It's been a long time coming

It's official. I'm going on a blogger sabbatical. I just need a break. I've reached the point where I'm blogging to keep people happy rather than because I want to. It's not right. It's never what I intended this to be. I honestly haven't enjoyed blogging lately. I'll check in every now and then, but it won't be my homepage when I open up the Internet for the time being. I might post from time to time, but I will feel no obligation to post. For how long? Don't know. We'll just see how long it takes to start missing it.

Until then. . . .

The Christmas Pics

As I've said a few times lately, there's not much to see in the way of pictures. We took mostly video and I have yet to get around to messing with editing that. Honestly, could be a couple of months since it's all new to me.

Don't make me scream . . .

Tori says, "update your darn blog."

Here you go, Tori.

For the second time in less than a weeks time, Nate has had a complete meltdown over the silliest things. I'm not trying to say that things which he finds important are silly, but really neither occasion warranted a meltdown. Both consisted of 30 straight, seriously no break, minutes of crying. Hard. Sobbing. Tearful. Crying. Kleenexes required for cleanup crying. Oh my! The first time he had gotten a hold of a book he's to young for. He had actually ripped it, and I put it up in his closet and shut the door. He reopened it and stood there crying for 30 minutes without moving a millimeter. I think I eventually bribed him with a movie to get him to stop. Today was even more ridiculous. He woke up from his nap, and I put his jeans on him. (He can't wear pants at nap because we go through too many pairs that way due to leaky diapers. Brand of diaper doesn't make a difference either. If my son could attach himself to the faucet and continually drink, he would!) The meltdown began. Here we go again. I really didn't think I should take the pants off. He needed to wear more than a t-shirt especially because it's winter. I stood my ground, and he kept crying. I tried cuddling him; he pushed away. I tried giving him a drink; he'd never refuse that. Wrong. It got chucked across the room; yes, we have attitude when upset. I tried turning on the TV; not interested. A book; no, those are all over the living room floor now. Finally I just walked away for a while. I came back after about 10 minutes with Kleenex in hand and an offer of snack. It worked. Kinda. He's still fussy and still throwing his cup, but at least it's not continually screaming.

Terrible twos here we come?????

rodger that houston

It's amazing how guilty I feel when I don't get around to blogging. I've really been quite busy since getting back in town, and blogging just wasn't at the top of my to do list. Now that the Christmas tree is down and there are just a few lingering decorations, I feel much better about sitting down to blog.



I know I still need to blog about our Christmas, but that's not happening yet. I took very few pictures since we were given a video camera and I still haven't messed with getting it onto the computer to edit. I will get back to it.



I'll go ahead to share about our trip to Houston. The best thing you can do when you're sick of another cold and windy midwest winter is fly to Houston. Although it was 32 when we got there, that was quickly gone. Most of the time we were there it was in the 70s and quite humid. I'll take the humidity if it means warm weather (I grew up in the south, I can handle it). Our first few days were spent at the JW Marriott across from the Galleria. Brad attended a conference and Nate and I enjoyed time together. The Galleria seemed 10x bigger than our Galleria in St. Louis. They had a ton of kids shops I'd never heard of before. It was a good thing Christmas bills were on my mind otherwise, I might have spent a lot of money. We got together with the Lytles each evening when Brad was done. After the conference was over, we stayed a couple of days at their house to enjoy more time with them. We spent an afternoon at Nasa, which was different from how I remembered it as a kid. It was hard to do too much since we were dealing with 3 nap schedules. Our last day there, we drove out to an outlet mall and did some more shopping. I'm sure there was a ton more that Houston had to offer for site seeing, but we really enjoyed getting to catch up with Aaron and Sara. Nate was a trooper, but we realized a day into being there, he was ready for some normalcy of being home.



We have no trips planned for the coming months. It's kind of nice to know we just get to be home.



I took quite a few pictures, but for some reason, most turned out blurry. I'll share a few that I do have:

Did you know Mom will let you jump and rough house as much as you want on a hotel bed?

A bit of friendly competition never hurt anyone.

Nate, Bri, and Zach really enjoyed playing around the inside of the space shuttle. (If only they hadn't covered all the switches and dials.)

Seeing the real shuttle on it's side, is one of the things I remember from being a kid. I was a bit thrown off at first because they did a huge preservation effort and it now has a huge metal building around it. (Still just as impressive though.)

Nate absolutely loved playing with Bri and Zach. I think the best part was watching how he interacted differently with both of them since he was between them age-wise.

Sleepy Head

About 36 hours after getting home from a week in LR, it was off we go again. This time it was to Houston by plane. We got home about 1:00 this morning. Needless to say, I am really tired and ready to crash right now. I will do updates on both our trips along with some pictures, hopefully tomorrow, but don't hold your breath. I will get to it soon though. I have no intention of leaving the house to even get the mail for a few days. I just want to be home!

Here is something to hold you over until I get around to the next post.

