did I learn that can be put into practice? What wisdom can I pass on to someone else that encounters something similar? When I started asking those questions, the “Why” wasn’t eliminated, or made any less painful, but my perspective changed. I began to see that not only can good come from bad, but I began to expect good to come out of bad situations.

I also think it boils down to what one expects from their faith. Some consider it a get out of jail free card for all “wrongdoings” and others consider it a lucky charm that should prevent bad stuff from happening to them. Me (and I know you didn’t ask me this), some of the things I expect are: a connection with my Creator (God, Allah, the Divine, the Universe, Mother Earth, or whatever other label you want to put on it), empowerment to become a better person, the power to experience and reflect love, peace/comfort when bad things do happen, and to help others, whether that help is through finances, advice, or just giving someone hope that everything will be ok. The reality I’ve learned, is that if I want to be a “better” person, most times I have to be put in a certain situation in order for that to come to fruition. For instance, if I want to be forgiving I have to have the opportunity to be screwed over. If I want to be patient, I have to have some sort of trying obstacle to overcome. If I want to be courageous, I have to be placed in a fearful situation and attempt to overcome it, etc….You get the point
That’s why I say, what appears to be a crappy situation on the surface, can have good. That doesn’t make the situation suck any less, but again, it changes the perspective.

As far as money grubbing televangelist, or other hypocrites (religious or not), I find their actions despicable, but at the same time I don’t think I am so different. Sure their actions may be different from mine, but the underlying issue I think is the same. Things like greed, dishonesty, jealousy, desire for power, fear, pride, wanting to be appear to be a good person without necessarily becoming a good person…these are all the same things I’m trying to eliminate from my internal makeup. It’s just that when I fail it may not be as apparent as it is with other people. I just figure, I’m not trying to use others as a measuring stick of how good or bad I am or should be. My goal is to be the absolute best me that I can be regardless of what others are doing because honestly, I can never have a true comparison. My absolute best may be a piece of cake to one person, and an unattainable goal to another, and I will never know which is which because I’m can’t be inside another person’s head. What I can do, is acknowledge I’m not perfect, and knowing that, not expect perfection from someone else. I also aim to encourage people to be the best person they can be, and ask them to encourage me to do the same. I don’t always succeed, but that’s my goal.

I agree with you that some Christians want to govern the way that other people live. I don’t agree. I think adults should be able to exert their free will, and do what they please as long as their actions do not infringe on another person’s rights. And while I may disagree with them, and plenty of other people, I still suspect that we are all more alike than we would like to think.


And there you have it. It's the best I could do to address some of his tough issues, but I'd be interested in other people's opinions on this stuff too.

March for Babies was a success

I'm late with the update, but the March of Dimes - March for Babies was a huge success. We asked our friends and families to sponsor us for the walk, and you guys pitched in and helped us raise over $1000. That is so awesome, and we thank you guys so much.

As for the walk itself, it was fun. The day started out cloudy, but that was a Ok, because we had a nice breeze and it wasn't too hot. We all showed up thinking we were in for a 5 mile walk like last year, but SURPRISE!! They decided to up it to 8 miles. We did the entire thing though, and had a great time doing it. Ian was a trooper. He stayed awake for 7 1/2 miles, but he drifted off at the last half mile. Here are a few pictures of the day.



Our NICU Graduate




The Guys - They're Manly Men

Paused to take a picture. Doesn't Ian look thrilled? (The picture is cutoff and I'm to tired to figure out why)


Oh, so sleepy

Jesus Freaks

I know you may be sick of my faith/Ian posts, but oh well, here's another one.

A few months back I was telling you about a international, inter-denominational bible study that I was apart of, and that we were reading the book of Matthew. Well, last night was the final night of that bible study, and it was referred to as "Share Night". Anyone that wanted to speak about how they had been helped, or what they learned by reading the book of Matthew, was encouraged to share. I went with to Share Night, with the intention of sitting back, listening to the comments, and absorbing the positive energy, if you will, but I did not have any intention of speaking.
I started the night just as I planned. It was amazing to hear all of these people talk about how reading a book of the bible, transformed their thinking, their behavior, and their lives. It was quite inspiring. About a quarter of the way through the evening, I began reflecting, generally, on the things that had helped me while reading the book of Matthew. When the night was about halfway done, I began to identify specific things from Matthew that I felt I'd been blessed by, and when the evening was nearing a close, I felt my hand raise in the air indicating I wanted to speak. Now, I don't know what I looked like on the outside, but on the inside....

<Internal Dialogue>

"What the hell am I doing? Maybe if I put my hand down right now she won't see me. Crap, she already saw me and is heading my way. What the hell am I going to say? Ugh, I'm in church, I probably shouldn't be saying thinking hell. Aww, whatever hell is a biblical term, why shouldn't I ..." (the microphone is now in my hand).

</Internal Dialogue>


Now honestly, I don't remember the exact phrasing of what I said since I free styled it, so what you will read here is not a regurgitation of what I said last night, but a detailed expression of the message that I was trying to get across, minus the tears (yes, there were tears).

******

The biggest thing that struck me about the book of Matthew was the power of faith. I'm not talking about faith in going to heaven after I die, but faith about the here and now. That when circumstances look their worst, I can know, trust, and believe that things will turn out, not just OK, but great. The reason I believe that to be true is because of Jesus. I read story after story, where Jesus said something to the effect of "Your faith has healed you", "You are blessed because of your faith", or "Your faith has saved you". The written words of Jesus made me believe that there is something very powerful in believing; something very powerful about the thoughts that I allow to enter my mind. He made me believe that when I prayed for Ian's healing, it was just a little more than lip service, if I didn't choose to believe that God not only could, but would do what I was asking. His words helped me to understand that there is something amazing about having other like-minded people praying, sending out positive energy, or whatever you want to call it, with the expectation of success. That was what I took away from Matthew.

