I seem to be learning that even when Life is difficult, Life is still, at the basic level, good.
With the Little Monster teething now, he's been getting earaches, and the occasional low-grade fever. On top of this, he's slowed down his feeding because he enjoys chewing on the bottle more than eating it, and he also enjoys pulling people's hair, munching on things he shouldn't, and and screaming bloody murder when we put him down for his naps.
At the same time, he enjoys spending time with mommy and me, looking at us with his Big Blues and smiling so big you can't help but return it. He now will look at you, go "Bahbahbahbahbah!!!", and then give you a look as if to say "Well, I told you what I wanted, can't you understand me?". The Little Monster enjoys being thrown up (small amounts) in the air, tickled, taken outside, and run around like an airplane.
It seems to me that with every difficult situation we can find it's opposite. There are sometimes a lot of setbacks like messed up feedings, worrying about if he's actually OK from smashing his head on the wall (because, obviously, it should move out of the way, come on now), and making sure that the occasional scream-fest is more tooth-pain related than him getting sick.
Because for each moment like that, you get moments like this:
And this:
And of course this:
Yes, there are things in life that can and will be difficult and even seemingly impossible, baby or no baby. But it's something worth fighting for. Because there are so many moments made possible by us surging through whatever comes against us that the struggles we face are made unimportant when compared to the rewards we get by making it to the end.
It seems that this is a place to remind ourselves that God is good, and that He will help us and be our strength when we need it and we ask it of Him. Life, at the basic level, is good.
Let the Good Times Roll
Well, it finally happened. Haden had an encounter with a bucket, and the bucket won. Apparently he tried to pull himself onto the bucket to chew on it, when he slipped off and wacked himself in the face. This all occurred during a diaper change, so this battle was done in the buff, and mommy was forced to comfort him until he calmed down before said diaper change could be completed.
In other news...
The family have all been out of town. We went to the Barking Donkey's (my parent's) for the fourth of July, and afterwards the Little Kitty and Monster went to Young Nani's (her parent's), while I went to Austin to help out with our old church's Jr. High camp. Everyone had a good time, and camp went well. Overall, it was a very successful couple of weeks.
Furthermore, on the way to the Barking Donkey's we had a droolfest and then a first tooth! The next week, there was a second tooth ready to surface (which is being stubborn and hasn't broken through yet). It's all very exciting news, and I would love to have a picture of it, but it's proven a Herculean task so far to get a picture inside his mouth, because he won't keep it open for you to and freaks out when you try to open it yourself. So if I manage to get a picture, I'll post it.
The Little Monster is also in the beginning stages of crawling! He rocks back and forth and does the caterpillar crawl, and in the next couple of weeks I believe he'll be in full go-mode.
Well, that's all the news for now. Life is good and things are exciting! All of our out-of-town plans are done, so things should go back to pretty normal until school begins.
Have a good week and we'll see you again later!
Apologies for the lack of posts the last week and a half. We've been out of town and haven't been able to post.I'll have a new one up tomorrow.Thanks!
Thought for the day:
If you haven't heard the song Hallelujah written by Leonard Cohen, you're missing out, really. Go listen to it, like now, on YouTube or somethin'.
One of my favorite lines from the song is "Love is not a victory march, it's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah".
Love's victory comes from it's permanence. It stems from it's unceasing devotion to that which it is given. Love itself is not the victory march. It will lead us to victory, if we let it, but love is more than the warm feelings and fuzzy bunnies. I think that true love, the kind of love that we show our spouses, our children, and our families, the kind of love that God shows us, is so much deeper than that. It's the love that caused the Christ, the Son of the Most High, to become that cold and broken hallelujah, and to do it willingly, and with what I believe is joy to be able to show our fallen race how much He loves us.
In other news:
Haden is doing great. He's got the flop-crawl thing going, which can be pretty funny. He can turn in circles but can't crawl forwards yet, and he's learned a new bladder control trick where he saves up all the pee he can and let's it all go in one diaper. Yeah...babies are weird.
Also, if you haven't seen it already, scroll down to the post below this one. We had a mini photo day, and those were the better ones that came out of it. Sometime coming up we're gonna have individual portrait day, so when we do that those pictures will be up as well (I love taking pictures, it really is way fun).
On a completely different topic, the fan on my video card broke, so I have to send it in to get it repaired and replaced. This means probably a week or 2 with gimped computer, which makes me sad and slightly irritated, but that's life I guess.
Also, the Little Kitty is doing pretty well. Man I love her. She's a very calming presence for the Little Monster. It seems that I've kind of turned into a big toy for him, but when he wants the better things in life (comfort, support, a place to nap), she's the one he's yelping (yes, yelping!) for.
Well, for a 2 part post I think this is probably enough to write about. Everyone be safe out there and remember who you are and whose you are!
Before we begin, allow me to apologize for not writing for the last 6 months. It's no excuse, but it's been a crazy blur with getting used to the Little Monster, as well as several other factors which will be discussed shortly.
