Survivor Sweep

My bro Dan had a great post after this past Thursdays episode, and I totally agree. Yau was a maniac and it was hilariously awesome to watch. I just laughed out lloud as well after Stacy basically threw herself under the bus at tribal...idiot...but glad she was finally gone.

Overall I will have to say, I was glad that Earl won last night. I think that he played hard and deserved it. I wish he had brought Yau with him to tribal, just because it would have made things more interesting with Yau, Earl and Dreamz.

Here are my thoughts on what the jury had to say. Yau as always was a very gracious competitor, very impressed. But what the junk was up with Lisi and Alex? OK, Lisi was always an idiot, but I am not exactly sure what she was trying to prove by her questions either to Cassandra or to Dreamz. Dreamz answered her question correctly, but she jeared him as if there weren't really 6 zeros in a million, aren't there 6 zeros in a million? And then picking on Cassandra...I don't think that Cassandra deserved the million, but hey at least she didn't give up half way through the game like Lisi. I just thought Lisi was WAY out of line. JUst to throw it in there my all time fav moment of this Survivor was when Lisi was sleeping and Mookie, Alex and Edgardo found the idol. Lisi woke up later and told Mookie...you are going to have to get up pretty early in the morning to fool me...of course she was an idiot to the fact that they had been digging and found the idol all while she was asleep and she had NO idea. Lisi...blah!

OK, so Alex. I really liked Alex until that crazy jury question. He just went for Cassandra's throat and I thought that unnecessary. She played a quiet game, she didn't upset anyone, she listened to folks and then made decisions...Alex just needed to pipe down.

All in all, it was interesting. I am not even going to comment on the Dreamz car thing. That was a lame move on Yau's part...and Yau should have made a deal with Dreamz in the end and left it at that. Another Surivor done...and now I don't have anything holding me to the TV.

Best News Ever

So today was probably the best Sunday I can remember in a long while. This morning we heard a wonderful, Christ-centered, gospel-centered sermon from John Tinnin. And after the service the congregation affirmed him as Intown's new senior pastor. It was truly exciting and wonderful. I actually couldn't stop crying during the service, and after at the congregational meeting (when we voted to hire him).

To me it was such a reminder of God's timing, and His faithfulness to our church, and I thought...wow...if God is so faithful to Intown, maybe He will be equally faithful to me. I think that it why I was crying.

A vs. O

Most of you know that we are huge White Horse Inn fans. We got hooked by some friends in Germany and we continue to listen to their programs and also subscribe to a magazine called Modern Reformation. This year in MR they are focusing on the Five Solas of the Reformation, Fide, Gratia, Christo, Scriptura and Deo Gloria. I can’t remember exactly how the saying goes, but it is something like this…We are saved by Grace alone, through Faith alone, on account of Christ alone, for God’s glory alone…and then Scripture is somewhere in there as well…feel free to chime in and correct me! My most recent mag is dedicated to Sola Scriptura.

The whole mag is fab, but there was one article that really caught my attention, the title is “Solo Scriptura: The Difference a Vowel Makes” this is where my A vs. O comes in. You can read the article here for free, though you have to give your info…but good news, they will send you a free copy of the mag, so it is not all bad.

I’ll give you my loose sum-up of the article, or at least what hit me the most. I will preface that I know my bro, Chris, would be really interested in this, but will think all the things I have to say are probably poor arguments (since I am not a philosophy chic), so I encourage all to read the article for yourself...it is super cool.

I definitely grew up thinking that all I needed to understand and know God was the Bible. I thought that books and commentaries were OK, but not necessary to understanding what the Bible teaches. I knew a lot about the Bible and I knew a lot of the Bible. I had memorized huge portions of scripture and could find almost any “famous” verse if given 2-3 minutes. But I was never taught theology and the role it plays in understanding God. It has only been in the last 8 years that I have been able to articulate the doctrines of justification, sanctification, imputation, original sin and the purpose of baptism and communion. It probably hasn’t been until really recently that I started to realize there are some things that I just cannot understand on my own. Most Protestants believe in Solo Scriptura which is (to be utterly simplistic) the scriptures alone. I don’t need traditions, or commentaries or…I just need the Bible. The main problem with this is (1) This leaves scripture to be interpreted differently by every individual who reads it (2) this was never what the Reformers had in mind. No wonder we have folks coming up with their own theologies, why it is ok for churches to say that maybe things we used to think were sins aren’t really anymore, maybe Jesus didn’t really die on the cross, etc. Solo Scriptura lead the interpretation up to each of us alone.

Sola Scriptura says there is a “relation between Scripture and tradition…Scripture is to be understood as the sole source of divine revelation; it is the only inspired, infallible, final and authoritative norm of faith and practice. It is to be interpreted in and by the church; and it is to be interpreted within the hermeneutical context of the rule of faith.” To add to this, “Scripture was to be interpreted in and by the church within the context of rule of faith, yet neither the church nor the rule of faith were considered second supplementary source of revelation. The church was the interpreter of the divine revelation in Scripture, and the rule of faith was the hermeneutical context, but only Scripture was the Word of God.” So, the church doesn’t trump Scripture, as maybe a Roman Catholic might believe, instead it helps individuals interpret Scripture. Why do we have the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed? It was because of heresy in the church, so the church used scripture and tradition to teach what is right and true.

Tthis has been interesting to ponder over the weekend. Just in case you were wondering…I still read my Bible, I just don’t try to come up with new ways of interpreting things. I look at the theology I have learned and make sure Scripture backs it up. If I don’t think Scripture backs it up I won’t be making my own theology, I will be doing some more studying and reading (in Scripture and from those old crazy reformers like Luther and Knox…and maybe from some of the new crazy reformers like Packer and Piper) to try to understand things.

Just for kicks I thought I would throw in the Nicene Creed. I have been studying about this recently and it is one of my new favs.

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Could It Be True?

Last Wednesday we received some crazy exciting news. In our church's weekly email they said that the Pastor Search Committee had an update and to be sure to attend church on Sunday. Intown's former pastor, Scot Sherman, left Intown for a church in San Fran almost 2 years ago. Ever since that time the committee has been working hard to try to find a good fit for our new senior pastor. Though Dave and I were in Germany for the first year of the search, we have definitely felt the weight of not having a senior pastor for the past 7 months.

After receiving the email I started screaming. Dave was in the bathroom washing Hadleigh, so he was a bit upset at my outburst. I started yelling "we have a pastor!" And then I got a little nervous...surely they wouldn't tell us they have an update and to come to church only to say they are continuing to search! That would be too cruel.

Dave was in Chicago this past weekend learning how to orally sedate people (if you are ever having drinks with him beware...he might slip you a pill and then say- open wide!), so he missed the announcement on Sunday. I was thrilled to find out that indeed the search committee had a recommendation to make. The final candidate will come and preach this Sunday and then we will have a congregational vote to finalize the deal. If all goes well he should be here in August.

The search committee asked the members to do several things this week in preparation for the weekend. They gave us a handout that gave some information about the candidate. They also encouraged us to be praying for clarity. As well they asked us to read Intown's Philiosphy of Ministry. So, taking my responsibilities as a member very seriously, and because I have a vested interest in making sure this is the right dude for the job, I took a look at the document this morning. http://www.intown.org/Portals/0/Documents/Philosophy%20of%20Ministry.pdf You can check it out if you want.

