Fun Day, Good Friends!

One of my best girlfriends came for a visit today! Summer "Zoom" Mc. and her trio are in town visiting her 'rents in Manhattan Beach and they actually drove up to SB to see me!! It was so fun spending time with one of my favorite women. Summer and I have been friends since jr. high. We went to summer camps and Mexico missions trips together in high school. We smoked cigarettes together in college. We were in each others weddings. We have husbands and children and are officially grown ups. Ugh.

Truth be told, of all my girlfriends, I've always wanted to be most like Summer. Growing up, she had this rad house with a secret room right in her bedroom! And a pool. And had a cute brother with cute friends who swam in that pool :) She was a Homecoming Queen nominee in HS. She went to Baylor and was a sorority girl and dated really cute boys college (one of which I also dated later in life) and then she went and married the best of them. She has three gorgeous babies, a great house near San Antonio and a lot of other fabulous mommy friends!! Zoom has about the most enviable life ever. But the truth is that what I love and appreciate most about Summer is that she has faced her own share of anxieties and issues just like the rest of us. But thru faith and obedience has exhibited what being a woman of God really is. She is not afraid to talk about her limitations (her words) and makes a point of sharing what God has done and is doing in her life. She is strong and opinionated and adorable and wonderful. Love ya, Zoomie. It was so fun seeing you!!

Some of my favorite things about Summer:

* The way she pronounces her 'inging's - you have to know what I mean to know what I mean...youknowwhatImean?
* Her right eyeball
* Her handwriting
* Her amazing figure (very inspiring!)
* Her dedication to running and working out
* Her skills as a mother
* Her dry but very sharp sense of humor
* Her wisdom
* Her loyalty
* Did I mention her body?!?

Nightly Routine

Last week my scrapbooking hero Ali Edwards issued a little challenge for us - her loyal followers - to record our nightly routine. I love this idea as I'm really focused on enjoying every minute of Brody's toddlerhood (even thru the tantrums and blatant disobedience!). On a good night, here is how it goes...

5:30 - 5:45PM Kevin comes home and he and Bubba play while I get dinner ready. I look forward to this time all afternoon! The whole process of cooking dinner relaxes me. Yes, even the clean up!

6:00PM - Ideal dinner time. Dinner varies from pasta to chicken to homemade pizza to meatloaf. Traditional stuff. Brody usually dines on mac-n-cheese but recently has been eating what we eat. After dinner we enjoy some more play time and really try to get him active so that (1) he might get tired and (2) in case he has to poop!

7:00PM - Bath time! Brody's bath tub has a removable shower head. It's perfect for bathing toddlers. He loves spraying it everywhere and it makes washing his hair a little less traumatic. The bucket of toys include various bath books, little sea animal figures, empty bottles, balls for a basketball net that hangs in the shower, plastic cars, etc.

7:30 - 8PM - Brody likes to run around naked for a while. The other day he pee-peed in the potty for the first time! It was a big deal to Kevin but Brody sort of shrugged it off like, "No biggie". Sometimes we'll play Easter Egg (an attempt to get him familiar with the hunt game so that he gets it during Easter!) where I'll hide various animal figures all over his bathroom and he'll find them. He's REALLY good at it!

{the picture below is of Brody's 'Big Smile'. For some reason, his 'big smile' translates into a serious scowl. I thought I'd give it try!}

Sometime after Bath & Before Bedtime - Brush Teeth. He doesn't spit yet but he sometimes does a really good job of brushing his little baby face teeth.

8:00 - 8:30 PM - Read Books. When I put him to bed it's about 8:30pm. When Kevin does it, Brody is usually in bed by 8PM sharp. I love this time of cuddling and reading books. He's started rebelling against bedtime a bit but most nights he goes to bed pretty easily. Typically we read between 1-3 books/night. Then we'll turn off the light or let him do it and spend a few minutes saying nighttime prayers and singing songs.

8:30Pm (at latest) - Bedtime. There are two bedtime buddies Oso and Coco. We all give each other hugs and kisses and if necessary....tickle time. It can be traditional tickle time or involve the itsy bitsy spider (ee-bee-pie-dur) or the little piggies running all the way home. As long as it involves crazy laughter, we're good.

I'm only speaking for myself here. I think Kevin's book - bed process is slightly different. All I know is that when K puts him down it's usually quick and quiet. For me there is often about 5-10 minutes of screaming. At very rare times we'll have to go back up and calm him down.

8:30 - 11:30PM - TV, Surf, Read, Bed....we spend this time watching our favorite shows (we love you, DVR!) and checking/answering emails and catching up on our fav blogs. We go to bed as early as possible without being early enough every night and do it all over again in 24 hours.

Good times. Great times. Even when it's rough...it's all about the now. We wont have these times with Brody forever. In fact, when other babies come along...we'll never have these times with Brody again. Wow. So thankful for the routine. So thankful for the time!

