Save me from daylight savings time!

I don't know about anyone else's kids, but my kids definitely have not adjusted AT ALL to the time change (falling back - Dan and I didn't know if we just finished daylight savings time or if it's daylight savings time now...) They have been sleeping in to a normal time, which is wonderful! But the rest of the day is still happening an hour early! I've tried creative ways to hold them off when it's getting close to lunch time, but the next day, they're right back wanting to eat between 11 and 11:30! And bedtime is a total disaster. Normally around 6:30 pm Sam starts winding down, so we give him a bath, slowly get him ready for bed, and put him down around 7:00. Tonight it was 5:30 and he had just about had it!

I don't know what the solution is, but all this darkness in the evening isn't helping! Isaiah starts asking between 4:30 and 5:00, when he notices the light fading, if it's almost time for bed. I'm thinking "Unfortunately not! We still have more than THREE HOURS!" He doesn't even realize that he hasn't eaten dinner yet!

So... my kids are just all confused, and it makes managing them during the day just that much more challenging. I sure hope they adjust before it's time to spring forward!

Weddings

I really enjoy playing piano for weddings. For the last few weeks I've been thinking that I'd like to do more weddings. Unfortunately up until now, I just haven't known very many people getting married.

This past week I was asked to play for two weddings in 2009! One is for my cousin, Jonathan, who is the same age as my sister. He's getting married to Lacy on May 2, 2009. My other friend from WAY back, Charity, has a younger sister who is getting married May 23, 2009. I'm thrilled and honored to be a part of these two special weddings!

It's just one of those ways that God gives us those little things we desire.

What Sam can do now that he's one year old

1. Clap his hands
2. Shake his head for "no"
3. Take 3-5 steps every time he tries
4. Climb up steps as fast as a rocket
5. Eat as much as Isaiah (if not more!) in half the time
6. Go from sitting to standing without holding on to anything
7. Open the snack cabinet and help himself to graham crackers (need to fix that child safety lock!)
8. Splash in the kitty's water
9. Drink from a sippy cup
10. Say "Dada" on command (no mama yet)
11. Take his shoes and socks off in a flash
12. Soak a shirt with drool in under five minutes
13. Let me know exactly what he wants, without words!
14. Wave bye-bye

Sam's first birthday

One is such a funny age. Having a three-year-old who knows all too well about celebrations and presents made Sam's reaction to his birthday just too funny. I would use the word 'bewildered' to describe his reaction to the day in general. We sung happy birthday to him several times, and each time he would just get really still and look rather expressionless. I guess it's not every day you have a group of people singing right to you! After dinner we let him open a few presents, although we were hard pressed to get his attention off the balloon he was following all around the house. He and Isaiah had fun playing with the toys, and Isaiah did a really good job of letting Sam open his presents by himself. After the gifts, we put the cake in front of him, waiting to see what he would do. He reached out and grabbed one of the big puffy icing balloons and squished it in his hands. He looked at me, as if he didn't know what to do. I told him, "Eat!" and boy did he ever! He just dug in with both hands, smearing it all over and shoving it in. It was great. In contrast, Isaiah just barely touched his cake when he was one, scowling the whole time at how messy his fingers got when he touched the icing. Isn't it amazing how different two kids can be?
After his bath he had pretty much had it for the day, poor kid. So we put him straight in bed. When I got home from worship team practice around 9:00, he was crying a little, on and off. I wonder if he had a stomach ache from the nearly adult size portion of cake and ice cream we allowed him to eat. He's settled down now and we haven't heard a peep for a while.
It's hard to believe the little darling is one already! Here are some pictures from the day:There's that bewildered look while we were singing happy birthday!



Amazed at his fun new toy

The first taste... And it's all over him!

He finally resorted to just shoving it in!

Take a picture of me, too!

Finally getting all cleaned up.

Preachin' at the dinner table

Tonight at dinner, Dan was getting all preachy about something (once a preacher, always a preacher?), and when he stopped to take a breath, Isaiah yelled out, "Amen, brother!" We about fell off our chairs and choked on our spaghetti and meatballs over that one!