I was taking to my fam last night and started getting a little nervous about the new dude. I thought about what I would do if he decided we shouldn't have communion every week, but that it should be once a month...or worse...once a quarter! The good news is that after reading the philosophy of ministry I felt a ton better, that the new dude would know that our church is "historically rooted, theologically driven and contextualized". You can't take away communion from a historically rooted church. Good news for me. I think that all the rest will all work out. =)

Overall I am excited. I impressed with the document I read this morning and it made me more excited than ever about what is ahead for Intown. While we were in Germany God brought the right man at the right time to be the head Chaplain for Baumholder. CH Woodbery was exactly who we needed as our pastor during the deployment, and I thank the Lord all the time that he brought Woodbery to our chapel. I know that the Lord will do the same for Intown. He won't be perfect and it will still be super messy, but it will be the right man at the right time.

Remembering

Well I haven't talked about the little one for a while, so they are going to get some air time. I am almost 16 weeks prego, which is such great news for so many reasons. I started getting some energy back last week, but then was kicked back down by an insane sinus infection. I had no idea what was happening to me and realized I have never had a sinus infection. So that caused some turmoil for me, mainly because coughing violently doesn't help a temperamental gag reflex. I also ended up loosing my voice for Sunday and Monday. The really sad thing was that on Sunday our closing hymn was "On Jordan's Stormy Banks" which is one of our fav songs and we actually sang it at our wedding. Anyway, the choir led worship and we sang a cappella (side note, in trying to figure out exactly how to spell this word I realized it is actually two words meaning...Italian for "in the style of the chapel"). It was amazing, but I couldn't sing! I just moved my lips in worship anyway.

So, besides my crazy sin. inf. I have gained some energy back. I am actually not in need of my afternoon nap, and have moved my bedtime back from 7 to 8.30, except on Thursday I stay up until 9 to watch Survivor. This morning we had a brunch to finish the women's Bible study I was attending and I actually baked some scones. I cannot remember the last time I baked something, but I think it was in February. So, I am definitely feeling better. My nausea is not 24/7 anymore, but just comes and goes. It always comes, but it just sometimes goes as well.

I go to the doc next Friday and am hoping for a good report. Maybe I will even get measured for the first time...wowee. I actually was telling friends about how the nurse was telling me that I would get measured, and when I said the word measured I made a hand gesture as if they measure me around the waist. They thought that was hilarious and told me that apparently they will be measuring my tummy from top to bottom. Crazy Americans...not sure what good that does, but apparently the docs have decided that measuring shows if the baby is ok...I don't buy that crap for one nano second. This is apparently one instance where the Americans don't mind being showed up by the Germans, but that is another argument for another time.

I decided to link back to my September 05 post when I was prego with little HC. The pic is about what I look like now, maybe I will get Dave to take a prego pic of me next week so I can post. It is not too exciting these days. Once my prego-bulimia goes away I might put on some pounds.
http://whereintheworldmcnay.blogspot.com/2005_09_01_archive.html

Choosing and Choices

For the last couple of weeks I have been having an interesting conversation with myself. I'll tell you that it is an ongoing conversation and this is hardly the conclusion of my thoughts on the subject...just a few ramblings. I might revisit this again later, but wondered if I put something things down on paper it might help bring some clarity to my own thoughts.

A few weeks ago I was fiddling around on the internet and skimming some of Matthew Smith's blog (he did a concert at Intown a couple weeks ago). While skimming I found a link to a video on utube that had a song performed by Pensacola Christian College. The song was a little odd, but went something like this:

God made everything on earth, he carved the oceans and made the mountains and gave the whiporwill his song, but He gives you freedom to choose (I am guessing they are speaking of choosing God).

I am guessing that this song was suppose to be wonderful and comforting, but it left me in a quandry.

My first question after watching this was...why do we humans hate the idea of God choosing us? Why is that so unthinkable to us?

My second question was...is that really what the Bible teaches?

My third question was...why am I ok with God choosing where the mountains are and what songs the birds sing but I am not ok when it comes to God choosing (predestining...ahh! Buzz word #1) believers.

I am not sure of really any of the answers to the above questions. Well, that is not entirely true, I do feel really confidant in answering my second question.

Here is what I know about me. If left on my own I would choose sin every day of the week and every minute of the day. I definitely have my own mind and thoughts, which are, apart from God, sinful. If there is anything good in me it is from the Lord...if I am able to make any good choices it is by His grace alone. So, though I have all of these unanswered questions, what I know about myself and what I know about scripture tells me that, in fact, I did not choose God. I feel like I chose him because I prayed "the prayer", but how can a person dead in sin (Col 2.13, Eph 2.1) choose God?

That is enough ramblings for now...I know most folks are happy that they don't have to look at a poop post now...you are welcome Sar!

Hadleigh Claire's Two Accomplishments

Friday was a big day for Miss Hadleigh Claire. I have been thinking for a while that I wanted to get HC off the bottle and onto a sippy cup. The main problem is that she wants to have nothing to do with the sippy. So, Dave and I woke up on Friday morning and prepared ourselves for a fight. We gave her a bottle first thing and then I called Kris to verify that I wasn't going to be tormenting my child. She confirmed my suspicions that we were within the realm of normalcy...thanks Kris...and the battle began. We decided that we would only give her a sippy and when she was thirsty enough she would drink out of it.

We started with the Nuby. Dave quickly vetoed it, saying it was too hard to get milk out of it. So, we moved onto a soft-tipped Gerber cup (I had purchased about 4 different kinds to keep our options open). She was hesitant, but by the afternoon she had gotten the hang of it and was slowly putting a dent in the milk. We claimed victory by the end of the day and haven't looked back. The soft-tipped Gerber sippy is our friend!

Now, if you have been keeping up with the blog at all you would know that for the past several months HC has been peeing on the toilet every night before her bath (refer to the January archive for background info). Dave has been saying that for the last couple of weeks when he puts HC on the toilet she not only pees, but also toots and has strained a few times (as if trying to poop). Well, Friday evening before her bath, HC pooped in the toilet! Dave was so proud and had to take a pic. If you know Dave at all you will understand why I have to post the pic. If you don't know Dave, sorry.

So, to sum up, we now have a fully hydrated, non-bottle drinker who pees and poops in the toilet!

We Might Not Let Them Eat???

OK, so I have mentioned before that I am a Survivor-aholic. I definitely this is a major disease and might need to be treated with serious meds. Fortunately in the 7 years it has been on, there are still a few other faithful watchers...Kris and Bif...and my bro Dan. You can check out his Survivor favs on his blog. Though we do not see eye to eye on some TV shows, we can completely agree on our favs.

Right now I have to vent my growing distaste of all things Stacy. Ugh! I first disliked her when she treated Cassandra and Dreamz like poo in a can when they didn't know how to work the coffee machine. She is so condescending!

Again last night she opened her mouth again and I wanted to slap her face. She was chuckling to Earl that Alex and Mookie would be lucky to eat during their remaining days on the island. Who...the...junk...are...you? As if Stacy is the keeper and provider of all the food, she thinks she can dictate who does and doesn't eat? Someone please vote her butt off the island!

I did find it most amusing that Mookie and Alex's plan for Yau's immunity idol backfired on them. I hope that Alex can save his own behind next week...we shall see.

A long time ago when I worked at MTW my co-worked Jon, swore that he would eat his shoe if this one crazy dude we knew was able to get ordained as a pastor in the PCA. Well, for better or worse, this poor soul managed to get ordained and I have yet to see Jon actually eat his shoe. I might remind him of that sometime. In any case...if Stacy pulls out a win for this Survivor I will eat my shoe!

