Little thief

The little guy rolled his way over to his brother's track pieces, reached in, and helped himself. Luckily, Isaiah was napping at the time!

Teary moment of the day...

We went through the drive-through at Giant Eagle, where my mom works, to pick up Isaiah's fluoride vitamins that he takes every day (because we have well water). When we were pulling away, Isaiah blew my mom a kiss, and she blew him a kiss back. After we pulled away, Isaiah said, "I gave Nana two kisses. Then Nana gave me a kiss, and I'm holding it." *Sigh*
(BTW, I never used to be sappy. The kids brought it out of me).

I'm stingy on the compliments...

when it comes to weight.

Let's be honest. Most people, especially women, are sensitive about their weight. Some people make comments about your weight, just like they are stating a fact. Maybe a relative, friend, or spouse has said to you, "You've put on some weight." Why on earth would anyone say that? Are they trying to make you feel bad about yourself?

But the flip side can be just as destructive. Sure, you feel better after someone tells you you look like you lost weight. But I'm self-conscious enough that I'd really rather them not say anything about it. I had a friend of mine whose already-existing combination anorexia/bulimia may have been compounded by well-meaning friends who told her how great she looked since she lost some weight. Because of her situation, I very rarely tell someone that I've noticed they've lost weight. Only if I know that someone is intentionally eating well and exercising while trying to lose weight, will I compliment them about their weight.

P.S. Never ever EVER ask someone if they're pregnant, unless she's wearing a shirt that says, "Just the two of us" with a big arrow pointing to her belly, or "Due in October." =) Abraham Lincoln said, "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt." Wise advice.

Why we're here

I've heard people pose the question, "If God knew that mankind would sin and turn against him, kill each other, and mess up the earth, why did He make us in the first place?" I can't say that I know the answer, but I might have one clue.

Going to the zoo by myself would be fun. I wouldn't have to ask a little person, "Do you have to go potty?" every time we neared a restroom. I would be looking at the same animals no matter who was with me.


But part of the fun of going to the zoo is sharing that experience with someone, sharing the beauty of the animals with the next generation. Isaiah would walk up to a fence and not even know what he was supposed to be looking for. I would point out the animal to him, and we would talk about the animal, what it looks like, what it eats, what it does. Sharing that experience with him made it more enjoyable for me.


Getting back to the point... God wants to share life and nature with us. He gets joy out of teaching us things and watching us grow. So I guess that could be one reason God made us.

Playing tourist in our hometown

Isaiah is at such a fun age. He's little enough to be in awe over just about anything, but big enough to really enjoy himself and interact with his surroundings.

On Thursday we went to the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium. We walked around for about four hours, and Isaiah never got bored or too tired. It was great! He loved looking at all the animals, and then he was pretending to be different animals. He was roaring like a polar bear for the longest time. He loved learning the names for the different monkeys and looking at the penguins and fish. I have to say, the aquarium is just unbelievable. Some of those tanks are so huge! We were sitting in front of the two-story tank, watching all the sharks and big fish swim slowly around, and I was just in awe at all the different varieties of underwater life. I might have blogged about this before, but those fish that look like seaweed just blow my mind every time! The thing that kept crossing my mind was how creative our God is.
Then tonight we went down to Station Square. The weather is finally warmer, and we all had a blast walking around. I knew Isaiah would love riding the kiddie train around Station Square Mall and playing by the dancing fountain. We walked along the river and watched two long trains go by. Samuel hung in there for both of our outings this week. He has a minor case of croup, and he's on some steroids for it. He really hasn't been too fussy, so we're thankful for that.
So if you live in the area, take advantage of the fun little city we have just a short drive away.

Getting a two year old to eat...

can be tricky some days. There are many meals where Isaiah eats more than I do, and then other meals where he hardly eats anything. Here are some things I've learned lately:

1) Have him dip his pieces of fresh broccoli in ranch dressing. He thinks he's putting snow on the trees. =)

2) Grapes are a great snack for in the car because they're like a snack and a drink all in one.

3) He'll eat when he's hungry, so offer him healthy choices.