Nate has always been the easiest child to put to bed. He has no interest in a long and complicated bedtime routine. We get him dressed in pjs, walk over to the crib, pray, kiss, and lie him down. It so easy. Tonight I told him we were going to pray, and he immediately closed his eyes. We've never asked him to do this, but he must have realized that Brad and I close our eyes when we pray. A friend pointed out that he does it at mealtime prayer also now. (I didn't know this because my eyes are always closed.) Too cute! He also is always so anxious to get to bed, he is usually leaning in to give kisses about halfway through Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep. By "amen" he's leaning over the edge of the crib trying to wriggle out of our arms. We never hear a peep from him once we close his door. I hope it stays this easy when we transition him to a regular bed in April for his 2nd birthday.

Happy New Year!

We are just getting settled in after a week with my family in Little Rock. Hopefully I'll have time to post about our trip after getting some work done around the house tomorrow.

It is our family's prayer that you find the same wonder, awe, and joy as a child when you think about the miracle of the birth of our Lord and Savior.

And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. Luke 2:7

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Merry Christmas!

Sledding Videos

Snowtime

Yes, these are pictures of the same child who less than a year ago, didn't just dislike the snow, but I think, hated it. If you don't remember, jog your memory here. Needless to say, his opinion has changed quite a bit. We all put some work into the snowman, but it just wasn't meant to be. First, the snow wouldn't roll into balls. It was more off a pile-and-smooth method of building. Secondly, since our "trees" are mere twigs themselves, we don't have anything to use for arms. If anyone is looking for a last minute gift idea, we need fixing for a snowman. We'll definitely have to try this again sometime though.
The sledding was a hit. He would get quite upset when we would need to catch our breath. It's not easy to run through several inches of snow! We didn't get out til almost sunset so the pictures are pretty dark. I'm sure we'll be out doing this several more times. Nate also thinks the sled is great for pulling around indoors.

Colossians 3:17

Brad has used several clips off this site as sermon and teaching illustrations. I happened to be looking for something else on the site one day, and I came across this. I'm not sure why it came up with my search results since it had nothing to do with what I was looking for, but I thought it was pretty good. If you watch The Office on NBC, you can see they used the Office style. Next time they start pushing the use of your spiritual gifts at your church, see if dodgeball shows up on your inventory. (Unfortunately, it's not one of mine.)

Asia!

Looks like I won't have to wait for Matt to be in Afghanistan to get a visitor from Asia. Africa plans anyone?

Check back later today for some Nate in the snow pictures. His Grandpa Knorr requested pictures of sledding and a Nate-size snowman. We'll see if the little guys up for some outside time later today.

Jesus has 2 mommies

Notice anything peculiar about this nativity set? Yep, Jesus has two mommies! Nate was given the Fisher-Price nativity by his favorite Patty and Gary. They have one at their place, and I have always thought it was the cutest thing. (When you press the angel down, it plays music and the star lights up.) I was thrilled and so thankful they had gotten him one, and I eagerly began to unwrap it when we got home. Each piece is wrapped in it's own plastic bag. I was quite perplexed to find that we had 2 Mary figures and no Joseph. I'm left to wonder if this was done as a joke by the packer or what. Is it an attempt to modernize the Christmas story??? Some might be a bit offended, but I thought it was hilarious. So, I'd like to introduce to you baby Jesus and his two mommies. Any suggestions as to how I explain this to Nate?
(Fisher-Price is sending us a complete set of all the figurines for free, hopefully this time we'll get a Joseph.)

4 continents! I've had visitors to my blog from North America (duh), South America, Europe, and now Australia. Matt's going to attempt to get an Asia for me while in Afghanistan. Anyone heading to Africa? I'm assuming Antarctica is out of the question. Too bad.

I've really been struggling to blog lately. Facebook has taken over a lot of my computer time. Tori introduced me to a scrabble game on there, and I'm addicted. I'm going to have to limit myself to Scrabulous only when Nate is napping. I'd like to think my brain is getting some good exercise by looking at all those letters. Get a facebook and play scrabulous with me!

Is anyone else getting annoyed with the tv reruns? I'm going to be so bummed if the seasons are over. I spent all summer gearing up for the new season, and it's essentially over. At least make some new Grey's Anatomy!!! I hear they're actually making a Big Brother to air in the spring due to all this craziness. I'm going to have to just start watching a lot of reality tv I suppose.

Some Cute Stuff

As Nate gets closer to turning two, I find myself thinking a lot about how we'll decorate his room once he's out of the crib and in a big boy bed. I've actually spent quite a bit of time roaming the internet searching for ideas. I want something that can grow as he grows. I don't want to have to start completely over again a few years from now. Today I happened to find a person whose blog recommended a toy off of this website. They have some of the cutest stuff and shipping isn't out of this world expensive. Here is the stuff I would love to do in Nate's room when he graduates to a new bed in the extra bedroom. (I have no intention of repainting the nursery. Too much work went into it.) Here is what I found. I like that they are wall decals and can just be removed when he outgrows the look. I also love the colors! I would probably do a pretty neutral wall color. I also love the quilt. It's a bit pricey, but I know from making quilts it's just the way it is. What do you think? The whole reason I ended up at this website is because of this adorable play food. If I was rich, I would go to town on this website!!!!

hold the pickles, no mustard, please

I just want to say that raising a toddler brings something new everyday. Lately Nate has become quite opinionated about getting dressed. It's turn more into a fast food ordering situation than anything else. Yesterday's order was: I'll have a shirt, 2 socks, 2 shoes, and hold the pants, please.