Let Us Wonder

This past Sunday was a special treat because we had Matthew Smith leading worship during our service. MS is a lead singer of Indelible Grace band. Honestly, to me Indelible Grace is more of a worship movement than a band. Indelible Grace in most ways began a new hymns movement, which joins old hymns with new music. If you haven’t heard of Indelible Grace you have probably heard some of their music by default. Jars of Clay’s CD “Redemption Songs” sings several hymns that IG had redone.

I did not grow up in a church that sang hymns, but grew to love singing hymns while I was at Asbury. After Asbury when I started attending Intown I fell in love with the worship that is blended, full of rich tradition and theology and yet minus the sometimes silly tunes that went along with hymns. I think that one of the hardest parts of being in Germany was that we missed the full and meaningful worship of Intown. We sang a lot of “Jesus is my boyfriend” worship songs…that is what we called them. You know, the ones where you just say I love you over and over again. OK, I am not saying all praise songs are bad and all hymns are good…that can’t be true. But there are many hymns that folks have never heard of that teach wonderful theological truths about who God is and what he has done for us. Personally, when I worship, I enjoy singing about what God has done, as opposed to what I do or do not do…and how much I may or may not love.

If you click on the link to IG (in the links column) you can access their RUF hymnbook that has music and chords to many of the hymns. It is a great resource.

Here is one of the songs we sang on Sunday that was dear to my heart. John Newton wrote “Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder.” Now to all of you praise music lovers out there, your challenge is to find a song that is as rich in theological truths as this hymn. If you find one I will post it on the blog as well.

Let us love and sing and wonder
Let us praise the Savior’s name
He has hushed the law’s loud thunder
He has quenched Mount Sinai’s flame
He has washed us with His blood
He has brought us nigh to God

Let us love the Lord Who bought us
Pitied us when enemies
Called us by His grace and taught us
Gave us ears and gave us eyes
He has washed us with His blood
He presents our souls to God

Let us sing though fierce temptation
Threatens hard to bear us down
For the Lord, our strong salvation,
Holds in view the conqu’ror’s crown
He, Who washed us with His blood,
Soon will bring us home to God

Let us wonder grace and justice
Join and point to mercy’s store
When through grace in Christ our trust is
Justice smiles and asks no more
He Who washed us with His blood
Has secured our way to God

Let us praise and join the chorus
Of the saints enthroned on high
Here they trusted Him before us
Now their praises fill the sky
Thou hast washed us with Thy blood
Thou art worthy Lamb of God

13 Months

Last week Hadleigh Claire turned 13 months old and is just as hilarious now as ever. She isn't walking yet, but is a fast crawler. When she wants something, she just puts her head down and starts crawling toward it. Sometimes I feel like I have to jog to beat her she is so fast. She continues to bear crawl, which I posted a pic of a couple weeks ago. It is pretty funny to watch, though she doesn't always crawl that way.

She is trying and eating lots of new things, and is obsessed with food. Everytime I eat, she must eat and she wants exactly what I am having. She had her first experience with spaghetti a couple weeks ago and loved it. Unfortunately I had a bad experience with spaghetti, so we will not be having it again for a while. She also loves mac and cheese, hummus with pita bread, peanut butter toast, and I know there is more I just can't think of it. The only she has had that she refuses to eat is corn. I am not sure why...but Dave and I are convinced this summer we will get her hooked on corn on the cob. I have fed her so many other things I find it a little odd about the corn thing. I mean, really, you like broccoli, carrots, papaya, lentils...and you refuse corn? Whatever.

She has been a trooper and my little start these past few weeks. She plays by herself and entertains herself well while I lay on the couch. She brings me books and I will lay on the floor with her and read. She LOVES her alphabet books that her friend Sadie got her for her birthday. She can read them over and over and over. She loves to quack like a duck, but she quacks at everything. If she sees a dog, she quacks, if she sees a horse, she quacks, etc. She definitely has her own little language going and it is hilarious to listen to her talk. Besides Dada and Mama which she doesn't use, but she does know, she has three words. Ba for bath. As soon as we finish dinner and Dave asks her what time it is, she say "ba". Yea is her second word...and I just think it is funny that she says that. Her third word is shees for cheese. She is hilarious when she uses this word. She gets a cheshire grin on her face with her eyes closed and teeth together, she laughs a little and then on her best day will say shees, other times it comes out sh.

Her final obsession these days are paper towels. She can sit for hours crumpling, shredding and finally eating a paper towel. You can see in the pics how she will carry a piece of it around in her mouth, that is my little girl!

Bowing to the Porcelain

Lots of folks have been asking me how I am feeling this prego time around, and honestly I think that I am doing pretty well. I have my moments, but I feel like mentally I have a better game strategy than when I was prego with HC.

Some of you may wonder what my strategy is, and I will tell you...laying on the couch does wonders. I only get up when I have to, and I only leave the house either when I have to, or when I am feeling decent enough to leave. I pretty much don't do anything I don't want to do, except feed Hadleigh and change her diapers. If it is not a necessity, it is a luxury and I don't have to do it if I don't feel well. I also consume a lot of crackers.

I also try to keep my humor about things, which I think you have to do while puking. I have decided with all of my experience I could really write a coffee table book about this subject. I am thinking about devoting one entire chapter to the dry heave. I mean really, what is its purpose? After my third attempt at puking one day I asked Dave what he thought the purpose was. He suggested that it might be a good abdominal work out since all I do is lay on the couch. My stomach muscles are building strength to be able to push out the baby. That is one idea. So then I asked him why people heave when they aren't prego. He didn't seem to have a good answer to that one.

Sorry to be a bit graphic, but welcome to my lovely world. I honestly do feel in good spirits and while I hate being sick, I have lots of support from Dave, so that helps. I knew that having another baby would mean paying many visits to the porclain throne, so this all was sort of my own choosing.

I will end with one last puking thought. Several women have mentioned what I am assuming are meant to be encouraging words to Dave and I about the whole prego puking thing. The encouragement is that at least if you are puking you won't gain as much weight. Just in case you were one of the poor souls who have had that thought...I will mock you here on my blog and not directly to your face...unless I continue to hear that and my grace for that day has already been spent. First if you have just said something as dumb as that you have probably never spent more than a day in front of the toilet. Second I haven't ever meant anyone that considers bulimia a good way to loose weight. If given the choice I would take the extra 20 pounds over sitting at the toilet.

Finally. I am thrilled to be prego and carrying a baby. I would never trade my situation. I would never wish all-day-sickness on anyone else, so if you don't have it, don't worry I am not channeling the spirits against you! This is a season for me, and I am happy to walk through it, knowing that it will end in time.

I'll Tell Ya What Ya Want

This is going to be sort of random. Part of it is a piggyback on what I wrote about yesterday. Part of it is a shout out to my mom, who gave me one piece of advice that I lived by and gave me one childhood memory that I hope my children will have of me.