Ain't no thing

The other day Isaiah went running to the potty, but didn't quite make it. He was on the verge of tears because he was so embarassed. Poor kid. I was getting dinner ready, so Dan cleaned up the mess and gave him a bath. The next thing I hear is Isaiah splashing around, the two of them happily saying, "Ain't no thing like a chicken wing" over and over. I was laughing from the kitchen, thankful that Dan's such a great dad.

Vitamins?

I usually take a multi-vitamin every morning. I forgot for a few days last week. I felt remarkably better, more energetic, and less tired. I'm wondering if that is a coincidence and if I should stop taking them. Hmm.

I'm branching out

Lately, I've started to read other people's blogs. I've been reading friends' blogs for months now. But sometimes I stumble on other people's blogs that I find interesting. Here are links to two that I've enjoyed lately:

Stuff Christians Like (hilarious!)

This Walk - a good read about a 25 year old single Christian woman from Texas who is also a foster mother

Life lessons from a dying man

Tonight I heard a piece on abc news that caught my attention. At Carnegie Mellon University's commencement, Randy Pausch, a computer science professor with terminal cancer, gave a five minute speech about life lessons. You can listen to his speech here. His life lessons don't seem to be coming from a Christian worldview, but we can learn something from them nonetheless. He said three things which I found particularly interesting.

1) It's not what you did in life but what you didn't do, that you will regret at the end of your life.

2) You need to find your passion. It won't be in things or money, but in people and your relationships with them.

3) I waited until I was 39 to get married, because it took me that long to find someone where her happiness was more important than mine.

It was his third point that really hit me: to put your spouse's interests ahead of your own. I hope I can be that unselfish some day. Most days I'm still a pretty selfish person. It's something I need to work on, with God's help.

So I'm wondering, if you had to share your life lessons with a captive audience, what would you say? It gives you something to think about.

Take time to smell the roses...

Sunday mornings are always interesting because I have to get the boys and myself to church before 10 am, looking at least half decent. =) Sometimes at least one of us is in our pajamas. (Not usually me). Hey, Sam's a baby. He can still get away with it! Anyway, we've gotten into somewhat of a routine, so usually it's not too bad. This morning we were in low gear, not running late in a stressed-out way, just going in slow motion. We pulled out of the driveway at 9:54. Luckily, church is just around the corner. Isaiah was being kind of pokey as we walked from the car into the church. Before I got a chance to tell him to hurry up, which I was about to do, he stopped on the sidewalk. "Mommy, what kind of flowers are those?" "Buttercups," I said, smiling. Thank goodness we have kids to help us remember to enjoy the beauty God has given us.

How fast are you?

If you're bored and looking for something do to, try this test to see how fast you type. I type 81 words per minute. (And I was trying really hard!) Guess I'm not as good at typing as I thought! I wonder what is considered good?

China and Myanmar

Every time I check the news I'm shocked by the developing stories on two major world catastrophies. First, the death toll from China's earthquake is expected to reach 50,000 soon. Yesterday I read that soldiers were sifting through rubble with their bare hands in hopes of finding survivors.

The other is the aftermath of the cyclone in Myanmar that is quickly becoming a humanitarian crisis. I just read that over 200,000 are feared dead there. My mind can't comprehend such numbers. And the junta is so afraid of the influence of the outside world, that at first they wouldn't accept any foreign aid. Now they've realized that they can use the aid to their own advantage and are not distributing it fairly.

Yet we go on in our daily lives with the sun shining brightly, enjoying the fresh blooms of spring while around the world catastrophic events have taken the lives of tens of thousands of people.

I feel guilty living out my normal day. But what can I do about those crises?

Don't get me wrong. I'm enjoying life, and I want to see my boys grow up, but on days like this where I'm reading about almost unfathomable catastrophies, I have to ask the Father, "How much longer will the earth go on this way? When will you come and put an end to the evil and suffering?"

Better than a day at the spa...