I also did not intend for this picture to be an action shot. He has learned though that there is a screen on the back of the camera, and it has him on it. He now chases you while yelling until you let him look through all the pictures.

When do I get to win a battle around here???? Score: Nate: all Andrea: 0

snow business

I just have a bit to say regarding the snow. There is a sense of normalcy to snow here. It's no big deal; the "life goes on" mentality is in full force here. This is not the way I was raised. Snow days were cherished events in my childhood. Snow day to me say family day. It's just how I was raised. When it began to snow in Little Rock, everything was canceled and closed. It meant the family got to spend an unexpected day together. (And Dad might just start the fire place.) Those who know me well, know how much time with family means to me! I love it! To this day, I just feel like it's wrong when we go about our normal daily routines and work when it's snowing. I think God gives us snow days to give us a break from the normal and take time to just spend together. And I like my way of thinking. Along with this comes my decision that I plan to stick by even though I live further north, I cannot, do not, and will not drive snow covered streets. It's just not worth the risk to me. If they really think "life goes on" despite the snow, they need to install some form of heated street. How's that for an idea. Someone please get to work on this idea.

the snow is following me, make it stop!

I need to back up a week and get caught up on what we've been up to and share some pictures along the way. A week ago right now, we were in a charter bus on our way to Keystone, CO for the youth ski trip. Nate and Mags stayed with Brad's parents while we were gone. We had 16 kids and 4 adults, including ourselves. They've not had much snow (we did get some while there), and haven't been allowed to make much either thanks to the drought. That made for some really packed down, icy skiing/snowboarding. Our group made 3 trips to the medical clinic, with one ending up with a broken wrist (the other two were sore but okay). The slopes stayed really busy thanks to 36 Hours of Keystone which was also taking place. (People are really nuts enough to ski for 36 hours straight.) The drive home was long on Sunday, but we got to see several movies we hadn't previously seen. Enjoy some pictures.

Today we got some snow of our own here. In all it was somewhere around 4-5 inches. Not a bad little snow. We took Nate out in it when we cleaned off the driveway and sidewalks. He still isn't the biggest fan of the snow. He also wasn't to fond of the snowpants, boots, or gloves. He keep trying to get me to take the gloves off because he couldn't pick any of his outdoor toys up. He did venture into the snow to try to get me to pick him up a couple of times, but he prefered to stay where we'd cleaned the snow off. Maybe he too was meant to be a southerner like his momma????? I really thought he'd like it this year. I guess we have about 8 more months of winter for him to get use to it! Enjoy some more pictures.

Also want to say thanks to all who checked in on us to make sure we were okay yesterday. We didn't know anyone involved, but know of people who work there, had been there earlier, or were planning to go there that day. Unbelievable is still the word that comes to mind when I try to comprehend what has happened.

Get to Work

Nate decided to give us a hand with feeding Mags yesterday evening. It was cute and took several trips between the dog food bin and her bowl. I wonder what other chores he capable of . . . taking out the trash?????

Make a slide show, scrapbook, or ecard

From Trash to Treasure

Two problems. Hopefully some solutions are out there.

Problem 1 is the trash. Maggie, who's always been a really good dog, has suddenly taken an interest in the trash. If we don't lock her up when we leave, there's usually trash on the floor when we return. We started locking her up again, and she's turned into an escape artist. And, then it's up to the trash. What caused this sudden bad behavior? How do we get it so that we can leave her out when we're gone without putting the trash under lock and key?

Problem 2 is the treasure. I noticed today that the center stone in my engagement ring is loose. I have no clue how or why it happened. I'm not quite sure what to do about it. Obviously a jeweler is needed, but John Reynolds, who we got it from, is in St. Louis. I don't want to just take it to just anyone. Is it a bad thing to wear it until I get it fixed? I assume so. Anyone know a reputable jeweler here?

Update

Brrrr! It sure is cold here! There's nothing like going from a high of 70s one day to 20s and 30s the rest of the week. (And we all know how much appreciation I have for winter and cold weather.)

We had a good Thanksgiving with Brad's family. We headed to the farm Thursday morning and stayed the night to watch football on Friday. Brad and his dad had a fun time on the four wheelers scouting out possible Christmas trees. We also played several rounds of Apples to Apples. I was lucky enough to win a round! Yay me! (Brad won twice of course.) Football was a super low and super high on Friday. Go Hogs!!!

Today was Christmas decorating day. We accomplished quite a bit while Nate was napping. We were able to get the tree up, lit, and decorated. It was challenging this year to make sure that only things Nate could touch ended up within his reach. He got a huge grin on his face and kept saying "tree" when we got him up. It was too cute. He's found a lot of the bells that we put within his reach and thinks they're great. I'm just going to have to keep a close eye on him.

I didn't take any pictures all weekend. I'll see what I can do tomorrow. Brad is preaching two different sermons at two different services, but after that the day should be pretty relaxed.

Hope your turkey day was thankful!