So, we will start at the beginning. Dave always makes fun of me because I didn't know what Walmart was until I was in college. Though we didn't have Walmarts and Targets in Newbury Park, we did have a Kmart two towns over. Fear not, I did not grow up in the middle of nowhere, but my town was too snobbish to allow the discount stores (or at least that was the rumor), but we do have a Target now. So, anyway this Kmart was notoriously known for its horrible customer service. There were always about 20 people in line and it always took an hour to check out. I don't really remember the details of this trip, but I remember all three of us kids being tired and mom was frustrated. It probably took a ridiculous amount of time for something, and I suppose mom got a little irked at the check-out lady (for the record, irked for mom isn't a kick in the pants...it is more like a poke in the shoulder). We must have eventually paid and gotten out of the store, since we are not still waiting in line to this day. I am not sure how many days passed in the mean time, but mom felt as though she had treated the check-out lady unfairly and rudely (I can only assume), because one day mom went back to the store with the three of us in tow. She found the same lady, explained that she had been in the store a few days before, had acted poorly and wanted to ask her for her forgiveness. The lady sort of shrugged and said something about it not being a big deal, but mom insisted that it was a big deal and apologized again. I suppose at that point all four of us walked out of the store. I know that I am probably adding things to all of this, but this is what my 6 year old mind remembers about the situation. Honestly I will never forget this, and this is what I want my children to remember about me.

On another note when boys starting becoming a big deal to me, I remember this one talk that mom and I had. And I think this was the single most important advice I ever received in my entire life. Ok, ready all my fav single buds? You will know he is the one when...just kidding! She said that a measure of a man's character is how he treats people. Not just how he might treat me, but how he treats the waiter, or the check-out lady, or the person that really irritates them. How he treats those people will be how he treats you one day.

So after spending a bunch of time with my wonderful husband, I saw how he treated people, and I knew he was true, just like his middle name. It is a good thing he wasn't using the same measure for me because I would have failed! I can be a real bitty sometimes. I really hate it when folks get in my way, but Dave has taught me so much about loving and caring for people, even the ones that screw up your forms and overdraft your account.

I am married to the kindset man in the whole world, so maybe Hadleigh will take her cues of caring for people from her Dada and Nana.

Being a Mama

I have definitely learned a lot over the past year since becoming a mama. One of the things I learned off the bat, even before becoming a mom was that there are a lot of decisions to make. I remember just after I found out I was expecting someone asking me if I was going to use a pacifier...of course, I had no idea, and was trying to think about what might be bad about using one. Then there was one of my favorite questions...about what way I was going to have the baby, with an epidural or "natural". Like I knew what it is going to be like to have a baby? My fav answer to that question was, "I am going to do it the way the baby comes out"...whatever way that is. I am no hero and think it is impossible to make a decision like that until you are in the situation.

Of course once Hadleigh arrived there were all sorts of other questions. The diaper question was easy (cloth or huggies) because we didn't have a washer/dryer. Formula/breast feeding. Gerber baby food/make your own. Babywise/Healthy Sleep Habits. Baptism/no baptism. And of course, everyone has a strong opinion one way or another.

All through these decisions I have tried to stay balanced and remember that none of these things are going to necessarily help or harm my baby. In my opinion Hadleigh wasn't going to be smarter or dumber whether I gave her formula or nursed her. And I am still hoping that she won't grow up to be a mass murderer because I didn't use cloth diapers.

All of these decisions to me are very trivial things...I mean important decisions at the time, but none of them are necessarily going to have a lasting impact on me or Hadleigh, so I try not to sweat these things and take them all with a grain of salt.

Sometimes I get frustrated that Hadleigh won't drink out of a sippy cup yet, but then I just try to chill out because there aren't many adults who walk around drinking out of a bottle, so...

I think the things that I am most concerned about with Hadleigh have to do with who I am and my character, as opposed to what I do. Santa...Easter Bunny...Tooth Fairy...I don't think these will leave lasting scars. But my faith or lack of faith in Christ will deeply mold what Hadleigh thinks of Christ. They way Dave and I treat and speak to one another will deeply mold the way Hadleigh views marriage. The way I treat the checker at Kroger and the waiter at the restaurant will mold the way Hadleigh treats others.

These are the things that most scare about being a mother. When Hadleigh is applying to colleges or a job, no one is going to ask when she started walking...or talking...or reading...or drinking from a cup. They are going to look at her character, does she work hard, is she ambitious, does she treat others well, and some of these things will be a reflection on my character. This to me is the scariest part of being a mother.

This is also the thing that drives me to the feet of Jesus, asking him to make her heart soft to Him. I pray that she won't know a day without Him. And I also ask that she will love all kinds of people. I know that in spite of me and my character flaws, the Lord can answer these prayers. I also know that it is only by His grace that Hadleigh will love and serve the Lord. I can only model a life of repentance, I cannot create that repentance in Hadleigh.

Foul

Well, I have a creepy story. My friend Christy has a blog that you can check out by the link on the left, and she gave the daily progress of a spine (of a deteriorating opossum) that had taken up residence in her neighborhood. Foul. Shortly after the spine was disposed of for good I was having playgroup at my house. Before the group converged here I had a knock on my door, and found two nice Jehovah's Witnesses. The other thing I found when I opened the door was that there was a dead bird on my front porch. Foul. After the men left I swept the bird behind a bush. Creepy.

Then my other bud Brea, almost stepped on a snake while taking a walk in her neighborhood, you can read about that incident on her blog.

The other day Dave and I drove into our driveway and found a HUGE bird in our driveway. At first glance I yelled "Quail," but on closer examination Dave noticed it was a hawk. OK, nothing too bizarre yet...but wait. The hawk had a bird in its mouth. The bird was alive and bleeding. Creepy. The hawk took off after spotting us, but left a pile of feathers near the walkway to our front door. I really need to have Dave sweep those up. If not I suppose we won't be any better than Christy's creepy neighbors that kept the spine in their front driveway. Foul.

For I Know One...

Little Hadleigh's fever is gone today, but she is still coughing and has a bit of a runny nose. Originally I did think that she might have a little hay fever...but since she has been running a decent fever, I don't think it is allergies, and I think it was a bit more serious than a cold as well. The good news it is on the way OUT.

The past couple of days I have had some time to reflect more on the retreat. Barbara Barker was the speaker, and I thought was very timely. Barbara's husband is Frank, and he was the founding pastor of Briarwood Pres in Birmingham. He spoke at a single's retreat I went to several years ago, so it was neat to hear Barbara. She is a pretty random lady, so a lot of the time she was just telling stories from her life, but the majority of them were cool.

She told us about this one time they were having a group of 60 folks over to the house (which apparently was almost a daily experience) for dinner. She got everything ready and then left for work. When she returned she realized that she had left the roast on 500 degrees instead of turning it down, so she had burned dinner and the house smelled like smoke. Their guests were to arrive in an hour, and she wanted to freak out. At that moment she had this image of all the saints in heaven on one side of her and all the demons on the otherside ( I can't remember if she said demons, but this is my version of the story). The demons were like...you have failed! Give up, yell at everyone, blame everyone else, etc. The saints were like...we were beheaded for the faith, you can fix this, have faith. So, she ran out to the store, grabbed some ham, ran back and continued as if nothing was wrong.

What I realized through this story and many of her others, is that life is full of all these little battles. How will I respond when things don't go my way? What will I do when I burn the roast, or when some crazy forgets to change our bank info and overdrafts our account, or when Hadleigh won't take her nap. Will I see this as a battle? Will I respond in faith, or in the flesh?

And all of these things translate into larger things as well. What will I do when I am just lonely for a friend? What will I do when I just want Dave to have a normal/stable job? What will I do when I feel overwhelmed with taking care of Hadleigh and feeling sick from the new baby? What will I do when the transition back to Atlanta just seems too hard? I feel like on all of these accounts I have just failed miserably. But, I now have an opportunity to respond in the correct way, in faith trusting the Lord. He can give me the strength to overcome these things and to live by faith.