Isaiah, Sam and I spent the day at my mom's house. Isaiah was totally enthralled with the fun, different toys, and it was so nice to have someone else help watch the boys. She made us a great lunch, after which I took a nap on the couch while Sam slept and Isaiah played nicely. It was so relaxing. I feel like a new person. =)

Portrait Problems

Last week, I took the boys to get their pictures taken at the portrait studio at Walmart. They looked perfect with their matching striped dress shirts. However, it was too close to Samuel's nap time, and he wasn't having any of it. Isaiah was sticking out his tongue instead of smiling. Nedless to say, I rescheduled for another day.

This morning, I was planning on going to the gym. Amazingly, Samuel slept until 9:20, when I actually woke him up. We were getting ready for the gym, when all of a sudden I remembered that the rescheduled portrait appointment was this morning. I realized this at 9:30, and the appointment was for 10:00. I knew if we got moving, we could make it. So I just threw whatever clothes on them, and headed out the door. Remember, I'm dressed for the gym and haven't showered yet. I don't like going out like that.

We got a decent picture of the boys together. Then the photographer was taking a bunch of Samuel alone. I had to sit next to Sam and hold on to him through this little trap door in the table he was sitting on. Apparently Isaiah realized that I was stuck sitting there, because he started being so bad! He was messing with the camera and all sorts of other stuff in the studio. Then we had to go into the other little room to purchase prints. This is when everything went down hill. He was running all around, running across chairs, smashing this little duck he found into everything, knocking over this big cardboard sign that said, "We take passport photos," crashing into walls, playing with the computer cords, etc.

Retelling it now, it seems kind of funny, but put yourself in my shoes. Having your kid completely out of control is pretty frustrating. And while Isaiah was running around practically possessed, I was trying to decide which pictures to buy, how many of each one, which photo package would give us the most for the money, etc. I'm really not sure what I ordered. =) I just wanted to get out of there.

At least I got a workout while chasing Isaiah around the studio. Ha!

Mother's Day

Being a mom is a hard job. There are a lot of days when I feel frustrated. Lately it has been difficult to keep a two-year-old occupied while keeping a close eye on an increasingly more mobile six-month-old. Trying to get anything done? Practically out of the question. There are things that have to be done every week: 1) The house has to be completely clean on Wednesdays because I have piano students that come to my house 2) I have to have the music for church picked out by Wednesday night for worship team practice 3) I have to keep the laundry moving constantly 4) I have to cook at least two or three good meals, with enough leftovers to last the week. Accomplishing anything beyond that takes an enormous amount of effort.

My point is this: This Mother's Day, I had a different perspective. Instead of expecting anyone to do anything special for me, this Mother's Day I felt thankful that I am a mom. Instead of focusing on how hard I work as a mom, I just thanked God that he gave me my two wonderful boys. There really is no joy like having kids.

My mom had nursery on Sunday, and here's what she had all the kids make for their moms:

The one on the left is Isaiah, and Samuel's is on the right. How sweet, right?

Doctors

Yesterday I went to the doctor to get my lungs checked out. I've been coughing a lot and just feeling miserable. The other night I honestly was having a hard time breathing. So I figured it was time to make an appointment. Dr. Fantaski (who is fantastic, by the way) said that he could hear wheezing in both of my lungs and that I have bronchitis. He sent me home with some antibiotics and an inhaler. I have never used an inhaler before. Now that I've used one, I decided that it's the most unnatural thing a doctor could ask you do to: breathe something into your lungs. Usually when something weird is going into your lungs, you cough to get rid of it. It's hard to intentionally inhale something. But I hope it will help me breathe better.

I took Sam to the doctor this morning for his six month old well visit. He's growing very well. He's healthy and happy. The doctor gave me some advice on handling a few things, such as his clingyness, dry baby skin, and when he can start table food. He's not babbling much, but she said she's not worried about it because he has enough inflection in his sqeaks and squeals. So that was a great check-up.

This afternoon, I took Isaiah to the doctor to get his coughing checked out. He's been on an antibiotic for the cough for over a week now, and he's sounding worse every day. The doctor said she doesn't think it's pneumonia. It just seems to be an upper airway infection. She switched him to a stronger antibiotic, so hopefully that will help.