Now, however, things will be different. There will be a schedule (gasp!), which will probably be a post every Wednesday late-night / early Thursday morning. I figure if I set aside a specific time to do this, then I'll likely be able to keep up with it. So anyway, on with the (massively long) update on our lives.
In February, my new exciting position in the Marketing department of a large oil company was downsized during a Series of Unfortunate Events (a.k.a. wide-scale corporate downsizing). This presented the crew with a choice. I could get a new job somewhere else, work my way up again, and continue down that path, or I could change direction and do something that had been on my mind for the last 6 or 7 years.
We chose to change the direction of the ship.
After much soul searching, praying, and research, I decided (with the Little Kitty on board, of course), to go into ministry, specifically youth and family ministry (I can post the details of it later, but this post is more of a general overview of where we are now). So the crew has moved to Lubbock, TX, where I will Lord willing be attending the Sunset International Bible Institute with a focus on Youth and Family ministry. This is not to say that, should I feel compelled to do so, I cannot switch to another type of ministry, but right now this is where I feel the call to be.
So the ship sailed, and grew as well! If of course, you consider the ship to be our home, and the whole sailing thing our move. Our new home is so much larger than our tiny apartment back in Austin. We actually have room to put things, room for the Little Monster to play, and even room to keep the place clean! Please don't ask why I'm on an "Out at Sea" theme tonight, as I have no idea, heh.
Special props by the way to my big little brother and dad for helping us move everything and get it unpacked. Also, props to everyone who helped us load and/or unload the storage unit so we could get everything here. We love all of you, and miss you greatly.
The Little Monster has gotten a lot bigger as well. He now weighs nearly a whopping 16 pounds!!! If you recall, when he was born he was a mere 7 pounds 11 ounces. My Little Monster is becoming much bigger very quickly.
His mobility has also increased. While he cannot quite crawl yet, he does have the whole rolling thing down pretty well. So far when he tries to crawl, however, he only uses his feet, and rubs his face into the carpet. This, of course, hurts (ever dragged your face on the ground?), which makes him cry and complain. The funny part about this is it doesn't stop him. He just keeps dragging his face along the ground until he gets where he wants. Of course, by the time he gets there, he's often so mad that he doesn't care that he's reached his objective, and wants one of us instead. He's stubborn like that. I blame his momma (love you honey!).
So here we are. School starts in August, I'll be working day-jobs until then, and life plugs along. There will be some visual changes to the blog as well, so keep an eye out for it! There may even be an extra post or two in the next week or so, as I have a little extra time and a lot to write about.
So farewell! So long! And see you soon!
That evening while we were sleeping, your mother woke up at around 11:30 PM. She was feeling rather crampy and in some pain, so instead of waking me she decided to go downstairs and watch some TV. It didn't take very long for the pain to increase, however, at which point she did decide to wake me up and say the words that changed everything.
"Hun, I think he might be coming or something."
Well, needless to say, that phrase got me out of bed and we spent the next hour or so timing when the contractions hit and how long they lasted. Funny thing was, they were already coming every 4-5 minutes. At this point we decided to call the hospital, and eventually they told us to go ahead and come in.
So around 2:30 in the morning we went off to the hospital and spent a long time getting seen by the nurses until they finally decided that yes, you were on the way. They decided this because when they were checking momma to see how much see was dilated, her water broke. At that point they asked if she wanted something for the pain, a type of shot to put in her I-V and make her feel better. While they got everything ready we called your grandparents (Noni and Popi, and Nunu and Papa). Your momma's parents answered the phone, but my didn't hear it ring, because it was the one time that the phone had been left in the other room.
Then the pain medicine came, and it did quite the number on your mother. She felt on top of the world, but it made her kind of loopy. A little while later, once it had worn off some, she asked for an epidural, and they snaked a long tube up her spine that pumped really good medicine
into her that let her feel no pain while the contractions continued to come.
After that happened, we slept. The sleep was wonderful, even though I was on a small uncomfortable couch bed, and all was peaceful.
Then the morning came.
Noni and Popi made it to the hospital about a couple of hours before you came. Doctor Solomon was in surgery that morning, so we waited for a while until he could come and deliver you.
Finally the time arrived. The doctor came, and your Noni and I helped your mother push and push so that you could come out. Then your head appeared, and you kind of looked like a purplish alien poking out. At this point something strange happened. You got stuck.
When this happened we were glad that Doc Solomon was there. He didn't panic at all, and just reached in and spun you around until you came out! The nurses all wisked you away to get you cleaned and ready for life in the outside world. Then they gave you to momma to hold for a few minutes before they took you to the NICU. They had to take you there because you had a small problem in the womb and they just wanted to make especially sure that everything was OK.
Papa and Nunu arrived at the hospital about an hour after you were born and everyone had a wonderful time looking at you and holding you and talking to you. Our little family had finally grown by 1, and it was clear that you truly held a special place in everyone's hearts.
You had arrived making it was clear that you were ours to love and cherish and grow.
And then there were three.
I seem to be learning that even when Life is difficult, Life is still, at the basic level, good.