On the way home I was remembering a quote from the movie Luther. If you haven't seen it, you must for it is just a small picture of the great faith of Martin Luther (you can borrow our copy if you want). I know this isn't a direct quote of Luther's, but if you read any of his works, you can see that this thought is very prevalent, not to mention scripture supports this idea, just check out Romans 8.1 for starters.

So when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this: "I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I shall be also!"

On a lighter note, here are some fun picks of Hadleigh. She gets to help her Dada do all sorts of fun things, like fix the car. I also caught her with her new crawl...pretty funny!

120 to 6

Today Dave's commute will be cut down from 120 miles to a mere 6. I am so thrilled, and so is Dave. For the last 6 weeks Dave has been working a temp job 2 hours away. It has been very difficult on our family, so I am glad that it is over for now.

This past weekend I was at Callaway Gardens for Intown's women's retreat. I was really on the fence as to whether I should attend or not. I wanted to go, but didn't want to be puking the whole time. Fortunately last week I felt mildly better, still pretty nauseated, but no pukage. So, I decided to take my chances and over-all I am glad that I did. I did feel a bit puny and has to sit in the back during the sessions and munch on food. I felt a bit like a squirrel. I also spent my free time taking a long and wonderful nap. I had a good time. This was my fourth Intown retreat, but I hadn't been on one since 2004. Of all the retreats I remember, this one was the friendliest. I was actually more nervous to go on this one because I knew less people on this retreat than in years past, but for some reason everyone seemed super friendly. That kind of sounds like a lame statement...but I am sure someone out there knows what I am talking about.

I arrived home yesterday to find both Dave and Hadleigh sick. Before I left I had made a decision not to call Dave and check on them. I told him if he needed me to call. It felt a little weird to leave...and part of me thought about leaving a note...and then I realized why would I leave a note? As if Dave doesn't know as much about Hadleigh as I do. Anyway, all went fine for them, though Dave said Friday night Hadleigh was looking for me. He put her down for bed and then she started fussing. He went in to comfort her, and he said she kept looking at the door waiting for me to walk in. He finally walked her around the house so she could see that I wasn't there. After that she went right to sleep.

So Hadleigh has a bad cold, and is super congested. I am hoping it will be finished by tomorrow, but we will see. We had to miss swim class last week because she had a horrible fever from her MMR shot. This week we will miss again.

The Word Is Out

Well, just in case someone reading this blog hasn't heard yet, we are expecting another baby in October. This is thrilling to all of us, especially as I had assumed that having Hadleigh was a bit of a fluke and probably couldn't happen again given past health issues. But, as my bro Dan so eloquently put it, "apparently you are fertile." Apparently.

Hadleigh and baby will be 19 months apart, so we shall be busy. When I told my friend Dianne, she reflected on how having children close together in age is nice. I commented something to the effect that they would play together well. To which she returned that when they fight, they are the same size, so it is an equal battle. I thought that was hilarious...never thought of that as a reason to have children close together in age.

I haven't been as sick as I was with Hadleigh which has been nice. However, another plus of being prego so soon is that Hadleigh still takes 2 naps a day, so that gives me more time to rest during the day. This prego opportunity also allows me to expand the number of places I have christened...which became a joke when the Niners went on a road trip up to Boston for New Years Eve. I was driving somewhere in New Jersey and felt sick enough to pull off at a gas station, run in, puke, run out, and continue driving. I figure there has to be some kind of humor in the prego sickness.

One Year Update

Miss Hadleigh Claire had her first visit to a pediatrician here in Atlanta last Friday. We are definitely thankful for her good health that has enabled us to only visit the doc for her wellness appointments. We got a good recommendation of a ped and really liked him a lot. Hadleigh weighed in at 19 pounds and was 29 inches long. I forgot to ask him about what percentage that puts her in, but I suppose she is fine because he didn't comment. She was also a very brave little girl and received her first MMR shot. She didn't even flinch or cry...she was like is that a needle? is that suppose to hurt? I was very proud of her. Though this morning she woke up in the middle of the night burning up and has been running a fever all day. Poor baby!

On other HC news she is doing well at standing, thought she won't initiate it on her own. She will stand on her own for 30 seconds or so and then either falls on her bum or grabs onto our hands. Soon I will have a walker, but I am thankful to still be in the crawling stage at this point.

She is still a good sleeper at 12-13 hours a night and 2 modest, but decent naps. I am dreding the day that the morning nap goes away, but I think we still have some time before that happens.

She has a couple other new accomplishments. She has learned how to blow kisses which is super sweet. She also consistently uses sign language to tell us she is hungry, which I think is super cool. She continues to be a big waver, and loves to wave at anyone and everyone. But she likes to do it on her own initiative and doesn't seem too pleased when I ask her to wave.

Her little personality is coming out more and more. We have been working in her nursery class at church this month which has been interesting. She tends to be pretty dominate and bossy when around the other babies, so we will see how that pans out. I have seen that in playgroup as well and it kind of drives me nuts. I think when she moves up to the next stage of nursery (walkers) that they will put her in her place and show her that she doesn't run the world.

My fav thing that happened yesterday was that while we were in nursery our buds Bif and Kris and their kids, Alex, Zack and Kate walked by. They stopped and looked in and when Hadleigh saw them she crawled right over to the door to go and see them. It was so sweet, and something I know she would have done with her grandparents or aunts and uncles. But since she doesn't have any here in this city, Bif and Kris are super substitutes.

PARTAY!

Saturday we celebrated Hadleigh Claire's birthday. Hadleigh's grandparents, cousins, and fav Aunt Angie all came down from Tennessee, and then her good buds, Jacob, Brennan and Sadie came over (and brought their parents). And we topped it off with Hadleigh's fav babysitters, Alex, Zack and Kate (who also brought their parents). Hadleigh wore a dress that my grandmother, Gladys Claire gave me, and I wore when I was one year old.

I wasn't exactly sure what to do at a one year old birthday party...since I had never planned one before, but we improvised. Dave made a beautiful butterfly cake, which someone got a picture of and I am sure will send it to me, that Hadleigh loved. She actually wasn't too crazy about the icing, but liked the actually cake.

She was actually so tired that she yawned and rubbed her eyes through the entire party (probably because she refused to take any kind of nap last week). I tried to keep most everyone engaged by quickly opening the presents. She received a lot of nice gifts, several new books, a beautiful new dress, a Nemo towel for swim class and lots of new toys.

Hadleigh with buddies Brennan and Jacob

After presents and cake, Hadleigh got a quick bath and we tossed her into bed before the party was over.

You've Come A Long Way!

Today is my baby's first birthday. I can hardly believe that just one year ago we were living in frozen Germany and wondering if today was the day that Hadleigh Claire would make her entrance to the world.

It all was quite an adventure, and remembering it is fun. On March 4, 2006, the heavens opened up and dropped 18 inches on Baumholder in about 4 hours. On the 6th they were promising another 6 inches, so I knew if HC was coming I had to give everyone plenty of time. Dave came home mid-morning and around lunch time we headed to the hospital. By dinner time, I was still not dialated even though I was having contractions 6 minutes apart. We left the hospital, but were back at 9 that evening. Finally at midnight things were starting to move...1 cm...by 1am I was 2 cm...by 2am I was 3 cm. That was the last I remember...I just remember being shocked that it was time to push at 3.30am. HC arrived at 3.52.