We're headed up to my aunt's in Greenville tomorrow for Isaiah's (early!) birthday party. So that should be a fun time.

Well, I hear the little one waking up from his nap, so I better go!

Sign me up

I'm joining BBA (Binge Bloggers Anonymous)

I have been waiting for this day for a long time

...the day I can take Samuel to the gym with me! Since he turned six months old yesterday (can you believe it?), he's allowed in the gym nursery. That will make a big difference in my life. When I'm working out, I have so much more energy and feel so much more motivated. And the fact that now I can drop both boys off (for no extra charge!!) is an added bonus. Sometimes we go back and forth about having a gym membership. It costs more than we would like to pay. Of course if something costs more than free, we think it's too expensive. =) But we have both seen major advantages to working out, so for now, we're still members. And Saturday morning Zumba can't be beat!

What's been going on...

On Friday, I went to Isaiah's Mother's Day tea. It was very sweet. The teacher had each child seat his or her mom. Then they sang us a song, gave us the gifts they made, and served us angel food cake with strawberries. They made a box with a picture of mom and kid on the top. Inside the box was a hand necklace. The teachers had traced each child's hand on a shrinky-dink, shrunk it down , then made it into a necklace. Very cute!

On Saturday my sister-in-law, Claire, graduated from La Roche College with her bachelor's in Psychology. We had a great time and are so proud of her!

On Sunday, we had church. Then my piano students had a recital. It's always a fun time to celebrate how hard they've worked over the year. I have to admit, though, I much prefer teaching to performing! On Sunday afternoon and evening Isaiah stayed at Dan's parents' house, so we had some peace and quiet around the house.

Yesterday, we all went to North Park. Dan ran while Isaiah played on the playground by the boat house. Sam and I just hung out and watched Isaiah play. We went down the slide once or twice. He's just dying to get in on the action!

So there's a little update on the last few days. Have a good one!

Forgiveness

"Forgiveness gives you the freedom to move on."

Claire's graduation speaker said this during his commencement address. It's simple and profound at the same time. I thought there was a lot of wisdom in that statement, and have found it to be true in my own life. Just thought I would pass that along.

How embarassing

All I can say is that I got to the car after eating out for lunch and had this in my hand. I didn't mean to do it, and I plan on returning it if I remember.

Yesterday: A day filled with so many surprises...

Surprise #1

My aunt from Greenville, PA called around noon and said she and my uncle were in the area and wondered if they could stop by. Now, they're two of the nicest people in the world, so of course I said yes. They ended up getting there around 2:00 and leaving around 6:00. This worked out very well, because I needed someone to watch the boys while I taught some piano lessons because Dan is at the church's district conference. I had someone lined up to watch them, but that person had some problems that morning and could have made it, but it worked out better for her that I ended up not needing her. So Isaiah and Samuel got to play with Aunt Janet and Uncle Todd while I taught piano lessons.

Surprise #2

I get home around 5:30 and hear the bath running. Unusual. There are only two reasons you give a kid an unscheduled bath: 1) The kid is cranky/bored as anything 2) The kid had something all over them past the point of being cleaned with baby wipes.

It turns out Isaiah had diarrhea really bad during his nap, didn't make it to the bathroom, and made a big mess all over his bed. Somehow in the course of cleaning up, poo got all over the toilet, bathtub, shower curtain, and maybe some other places I don't know about. So I felt bad that they had such a mess to clean up! Oh, I left out one little detail. It was their anniversary, which is why they were both off work. At least it will be a memorable one, right?

Surprise #3

I got to go to the evening service at the church's district conference and see a lot of good friends the we usually only see at camp. I talked to a wonderful guy named Gary Means for a while. He's getting up there in years, but he does a wonderful children's ministry with chalk drawings. He's the nicest, most caring guy. I remember being a little kid at summer camp and his wife, Marty, leading songs for the kids' services and Gary doing awesome chalk drawings. Then he would turn on the black light and the drawings looked totally different! They both obviously love Jesus and children. Anyway, he made a big impression on me.

So that was my surprising day yesterday.