******

Now I know someday there may be someone that stumbles across my blog that completely disagrees with what I'm saying, and as proof, can back it up with a painful story that will make me think about rejecting my previous paragraph. So whoever that is, all I can say is, I'm sorry. I don't pretend to understand, or imagine I can explain all of the ugliness and hardships in this world. I just want to propose that there is something undeniably powerful about the thing that we call faith.

Are you kidding me?

I guess the previous person that lived in our house had kids, because when we moved in there were a few baby-proofing mechanisms in place. One thing that was missing though was electrical outlet covers. Well, now that Ian is crawling, pulling up, and toying with the idea of cruising, he decided that electrical outlets looked like they would be great fun. Not to worry though, I immediately rushed out to the store and bought some outlet covers. Problem solved, right? Let's continue with the story, shall we?

Once the covers were in place, we put Ian back on the floor and let him have at it. He immediately crawled over to his favorite electrical outlet and noticed that something looked different. He looked at it for a few seconds, and then decided to ignore it.
Whoo hoo!! Success. Dan and I congratulated ourselves on being great parents and went on with our evening.

Fast forward to today. Dan, Ian and I were all hanging out in the living room. I needed to go into the kitchen and Dan was on the opposite side of the living room than Ian. No need to worry though, because the living room is a safe zone. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Ian eyeing his favorite electrical outlet. I chuckle to myself and say "You go ahead and try to get to that outlet little man. You may have forgotten, but we've taken care of that."

You see where this is going don't you? I continued doing my business in the kitchen, and all of a sudden I hear Dan say "Argh, No! How did you do that?". I go into the living room and what do I see? A bright eyed, curious Ian with an electrical outlet cover in his hand.

Uh, yeah. I think this kid is already smarter than me.

Had a great weekend

This weekend was great one. This was the weekend of the annual NICU reunion at the hospital where Ian was born. Kids that spent time in the NICU all come back to visit for food and fun. We had such a great time.
We got to see the nurses and doctors that took care of our kiddos and we also got to catch up with the parents of other kiddos that we bonded with over the months.
It was so amazing to see kids that were 5 years old, 10 year old, and even older. There was even a person that was had a stay in the NICU in 1979 that came back for a visit. All the NICU graduates are miracles in my book.

Below is a picture that I call "Moms and Micros". All of the babies below were micro-preemies, (born before or right at 26 weeks gestation) all born right around the same time, and all went home within a few weeks of one another. I have cried, ranted, and laughed with these lovely ladies, and it was so great to be able to hang out together with our healthy, happy, boys.

Well, I guess it's official. I am now a grown-up

Well if the marriage, the house, and the kid didn't convince me that I was an adult, this definitely does it.

Say hello to my new car. The family sedan.



That's right folks. I am now the proud owner of a 4-door vehicle. My former car, a sporty two door coupe named Tyson, became very ill a couple of weeks back and we decided that it was time to get a new vehicle.

Tyson was a great and loyal car. We had 10 years together. From college to moving to a new city, from marriage to parenthood, Tyson was right there along for the ride. He will be missed.

If you would, lets have a moment of silence for Tyson

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Although Tyson will be missed, I am enjoying my new vehicle. The problem is she (the car gives off a definite feminine vibe) doesn't have a name yet.

Any suggestions?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY IAN!

Yes, ladies and gents, today is the day. One year ago, on this very day, Ian was born.
I can't tell you how freaking excited I am. We've been so blessed to have him in our lives.

Dan and I woke up this morning and sang Happy Birthday to Ian, but tonight is when he will get to eat cake and open his toys. It will only be us 3, but it will still be fun. Ian had his birthday celebration with Dan's side of the family on Easter, and he will share a birthday celebration with his Uncle (my brother) next weekend.

There will be more pictures to come, but I figured I start you off with an Ian appetizer. This was after singing happy birthday to him this morning. Check out that bedhead

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As promised, here are a few more pictures of the big day.

Hope you had a happy Easter

I know we did. Ian had an appointment with his pulmonologist (lung doctor) on Good Friday, and he gave us the green light to turn Ian loose in the wild (ie. to attend large family gatherings). So what did we do? We packed up the car and headed to Dan's hometown.

Dan's family is big and there were tons of people that got to meet Ian for the first time. It was very exciting.
It was also exciting because Sunday was Dan's birthday. I won't tell you how old he is, but I will say that his age no longer begins with a 2. I'm sure he won't admit it, but I think the best birthday gift he received was to be able walk around his hometown with his little boy in tow.

Everyone got together at Dan's grandmother's house after church and they had a birthday cake for all of the March birthdays (Ian's birthday is in March as well). Everyone sang happy birthday, and Ian smashed his hand into the cake. It was great.

Here are a couple of pictures. **Note: I took a lot more pictures but there are other people in them, and I don't like to post pictures on the web of others when they haven't given me their permission.


I love, love, love this picture. Sometimes the candid shots come out better than the planned ones.


Dan and Ian playing in the hot tub at Ian's paw-paw's house.
We forgot our swimsuits, but next time we are all diving in.