Waiting Some More...

Some of you Intowners might have read the recent Pastor Search Update last week. It is funny, as hard as it is to be without a pastor for going on 18 months, the update gave me great hope that the McNay family is not the only one waiting. The update actually mentioned that now in the last 9 months they have gotten all the way to the end of the process and then had two different candidates drop out. To be so close and then to be pushed back is so difficult. In many ways I felt as though our life right now seems to mirror Intown's search...maybe things will clear up for us when we get a pastor...

We have been waiting and praying for a year now about a job and the next step for our family. It was right after Hadleigh was born last year that we started looking all over the world for a job. We prayed continually and asked for wisdom and discernment. We thought we were going to be moving to MI, and Dave even flew out here while we were still in Germany to meet with the doc. That didn't go well, so since we had no other place to go, we decided the Lord was leading us back to GA. Here we are...5 months later and it seems we don't know much more than when we stepped off the plane Sept 29. There have been jobs and offers and then offers taken away and then refusal of offers. The whole thing is too bizarre to be anything else except the Lord leading, and protecting us.

Even without the permanent job there has been temporary ones. That has been stressful, but the Lord has continued to provide for our family. I actually hate this process. There is probably no one in the world who would like to swap places with us...in the sense that we don't know what we are doing or where we are going. We are waiting.

During this time that I hate, I have to trust and remind myself constantly of what is true. The Lord has graciously provided for us. Dave has a job for tomorrow. We have enough today. Tomorrow will take care of itself. We have a place to live, nice clothes, heat, food on the table, a beautiful baby, each other. There is much to be thankful for even in this crazy waiting game. For me it is a discipline to wait and trust. I hate it, but it is good for my character...and good for my relationship with God.

Yesterday the sermon was awesome for us. My life is so good sometimes that I don't need God. I have the things that I want and need and I can go a day or week without acknowledging him and my need for him. But in the place that the McNay family is currently, we need him desperately. We need to hear His voice and obey. It is just hard to wait to hear His voice.

Water Logged

A couple days ago while Dave was giving Hadleigh a bath he asked me to bring the camera and come into the bathroom. His chief concern was that we didn't have any naked pictures of Hadleigh standing up in the bath. So, I started snapping and this is what we got. She is so hilarious. She just loves bath time, loves the water and LOVES being with Dada. She especially likes it when we dump a cup full of water on her face.

Beyond All Measure

This past Sunday we sang a hymn written by Stuart Townsend named "How Deep the Father's Love for Us." Stuart Townsend also wrote the hymn "Before the Throne of God" which we sang at our wedding. Since Sunday I have been constantly singing this hymn, and last night sang Hadleigh to sleep with it.

How deep the Father's love for us.
How vast beyond all measure.
That He should give His only Son
to make a wretch His treasure.
How great the pain of searing loss,
the Father turns His face away,
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
bring many sons to glory.

Behold a Man upone the cross,
my sin upon His shoulders.
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held Him there
until it was accomplished.
His dying breath has brought me life.
I know that it is finished.

I will not boast in anything:
no gifts, no pow'rs, no wisdom.
But I will boast in Jesus Christ,
His death and resurrection.
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer.
But this I know with all my heart;
His wounds have paid my ransom.

The Grand Ole Duke of York

Yesterday was our first day of swim class! There were three other moms in the class and the babies ranged in age from 6 months to a year. Hadleigh had a blast. Her favorite part was when we all sang "The Grand Ole Duke of York, he had ten thousand men..." We had to sing this while lunging across the pool and lifting the babies out of the water...good grief it was a bit difficult especially since I am short and so only my shoulders are out of the water. That made it easy to sqat (since I could only go down an inch), but difficult to lift her up out of the water. Hadleigh was the only girl, but didn't seem to mind all the attention from the boys. We can't wait until next week.

Betcha Didn't Know

...that the GA Aquarium is the largest in the world! All the Atlanta residents reading this are saying "duh", but I bet all my CA buds are very confused. What would a large aquarium be doing in a city that isn't remotely close the ocean? I am not exactly sure of the answer, but I will say that I am glad it is here because it is amazing.

Since we didn't get Hadleigh anything for Christmas (not like she knows any different since she was 9 months old at the time), we decided to get an annual pass to the aquarium. It basically pays for itself in 3 visits, so I figure if I go once a month I will more than pay for it. This past Saturday we headed down to the aquarium for our second visit.

Our first visit was the beginning of January and we went with Hadleigh's bud Sadie and her parents Paul and Lisa. It was pretty cool, but this time when we went Hadleigh was REALLY into it. She was screaming, reaching out to try to touch the fish, laughing, etc. It was pretty fun to see the change in her.

The other fun part of the day was that it was gorgeous outside, so we walked to Marta because we live about 5 minutes from a station, and then took the train downtown. I felt very European not having our car, and it was a gorgeous day, and the whole outing was a blast.

I do think that in March we will try to go mid-week, since it is jammed-packed like Disneyland in the summer. It just cannot be as crowded on a work/school day.

Chili's in Germany?

Did you know that Chili's opened a restaurant in Germany? Well, to be exact, the restaurant is on Ramstein Air Base, which is kind of America, but in Germany. It was a great little piece of home while we were there. We only lived about 45 minutes from Ramstein. This pic was taken last September when we celebrated Jan's birthday at Chili's. I found the pic while I was going through my inbox, missed my buds and decided to post it. The pic: me and Sara, Jessica, Jan and Beth

What Is So Wrong About Religion Anyway?

On my plane ride back to Atlanta from LA, I sat next to an older gentleman who is a pastor of a church in south Atlanta. He told me how "he found Jesus" and then talked at me for a long while about his church and finally asked me if I knew "him". He then said, "You see, I don't have a religion, I have a relationship." I have heard this said again and again, and if the dude had seemed remotely interested in anything I might have to say, I would have questioned him on it. Alas, he was more impressed with his own voice, than with mine.

Don't even get me started on his little tale of how "he found Jesus". Dude was so lost he couldn't see a hand in front of his face, but somehow he "found Jesus". Don't get me wrong, it was neat to hear his story and about his life, and it was neat that he took the opportunity to share with me. But had I not been a believer, I don't think his approach would have done anything for me. Even being a believer, his approach didn't do much for me.

What struck me, and has irritated me for a couple of weeks was that he said he had a relationship, NOT a religion. I have heard this said a lot, I remember it being said when I was in high school. I liked the saying back then, but now, it bugs the crap out of me. I get the idea...that it is personal. Unfortunately, God is so much more than personal. Salvation is about me in a sense, scripture is filled with references to how God chooses and saves. That is a very personal thing. Fortunately all of redemptive history did not begin and end with me. Redemptive history began with creation and will end when Jesus returns. I am a part of that, but not the only part.

Webster's definition of religion is: (1) the service and worship of God or the supernatural (2) : commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance. OK, nothing wrong there. It also connotes traditions and an establishment or institution. I think this is where people get all bent out of shape, as if all religious traditions are empty and vain. Throw out the hymns, and the liturgy, anything that dates before the first Billy Graham crusade. I suppose if we were really to take this seriously we would stop baptism, and communion...oh wait, some churches have already done that. And I guess we will have to throw out church as well, because it is an institution and establishment, but wait that has been done as well.