Booger Story

You know that rubbery adhesive gook that they use to stick credit cards to paper when you get them in the mail? Well, last weekend in a moment of total insanity I showed Brody how remarkably they resemble actual boogers. To do this, I balled up the previously mentioned gook and stuck it to his face just under his nose. We laughed and tricked Daddy and then I thought it was over. Too bad Brody was shoving the gook as far up his boogie nose as possible! I realized the gook was missing about the same time I noticed his look of worry. I reached my finger as far up his little nose holes as possible but only got snot (as he had a cold at the time). Kevin was sure it came out but I was super concerned and kept bringing it up throughout our movie night!

Later that night during bath time Brody was crazy sleepy and something set him off into a crying fit. All wet and slippery he lurched out of the tub and cried into my shoulder. When he pulled his head up he left a huge gloppy mass of what we thought was mucus on my shoulder. For a moment, very disturbing but ultimately a total relief!

I learned two things from this event: (1) I have to always trust my Brody instincts and (2) teaching my child to shove things up his nose is very not good. To my defense, the day before Kevin taught him to eat lemon grass...something that lead to him picking and tasting all things green and leafy. Honestly....poor kid.

My Green-Thumbed Hubby

BEFORE (ABOVE)
AFTER (BELOW)

Check out our cute new garden! Kevin knocked this puppy out in one afternoon. [Edited: The image on top is how it looked when we moved in almost 3 years ago!]. This area used to be an over-grown jungle of weeds and ground cover and a huge lavender bush (bumble bee magnet). Now it's a lush and lovely area that reminds me just how amazing my husband is. Thanks babe, for your hard work!

Brain Wrinkle: "COol BikES"

Apparently....'nice' bicycles don't have kick stands. Whell.

Last weekend we went for a family bike ride for the first time. While Kevin was wrestling to get Brody in his bike-seat I innocently asked 'Where is your kick stand?'. He laughed embarrassedly and sort of glanced around to see if anyone heard me and said, 'This bike doesn't have a kick stand." Well. Well. Well. Excuuuuuse me! He went on to explain that typically the more expensive bikes (unlike my $53 mountain bike from Target) don't include this convenience. If I paid $400 for a bike it damn well better have a kick stand on it! I don't have time to be holding up my bicycle. Pah-leez. I'm all for kick-stands. I'm PRO kick-stand.

New Brain Wrinkle

Tonight I learned how to do this in Photoshop. I'm very pleased with myself to say the least. I've always wondered how this is done and wished I knew how! I'm a little annoyed at how basic a skill it is but I'm glad to know the skill nonetheless. Very clever. Very clever indeed.

Resolution Update

At the first of the year I made a few resolutions. One of them was to LEARN things and another was to do things that SCARE me!

I am learning a lot these days regarding photography and some photoshop so I tend to think that fulfills that particular resolution. However, today I learned something that I hadn't known before - rather than a skill. I learned that a female fox is called a VIXEN. Did everyone know that? Of course I'm familiar with the word 'vixen' but I always have only known it to refer to a bad-guy-sexy-woman. And one of Santa's reindeer. So that was a new brain wrinkle!

Our dear friends the Richters are full-time raising support so that they can serve with Athlete's In Action in Ohio. I think they are so amazing. Heather has really blessed my life this year. I am inspired by their desire to serve and especially by the humility they have to have to ask people to support them financially (and spiritually).

Ok - now for the scary part. During a lunch date with Heather I realized that I needed to introduce them to my boss (W). He and his family have such a compassion for missions and support many organizations financially. I committed to Heather that I would speak to W about meeting with them which was easier said than done. I was very nervous about how to approach the subject. Exactly how do you ask someone to meet with and/or give money to your friends? I did pray about it but I wish I had rehearsed (another story another blog)! Short version: I asked him to meet with Matt and he graciously agreed. I was way out of my comfort zone doing this but by God's grace I was able to connect two people who might be able to do great things for each other. Feels good.

Again with OPRAH!

I don't care what you say - Oprah is truly inspirational. I'm watching the Building A Dream: The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy. "When you change a girls life it's not just that life you effect. A family, a nation. I'm telling you...women are going to change the face of Africa." She's not the first to make this statement about women being the catalyst of change in the world and she certainly wont the be last but she is the loudest, strongest, most powerful voice in the nation right now and what she's doing in this world is absolutely historical. Our values and beliefs are often different but I find her immensely inspirational. I believe that one day I can be a part of bringing change to a life or two along the way. This is my prayer.

Heart Breaker

Sometimes you catch a moment, a glipse into the future. I look at my baby boy's face and I see a 15 year-old looking back at me. In this photo he's frowing because of the sun but I can just see the 15 year-old boy sick of his mom always shoving a camera in his face. Sorry, Buddy. This you'll have to deal with. I love you, Face.