What I should have said to that man was, you can keep your relationship and I will keep my religion. Christianity is about being part of redemptive history. I am connected to the church, historical and eternal. My relationship with Jesus is about me, but that is just a small, small part of it. It is about Jesus Christ saving and redeeming his bride, the church. The church began with Adam and continues to this day. We shouldn't throw out things because we think they might be empty rituals, we should admit our sin and ask God to speak to us in a new way through the traditions and instituions that he established and loves.

For Sar

1. What time is it? 7.07am.
2. Name? Ami Marguerite.
3. What are you most afraid of? Raising Hadleigh without Dave.
4. What do you drive? A '93 Buick LeSabre.
5. Have you ever seen a ghost? No.
6. Where were you born? Newport Beach, CA.
7. Ever been to Alaska? Soon.
8. Ever used toilet paper decorating in trees? Yes, but most recently TPed a car, as in about 5 years ago.
9. Croutons or Bacon bits? Croutons.
10. Favorite day of the week? I love Sundays!
11. Favorite restaurant: Ted's Montana Grill, yummy bison!
12. Favorite Flower: Hyacinths, Dave always buys me a hyacinth for V-Day.
13. Favorite sport to watch: I enjoy watching Tennis with Dave, and love going to a baseball game.
14, Favorite drink: Water, but if we are talking about alcoholic drink, then I love Cosmos.
15. Favorite Ice cream: Vanilla.
16. Disney or Warner Brothers: Disney.
7. Favorite fast food restaurant: I don't do fast food.
18. What color is your bedroom carpet? Hardwoods.
19. How many times you failed your driver's test? Zero.
20. Before this one, from whom did you get your last e-mail? Brea, she was telling me that Brennan can come to Hadleigh's birthday party in a couple of weeks.
21. What do you do most often when you are bored? Read or computer time.
22. Bedtime: Around 9 pm, we start the day early in our house.
26. Favorite tv show? Survivor, and Extreme Home Makeover.
27. Ford or chevy? I agree with Sar, neither, but if someone was giving one away I will take the Ford. Me, myself, I prefer Toyota.
28. What are you listening to right now? Hadleigh is playing and singing.
29. What are your favorite colors? Red and Green.
30. How many tattoos do you have? Zero.
31. Do you have any pets? Zero.
32. Which came first the chicken or the egg? Chicken.
33. What would you like to accomplish before you die? Travel the world.

Television 1994-2006

So, this post is going to go on a little trek through my TV habits over the last 12 years. You see last night Dave and I watched the season finale of Lost Season 2, and while I will talk about this later, I will just say for now, I wasn't happy.

In college, my show was ER. Thursday nights at 9.45 we would all make sure to be back on our hall, and would tear down to Elaine's room to see what Carter, or Susie, or Dr. Green or Dr. Ross would do that week. Way back then the show was actually about more than just who was sleeping with whom. Those were the days when you actually liked Mark Green and before Carter got weird. After graduation, somehow Er just lost my interest, and seemed to go downhill from there, though oddly enough, I just saw that the show is still on TV. Insane!

After college I took a little hiatus from TV, didn't have much time for it and was into other things, until...I moved in with Bif and Kris in 2001. They had their little group of shows they were into, so I jumped on the Survivor: Kenya bandwagon...go Ethan, and of course that was the first year of Alias, when Sydney Bristow had crazy hair, and we didn't know that "The Man" was really her mother, who was never killed in the first place. So, even after moving out, I was still hooked on those shows.

My new roomie Hoxter introduced my to 24, when the Season 1 discs came out. My other roomie, Sharon and I were addicted, and I think that I wastch the whole season in a weekend. I was hooked until the last episode, when Jack finally just went a little too far and, in my opinion, was unjustified in the actions he took against people. To, me he became dishonorable, and let his personal vendetta get in the way of correct moral decisions. This especially rings true to me today, when our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan have to put their personal feelings aside, when they have to pick up someone who might have just killed their buddy. These soldiers are true heros...but Jack is just a little angry man. So, all to say after that season, I dumped 24.

Once we moved to Germany we stopped watching TV altogether. My bud Jess taped the end of Survivor Allstars and some Alias for me. And we lost touch of TV in general.

Last year right before Hadleigh was born Dave picked up Lost Season 1, and we spent a weekend watching it. I will have to say I liked parts, but wasn't overly hooked. Last night we watched the last episode of Season 2. I am going to refrain from commenting too much, though if you want to see an interesting Lost debate you can go to my bro's blog..."Dan and Karina" link above. I agree with pretty much everything he has to say. I am unimpressed...who the crap are the others? Why are their polar bears and horses on the island? What is it with the numbers? And is this just a lame comment on the state of religion?

So, all that to say, not much has changed in my TV viewing. I am still addicted to Survivor, everything else I can live without. I was happy to come back to America to catch the middle and end of Survivor Cook Islands, Yul was awesome, and now I can't wait to see what happens in Fiji.

11 Months

Hadleigh Claire turned 11 months old last week while we were in Cali. I can't believe that my baby is almost 1 year old!

She is doing all sorts of new tricks. As I mentioned before she is pulling up to standing, she is also great at peek-a-boo and waving hello, goodbye and good night. Dave taught her how to throw, so now she will throw an object and then put her arms up in the air, as if to ask "where did it go?" She is chattering up a storm and always has a new sound she is working on. She loves music and dancing and books.

She loves to be chased, and to be snuggled. In the mornings she comes into bed with me for about 30 minutes, she loves it when I knock her over. In fact this morning I wasn't knocking her over enough, so she picked up my hand and pushed it into her chest to knock her over.

She loves bath time with Dada. I am also thinking about taking her to a mommy-baby swim class.

As of yesterday she is fully weaned and we are looking forward to our new found freedom. It means a weekend away for Dave and I together and then in March I am going to attend Intown's women's retreat.

We are looking forward to celebrating her first birthday in just a couple weeks.

Cali Time

Last week HC and I had a surprise visit out to Cali. Dad's gallbladder decided to stop working, so he had emergency surgery 1/26. All seemed to go well, but afterwards he lost some mobility, and since it seemed like it was going to be a long recovery Hadleigh decided that we needed to go out to help Nana Patti and to cheer up Papa Froggy.

We had a great flight out there with an extra seat so that we could carry-on HC's carseat. She even had a good nap on the plane and was quiet the whole ride home from the airport. Here is a pic of her with her wings. God bless everyone out there who has ever helped a mom with a young child who is traveling alone. It is quite a feat getting through security and carrying everything onboard the plane, etc.

By the time we arrived Dad was home from the hospital and able to do some things on his own, but we spent the week cooking up some good food, like a huge pot of sloppy joes. I helped clean and organize a little so that Mom wasn't so behind and we just had fun hanging out.

While there HC decided it was time to pull herself up to standing, and impress Papa and Nana with her tricks.

Over the weekend Uncle Chris and Aunt Rubie drove up from the dessert to visit. HC just loves her Rubie and her Chris. We took her down to the park and she enjoyed playing in the swings, on the slide, and especially in the sand.

While out in Cali we also got to see Auntie Erica, and Sar and Annie, and Em. Unfortunately I only have a pick of Auntie Erica.

We made it home safely over this past weekend and are glad to be home with Dave.

Potty Time!

Here are some fun pix I took over the weekend. Dave gives Hadleigh her bath every night, and one thing he has noticed is that as soon as he turns the water to the bath on, HC pees. After some chastisement he now tells me when she pees on the bathroom rug so that I can wash it, but that is another story. He thought it would be a fun experiment to see if HC would pee on the toilet, so a week ago he took her diaper off, put her on the toilet and turned on the bath. Amazingly she went! Ever since that night he has put her on the toilet, and 6 out of 8 times she has gone.

We both think this is completely hilarious. HC just loves sitting on the toilet and likes the added attention Dave gives her if she actually goes.

The Undomestic Devil?

I have done some reading recently which has been fun. I feel like I took a break from reading while we moved and transitioned, and now I am back to it.

Two of my fun recent reads were The Devil Wears Prada and The Undomestic Goddess. Both were hilariously funny, and actually had similar themes. I'll have to say that I was really excited to read the Devil book, and then to watch the flick (which recently won a Golden Globe). Overall I was a little disappointed with how the book resolved, and the movie was just OK. If you have the choice, choose the book over the movie. The Devil is about a recent college grad, Andy, who desires to be a writer for the New Yorker, but in desperation takes a job as the second assistant for Miranda Priestly, editor-in-chief of Runway magazine, the top fashion mag in the country. The deal is that if Andy works for Miranda for a year and doesn't get fired, she will be able to get a top job anywhere (specifically at the New Yorker). The problem is that Andy essentially gives her life away, as working for Miranda requires being on call at every minute. After surviving almost a year and essentially losing almost everything she finally tells Miranda where to stuff it. In my opinion it wasn't soon enough.

The Goddess book was a lot of fun. This book follows Samantha, top lawyer at the largest firm in England. She is about to make partner when she royally fouls up a job and is fired. In a drunken stupor she winds up in a little English town in the country and interviews for the job of housekeeper and cook (of which she knows nothing). The rest of the book is devoted to her foibles of learning how to cook and clean, and leaving behind the fast paced life of work and "success".

Both were interesting and fun reads, and both seemed to comment on the rat race of the "civilized" western world. I will mention that both books are a bit crude, but if you enjoy a fun read like Bridgett Jones' Diary, then you will enjoy these books.

I am currently reading Presbyterian Creeds, yea, I know a completely different genre. I will write more on that when I have finished it. I think the title is kind of humorous. The title leads you to believe that these creeds are written by Presbyterians or something to that nature, but the book looks at the historic creeds that have shaped the theology of Reformers, specifically those who are Presbyterians.

To comment on the picture above, it obviously has no connection with the post. Hadleigh and I went to Piedmont a couple weeks ago to play some football. HC was a little irritated that I wouldn't let her play. She was showing me that she does have a game face.

Miss HC Goes to the Park

OK, HC has been to many parks, but this is the first time we took her to a park and let her play on the equipment. Saturday was a beautiful day and we couldn't let it pass without some time outside.

We usually run down to Piedmont when we have some time, but decided that to maximize Hadleigh's time at the park we should stick around here. She had a great time. She went down the slide, played in the wood (I guess wood chips now replace sand), swung in a big swing with Dada and a little swing by herself, and took a hike across a creek and through the woods.

Ten Months

Two weeks ago Hadleigh Claire turned 10 months. I cannot believe that my little baby is almost a year old! I think she continues to get more fun with each day she grows, and that makes each day with her a treasure.

She has mastered crawling, and is all over the house and into everything. She has begun to pull up onto her knees, but will rarely pull up to standing, although she seems to enjoy standing.

The pincher grab is a new trick, and she enjoys sitting in her high chair eating her string cheese and cheerios. This grab has also become highly useful to suck on and eat other yummy things that she finds on the floor. She especially likes crumbs, leaves, rocks, pennys, and worms. I vacuum the house everyday, but nonetheless I feel like she just goes behind the vacuum and picks up everything the vacuum did not get.

She has graduated to a convertible car seat, which I think is somewhat of a pain, but am getting used to it. Her baby car seat is still out in the dining room, as we have yet to put it away, but HC loves to play in it. She will stretch out with the top half of her body in the car seat and she enjoys pressing the seat belt release button. She could do that for hours on end.

Eating is one of her favorite activities. I am still nursing, but only half the time, the other half she gets soy formula because we think she has some sort of milk intolerance. We haven't noticed any reaction to other dairy products, just milk and ice cream. She continues to love yogurt, cottage cheese and string cheese. We think that we have caught a couple of allergies, one to melon, and one to peanut butter. We are still checking this out, and I plan to talk to the ped when we go in for her 1 year appt. For breakfast she generally has super porridge, which consists of oatmeal, lentils, egg yolk, sweet potatoe and green beans. For lunch she enjoys yogurt with peaches and ground up pumpkin seeds (she really liked yogurt with pb and banana until I noticed she was having a reaction). Dinner always is a mish-mash of whatever Dada can get his hands on...squash, carrots, apples, broccoli, etc. This month she is looking forward to trying whole grain pasta.

Bargains

I have been meaning to post for the past couple of weeks, but for some reason everytime I think of something to write about I never have the time. This has been a post in the making for a while. I havve been rather discouraged since arriving back in the US at how expensive food is. A few weeks ago I was making Bowtie Chicken Pasta and the recipe calls for pecans. I was horrified to find that a bag of pecans at Kroger cost $9.00. I mean, really, for a bag of pecans?

I knew that we were spoiled being in Germany. The produce was always inexpensive on the economy and we had the luxury of shopping at the commissary on post, so we were able to buy a lot of our food for super cheaper. I can't remember how much a bag of pecans in Germany cost, but I know it was less than $9.

Before we moved over to Germany I was a die-hard Publix shopper. I hated Kroger, refused to get one of their cards, and also to step foot inside one. Since being back I still have not completely reconciled my love-hate relationship with Kroger, but I do shop there weekly and I finally have one of those lame cards. In my opinion, the card doesn't save you much, it just gives them an opportunity to inflate costs for the unfortunate few who don't have a card. But anyway.

Before I left for Germany I heard about Coupon Mom and her little system, and since returning to the states, I have been committed to clipping coupons and buying sale items. It has been fun to see how much I have been saving, and now I am totally addicted. Last week Dave was home on Monday so I was able to go shopping alone and able to hit all three stores on my list. I had my lists of what to get at each store, and headed out. First I hit the Farmer's Market which is like produce heaven. All produce is about half the price of what it is at Kroger or Publix. I don't know why everyone doesn't shop there. It always makes me happy to load up on produce and pay $15.00 for a cart-full of fruits and veggies. Next I hit Publix for my main groceries, and it was so fun to pass their produce section and scoff at those shopping there. $1.39 for an avocado...ha...I paid $1.00 for 2 avocados at the FM. And now that I am so familiar with the grocery stores I can easily say $2.19 for a packet of yeast, I think I can get that cheaper at Kroger and I could! After Publix I hit Kroger for my last items, and then home. It was true that I found Kroger's yeast was $1.89 for a packet. I also noticed that the bag of coleslaw I was going to buy at Kroger was $2.79, but fortunately I had picked it up for $1.49 at the FM.

I came home in such a good mood telling Dave how much I had saved.

I am slowly getting this down to a science, and was able to hit all 3 stores with my list in hand and return home in less than 2 hours. And that even included running home for a minute to pick up something I forgot and bumping into my bud Christina at Publix. I never knew I could be a bargain shopper, but with a little planning and commitment, I am addicted.

Final disclaimer: While I do now tolerate Kroger, it is only a means to an end, I always will be a Publix girl at heart.